A/N: Thanks to those who read and reviewed since last time. Your comments encourage me to continue with this, and I'm so thankful for everything you have to say. You seriously don't know how much your comments inspire me, so thank you all so much.

I know I promised some Cuddy in this chapter, but I have major plans for her in the next two chapters, especially in chapter thirteen, so I hope you don't mind.

A small warning, there are many indications of police work, and graphic details in this chapter. I'm not a specialist in serial killers, and how they work. I apologize in advance if there are any errors.

Thank you for reading.


-Chapter Eleven-

As the Sun Rises

Four agents sat at Betty's Breakfast Diner in the heart of Princeton. They sat tiredly over coffee and the trademark dish of the place, which consisted of the classic pancakes, egg and bacon.

"What have we got so far?"

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"We went to Dr. Cuddy's work place. So far we didn't get much." Diana said tiredly, and squirted ketchup over her eggs.

"They were all in shock. Maybe they'll remember something later." Jeremy said with his mouth full. He seemed to be the only one that didn't look extremely sleep deprived.

"Though we did get information about that Dr. House."

"Yeah, it seems like the guy's a legend. What's interesting is that everyone disliked him except very few. I sent a background check on him, and found this."

Jeremy picked up a printout of his criminal record.

"Says here that he has an extensive record of drug abuse, and what we already knew that he drove his car into Cuddy's house. What's interesting is that he got out on Monday. Somehow I don't think that's a coincidence." He handed Harry the print out.

"So you're saying that he's the one behind this?" Flynn asked skeptically.

"Why not? You should have seen the way people talked about him. He's supposedly a genius, with serious mental issues. It fits."

"No it doesn't." Flynn contradicted. "There is nothing that indicates that we have a copycat, except for the fact that we still haven't found Lilian Archibald's body. I think that he's actually playing a game, the same game he has been playing all along."

"But…"

"What did you find in the house?" Diana interrupted Jeremy abruptly.

"We went through the entire house and everything looks just like the other crime scenes, except for letters we found in a box in her home."

"What's so interesting about them?" Jeremy asked curiously.

"They're from the man you mentioned, that Dr. House."

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows, an obnoxious smirk spread on his face.

"It doesn't mean that he's behind it." Flynn opposed.

"So, you're going to talk to him?" Diana asked.

"I want to, but Detective Harris doesn't think we should pursue it at the moment. He thinks we have better things to do." Flynn said aggravatingly.

"So. We can pursue this." Flynn shook his head.

"It's not wise. You know that the first thing to do is to co-operate with the police, not work against them. If we go behind their backs they'll feel like we're working against them."

"Oh please. Our main goal is to find that woman, and if we're on to this Dr. House then I think we should talk to him." Jeremy took a big bite and raised his eyebrows to proof his point.

"I think that Flynn's right." Harry muttered.

"What?" Jeremy turned his head to Harry. "You never follow protocol."

"No. I don't follow orders." Harry contradicted.

"And this isn't and order?"

"No." Harry said firmly. "We don't want to wound their ego, and for the time being I think we should wait a little."

"Yes, and then we'll end up with another dead body." Diana retorted.

No one said anything to that. Their failure of catching the murderer hung like a dark cloud over them, and they knew that according to his patterns that it wouldn't be long until they would find another body.

Harry's cell phone interrupted the silence.

Harry dug up his cell phone, and answered tiredly.

"Harry Dwight."

His eyes widened, and his expression turned serious.

"Why didn't anyone tell me? I don't care, someone should have been on watch, it's protocol."

His face darkened as the conversation went on. Everyone around the table fell silent and observed him curiously.

"I don't care." He snapped.

"We'll be there in ten minutes."

Harry sighed after he turned off the phone.

"What was that?"

"Someone broke into Dr. Cuddy's house last night. The seal was broken."

"What?" They said in unison. That had never occurred before in their entire careers.

"Apparently the officer who was on watch had an emergency. He forgot to contact the other officer on call, so the place was left unguarded for about three hours."

"Damn." Jeremy muttered. "You think it was our guy?"

