Chapter 4:

They were back at the office now. Well, Charlie was anyway. When she and Morgan entered the Bullpen this morning, Charlie was determined to get out into the field today. She was going to go mad being stuck inside all day. However, Hotch was the boss and refused her request, instead having her sit in the conference room watching the videos to see if she recognised any of the flower shops customers.

It was tedious work but it had to be done and she is the only one that could do it. She was the target, which means she must have come into contact with the unsub at some point. What was particularly disconcerting is that she wouldn't give out her address to a complete stranger or someone she just met, so the unsub either stocked her or was computer savvy and only needed her name.

The videos were of mediocre quality. They were unfocused and she could hardly make out clear features of the stores customers. She was already on the video of the third store and still nothing was jumping out at her. She let out a yawn and paused the film so she could go get coffee.

She was just stirring milk and sugar into her coffee when she heard someone come into the bullpen. She peeked around the corner of the little kitchenette and did a double take when she saw who it was.

"Marshal?" Charlie asked as she came out of the kitchen with her coffee in hand.

"Uh Hi!" He said and walked over to her. He had a brown paper bag in his hand from the coffee shop that he owned, "I didn't hear from you so I was going to call but wanted to see you in person instead. I wanted to give you this."

She took the bag and opened it, "A double chocolate turtle bar! Thank you so much!" She was smiling brightly now.

"I thought I owed you one, for making you pay all the other times you came into the shop and I didn't notice you."

"That's sweet." Charlie said and walked over to her desk. Marshal followed.

"So what are doing?" Marshal asked.

Charlie thought it was an odd question considering she's at work but she answered anyway, "Working on a case."

"Don't you usually travel for work?" Marshal was being rather nosey.

"Usually yes but there is a case here that has taken priority." Charlie said as she took the brownie out and set it on top of the paper bag.

"Then there is a chance you'll be available for dinner tonight?" He asked.

"Uh, probably not. Not unless this guy is caught before then." Charlie said, forgetting about her brownie and standing up, "Which I should probably get back to." She said with a sigh.

"What's it about anyway?" Marshal asked as he sat in the desk chair across from her – Derek's chair.

It irked her that he was sitting there but she didn't say anything about that, "I can't tell you anything, nothing has been released to the public yet." Not to mention I only just met you two days ago.

"Hey Macy, did you get anything from those – Oh!" Garcia stopped talking when she noticed Charlie had company, "I didn't realise you were expecting any company."

Charlie smiled at her, knowing it was bothering Garcia just as much to see someone else sitting in Derek's chair, "I wasn't Marshal just stopped by to say hello."

"Oh right, you're the guy from the bar." Garcia said as she came over and held out her hand, "I'm Penelope Garcia."

"It was nice to meet you but I should get going. I have a business to run and you have a power hungry narcissist to catch." He said, "Which reminds me, don't forget about your brownie."

After he left, Garcia couldn't contain herself, "He is soooo cute and he even brought you one of your favourite treats. And to think you found him in a bar."

Garcia kept going but Charlie wasn't paying attention to her. There was just something about Marshal that made her insides tighten. He showed up out of the blue and was a little too curious about her job. And that comment he made, she thought, a power hungry narcissist is too specific to not know anything about the case.

As she went back to the conference room, Charlie thought back to her first meeting with Marshal a few nights ago. He seemed nice and normal, though he did ask a lot of questions about her job. She knows she didn't reveal that much to him about herself either. Charlie was a little suspicious so she wrote down as much as she knew about Marshal Stone to go over with the others.

Charlie was about to continue with the video when there was a loud crash out in the bullpen. She got up and immediately went to see but nothing was there. She brought out her gun and slowly made her way over toward her desk. When she saw Garcia passed out on the floor she quickly put her gun away and knelt down beside her. She felt for a pulse and relaxed when she found it and it was strong.

"Garcia, wake up." Charlie tried shaking her but she wouldn't wake, she was just dead weight.

