Author's Note: Don't own Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Wish I did. The residuals alone would pay off all my college loans. They're property of Dick Wolf and NBC, all I'm doing is playing with their characters...

Some stuff to clear up: 1) Sergeant vs. Lieutenant: The answer is Special Agent. After some more research (and ironically, help from an NCIS footnote) I have discovered that Bobby would be called a Special Agent, since CID is separate from the regular Army. 2) Declan (and I) suck at math, so Bobby's age has changed. He'd be 25 in mid 1986, not 24 as previously reported. 3) Sorry for how long it's taken to post this second half. Elizabeth Hitchens stopped by and refused to freaking leave until I promised to let her play in the sandbox with Bobby. And the betch that she is she still held my muse hostage for funsies.

And as for the show that gets referenced in the last chapter? MASH takes place outside the village of Uijeongbu, South Korea... otherwise known as Camp Red Cloud.

All three men stood when he entered the room; Agent Goren didn't seem the least bit cowed by the glares of his interrogators either. There had been a couple citations for insubordination in his folder; authority problems weren't uncommon in young men raised without fathers or with serial killers…

"Special Agent Goren? My name's Declan Gage, I'm a special agent with the FBI," he held out his hand, which after a moment of hesitation Goren shook it. Nicotine stains on the tips of his fingers… there was an in. "Would you like a cigarette?" He fumbled for the pack and lighter he kept on him at all times. He was an infrequent smoker, but having a cigarette available on demand had proven valuable more than once. It was a way of building camaraderie, with people becoming such health nuts nowadays. Soon they'd start banning smoking from all public areas…

Goren eyed him warily, evaluating him carefully. He wasn't as quick as his fellow officers to write him off just because he didn't look the part of an FBI agent… bright man.

"N-no, thank you," A stutter? That must have made his life hell until he grew big enough to intimidate the other kids into leaving him alone. He was still watching him, not moving to retake his seat… either a show of power (because the man had to have at least eight inches on him), or maybe just following protocol… Declan dropped casually into the chair, pulled out his notebook and set out the files on the murder and Goren's personnel file in plain sight. Goren sat down promptly after him, on the edge of his seat, knees bouncing slightly under the table. Not a show of dominance then… otherwise he'd have remained standing and controlled his nervous energy. Not afraid to defy authority, but he knew when to buckle under… Well, he wouldn't have made it this far in the army if he hadn't.

"Where are you from, Agent?" He leaned back casually, smiling slightly with his pen at the ready. Goren looked mildly startled by the question, his mind quickly trying to work out the purpose of the question…

"Brooklyn, New York."

"A New Yorker… From Philadelphia myself…" He bobbed his head. "Long way from home…did you join for the adventure? Or as an escape?" Goren shifted slightly in his seat at the last prompt. "It must be tough, your father leaving you and your brother alone with your sick mother…"

It was like sitting across from a cornered animal: Goren tensed, his eyes darkened as his pupils narrowed. Declan fancied he could see the hairs rising along the back of Goren's neck. He'd definitely flicked a nerve there. Goren didn't lash out though…

"Must have been hard… being thirteen and left all alone to care for your mother. Being the good son all the time must have been exhausting, especially when she was being unreasonable… It's why you had to abandon her, isn't it, and join the army? She wasn't going to get any better and no one else was going to help, and she was so needy…"

Goren's ears and cheeks pink, his gaze suddenly averted to the tabletop. Classic signs of guilt. Mommy's boy… although not in the typical manner. He's the caretaker in the relationship, when she was well they probably had a lot in common. He could follow this lead, but he'd probably only get more guilt. He had an overdeveloped sense of guilt when it came to his mother; undoubtedly linked to his father's abandonment of them.

"So, what about your father? Why did he leave? Dad didn't want to deal with your mother's illness, or was he just tired of his family cramping his style? What about your older brother? You don't even have him listed as your primary emergency contact… you forget his phone number? Or is he a chip off the old block? Your mother must be pretty awful if she managed to run all of you off…"

Goren slaps his hand down on the table hard, his face fierce. He's infuriated, but it's no killing rage… he's too controlled for that, and probably too controlled for these murders. It would take a lot to set off the sort of impulsive rage that their killer has, and doubtful that something could set it off five times in three weeks.

"S-s-she's sick, i-it's not her fault. A-and I don't see what it has t-to do with the investigation…" Goren says flatly, firmly in control of his emotions.

Declan can't hide his grin. So bright, but still so limited. Although it's not his fault… criminal profiling is a relatively new field, one couldn't expect some nobody agent who'd barely graduated high school to have a clue about it.

"Ah, yes, the case… You're the one who put the note in about the local women. What makes you think they're connected to these killings?"

Goren takes the file from him and flips through it quickly to pull out newspaper clippings and photos of the women's murders. The scenes are gruesome, Declan notes with detachment… their entrails are spilling through their wounds and yet their faces are peaceful, thanks to their slit throats. Slit throats that are hidden by immaculate long white silk scarves tied around their necks post-mortem, Goren notes.

