The lights of police cars, both marked and unmarked, and media vans could be seen as soon as Gideon turned the black government-owned SUV onto LeBay Street. Flashbulbs went off in the dark night as both news and crime scene photographers snapped their pictures. Gawkers from nearby homes, gathered near the yellow crime scene tape, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

Pulling the vehicle over to the side of the road not far from the gathering of people, Gideon turned the SUV off and withdrew the key. As of yet, nobody had noticed the arrival of another vehicle on the site.

"Let's get this over with," Gideon said to his two teammates. He reached for the door handle but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. Looking back, he saw that it was Morgan who had stopped him.

Morgan glanced over his shoulder, watching Reid get out of the vehicle. As the younger agent closed the door, he turned back to meet Gideon's questioning gaze. "Are you sure this is the best idea? I've noticed you and Hotch have been trying to avoid sending him to fresh crime scenes, and now you're bringing him to this? We have no idea what we are walking into here."

"I'm aware of that," Gideon replied. "I realize this isn't the best situation, but Reid knows the details of the novels. If this is one of our UnSub's scenes, he's going to pick up the details of the signature before either of us."

Morgan nodded not able to provide a logical argument for Gideon's statement. Without another word passing between them, the two FBI agents climbed from the car. As he stepped out onto the sidewalk, Morgan cast a glance in Reid's direction. The younger profiler was standing with his hands stuffed into the pockets of the FBI jacket, which he wore over the sweater and long-sleeved shirt he had already been wearing. Though the look on his face told Morgan the younger man wasn't looking forward to the task ahead of them, the dark-skinned profiler also saw the determination Reid's eyes.

~I've got to give the kid points for that at least, ~ Morgan thought, as he shut the door of the SUV and started following Gideon to the crime scene. As they walked closer, people started to take notice of their arrival. Given that both Gideon and Reid were wearing jackets, with FBI emblazoned on the back, Morgan knew it wouldn't take too long for people to realize they were more than just curious onlookers. Slowing his steps some, Morgan let Reid, who had been following them, catch up to him.

"If the media starts calling out questions to us, let Gideon do the talking," Morgan advised the younger agent, who nodded seriously. "If a reporter puts a microphone in front of your face, reply 'no comment' and keep walking."

Reid nodded, his gaze taking in the crowd of people gathered around the taped off crime scene. They were reaching the outer fringes of the crowd now, Gideon still in the lead. The experienced unit chief had specifically picked a path that would allow them to avoid most of the reporters on the scene. Gideon started working his way through the crowd, the people slowly parting to allow him to pass. Near the crime scene tape, a couple of reporters noticed their presence and called out questions which the seasoned FBI agent ignored for now. He showed a local deputy his badge as he ducked underneath the yellow tape, Morgan and Reid following him.

"Who's in charge of the scene?" Gideon asked the police officer.

"Sgt. Daniels is sir," the local officer said, pointing to an Alabama State Trooper who was standing near the car.

SSA Gideon nodded, as he headed in the trooper's direction, his two subordinates following him. "Sgt. Daniels," Gideon called out as he neared the trooper, announcing his approach.

The state trooper turned in the direction of the voice calling his name. Spotting Gideon, he looked the man up and down.

"I'm SSA Gideon," the FBI agent said, holding up his badge one more time, putting it away after Daniels had glanced at it. "This is SSA Morgan and Dr. Reid."

"You're the FBI agents brought in to try to connect those other recent murders?" Daniels questioned.

"We are," Gideon replied, neutrally. "You don't think there is a connection between them."

Daniels shrugged. "Haven't really given it much thought," he replied. "I think you'd be wasting your time here though. This looks like a simple homicide. Lover's quarrel, maybe?" the state trooper said, with a nod toward the door. "The driver was stabbed in the abdomen and then the throat, poor girl."

"Mind if we take a look at the scene ourselves?" Gideon asked. "We've discovered a unique link to the other four recent murders that unless you know what to look for, would be easy to miss."

"Knock yourselves out," Daniels said, with a wave toward the car.

