Rope Enough

by Brandgwen

Disclaimer: Profiler is the property of NBC and Sander/Moses. The Magnificent Seven is the property of Watson/Densham and CBS. The ATF universe belongs to Mog. I'm not making any money, I'm not worth suing.

Author's Note: This is an ATF/Profiler cross-over, inspired by the challenge put forward by Michelle Naylor. Background is gleaned from a number of ATF fics, in particular "How DID He Get That Car?", by Mog and "Your True Family", by Ruby. Thanks to to everyone who helped me with the background information.

The Mutual Admiraton Society

Sam entered the police station and wandered through to Bailey's office. Finding no one there, she checked around the coffee room and filing area, until finally she thought to check the interview rooms. The first thing she noticed when she entered the corridor was John Grant standing, back to the wall, staring down three unusual looking men. She stood there a moment, waiting to be acknowledged, but found herself completely ignored.

"John? Care to introduce me?"

Grant's head snapped around and he looked at the psychologist, as if registering her presence for the first time. "Sam, hi."

"Hi, John..." she waited, again, to be introduced, but seeing it would not be forthcoming, did it herself. "Hello, I'm Samantha Waters."

This caught the attention of one of the three. "Samantha Waters? Not Doctor Samantha Waters, forensic psychologist and profiler?"

"Ah... yes, actually," she extended her hand to the giant of a man who had addressed her, "and you are...?"

"Right, sorry. Sanchez, Josiah Sanchez. Its just that I've heard so much about you. I really admired your work on post-traumatic stress syndrome."

"Thank you, thank you so much," Sam couldn't help but blush, "so, you work in the field, then."

Josiah shook his head. "No, I'm an anthropologist, actually."

"I remember, you're with the ATF, right? The anthropologist profiler. Wow. So, what are you doing, here?"

"They're friends of the suspect," John decided it was time to break up the meeting of the Mutual Admiration Society.

Surprise flashed clearly across the doctor's face. "We have a suspect? I haven't even given Bailey my profile, yet."

"Looks like you might not have to. Old fashioned police work might have taken care of this one."

One of Josiah's companions scowled at this remark. "Or maybe half-arsed police work has lead you to the wrong man."

Josiah half smiled, then remembered his manners. "Sorry, Dr Waters..."

"Call me Sam."

"Okay, Sam," Josiah's grin made him look even more like an overgrown teddy bear, "these two are co-workers of mine. Vin Tanner," he indicated the man who had spoken, "and JD Dunne."

At this moment, the door to the interview room swung open. Malone and Larabee both emerged, leaving a restless Standish in side. They closed the door behind them.

"He had means and opportunity," Malone began. He knew full well he was in for a fight, if he wanted to detain this man. "He'd be more than capable of carrying the victim up the stairs and into the tree and he was in the building."

"Maybe, but where's your motive? Why would anyone, let alone one of my team, turn up at a uni and, within a month of arriving, suddenly start killing people?"

Sam cut in, "Actually, there could be any number of reasons. It's possible for a person to carry the propensity to kill for many years, but not act upon it until triggered. A new situation could certainly provide such a trigger."

Vin spoke up, before his boss had a chance to express his opinion on that. "Chris, this is Dr Samantha Waters, profiler. Dr Waters, Agent Chris Larabee."

Chris scowled, then nodded to Sam. She was a profiler, just doing her job. He would have to wear it. Turning to his men, he spoke, "Okay, here's the deal. We're not officially on this case. We will, however, be keeping an eye on Ez."

The three nodded: they were on the case, they just weren't allowed to tell anybody.

"John, keep an eye on the suspect, while we have a word with Sam," Malone began to lead the profiler toward the office. Chris threw a glance at Tanner. The sharpshooter nodded and followed Grant into the interview room. The remaining ATF agents joined Malone.

"The crime seems very impersonal. I don't think the killer derives his satisfaction from the act, itself, but, somehow, from the outcome. The victims are hit on the head and are dead long before they have the opportunity to regain consciousness. There's no evidence of torture..." Sam paused. There was something tugging at the back of her mind.

"So it has a clinical feel?" Josiah decided he might as well be of use.

"Not clinical, exactly, but the killer has an almost Spartan approach."

"An execution?"

Some of the pieces clicked together. "Yes, an execution. That would explain the hands being tied and the hood. It's as if the killer is re-enacting a death by hanging."

"Death by hanging? It must have been a fair while ago, no one does hangings, anymore," Bailey hoped they wouldn't end up researching every case of capital punishment for the last twenty years.

"Actually, some states do," it was the first time the youngest of the ATF agents had spoken, intimidated by the FBIs as he was, "but only at the request of the inmate. Montana and Washington, I think."

Larabee had no interest in any of this. He had his own case to worry about. "So how does this tie in with Standish?"

"It should be easy enough to rule him out. Serial killers tend to have a fairly distinctive profile," Sam noticed Josiah cringe.

"Such as?" Larabee prodded.

It was Sanchez who filled his boss in. "They tend to be loners. Highly intelligent and resourceful, but somehow out of sync with their peers. They often have unhappy childhoods. Maybe an over-dominating parent."

"Except for the over-dominating parent bit - there's not real evidence for that, here - I would say that was a pretty fair description," Sam wondered why this came as such bad news.

"I think, Sam," Bailey explained, "we've just been given a fairly accurate description of Ezra Standish."