A/N: Hello lovelies! I have another chapter for you, and I hope it's a sufficient apology for last chapter. Please enjoy and review!
Thanks for all the reviews so far, and to DaisyDay for being a fabulous beta! (By the way, she has some pretty awesome Perception KateXDaniel fics, go read them)
BRTxoxo
"Sir, there's a box here. It's addressed to the entire BAU team."
Agent Hotchner looked up from the file he was reading. JJ could see the fatigue he was fighting off. She didn't think he'd even been sleeping very well. His clothes looked rumpled, unlike his normal straight laced, pressed suits. His hair wasn't as clean cut either, and his eyes looked almost bruised from lack of sleep. "Does it say who it's from?"
"No sir. No sign of any explosives or poisons. Security delivered it." JJ held the package gingerly in her hands.
The taller agent stood and nodded. "Everyone to the conference room."
"Yes sir."
Hotch took the box from the communications liaison and walked the thirty or so feet to the conference room. The box was set on the table as everyone filed into the room and took their seats.
Over the past few weeks that Reid had been missing, his picture had been accompanying Katrina's on the news programs as a missing person. Morgan had been sitting closer to Garcia, visiting her more often and spending almost every free moment with her. JJ and Elle were spending more time together, and thus crowding in on Gideon and Hotch's offices. None of them were alone for more than the few hours that it took to get home, sleep, and get back to Headquarters.
Hotch pulled out his keys and cut the tape holding the box together. His keys fell to the top of the table and his hands landed flat on either side of the box, propping his torso up.
Gideon looked at the dark haired agent over his glasses. "Hotch. What is it?"
Hotch's eyes were broken, twisted with horror and pain. "It's a tail. A cat's tail. Katrina's tail."
"Oh my gosh." Garcia's face fell into her arms on the table in front of her. Morgan was even closer then, whispering in her ear and gently rubbing her shuddering back.
"There's a note as well. 'She is mine at last, and she has a companion for when I cannot be with her. You should not worry too much, neither are hurt beyond repair-the Doctor you see takes very good care of my little Rose-but I warn you, if you dig too deep, their souls will belong to the dark angel of Sweeny Todd.'"
"That's not even in the script of the book or movie," Gideon scoffed. "I guess he really is done now."
"Yes, but who's the companion?" Elle asked, obviously frustrated.
Garcia gasped and her head shot up from the table, her white blonde curls bouncing around her still perfectly made-up face. "Let me see that note."
Hotch placed the piece of crinkled paper into her perfectly manicured hands and she read through the note.
"Garcia what is it?"
"He's got Reid!"
"How did you come up with that baby girl?"
"Do none of you watch BBC or any science fiction at all?! It's obvious! He's taunting us! He has two people that are meaningful to us, and he knows it and he's flaunting it!"
"But how, babe?"
Her hazel eyes flicked around the room. "His words. Just look. 'Companion', 'the Doctor', 'my little Rose', those are all Doctor Who references. Reid and I are rabid Whovians, we watch it all the time. He has Spencer."
. . .
Max Lewiki's phone began to ring as he was grading papers in the middle of Daniel Pierce's lecture.
The neuropsychiatrist glanced sharply at his assistant, annoyance clearly painted on his stubble ridden face.
Max rolled his eyes and left the room, answering the phone as he shut the door.
"Max its Kate. The BAU just called me."
"Is everything alright?"
"Not really," her voice trembled. "Can you put Daniel on?"
"He's in a lecture."
"Okay. I'm on my way over there right now."
"Kate what's wrong?"
"You'll find out soon." The line went dead then, and Max slowly closed his cell phone.
Daniel's tired eyes followed his assistant back into the room a bit distractedly. A few moments later his lecture was wrapped up and he sent his class off with a groan worthy assignment.
"Kate's on her way over here. She said the BAU called her. It didn't sound good."
Mrs. Lovette stood next to Daniel, her pale face drawn and even more pale and sickly looking, as if she shared his sleepless nights. She wrung her hands together tightly. "I'm not sure I want to hear this." She glanced up at Daniel, her black eyes pools of worry. "I don't even know your pet and I'm terrified for her."