"Don't know." Harry muttered more to himself than to the others. He frowned deep in thought.

"I think we need to present our profile, and tell them exactly what we're up against. I don't think they truly realize what is going on." Flynn suggested.

"Do we even know what we're up against?" Jeremy muttered, and toyed with his straw.

"Yeah we do, but they don't." Diana murmured.

They paid for their breakfast, and headed to the station, where they met the image of equally tired officers, and police detectives.

They met Bill Anderson in the hallway; he seemed utterly overwhelmed by the entire situation, and kept barking orders in between their conversation. His small blue eyes peered at them, as they explained what they intended to do.

"You want to talk to the entire force? Well good luck with that." He sipped his coffee, his eyes darting towards a young officer.

"Harley, aren't you supposed to be on the search team?"

"You told me to stay here." The officer said exasperatedly.

"I did?" Anderson touched his mustache thoughtfully.

"Then why are you standing there like a moron? Get back to work." He shooed him off, the poor man almost yelped, and hurried away from Anderson.

"So, you were saying?" Anderson addressed Flynn who had presented their request.

"I think it's necessary when it comes to the investigation. You need to know every detail, and during our previous investigations we find it highly effective." Flynn explained, his amber eyes never left Anderson's. He had the gift of persuasion, and wasn't afraid to use it when he needed to.

"Fine, be my guest." He caved, and waved them off. "I have important things to do." He scurried into his office, and shut the doors forcefully behind him.

"Wow, the poor man is not handling this well."

"Yeah, there's a different sound in him now than yesterday." Jeremy mused.

They shrugged, the conversation left their thoughts of Anderson to the task at hand.

The station didn't have big enough rooms to consist the entire force, but they managed to fit everyone in the main hall. They were kind enough to provide a projector, and they lined up in front of the white projection screen.

They didn't know how many people were situated in front of them, but they had literally asked for everyone at hand that was involved with solving the case.

That list consisted of police officers, forensic analyzers, police detectives, and search volunteers.

It was never easy to take charge off the Police's hands, since they felt like they were fully capable of dealing with these things, but the truth was that they lacked the insight they provided. Harry was never too keen on these meetings, although they were a necessity. He stepped in front of his team, and cleared his throat to silence the crowd.

"Hello everyone. In case you don't know, I'm Senior Special Agent Harry Dwight, and these are members of my team, Diana Raquel Martinez."

Diana grimaced when he used her full name, but nodded her head to the crowd.

"Jeremy Spencer, and David Flynn York."

Jeremy elbowed Flynn when he said his first name, the inside joke had not gone unnoticed by either of them. They had always preferred to use his middle name, and the rare use of his first name caused a reaction to the easily amused agent.

"We know that you've all had a difficult night, so we'll keep it as short as we can" Harry walked back and forth when he talked.

"We are from a special unit of the F.B.I., the Behavioral Science Unit, more known as the BSU. I don't know how familiar you are with our specialization, but basically we profile serious crime offenders, and try to figure out how they think. You might question yourselves, why that is necessary, by figuring out what the offender is thinking, we can figure out who he is and where he keeps his victims."

"We were introduced to this case five years ago regarding the mysterious disappearance of Amber Lanford, a 32 year old, she had been kidnapped from her home. We were called in because of the unusual nature of her disappearance."

The image of a pretty blonde appeared on the screen. The whole room fell silent as they watched the picture change of the smiling woman to a crime scene photo. Her blonde hair lay scattered over the pavement, her green eyes open, and wide, ugly bruises covered her pale skin. Her stark naked body was covered with stab wounds. The gashes were ugly and deep, the act of someone beyond evil.

"Six months later she was found dead, not far from her home. There were obvious signs of mutilation, starvation, and dehydration. Cause of death was internal bleeding. He took his time killing her, some of the wounds aren't too deep, which indicates that he could have tortured her for hours, before he killed her."

Harry took off his glasses, and placed them on the table before he continued speaking, his voice grave as he spoke.

"There was also as sign of sexual intercourse, post mortem."

