The smell of stale coffee was overpowering, almost more so than the lack of daylight in the room. Overworking was common practice here and as such, caffeine addiction was deeply ingrained into our culture. I was relieved to have my own office to allow me to focus away from the highly strung teams that depended on me. Topping up my teacup from the pot, I continued to scan my eyes through the various databases in search of something to provide us with a lead.
My eyelids were heavy from exhaustion as I battled to hold my concentration and almost jumped out of my chair as a shrill phone rang from the back of the desk. It was a secure line that I'd set up a while ago, but seldom ever used and I quickly got to my feet to close the door before picking up the handset.
"Wonderland." The careful voice announced a code that prompted a smile to fill my lips and I was immediately flooded with a warm sense of appreciation as I recognised them.
"Well, it's been some time since I heard that." I muttered curtly, settling back into my seat and a small satisfied sound on the other end of the line seemed to indicate that she was relieved to have confirmed my identity. "You're certainly working late, aren't you?"
"You know how it is. Monsters to catch." Penelope sighed, allowing me the chance to catch the fatigue in her voice that likely would have been easily missed by anyone else. "Speaking of which, I have a problem." She confessed, causing me to lean forward with riveted interest.
"We've got one of your boys causing mayhem over here. Your agents are keeping suspiciously schtum on it, territorial as ever. My team wants to stick with the case. I can't ask for official permission to access Interpol files when we've been told to drop it, but if I could just get five minutes in the system…" She trailed off suggestively and I chuckled lightly to myself.
"You're losing your touch, My Queen. I would have expected you to have found your way in already." I teased, referring to the name that I'd once known her by as I set to work on bringing up the files of the case. I didn't need specifics to clarify, I knew exactly which criminal my team was after that had required them to fly to the States to investigate and I heard her sigh.
"Any other time, you know that I would hack first and deny knowledge later, but I can't plead ignorance on something that we've already been clearly told to stay away from." She groaned, her frustration obvious even over the phone and I began typing rapidly as a plan formulated in my mind.
"I can't allow access to a foreign agency, my dear. The other techs would rat me out before you'd even found anything." I explained, chewing on my lip as I entered line after line of code in an attempt to outsmart my colleagues with techniques that would never be used in an official capacity. "However, if a back door was accidentally left open during maintenance, I couldn't be held responsible for anything that might creep in." I thought aloud as I sped through screens with a wicked smile, knowing that I could easily avoid any blame this way.
"I've assigned all of the correct credentials. Anything that you access will appear as if it's me doing admin in the case, but be careful. It's a very limited disguise that won't last long if anyone starts to dig at it. I can keep our techs busy for a little while, but you know that subtly isn't my strong suit. Get out before you're noticed." I instructed as I entered the last few commands and could already hear her making preparations for the task.
"Oh, sweetheart. I will be gone before they even know what hit them." She breezed, her voice filled with a confidence that was contagious and I took a deep breath as I allowed it to pass onto me.
"Launching now." I confirmed, as I entered the final key and my screen began filling with pages of data. "Make it worthwhile. Catch the bastard."
- O - O - O - O - O -
"You think it's an inside agent?"
My sector chief stared me down with an intensely disbelieving expression and I struggled to keep my nervousness from showing. It was incredibly nerve wracking to suggest this in a team where I was already the odd one out, but I couldn't allow my own insecurities to prevent us from getting justice. Ever since I had started here, I'd had the deep rooted feeling that none of my colleagues approved of the decision to recruit someone who should have been arrested and the disdain always seemed most powerful when addressing the man before me.
"That is my belief, Sir." I answered, hoping that he wouldn't notice my false confidence and I forced myself to hold his gaze as he crossed his arms. "Valeno has successfully dodged every digital trap that I've laid. He's avoided multiple agencies now and essentially vanished without a trace. It wouldn't be possible to achieve that without inside knowledge of the measures that we are taking." I explained, carefully presenting my theory and he remained unmoved as he studied me, causing me to gulp in discomfort.