She looked around to see what could have caused this and saw a bite taken out of her brownie. Looking back to Garcia, Charlie rolled her onto her back and took out her phone to call Hotch.

"Hey Hotch, I need you to arrest Marsh – mm – MMMMMM -" Charlie's mouth was covered by a hand, startling her into dropping her phone and her gun was taken from her as well.

"You were supposed to eat the brownie. Everything would have gone a lot smoother." Marshal whispered harshly in her ear while he pressed her cocked gun to her back, "Now we're going to leave and you're going to act like nothing is wrong."

Charlie only nodded, not trusting her voice right now. She was afraid but she tried her best not to show it. They were the only ones in the bullpen right now, so it wasn't until they left the elevator on the ground floor that she had to start acting like everything was fine. Once they were out the front door and into his waiting car, Charlie spoke in a shaky tone.

"Where are we going?"

"To finish the ritual." Marshal replied.

"My team knows who you are, they'll find us." She tried to reason, "If you turn yourself in, we could make you a deal."

"By the time they find us it will be too late. The ritual will be completed and I'll be the strongest being on the planet."

Charlie stared at him in disbelief, "So that's what this ritual does? It's supposed to provide you with the ultimate power?" She shook her head, "You pegged yourself right, you really are a power hungry narcissist."

"Shut up will you. I can't kill you yet but you're making it quite difficult."

"It's because you're a killer. You're not killing to complete a ritual, you're killing because you like it. It gets you off." Charlie started to goad him, swallowing her fear, "This witch thing was just your excuse to start."

"Shut up."

"Oh come on, you know I'm right. You feel power with each and every kill but once your victim is dead, you lose it, so you choose a new one. Am I right?" Charlie asked, ignoring Marshals warnings to keep quiet, "You can't control your urges, you're just like every other serial killer in this world except at least they have the balls to admit what they are!"

"I said shut up!" Marshal shouted, swinging his arm toward her, the gun in his hand hitting Charlie's temple hard.


"We're heading back to the HQ, now." Hotch said urgently as he closed his phone.

"Why, what's wrong?" Prentiss asked as they left crime scene.

"Macy's been taken." Hotch said as he flipped open his phone when they were in the SUV, "Rossi, you and Reid head back to the BAU, Macy has been taken."

"Do you know who took her?"

"I think so, we're going to have to talk to Garcia."

"Alright, I'll let Morgan know."

"No, I'll give him a call." Hotch said.

Hotch wasn't blind to the tension beyond the friendliness between Morgan and Macy. He's sure the rest of the team wasn't either which is why Morgan couldn't know about Macy's kidnapping yet. Morgan is now emotionally involved.

The phone was ringing, "This is Morgan."

"Morgan, I think we've found all we need to find at the other four crime scenes, head to Macy's apartment and see if the unsub may have left anything behind that we may have missed." He said, ignoring the look Prentiss was giving him.

"What's going on Hotch? What aren't you telling me?"

"We'll brief at the station later." Hotch closed his phone.

"Hotch, he has a right to know." Prentiss started.

"He won't be thinking straight. He'll be thinking more of her than the unsub right now." Hotch justified.

Prentiss's eyes widened in realisation, "Oh no, the unsub."

"What?" Hotch asked, trying to think and concentrate on driving at the same time.

Prentiss looked to him, "The unsub has the last piece to his ritual now. He's going to try and finish it."

"And I sent Morgan straight to him." Hotch cursed and turned the wheel fast while turning on his lights and sirens, "Call Rossi tell them to head to Macy's instead."

They arrived at the exact same time Morgan did and Hotch got out of the SUV quickly, knowing Morgan would become instantly suspicious. He needed to try and diffuse the situation before it got worse.

"What's going on Hotch?" Morgan asked, walking toward him.

"The unsub got Macy. We believe they're inside." Derek went to go but Hotch stopped him, "Think Morgan, we know what these people are like, how they think. If you just go barging in there, he'll kill you both."

