Title: COVET

By: Clonksholic

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters. Any original characters belong to me. I gain no profit from writing this, and do so solely to entertain.

Warning: There WILL be geographical mistakes and inaccuracies in this fanfic. I am currently living in Australia, and my knowledge of America, its towns and cities is limited to sources on the internet and the media. Most of the town names are and will be fictional to avoid misrepresentation of real places.

Summary: A serial rapist is abducting brunettes in rural Texas, the BAU being called in for assistance. A week into the investigation, the unsub is caught. However the realisation of their mistake may be too late. Emily Prentiss is next, and he's ready to strike.

COVET

By Clonksholic

'No, please, I don't even know you'

'Please tell me why you're doing this'

'Why are you doing this'

'Let me go, please'

'DON'T TOUCH HER'

'I didn't mean what I said, so please'

'At least tell me why you're doing this to me!'

'I never wanted this! You can't do this to me!'

'You tricked me!'

'No, no, n-NO!'

Whys, pleases, don'ts. Words his ears had grown accustomed to yet they always brought a grin to his face. Leaning forward to his laptop, he checked that the repeat option was on and turned his speaker volume to its maximum before turning to his desktop computer screen.

Dark brown hair was propelled backward as she walked with confidence. A figure of authority, one that failed to be overshadowed by the male beings on each side of her despite standing at least a head below them both. Large dark eyes drew him closer to his screen until they disappeared from its vicinity.

He wondered what her screams would sound like.

.

.

Power, however it evolved, whatever its origins, will not be given up without a struggle.

Shulamith Firestone

.

.

'We have another one.'

It was not a sentence FBI Agent Derek Morgan wanted to hear first thing on Monday morning after having arrived at work with a hangover persisting since Sunday.

'Matching the body that was found last Friday?' Emily Prentiss asked from the desk beside him, fresh faced and enviably sober. JJ nodded, motioning with a thumb, signaling that they were to assemble in the main office. Morgan felt her blue eyes glance in his direction suspiciously before she headed off before them.

Derek sat back in his chair and ran his hands over his forehead, letting them rest as he reached the back of his scalp. He mentally prepared himself for the effect standing on his feet would have on his head.

'Morgan?'

It was Prentiss, already up from her chair and staring him down.

'Yeah.'

'You look like shit.'

Derek frowned, a cheeky grin on his lips as he faced his female companion.

'Alright, tell me what you see lil' miss.'

Her eyes did not stray far from his as she briefly looked him up and down, 'Five o clock shadow, shirt that has not been ironed, your voice is only ever that croaky after a hard night of partying. Fess up Agent Morgan.'

Derek laughed, then cringed as his head gave another throb. Ugh, not a good idea. He managed a grin as Emily continued to look down at him with her left eyebrow raised in question, 'A friend of mine had their 25th on the Sunday. He had with him some good booze, and a few pretty party players.' His eye winked instinctively as he finished his sentence.

Emily looked away rolling her eyes, miming a disgusted expression, 'get up Agent flirtatious, it's time for work.'

A dark haired woman lay sprawled between black garbage bags, a scene somehow ironically fitting for the limp corpse that once had life in its dark eyes. Cheap clothes gave her the appearance of a prostitute; a murder scene no different from the works of other killers who had targeted hookers upon first sight.

'Texas, Jenny Bennett, 35 years old, she was reported missing a week before her body was found yesterday in an alleyway behind a roadside restaurant by one of their workers. There was evidence of repeated sexual assault, with various stab wounds around her body. Death caused by blood loss,' JJ's soft sigh was unheard as she finished the brief and retreated to her seat.

Another death, another victim they were too late for.

'The unsub seems to be targeting Caucasian brunettes, specifically those with dark brown eyes,' Reid mentioned, looking through the photos of the past victims.

'They were assaulted away from the dump site, and the large amounts of blood found at the scene suggest that the victims were left to bleed to death, possibly alive at the time they were left there by the killer,' Emily concluded, setting the papers in her hands down on the table.

'Did Garcia check up on the backgrounds of the victims?' Aaron inquired from the corner of the room.

JJ nodded, 'they weren't prostitutes.' She received a couple of raised eyebrows from around the room.

'Even this one?' Derek asked, pointing to the screen where the woman's photo still remained. He received another nod from JJ, 'Jenny was the principal of the local school in her town, Barlow Primary school.'

'Not someone you'd expect to walk around in six inch platform heels and a tube top,' Emily commented, shaking her head slightly as she jotted down a note.

'Well, we don't know that for sure,' Spencer contradicted her, 'sometimes the individuals who have the most conservative jobs and personalities may lead a double life.'