"Find me proof, Hawthorne. I can't call a witch hunt based on your bitterness against this team." Shepard responded coldly, turning his back on me without another word to take a seat at his desk and I gulped down the anger that I felt at this unfair accusation. When I remained rooted to the spot in confusion, he simply gestured for me to show myself out.
I stomped back to my office with my cheeks burning in humiliation and closed the door behind me so that I could sink down against it with my face in my hands. It was endlessly frustrating to have invested so much time into pursuing this trafficking ring, only to have them continuously avoid capture. I was exhausted by this case, unable to remember my last day off since I was assigned to it and I could feel that I was running out of ideas, as I faced a heart breaking lack of support.
A loud alert on my computer pulled me from my wallowing and I rushed into my seat with interest. Flashing on my screen was a warning that made my stomach lurch and I stared at it with wide eyes. After months of silence, someone had finally accessed one of the booby trapped files.
I jumped into action, entering commands at lightning speed and became determined to capture whomever it was that had been defeating me for many long months. They were quick, evading my tactics with ease and I found myself engaged in a maddening game of digital hide and seek in the various systems. It was immediately clear that I was dealing with a professional and I cursed under my breath as I strained to keep up with them, setting fresh traps as I worked in the hope of preventing their escape.
"Oh no you don't, you little bugger! Not today!" I hissed under my breath, feeling sweet on my brow as I fretted that one wrong move could lose them forever.
As I watched them evade my tracking, then jump straight into blocking me out with expert knowledge, a memory stirred in the back of my mind. The theory rapidly took hold and I wasted no time in throwing out a manoeuvre that I knew would cause a bolt of familiarity if the culprit was who I suspected. Barely moments later, my screen fizzled in error, before displaying a bizarre Tetris overlay that could only be the signature of one person and I gasped, reaching for the phone in a fluster. I could hardly dial the number properly with my shaking hands and stumbled over my words as they answered hurriedly.
"Tell me that you're the person flooding my system with Tetris right now!" I spat, cutting her off before she could even speak and I heard the noisy typing on the other end rapidly stop.
"I knew it! You're the only hacker I know that would use Alice in Wonderland riddles to throw me off!" Penelope gasped with excitement and I released a breath that I didn't even know I had been holding in relief. It had been almost six months since I last heard her voice and although I would usually be pleased to speak to her, I couldn't help a wave of disappointment at the realisation that I hadn't caught anyone connected to the case.
"Well done, Reid! I just almost hacked our best chance of cracking your sicko lady thief. Thank god for your crazy book memory." I heard her chatting to someone in the background and cleared my throat to regain her attention.
"I'd recognise those moves anywhere. You're the only person that aggressive in code. What are you doing in my case?" I asked, rubbing at my temples in confusion and though I could hear someone barraging her with questions about who she was talking to, she remained obediently focused on me.
"Your case? I'm researching an abduction for the team." She revealed, sounding as if she hadn't even realised what was happening yet and I felt my eyes widen in horror. "Wait a second. Interpol is on this?" She breathed, causing sounds of shock to echo from whoever was in her background and I leapt to my feet as my thoughts bounced around in my mind.
"Penelope, I need you to send me everything you have. Right now! I think you've got a much bigger problem on your hands than you even know." I ordered, flicking through the case files that covered my desk in a fluster and without a moment of hesitation, the details began to pop up on my screen. As I acknowledged the matching signature to the photos on my desk, I held a hand to my mouth in shock.
"Valeno." I whispered as adrenaline shot through my entire body and I grabbed my phone as I began marching through the halls of the office. "Get your Unit Chief ready for a call. I'm taking this to the chief now." I instructed, before hanging up and striding confidently back toward the office that I'd been so rudely dismissed from a short while ago.
Without awaiting permission, I barged inside and switched on the monitor on the wall. I flicked it to the channel that connected to my station and displayed the crime scene photos that were sent by Penelope. At first, Shepard seemed irritated by the brashness of my approach, but as I flicked through the photos with a determined energy, understanding dawned on his features.