"T-that's what got me thinking…" Goren's ears are pink again, his gaze skipping about the room. He's embarrassed about something… Declan raises his eyebrow in polite interest. Goren's not convinced him yet that the two sets of murders are connected. "M-madama Butterfly. B-butterfly's death is similar… white sc-scarf, hari-kiri…"

He's impressed that Goren listens to opera, and he can vaguely see the connection… it's all rather weak still.

"Pinkerton doesn't die though, and this isn't Japan…"

Goren makes a face and a frustrated gesture with his hands. Declan imagines it's an old frustration, people not immediately understanding what Goren's talking about and Goren not realizing he's jumped from point A to point G without so much as a by your leave. Goren stares at the file quietly for a moment in deep thought, before looking back up at Declan.

"I-I know that. The story's wh-what's important to the killer, not it's s-setting. P-pinkerton's a bastard, and the killer's re-writing the ending with these murders. Butterfly's suicide r-restores her honor… the female victims were known to hang around the base. He's restoring their honor to them in death. The offi-officers were known to more than… flirt with the local girls. He's punishing the-them for defiling them… b-beheading them as a mark of dishonor. I'm sure if you go… back you'll f-find that all the victims -- they had contact w-with one another. Or—at least frequented the s-same places."

Declan looks over the evidence and blinks when he sees the pieces falling together just as Goren describes them. The man's a savant… there'd been no note of any real college-level education. It's fascinating, and Declan's mind is spitting out multiple theories as to how exactly Goren came across these talents.

First things first though…

"So who are we looking for?"

"W-what? I don't know, there's no suspects…"

"Oh come on, Agent Goren… surely you've got some ideas of what this person is like, even if you haven't got a name… you've probably thought about it…"

Goren looked at him quietly for a moment, evaluating him again, before cocking his head to the side and staring at the photos. All his nervous energy dissipated, becoming intensely focused on the problem at hand. Declan knew he'd hate to have their positions reversed… Goren wasn't being actively menacing, but being the object of his concentration would be exactly that.

"Su-suzuki the maid -- she, uh -- she knows th-that Pinkerton's not coming back. B-but a woman -- she wouldn't have the phy-physical strength to do this. If it -- it were for religious reasons, then we'd s-see it… not to mention murder is aga-against Buddhist principles-- so not the bonze…" Goren paused, and Declan got the impression he was suddenly very far away. Declan would give anything to be able to see where his mind was going.

Goren would make a fascinating case study, once this mess is taken care of. From the little he's been able to find out and intuit about Goren's home life; if his suspicions are right Goren's childhood should have all the hallmarks of serial killer laboratory… and yet Goren has somehow managed to survive and become a member of law enforcement… but a special one.

"Sorrow. The son…" Goren is suddenly animated, hands dancing across the table top as he gestures to the evidence photos. "H-he witnesses his mother's s-suicide -- he's adopted by — by the Pinkertons…but if he weren't…"

"We'd have one very angry young man… very good, Agent," Declan grins and pops his head outside the interrogation room, where a baffled looking Captain Martin stands with his two interrogators.

"Do you call that an interrogation?" One of the agents who had been in with Goren scoffs.

"I got him to tell me a lot more than you did," Declan says in a tone that he knows clearly communicates: you idiot. "He's right. They are connected. You're looking for a young man, a local of mixed ancestory. He's probably come out of one of the orphanages. You need to get a hold of the Korean police force, check out their suspect list. The women were a warm up, which means he'll have made mistakes." He uses what he privately calls his "Special Agent" voice, the one that's all steel, arrogance and authority. He doesn't have to use it often, most of the time his "eager intellectual" gets people to do what he wants without even realizing it.

He turns his back into the interrogation room, shutting the door behind him. Goren is staring at him, surprise evident as he rubs his hand along the back of his neck.

"You believe me…"

"Have you ever heard of criminal profiling, Agent Goren?"

In the end the Korean police do have a suspect for the first murder that fits the profile. The nice thing about living in a police state is that you don't need probable cause for a search warrant. A toss of the suspect's place reveals a box of white silk scarves of the same make as the one found on the female victims, and a blood crusted machete.

He lets Goren sit in on his interview with Christopher Kim; a typical asocial serial killer of below average intelligence. Abandoned by his mother at an orphanage in his infancy, obviously of mixed race with his longer nose and lighter hair, he'd written a fantasy about his mother based on Madama Butterfly. Only to have his delusion shattered at eighteen when he discovered his mother alive and well, with a family of her own. About the only thing that distinguished Kim from all the other killers he'd interviewed was that Kim struck both males and females.

Goren was interested though, watching carefully and even hesitantly adding his own questions. Declan would guess that Goren felt sorry for the man... perhaps his empathy was the key to his understanding.

He'd get a chance to figure out, over the next six months. He'd made a call to his boss back in Virginia, who'd made a call to the head of Army CID and managed to convince him of the usefulness of having a profiler on staff. Especially one who had been mentored by one of the top profilers with the FBI.

Like he'd told Goren, it wasn't like he could stay in South Korea after being pinched as a serial killer. Some exclusive training, a six month absence and a reassignment would put enough distance between himself and the event that he'd have a practically clean slate.

And Jo would probably love to have boy around the house…

AN: Hope youse guys enjoyed. Posted shortly after this should be a nice angsty AU which I think will raise a few eyebrows.