"You're the miracle victim?" Morgan asks, sitting next to Audrey on the pavement. She says nothing, she just sits there-unmoving.
"Audrey?" Jennifer asks. She reaches down to touch her, but Audrey slaps her hand away.
"Audrey, are you the miracle victim?" Hotchner asks, no comfort in his voice.
"Keiles, Jacobs, Farlex, Cambars, Jones, Loxus, Walters." Audrey chants.
"Audrey?" JJ asks. Audrey repeats the chant in a strained voice. She seemed on the verge of a panic attack
"She needs pressure across most of her body. It will decrease the cortisol in her body and lower her blood pressure." Spencer rattles off.
"English?" Morgan asks.
"She needs a hug." Spencer says before leaning in and trying to give her a hug. She pushes him away the first time, but accepts the hug the second. She starts to sob after collapsing in his arms. "I'm going to take her to the hotel." He says, cradling her close to his chest. He stands up and guides her to the car.
"Well at least we know why she was acting so weird." Morgan says, once the car had sped off-earning a slap from JJ.
. . .
The police station is alive despite the time. The noise dies down when she enters the room. She's disheveled. Her lavender blouse half tucked into her white skirt. Her hair is pulled up half heartedly and there's a streak of makeup on her forehead. She walks up to the board and starts to work silently.
The boards were covered in crime scene pictures, pictures of the victims, and post its covered in ideas on the case. Audrey goes through, tearing the post it's off angrily and throwing them in the trash.
"No," She says reading another. "No, no, no!" She screams. She yanks at her socks, again and again. She groans before collapsing in a chair. "His name is Josiah." She whispers. "He always told me that I could call him Josiah."Spencer walks up to her and gestures for her to sit.
"Why didn't you tell us that you were Audrey Keiles?" He asks.
"Keiles, Jacobs, Farlex, Cambars, Jones, Loxus, Walters." She chants in response.
"Audrey," He says in a soothing voice, as an attempt to calm her. She starts to shake. "Audrey, Are you okay?"
"Keiles, Jacobs, Farlex, Cambars, Jones, Loxus, Walters." She chants once more. Spencer thinks for a moment, before deciding on a way to continue.
"Audrey, you are going to look at me." He instructs. "I won't ask you anymore questions. I know you won't answer any of them. I need you to know that you don't have to work this case." She pulls at her socks before she gets up.
"I know that Dr. Reid. I would like to work on this case and no one knows this man better than I do, so I plan to work on this case until we have him in custody or that bastard is dead." She says, moving back to the board. She looks over the information, scanning the photos.
"Agent Hotchner!" A portly man greets.
"Detective Ruester. Have you met my team?" Hotchner asks. The detective shakes his head. "This is Agent Jason Gideon, Agent Derek Morgan, Agent-" Hotch says, introducing the team members one by one, but Audrey didn't hear any of it until he got to her name. "-and Dr. Audrey-" She cuts him off.
"Dr. Audrey is good for now." She tells Hotchner, wanting to avoid her last name.
"I knew an Audrey once." The detective recalls. "She was a bitch. Actually she was connected to this case." The detective goes on, looking at the board. "Audrey Keiles was her name. The Miracle Victim wasn't that much of a miracle. She was just a bratty child who wouldn't tell us what happened. She could have saved so many lives, but she wouldn't open her damn mouth. But she has to be dead. I mean she slit her wrists twice while she was in our custody and that was fourteen years ago, she has to have died years ago."
"Maybe she did something with herself." Audrey says, not looking away from the board. "I mean maybe she went to school and is now trying to catch guys like the one who kept her." She retorts. The detective-not understanding her tone-says.
"That's impossible. Before she disappeared she had a record a mile long. She was hospitalized nine times for suicide and arrested seventeen times for all sorts of charges."
Audrey grinds her teeth. "Hello, My name is Dr. Audrey Keiles. I would love it if you would shut the fuck up. As you can see I am not dead and if I must I will show you both my Doctorates, all three of my Bachelors, as well as my FBI badge-to prove that I actually did something with my life." She growls. Detective Ruester stands, silenced by Audrey's words.