"Look familiar?" I suggested, before spreading the case files out on the table to further explain my point. "Every single detail, exactly the same. Matching victimology, no forensics detected at the scene, no ransom. He's back." I insisted, pointing out each fact with a passion that I had rarely allowed to show since I joined this role and he stared up at the screen with conviction.
"Where?"
"Virginia, United States. It's just like I said. He's trying to hop jurisdiction to exploit the black spots between agencies and avoid detection." I explained, feeling equally validated and frustrated that my theory had been correct. This meant that more lives had been destroyed by this man and the realisation caused a wave of nausea to wash over me.
"Sir, the FBI are late to this. They're only just linking the abductions together. We could get ahead of him this time, if we assisted." I appealed, holding my hands out in exasperation and he finally tore his eyes from the screen to examine me with an unreadable face.
"You have contact with the team?" He enquired curiously and I nodded in confirmation.
"Yes, Sir. Their Unit Chief is waiting for your call." I presented, afraid to move a single muscle for risk of damaging the fragile alliance and after a few minutes of tense silence, he finally sighed.
"Set up the meeting through Lucy." He instructed, causing me to almost run from the room to find our case coordinator, before he called out to stop me.
"If they accept our support, we'll be heading over to join the team." He stated calmly and I held my breath as I paused on the spot. "You know his patterns better than anyone. You think you can catch this mole?"
"Yes, Sir." I asserted, the words escaping my lips before I'd even had the chance to consider them and for the first time, he softened his expression as he viewed me.
"Then you'd better get ready to travel. You'll be joining us."
- O - O - O - O - O -
There was something awfully intimidating about entering the FBI headquarters, despite my own professional background. I hesitated at the back of the team, unsure about the etiquette of these kinds of scenarios as I'd never worked on a shared agency case in person, unlike the others. My skills were shared between multiple Interpol teams and as a result, I didn't have a bond with anyone, especially not in the group that I'd travelled with.
The rest of the agents seemed completely at home as they stepped out of the elevator and made a beeline for the main BAU office, whilst I slowed to a stop in the reception, feeling too overwhelmed to continue.
Everything felt immensely bigger than I was used to and the entire process had been so rushed that I'd hardly had a chance to process any of it. This was my first visit to the States at all in many years and I couldn't catch up with the emotional effect of this. I brushed the hair that had escaped my scruffy braid out of my face and attempted to straighten out my clothes, convinced that I appeared completely haggard after being made to attend the office straight from a long flight.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to push open the glass doors to join my team, only to be ambushed before I could.
"Wonderland!" An excitable voice cheered from my side and I turned to find a very colourful woman with a huge mane of bright blonde hair barrelling toward me.
"Penelope Von Troublemaker." I chuckled as she swept me into a hug that almost knocked me from my already unsteady feet. She smelt fruity and fresh as she squeezed the life out of me and I wheezed for breath.
"It's wonderful to see you at last, but I really do need to breathe, my dear." I wheezed, prompting her to quickly jump back, leaving only her hands on my shoulders as she beamed at me.
"You're so pretty, even more so in person! And classy too. Look at you in your head to toe black chic. I love it." She breathed, scanning my full appearance with excitement radiating off her in waves and I managed a nervous smile in response. I still remembered Penelope as a late teen with an attitude problem, who often engaged me in fierce competition and was glad to find that adulthood had encouraged her to embrace her natural sparkle.
"Sir. I'm going to take Alice straight to my office to set up, okay? Cool. Thanks." She called over toward the rest of the office carelessly, pulling me along behind her without even awaiting a response and I couldn't help giggling to myself as I followed.
Penelope's office was exactly what I had imagined, full of the same sunshine attitude that she radiated. Her desk was littered with cute figures, bright photos and pen pots filled with fuzzy tipped biros. She had more screens mounted all over the walls than I could even have applied for permission for at Interpol and I noticed that there was a small space at one end of the surface which was completely clear, with a second office chair tucked under it.