Morgan looked to the apartment building then back to Hotch before shaking his head, "We have to head in now, if we don't it will be to late."

"I agree but we have to be stealthy. Any sudden movements or noise and we could lose her." Hotch said then looked Morgan straight in the eye, "Before we go in though, I have to ask you to leave your emotions out of it. For now, this is just another case."

"Hotch, it's Charlie, we're all emotionally involved. Just like we read was taken, just like when you were shot. She's apart of our team Hotch."

"She is apart of the team but is she just your teammate?" Hotch asked. It was rhetorical so he kept going, "All I ask at this moment is can you keep a clear head?"

They stared each other down for a moment before Morgan gave a nod. With this agreement set, the two of them vested up with Rossi, Prentiss, and Reid and headed in. They silently crept down the hall motioning to the curious tenants to keep quiet and stay in their apartment as we walked by them. They took the stairs up to the third floor to make sure they wouldn't draw attention to themselves.

When they reach the third floor and stepped through the door into the carpeted hallway, they heard a gun shot and then when all of them last a clear head and hurried forward.


Charlie groaned and brought her hand to the side of her head, wincing when she touched a bloodied gash near her temple. Ow, she thought as she squinted her eyes open to look around. She was on the living room floor of her apartment and decided it was now her least favourite place in the world.

It was also cold. Very cold. She wasn't wearing much she noticed. Her blouse was open and dress pants were taken off leaving her in just a bra and underwear. She looked and saw the throw on her sofa and moved to go get it only to be stopped by a voice that came from her kitchen.

"Stay where you are, it won't be long now. You just have to drink this up and then we can start." He said as he handed her the glass of water, "I hope you don't mind but I turned your air conditioning on."

"Of course," Charlie croaked, "You had to complete the last element."

"See, you understand." He seemed almost jovial at that.

Charlie knew the water was laced so she pretended to take a sip, "Don't treat me like a fool! If you don't drink it, I'll force you too." Marshal snapped.

With no other option, Charlie took a large gulp of water and swallowed it. Marshal was pleased and took the glass from her and walked back to the kitchen. Charlie moved as silently and as quickly as she could but the drug was working fast. She needed to get to her coffee table fast.

She could hear Marshal talking to her from the other room but she couldn't hear what he was saying, the drug was impairing her hearing ability too. She finally made it to her coffee table though and tried to open the drawer but she was seeing double. It took her a couple tries but she finally got it open and sighed in relief when she found her spare gun. She's lucky no one decided to ransack her apartment since the door is broken.

Her back was to Marshal when he came back into the room, "I thought I told you to stay put. Why don't you girls ever listen?"

She stumbled to her feet and turned around staggering back and forth; holding the gun with both hands, "Don't come any closer." Charlie demanded.

"Put the gun down before you hurt yourself, you'll be okay I promise. My powers will be able to bring back the dead." He took a step.

"I sai…d…..don-don't come…" She was having a hard time speaking and both Marshals were swaying, though that could have been her.

He took another step though and she steadied the gun the best she could and shot before being tackled to the floor, her gun flying out of her hand. She tried to struggle but she was so weak. He went right for strangulation unlike the other victims where he raped them first. I guess he thought the gun shot caused to much noise. She couldn't breath to think that through though.

The large gasps of breath she tried to take were short and didn't hold enough oxygen. He pressed down tighter and she tried to plead for her life but she couldn't even make a sound now. Just when she thought that was it though, she heard a second gun shot. Marshal's grip loosened immediately and she watched as his face turned to shock, then pain and she pushed him off her quickly, coughing and gasping for breath.

As Charlie was trying to catch her breath she looked toward the door and saw Hotch standing there, gun poised to shoot – he did shoot. Seconds after Derek, Prentiss, Rossi, and Reid came through the door. Derek came right over, grabbing the throw from the back of the couch and draping it over her. He lifted her to her feet and rubbed her arms over the blanket.