The three FBI agents headed for the car that the crime scene unit was still going over. While Gideon and Morgan headed for the driver's seat, where the body still remained, while the CSI unit finished with its processing of the scene, Reid walked slowly around the car. The driver's side door was wide open giving a clear view of the body within.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be any of the staging that was present at the other scenes," Morgan commented, as he slipped on a pair of gloves.

Gideon nodded. "It doesn't seem that efficient a kill either. The wound to the stomach wouldn't have killed her right away and the throat is a stab wound. The UnSub didn't slit the throat like most serial killers would. This seems to be done by someone with less experience than has been shown at the other crime scenes."

"It could be that the manner in which he kills isn't as important to this UnSub. It's the process of acting out the scene that is important," Reid interjected.

Gideon and Morgan looked in the direction of his voice to see that the younger agent was standing on the other side of the car, peering in through the cracked passenger side window. Morgan thought Reid looked quite a bit paler than usual, but seemed to be holding up okay.

"Then why kill at all?" Gideon asked.

"Maybe he doesn't feel validation for his acting," Reid suggested tentatively.

Morgan meanwhile was leaning in, examining the body up close. He noticed a residue on the woman's face around the mouth. "It looks like there was tape or something over her mouth at one point, judging from the residue left behind," he commented. Morgan looked around to see if he could find discarded tape anywhere nearby. He didn't see anything, which could mean the UnSub had taken it with him. "This wasn't a simple Lover's Quarrel. Those happen in the heat of the moment. If this was a lover's quarrel, they would have stabbed her once and then left, not wait around to watch her die, or bother with gagging her."

"The houses are spread out on this street," Gideon said, looking around the area. "Chances are, any noise she could have made wouldn't have been heard by anyone. The houses that are near here, all have trees in the front yard, which would limit visibility and there are no street lights."

"The make and model of the car fits that of the one described in the novel Christine," Reid commented, taking a step back from the car. "I also noted the name of the street we're on - LeBay Street. Roland LeBay is the name of a character in the novel. He also happens to be the one that sells the main character, Arnie, the car known as Christine, hence the title of the novel."

"So this probably is our guy, then?" Morgan questioned as he stood up. "Why the lack of staging that we saw present at the other scenes then?"

"Lack of motivation. Lack of time to prepare. This crime happened just over twenty-four hours after his last strike. Could be that he didn't have the time to prepare something more elaborate?" Gideon supplied. "Did anyone find a purse or a wallet that may have contained identification?" the agent asked, addressing the closest man wearing a jacket with the CSI letters on the back."

"No. Nothing that we could find," the man replied. "She either didn't have it with her, or it was taken by whoever killed her."

Gideon turned back to the car, surveying the scene once again. Morgan meanwhile had started to walk around the car, using the light of his flashlight to search for anything the crime scene team might have missed.

"He's shown such meticulous planning at the other scenes, why rush this one?" Morgan asked out loud.

"Could have been the excitement of finding a car that fit the novel? So far he's staying in a limited geographical area. The C-body Plymouth Fury was made from 1955 to 1974 after which the company moved the name plate to an intermediate size car and continued the full size car as the Grand Fury. To find one in running condition, even if it wasn't the exact year, that also happened to be the same color as the one in the book, was a lucky find for the UnSub."

"So the car isn't the same year as the one in the novel?"

"It could be. I don't know enough about cars to be able say what year this car is," Reid replied.

Now standing next to the younger agent, Morgan used his flashlight to look over the car. "My best guess would be a 1958 from the styling," he finally concluded.

"Then it would fit exactly," Reid supplied. "The novel states that Christine is a 1958 Ford Fury though there are several discrepancies in the novel and the film, of things that are describe on the car but didn't actually exist on the 1958 version of the fury. For example the book mentions rear doors but Plymouth didn't actually have a four-door version of the Fury until 1959 and . . ."

Gideon held his hand up, which brought the younger agent to a stop. "I don't think that information is important right now," Gideon said, interrupting the younger agent.