There were audible gasps around the room, people speaking out in outrage.

Harry continued to speak over the crowd.

"People, if you would please be quiet. I know that this is very disarming, but let me continue."

Everyone fell silent, though some were obviously appalled by the horrific information.

"Few days after the discovery of Ms. Lanford's body another woman was abducted from her home. There was the same pattern as before. Three months later Leslie Anne Crane was found murdered."

They showed the picture of a young, handsome looking woman. After her three other pictures followed.

"Giselle May Sommerson, Heather Radcliff, Magdalene Grace Montgomery, all were captured and brutally murdered in similar fashion. One year ago Lilian Katherine Archibald was taken like the other victims. We have not found her body yet, and we hope that she is still alive."

The smiling picture of Lilian Archibald filled the screen, she held a daisy in her hand; her blue eyes were sparkling, and filled with laughter.

"Yesterday Dr. Lisa Cuddy was taken from her home, just like the other victims. What strikes us is that the murderer has never held two women captive at a time. Currently we don't know what it means, but we do know that it's a change from his pattern."

"What does that mean?" A female voice asked.

"Actually we have different opinions about that, we'll talk about that shortly, but first we're going to present to you our profile of the killer, so you have a clearer picture of the person we're looking for. Agent York will present it to you."

Flynn stood up, and walked over to Harry.

"I don't know how knowledgeable you are of serial killers, forgive me if I'm talking about things that are in your knowledge, but I want to be thorough.

Serial killers have been the topic of many studies, the newest and most accurate study of criminals was made in 2005, and there we have statistics of gender, culture, and age. Not all serial killers are white males in their forties. We do however believe that our killer is white based on his choice of victims.

We can't be positive on that, and we don't want to concentrate on his appearances, because frankly we can't tell by his offense how he looks like. There is no one who saw anyone enter or leave any of the victim's homes, which gives us a great disadvantage. So, I cannot tell you for sure how the man looks like, but I can tell you his psychological profile."

"There is no guarantee that serial killers are antisocial, in fact there are many that do socialize. They have jobs; they have spouses, and children. I do think that it's highly likely that he is not married. He likes to work alone, and he needs these women all to himself. They possess something he needs, or wants, but can't have. He has major issues towards women; whether it's someone they remind him of, we're not sure. They might represent some female figure in his life that had a great affect on him. Someone he longed for, or lost."

He paused on his speech, and took a sip from his water bottle.

"What I have noticed specifically about our killer is that he needs to tell us that he is the one behind his work, and no one else. He leaves us little clues, and signs that are nothing but a game for him."

"He has serious issues with himself, which is why he breaks everything that reflects his image. He can't stand the sight of himself, whether it's remorse or something else. He's also highly organized and careful, which brings us to the question of why he took another victim when he still has a new victim. Here we disagree."

He motioned towards Jeremy who stepped forward.

"Agent Spencer here disagrees with my opinions. I believe that he has become overly confident, and needy for the thrill of killing. There is a specific thrill of having two people under your control. He feels completely empowered. That tells me that he will try anything he can to get his fix. He will become disorganized, his need taking over any rationalization. That gives us hope that he won't be as careful in disguising his moves. So far he is a ghost, there have been no fingerprints, fibers, or body fluids. Nothing."

He glanced at Jeremy, and placed his arm on his arm.

"Agent Spencer will now present his own theory."

Jeremy wrung his hands, and thought for a minute, before he began to speak.

"My theory is simple. I think we might be dealing with a copycat. I don't think our killer would become so irresponsible. I think that he's much smarter than that, which gives us a reason to think that there might be someone else. I think it's necessary to think about every possibility."

He glanced at Flynn who nodded his head in agreement, although Jeremy knew that he was confident that his opinion was the right one.

"Also one thing to think about." Diana stepped forward, her hands on her hips, her voice breaking the tension between her partners.

"There is possibly something that triggered our killers actions. We need to ask ourselves why he decided to kill someone that day five years ago. It's likely that Amber Lanford was not his first murder, but she was his first victim in this chain of murders, and we need to figure out what he was thinking. Why he chose that time, that day, that moment to kill that woman."

