A/N: I wanted to thank TAMS for the review as I can't reply, I'm glad you see it that way. Now everyone, go enjoy chapter 7!
The man was startled by the sudden eruption of sound in the dark room. He had spent the better part of the last eight hours in mute solitude. He had been utterly transfixed by the images flickering across the monitors that he was glued to. He turned to face the intruder with bloodshot eyes that were wide in terror.
"Whoa," the other man put his hands up. "You okay, Steve?"
Steve instantly realized how strange and frazzled he must have seemed, and quickly composed himself. "Yeah, I just uh… I think I'm going to take the day off tomorrow." He hurriedly excused himself and his behavior, and practically ran toward the exit. The other man's features scrunched up in confusion before he shook his head and took the now vacant seat.
He looked to the screens and saw a familiar sight. The B.A.U. team was still hard at work. He saw that group in the early morning hours quite a bit. They would often stay late to knockout a task, or come in to get a head start on the new day as a team. He squinted again, thinking back to his coworker's actions. Then he peered over his shoulder at the now closed door, mulled it over for a few seconds, and shook his head once more.
"I'd like to take a look at the crime scenes, would that be a problem?" Of course, even if proper procedure restricted his access, it wouldn't be a problem for the Doctor, merely a nuisance.
"Not at all." As farcical as this all was, there was something about the Doctor that almost begged for blind trust and acceptance. This was something that Hotchner had inadvertently succumbed to. "Morgan and Prentiss, show him to the abduction sites."
Derek was driving, and as always, putting his police training to good use. Emily was riding shotgun and, though she knew that he was just trying to rattle their passengers, she couldn't remember a time he had driven more aggressively; even in pursuits. She chanced a glance to the back seat, and the scene was almost comical. Amy sat on the left with a death-grip on the overhead handle. Her eyes were scanning about as quickly as possible. It looked as if she were desperately trying to spy any potential dangers, poised to call out should any arise. Rory, whom Emily was guessing to be romantically involved with the redhead, was almost a mirror image of her. His hands were firmly latched to the grip handle on his side, only his eyes were shut so tight it almost looked painful. The Doctor was perched betwixt the couple. The man appeared to be absolutely ecstatic. He sat with almost perfect posture, and his hands were resting in his lap. The goofy grin had returned, and he continuously let gravity take full control of his body as Derek made sharp turns at calculatedly high speeds. She looked back to Morgan and just caught his eyes darting to the rearview mirror. After seeing the man in the middle his scowl intensified, and Emily couldn't subdue a small smirk as his obvious alpha male tendencies went unnoticed by the Doctor.
She turned her attention to her surroundings, in an effort to gain her bearings. Noting that they were nearing arrival, she decided to brief the other three. "We noticed a pattern pretty early on." Amy shifted her focus to the other woman momentarily, and then went back to watching the traffic. "The first eight victims went missing in, and around, the center of Dupont Circle. Reid's the expert," she wasn't able to give them all of the details of the geographic profile, "but after that, the crime scenes have been spiraling outward."
The Doctor had been listening, content to be willingly offered information. "Spiraling outward?"
"Yes, the next three were taken at the Naval Observatory. Then six more in Fairfax." She undid her seatbelt as Morgan brought the S.U.V. to a stop on the side of the street. "He appears to be choosing places in a counter-clockwise manner."
"According to the profile we've got," Derek joined in as they got out of the vehicle and headed for the fountain in front of them, "this could mean that, if he is a professional, he's in some kind of psychotic break."
"And how do you get that?" Amy wasn't questioning the validity of the profile, but the mechanics of it.
"It's sporadic," she spoke from the back of the group, next to Rory. "He doesn't have a comfort zone, and victimology is all over the place."
Derek picked up the explanation again. "Normally this would suggest someone who is testing out their fantasies, they aren't sure what gives them the most satisfaction at first. If our guy's a hit man, he would know what he likes."
"Well if he's a hit man, what if these people are just targets?" Rory asked, pulling his coat tighter to fight the bitter cold.
"Doesn't 32 people seem like an awful lot of targets to you?" Emily responded whilst buttoning her own jacket. "Chances are, if that many people were assassinated in the same area, their deaths would probably have been ordered by one individual. If that were the case, there would be a common factor between them all."
"Garcia's gone deep into each of their lives, and there is no such connection." Derek was adamant in that statement, but he felt the need to stress it to the newcomers. "Believe me, if they so much as smiled at each other on the street, she would have found out."
They stopped once they reached the circle, and the Doctor continued walking. Despite the fact that the area was flush with people, presumably on their way to work, he retrieved his screwdriver and began to wave it about. He was intermittently activating it, and occasionally fiddling with the settings.
"He does that," Amy dismissed as the agents stared closely at the man. "What about your other theory?"
"It's a real possibility," Derek said. His eyes were still fixed on the Doctor.
Emily turned to face Amy and Rory, "they could be purposely changing locations repeatedly to evade capture. If we are talking about someone who is selling body parts on the black market, they would be driven by completely different factors. The location wouldn't matter to them, not as much as opportunity."
"Ah-ha!" the Doctor shouted. "You're wrong on both counts." Emily turned around just in time to see him take a tentative step onto the ice. As he found it supported his weight, he continued toward the center of the fountain. "You're not dealing with a psychotic person at all, but a psychopathic angel."