"Get him out of my sight." She instructs, before turning back to the board. She flutters her hand over two photos-a young boy and teenage girl. She pulls them off and turns them around so the blank back faces her. Spencer gives her a questioning look. "Fletcher and Clementine Keiles." She whispers. "My big brother and sister." She leans into the board, tipping her pulls at her socks. The police station is eerily quiet. The doors burst open.
"He did it again!" The young cop from the day before shouts.
"Damn it!" The sheriff shouts. Audrey storms towards the door and the young cop.
"Keys!" She demands. He hands them over without a fight.
Audrey sprints to the motorcycle, her coworker's shouts being ignored. She turns the keys in the ignition and the motorcycle roars to life. She zooms out of the parking lot, the wind in her hair. She brushes away the tears that start to fall.
Everything is a blur to her and not just because of the tears. After so many years, why was he back? Why now? Why here? She's so confused about so many things. The only thing that's clear is that she was going to catch him.
My Miracle Victim:
I see that you are back, again.
I am glad that you no longer find my love frightening.
That always drove me mad.
But you knew that.
Because you know everything.
Except for who I am.
Except for where I am.
All you have is Josiah.
But I know you, Audrey.
And I know we'll be together soon.
Because my love with will never die.
And your idiocy won't either.
See you soon, my love.
His second message, written across the window in blood, just like before. Unlike last time, she stays still, but on her feet. She hears police cars roll up behind her.
"I'll do one interrogation." She says to no one in particular. Hotchner walks up to her and places his hand on her shoulder.
"We'll go back to the station and do it." Hotchner instructs. Audrey brushes his hand away.
"I'll only do it with Reid." She looks up, guiding her back to the car. She stops him.
"Can we go to a bakery instead of the station?" She asks. She lays her hand on her stomach just as it growls. "I haven't eaten since that cupcake yesterday and I really want another." Spencer chuckles.
"Sure, why not."
"There's one down the street." The scrawny cop from earlier tells the two.
"What's your name?" She asks.
"State Trooper Jeremy Hakings." He answers, taking pride in his title.
"Thank you Jeremy." Audrey says, giving him back his keys. "And nice bike." She tells him, before walking away.
"How are you?" Spencer asks, once the crime scene is out of sight.
"How do you think I'm doing?" She retorts. She keeps walking, silent for a moment. "I changed my name so many times. I have been a blonde, a brunette, I even had purple hair for a while. I've worn colored contacts and gotten tattoos. I've done everything to hide my scars. I destroyed my records and created new ones so I could get a fresh start in the BAU. I didn't get one full day, before my facade fell apart." She mumbles. She sighs. He holds the door open for her and the two walk into the pastel building. The two go through the line, Audrey grabbing a bright red cupcake with a swirl of frosting on top.
"Get something." Audrey instructs, taking a credit card out of a pocket in her skirt.
"I got it." He says stopping her hand, after grabbing a muffin. Audrey glares at the pastry.
"Why the in hell would you get a muffin?" She growls. "It's a dense cupcake without frosting! That's just plain stupid!" Spencer chuckles, handing his credit card to the cashier.
"Maybe I think cupcakes are too sweet." He tells her. Audrey gives a little giggle.
"There is no such thing as too sweet."
The two leave the building and continue walking down the street, away from the crime scene. She keeps quiet, too scared to talk. He lets her, knowing that if he pushed her she would lock up.
"Life story or just the part where the man who killed my family held me hostage for six months?" Audrey asks with a hollow laugh. She finishes her cupcake, dabbing the frosting off her lips.
"It might help if you start from the day you met him." He tells her.
Her hands shake as she recalls the story that she has never let leave her lips. He walks along following her without a word. She finishes, wiping her eyes as the tears started to fall.
"Did you know you're the first person to hear any of that?" She whispers, pulling at her socks.
"Thank you Audrey." He says before pulling her into a hug. She breathes in shakily.
"I stabbed the last person who tried to hug me." She mumbles into his shoulder.
"Applying pressure to a large area of the torso-like in a hug-lowers blood pressure-" Audrey cuts him off.
"And decreases the cortisol production levels in the body." She finishes.
