Ok, guys. First attempt at a fanfic, so bear with me. I just really liked the idea of giving Spencer someone he could relate to. I might have gotten a few of the fact mixed up, so if I have, just let me know and I'll correct them. I am not an experienced writer, so any and all suggestions are deeply appreciated.
They were here. Annabel could barely contain her excitement as she pulled into the St. Clair County Police Department. She hopped out of her car, walking past the line of black SUVs in the parking lot. She had been studying the BAU team, and, although sorry for the reasoning, she was glad that she would finally get to meet them. She hurried into the police station, neatly dodging a head on collision with a blonde woman.
"Oh, I'm sorry…" The woman stopped, regaining her composure.
"Agent Jennifer Jerau." Annabel offered her hand.
Agent Jerau shook her hand, a puzzled look on her face. "Do I know you?" She looked over the girl. She couldn't have been any older than twenty four. She was quite pretty, with crimson curls falling around her face and a set of bright green eyes staring intently at her.
"No." Annabel shook her head. "My name is Annabel Kenner. I've studied your team. I know every single fact about you. The ones that are printed, anyway."
Agent Jerau's smile faltered. "O..K..?"
"I'm rambling again. People tell me that I tend to do that a lot, but I don't really know when to stop because I don't really realize that I do it. I guess I'll just have to take their word for it." Annabel shrugged, and Agent Jerau laughed.
"You remind me of someone I know." JJ shook her head smiling. "But I really have to go. Press conference."
Annabel nodded quickly and glanced around the station. Agent Aaron Hotchner was leaning over Sherriff Jasper Jones's desk with Agent Derek Morgan. Agents David Rossi and Emily Prentice were studying a blackboard across the room. Annabel approached the Sherriff's desk.
"Anything new, Jasper?" Her voice was eager.
"Annabel," The Sherriff glanced up at her approach. "I was wondering when you'd make your appearance today."
She smiled. "Here I am. Now… Have we got anything new?"
Jasper looked to Aaron. "This, Agent Hotchner, is my genius." He moved his gaze back to Annabel. "They found another body this morning. Arlene Hopkins." He handed her a stack of photos.
"She's sticking to her M.O. She usually keeps the victims a week before killing them, and a week after." Annabel spoke thoughtfully, picking up the crime scene photos and looking them over.
"You think the unsub is female?" Derek Morgan spoke up.
"Of course. Look here." She handed him a picture. It was a close-up shot of Arlene Hopkins's face. "Her make-up isn't smudged, and a man wouldn't have a steady enough hand to perfect the art of putting on eyeliner. She's done it the exact way Arlene used to wear her makeup, so she's had a lot of time to watch her victims, and maybe even some cosmetology training."
Derek glanced to Agent Hotchner and shrugged. Aaron held his hand out.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm-"
"SSA Aaron Hotchner." Annabel grinned. "Graduated from Harvard with honors, top of your class with a 4.0 average, majoring in criminal law and minoring in criminal justice." She turned to Derek. "And you're SSA Derek Morgan. Graduated from Seattle University with a 3.97 average, majoring in criminal studies. You were both at the top of your classes for FBI training, and you two have alternated the job of BAU section chief. It's an honor to meet you. My name is Annabel Kenner."
The two blinked, and Jasper laughed. "My genius blows your genius out of the water."
Annabel turned to face the Sherriff. "Don't say that, Jasper. I have the highest amount of respect for Dr. Reid. Regrettably, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him yet." She spoke thoughtfully and glanced around.
"Reid's at the dump site." David Rossi had been listening to the conversation from across the room.
"David Rossi." Annabel beamed. "I have read all of your books, and I'm a huge fan. It's an honor to meet you."
"Likewise." David smiled.
"Maybe after we catch the unsub you and I could get a chance to talk?" Annabel pressed. "I'm very interested in page 54 of your third book, paragraph six. The mindset that you talk about having in order to really submerge yourself into the minds of the darkest criminals without coming out of it with complete mental instability, it just fascinates me. I would love the chance to pick your brain."
Emily laughed. "If I remember correctly, that's the first sentence Reid ever spoke to him, word for word."
Annabel blinked. "So, when do we get moving? What's our first step?"
"Sherriff Jones will take you to the dump site. Maybe you and Reid can catch something the CSIs missed." Agent Hotchner spoke up.
Annabelle hopped out of the police car, following Jasper underneath the line of police tape.
"Dr. Reid." Sherriff Jones greeted him. "This is Annabel Kenner. She's my…" He looked for the right word. "Associate."
Annabel held her hand out, but Spencer was deep in thought. "I think the unsub might be…"
"Female." Annabel finished his thought, causing him to glance up at her for the first time. There was surprise in his features. "There's a lot of things that suggest it: The signs of remorse, the specific tortures that were carried out, and the lack of sexual motive. The thing that assured me that we're looking for a female, though, is the-"
"Way she prepares the body before dumping it." Spencer spoke slowly.
"You took the words right out of my mouth, Dr. Reid." She smiled. This was the first time she had ever talked to someone with an IQ as high as hers. Spencer's IQ was 187. Annabel's was 189. She was eager to see what type of conversations they could have with each other. In truth, she had always been in awe of him.