The other four victims were also all of highly regarded professions,' JJ continued, 'Bethany, a CEO of a company's design department, who had returned to Barlow to visit her parents, Joanie who was a lawyer – '

'Looks as if he's targeting professional career women,' Derek commented, 'perhaps he sees them as untouchable, a challenge.'

'Were there any other connections between the victims?'

'So far females aged between 30-40 have been targeted, three of the women found so far were originally from or lived in Barlow at the time of the abduction - the other two women were targeted when they had been passing through the town,' JJ replied to Aaron's question.

'Alright, JJ I want you to try to narrow down the possible abduction sites of the unsub to see which areas he frequents. We're going to need to interview both the family and the residents in the victim's town,' Aaron concluded, looking at each of his team mates in the eye to signal it was time to leave, 'we need to find out why he's killing these women.'

.

Emily joined the seat across to Derek as he was just about to fill his ears with music.

'How's the hangover doing?'

Derek gave her a small nod and a grin, 'better. How am I looking?'

Emily leaned back in an exaggerated manner, resting her chin on her hand and frowning to fake a contemplative expression, 'did you manage to get hold of a razor or something?'

Aaron Hotchner watched the two agents from his seat nearby. As Spencer joined them, only to receive a rough ruffling of his hair from Derek, he wondered whether the jokes and laughter that adorned their area would still remain by the time this case was finished. Happiness was only a momentary privilege in their line of profession. He wasn't quite sure of what to expect. The victimology of this case was erratic, with no apparent signature evident in his kills asides from the repeated assaults, one of the primary reasons as to why it had become a federal case. With the number of victims he had targeted, there had to be a lead, somewhere.

There must be.

'Worried?'

Aaron raised his head to meet David Rossi's eyes.

'Don't be,' came the comment before Aaron could respond, 'not until we get there anyway.' A soft chuckle followed. Aaron could comprehend where it had come from. The plane trips were often the equivalent to the dramatic irony characteristic to Shakespeare's classics.

.

That brown hair. Those deep dark eyes.

The features he coveted the most and always managed to obtain.

He wondered where it came from, that delicious confidence that radiated from her body, her stance, her expression.

Every single delicious detail.

And he knew soon, she would also be his.

A blond attractive lean man lingered at the counter as he waited for his drink. Tapping his fingers in a set rhythm, his head was kept still as he ran his pupils freely around the room. A strange grin twisted the corner of his lip as his eyes settled on a group of teenage girls . Amongst them sat a pretty petite brunette. Oh how she stood out so brightly among the rest. A blossoming flower in a garden of couch grass. One that would look beautiful for his garden.

'Your order's up sir.'

He hardly felt the cool glass as he carried the cup to an empty booth, making sure she was still in his sight. It was as if someone had blurred the rest of the world. As soon as he had laid his eyes on her, the world had somehow slowed down for his pleasure. The way she flung her hair over her shoulder. The way her hand caressed the table top. He wondered what those hands would feel like on skin.

His skin.

'FBI. We'd just like to ask a few questions to Mr. Harry Jones regarding his discovery from last week.'

Don't flinch. He cautioned himself. They are not here for you. Just get up slowly and walk towards the door.

He gave a loud cough, took out his wallet, and threw one last gaze at the pretty brunette sitting just a few metres away from him. Tough luck, babes. Might be back for you. His previous smirk evolved into a full grin. If you're lucky.

He leaned over the counter to place the cash on its polished surface. He nodded at the waitress in return for her smile. Pretty one. Unfortunately for her, just not his type. He decided to bless her with one of his smiles instead. A reward for her good servicea. Even if she had turned around just as he had spread his lips to bare his teeth.
Well, it was her loss. He had just turned around to leave when an unexpected sight met his eyes.

Long dark eyelashes framed her eyes. Dark brown hair was parted slightly to the side, length reaching a few inches below the shoulders. A white blouse lay under her black suit as she stood at a height that almost matched his. Lips were coated in light red rouge, perfect for her skin. Flawless. She did not meet his eyes as he passed her. A few seconds and she had him hooked.
An FBI Agent.
Perfection.

She was next. And like each and every other girl before, she was going to be his.

The brunette FBI Agent.

From head to toe, she was everything he had coveted from the day the bitch had left him. The way she walked, her stance as she had stood at the counter, no less powerful than the large dark man who had stood by her side. He did not know what it was about women like her; the danger their posed was an allure he could never resist from as long as he could remember. Her height, he had always loved tall girls. She promised both a great chase and a thrill, and he'd make sure she would be looking UP at his face the whole time.

The two hands on his watch pointed to 12.

