Here I am after a short break. You're loveable little fuzz ball writer with talent on loan from God! I am happy to say that I've had the plot for this new one rattling around in my rather thick skull for some time so updates should be frequent (hopefully). This is of course dedicated to everyone who enjoyed the first one. I hope this lives up to it. Enjoy!

Chapter One

The Runner

And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Mathew 17:27

It was late in the afternoon, closer to early evening actually. The hollowed out halls of the Fair Oaks mall were filled almost to the brim with hundreds of shoppers. Over the PA system a female voice droned on and on repeatedly about announcements pertaining to the coming week. Clumps of people gathered around the various kiosks. Many children stared longingly outside the pet shop and toy stores; mostly at animals and trinkets they would not likely come into possession. It might have been called an oxymoron to refer to this bustling crowd as calm, though the normality of this behavior certainly wasn't out of the ordinary. And yet there was still something that could disrupt the flow of constantly moving people.

The scanners beside the entrance to a clothing store suddenly began ringing their shrill alarms. A few people nearby turned their heads to see what was happening. Out of the store burst a young girl, by the look of her only slightly older than twenty. The numbers of security guards grew and grew as she hastily sprinted down the length of the mall. As she approached a corner a single guard assumed that he could swiftly jump out and surprise her down to the floor. However his plan went awry when she simply barreled on through him by hitting him in the nose with the bottom of her hand. By now everyone stopped and watched as the thief sprinted herself to new fatigues. One of the guards blindly reached for his radio while he ran and ordered that someone attempt to circle around and head her off. No matter what barriers were placed before this girl she made short work of them. Her acrobatic skills became apparent when a kiosk stood in her way; she leapt up and flew through the small archway made by its roof. Despite her persistence the security guards as well as a few police offers pursued her.

--

A short distance down the mall Victor Stone stood at a cell phone stand, attempting to replace his broken phone. He turned the new model over and over in his hands.

"So let me get this straight, I get this premium plan and I get the twenty-thousand volt security system and the beaming technology?" The salesmen moved his eyes about quizzically.

"Sir, what are you talking about?"

Victor chuckled and shook his head. "It's a joke man, never mind. Alright this looks good, sign me up-"

"OMPF! HEY WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" A man shouted as the hurrying girl burst through him and his wife. She stumbled somewhat but was soon back on track and speeding down hall. Victor arched a brow at the scene. He saw the long line of guards following after her and clued in.

"We'll finish this later," he said to the salesmen and setting his new phone back down, joined in on the chase. He quickly made his way up the length of the lines of guards and police until he found the man in charge. He found him and few others huddled near a large pillar and talking over the radio.

"Well who's down there now?"

"Hey," said Victor walking up.

The guard covered his radio. "Who are you? Stay back we'll handle this." Victor showed him his badge.

"Victor Stone, FBI. What's going on here?"

"Thief-zilla is what happened. Much as we all appreciate the feds coming to our rescue we can handle this just fine." Victor rolled his eyes.

"I'm not trying to trump you or anything; I'm just offering an extra badge and an extra gun." The captain of the guard thought for a moment then nodded. He motioned for Victor to come closer and pointed to the girl, now standing in the middle of the food court. She had long brown hair and wide jumping blue eyes.

"Caught her trying to walk out of an American Eagle with a scarf or something. Normally this isn't something to call in the cavalry over but she's brought down three of my men; one has a broken arm, took his nightstick and cracked it over him. We try to chase her down and she ends up being some kind of human spider monkey."

Victor drew his weapon and checked the clip. "She said anything?"

"Not a word," replied the captain staring intently at his target.

"Right let's go in, I'll follow your lead." The captain gave the necessary hand signals and very carefully the small army of law enforcement came out of hiding and encircled the girl. She darted her eyes from all of them, breathing heavily and swallowing constantly. The captain gave Victor the go ahead and he slowly walked towards her. She backed away suddenly, raising her hands.

"Wait!" Said Victor putting up his own hand. "Nothing serious has gone down here, just chill and come quietly." Her mouth was shaking. Victor took a closer look at her and noticed something strange about her eyes. It seemed as though they were screaming at him, pleading with him to take action. She flicked her wrist and a strange device fell out into her hand. Victor's eyes followed it and to his horror saw that it was a small trigger; a thin wire ran from back up her sleeve. "Oh my God….." She twisted her head and shot a quick glance at the proprietors of a Donut Shop behind her. They back away fearfully. Then, without warning, she suddenly raised both her arms toward the ceiling.