"Ah, yes sir," Reid said, feeling his cheeks grow warm at the gentle rebuke. He was thankful that it was night and therefore less noticeable to his companions, though he was very aware of Morgan standing right next to him.

A loud noise up above them, caused those on the scene to look up. Bright fireworks lit up the sky indicating the coming of the new year.

"Happy New Year," Gideon muttered under his breath.

"So either our UnSub is devolving or he was just excited to come across the perfect car," Morgan said, looking away from the colorful display in the sky and across the car at his supervisor.

"Let's hope for the latter," Gideon said. "I hate to think of how hard it would be to catch this guy if he's devolving and the kills are going to be closer and closer together," he commented. Gideon looked away from the car and surveyed the gathered crowd. "Morgan, why don't you go question some of the onlookers. Maybe somebody saw something suspicious."

Morgan nodded, and headed toward the crime scene tape in an area that was heavy in onlookers and low on media personnel. Gideon turned from the car and looked for Sgt. Daniels. He spotted the state trooper talking to a CSI photographer not far away.

"Let's go inform Sgt. Daniels that this murder appears to be linked to the other four," Gideon said to Reid, who was still standing on the other side of the car from him. Gideon knew they were going to have to explain the connection of the murders to the Alabama State Trooper and though his explanation would probably be a bit more detailed than they really needed, the unit chief figured Reid would be the best one to do just that.


It was approaching two o'clock in the morning by the time Gideon pulled the SUV into an empty parking spot at their hotel. In the passenger seat Morgan unbuckled his seatbelt as he glanced in the side view mirror. Reid had fallen asleep, his head now resting against the window.

"Hey, Reid, we're at the hotel," Morgan called back as he pulled on the door handle.

In the backseat, the younger agent slowly woke up. Opening his eyes, Reid took a moment to look around and getting his bearings. Recalling where it was he had fallen asleep, he grabbed his messenger bag from the seat beside him and climbed from the vehicle.

By this time, Gideon and Morgan were already at the rear of the SUV. With the back hatch opened, the two agents grabbed the three go-bags that had been stored there before leaving the station. Morgan grabbed both his own bag and Reid's and as the younger man made his way to the back of the vehicle Morgan found himself trying to judge how Reid was holding up.

Though Reid hadn't gotten sick, no color had returned to his face. Even now, Morgan could see the weariness in the pale features that reflected the way he felt. Still, the older agent had to admit that Reid had handled himself well at the crime scene. Though looking through the passenger side window had been the closest the young agent had gotten to the body, he had held it together while they were at the crime scene and had provided some useful insights.

~I guess we can't expect much more out of him at this point, ~ Morgan thought, as he held Reid's bag out the younger man.

Reid took the bag, and put its strap over one shoulder. The thud of Gideon closing the hatch echoed in the otherwise quiet night, before the three profilers started walking across the parking lot. At this time of night the lobby of the hotel was empty, save for the lone employee sitting behind the desk. Gideon gave the man a nod as the three profilers headed toward the elevator.

"We're on the seventh floor, right?" Morgan asked as the three agents stepped into the elevator.

"Yes," Reid replied, as he leaned against the back wall of the elevator.

Being the closest to the controls, Morgan pressed the button for the seventh floor and the elevator started its upward ascent.

"So, Gideon, given the time we're getting in, any chance you'll move wake-up call?"

"No," the unit chief replied. " We've got a lot to do in the morning and I still want to be heading to the station by eight this morning."

"It was worth a shot," Morgan commented with a shrug of his shoulders.

The rest of the ride up was silent. When the elevator came to a stop on the seventh floor, Morgan let his two co-workers proceed him out. As he stepped into the corridor, Morgan got his wallet out and found the key card that Nichols had given him. Checking the room number on the envelope, Morgan glanced at the numbers on the door, as he followed the other two agents down the hallway.

Ahead of him, he heard Gideon address Reid. "I know it's late but I want to talk to you for a few minutes."

