Chapter 21

BAU Headquarters
Quantico, VA

"Dissociative Identity Disorder?" Emily asked.

"Yes." Spencer replied. "You know how we go around and around over the question of whether or not someone with DID is a killer or a victim, because in a real sense they're both? In this case it's literal. Zamir realized that the best killers he knew from WW II, including his wife, all had DID. One personality to cope with everyday life, and one that came out when the stress got to be too much in order to relieve the psychological pressure."

"But the first personality never remembered what the second was doing and so didn't suffer from the PTSD that plagued the Wrath of God teams." Emily said.

"Exactly."

"But when you abuse a child there's no guarantee that the child will develop DID." Morgan said. "Or what the stress trigger will be."

"That depends on how you define abuse." Spencer replied. "In the end what matters in all experiences is how we perceive them. It all comes down to a cavalcade of biochemicals in the brain. But instead of physical actions triggering that cavalcade he used a drug cocktail to replicate the effects."

"Which explains the fMRI." Rossi said. "He's watching the effects in real time so he can fine tune the chemical bath to get the results he wants. And at the same time not doing any damage to the body. Slick."

"But then how does he trigger the change in personality?" Hotch asked.

"Part of the drug combo they're worried about in Ali Bailey is a potent hypnotic." Spencer replied. "Through the use of chemical therapy he can embed a post-hypnotic suggestion, a code phrase, that triggers the movement from one personality and back to the other."

"That's why Ben asked if anyone at the opera got close enough to Claire to whisper to her." JJ said. "And why he was so relieved when they didn't. He was afraid someone had slipped her that code."

"There's always a possibility Zamir might tell someone in their government. They have serious trust issues there."

"Understandable." Rossi said.

"Apparently once they hear the code they change to the other personality who will do anything to make the parent figure, whoever gave them the code, happy. The praise they receive after is what gives them the serotonin hit that relieves the stressor."

"And that is one hell of a powerful stressor." Morgan said. "This explains their reputation for ruthlessness. A child will do anything to make a parent happy."

"And why he's sticking with little girls." Rossi said. "We profiled that Hafitz is a sadist who's likely impotent. He could send a girl out, make her have sex with whomever, however, have her come back and tell him all about it in great detail, and then switch her back. She'd never know exactly what happened, but she'd know something did. That gives him one hell of a lot of personal power."

"That also explains why Chernikov would want to reacquire." Emily said. "Why wait for your lethal sex slave to grow up when you can have one right off. And given that we don't know where his proclivities lie having Ben and Claire alternate would likely give him at least some temptation."

"Exactly." Spencer said. "I'm also trying not to think about that part. Although if you wonder why Michael seemed to be taking this so personally, he and Rebecca were something like high school sweethearts, Hafitz made him watch on their first trip out."

"How many men?" Emily asked.

"Five."

"Oh, I can see why he wants him dead." Morgan said.

"And they considered this acceptable?" JJ said. "I still can't believe that."

"For the original four it was only used for a very brief time." Spencer replied. "Maybe an hour at most to perform the actual assassination, as a deterrent to PTSD. They planned out their own operations, were fully briefed afterwards and there was no sexual component involved. Everyone thought that Hafitz was doing the same thing, but he wasn't. He was leaving them locked in his thrall for months at a time, included a sexual component, and even sent them out on random ops just to indulge his paraphillia. When they realized what he was doing they terminated the program."

"Yeah, that's a loose cannon right there." Morgan said.

"As you can imagine they're all personally terrified of him." Spencer said. "He has all their codes."

"So do Zamir and Daniel Ellensworth." Rossi said.

"Apparently the code has to be recited in person. At Zamir's age his mobility is limited. He's unable to travel all the way to the US, so as long as he doesn't share the code they're safe here. And they trust Daniel to only use those codes in a case of life or death." Spencer said.

"That's why Zamir put termination orders out on all of them, when he realized that Hafitz was in the US." Emily said. "He likely considered it a mercy kill. Better dead than reacquired."

"And these are your future in-laws." Morgan said.

That broke the tension. "Are you going to be all right with this?" Hotch asked.

Spencer didn't even have to consider. "Yes." He hated the idea of Claire being at risk like this. But he was also in awe of her bravery, and the trust she placed in him.

"All right then. 72 hours."

"I am still in shock." Garcia said.

"Over what part?" Spencer asked. He was hiding in her lair, which was practically a SCIF, just for a badly needed break with the troll dolls.

"All of it. Any of it. I mean, did we even know Claire?"

"Yeah, we did. Apparently her grandmother owned a craft shop in Tel Aviv and she spent a great deal of time there when she was a little girl. She always wanted one, so when she was free, and after a lot of therapy, Daniel set her up in business."

"I wonder what happened to her family?"

"They would have to be all dead for her to end up in the system."

"Okay, that's sad."

"Yeah. But her foster family is very close. Anyway, to answer your question, yes, we know the real Claire. We never met her alter, Delilah. And hopefully we never will. Or at least we'll be on the same side."

"And this doesn't creep you out?"

"No. DID is a form of mental illness. Schizophrenia runs in my family, I have no room to talk. She's also an abuse survivor; I'm not going to hold that against her. I'm also not going to hold her being a veteran and an immigrant against her either."

"Well no, when you put it that way."

Spencer and Garcia looked up as Rossi and Morgan joined them. "I brought him along because he has to hear this." Rossi said. "We got the files they sent over, there's good news, bad news and very surprising news about your girl. And no, I'm not going to let you read all the details."

"What's the good news?" Spencer asked.

"According to their records she never assassinated anyone."

"Oh, thank god." Garcia said.

But Spencer winced. "I assume that means she was used for intelligence gathering?"

"Unfortunately."

Unfortunately was right. That meant Claire survived not only years of abuse but also repeated rape. No wonder she was spooked the night he tried. He had to believe they could work that out though, that she could fully heal. "What's the weird news?"

"Each potential was embedded with a military unit for training. She spent three years with..." Rossi squinted at the page. "I am not pronouncing Hebrew. A special forces combat engineering unit specializing in explosive ordinance, both design and disposal."

"Wait." Morgan started grinning. "His girl was on the bomb squad?"

"Yep."

"That little girl?"

"Yep."

"Well, given the lace she knits I would assume a high degree of manual dexterity." Spencer said.

"Assume?" Rossi asked. "You can't confirm? Don't break my heart like that."

"I'm ignoring you." Garcia said. "All of you."