Victor ran toward her. "NOOOOOOOOO!" Her finger pressed the small button and in half a second everything around her in a thirty foot radius was engulfed in a deafening explosion. Like a claymore, hundreds of pieces of shrapnel were sent in all directions. Bits of the ceiling fell and crumbled upon the floor. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left of the silent thief, or much of anything of the Donut shop behind her. From the survivors, a few low moans could be heard. The sirens of the fire department could already be heard in the distant.

Beneath the weight of an overturned table, Victor lay shrouded in dust and bits of drywall. He was motionless, with a deep gash upon his head a large pool collecting near his midsection. He was alive, but whether or not the EMT's would reach him in time was the real question.

TRINITY COLLEGE………………..

On a dry erase board the professor of a psychology course jotted some new notes for her lecture.

"Criminal-Profiling," She said as she wrote the words up on the board. She had dark, almost purple, shoulder length hair. "It's been done ever since criminal justice and psychology joined forces decades ago. And it's since then been an invaluable tool on countless investigations. It allows investigators to use these profiles as a template and to draw conclusions on their own suspects." A student then raised his hand.

"Dr. Roth?"

"Yes."

"I'm not really sure if this is a stupid question or not; but if this kind of profiling is so well known, then why don't criminals continually search for original ways to commit their crimes? Otherwise they just fall into a category and end up being caught."

Rachael nodded. "Typically the criminal mind tends to be more pathological than logical. I'm sure you've heard of how some criminals cannot be cured of their obsessions or perversions; it's been ingrained into their subconscious and in a sense become a part of who they are. Which is part of my next question to you all." Rachael walked away from her blackboard.

"Is this gonna hurt professor?" asked a rather nervous student.

"Not particularly," replied Rachael with a wink. "Now, picture this; a family is gathered at a funeral for the death of their mother. One of the daughters is grieving over her loss when she spots a young man in the crowd. Instantly she is smitten and falls head over heels for him. The ceremony ends and they all leave. Once at home she realizes she didn't ask him for his number and since had no way to contact him." She paused for a moment. "A few days later she killed her sister." At this many of her students grew mighty uncomfortable. They glanced at one another strangely. "Can anyone guess the motive behind her actions? Mind you, this is the one question you should strive to get wrong." After a long moment a tall kid in the back raised his hand. "Yes."

"She found out her sister was already involved with him?"

"Nope, well done."

"She went absolutely nuts and released her blind rage on the first person she saw?"

Rachael nearly rolled her eyes. "Wrong, anyone else?" No one raised their hands and she inwardly sighed. "Well thank God for that, here it is; she killed her sister in the hopes that her dream guy would show up at the funeral." Twenty-four jaws dropped all at once. "This was a classic test used to profile the mind of a possible serial. And I'd just like to say it's a big relief that you all got it wrong. Now-" Her voice trailed to silence at the sight of Logan at the door three levels up. He waved meekly and looked in a random direction. "…Now I want you to take this test and compare it with observations by Brussel and Hayward. Expect a quiz any time this week, alright you're all dismissed." With slight murmurs and whispers they rose from their seats and walked up the steps on either side of seats. Once the room was cleared Logan made his way down to Rachael.

"What do you want?" she asked in a rather icy tone. He cleared his throat.

"Could ya be civil with me for one second, I gotta tell ya something." She moved her eyes back to her material which she began stuffing into her bag.

"What is it then?"

"It's Victor." She momentarily forgot her spite and looked at him wide eyed.

PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL………………..

Victor lay still motionless and sedated in a hospital bed with the aide of several life-support machines. Richard sat in a chair off to the side, lightly tapping the end of his cane against the floor. His cane almost timed exactly with the sounds of the heart monitor. Toni entered and adjusted Victor's morphine drip. She became aware that Richard had hardly taken notice of her. Toni set down Victor's chart and tapped Richard on the shoulder.

"Richard?" He didn't answer her. "Richard, go home."

"Mmmm."

"Richard everything that can be done is being done-"

"He still alive?" She nodded. "And your still here because……" Toni snatched up her chart and left him alone. However he did not begin his vigil by himself, for it was not long after Toni took her leave that Koriand'r, or Kory as she is known to the people of earth, entered gripping a steaming cup of coffee. She set it beside Richard and claimed a seat next to him.

"Thanks," he said quietly. Kory was of course deeply concerned for Victor but her attention was currently on Richard. They had arrived over three hours earlier and he had not budged an inch.

Kory darted her eyes between the two partners and smiled. "Victor is a most……durable individual and he is Toni's very capable hands. I am certain he will make a full recovery."

"Yeah." Faint foot steps could not be heard but they grew louder and closer together. Soon Rachael flew into the room and let her bag fall to the floor. Kory rose at the sight of her.