Morgan didn't hear a response from Reid, but as he paused in front of his room, the dark-skinned profiler glanced up the hallway to see his two co-workers in front of the room two doors from him. Morgan swiped the keycard through the card-reader to unlock the door. Pushing the door open, he saw Gideon follow Reid into the other room.

~Apparently he's not taking a chance of letting things build up over night like they did in Maine, ~ Morgan thought as he walked into the room.

Reaching out, Morgan soon found the switch and flipped on the lights. Making his way into the room, Morgan tossed his go-bag on the closest of the two full-sized beds. Suddenly, the only thing Morgan wanted to do was collapse onto the inviting mattress. Turning on the lamp between the beds, Morgan retraced his steps to turn off the main lights. As he walked back toward the beds, he kicked his shoes off. Once he was standing in between the two beds, Morgan removed his two guns, the handcuffs and deposited them into the drawer. Un-clipping his phone, he sat it down beside the lamp, turned the light off, and climbed underneath the blankets.

As he waited for sleep to claim him, Morgan thought about the day. It seemed as though they had accomplished very little and yet being able to make the connection between the crime scenes and the Stephen King novels had been a big step. It gave them something to work with, and Morgan knew they wouldn't even have that if it weren't for Reid.

~The kid is proving his worth even if he can be annoying at times, ~ Morgan thought as he closed his eyes and tucked the blanket tight under his chin as he found a comfortable position in which to lay. ~We just have to work on getting him a thicker skin, ~ he added, as he started drifting to sleep.


"You going to sit with us, Boss?" Nichols asked as he waited for Reid to slide into the seat on one side of the booth a little pass seven later that morning. "We can pull a chair up to the end. It'll be crowded but we can make do."

"Nah," Gideon replied as Morgan slid into the booth opposite of Reid. He held up the newspaper he was holding so that the other three could see the daily crossword visible. "It's easier to work on this thing in solitude. I need something to help focus my mind before we get back to our case. I have a feeling that it is going to be another long day."

"If you sit with us, we could help you with that stupid crossword, though personally I don't see the fun in them."

"Yeah, Reid knows everything, so that thing could probably be solved in no time," Morgan commented.

"Which would just take the fun out of it," Gideon replied. "No, I think I'm going to go right over there," he said pointing to a table for two by the front windows, "and enjoy the solitude. Which means, Nichols, I'm counting on you keeping Morgan and Hudson out of trouble."

"Well, you have more confidence in me than the bureau does," Nichols said, as he slid into the seat beside Reid.

"I only bring people onto this team that I do have confidence in," Gideon said, letting his gaze fall on Morgan briefly before he headed over to the table he had pointed out a few moments ago.

"Why do I get a feeling that last comment was directed at me?" Morgan commented, grabbing two of the menus tucked behind the napkin holder. He held one out to Nichols.

"Because Hudson isn't around," Nichols replied, as he took the menu from Morgan.

"So, can I start you fellas out with coffee or something else to drink," a waitress asked. She was an older woman, graying hair, with a natural smile and thick Alabama accent. The three profilers acknowledged her inquiry by letting her know they wanted coffee. "Three coffees coming up, Sugars," the woman replied.

"Ah, make that four," Nichols told her. "Someone else will be joining us shortly."

"Four coffees," she confirmed, before heading over to where Gideon was sitting.

"So, is that murder you guys went to check out last night related to our case?" Nichols asked, perusing through the menu that he held.

"Yeah, according to the details Einstein picked up on, it appears to be," Morgan replied, tipping the menu he was holding slightly in Reid's direction.

"What's the UnSub's MO this time?" Nichols asked.

"Um, could we hold off on this conversation until after breakfast?" Reid asked quietly, before Morgan even had time to open his mouth.

Both agents looked over at their teammate. Reid hadn't regained much color even after a night's sleep and as they looked at him now, Nichols and Morgan noticed a greenish hue to the younger man's complexion. Morgan bit his lower lip to keep from smiling at his teammate's discomfort, even though he had to admit that discussing a murder scene was not a topic that most people would bring up right before breakfast.

"Sure we can," Morgan said, easily letting his gaze drift from Reid to Nichols. "So what is Hudson up to anyway?"

