Rachael Burke looked around the table while they waited for Bailey. George
was busy at his laptop, like usual, whether it was working on the latest
victim, or sending a quick email to his other half, to let him know he'd be
working late. Grace was on her cell phone talking to her son. And John was
talking to Angel, informing her that he too, would be late. Luckily she
didn't have to call Jimmy, as he was out of the town for the weekend at a
conference.
Sometimes it seemed like only yesterday that she had joined the VCTF, not five years. But then she would look around at her closest co-workers, and the five years flew by in a blink. John and Angel had married a year and a half after Sam left. They had a one-year-old daughter named Samantha. Angel had wanted to have Sam as Samicat's godmother, but since no one had heard from Sam since that day, it was impossible. Grace and Bailey had been chosen as Samicat's godparents.
Marcus had come back to the VCTF three years earlier, and he and Grace had married the previous year. Angel usually took Grace's kids on the weeknights while Marcus and Grace worked. They were a good match, and Grace deserved some happiness after everything she went through with her ex.
George had gotten through the drug problem with few repercussions. He was happy with life, and had designed a number of new programs for the Bureau. Now he was indespensible, not only to the VCTF, but to the whole Bureau.
She herself had grown over the last five years, not in a big way, but in little things. The group had fully accepted her, and she became a part of their 'family' so to speak. She had recently got engaged to her boyfriend Jimmy. They had met three years earlier, not long after Marcus came back. Jimmy Kirallen was a member of the Atlanta PD, and they had met on a case. It hadn't take long for them to start dating. Their wedding was tentatively planned for a year from now.
Bailey was in many ways the same as he was when she first came. But then again, he wasn't the same as he had been with Sam. It nearly killed him when Sam left, but there was no way he could stop her, he had no right to take away a chance to get her life back together, no matter how much he loved her. He never said anything about that night when Rachael confronted him about his feelings towards Sam, but Rachael knew that it haunted him. To have someone else tell him how he felt, to bring it to the surface, Bailey had never forgiven her in a way for it, not that he was upset about it. It just hurt that he hadn't known, that someone else knew first. Bailey still loved her, and everyone in their small 'family' knew it.
It killed them all to see how the past five years had affected him. Everyday a part of him seemed to die a bit more; he was slowly shutting his heart off. They all knew that he would never love anyone other than Sam. He had loved his ex-wife, but not the way he loved Sam. Sam was his equivalent of a soul mate, or true love.
As if by magic, the man she had been thinking about walked through the doorway. "Alright, what do we know?" Bailey asked as he sat down.
"Twenty-two white female, found strangled in Savannah, same knot used by Jack, and a white rose. Another note found next to the body." George said bringing the note up on the screen.
My Dearest Samantha, I know you'll find this, you always do. Follow the path and come to me, before it gets too long. Hurry my love. I'm waiting for you. Jack
"Anything from forensics?" Bailey asked looking at the note.
"Not yet, but with the past track record." George said, shrugging his shoulders slightly to say who knew.
"Rachael, anything?" Bailey asked turning to her.
"Well, it's pretty much the same as before. He wants Sam. He thinks of himself as Jack, but a better, purer version of the old. I still get the feeling that he' looking for something. Love. Acceptance. I'm just not sure." Rachael drifted off in thought.
"Alright." Bailey said nodding his head slowly as he thought. "Anything form the scene?" he asked looking at John.
"Nope. Not a thing. No witnesses, no evidence. The body was found by two five year olds looking for their ball." John finished, shuddering at the thought that it could have been his daughter. Looking across the table he saw Grace and Marcus smile, knowing exactly what he was thinking, all three felt the same way.
"I haven't had a chance to start, but I'll let you know as soon as there's anything." Grace said as she looked at her paperwork.
"Thanks Grace."
"Bailey, I think we need to get someone else on the case. Another profiler perhaps. We might be too close to see anything." Rachael said softly.
Bailey took a seep breath and was silent for a few seconds. "That's a good idea, with one problem. The only other profiler capable of this kind of job is Sam."
