The music was pounding through my head so loud, I couldn't think. At all. It was nice, for a change. To not be able to think and just have fun. My friend, Ella, was standing in front of me, singing along with the song and 'rocking out' or whatever you would call it. Clubs and things like this weren't really my thing, she knew that, but of course she was able to dress me up and drag me out. As much as I liked the change, I was much more comfortable curled up on my couch, typing out the words of fiction that came to mind.
The song ended and Ella led me over to the bar and ordered two drinks, both alcohol drinks. She knew so much about me but seemed to love ignoring it all.
"I don't drink and you know it!" I shouted over the music in her ear.
"Well tonight you do!" She yelled back, I was surprised she heard me.
"Then who's gonna drive?"
"What's a taxi for? Geez, you're supposed to be smart." She took the drink from the girl behind the counter and took a big gulp. I let the drink sit in front of me, I diddled with the condensation on the glass, but it didn't come close to going down my throat.
"Excuse me ladies." I heard a voice behind me and turned enough to see their face. His skin was dark and his head was shaved, he was muscular and I could tell Ella was ready to flirt.
"What can we do for you, handsome?" Ella asked and I bowed my head, wondering how a girl like me ended up being friends with a girl like her. Exact opposites.
"Just have one of these lil' papers I have and promise me you'll be careful about who you leave with." He smiled and handed us both a sheet of paper. Ella took it but kept her eyes on the man.
"What if I promise to go home with you? Is that good enough?"
He chuckled, "No, no, you see, I'm at work right now. I don't think the big man would like it."
"Are these something to do with the muders of those girls." I asked as I reread my paper.
"Yeah, just educating the public, clubs are very popular pick-up places. Dates and victims. I'm here with a coleague."
"I think I've become a victim of you." Ella said, obviously getting a bit desperate with this guy, "If I can't come home with you, can I have your number?" He chuckled again.
"How do we know this isn't some kind of cover?" I asked before he could answer Ella, she was getting angry but, oh well, she shouldn't have dragged me out here.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for all we know, you're using this as a cover to look like a good guy, get a girl or two to come home with you to kill them."
"I wouldn't do something like that."
"But we don't know you."
He smiled, speechless for a moment, "I'm one of the ones working on the case. I'm in the FBI."
"Oh really? Prove it."
He sighed and reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and flipped it open for us to see his ID.
"Wow. FBI. That's kinda sexy." Ella said, but we ignored her.
"So just be careful. I don't want to see either of your bodies dead and thrown out like trash." He began to walk away but his phone rang and he stopped to sit on a stool and talk to the caller.
"Heey baby girl, what do ya got for me?" I watched him, and so did Ella, but he didn't seem to notice or care. He listened to the girl and grinned.
"Penelope Garcia, you are the sexiest genius I have ever met." He paused for a moment and laughed at whatever she had said. I recognized that name. It took me a minute but I remembered who she was. He laughed again "Okay, we're on our way," then closed his phone as he stood up to walk away.
"Wait!" I yelled and grabbed his shoulder, he turned, "Did you say that was Penelope Garcia?"
"Yeah …"
"Awesome, out-going and weird, techie Penelope Garcia?"
"Yes. What about her?"
"She used to be my best friend."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but then her parents died, she left school and I never heard from her again."
"That's my baby girl."
"Are you, like, dating or something?"
"No, just havin' fun at work."
"Sounds like her. Would you give me her number so I can call her up sometime?"
"I dunno. You might just want to find a way in so you can kill her. Nobody is gonna kill my girl on my watch," He grinned evilly.
"Ugh. Would you give her my number and tell her who it is?"
"I would. If you gave it to me."
I smiled and rolled my eyes. I pulled out the little notebook and pen I always kept in my purse, just in case I had an idea and had to write it down. I jotted down my name and number and handed it over to him.
"Katlyn Black. Nice."
"I better here from Penelope and only Penelope. If it's anyone else, I will find you Derek Morgan."
"How did you know my name?"
"You just showed me your ID, genius."