"You're gonna be right here, next to me. If we're gonna beat this guy, I figured we should team up, just like the old days." She explained with a fond smile and I felt myself relaxing already in her warm company. "Just go ahead and drop your laptop stuff there and then I can show you where to store the rest of your stuff until we can take you to your hotel." She instructed, indicating to my small case.
"Oh. This is everything that I have with me." I answered bashfully, shuffling inside to begin setting up my laptop in the space indicated, whilst Penelope studied me with confusion.
"You don't have a separate go bag?" She investigated, seeming thoroughly shocked by how little I had with me and I shrugged in return.
"I don't really 'go', Penelope." I chuckled as I busied myself with plugging everything in and noticed that her expression seemed concerned now. "I didn't have much notice. I grabbed all of my casefiles and the laptop stuff that I could carry, and then just whatever personal items I could think of. You'll have to forgive me if I'm not as well presented as you expected. I don't travel much nowadays." I added, hoping that this would settle her curiosity but instead she took a seat beside me and scrutinised me thoroughly.
"Why not? Hotch and Gideon even send me out when I'm needed and I don't have a psychology degree." She commented as she raised her brows at me, as if she needed to remind me of my own education and I simply shrugged avoidantly. "Are Interpol not making good use of you, Sugar? Whose career do I need to ruin?" She threatened, already seeming riled by the idea and I smiled at her protectiveness.
"It's more complicated than that. Let's crack this case and then we get into personal catch ups later, okay?" I suggested, much to her disappointment and my relief, we settled into work.
We spent the next hour comparing information and plotting possible traps, whilst Shepard and the rest of my team busied themselves with integrating into the local team and finding places to work. It was refreshing to work alongside someone for a change and having her input prompted new ideas.
After a while, the phone rang and Penelope leaned over to answer it on speakerphone so that she could continue examining the document that was between us.
"Hey, baby girl. Tell me you've got some good news for me." A deep voice crooned, causing my attention to bolt upward in confusion, only to find Penelope smirking in satisfaction.
"Well, gorgeous, that I do. I am still 100% single, interested and available for dinner whenever you need." She announced, earning a chuckle from the man on the line and I quirked a brow at her inquisitively.
"Also, the Interpol team just arrived. So I have now upgraded to the office of Unrivalled Girl Power, baby." She added with delight and I felt my curiosity growing by the minute as she spoke.
"That was fast. Alright, Gideon and I will make our way back now. This lead was a bust." He confirmed, revealing that he was actually a member of her team and I raised my brows in surprise at her demeanour.
"Don't keep me waiting too long." She drawled in a husky tone, before hanging up and attempting to return to her work with a smile. I playfully slapped her hands away from the files and thinned my eyes at her.
"I'm sorry. Are you really going to try to gloss over that? Explain, please!" I insisted, leaning closer to her in fascination and she chuckled as she shook her head dismissively. "Who was that, Penelope?" I gasped, feeling as if I might explode from the mystery and she attempted to swat me away.
"That was Derek Morgan. He's one of the behavioural analysts and a dear friend." She began, only causing my brows to raise impossibly further and she leaned closer into me to lower her voice. "He's also an absolute hunk of a man, but you'll see that in a bit." She winked, suppressing a cheeky cackle and I felt my mouth drop open in shock.
"And do you speak to all of your dear friends like that, or is he special? He sounds special." I hissed, grilling her like an excited teenager again, falling straight back into our old friendship as if no time had passed at all and she laughed heartily.
"Oh, please. Nothing wrong with a little workplace flirtation to brighten the day. You know what I mean! You work in Europe. You're surrounded by romance." She muttered dismissively as she returned her attention to her screens and I shook my head.
"I absolutely do not! You have no idea, Nels. Europe is not inherently romantic." I drawled, rolling my eyes at her ignorance and she glanced back at me with a disbelieving smirk.
