AN: Just wondering if anyone is enjoying this story or not...not getting much feedback but see people are reading it. The team will appear in chapter six if you're wondering where they are at right now.

Eddie was already in Tanner's room when Devin caught up with him. His professional manner was back, and there was no trace of the conversation they had just had in his demeanor. Sometimes she wondered how he could transition so quickly, but she pushed the thoughts from her mind as she focused on what he was saying, content to let him take the lead.

"Mr. Tanner, we need to have a serious talk about what happened to you."

"I already told you," Tanner spat out at him, clearly agitated.

"What were you doing in that alley at three in the morning?"

"What? I was just going home. I was trying to get to Reisters…"

"The metro was closed. What were you doing in the alley at three in the morning?"

"Look man I was just trying to get home. I don't live that far from there; I cut through there all the time. I wasn't going to Reisterstown for the metro, I was cutting through b'cuz I live a block from there."

"What did you see before the man attacked you?"

"I told you nothing! It was dark. I was hurrying across to get home. The man came out of the shadows."

"What happened to your hands?"

"What?" Tanner asked as he lifted his hands, dropping his eyes. Devin thought he was realizing for the first time his hands were torn and bruised. "I…I don't know."

"Come on, Tanner, you want me to believe you didn't know your hands were torn up?"

"I honestly don't know. I have no memory of hurting my hands."

"I think you got into a fight with someone. Threw some punches, and in the end it got you shot."

"No."

"What were you doing out at that time anyway?"

"I was coming home."

"From where?"

"A friend's place. Look…"

"Name."

"What?"

"Your friend's name."

"Kelly. Kelly Harmon. Look I don't know why that guy attacked…"

"We found a body less than a hundred yards where the paramedics found you."

"A body?"

"Yeah, a dead one," Eddie deadpanned. Devin watched Tanner's expression for any kind of response and she saw the slight surprise in his eyes. It could have been faked.

"Oh, God. A dead body?"

"What did you see in that alley, Mr. Tanner?"

"See? I…I told you already nothing," he protested, but Devin could see he was hiding something. She continued to let Eddie push.

"I know you're lying. Your hands tell a story, and your eyes make me think you saw something in that alley. What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing!" Tanner roared as he sat forward in the bed. He then grabbed his head and flopped back down gasping. A nurse came in the room looking upset.

"You're going to have to leave now," she said curtly to Eddie. He nodded slowly, his eyes still on Tanner.

"We're not finished, Tanner, you've got some questions to answer and I think you're involved in the murder of that other body."

"I AM NOT!" Tanner howled and then his breathing began to become ragged. Devin stepped forward and gripped Eddie's shoulder as the nurse rushed to Tanner's side.

"Leave, now," the nurse said rudely as she went to work on Tanner. Devin steered Eddie towards the door and they walked from the room in silence. Devin's mind was still reeling from the conversation in the car and she kept stealing glances at Eddie. He seemed to be oblivious, or at least pretending to be.

They were back at the station before either one said anything and it was strictly the business of the case. Waiting on Eddie's desk was the report from the patrol men who found the body, and Devin added it neatly to the binder. She then looked at her partner for a moment.

"Something on your mind, kid?" He asked softly.

"We need to ID this body and find out who had motive to kill him."

"Yeah I was thinking that too. We've got nothing to go on right now, aside from a man who's been in a fight and was shot. That won't talk to us."

"And a dismembered body."

"Right."

"I can't help it, Eddie; I keep coming back to Eriksson. It was just so similar."

"Well you got that file in your desk right? Let's take a look, maybe we can figure something out from it."

They spent the next three hours poring over the Eriksson file. Devin couldn't shake the feeling that there was a connection, even if it wasn't Eriksson who had done the crime. He was still locked away, but maybe someone knew the details of his crimes and is copying. The entire time they were pouring over the case, part of Devin's mind was analyzing the man next to her. She couldn't help it now, not after what he had told her that morning.

It was her stomach that broke her concentration on the Eriksson file, the grumbling loud enough to garner Eddie's attention too. She was slightly embarrassed by that fact but she simply ducked her head when he raised an eyebrow in question. His hand came down lightly against hers and she looked up at him in question.

"Hungry by chance, kid?"

"Yeah," she replied with a slight laugh. "Guess we missed lunch with everything going on." She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was almost four in the afternoon.

"Yeah, come on. Bring the file we'll grab some fast food and work the case some more."

After settling into a booth at the burger joint down the road from the station they opened the file up again and began to share what they had. The conditions of the bodies were close to what they had found that morning.

"What are we looking at?" Devin asked slightly overwhelmed with the possibility of what they were seeing.

"Someone copying William James Eriksson and his evil ways," Eddie replied quietly as he studying the top of the table. He had been avoiding her glance all afternoon.

"We should talk to the people who worked Eriksson, who interviewed him. Maybe he had an accomplice that was never found, or fans that might have gotten information not released to the public."

"We've got the transcripts right here of the interviews, I don't see anywhere that he even hints at having help. He took pride in being a loner; I don't think he'd have worked with a partner."

"Someone knows, or we have two very sick people who think the same."

"The FBI handled most of the case, it's not going to be easy to get information from them without them swooping in and trying to take our crime scene."

