Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. The occasional scenes from episodes of Criminal Minds in this story belongs to the writers of Criminal Minds and CBS. No copyright infringement intended.

A/N: Hello again, everyone!

Again, sorry for the delay!

My apologies if I had made any mistakes but do enjoy the chapter!

Also, I would like to credit ahowell1993 for helping me with this chapter.

Reid was just hobbling out of the bedroom and into the living room, being greeted by Opal, who started to pet his right leg.

"Oh, good morning, Opie." He waves at her before hobbling into the breakfast nook, where he soon finds Élise on her laptop.

"Morning, babe." Élise noticed Reid, taking a sip of coffee.

"Morning to you, too, my darling sweetheart." Reid noticed his breakfast plate: a plate containing Eggs Benedicts, two Belgian waffles, two beef sausages and turkey bacon strips, and a tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. "You made me breakfast."

"You know it, babe." She winked at him.

"And did you eat yourself?" Reid noticed the amount of weight she lost recently.

"Greek yogurt, berries, a banana, coffee." Élise took another sip.

"Oh."

"I've been looking up Thanksgiving recipes. And I've been in touch with my parents and brother. And they said they would love to come over here for the Thanksgiving weekend."

"That's good." Reid sat down next to Élise.

"Something wrong, babe?"

"You want to explain this?" Reid unfolds a sheet of piece and it was Élise's weight loss trackers.

"Yeah?" Élise quietly looks away. "What about it?"

"Don't you think it's a bit extreme?" Reid asked.

"Before, I was…around 120." Élise's voice cracked a bit. "I was barely losing weight then."

"And?" Reid barely shrugged his shoulders. "Look. I understand you want to lose weight, but I can't help but worry you're losing too much weight."

"I just felt so overweight and…" Élise wipes a tear.

"How much you weight now?" Reid asked with concern.

"Between 100-to-110. Maybe…95-to-105."

Reid was really afraid to ask. "How many pounds have you lost now?"

"A little over twenty pounds."

"Élise…"

"I know. I know." Tearing up now, Élise was now resting her head on Reid's shoulder.

"Élise…" Reid pats her head before lifting it up. "When I said I don't care about how much you eat because you'll always be beautiful no matter what shape or size you are, I meant me with all my heart and soul."

"Spencer, I…" Reid wipes her tears for her. "Just all those bad memories from childhood about my weight just…came back to haunt me. At first, I was steadily losing weight but over time, I…became unsatisfied with my body and I...I just ignored it until now. I'm sorry." Tears up.

"Élise…" Reid clutches his hands onto Élise's face. "I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't care about how much you eat or how much you weighted because you'll always be the most beautiful woman in the entire world, universe, galaxy, anywhere, no matter what shape or size you are. I love you more than air and I definitely love you more than I love myself." He kisses her forehead.

"I love you a trillion pi, baby."

Smiling, "I love you a trillion pi, too."

"If I may, can a piece of your turkey bacon?"

Kissing her forehead again, "Of course."

Hours later, Reid was now sitting at the roundtable with his teammates as JJ began briefing about the case, "The latest victim is Tara Farris, 20. She's the third victim in 2 weeks. All found on freeway off-ramps by commuters."

"Well, he's not hiding them," Hotch observed.

"An L.A. freeway during morning rush hour?" Rossi questioned. "He wants them found."

Morgan added, "Quickly."

"Well, they're still dressed." Prentiss noticed. "That minimizes the shock value."

Reid asked as he opened a file, "Maybe he's concerned for them. Think he wants them taken care of?"

"No signs of sexual assault on any of the victims," JJ answered.

"Look how pale she is." Rossi noted.

"All of them were severely hypovolemic." JJ said before continuing, "Tara had less than a pint of blood in her."

"Look at this." Reid spotted something. "The first 2 had more than 3 pints each. If exsanguination is the goal, the unsub is definitely becoming more proficient."

"This is new," JJ said. "Tara's the only victim to have a written message."

Hotch listed, ""The Liar.""

""The" Liar." Prentiss recited. "That's strange, isn't it? Not a liar or just liar."

Hotch questioned. "So, what did you lie about, Tara?"

JJ answered, "All of the victims appear to have been strangled and then bled out through identical wounds in the throat."

"Wait—seriously, are those supposed to be fang marks?" Prentiss asked as she noticed the wounds.

JJ continued "All of the wounds on the victims were covered in saliva. Human saliva, as though—"

"Someone drank their blood," Reid concluded.

Minutes later, Reid sends Élise a text message.

GOING TO LA! LOVE YOU! ~ SR

Minutes later, Élise replied.