Everyone was silent for a minute or two as they digested this information, then George cleared his throat hesitantly. "What about someone who can do profiles, someone Sam trusted."
"What are you talking about?" Marcus asked
"Do you remember Jarod?" George asked
"Jarod Doyle?" John asked
"Jarod Wilkes?" Rachael asked, surprised about the other Jarod.
"All of them. We know that Jarod Wilkes and Jarod Doyle are the same person. He was capable of profiling The Father, maybe he can help us now."
"He might be able to." Bailey said leaning back in his chair. "But, how do we find him? He's already had three identities that we know of."
"I think I found him already." George replied then smiled sheepishly, "I already e-mailed him, asking him to come. I took a chance." George finished, more as a question than a statement.
"Good Job." Bailey said with a smile, proud that George had taken the initiative.
George smiled in relief, then looked down at his laptop when it chimed. "We have a video e-mail from Jarod, hang on and I'll set the camera up."
"Huh?" John asked confused
"It's like a telephone conversation, but with video feed. We can see him, him us, and we can all talk." George said as he typed, "There." He said as he pressed enter. Immediately, Jarod appeared on the screen in front of them. He sat in front of the computer in a room pretty much devoid of anything, except an occasional pez dispenser, and a Mr. Potato head over his right shoulder on a bookcase.
"Hello everyone, I heard you needed a bit of help." Jarod said as soon as he saw them.
"Hello Mr..." Bailey began.
"Just call me Jarod." He said with a half smile.
"Yes. Well, Jarod, if you don't mind me asking, what is your last name?" Bailey asked leaning forward against the table.
Jarod was silent for a minute or so, contemplating what to tell them. Sam trusted them, so he knew he could too, and he had worked with them in the past, but how much could he really tell them, or better yet how much should he. John cleared his throat rather loudly, and Jarod looked back at the group sitting around the table. He decided that they could know a little, they deserved that much.
"I don't know my last name, I was taken from my family as a child."
Everyone in the VCTF was silent for a moment as they thought about what he had said, and the bitterness that underlined his voice slightly. "Have you found your family?" George asked softly, something nagging him in the back of his mind.
"Some, but not all. But, this isn't about me. What do you need help with?"
"Can you profile?" Bailey asked straight out.
Jarod leaned back resting his elbows on the arm rests and absentmindedly drummed his fingers against each other while he thought. "That depends." He said at last, "Why, what do you need another profiler for. Agent Burke seems to do a pretty good job."
"Yeah, well this case may need another set of eyes so to speak. We are too close to the situation." Rachael said slowly.
"Really?" Jarod said surprised, lowering his arms as he thought for another moment or so.
"Alright, I can profile, as you put it, in a way. Obviously you guys need help, or else you wouldn't have gone through all the hassle of finding me. I'll come, if you do two things, one, you don't probe too much into my past, and two, I'm not mentioned publicly, period."
The group of agents looked at Bailey waiting for his answer.
"Alright Jarod, you've got a deal." Bailey said slowly.
"Alright, well then, I can be there in about four hours." Jarod said thinking quickly. "I've got a few loose ends to tie up here/
"Alright, we'll let security know." Bailey replied.
"Till then." Jarod said and the screen went blank.
"Well. I think it's going to be interesting getting to know the real Jarod." Bailey said with a slight smile.
~*~*~*~*~
"Hey Bail." George said as he knocked on Bailey's open door the next day.
"What's up Georgie?"
"Jarod is here. He's in the conference room with John and Grace."
"Alright, lets go meet Jarod again." Bailey said with a slight smile as he got up and joined George by the door.
The two walked over to the conference room and caught the last part of Jarod's statement.
".knew Sam, or someone else involved in the original case. He seems to know so much about everything to have simply caught it on the news or something."
"Really, we never thought of that." George said softly.
Jarod turned and looked up at them. "It's not something you really want to think about" he said honestly. "Hello."
"Hello Jarod." Bailey said as they sat down. "I guess you've had some time to go over the case."