It was time to feed them lunch.

.

'Is this the crime scene?' Emily asked as they stepped into the alleyway behind the restaurant where Harry had lead them. She mentally cringed at the putrid scent. Overfilled garbage bags toppled over the edges of the large metal bins – 'we keep forgetting to put it out for collection' came Harry's sheepish reply to her suspicious glance – while various bits of rubbish and cigarette butts littered the ground profusely. Derek found himself running his gaze over them as they followed their escort to the place where the Jenny's body had been discovered; a place as messy as this meant crucial evidence could so easily be missed.

'Here it tis.'

Derek estimated Harry's to be in his late teens. He spoke with a slow, lazy drawl, with a chubby appearance that reminded Derek of the stereotypical game-obsessed teenage nerds often depicted in films. He had only exchanged a few words since their arrival, but they were mostly mono-syllabic, as if speaking was a chore. He doubted the guy's manner changed during his shifts when dealing with customers.

A large patch of rusty brown painted the grimy surface between several black bags of garbage. Having been half a week since the discovery of the body, the flies had already moved on to the food spilling from the black bags.

'The place should be just as we left it'

Emily gingerly kneeled beside the dry puddle, eyes searching for clues, fibres, a strand of hair, anything.

'Can you describe how and when you found her?' Derek asked, aiming to ask a question that would force elaboration.

Harry gave a shrug, then replied, 'well I had the early shif' that morn'in, so we're meant ta arrive at work by at leas' five. Y'know, to clean up the place and set it up fuh early customers…anyway I think I came out here to take the garbage out at around half pass six, noticed a crow peckin' at a few bags...' he quickly rubbed the underside of his nose on the back of his hand before continuing, 'our boss don't like having animals goin' through the garbage – '

'Found something.' Pinched between her thumb and forefinger was a small white fluffy object. 'It looks like a feather. White with black edges; I doubt it's from the crows.'

'Bag it, we'll take it back to the station and see what Garcia can come up with,' Derek responded.

'- anyway, that thas how I found tha body.'

Emily rose from her place, removing the blue latex gloves from her hands. She turned to face Harry, 'did you notice anything particularly suspicious or different about this area at the time?'

'Uh…I dunno, it all seemed pretty normal to me, apart from that body, sure.'

Derek would have stayed and listened to the remainder of the conversation had it not for the vibrations of his cell phone.

'A visit from my favourite goddess, talk to me.'

'Ooh you know I love it when you do that – the genius strikes again, know what I have for you?'

He chuckled, 'you gonna tell me or keep me guessing?'

'Ohhh I don't know… since mercy is a virtue I'll be nice - this time. Anyway, you know how you mentioned that all the victims were clothed in garments that mismatched their professions? Well guess what I found out – while the victims bodies were covered in stab wounds, there were no cuts or damage present on the clothes.'

The grin disappeared from his lips, 'so the clothes were put on the victims post mortem?'

'I've taught you well.'

'Alright, you rock my world baby girl.'

'You know it.'

Derek headed back to where Emily and Harry were standing, where she was staring at the teen with an eyebrow raised as he gestured with his hands to aid him in his recount. It was evident that the teen's speech had gotten the better of her. She looked almost relieved upon his approach, 'what did Garcia say?'

'Looks as if the victims had been dressed in the clothing they were found in after their death. The clothes were intact meaning they weren't wearing it prior to the stabbings.'

'Uh…'

A familiar drawl caused both agents to avert their attention to Harry.

He scratched his head awkwardly, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

'Are you done with me? My shif' finished a few minutes ago and I'd kind of like to go home.'

.

The team's return to the station was met with the introduction of the officer in charge of the case.

'Detective Thompson, meet SS Agent Jearu, Morgan, Prentiss and Dr. Reid.' David introduced the team to a tall, well-built blond. High cheekbones adorned his cheeks, his face chiseled to assume a sharp, attentive mask. Piercing blue eyes met those of each agent in quiet acknowledgement. He stood as at a height that rivaled that of Hotch, with broad shoulders and a firm but graceful neck.

'It's a pleasure to meet you all, your help is very much appreciated.' Each of their hands was met with a firm grip that promised a sturdy ally. James Thompson then stood back politely, eyes jumping between each of the newly introduced members with fascination. Derek noted the way the man's gaze lingered for a second longer when he reached JJ and Emily, an action that seemingly contradicted the maturity that had been conveyed by his initial greeting.

'Shall we?' David spoke, motioning to an empty room.

'All right team, JJ will brief us on the updates of the current case,' Aaron announced.

.

Several miles away, a woman's screams faded away in a soft echo to the evening breeze, unheard.