"He'll be in shortly. I left him in the lobby gathering and putting the papers I printed out for him this morning, back in order. I told him I'd save him a seat," Nichols replied. The café was right next to the hotel, so the profilers had walked over that morning.

"Back in order?" Morgan questioned.

"I may have dropped them accidently," Nichols answered, making a quotation movement in the air with his fingers as he said the last word. Morgan gave his co-worker an amused smile, knowing exactly what he meant by that. "Oh come on, you've both worked with me for almost a year now. Surely, you have both learned that unless you are sent by Gideon to wake me up for something work related, don't come knocking on my hotel door before my alarm goes off. Six-thirty was way too early this morning, especially seeing as I didn't climb into bed until two."

"What were you doing until two this morning?" Morgan asked.

"Work," Nichols replied. "Just because I wasn't traipsing around in the dark with you three last night, doesn't mean I wasn't being productive. I finished going through the list of known actors in the area, to see if anyone fit our profile, and while there are quite a few that don't seem to be finding their dream, none of them fit our profile. There haven't been any reports of unusual outbursts at auditions when someone doesn't get the part they wanted, no reports of threats against others who may have gotten the part they wanted. Whoever this guy is, he's flying below the radar right now."

"I thought you were a miracle worker, Nichols?"

"No, I'm a computer specialist and while our prowess all things related to information technology may dazzle you mere mortals at times, we can't find something if there is no record out there for it."

"What about tracing purchases," Reid commented softly, causing both of his teammates to look in his direction. "The things found at the crime scenes like the buckets and the rain slicker that didn't belong to the victim. They had to come from somewhere," he said, putting the menu he had been looking at, away. He had asked the others not to talk about the scene last night and then he went and brought up the other scenes. It was times like these that he hated having an eidetic memory.

"You may be onto something there, Junior. Course if the guy is smart and using cash there won't be a record, but its worth checking into," Nichols said, as Hudson slipped into the seat across from him. "Good morning. Nice of you to join us."

"Yeah, it's been a wonderful morning so far," Hudson muttered, placing a small stack of papers and his checkbook on the table.

The waitress came back with the coffee cups and asked if they were ready to order. Nichols and Morgan placed their orders and the waitress turned to Hudson.

"What'll it be, Sugar?"

"I'll have what he's having," Hudson replied, pointing to Morgan who had ordered an egg and sausage breakfast.

"What kind of bread for your toast?"

"Wheat," Hudson replied, opening his checkbook to the ledger and placing it next to the papers, while pulling a pen out of his pocket.

"And you, Sugar?" the waitress asked, her gazing switching to Reid.

"Ah, nothing. I'm not really that hungry after all," he replied.

"Come on, Sugar. This place might be small but our cook is really good. Might not be just like mom use to make, but it'll come close."

Reid shook his head.

"He'll have the egg, ham and cheese sandwich," Nichols said, ordering something he had seen the younger agent order at other occasions while they had been out on a case. "On wheat bread," he added, as that was always the type of bread Reid requested. He chose to ignore the indignant look from the younger agent and instead smiled up at the waitress.

"Sure thing," she replied, before walking away from the table, an amused look gracing her features.

"You're eating something," Nichols said, adding some cream to his coffee cup, before Reid even had a chance to protest. "There is no telling when we'll eat next. Gideon tends to get caught up in a case at times and loses track of time, along with the fact that we do have to eat and I don't feel like listening to any lectures about not looking out for our teammates after you faint on us. I promise, no more talk about the case around the table," he added, looking at both Morgan and Hudson.

"Yeah, promise. No more shop talk," Morgan replied.

"Yeah, whatever," Hudson replied, not really sounding like he had any idea what he was responding to. His attention was focused on the papers in front of him.

"What are you up to anyway?" Morgan asked, looking over his friend's shoulder.

"I called to get my bank balance last night, and it wasn't even close to being right. Turns out the bank charged me an overdraft fee because there wasn't enough money to cover a check and they had to pull money from my savings account to cover it. I'm trying to find out where they messed up, because there should have been enough money to cover all my outstanding checks."