"Oh, trust me, I am no genius, that's my friend's job."
"Hey, Morgan, are you ready to head back? I actually got rid of all my flyers this ti- Oh, sorry, were you talking?" Another guy came up to Derek, he was scrawny, with brown hair and white skin, and was dressed in nerd-like attire to your average highschooler. But it was cute on him, he was cute, too.
"Speaking of geniuses, Spencer Reid, ladies, the one and only." Derek put his arm around Spencer's shoulders, Spencer held up his hand and said a quick "Hi." with a smile, "This is Garcia's old friend, Katlyn Black, apparently."
"Apparently?"
"Yeah, I'm officially sure if it's true or just a way to get in and kill one of us." Derek grinned and I scowled. Spencer lifted an eyebrow but didn't comment.
"Any word from Garcia?" Spencer asked.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. She found the guy. Hotch and everyone else are on their way there now."
"Okay then, we gotta go."
"Yeah, nice meeting you ladies." They turned and hurried out of the club. I turned back to Ella, she seemed to be angry with me but getting over it quickly, as she was checking out another guy not far away.
"So, are we back to partying now?"
"Yeah, I guess we are." I smiled with a little enthusiasm and I was once again lost in the music.
I rubbed my eyes, I felt so unbelievably tired. Staying up until four in the morning partying with Ella was something I would never do again. I yawned and turned back to my laptop to try to write more, but I was too tired to concentrate. I wasn't even sure why I woke up. I decided to look up some anime and fall asleep with it on. I set the computer on my coffee table and curled up in my giant comforter. As soon as I was comfy, warm and almost half asleep, my phone rang and I unwillingly dragged my self off the couch and towards the chime of my phone.
"Hello?" I asked grumpily. I didn't mean to seem that rude, but I was tired and couldn't help it.
"Katlyn? Katlyn Black? Is this really you?" I recognized that voice right away. The best friend I ever had was calling me after years of silence.
"Penelope! Oh my gosh! I'm so happy to talk to you. I was never sure what exactly happened to you, I just hoped nothing bad had happened."
"Nah, I'm fine. I was just wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me. You know, catch up."
"Yeah, that would be great. Just name a time and place." I said and Penelope told me where her favourite coffee shop was and we agreed to be there at noon.
I thanked the cashier and took my coffee and bagel from her, then went to the empty table I saw by the front window and watched outside with my head in my hands, sipping the coffee. A few minutes later, I saw the only person that would stand out any where you went. Penelope waltzed into the shop and swept right by me. She ordered at the counter and turned around to see if I was already there. I was, but I think the only reason she figured that out was me waving at her.
She sat down across from me, staring at me. "Wow, you look so different. I barely recognized you."
"Well, you're looking as colourful as always. It was easy to find you." We both laughed.
"I can't believe it's been so long."
"Yeah, what exactly happened to you? I almost thought you were kidnapped, but all your things were gone and I found the note, too, but it didn't really tell me anything."
"Heh, sorry about that, by the way. My parents died and … I dunno, I just decided I didn't want to do it any more. But I kept teaching myself code and now I work in the FBI."
"I figured that out from the guy in the club."
"Yeeah, Derek's my man. I love him." She smiled at the thought of him, "So what have you been doing?"
"Well, I graduated from Caltech, then my books started selling really well and I've been writing fiction ever since."
"Yeah, I always figured that you would end up as a writer instead. The stuff you wrote back then was really really good."
"That's what everyone said. But my writing got me places in the end, pretty much every fiction lover loves my writing."
"Heh, I don't blame them. So, are you seeing anyone?"
"Nah, I don't get out too often, since I have no reason to leave my house other than to get food. I mean, that stuff is pretty important." Penelope laughed at me.
"Yeah, I'm single, too."
"Wow, that can't be true," I joked and she laughed again, "What about that Derek guy, he seems to looove you. And you DID just tell me you looove him."
"As much as I love him, I'm not sure if we'd work well as a couple, especially since we work together with such … ewwy stuff." I laughed at her this time, she always had the best way of describing things.
