Author's Note: Don't own Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Wish I did. The residuals alone would pay off all my college loans. They're property of Dick Wolf and NBC, all I'm doing is playing with their characters...

This is also my first foray into LOCI fanfic, hopefully not the last. I'm fairly new to the series so forgive me if there's some glaring error. I'm relying on wikipedia for fact checking (and obsessive researching. LOCI is awesome for info dorks like me). Anyway, just resolving some questions I had in my own head…

Oh, and kudos to anyone who can tell me what other television series gets referenced in this chapter.

Camp Red Cloud, South Korea, July 21st 1986

Even the backwash of air from the helicopter blades couldn't dispel the heat and humidity completely… Overhead the skies were darkening, threatening rain, which was apparently common in Uijeongbu during the summer months. It made him grateful he'd decided to wear one of his linen suits, wool would be murder in this weather.

The young man standing stiffly at the edge of the helicopter pad was surprised at as his appearance; he was probably expecting one of his more traditional colleagues… ones that would be wearing a wool suit in this kind of weather along with dark glasses and an ear piece. Certainly not a man with long hair, and a beard wearing a rumpled linen suit looking much more like a mad professor than a FBI agent. What banal imaginations these military men had…

"Special Agent Gage? I'm Special Agent Wakefield, CID. Captain Martin's requests to speak with you."

No 'at your convenience' and definitely no 'please', someone was feeling a bit resentful about an FBI presence… Well, if they could've handled the situation, he wouldn't be here. He supposed he could insist on dropping his bags off at his room first, but in all likelihood that would just increase Captain Martin's antagonism… and the case was incredibly interesting.

In the last three weeks five NCOs had been murdered, stabbed to death with some sort of sword. There was a footnote in the slim case file he'd received before flying over noting that the same killer may have attacked some of the local women and disemboweled them. They at least had the weapon in common, although Declan personally thought it far-fetched that a serial killer would be stalking both men and women… much more likely that one was imitating the other to try and cover their tracks… of course maybe the officers and the women had something in common, unique to them… he'd know more once he got to look at the photographs of the crime scenes.

As he entered the office of Captain Martin, he knew he was in for a hard sell. Martin, a broad man with his graying hair still cut in a flat top and a wool suit (the man had to have been stationed in Korea awhile, to adjust to the heat) was old school traditional military police: find the evidence, find the criminal, arrest the criminal. Why use psychology to convince a man to confess when physically intimidating them worked as well? Such small minds… Declan had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"Special Agent Gage," Captain Martin said, the slightest hint of derision in his tone. He, too, obviously had been expecting someone a bit more 'FBI' looking.

"Captain Martin," He smiled politely and offered his hand which was briefly shaken. "Tell me about your case?" Put the man at ease, reassure him that it was still his case to keep his ego satisfied, that should make things much easier.

"Not much to tell. Five NCOs all murdered off base, beheaded post-mortem, no witnesses and no traces left behind by the killer. Still, you've probably come too late, we've got a suspect in interrogation right now, and he's looking pretty good for it."

Declan's eyebrows shot to his hairline at the new information… there'd been no mention of the beheadings in the file he'd gotten, of course it wasn't the cause of death so some idiot probably thought it wasn't important… things like that could tell so much though. They had a suspect? With no physical evidence?

"Has he confessed?"

"Not yet, but it's a matter of time. They all crack eventually," Captain Martin said with a grim smile.

"What about the women, there was a footnote about some local women--"

Captain Martin's snort interrupted him.

"Similar weapons, but that's about it. All killed then disemboweled. They're not our jurisdiction. That was just our suspect trying to throw suspicion elsewhere…"

"The suspect works for CID?" Interesting, very interesting... a police officer as a serial killer… How did he pass the psychological fitness exams? What drew him to law enforcement? Morbid amusement turned into an obsession? So many questions to ask…

"He was just accepted into CID in four weeks ago and assigned here, and he was seen getting in an argument with the third victim, Sergeant Ackerley at a bar two nights before he died."

Why did he wait until he got his CID commission to start killing? Surely there must have been others… perhaps he had to wait until he came into a position of power, imitating a father figure? Why kill them then, if he's already achieved a position of power, surely the murders themselves would fulfill that need… Unless it's the thrill of not getting caught…

And what about the women, could two killers be working in the same area? Were they aware of one another? Working together? How unusual… perhaps he could persuade the South Korean officials to let him assist in their case.

"May I speak with him, after your interrogation of course… I've been studying the psychopathic mind for ages now and any opportunity to interview the criminal in person is valuable," He smiled benignly, taking his glasses off casually and cleaning them on his sleeve.

"I suppose that can be arranged… two of my best men are interrogating him right now, if you'd like to follow me Agent Gage…"

He's lead into a small room with a one way mirror looking into the interrogation room. Two men in dark suits stand over a third wearing a rumpled button down and khakis. They must have grabbed him after hours…

The CID detectives are doing their best "good cop, bad cop" routine; a crude but effective, at least most of the time. They don't hold his attention for long though. The suspect, that's who's interesting.

He doesn't look much like a military man any more than Declan looks like an FBI agent… that baby face will never achieve the chiseled hard lines of his fellow officers, and the natural curl of his hair defies any attempt to make it look more severe. Wide, dark eyes look bewildered as the two men hurl charges at him. He's a big man though, not only tall but broad, and that's enough to intimidate most people. He didn't look like a serial killer either; then again, neither did Ted Bundy.

He fidgets nervously in his seat, looking more like a truant schoolboy than a military officer. His thumb comes up to brush his mouth in a comforting gesture… interesting, some attachment problems to his mother early in his life? Gacy had a habit of rubbing his lips…

"Do you have his personnel file," he asked, not taking his eyes off the interrogation room.

Martin is feeling much more cooperative and he hears a file slide across the table to him. He picks up the file, regretfully pulling his eyes away from the interrogation in process, to scan the file.

Twenty-five, parents divorced, one older sibling… a mother that was struggling with some chronic illness judging from the three requests for compassionate leave. Poor grades in high school but high scores on the intelligence tests. Troubled home life.

"How did you know it was him?"

"His transfer here matches with the start of the murders, he's big enough to get the jump on these guys, and… he knows things."

"Knows things?"

Martin made a face, the scowled at the suspect.

"He started talking about how the killer felt, spouting off this crazy theory that some local was killing our men for revenge because they 'disgraced' some local women, local women that he later killed to restore their honor," Martin snorted and shook his head.

"And you're sure that there's two different killers?"

"Definitely. Different M.O.s, and the women started dying off two weeks before our suspect was transferred in. He's just trying to throw the investigation off track…"

It all sounded so reasonable that Declan almost found himself agreeing. Some killers did like to get involved with the investigations, and being a detective on the case would give the suspect the perfect opportunity to meddle. To show off how smart he was… Yet he couldn't quite get himself to believe it.

"I think I'd like to talk to Agent Goren, Captain Martin…"