"Yes, I have. It's a good thing that Sam is in hiding with this Jack out there."
"Yeah,. Wait, how did you know she was in hiding?" Bailey asked as he realized that hadn't been released, ever.
"I have my sources." He replied
Sometimes it seemed like only yesterday that she had joined the VCTF, not five years. But then she would look around at her closest co-workers, and the five years flew by in a blink. John and Angel had married a year and a half after Sam left. They had a one-year-old daughter named Samantha. Angel had wanted to have Sam as Samicat's godmother, but since no one had heard from Sam since that day, it was impossible. Grace and Bailey had been chosen as Samicat's godparents.
Marcus had come back to the VCTF three years earlier, and he and Grace had married the previous year. Angel usually took Grace's kids on the weeknights while Marcus and Grace worked. They were a good match, and Grace deserved some happiness after everything she went through with her ex.
George had gotten through the drug problem with few repercussions. He was happy with life, and had designed a number of new programs for the Bureau. Now he was indespensible, not only to the VCTF, but to the whole Bureau.
She herself had grown over the last five years, not in a big way, but in little things. The group had fully accepted her, and she became a part of their 'family' so to speak. She had recently got engaged to her boyfriend Jimmy. They had met three years earlier, not long after Marcus came back. Jimmy Kirallen was a member of the Atlanta PD, and they had met on a case. It hadn't take long for them to start dating. Their wedding was tentatively planned for a year from now.
Bailey was in many ways the same as he was when she first came. But then again, he wasn't the same as he had been with Sam. It nearly killed him when Sam left, but there was no way he could stop her, he had no right to take away a chance to get her life back together, no matter how much he loved her. He never said anything about that night when Rachael confronted him about his feelings towards Sam, but Rachael knew that it haunted him. To have someone else tell him how he felt, to bring it to the surface, Bailey had never forgiven her in a way for it, not that he was upset about it. It just hurt that he hadn't known, that someone else knew first. Bailey still loved her, and everyone in their small 'family' knew it.
It killed them all to see how the past five years had affected him. Everyday a part of him seemed to die a bit more; he was slowly shutting his heart off. They all knew that he would never love anyone other than Sam. He had loved his ex-wife, but not the way he loved Sam. Sam was his equivalent of a soul mate, or true love.
As if by magic, the man she had been thinking about walked through the doorway. "Alright, what do we know?" Bailey asked as he sat down.
"Twenty-two white female, found strangled in Savannah, same knot used by Jack, and a white rose. Another note found next to the body." George said bringing the note up on the screen.
My Dearest Samantha, I know you'll find this, you always do. Follow the path and come to me, before it gets too long. Hurry my love. I'm waiting for you. Jack
"Anything from forensics?" Bailey asked looking at the note.
"Not yet, but with the past track record." George said, shrugging his shoulders slightly to say who knew.
"Rachael, anything?" Bailey asked turning to her.
"Well, it's pretty much the same as before. He wants Sam. He thinks of himself as Jack, but a better, purer version of the old. I still get the feeling that he' looking for something. Love. Acceptance. I'm just not sure." Rachael drifted off in thought.
"Alright." Bailey said nodding his head slowly as he thought. "Anything form the scene?" he asked looking at John.
"Nope. Not a thing. No witnesses, no evidence. The body was found by two five year olds looking for their ball." John finished, shuddering at the thought that it could have been his daughter. Looking across the table he saw Grace and Marcus smile, knowing exactly what he was thinking, all three felt the same way.
"I haven't had a chance to start, but I'll let you know as soon as there's anything." Grace said as she looked at her paperwork.
"Thanks Grace."
"Bailey, I think we need to get someone else on the case. Another profiler perhaps. We might be too close to see anything." Rachael said softly.
Bailey took a seep breath and was silent for a few seconds. "That's a good idea, with one problem. The only other profiler capable of this kind of job is Sam."
Everyone was silent for a minute or two as they digested this information, then George cleared his throat hesitantly. "What about someone who can do profiles, someone Sam trusted."