"You're okay now." He said and brought her into a hug.

Charlie nodded and let him hug her as she looked down at Marshals dead body. Her thoughts may be muddled from the drugs but she still knew what was happening. To think she thought he was a nice guy at first, ready to sweep her off her feet and forget about Derek. He's gone now though and Derek is still here, closer to her heart than he ever was before.

"Charlie." Hotch called, using her first name for once. She stepped away from Derek, securing the blanket around her more tightly, "You should pack some things and stay with someone. We'll get someone to clean up this mess."

"There's no need." Charlie said as she stumbled down the hall toward her room, using the wall to support her, "I'm…not…not coming back here."

She entered her room and took a suitcase out of her closet to begin packing her things. She tried to pack but it wasn't going well. She was still disoriented and her coordination was off.

She heard him before she saw him but didn't turn to look. She was trying so hard to keep it together but it was futile once Derek set a few pictures on top of her suitcase. There was one of her and her mom, one of her and brother, one of the three of them together and then another of her brothers family (him, his wife and his son).

"Almost lost…a daughter, a sister, an aunt." Charlie whispered, her speech was broken up.

"But they didn't and they're going to spend thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthdays with you for many more years." Derek told her, "There is something I need to ask you though. Did he rape you?"

"…no." Charlie answered, "Gun shot…scared him." She tried to be articulate but no matter how hard she tried, it wasn't helping.

"After you fired the gun?" He asked to be sure and she nodded, "He wanted to get the job done and went right for the kill?" She nodded again.

She started to attempt to pack again but when he saw that she was struggling to even stay on her feet he brought Charlie to her bed and laid her down, "I'll pack for you, rest for a little."

He put as much clothes in her suitcase as she could, mostly work clothes but a few lounging outfits and casual outfits as well. He didn't want to invade her privacy but he packed her undergarments as well. He grabbed a few things he deemed important and sentimental as well, like pictures, the shell her mom helped her find when they went to Hawaii that one year, and the stuffed animal that her older brother won her at the Salem fair when she was six. Anything else he may have missed she would come back with her to get later.

After helping her get some pants on and doing up her blouse, he helped her down the hall, wheeling Charlie's suitcase behind him. The team was waiting for them and the looks of sympathy were almost too much to bear.

"Charlie, take the day off tomorrow. We may have questions for you but we'll get to those the day after, you need some rest." Hotch said.

"Garcia?" Charlie suddenly remembered the perky blonde passed out in the office.

"We just spoke to her, she's a little shaken but she's fine. JJ found her when she arrived back at the BAU. She's just glad it was her who ate the brownie and not you. If was you, we may not have got to you in time." Reid said only to be hit in the arm by Prentiss, "What?" He asked.


Derek helped Charlie into the house and was greeted by Clooney right away. She wanted to pet him but she just needed to sit down. The drugs were starting to wear off and she could form complete sentences but her motor skills were still kind of slow, weak and unstable.

"Are you hungry? I'm starved." Derek said after sitting her down on the couch, "I could make some pasta."

"Sounds good." She said through a yawn.

"Alright Clooney, protect the Miss while I go make us some dinner." Derek said and went into the kitchen.

Clooney jumped up onto the couch and lay down with his head in Charlie's lap. She smiled as she pet him, this is the most comfortable she's felt all day. Derek didn't take long in the kitchen and came back with pesto penne. He forwent the meat, knowing it was take to long.

He came and sat on Charlie's other side and they ate in silence. Derek didn't mind, he wanted Charlie to speak when she was ready. However, Charlie was getting antsy in the silence.

"He forgot the music." She said.

"He probably didn't want to attract attention. It was three in the afternoon; someone would have found it odd."

"What did you find for air?" She said.

Derek was silent for a moment, knowing she should remember this, "The air conditioning was on full blast."

"Oh…right. He said that." Charlie said and then remembered how cold it was, "I felt it too."