"Oh, yeah, because it just has to be the bank's fault," Nichols said, lifting his coffee cup to his mouth to take a sip.

"Sure you didn't forget to record a transaction with your debit card," Morgan suggested. "I've done that myself a few times."

"I write down everything."

"You know you did owe me that fifty bucks, and I did tell you I was going to get it back one way or another . . ." Nichols said, letting the comment trail off.

Hudson looked up at him. "You wouldn't. Nichols if you messed with my account, you won't be using your computers for a while because I will break every bone in both of your hands."

"Ooohhh, temper, temper," Nichols said with a laugh. "I didn't do anything, not that I couldn't. You still do owe me fifty bucks though for that um, thing you didn't want mentioned, from last month."

"I'll pay you, as long as you keep your mouth shut."

Nichols made a motion across his mouth like he was zipping his lips. Both Reid and Morgan were wearing amused expression at the exchange between their two teammates. Morgan made a mental note to try and find out about the thing that Hudson didn't want mentioned. Whatever it was, it had to be good dirt, for Hudson to go to Nichols to bail him out.

"And as long as he can figure out how to balance a checkbook," Morgan added.

Hudson looked up from his paperwork to glare at his friend. "I'm so glad that you're finding this amusing and I do know how to balance a checkbook, it's my bank that doesn't know what it's doing."

"You do realize, that knowing how to do something and doing it correctly are two completely different things," Reid interjected, in a matter of fact way."Even books that are published, despite several different people proofreading them during the whole process, sometimes end up with mistakes in them."

Hudson moved his glare from Morgan to the younger agent as Nichols and Morgan chuckled at the exchange.

"I wasn't trying to be funny, I was just saying that . . ."

"Whether or not books get published with mistakes or not is not at all relevant to the situation. Now, could I please get some quiet while I figure out why my bank is charging me overdraft fees."

"The mistake is in the math," Reid replied.

"What?" Hudson asked, still glaring at the younger agent. Oblivious to Hudson's reaction, Reid leaned toward him and pointed out the math mistake he had spotted on Hudson's ledger.

"It's an easy mistake to make, really," Reid said, leaning back against the seat back and picking up his coffee cup.

"Maybe we should have bought you a calculator for Christmas," Nichols commented, a big grin on his face, matched only by the one that Morgan wore.

Aggravated, Hudson closed the checkbook, threw the pen down on the table and got to his feet. He stalked to the bathroom, more embarrassed than angry really, but wanting to get away from his teammates for a few minutes.

"I didn't mean to make him mad. I was only trying to help," Reid said, looking first at Nichols and then across the table at Morgan. "Should I apologize?"

"I wouldn't bother," Morgan told him, thinking of all the intentional jabs Hudson had gotten in on Reid since the agent had joined their team, many of which the younger man wasn't even aware of. "He'll get over it."

"Besides, he is just as upset with us right now, as he is you," Nichols added.

"Are you sure?" Reid asked nervously.

"Positive," Morgan told him. "You didn't do anything wrong and if he does give you a hard time, then let me know. I'll handle it," he added, knowing that due to Hudson's attitude to their youngest teammate, he very well could decide to take things out on Reid despite the fact that it was Nichols and himself who had been doing the teasing.

Reid nodded, not looking at all convinced.

Before any of the FBI agents could say anything else though, the waitress returned with their orders. As the waitress placed plates in front of Nichols and Reid, Morgan neatened Hudson's things into one pile and moved them a bit closer to him to clear some room for Hudson's plate.

"Anything missing?" the waitress asked, looking around the table at her patrons, who all indicated that nothing was in some manner. "I'll bring around the coffee pot for refills. Enjoy, Sugars."

The waitress walked away, and true to their word, Nichols and Morgan directed the conversation at the table to away from the case and started discussing what they did on their holiday break. Hudson returned before too long, outwardly calmer, and participated in the conversation although he didn't mention his father's illness or the relationship with him, instead focusing on the family celebration instead.