"What are you talking about?" Marcus asked
"Do you remember Jarod?" George asked
"Jarod Doyle?" John asked
"Jarod Wilkes?" Rachael asked, surprised about the other Jarod.
"All of them. We know that Jarod Wilkes and Jarod Doyle are the same person. He was capable of profiling The Father, maybe he can help us now."
"He might be able to." Bailey said leaning back in his chair. "But, how do we find him? He's already had three identities that we know of."
"I think I found him already." George replied then smiled sheepishly, "I already e-mailed him, asking him to come. I took a chance." George finished, more as a question than a statement.
"Good Job." Bailey said with a smile, proud that George had taken the initiative.
George smiled in relief, then looked down at his laptop when it chimed. "We have a video e-mail from Jarod, hang on and I'll set the camera up."
"Huh?" John asked confused
"It's like a telephone conversation, but with video feed. We can see him, him us, and we can all talk." George said as he typed, "There." He said as he pressed enter. Immediately, Jarod appeared on the screen in front of them. He sat in front of the computer in a room pretty much devoid of anything, except an occasional pez dispenser, and a Mr. Potato head over his right shoulder on a bookcase.
"Hello everyone, I heard you needed a bit of help." Jarod said as soon as he saw them.
"Hello Mr..." Bailey began.
"Just call me Jarod." He said with a half smile.
"Yes. Well, Jarod, if you don't mind me asking, what is your last name?" Bailey asked leaning forward against the table.
Jarod was silent for a minute or so, contemplating what to tell them. Sam trusted them, so he knew he could too, and he had worked with them in the past, but how much could he really tell them, or better yet how much should he. John cleared his throat rather loudly, and Jarod looked back at the group sitting around the table. He decided that they could know a little, they deserved that much.
"I don't know my last name, I was taken from my family as a child."
Everyone in the VCTF was silent for a moment as they thought about what he had said, and the bitterness that underlined his voice slightly. "Have you found your family?" George asked softly, something nagging him in the back of his mind.
"Some, but not all. But, this isn't about me. What do you need help with?"
"Can you profile?" Bailey asked straight out.
Jarod leaned back resting his elbows on the arm rests and absentmindedly drummed his fingers against each other while he thought. "That depends." He said at last, "Why, what do you need another profiler for. Agent Burke seems to do a pretty good job."
"Yeah, well this case may need another set of eyes so to speak. We are too close to the situation." Rachael said slowly.
"Really?" Jarod said surprised, lowering his arms as he thought for another moment or so.
"Alright, I can profile, as you put it, in a way. Obviously you guys need help, or else you wouldn't have gone through all the hassle of finding me. I'll come, if you do two things, one, you don't probe too much into my past, and two, I'm not mentioned publicly, period."
The group of agents looked at Bailey waiting for his answer.
"Alright Jarod, you've got a deal." Bailey said slowly.
"Alright, well then, I can be there in about four hours." Jarod said thinking quickly. "I've got a few loose ends to tie up here/
"Alright, we'll let security know." Bailey replied.
"Till then." Jarod said and the screen went blank.
"Well. I think it's going to be interesting getting to know the real Jarod." Bailey said with a slight smile.
~*~*~*~*~
"Hey Bail." George said as he knocked on Bailey's open door the next day.
"What's up Georgie?"
"Jarod is here. He's in the conference room with John and Grace."
"Alright, lets go meet Jarod again." Bailey said with a slight smile as he got up and joined George by the door.
The two walked over to the conference room and caught the last part of Jarod's statement.
".knew Sam, or someone else involved in the original case. He seems to know so much about everything to have simply caught it on the news or something."
"Really, we never thought of that." George said softly.
Jarod turned and looked up at them. "It's not something you really want to think about" he said honestly. "Hello."
"Hello Jarod." Bailey said as they sat down. "I guess you've had some time to go over the case."
"Yes, I have. It's a good thing that Sam is in hiding with this Jack out there."
"Yeah,. Wait, how did you know she was in hiding?" Bailey asked as he realized that hadn't been released, ever.
"I have my sources." He replied