"Oh well, there'll be someone out there."
Bzzzt … Bzzzzt! Penelope's phone vibrated on the table and she looked at the text. "UGH! Are you kidding me? I just got out." She pressed a button on it and stood up, "Sorry, I gotta go save the world with my genius-ness. I'll call you again later." She waved and walked out of the store. I waved back through the window and finished my bagel before leaving.
Penelope opened the glass door a waltzed into the BAU, and almost literally ran into Derek.
"Hey hot stuff. Where've you been?" He asked.
"Lunch with a friend. Why? Are you jelous it wasn't lunch with you?"
Derek smiled, "I'm jelous everyday I don't have dinner with you."
Penelope laughed, and his words reminded her of the two friends she had, "Speaking of dinner, my friend is single, and I think her and Reid would hit it off."
"She did look like she liked him last night … We're talking about that friend, right?"
"Yes. And I think spying would be fun."
"Penelope, you naughty girl." He teased.
"I may be naughty but I'm not going to be late. Come on, let's go." They walked up the few steps and into the conference room where everyone was already waiting. They took their seats and JJ grabbed the remote and pressed a button. Two images came on the screen. It was hard to tell, but one was female and the other a male. They both looked like their chests had been scratched out by a tiger or lion. Four straight cuts were across their chests and a pool of blood around them. The man seemed to be just inside the entrance of their house and the woman looked to have been huddled in the closet before being killed.
"James and Lillian Dupre were murdered in their home last night." JJ said as a couple more pictures came up on the screen of their murder, "There was a note thumbtacked to the banister behind Mr. Dupre." JJ clicked again and a piece of paper came up behind her.
Reid squinted and began to read it aloud as JJ handed each of them a piece of paper with a copy on it, "The bot crashed their door in. The two human residents ran to their broken door way to see who had entered. They had no idea that would be such a fatal mistake. Target aquired. The bot walked through the doorway and into the human's sight. The female screamed as the bot's claws extended to almost a meter long of razor sharp blades for slicing up weak flesh. The male stood in front of her, then told her to run away. This only made it easier for the bot. Kill the hardest as he tries to protect his spouse then race after reluctant female. She probably would not want to leave him and hide somewhere in the house. The bot threw back it's arm to strike the male. They slashed clean through his torso and he screamed as blood gushed from him and to the floor. He fell into the pool of blood and was dead only a few seconds later. The bot scanned for heat somewhere else in the house. The bot found a large amount of heat in a closet a few rooms away, he assumed it was the female and followed her there. The bot threw open the door, almost knocking it off the hinges. The female screamed as the bot began to kill her the same way it had killed the male. With it's job done, the bot left the house forever." Reid paused to look over his sheet a second time, "They always called them female and male instead of man and woman. Looks like it's supposed to be in the bot's perspective but still third person."
"And it looks like the bot was supposed to be an assasin. Do you think the unsub could have thought he was an assasin, too?" Rossi pointed out.
"It looks like that could be true, unless it's just part of the story." Spencer agreed.
"Morgan, Reid, you go to the Dupre house. Report anything suspicious. JJ and Prentiss, you go with them to talk to the neighbor that found them. Rossi and I will go to the coroner's office where the bodies are. Garcia, look at the Dupre's history, anything that might make someone think they had to be terminated."
"Right." Garcia stood up hurriedly and walked to her computer room to begin her research.
JJ, Emily, Derek and Spencer grabbed their coats and bags and left the building to pile into the big black SUV.
The four split up and JJ and Emily headed to the neighbor's house the police there pointed out to them. Spencer and Derek slipped on the latex gloves and carefully stepped into the house. The door was split in half and the other part was lying down the hallway a bit. The body was already gone so they couldn't look at it.
"So, I kick the door in or hit it with something really hard. The Dupres run over and I step inside," Morgan acted it out as he spoke, "Mr. Dupre tells his wife to run away and cut him up with what? A sword or something?"
"It looked like it. He probably brings his tools with him because the story is probably close to the real thing and in the story he didn't go looking for a weapon and he wouldn't be able to, Mr. Dupre could have overpowered him if he had kicked the door in and walked in with no weapon."