"Friend Rachael!" She met with Kory in a fleeting hug. Rachael steadied herself at the end of Victor's bed.

She turned her eyes to Richard. "What happened?"

"Bomb," replied Richard without looking away from Victor. Rachael tried her hardest to keep her breathing steady.

"I-Is he-"

"He's still alive….for now." Richard stood up and for the first time since he arrived walked out of Victor's room. Both girls watched Richard leave without a word. Kory turned back to Rachael and held her by her shoulders.

"I will return in a short while." The dark haired woman nodded while looking intently at Victor. Kory gave Rachael one last glance of woe and followed after Richard.

--

Logan leaned back so far in his chair that he was almost lying down. His friend and colleague Shannon was currently bent over an open file and she kept darting her eyes between it and her computer monitor.

"I could really use Danielle's help right now."

"She's off limits, remember?" said Logan, though his voice traveled directly upward. Shannon looked over at him wit ha slight grimace.

"No, she's avoiding us because neither she nor Richard is willing to give up this stupid war they're having. Meanwhile we're stuck chasing an arms dealer through cyberspace and all we've got is one stupid alias."

"You mean 'Gizmo' isn't enough to find the guy?" asked Logan insipidly. He reached over and took up a mini basketball the size of softball. He tossed it up and down in the air, catching it every time. Taking a departure from her job, Shannon twisted around in her chair and looked at him strangely.

"If you don't mind my asking, what's with you and Rachael right now?" Logan's hands absently let the ball slip past them and it bounced off his forehead. He craned his head back up and stared at her with a 'you-mean-you-can't-tell' look. He was saved by the disgruntled, yet brilliant, cripple. Richard entered their quarter and went straight to his desk.

"Something new on our arms dealer?" asked Shannon.

"Yeah, he's probably bald," mumbled Richard. Shortly Kory glided into the room, only semi-cognizant of anyone who might've seen. Richard stood back up somewhat ungracefully, clutching a set of car keys. "Funny young co-ed blows herself up…." He now stood among the three of them. "What up with that?"

"I take it this has something to do with why Victor is now in Toni's care," said Shannon.

"They are possibly…somewhat..definitely connected," said Richard. He nodded at Logan. "You're the bomb guy, head down to evidence/recovery. Pick through any every piece of shrapnel they brought until you find something worth showing me." He then turned his attention to Kory and Shannon. "You two get back to the mall, use your shiny FBI badges and get surveillance footage, statements from the guards, the works. I want to know why this happened and if its going to happen again."

"Uhh what about-" Shannon pointed behind her at the work she had previously been engrossed in.

He shrugged as though he didn't have a clue what she was talking about. "What about what?"

Kory took Richard's shoulder. "She is referring to the dealer of weaponry, the one we have been tracking for the past three weeks…" He darted his eyes about then snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah! Now I remember, forget about him. I had the ATF pick him up a few days ago." Kory and Shannon exchanged exasperated gawks. Shannon swallowed down her rage.

"You're telling me that you solved the case days ago and you didn't bother to tell me while I was still sacrificing enjoyable sleep for this?"

"You looked bored." The three of them simply stared at him while he stared back with a tiny smile. "What? You're surprised that I'd do something like that? Oh children, daddy would never lie to you……he just likes to mess you a little." Chuckling. he and his third leg made their way outside. As usual Logan and Shannon immediately round on Kory.

"I will speak with him."

Toni carefully poked her head into Victor's room, mostly to ensure that Richard was no longer present. She saw that only Rachael was there and that it was safe to do her job.

"He is……going to be okay isn't he?" asked Rachael.

Toni tried to avoid looking her in the eye. "Well I've already brought Richard up to speed-"

"I'm sure you have," said Rachael in a low tone. "But I would like you to tell me." Toni clutched the chart she was holding ever tighter.

"You want me to be honest with you, right?" Rachael folded her arms. "Shrapnel has perforated a section of his right lung. We managed to stop his internal bleeding but if his heart rate jumps to anything above the norm it could start again." Rachael gradually returned her gaze to Victor. "He's going to need surgery, a lot of surgery. I really wish I could honestly give you better news, but at the moment it just looks bleak." Rachael closed her eyes, they were beginning to water.

Toni whispered, "I'm sorry."

I realize that may not have been that big of an opening but trust me, the scope of this story will increase. I really just wanted to start off as though this was just another chapter from the first story, like we're picking up right where we left off. I'm not really gonna specify how much time is between the two stories because I do that too often. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the opening chapter and this thing will really get underway with the next one. Laters!