--Okay, here's chapter 2! Have fun!—

2

I walked into the police station, noticing the high intensity in the air as disheveled people walked back and forth. I could tell these people hadn't slept in days. They spat at each other in harsh voices, barking commands or things that needed to be done. They were panicking. And if the people that were supposed to protect the people were on the verge of a frenzy, then the citizens had to be a thousand times worse. And if they weren't already, they would be soon.

"We need to speak with the police chief." Hotch said to a passing officer. The young man nodded and walked over to a cluster of people that seemed to be in a very heated discussion. They were obviously of higher status than the others walking around. Most likely the police chief and a handful of detectives.

When the young officer fully approached the group they all turned to him, agitated looks on their faces. I could tell he was stammering out what Hotch had told him. He glanced briefly in our direction, as did the others, and continued talking. After a moment a man I assumed was Chief Jackson stalked toward us. From a distance he looked like a big guy, up close he was huge. He had to be at least 6'7 and from the size of the rest of him, at least three hundred pounds and fifty pounds…of solid muscle. His dark eyes darted back and forth between us, his cornea's stark white against his dark skin.

"'Bout time you guys showed up," He said. "Me and my boys have done anything we can to find this son of a bitch and we've come up with nothing." Hotch nodded.

"We'll do everything we can to get the Joker off the streets." He said.

I looked around the station again. The anxiety was practically radiating off of the room. Stress levels had to be through the roof. I hoped that wherever the Joker was, he was happy with himself.

"…Penelope Garcia will be helping you with the feeds you have received from him to see if she can find a general area he's been in." Hotch said.

"And the rest of you?" Jackson asked.

"We're going to find him before he kills someone else." Hotch said. Jackson looked over his shoulder and gestured for someone we couldn't see to come forward.

"Agents this is Detective-"

"Rachel?!" I exclaimed. She smiled at me, and my heart skipped a beat. Jackson looked between the two of us.

"So, you know each other?" He asked. I nodded, though I didn't look at him.

"Hey Spence." Rachel said softly. I smiled at her, still shocked to see her. I could tell Morgan and Emily were exchanging glances right now, trying to keep themselves silent, but I didn't care. Rachel walked toward me and hugged me. My heart beat faster and my face flushed. I hugged her back, wondering if I'd ever be able to let her go this time. I shut my eyes and squeezed her close to me. She gripped me tighter. All I could think was finally. Finally she was with me again. Finally it actually felt like she was mine, and no one could take her away from me. Finally.

"You just don't listen do you?" She whispered. I shook my head.

"Never have. What are you doing here?" I asked. She sighed.

"I got transferred from New York." She said.

"Thanks for telling me." I said with a small smile.

"Yeah well, I've kinda got my hands full."

I understood. Even if I didn't I couldn't be angry with her right now. Like I said before, I missed her more than I could say.

"Guys you need to see this!" Rossi's voice yelled from a distance. Rachel and I reluctantly broke apart and followed everyone into the next room. Rossi gestured to the T.V. in front of him.

"I knew Chicago's finest couldn't catch me on their own," I looked at the man on the screen. His hair was partially in his face, the red smile shown against the white paint on his face. His hands were holding the camera, the scenery around him changed as he walked around with it. He was grinning at us. "So you went and got the BAU involved." He shook his head, pursing his lips.

"I knew you were crappy cops but…I never realized you needed a babysitter." His tongue lashed out to one side of his mouth. My brows furrowed at this gesture.
What was that? I looked closer at his face. Then I saw the scars under the red paint. They stretched from the corners of his mouth to just below his cheek bones.

"But, hey, the more the merrier, hm?" His grin broadened. "So, the FBI wants in on my little game. Now, I won't tell you when you start playing," He leaned closer to the camera, his smile fading. "But I think you'll know very, very soon," He smacked his lips together. "And you can ask your friends if I'm a man of my word." He laughed, loud and high pitched before the screen went black and returned back to the news program.

"He's right," Jackson said. "If anything he's not a liar. Every terrible thing he said would happen happened. No matter what we did to stop it." Hotch nodded grimly. I shook my head.

"Alright," Hotch said. "Let's see what we can find out."

Seven Hours Later…

"Alright," Rossi said. "We have absolutely nothing on this man. We've been looking all day. No family, no name, no place of residence. It's as if he just appeared on Earth one day."

Emily shook her head and threw the overflowing file onto the desk. Morgan rubbed his temples and continued to read through a file he had gone through at least a dozen times now.

I had been absorbing every single bit information from the case that I could.

The Joker was sadistic. He used a knife to make killings go slowly. Chaos…chaos was something he created to see people in their darkest form. I didn't know why.

He was smart. Very smart, but also insane. Somewhere in his life he'd had a breaking point. Up until whatever that was he could see the darkness starting to manifest. Then there was a stressor. If I had my best guess it was whenever he got the scars. I doubted he would do it himself, unless the stressor happened before the scars were there.

There was just so much we didn't know. So much we usually could find out, but this was different.

"Alright, we'll pick this up tomorrow." Hotch said. "Right now, go get some sleep."

"I booked everybody at the Congress," J.J. said. "If that's alright with everyone." We nodded; too tired to really care where we stayed.

I set the file down and stood, following everyone out. Rachel came up beside me. I looked down at her and smiled.

"I miss you." She said softly. I nodded.

"I miss you too." I grasped her hand in mine. She blushed. I pulled her closer to me as we walked outside, heading for the cars.

"How've you been?" I asked. She half shrugged.

"Same old same old. You?"

"Same here." I sighed. I realized we were in front of the car and my heart sank. I didn't want her to go. I pulled her to me, gently kissing her. She kept her eyes closed for a moment after we broke apart, then looked up at me with those beautiful eyes.

"Take me with you." She whispered. I rested my forehead against hers, looking into those eyes. I kissed her again, giving her my answer.

She pulled me to the car behind the one we were standing in front of. Hers, I assumed. I saw Morgan, Emily and J.J. talking amongst themselves, smiling in our direction. Garcia came up behind them, giggling after J.J. filled her in on the conversation.

I tried to put the case out of my mind, or at least keep it in the back of it. And I had succeeded, until we got to the room. When I walked in there was a letter on the desk. I opened the envelope, pulling out a card and a piece of paper. I tossed the card aside and read the note.

Are you ready to play Doc?

My eyes grew at the words, but I wasn't really scared until I picked up the card and saw the joker looking back at me.

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