Diana left it at that, and returned to her place beside Harry.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Flynn asked.

About twenty hands shot up at the same time.


It was about two o'clock when the meeting was over. They all felt exhausted after the session, but thrilled that the meeting went beyond their expectations. Harry was summoned to a meeting with Anderson and Harris about the break in, so the three agents were relieved to have some free time for lunch.

They were deciding where to get lunch when Jeremy got a text.

"The first results are in."

Diana frowned, and peeked over his shoulder to see the message.

"So soon?"

"I sent a copy of one of the letters to the lab with a picture of a medical file written by Dr. House." Jeremy's explanation was met with condescending glares from Diana and Flynn.

"Jeremy, you can't just…" Flynn started but Jeremy caught him off.

"It was a match. His writing matched the writing on the letter."

"But that doesn't have to mean anything. So, he wrote her letters, he was her ex, it shouldn't mean that he did this."

"Uh, I can think of few. How about the fact that he drove into her house? He clearly had malicious, unresolved feelings towards her."

"Those letters were his apology. You're making conclusions from evidence that are not adequate " Flynn retorted angrily.

"I think we should just go talk to him and see what he has to say for himself." Diana said, and stepped between them.

"Maybe he has some information we don't know about."

"What about Head Detective Harris?" Flynn asked wearily.

"He'll just have to accept it."

Diana swept past them and headed for the stairs. Flynn and Jeremy glanced at each other, and shrugged off their disagreement, and headed after Diana.


The rain poured over the street, the large drops forming irregular patterns on the window that House sat by. The melancholic weather mirrored the feelings within him. He hadn't slept the entire night, his mind racing over the odd occurrences that had happened in his life. He had thought that escaping prison would bring a fresh start for him, but it turned out that it was not the case.

His hand found the white piece of paper that lay on top of the dining room table, its corners were torn, the paper wrinkled after a bad treatment. There wasn't much text on the paper, it merely said.

Guess Who?

It's your turn now Dr. House

The words taunted him, even though the text was pretty straightforward, House had reread it over and over again. It didn't go past him that the person behind Cuddy's disappearance knew who he was, and possibly knew the connection between them both. The thought made his skin crawl.

Then there was this whole deal with Elizabeth Archibald. Not only had she caught him completely off guard, but she had also given him insight into the whole case. He was positive that she knew more than she revealed.

He couldn't say much since he had hidden a very fundamental detail from her. His thoughts returned to that box full of pictures, and the missing picture. He couldn't possibly share that detail with a woman he didn't know at all.

It was all very disarming, and the horrible truth was that this was just the beginning. There were so many pieces that didn't fit in the big picture.

He couldn't see how that woman could relate to any of this. Sure, her sister was missing, but what on earth could she provide that could get him a step closer in finding Cuddy?

And that picture. Why was that picture missing? Had he taken it? If so, why?

There was a loud knock on his door. The noise startled him; he grabbed his cane limped towards the front door. He peered through his peephole to see who it was. He frowned at the blurry image of three unknown people.

He removed the lock and opened the door.

There were two men, and one woman, that were obviously professional.

He looked at them questioningly.

"Yes?"

"Dr. House. I'm Special Agent Jeremy Spencer, and these are my partners Martinez, and York. Can we have a word with you?"

One of them men said to him. He was tall and fit, with light brown hair and hazel eyes that told him that he didn't take no for an answer. The other two were more pleasant, the other guy even looked a bit apologetic. Unlike the other guy, he was thin and his ocher eyes held understanding, which reminded him all too well of a person he knew. The woman was tiny, but stood her ground beside the men, not the least intimidated.

House looked between them, and realized that his day couldn't get much worse. He wanted to slam the door in their faces, but he did not want to risk going to jail again. He nodded his head, and let them in. The three agents stepped inside, all professionalism. He paused by the doorway, inhaled sharply, and braced himself for what was to come, and closed the front door shut.