Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS.

Author's Note: A Reid chapter. I seem to get more reviews when I actually have a character POV that's on the show...hmmm, can't imagine why that might be :)

Author's Note 2: Why, oh WHY did the Cullens have to be brought up on the show last night? Twilight has taken over. Grrrr...

CHAPTER SIX

For the next few days, I swore every time I turned around that someone was watching me. As we went over the case, and as I traveled to and from work (on the subway, now. After Morgan heard about me 'tripping and falling' into the subway terminal, he made me swear to take the subway or let him give me a ride-gotta love my "big brother"), I felt eyes watching my every move.

But there was never anyone there, of course.

My mind kept going back to the strange woman who had brought me home. She made it very hard to concentrate on my job. There was a part of me convinced her showing up was no accident. But as I still had a killer headache no amount of aspirin could fix (and I refused to take anything stronger), I was never really sure.

I was in Garcia's office again, staring at her light-up map. Garcia was flirting with Morgan, who was out with a team searching for Abby Shannon. Thinking it may have been an inside job, someone the Shannons knew, JJ had helped the local DC Metro police put together a search party of locals, and Garcia was running through names, searching for anyone of interest.

"You know, sugar, if you stare at that thing long enough, the lights start to move."

I turned to see Garcia, off the phone. She was staring at me intently.

"Actually, it's a trick of the brain-"

"Reid, you haven't blinked in the last five minutes."

I didn't realize she'd been off the phone that long. "Something about this case is bugging me," I replied.

"Everything about our cases bugs me," Garcia put in, fiddling with a hot pink pen that had a beak and feathers.

"Me too," I agreed seriously, "but not like this one."

Garcia's phone cut through the silence. Garcia turned back to her screens, assuming JJ had another set of names for her. She flicked the mouse and the screensavers came off, revealing AFIS, NCMEC, CODIS, the DC Metro database, and a few other databases I was pretty sure she wasn't technically allowed to have access to. "Goddess of the Information Superhighway," she announced. "Pay the toll."

I bit back a grin. Thank God for Garcia. If we didn't have her, I don't think the rest of us on the team would be as sane as we are. Didn't matter what the situation, Garcia could make you smile if the situation called for it.

I returned my eyes to the map. I could not make heads or tails of anything. I assumed that my attack in the subway may have had something to do with the case, as when I dug through my bag when I came through, two of the missing persons files were open. Hotch had agreed with the hypothesis.

Garcia's tone turned grim. I caught it, focused as I was. I stopped and turned to her. She met my eyes as she stood up and added a light to the board. This one was just outside of Georgetown.

"What's that?" I asked her as she turned it on.

Garcia sighed. "That's where they found the body of Laurie Anderson this morning."

Have I mentioned that there are days I hate my job?


I met Emily and Hotch at the Georgetown University hospital. The county medical examiner met us there. We had worked with Dr. Connie Mathison a few times on local cases. Connie had an affinity to talk in movie quotes, which Hotch always missed and Emily and I always quoted right along with her.

Today was no exception. "We've got big trouble in little Washington," Connie said.

Before I could say anything, Hotch held up a hand, clearly not in the mood for our games today. "Do we know Laurie's COD yet?" he asked.

Connie and I exchanged a look with Emily before Connie answered him. "Massive blood loss," Connie replied finally. "Based on body temperature, Laurie died about two days ago."

"Are the Andersons here?" I asked.

Emily nodded. "JJ and Rossi are with them now."

"Dr. Mathison, can you tell us anything else?" Hotch asked.

"She was well fed. Healthy enough," Connie replied. "Maybe a little malnourished for a seven-year-old. Nothing too critical. It's possible that she may have started refusing to eat." Her face took on a look of confusion, as if she wasn't sure what to tell us next.

"Connie, what else?" I urged.

She turned to me. "You should see this," she said finally. She led the three of us into the room. Laurie Anderson lay under the light on the metal table. She looked so small. Even in death, Laurie was a beautiful little girl. Connie led us to the side of the table, and, donning a pair of gloves, lifted the sheet so we could see Laurie's wrist.

I saw them instantly. "You're kidding, right?"

Emily looked, too. "No way. Hotch, are you seeing this?"

He nodded grimly. "Yes, I am. But I don't believe it for a second."

Even me, with my love of all things science fiction, wasn't buying this either. "Connie…what can you tell us about those marks?"

"I haven't seen anything like this in my fifteen years working at this hospital," Connie admitted. "I can tell you that the lab techs found traces of saliva in the wound. They also picked up some DNA that suggests a female."

"Her kidnapper was a woman, and she bit her," Emily clarified.

Connie nodded. "I can't find another mark on her body, which indicates-"

"She bled out from there, too," Hotch said.

Connie nodded. "It's right over the vein," she said. "She bled out in a hurry."

"Let's go fill in JJ and Dave," Hotch decided. "Dr. Mathison, thank you."

She nodded as she looked over at me. "I sense a great disturbance in the Force," she told me. "I hope you find this person."

"May the Force be with you," I answered quietly so Hotch wouldn't hear. As I closed the door behind me, I heard, "And with you."

It was there again, the second I got into the hallway. The feeling that someone was staring at me. I whipped around, looked down the hallway. God, but it was unnerving. There was no one there.

"Reid?" Emily called from the elevator.

I turned, shook my head, and ran to catch up with them.

As we rode up to the sixth floor, things started clicking. Attacks that only happen at night, mystery bite marks, people disappearing without a trace and without anyone being able to see them- "Hotch, I need to get back to Quantico," I said urgently.

He looked at me, eyebrows raised. "You have something?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I mean, maybe, I don't know." The elevator dinged on the fourth floor to let someone on, and I got off. "Soon as you guys can get back," I said. "I'll have it waiting for you."

And they weren't gonna believe it when I did.


I watched him as he grabbed a cab in front of the hospital. My whole body was sore, standing out here in the sun. Sunlight. It's okay in small doses, but I had only been out for ten minutes and already I was feeling it. He had sensed me watching him at the hospital. Maybe the geek boy was a little more perceptive than I originally pegged him for. He was walking with a purpose now.

I hissed under my breath. He'd figured something out.