Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any related aspects, which belong to their respective owners. No money made.

Summary: Duet partners of a certain violinist are murdered after their first performances. The BAU are asked to help find the killer.

Rating: M

Warnings: Violence, sexual themes, yaoi, language

[Criminal Minds] The Essentials [Hotch/Reid, Reid/OMC, OMC/OMC]


Etude [A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.]


"Get out of my face."

Morgan and Prentiss stared.

"Mr. Roberts, we need to know who Wai Li is performing with. They will be targeted by the killer and unless you want their blood on your hands, you had better tell us who and where they are so that we can at least ensure their safety."

Roberts leaned back in his chair. His office, located only a few blocks away from the Walt Disney Concert Hall, was sparingly furnished and the two FBI agents had been forced to stand in the cramped space. He looked up at them defiantly. "Like hell. You fancy FBI folks are not going to cancel my show and you are not going to bring attention to Jung."

Morgan did his best to produce a glare to rival Aaron Hotchner's. "Sir, we are not trying to cancel your show. We're trying to protect this person's life and the longer it takes for you to tell us, the more time it gives the killer to find his next victim."

"Like I said, like hell. I'm not buying your bull crap about this whole thing. You want to know who he'll be playing with next? Just stick around. I'm not telling you anything."

Obstruction of justice, Prentiss wanted to hiss at the elderly man, but in these circumstances… that wouldn't hold up in court. She really wanted to smack the man, but that wouldn't hold up in court either. "Sir, this could be a matter of life and death. Is it really worth the revenue? The publicity? It's a person's life that's at stake."

Roberts glared. "I've got nothing to tell you. The show isn't changing. There's nothing you can do about it."

God, this man is not getting any of what we're saying through his thick head. Morgan curled his hands into fists and slammed one into the desk in front of him. "Fine. Then why don't you tell us about something else. Like the criminal record you've got hanging over your head. We'd love to know what that's all about."

Roberts straightened in his chair, eyes slitted angrily. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

Prentiss didn't budge. "You used to manage for another young performer. You pushed him off of a stage and broke his arm. Tell me, was he able to play after that? What had he done to you to deserve that? Did you skip out on your anger management or did he just really, really tick you off that day?"

"You don't know a damn thing-"

"Don't we?!" Morgan shoved his face into Robert's in an utter invasion of comfort-zone space. "We know everything. Your drinking problem, your family issues, the woman and son who left you-" Morgan silently thanked Garcia for her limitless information-gathering abilities. "-you know, he'd be in college right about now. He's about the same age as Wai Li Jung and the last performer you messed around with. So are you screwing with Jung, too? That kid deserves better people in his life than you-"

Prentiss admired the flaming red hue of Roberts' face.

"-and if you know what's good for you, you'll tell us who he's performing with so that you can say you did something right in your pitiful life-"

"OUT! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE! NOW!" The manager's face was livid and his neck bulged at his collar. "GET THE HELL OUT!"

Morgan and Prentiss glared and left. The door slammed shut behind them.

Prentiss glanced at Morgan. "That went well. Are you accusing him?"

He shook his head. "No, that piece of garbage has an alibi just as solid as Jung's. But he's not telling us what we need to know and that's weird." His phone rang and he glanced at the display.

"Talk to me, baby girl. Did you get anything on Jung's unknown soon-to-be duet partner?" He opened a door for Prentiss, who nodded and went through.

"Sorry, babe. The guy who returned the emails manages for at least three people, all of them musicians in the So Cal area. I sent the list to Officer Johnson. He's sending out teams to each of the addresses, but it'll take a while. A really long while. Some of them aren't in his jurisdiction so there are phone calls to be made, people to be alerted, the usual riff-raff." She sighed exaggeratedly over the line. "Law enforcement would be so much easier without law enforcement. We should be spending time developing robot agents instead. We could just give all of them copies of Reid's brain and Hotch's voice box and go off to Hawaii to vaca~tion."

Morgan grinned and walked through the parking lot behind Prentiss. He handed her the car keys and pointed to his cellphone. "Don't put that into the suggestion box anytime soon. I don't think Strauss would take that well. Especially the Hawaii part. And the Hotch part. But keep me posted with the whole duet partner thing."

"Will do, sweetheart."

"Thanks." He ended the call and opened the passenger door.


"It's not the weirdest case we've ever had, but it's gotten slightly weirder."

Rossi sat up in the hospital bed, looking both curious and worried "How so?"

"Two new developments," JJ sighed. "One, Wai Li Jung is being blackmailed by his father because he's homosexual. Two, Officer Johnson is tracking down four possible targets of the killer- four musicians who could be performing with Jung in the near future. Johnson's trying to get them all into police custody, or at least inform them of the situation."

The senior agent closed his eyes slowly. "You'd think people would notice that whoever the kid plays with ends up dead. Wouldn't you keep your distance, rather than sign up for a concert with the guy?"

"I was thinking about that, actually. But I looked over some recent records on the case and it seems that the media has been pretty quiet about the whole series of murders." JJ frowned. "I think some sort of deals were struck between the managers of the performers and whatever journalists came their way. The deaths were reported, but light on the details. Wai Li Jung was never even mentioned."

"That's a first."

"I know. It's definitely weird." She looked at Rossi gently. "How's your shoulder?"

"In complete and utter agony." He reached up to fiddle with the brace around his upper body, then chose to follow the nurses' orders and left it alone. "We're both pretty lucky, huh? One dislocated shoulder and a few bruises, nothing dislocated on your part."

JJ cracked a faint smile. "I seem to be a little luckier than you," she pointed out.

Rossi thought about shrugging, but realized it would not be the smart thing to do given his current condition. "Whatever."

A murderer on the loose, a gay violinist, a Toyota bearing ominous messages, and two injured FBI agents. They laughed anyway.


[A/N] How many people saw me break the forth wall?

I did it in a very, very discreet way. (Hint: the chapter title! The chapter title!)

Anyway, this chapter is boring. The next one won't be. What comes after that... even less so.

Nothing is as it appears.

Thank you very much for reading.