"Annabel Kenner." Reid's eyes widened. "I remember reading something about you." A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "This should be interesting,"
"I was just thinking the same thing." She smiled, holding out her hand.
"You are two years younger than me, and you have five PhDs." He spoke the words with reverence, shaking his head. "Are you interested in the bureau?"
"It's actually something I wanted to pick your brain about." Annabel nodded, then shook her head as Sherriff Jones cleared his throat. "Maybe some other time, though."
"Of course." Reid knelt down, inspecting the body that was lying in front of him. "Ligature marks on the wrists and ankles." The Sherriff walked away from the two of them.
"She was restrained." Annabel crossed her arms over her chest, the furrowed her brow, leaning in for a closer look. "But there's no sign that she was gagged. It makes sense, with an M.O. this vicious, that she would want to hear her victims scream."
"She would have to have someplace isolated. Somewhere she could carry out such brutal torture without the threat of anyone hearing." Spencer looked over the papers in his hand. "The cause of death in each victim is water in the lungs."
"They were drowned… But there are no signs of water wear on the body." She spoke the words pensively. "What other damage was done to the previous victims?"
"Several burns and scars all along the body, the scars made with a serrated instrument, the burns made my something perfectly round with a spiral pattern on the end. Maybe a branding rod?" Spencer glanced over the papers again. "Minor esophageal tearing, cracked ribs, and injuries most commonly related to chest compressions."
"Cardiopulmonary resuscitation." Annabel glanced to Spencer.
"CPR?" He looked confused. "Why would she use CPR if her M.O. is drowning?"
"Remorse?" Annabel thought for a moment, then sighed.
"That would fit." Reid sat back on his heels. "Warring with herself over what's right and wrong. Kill her, then save her, just to end up killing her again."
"We might be dealing with an acute schizophrenic." Annabel blinked, thinking over everything she knew about schizophrenia. The thought worried her. How were they going to be able to stop a woman with a severe psychiatric disorder with symptoms of emotional instability, detachment from reality, and withdrawal into herself?
"Or multiple personalities." Spencer sighed.
"I thought that multiple personality disorder had been disproved?" Annabel watched as he stood up.
"It's a theory." Reid shook his head. "But I've seen more than enough cases to believe that it's an actual sickness. In one case in Los Angeles, this boy, Adam's father had severely beaten and raped him when he was a child. To deal with the abuse, his mind split and created a woman named Amanda. Adam was anxious all the time, but when Amanda surfaced, she would jump at the chance to stare me down. She went on a killing spree that lead up to the attack of Adam's father. Luckily, we got there in time to save him, but Adam was gone." Spencer sighed. "I still visit Amanda every chance I get, trying to get her to finally do the right thing and let Adam go." He shook his head. "That was three years ago."
Annabel nodded. "I studied that case." She paused. "Along with others." She kept her gaze from his. Tobias Hankel was one subject she had been anxious to talk to Dr. Reid about, but she didn't want to push his comfort level.
He simply nodded in reply. "I think we might be ready for a profile."
Annabel grinned. "I can't wait to see your team in action. I've studied you all for such a long time."
"So, you're looking into the bureau?" He had already asked the question, but now was a more appropriate time to discuss the topic.
She began to walk to the Sherriff's car, and he followed along beside her. "Yes. I was wondering how the job affects you..?" She spoke slowly. "I want to help people, Dr. Reid, but I could just as easily be a surgeon. I'm severely interested in profiling, though. It's my first choice. So, I got to thinking: How does this line of work affect people like me? And then, it occurred to me that you're the only person who can answer that question."
"It's not easy." He admitted. "The thing you have to realize is this: As difficult as it may be to see the things that I've seen, to hear the things that I have been told, and to suffer the torture that has been done to me, I can go to sleep every night knowing that, just by experiencing those horrible things, I have made sure that no one else has to go through that. Until the next case, that is."
"So… What you're saying is that no matter how difficult the things you have to go through, it's worth it in the end because that's one life saved." Annabel stated, climbing into the police car.
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Spencer climbed in beside her and turned to face her. "Anything else you'd like to know?"
"Well, my only concern about the BAU is that…" Annabel paused, trying to think of a careful way to say this. "You're at the BAU, Dr. Reid. I mean… You're Spencer Reid." She tried to stress the situation to him. "What's the point in the BAU getting a new genius when the old one is so brilliantly good at his job?"
"The more geniuses, the better." Reid tried to hold back his smile, but failed. "Your regard of me is kind of preposterous, by the way. Your IQ is two points higher than mine, and you have two more PhDs than I do."
Annabel rolled her eyes as Jasper began to drive. "It doesn't matter how much higher my IQ is than yours, or how many degrees I have. The fact of the matter is that I would be…" She paused, choosing her words carefully. "Intimidated working alongside The Great Spencer Reid."
He looked her over. She had long red hair that hung in curls around her face, and shocking green eyes. He felt the blood rush into his cheeks, so he suddenly moved to look out the window. "As I said, preposterous." His voice was low, but she heard his words nonetheless.