"I'm sure we can talk to someone without them taking a hand in the investigation. There are notes in the case file of the Behavior Analysis Unit interviewing and working the case. Maybe I could just talk to one of them."

"Maybe. Let's work this a little more before we run to the FBI. What's that in the box there?"

Devin glanced down and noticed what Eddie was talking about. She picked it up and slowly inspected it. It was a tape, and the lettering on it read: Interview with W. J. Eriksson #23.

"Looks like a tape of an interview. Find the transcripts for interview number twenty-three," Devin replied glancing over at the stack. Eddie thumbed through them quickly and frowned.

"No number twenty-three. Let's head back to the station and listen to it."

"Yeah," Devin replied as she started to pack up the file. Eddie went and took care of the bill while Devin finished loading the box. They met at the front of the building and took the short walk back to the office.

They were at their desks, a tape player sitting on Eddie's, when he pushed the play button. Devin had settled back into her chair, closing her eyes to try and see Eriksson as he talked. As soon as the tape started playing Devin felt the fear choke her internally.

The voice had made her entire body start to shake with unbridled fear, her mind screaming at her to hide. She began to breathe heavy, coming close to hyperventilating. Then the images started to flash through her mind, making her eyes blink with horror. It was as if a movie had been switched on, jerking heavily as the reel caught and released.

She was eight years old; the fear was strong enough to weigh her down. Her breathing became ragged as she saw her mother, laying on the floor, eyes gaping, blood escaping from the multiple holes. Her father's voice screaming in a pitch much too high for him, begging for someone to stop.

Her brother holding his hand over her mouth as she wanted to scream, the fear so thick it was choking her. He left her, Dexter did. He told her to be quiet and left her. Dad made a screaming noise in her mind, and she let a whimper out. Loud noises pounded her ears and she sprung from the closet like a firecracker, charging into the living room.

Her father was sprawled against the couch, blood and brain matter spattered over the fabric, wall, and carpet. His hand clutched her mother's hand. Dexter was laying face down on the floor in front of him, eyes wide but dead. She screamed then, in her mind, in the present. Pain slammed into her where she had scars, engulfing her senses until she welcomed the darkness.

When Devin opened her eyes she felt someone kneeling underneath her. Her head was in someone's lap, and a hand was gently caressing her shoulder. Voices were coming from above her, but she couldn't make them out, the noise was garbled in her head. A loud buzzing was slowly subsiding and she opened her eyes to see Eddie looking down at her. The concern in his eyes was overwhelming to her and she took in a slow shaky breath.

"Devin?" He asked. The use of her name made her sure something bad had happened. She looked around and felt the pang of embarrassment as the entire department was staring at them. She tried to sit up but Eddie held her down. "Wait, the paramedics are coming to check you out."

"I don't need paramedics," Devin protested, wanting nothing more than to get up and disappear. "Let me up."

"You fainted, kid, took a spill."

"That would explain the pain in my head," she smiled weakly.

"But before you did, you…"

"What?" She asked, his hesitancy making her worry. "What happened?"

"When I turned on the tape you…you blanked out, then you started shaking, breathing hard, then you screamed, and finally you passed out. What's going on?"

Devin thought about that for a moment, the memory resurfacing in her mind. She gasped again and felt Eddie's arms come around her a little tighter. She swallowed hard, and in that moment knew she had to get out from in front of all those eyes. She was going to break down, and be damned if she was going to do it in front of all her co-workers. In front of Eddie was one thing, but everyone else, no way.

"Let me up," she said through gritted teeth and the pleading in her eyes made Eddie release her. She got to her feet and headed straight for the women's restroom, but that wasn't going to stop Eddie, he followed her right on inside.

Devin splashed water on her face and let it drip from her jaw. She heard someone grab paper towels and they appeared on her shoulder. She looked up in the mirror to see Eddie standing behind her, and she gave him a small smile. He was always there when she needed him.

"Want to tell me what happened?" Eddie asked slowly, his hands coming down on her shoulders after she took the paper towels and started to dry her face.

"The voice on the tape…it brought back…a memory."

"Eriksson? You knew Eriksson's voice?"

"Not Eriksson," she said weakly feeling like she was going to loose the contents of her stomach. "Not his voice, the other voice. The interviewer."

"The interviewer? I don't understand. His voice triggered something from your past?"

"How much do you know about my past, Eddie?"

"Just what you've shared. You were adopted after you became an orphan. Your parents died when you were eight, your grandparents when you were eleven. You went to live with a family friend named Nick Beck."

"My parents and my brother didn't just die when I was eight, they were murdered. And quite brutally at that," Devin replied the tears slipping slowly from her eyes.

"I had no idea," he said softly coming up closer behind her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she continued.

"I was also a victim of the murderer. I just happened to survive my wounds. They never caught the man who killed my family, Eddie, but mainly it was because I couldn't remember what happened. The doctor called it Psychogenic Amnesia. The trauma caused me to…forget…what happened to us. But that voice…he was in the house that day, Eddie, I'm sure of it. How could that be?"

"Devin, that was a member of the law enforcement community on that tape. Let's be very careful with this."

"I know, Eddie, I know…but what if my family was murdered by a cop?"