They ate the rest of their meal in silence and then Derek went to the kitchen to load their dishes into his dishwasher. She went back to petting Clooney but a couple minutes later he got up and went towards the side door. Charlie got up and opened the door, following Clooney outside. She ignored Derek's questioning, she just wanted fresh air.

Clooney went off the porch to the side while Charlie walked over to a small gazebo containing a hot tub. That would feel so good right now, she thought as she walked closer. She was still gaining back her strength so it took a little effort to get the cover off but once it was, it made the heat even more enticing.

She looked toward the back door to make sure Derek wasn't coming out before proceeding to undress. She took off her blouse, sweatpants, and undergarments and got in. She turned up the jets to start the bubbles just in case Derek did decide to come out, which he did, a few minutes later. He walked over and noticed all the articles of clothing by the steps and raised an eyebrow at Charlie.

"I wanted to relax and this is definitely relaxing." Charlie said, "How come you didn't show me this yesterday?"

"I didn't want you to think I was trying anything with you." Derek said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wooden post of the gazebo.

Charlie shook her head and laughed a little (it felt refreshing), "You were giving me a tour of your house, I wouldn't have thought that."

"What's really going through your head right now?" Derek asked. He knew she was forcing thoughts from her head and it wasn't healthy.

"How long can I stay here Derek?"

"How long do you want to stay here?"

"I never want to go back to my apartment."

"Then move in here." Derek said, "I have tones of space."

Charlie shook her head, "You know that can't be a permanent solution."

Derek walked over to the edge of the hot tub and leaned in, "Actually I don't. Why isn't it?"

"You're a profiler Derek, I find it hard to believe that you don't know why you and I living together is a bad idea."

"Maybe your reasoning for why it's a bad idea is my reasoning for why it's a good idea."

"This circling conversation is draining. Can you get me a towel please?" Charlie asked, ignoring the new topic of conversation.

Derek walked back into his house and came back a few moments later with a towel. He set it on the tub and turned around while she got out and wrapped it around herself. She picked up her clothes and walked passed him and into the bathroom to shower. When she came out twenty minutes later, she went to her room to change into a pair of pyjamas.

She opened her door to come out only to be grabbed a pushed against the adjacent wall between hers and Derek's room. She had a flashback from earlier today of being grabbed and taken by Marshal and retaliated immediately. She screamed and uded all her strength to push her assailant in the stomach. An 'oaf' was heard and she opened her eyes once they let go.

"Derek! I'm so sorry. I'm still edgy from today." Charlie apologised.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He said as he held his stomach, "You hit hard and you're not even at full strength."

"I'm well trained in martial arts. I've even taken many of your classes since I started at the FBI."

Derek stopped rubbing is sore stomach to study her, "And I've never noticed you before?"

"I mostly stay towards the back." She said and walked to the living room to sit down, "I'm going to be edgy for awhile, I'm not going to be able to handle people sneaking up on me, possibly even for the rest of my life."

"I know." Derek said as he sat down beside her, "But you use that to make yourself a better agent."

"Is that what I say in my psych eval.?" She asked, "I know I'll be going for one first thing my day back."

"You say whatever you feel. They don't expect you to bounce back so fast."

"But they'll reassign me if they feel I can't do my job, it's nearly happened once before."

"What do you mean it's nearly happened before?"

"It was my first solo case in forensics. It was in Arlington. It looked like a suicide so I was sent just for formalities." Charlie explained, "The detective said the house was clear so I went in. I was dusting for finger prints when I was attacked from behind. I fought back of course but the guy still caused a life threatening injury. It was a month before I was cleared for the field again."

Charlie turned around so her back was facing Derek and she lifted up the back of her t-shirt. Once Derek saw the bottom of the scar he took charge and lifted her shirt up passed her shoulder blades. The scar was still an angry red of scar tissue that start on the left side of her lower back ran up the centre and split into two different directions on to her shoulder blades.

