Chapter Five

Friendship is like a violin; the music may stop now and then, but the strings will last forever- Author Unknown

Morning in New York. It was reassuring to Lauren. Every morning as she drove she watched the flurry of people going to work and the shops opening for business. This proved to Lauren that even with a killer on the loose, everyone could still get on with their lives as normal. As she pulled up in the parking lot she was greeted by a familiar voice.

"Lauren." She turned to see Hotch jogging towards her.

"Hey Hotch." She replied dropping her keys into her purse. "What's up?" He put a hand on her arm and she looked up to - at him worriedly. "Are you ok?" Her eyed widened as he suddenly engulfed her in a hug.

"I've missed you." He said. She almost laughed, he was always so serious. Even his affectionate gestures were stern.

"I've missed you too, Hotch." She replied and he let her go slowly, looking over her.

"You've grown so much."

"It's been like two years, I don't think I could have changed that much." She laughed. His lip twitched and she supposed that was the best of a smile she would get.

"I remember when you were just a girl with pigtails bribing the boys into eating mudpies."

"Who says I've stopped?" Hotch shook his head at her joke. "How have you been?" She asked seriously after a moment. She knew what had happened, with his wife, with everything and had avoided talking about it.

"I'm fine." Something about the tone of his voice made Lauren not trust his answer. But she left it, knowing better than to push a subject like that. "I'll be better when this is over so I can get home."

"Yeah, I think we all feel that way." Lauren said walking beside Hotch as they headed inside.

"The team were already assembled in Lauren's office though her attention was drawn first to Spencer. He glanced her way and a small smile graced her lips before averting her gaze.

"Hotch," Morgan said as soon as he entered the room. "You might wanna see this." Hotch moved towards the laptop on the table. On the screen were photos of the victims.

"Oh my…" Lauren could barely believe it. It wasn't the Polaroid pictures the killer had taken. These looked almost professional.

"Rare Beauty Photos." Hotch repeated as he read the title of the website.

"After yesterday, I did some research and asked Garcia to look up what photographer the victims used on their wedding day." Morgan explained. "They all came up with one person. Tina Mayson. But it's a false name. There's no trace of anyone by that name. Only this." He gestured to the website again. It was strange to look at; the women in the photos looked almost alive, like real models.

"What's wrong with some people?" Emily asked frustratedly.

"She most likely can't help it." Spencer added suddenly. "She probably has a compulsion. Something in her mind clicks when she meets these women, something about the way they look sets off a reaction and she needs to 'collect' them as it were."

"So how can we find her?" Rossi asked. "If she uses a false name, we need a way to get around it."

"We could contact her? The victims must have found a way to meet her?" Morgan suggested.

"Undercover?" Hotch asked.

"I don't know, undercover is always very risky." Lauren said quickly, she had seen many undercover operations go horribly wrong and if one of their team got hurt she would feel responsible, just the thought made her stomach turn.

"It could be a good way to get to her; at least we could see if she is really a suspect or just a coincidence." Morgan added.

"How could it not be her?" Lauren said, it was more of a statement than a question.

"I think this is the best way to go, Lauren." Hotch said, trying to reason with her. She frowned but sighed in defeat.

"Fine, but I must be involved." She said adamantly.

"No!" Hotch's tone was strong, like a father telling his daughter she was grounded and Lauren could see that even the rest of the team were surprised by his outright refusal.

"I don't want your team directly involved." She argued.

"It's our job, it's what we do." He replied, as if stating the obvious.

"And what do you think my job is?" Lauren asked, folding her arms across her chest. Swallowing hard, Hotch took her arm gently and led her to one corner.

"You know how dangerous it could be, what if the worst happened?" He whispered looking down at her seriously. "How would your mother cope?...How would I cope?" His face showed his concern for her, no stiff upper lip or tough frown, just overwhelming worry for her. Lauren sighed, her heart feeling heavy in her chest.

"I put myself in danger everyday doing what I do. I will protect your team but if it will make you feel better I can have one of them with me? They could be a wedding planner or my fiancé? Just don't take me off this, Hotch. Please." Lauren pleaded. Hotch's gaze dropped and she knew she had won.

"Fine, but you will take one of us with you." He said sharply and moved back to the centre of the room.

"Lauren will be the bait in this operation."

Spencer was not sure of this. He didn't like undercover operations either, there were too many factors you couldn't control. As Hotch and the rest of the team came together to work out the specifics Lauren moved away, heading to Sergeant Fortrye's office, Spencer couldn't help but follow her.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked louder than he had meant too, she jumped slightly and turned to face him.

"No it's not. I hate undercover." Lauren's voice was serious. "But I trust Hotch and if this is the only way..."

"Maybe Agent Prentiss would be a better person for the operation." Spencer added. He didn't really know why he was protesting so hard at her being involved, but something inside him was telling him that this was not a good idea. A hunch Morgan would call it.

"I don't want your team at risk, not after asking you here." Again she was serious, but then suddenly, she smiled. "I told you I'd protect you, Dr Reid." She put her hand on his arm reassuringly, it was warm but he was rarely touched like that and it was an odd sensation. Lauren walked away and Spencer watched her go, his fingers touching where her hand had been, hoping the feeling would linger just a while longer.

Walking back into the office, it seemed the team had finalised the plans for the undercover operation.

"Keep a close eye on her at all times." Hotch ordered sternly his gaze never leaving Morgan's.

"I know, Hotch." Morgan replied earnestly, reassuring Hotch that he wouldn't let anything happen to Lauren.

"Then it's settled. Detective Lewis and Morgan will portray an engaged couple looking to hire a photographer." Rossi said giving details of the final plan.

"Why does Morgan need to be there?" Spencer blurted before he could stop himself. The thought of Morgan playing her fiancé made his stomach tighten, though he knew it was a good idea to have someone with Lauren for protection. He wished it could be him.

"We need him to play Lauren's fiancé, not only to complete the image of an engaged couple seeking a photographer for a wedding, but also extra protection for her if anything…" Hotch trailed. "Should go wrong."

Knowing the history between Hotch and Lauren, Spencer understood why Hotch had had difficulty getting out his words: his obvious love for Lauren and his protective nature towards her, it was apparent he viewed her almost as his own daughter.

"The Sergeant agreed for this to go ahead." Lauren's voice sounded from behind Spencer and they all turned to look at her.

"Good." Hotch said simply. "It's been decided, Morgan will act as your fiancé."

"Easiest job I ever had"? Morgan smiled jokingly at Lauren and she rolled her eyes, smiling back. Spencer instantly felt his shoulders knot with tension. His expression must've betrayed him because JJ looked over at him with a soft smile.

"It's alright, Spence, I'm sure they'll be fine." JJ tried to sound soothing. Though it wasn't the thought of the upcoming danger that had made him tense.

"I'll call Garcia and see if she can't find a number for this Tina Mayson. Maybe there'll be something dotted on the internet." Morgan said flipping open his cell phone.

"And there are a bunch of that I have to fill in before we can do this." Lauren said in an exhausted tone before turning to leave. Spencer watched her leave, his stomach twisting painfully. A confused expression furrowed his brow, he couldn't understand how he could feel so much concern for this woman when he barely knew her. Consciously not wanting to dive too deep into the reasons behind these new feelings, he put it down to being generally concerned for the people involved. Though deep down he knew why.