Daniel refrained from replying to his aberration. "Great," he replied sarcastically, wrapping himself in his coat and scarf tightly, gripping his satchel tightly to his chest with one hand and his tape player in the other. His long strides quickly took him out of the classroom and to his favorite bench in the courtyard of the university.
The tape pumped Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 through his head. He didn't even bother to pull out his cross word puzzle, Daniel just sat on the bench and let the music flood his mind. He ignored Mrs. Lovette when she sat beside him, still wringing her lanky fingers together, frequently drawing them through her tangled curls piled on her head.
Kate silently sat next to Daniel, rubbing her hands along the tops of her thighs nervously.
With a sigh, Daniel gently turned off the tape player.
"Daniel… I don't really know how to put this lightly. The BAU called me. They thought it would be best coming from someone you knew." She swallowed thickly. "They received a package today, from Sweeny Todd." Her voice volume fell to just above a whisper, and she was afraid of the way it would crack. "They don't know why he did it, but he cut off Katrina's tail and sent it to the team at Quantico. He's also the one that abducted Spencer Reid."
Mrs. Lovette inhaled sharply, the breath sounding more like a hiss than anything else.
Daniel fought the urge to respond violently. How could that man even do that to her, if he claimed to love her so much? His vision darkened, and he felt light headed for a few moments. His vision swam for those few moments, through the darkness he could see even darker splotches. Daniel's large hand shot out and found Kate's, gripping it tightly.
He wasn't sure how, hours later, he seemed to come out of a dream on his leather couch. At home.
Kate was curled up at the opposite side, a blanket tucked around her legs, reading a book.
"Kate."
She set the book down gently and stretched her legs out from under her, scooting across the leather to Daniel's side and then took his hand again.
When had she gotten so bold with him? The thought made her face heat slightly. "Daniel I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how much this is affecting you, and I'm so sorry that I can't do more for you."
He looked at her then, for the first time that day. His eyes were rimmed with tears. "Kate, I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to deal with this."
The way his voice cracked broke the FBI agents heart, and she couldn't keep reign over the tears that subsequently spilled from her chocolate eyes. Her left hand brushed and errant tear from Daniel's face, her smooth skin catching a bit on his stubble lined jaw. She brushed back his hair, her thin fingers tenderly running through his mottled and somewhat prematurely graying hair. "I'll help you," she breathed, the words catching in her throat. "Okay? You're not alone in this. I'm here for you."
Daniel blinked back the tears in his eyes to look clearly at the woman in front of him, her features softened in the glow of the sunset filtering through the windows and lamplight. The tears on her face glistened. His hand moved to her small face, his rough skin softly brushing away the wetness trekking down her heated cheek.
She drew in a shuddering breath, suddenly feeling the air between them crackle with tension. Her sudden hyperawareness of his proximity heightened her other senses. Had his eyes always been that shade just between hazel and gray? Had he always smelled like tea and tea tree oil? The sharp scent of mint assaulted her, but she couldn't find it in her to care. His fingers burned on her face.
Daniel swallowed thickly. His stomach turned and his heart stuttered. When had her skin become so petal like? Like the petal from an orchid or rose. And since when were her eyes so dark and her hair so smooth? He felt the air between them become heated instantaneously. His eyes flicked between hers and then down to her mouth, immediately flicking back up to her eyes.
A black hole formed between them, drawing the breath from their lungs and drawing them towards each other.
Their noses brushed.
The tips of his hair brushed across her forehead.
Her breath mingled with his.
Their eyes were closed.
He breathed her in-the strawberries she ate at work, the coffee she drank regularly, the soft scent of Shea Butter.
She tilted her head, and her nose brushed against his cheek.
He leaned forward the tiniest bit.
Their lips tingled with heat when they met as softly as the whisper of a feather. They tentatively pressed closer together, and then with more daring. She fit against him like a puzzle piece comfortably settling into place. His hold tightened around her, his arm wrapping around her back and pulling her against his warm body. She went willingly, her mouth moving with his softly, her small fingers knotting in his hair and the front of his wool coat.
Daniel pulled away slowly to catch his breath. Kate rested her head in the crook of his neck, still keeping hold of him and breathing in his scent. His arms wrapped around her, gently holding her close to him, and he buried his face in her soft brown hair.