"Do you think he wrote the story beforehand?"
"Unlikely. There's no way of knowing it would go exactly like that. So he probably wrote it afterwards."
A man in a police uniform bent under the crime scene tape and joined Spencer and Derek inside the house. "Hello, I'm the chief of the local Police, Robert Layton." He held out his hand to shake each of their own.
"I'm Agent Morgan and this is Doctor Spencer Reid."
"Well, thanks for coming. We want to catch this guy before it turns serial. It looked to me like it probably would."
"Yes, it looks the same to us. It was a good idea for you to call us up."
"Well, I thought I should let you know we didn't find whatever he used to cut them up. And we dusted the note for prints and found nothing."
"So he was probably using some kind of gloves, too."
"Yup. The closet where the wife's body was found is just through here." The chief led them through a few doors and into the couple's bedroom. All they could see right away that was obviously out of place was the blood soaked into the carpet.
"He didn't leave much behind for us." Morgan grumbled.
"How do you know it was a male?" Layton asked.
"We don't, it's hard to tell. The story could have been written by either male or female, and though it's more rare, woman do kill just as brutally as men." Spencer answered, as he looked around the room with curiosity.
They talked with the chief for a little while longer then walked out of the house and discussed it bewtween themselves for a mintue.
"Oh and I forgot to ask you," Morgan remembered Garcia's idea from earlier, "You remember Garcia's friend from last night?" Spencer nodded and Morgan continued, "Garcia think you two should go out sometime. She seemed like a smart girl, and she was pretty, too, right?" Morgan grinned and nudged Spencer with his elbow.
"Well, I guess I could ask her out..."
"Good, Garcia has her number, we can get it from her later." Morgan smiled and put his arm around Spencer's shoulder to shake him playfully.
At Miss Swick's house, the woman who had found the Dupre's dead, JJ knocked on the front door and a woman probably in her early 30's opened the door.
"Hi, Miss Swick?" JJ asked.
"Yes, that's me." She seemed somewhat calm but flustered, tired and confused.
"I'm JJ, I'm with the FBI and this is my friend, Emily. We just want to ask you a few questions."
"Um … Alright come on in." She opened the door all the way and let the two women inside, "Would you like something to drink? Water?"
"No, we're fine, miss."
"Oh, okay." She led them to her living room and sat down on the couch, "So what would you like to know?"
"We were just wondering how you found the bodies of the Dupres." Emily said and leaned in to listen.
"Well, it was really my daughter... She didn't see anything! But she was walking to school and she noticed the door was wide open. She said that she kept watching the door as she walked, but she saw no movement and no one shut the door so she ran back to me and told me. I told her to go to school and I would go over in a minute. So, she left again and I put on my shoes and walked over. I could tell right away something was wrong because of the door and then I saw James' body. I didn't even go looking for Lillian because I knew what I would probably find. I ran back home and called the police. After they asked me a bunch of questions I called the school to make sure my Cindy got there."
"Did she?"
"Yes, she's fine. And I told them to tell her I would pick her up today. I don't want her walking around the neighborhood until that person is caught."
"That's probably a good idea." Emily said, but she figured the unsub would only attack at night, but she didn't want to worry Miss Swick.
"So, did you hear anything suspicious last night? Anything in the middle of the night?"
"No, I don't remember anything. I put Cindy to bed, watched a little TV then went to bed, too. Usually I have to get up early for work and to get Cindy off to school, but I called in sick after this what happened."
"Okay, can you think of anything else that you remember from yesterday that was unordinary? Did the Dupre's do anything? Fight?"
"No, not that I know of."
"Can you think of enemies they might have had?"
"No, I always thought they were good people, but I didn't know much about them, I mean, talked and spent sometime together, but I don't remember them saying anything about anyone bad."
"Alright. Weel, thank you for your time," JJ stood up and pulled a little slip of paper from her pocket, "If you think of anything, just call." They smiled and walked themselves out the door.
