Stockholm's Warehouse by Lexical

Rating: M for graphic violence/scenes of torture and language.

Summary: The team are thrown into the nightmarish world of Jigsaw. When Reid and Hotch are abducted, how long will they last? Criminal Minds/ "Saw" Crossover. Takes place when "Jigsaw" is still ambulatory (think first movie).

Author's Note: This is my second fan fiction ever. Please be gentle. Concrit welcomed! This is only the first chapter- I'll try to post more if anyone thinks this story should continue.

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"18 victims to date, only 3 survivors." Hotch said grimly from his seat at the table. He had the slide projector out and a macabre scene of torture was illuminated on the wall- a young man with his head turned around almost completely backwards, eyes staring out at them in eternal horror. Garcia shut her eyes. Morgan straightened up, face grim. Reid just stared, expression a mixture of horror and train wreck curiosity.

Hotch pressed onto the next slide. "Andy Sanderson, one of the three victims to survive." He said simply. The young woman was lying in a hospital bed, eyes sunken and glazed. Much of her body was wrapped in white gauze, hiding hideous atrocities.

"This unsub views himself as a mentor, a teacher," Hotch said simply, leaving the image of the living victim illuminated on the wall. "He doesn't actually kill anyone, not directly, but instead manufactures a situation where the victims must chose between consenting to torture or death. Because of this, we are going on the assumption that our unsub views his victims as undeserving of life. Reports from the three living victims indicate as much." Hotch picked up a file, began reading:

"He didn't want to hurt us, even though he did. He was just trying to make us appreciate what we had, what life was worth. If you find him, what will you do to him?"

Hotch stopped reading, glanced around the room, taking in his agents reactions.

"Sounds like Stockholm syndrome," Reid said tightly, still staring at the image on the wall. Morgan glanced at him, raised his eyesbrows in question.

"A phenomenon in which a hostage begins to identify with and grow sympathetic to his or her captor. First identified in 1973, after a hostage of a bank robbery showed signs of identifying and sympathizing with the hostage taker. Symptoms often report-"

Hotch cut Reid off. "The strange aspect here is that these victims aren't simply held hostage and isolated. They are subjected to extreme mental and physical torture, and many of the "games" instigated by Jigsaw leave little to no room for survival. But-"

Hotch flicked to the next slide. A young man lay dead on a slab of dirty linoleum floor, lips blue, chest covered in deep stab wounds.

"As in this case, survival was merely a ruse. This victim, David Hash, stabbed himself to death looking for a key imbedded in his chest that was eventually found in his stomach. In this case, and in many others, Jigsaw's "clues" were so vague as to be virtually meaningless, little more than the taunt of survival."

"He died from his self inflicted wounds?" JJ asked, staring at the image for a moment before glancing away.

"He died from an as-of-yet unidentified nerve gas which was released into the room after the victim failed to find the key necessary to unlock the door. This unsub views those victims which do die as further proof of their disdain and disregard for life, their unwillingness to do whatever is necessary to ensure their survival. These "failures" increase his self esteem and sense of moral vindication, as do the relatively few survivors."

"They survived because they were, ultimately, worthy." Reid mused darkly, draining the last dregs of his coffee in one gulp. Hotch nodded.

'Robert Hare spoke of the, for lack of a better word, "moral" psychopath, someone with a diminished ability to feel guilt who funnels his inherent sense of disconnect with others into a sense of moral responsibility, even superiority. Such individuals are likely to be seen as their friends and neighbors as morally upstanding, albeit often rigidly so."

Reid stopped for breath, glanced at his colleagues. Hotch was nodding grimly.

"Like Albert Fish reassembling the body of Grace Budd after dismembering her?" Morgan asked coldly. Reid shook his head.

"No, nothing like that. In all likelihood Albert Fish was suffering from some advanced form of psychosis, as evidenced by his extreme self injury and…"

"Not like Fish. Most of the individuals Reid is talking about actually never break the law, but instead are more likely to uphold it, many entering jobs as police, nurses, doctors… These individuals never cross the line into actual violent behavior and are thus classified most often as "subclinical" psychopaths." Hotch cut off, sighing.

"Our Unsub may have started out like that, but something propelled him to cross the line into violence, abduction, murder. He's escalating, but also methodical and planned. These aren't crimes committed in the heat of passion, which leads us to believe that he feels the need to get his message out, and quickly, without jeopardizing his methodology. The lack of direct contact with his victims also suggests that he may be physically sick or weakened. He sees himself as a judge, almost a God, deciding coldly who will live and die, but the inevitable outcomes of some of his "games" suggests that he views the initial game as rigged itself. He quite likely is dying and is taking out his rage and sense of injustice against members of the population who are young and physically healthy, but which he views as ungrateful or unappreciative of life." Hotch let this sink in.

"More than likely, his crimes will become more violent and sadistic as his physical health declines." Hotch flipped through a few more slides, gorier than the rest, to make his point.

"The latest victims." He stated, unnecessarily. JJ winced and turned away. "He's been excessively careful not to be caught. All we have to go on right now are clues he's quite obviously left us."

"He's playing us as much as those victims." Morgan said, mouth pursed into a grim line.

"Because of the elaborate set up of these games, his lack of contact with the victims, his methodical planning and the fact that the only clues we have to go on have been essentially given to us, we can assume we are dealing with someone highly intelligent, more than likely operating at genius level or above."

All eyes turned to Reid, who shifted uncomfortably. Hotch flipped to the next slide for a moment before turning the projector off.

"He knows the BAU is on to him now, as evidenced by several live feeds of victims which have been sent directly to us within the last week. This last point can not be stressed enough- our UNSUB, weak as he may be, managed to abduct all 18 of these victims with apparent ease. He sees himself as a teacher imparting great wisdom, and we are now in his radar. Needless to say, I want all of you to be extra careful until we catch this guy."

"You think he'd come after one of us?" JJ breathed, glancing towards Hotch.

"That possibility can not be overlooked. In fact, by targeting a member of the team he would be sending an even stronger message."

"How?" JJ said, looking pale now.

"We are FBI." Reid cut in, glancing towards Hotch, who nodded. "We apprehend the most violent and depraved. If he can abduct even one of us, he feels that his message will be appreciated all the more. Victimizing one of us would also raise his self esteem and sense of justification- if one of us falls prey to him, then he, by default, becomes even smarter than the best criminal profilers in the country, more threatening, elusive. This guy is feeding off fear and revulsion now, and he knows if the people responsible for apprehending him become victims, he will command that much more terror." Reid cleared his throat, before continuing.

"Also, if any one of us was to be caught, he would most likely view it as a sign that we are in the wrong, and he's in the right. That fate or God or whomever was paving the way for future success, future victims. These crimes are part of a large game to him- and we're one of the most powerful opposing pieces on the board right now. If he takes just one of us, he is essentially removing the threat of all of us."

"I thought you said this guy was smart." Morgan spat out.

Reid shifted, got up and went to the coffee maker. Poured himself a cup, dumped in a near equal amount of sugar. "He is. He is confident he won't be caught, either way. If he did succeed in… taking one of us, the success would be symbolic, and that's enough for him."

Hotch nodded, pushed away from the table. "Garcia has more information on the live internet feeds. We meet outside in 30."

"He looks spooked." Morgan mumbled, watching the senior agent march away.

"He should be." Reid confirmed softly.

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That's it for right now. Another chapter coming soon, depending on how this is recieved. Please review