LOVE YOU X PI! ~ EB

Reid was sitting on the couch with his left leg crossed over his right leg.

JJ was just finishing up with her phone call "Ok. ok, thanks. So they've already set up a task force in Los Angeles."

As Morgan sat down next to Reid, "This isn't their first serial case."

"You remember Detective Owen Kim?" JJ asked, looking at him.

"From the stalker case," Hotch added.

"You remember that case, don't you, Spence?"

"I do remember that case."

"Yeah, you ever talk to, um, Lila anymore?"

"More importantly, have you ever told Élise about her?" Morgan asked.

"As a matter of fact, I did. Elle…sort of…brought her up and I told Élise about Lila after we got back to our hotel in London."

"Well, that's good," Rossi said. "Knowing Élise…"

Reid interrupted. "You know, I think we should probably focus on this case right now. It's a little more pertinent."

As Morgan looked at Reid, "All right, so tell us about blood-drinkers, Reid."

Reid said, "Human blood consumption, or clinical vampirism, is known as Renfield's syndrome, named after the insect-eating character in Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula.""

"Are they sadists?" Prentiss asked.

"Not necessarily," Reid answered before continuing. "Pain to the victim Is usually only a byproduct. Blood is the focus. Renfield's syndrome is usually accompanied by Varying levels of schizophrenia and occasionally more classic cannibalism If the condition evolves."

Rossi dryly said. "Classic cannibalism. Lovely job we have."

"I will say this—true cases are exceedingly rare," Reid said.

JJ said. "That's comforting. Sort of."

"Renfield's may be rare, but vampires are anything but. And there's a huge subculture in Los Angeles of the red-drinking undead." Garcia said.

Rossi asked with everyone else seeing pictures. "Why is that not a surprise?"

Morgan asked. "Garcia, all these people drink blood?"

"Au contraire. they mostly just dress up like Prentiss did in high school and they make believe. It's all kinds of delicious." Garcia said, witnessing Reid smirking at Prentiss.

"It's not the same thing at all." Reid corrected. "As a matter of fact, we should refer to this unsub as a vampirist, not a vampire. And they would be attracted to the subculture Merely for its professed worship of blood."

"Ok, I'm going to continue spelunking through the various online sites, see if anything jumps up and bites me." Garcia jested.

"Thanks, baby g—Thanks, Penelope. Stay close." Morgan corrected himself.

"Yes, sir. Garcia out." After Garcia signed off.

"You guys, one more thing—vampirists are coveters," Reid said. "They most generally always have some sort of relationship with the victim, even if it's tangential. And they're likely to become obsessed. They've almost certainly crossed paths in some way."

Reid was making his way towards Lt. Kim as he was following his teammates.

"Hi, Lieutenant Kim. Agent Jareau." JJ shook his head.

"JJ, of course. I remember most of you." Lt. Kim soon shook Reid's hands before Hotch's. "Agent Hotchner. Reid. Morgan. Welcome back to the left coast."

"These are Agents Prentiss and Rossi." Hotch introduced them to Lt. Kim. "I believe they're new to you.

"Hi. pleasure."

After Lt. Kim shook their hands, he motioned everyone to follow him. "We already have a room set up Full of glass boards, case files, And extremely bad coffee.

Prentiss deadpanned, "We've worked with a lot less."

"Agent Morgan's in charge now. it's his show." Hotch said as they entered the conference room. "Long story."

"I know you like to start with the freshest information And work your way back. So Tara's apartment has been processed and sealed In case you want to go there. And her body, along with that of the first 2 girls, Is at the morgue with an m.e. Waiting there for your call." Lt. Kim said.

Morgan began giving out orders, "All right. JJ, get set up here and then hook up with Garcia. Send her the witness information So she can start cross-referencing with the first 2 victims. Reid, I want you to go through all the case files, set up a preliminary profile based on what you already know about the psychopathology. And the rest of us, let's find out what we can on Tara."

Lt. Kim soon asked Reid, pointing to his knee. "What happened to you?"

"An unsub shot me in my left leg while I was protecting a target, and I shot him in between the eyes."

"Ouch." Lt. Kim commented.

"But I'm okay now. My fiancée and I have been making progress."

"Fiancée?" An intrigued Lt. Kim asked.

Showing off his ring, "Yeah. We'll be getting married in the spring."

"Let's talk more about that later, but congrats."

"Thanks."

"So much for keeping the media out. Penelope?" JJ commented as she and Reid watched the news. "Are we in yet?

Garcia sighed. "All yours. I always feel skeevy going through someone's life like this.