She was about to lower her shirt but her breath caught as she felt Derek trace her scar all the way up to her shoulder blades. He did it slowly, sensually, and it sent a tremor up her spine and caused goose bumps to break out all over her skin.

"And how did he do this?" He asked quietly.

"He tried to kill me and I wouldn't let him. He pushed me during the struggle and I fell into a glass coffee table. It shattered underneath me cutting open my back. He took out a knife and was about to slice open my neck but I picked up a sharp piece of glass and when he came closer I stabbed him in the neck. He died nearly instantly. I remained conscious enough to call an ambulance."

"And this is why you kept pushing me away in Florida? You didn't want me to see this?"

Charlie lowered her shirt and turned back toward him, "I pushed you away in Florida because we were on a case."

"I don't believe that. You were just as distracted as I was."

Charlie stood up and started pacing in front of him, "It doesn't matter why I did it, what matters is that it shouldn't have happened in the first place. We should have never went there, whether it was some clever ruse or not. We're professionals and we should be acting like it not like a couple of teenagers in heat. And I should have to remind you of this, you've been in this job longer than I have you know the repercussions of interteam-"

At some point during her rant Derek has stood up and waited. Once he saw an opening he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, placing one hand on the junction between her neck and shoulder, the other he slid down her arm until it held her hand. He didn't hesitate to complete his mission and brought her lips to his. It was heated and Charlie responded right away. Just as fast as she responded though, she pushed away and walked around the couch to use it as a barrier.

"Derek we can't do this!" She exclaimed.

"I don't see the problem. We're attracted to each other, why shouldn't we act on it?"

"Have you been listening to me at all?" She asked, "We're on the same team, it's unethical! I know you care about your career, it's why you're still single. I care about my career too."

"I've remained single because no one understands what this job is like. They don't understand its demands. I saw what happened to Hotch and Hailey, I didn't want that. With you it would be different."

"If anything it would be even more dangerous!" Charlie tried to reason, "We deal with serial killers everyday Derek. They're some of the best profilers in the world. If we were to get involved do you think they wouldn't notice? What position would that put us in?"

"Involved or not our feelings wont change, they'll pick up on it anyway. I know the team has."

"All the more reason to keep things professional."

"No Charlie, all the more reason to give it a try."

Charlie tried one more time to reason, "If we were involved and we were on a case and I was taken hostage with another victim and you could only save one of us, who would you choose Derek?"

"That's not a fair question Charlie."

"I know it's not but it needs to be asked. Now who would you choose to save Derek?" Charlie was determined to get an answer.

Derek sighed and walked toward the window before turning to face her again, "I want to say it would be you, every time" Derek started and continued before Charlie could say anything, "but I can't make that guarantee. I would try to save both you of course but in the end what it comes down to, is who is most likely to survive? That's who I would save." Derek explained.

Charlie was speechless, that wasn't the kind of heroic statement she was expecting. She was expecting for him to say that she would always be first, no exceptions. His answer threw the rest of her argument out the window and it was making her uncomfortable so she came up with a new one.

"You couldn't possibly know that. It's impossible to tell what one would do in any sort of situation. Your emotions could get in the way-"

"Stop making excuses Charlie!" Derek snapped and walked around the couch and in front of her before she could barely blink, "Why don't you tell me what really has you frightened?"

"I thought you said no inter-team profiling?" Charlie retaliated.

"Well you're making that kind of difficult right now, so tell me why you wont be with me!"

"You don't even know me! How could you possibly want to be with me if you don't even know me?!"

"I know you're favourite colour is green. I know you're not a genius but definitely in that territory, I know you joined the FBI because you wanted to make your mark on the world. I also know you wanted to join the BAU because of the work you read by Jason Gideon." He stopped speaking at Charlie's reaction to Gideon's name.

Derek analysed her reaction and came up with one question, "What is your connection to Jason Gideon?"