"I'm serious. Most of the men at Interpol either think that they're the real life incarnation of James Bond, collecting as many Bond girls as possible, or they're married to their work. It's honestly rather dull. Nothing like you and Agent Morgan. That conversation sounded like a lot more than just playful banter to me. You two have chemistry!" I insisted, a smug smile filling my lips as I viewed her and she quickly brushed me off.
"Don't be ridiculous, Ally." She breathed, the slightest hint of a blush filling her cheeks and I made a mental note to revisit this later. "We need to get our strategy ready. Hotch will call a meeting once Morgan and Gideon get back."
"Garcia, do you have the suspect list that I asked you to pull? I want to run through it before the meeting." A voice interrupted from the door and I turned to find a tall, slim young man waiting keenly.
"Oh, yes! Let me just get it printed for you." Penelope answered, pushing the files aside to access her keyboard. "I'm sorry. I got distracted with helping Alice to settle in." She added, before glancing at me to realise that he and I were looking at each other with interest.
"Ah, of course! Alice, this is Dr Spencer Reid, one of our behavioural analysts. Reid, this is Alice Hawthorne from Interpol. She's a very old friend." Penelope introduced with a flourish before returning to her task and I jumped to my feet to shake his hand, only for him to wave awkwardly instead. Though it was an interesting quirk, I was relieved as I hated contact with strangers and was glad that I would have at least one less person that I would have to endure it with.
"You're the hacker with the Alice in Wonderland riddles?" He offered, viewing me with interest and I felt my cheeks turning pink the moment that I met his hypnotising hazel eyes. Now I recognised his voice from my call with Garcia and remembered the questions he'd been asking in the background after his rather embarrassing introduction to my work.
"Um, yes. I don't usually do that. I had a feeling that it was Penelope and I knew that she would understand that. Or at least, I hoped that she would." I offered, shuffling awkwardly on the spot and he nodded in understanding.
He was dressed remarkably smart compared to many of the other FBI agents, but still had an air of his own style about him that interested me. His neatly combed back hair complimented his handsomely chiselled features and I soon found myself struggling for something to say. I already considered myself to be somewhat socially challenged, but especially when it came to interacting with someone who was unexpectedly well matched to everything that I found attractive, I was a hot mess.
"It's an interesting choice. Did you know that it was actually rated as one of the world's most influential novels? It's full of nonsensical rhymes that could easily be used to create a rather complicated ruse, as not many people would know the answers offhand." He complimented in what I assumed was an attempt to make me feel better about my rather childish tactics and I smiled in appreciation of his kindness.
"There's actually a rare disorder named after it that is characterised by distortions of visual perception, the body image and the experience of time." He began to explain and I couldn't keep myself from interrupting him in excitement.
"Todd's Syndrome, or dysmetropsia, right?" I interjected, causing his brows to shoot up in surprise and Penelope actually paused what she was doing to turn and look at us both in disbelief. "I've never encountered it, but I did study it in depth. It was actually the topic of my dissertation at university." I clarified, causing a wide smile to spread across his face as he considered me and I could feel Penelope smirking at me from my peripheral vision.
"Your suspect list, Reid?" She offered, clearing her throat as she leaned toward him with a piece of paper and he seemed to shake himself back to reality to take it.
"Yes. Thank you, Garcia." He blustered, taking it from her in a distracted manner and running his finger down the page at an impossible speed to have actually read anything. Before I could question this, he glanced back up in shock and his posture became alarmed. "I have to get this to Hotch. Nice to meet you, Alice!" He called as he rushed from the room and left Penelope and I silently communicating our confusion to each other.
"Okay, Miss Thing. You can't sit there and tell me that you don't flirt at work, and then do that right in front of me." She crooned, looking after Reid with a mischievous appreciation and I turned back to face her with a shrug, hoping that I could conceal my bashful reaction. "Oh, you want to play innocent? I see how it is. Well, I'm not fooled. I know what I saw and I'm not one to forget."