"Do you want to go back to the station?" Spencer questions. She nods, biting at her lip.
"Can-could-would-" She breathes in heavily. "Please don't tell them anything that is irrelevant to finding him, just because it is technically part of the case. There are a few things I really don't want getting out, and you can guess which things those are."
. . .
The doors open to the station. Spencer and Audrey enter the room. JJ walks up to the two before anyone else sees them. JJ pulls at her sleeve and wipes at the corner of Audrey's mouth.
"C'mon over guys!" Morgan calls from the other side of the room. JJ gives her a slight smile before turning and walking over to the rest of the group.
"Nothing irrelevant." Spencer whispers in her ear. Audrey follows him to the group feeling hollow, but oddly comforted.
"Hey Audrey, Can we run a profile past you? We wanna know if it matches...him." Hotchner asks.
"Why are you asking me?" Audrey says bitterly. "I mean you're the boss." Hotch winces at her tone. She rubs her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm usually not like this. It's just this brings back so many bad memories." She mumbles.
"That's perfectly understandable." Jason says, squeezes her shoulder. Audrey forces a smile.
"Okay, let me hear it." She says.
"Audrey, your PhD is in Human Behavior, right?" Hotchner asks, not looking up from the case file in his hand.
"My PhDs are in Human Behavior and psychology. Also one of my BAS degrees is in criminology-if that will help." She tells him, happy that the focus was off her abduction, but that happiness didn't last long.
"Do you think he was a sexual sadist?" Audrey chuckles, watching Spencer wince.
"Definitely not." She ignores the questioning looks.
"How do you know that?" Morgan questions.
"Spencer, do I know?" Audrey asks, annoyed.
"Trust me guys, she knows." Spencer tells the group, trying to avoid explaining.
"If you guys read the message you know what he wants;how we'll catch him." Audrey mumbles. "He wants me." She pulls at her sock. "He started killing every day-he's deteriorating." She takes a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "He always killed in sets of 25 every other day. He was OCD. He had to. But if he isn't doing that, the object of his affection is more important than himself. He wants me. There are three options. 1-I stay here, more people die tomorrow. 2-You give me back to him and I eventually kill myself or him. And 3-I die. Tonight. He'll mourn and most likely stop. I will do two or three. There is no way in hell that I will let more people die because of me." She checks her watch. "Three hours one of you meet me at the hotel with your choice. I am going to find a pool. I wonder if I still remember how to swim. See you at six." She says before walking away.
A trooper runs up behind her, just as she leaves the building.
"Trooper Hakings." She greets, forcing a smile.
"Jeremy is fine." He assures her. "Tomorrow, when I see you again-and I will see you again-you can give it back. But for now-" He places the keys to his motorcycle in her hand. "Go swim, go for a ride, get your stress out. But you are staying with us. Not that son of a bitch. And death is not an option. It never is. Don't let that bastard win." Jeremy pulls her into a short hug.
"See you tomorrow." Audrey says.
"Yes you will."
. . .
After hours of arguing, the BAU finally went to find Audrey.
"She said she'd be in the pool." Spencer comments as Hotch goes to check her room. He pauses.
"I knew that." Hotch replies before heading in the other direction.
She was-as she said she would be-in the pool, but her condition was...odd. She laid-fully clothed, but soaked-with her bottom half in one floaty and the top in another.
"What the hell are you doing?" Morgan asks.
"Turns out I do not remember how to swim. And for a second I kinda forgot that you need to wear a bathing suit." She answers, "Have you decided?" She inquires. Hotch nods.
"None of the above. Not one two or three." Spencer says before Hotch has the chance. "Bait. You'll stay with us, but you'll lure him out.
"I gave you the options." She mutters. "That was not one of them." She paddles over to the ladder and climbs out-a hilarious sight despite the serious conversation. She strains her drenched clothing. She huffs. "I'll do it. But then I'm leaving. I'm going to disappear again. Well, that is if I live." She turns to Agent Hotchner.
"I just have one condition. If it comes down to it, kill me before he can take me. I'd much rather die than go back to the hell he put me through." She walks back into the hotel, sploshing with each step.