"Ok, so everything looks like it's password-protected, So you might not even be able to—You're in already, aren't you?" JJ guessed.

Garcia said, "The password was Cullen."

JJ figured, "Of course."

"Colon?" A confused Reid asked.

"Cullen." JJ corrected him. "The vampire family from "Twilight.""

"What's "Twilight?"" Reid asked.

"Do you ever read anything other than technical books?" JJ laughed.

"Not much in English," Reid answered. "Plus, Élise had a few words about the series."

"Which was…?"

"The day I read the books is the day there are snowflakes in hell." Reid recited Élise's exact words.

"Ok, I'll see what I can dredge. My love is strong." Garcia said.

"Ok, thanks," JJ said before asking. "How's the profile coming?"

"I don't know." Reid turns his head. I never really feel ready, you know?"

"It'll be fine," JJ assured. "I am gonna go talk to Tara's BFF Before the media requests come in and it gets too crazy."

"What's a BFF?" Reid asked.

"Best friend forever," JJ said. "Don't Élise tell you think?"

"She never really had BFFs." Reid said before asking, "Should I go with you?"

"No. you have a profile to deliver," JJ noted Reid's knee.

"I should really work on it a little more." Reid figured.

"Reid," JJ said before she took his phone.

"What are you doing with my phone?" Reid wondered.

"Derek," JJ answered with Reid motioned her to stop. "Hey, um, Spence is ready for the profile. Why, yes, he is, right here." Hands his phone back to him. "I'll be back."

Hours later, the team was heading back to DC.

"Hey, do you guys think Davies will continue to perform as Dante?" Reid asked as he was in the jet's kitchenette.

"The character's probably responsible for the murder of 4 women. If he has any conscience at all, Dante died with them." Prentiss passed bottled water to JJ.

"Thanks," JJ whispered as she took some pain meds from Hotch

"Are you ok?" Prentiss asked.

JJ answered with the ice pack on her head. "Yeah. doctor said it'll be sore for a while, but I'm fine, really."

"I feel so bad I didn't go with you to interview Gina," Reid said, covering JJ up with a blanket

"Spence, stop, all right?" JJ comforted him. "We had no way of knowing she was gonna be dangerous. She was just the friend of a victim. Granted, a schizophrenic friend with a sociopathic partner."

Prentiss deadpanned. "And a shovel."

As Morgan looked at Reid, "Seriously, Reid, we had no way of knowing That Gina had that type of anger inside of her."

"Yeah, but she was obsessed with Dante. I should have known that that level of fixation Can lead to manipulation." Reid said.

"But only when the fixation's Coupled with schizophrenia, which we had no way of knowing." Hotch looked at Reid.

Prentiss figured. "Still it never ceases to amaze me how dark obsession can get."

"And with a pop star?" Rossi wryly said. "I mean, I was obsessed with the Rat Pack, But I wouldn't have killed for Frank or Dean."

Hotch teased. "No, you just drank whiskey and smoked cigars."

"This from the man whose favorite record is the Beatles' White Album." Rossi wittily replied.

Hotch joked back. "Just because Manson hijacked it Doesn't have to ruin it for the rest of us."

"That's why I stick to Beethoven. There's no chance of guilt by association." Reid's respond causes silence.

Prentiss asked. "Well, yeah. Have you ever seen a movie called "A Clockwork Orange?""

"Mm-mmm." Reid shook his head, which causes laughter among the team. "And JJ, I hope you learn your lesson about going somewhere without backup."

"Yeah. I should have remembered about Tobias Hankel." JJ adjusted her ice pack.

"And me a few months ago." Reid points to his left leg.

"And Hurricane Élise's aftermath." Rossi reminded him.

"Yeah, I'm still recovering after her last lashing." Morgan rubbed his ears.

"Opal's resting in her pen," Élise said, walking into the room again. Reid had just finished reading Dracula and was now resting his left knee.

"What's behind your back?" Reid noticed Élise had one of her hands behind her.

"Greek yogurt brownies." Élise smiles, pulls out a small plate of brownies.

"Oh!" This intrigued Reid. Grabbing one. "Delicious!"

"Thanks." Setting the plate down on the bedside. "I thought about what you said about me losing too much weight."

"You have?"

"I have. And…you're right. I've lost too much weight, but I don't want to be too skinny."

"I know." Reid nodded his head. "You know, since I got shot, I gained almost ten pounds. And the doctor told me the weight gain was doing me some good anyway, so…"

"I…guess I can cool it with the weight losing. Maybe…gain five pounds back." Cuddling up to Élise. "You really are amazing."

Kissing her forehead before kissing her lips. "So are you."

Until next time, everyone!