As From Discretion Comes Isolation
Chapter 8
A/N - Thank you again for your support, ti me for the teams to finally come together to catch their killer!
Reid continued to read over Emily's letter after they swung out of the black car and headed towards the tall grey building. The words scrawled there were already ingrained in his memory, but something about it was bugging him.
"Nikki Alexander" he repeated to himself frowning at the piece of paper, "I've heard that name before."
J.J. pushed open the door, "we've heard lots of names before Spence, don't worry about it."
He furrowed his brow deeper in thought as he knew he had heard the name recently but he couldn't place where. Still unconvinced he sighed and followed his colleagues to the elevator where they travelled up to the pathology floor. It was irrelevant considering his worry for his friend yet it kept nagging at his memory, the name just out of his grasp like an itch you can't reach. Once they had filed out onto their desired floor they were met by locked glass doors and a large security guard who frowned at them with his arms folded.
"Excuse me," Hotch said as he slipped easily into his usual professional manner, "we've come to see Professor Leo Dalton or Dr Nikki Alexander."
The security guard grunted in response, "do you have an appointment?"
"No, we're here on behalf of Emily Prentiss of London Interpol and it is essential that we speak to them," Hotch replied with slight annoyance. Back home he could just show his credentials in order to gain him access, but here they meant nothing. The FBI were guests in London and Hotch was out of his jurisdiction. He had no authority here.
"One moment" he grunted again scanning his pass card against the panel which granted him access through the glass doors. The three FBI agents waited in silence while the guard disappeared and returned with an older man who they assumed was Leo Dalton.
The glass doors were opened once more and the man stuck his hand out to each of the agents, "I'm Professor Leo Dalton, what can I do for you?" he asked politely.
"My name's Aaron Hotchner and this is Jennifer Jareau and Dr Spencer Reid, we are former colleagues of Emily Prentiss from the Behavioural Analysis Unit for the FBI. I believe you have been working closely with her on a set of recent homicides"
Leo folded his arms across his chest and nodded, "that is correct, yes"
"Emily has requested that we consult on the matter. Is there anywhere we can go to discuss this further?" Hotch asked, wary of talking about such matters when Emily had been explicit in requesting that this information be kept confidential.
"Yes of course" he said turning back to allow the agents access into their department. They followed the professor through the hallway and past two women and a man who were in deep discussion over a microscope. They stopped briefly and looked up as the group walked by and into the large, enclosed office.
After sitting opposite Leo at his desk Hotch handed him the envelope which contained Emily's letter. Never taking his inquisitive gaze away from Hotch, Leo slid the piece of paper out and scanned through it quickly as his expression turned from neutral to somber.
He folded the letter in half once more and placed it onto the desk, "am I right in saying it was Emily who was shot at Interpol last night?" he asked quietly, leaning forward and stacking his hands neatly in front of him.
Hotch nodded slowly, it was evident from the professor's response that Emily had grown close to his team also and her welfare had caused them concern.
Leo sat staring down at his desk momentarily before he stood up and beckoned the blonde haired woman into the office.
"Nikki Alexander, I would like you to meet Aaron Hotchner, Jennifer Jareau and Spencer Reid from the FBI, they were former teammates of Emily" he introduced calmly, gesturing to each agent in turn.
She smiled warmly and shook each of their hands, "nice to meet you, is everything alright?"
Leo shook his head sadly, "it was Emily who was shot last night."
Nikki gasped and brought her hand to her mouth in shock. She had first met Emily 10 months ago after the first murder victim was brought in to the Lyell Centre for a post-mortem. Both women were still fairly vulnerable; Emily still adapting to her new life in London, whilst Nikki was adjusting to life without Harry. It was Emily who suggested the two of them go for a drink after a hard day of trying to determined the murderer's motives and their friendship developed from there. With both being strong, busy professional women in a predominantly male working environment, it was nice to spend time with someone they could relate to.
"Is she alright?" she asked quietly.
"She's in ICU at the moment and they're monitoring her progress," J.J. explained with an understanding smile, as Leo handed his friend the letter which she immediately skimmed through.
Being already knowledgeable about most of what the letter disclosed, she looked at the agents who were sat patiently, "what would you like to know?"
"We would like to start at the beginning if possible, the rest of our team is looking through Prentiss' notes back at our hotel so we would like to focus on victimology to help us create a working profile," Hotch explained, taking the letter back from Nikki and tucking carefully into the inside pocket of his jacket.
Leo looked up, "we will help you in whatever way we can, I'll go and brief Jack and Clarissa, excuse me" he said as he got to his feet and headed towards the lab which they had passed on their way into the office.
"So were you over here for work or a recreational visit?" Nikki asked trying to make friendly conversation. She was trying her hardest to mask her fear and worry for her friend. These people who were asking for her help had clearly known Emily a lot longer, and she could only imagine their concern for her. She swallowed around a hard lump in her throat and brushed her blonde curls away from her face with shaking hands.
J.J. smiled, "we were supposed to be on vacation but we should have learnt that we would never get much of a break!" she looked knowingly at her colleagues thinking back to the time that they had tried to take a few weeks off which ended with their former colleague Elle being arrested in Jamaica and a decapitated head being sent in a box to their former boss Gideon's cabin.
Nikki mirrored the smile. She also knew how a holiday could turn disastrous. She remembered the time when Harry had gone to investigate a case Hungary with his girlfriend of the time but they were also taking time away, though while they were away she had been murdered. He had gotten mixed up with some dangerous people, and in order to avoid being killed himself, he had been forced to fake his own death. She would never forget the pain she had felt in those long and torturous two days thinking she had lost him forever.
Reid was frowning at a photograph of Leo, Nikki and Harry at a conference dinner several years ago which was framed on the professor's desk, "I'm sorry but who is this?" he asked, turning to Nikki.
She looked at the photo, "that's Harry Cunningham, he worked here as a pathologist for ten years before he moved to New York to start a new job last year."
"Harry Cunningham! Yes, Hotch, J.J. do you remember the strangler case from last month in New York with the British medical examiner? That's him, that's why I recognised the name Nikki Alexander because he talked about you!" Reid exclaimed, overjoyed that he was finally able to place the name which had been bugging him since he'd heard it just hours ago.
Nikki's head snapped up attentively and her heart started pounding "he did?"
At that moment Leo walked back into the office carrying an armful of files accompanied by a man who could only be Jack.
"What's going on?" the Irish forensic scientist asked, noticing Nikki's change in behaviour from her grumpy and sullen mood earlier that morning.
"Leo, they worked with Harry in New York!" she exclaimed a little too excitedly.
He placed the files onto his desk and looked at the agents, "really?"
"Reid, it was you and Morgan who went to the M.E. on that case so we never met him" J.J. stated.
The young genius nodded, "oh yeah, anyway the women this particular unsub was targeting were strong, professional women and he said my former colleague Nikki Alexander would have been a definite target for this man, they don't come much more strong and intelligent than her," he recited.
Jack frowned. After the first few months of working with Nikki and Leo it had become apparent that Harry would be mentioned frequently and he had accepted that, but it was evident that Nikki still had feelings for him and this was bound to intensify them.
"How do you remember that?" Jack asked curiously.
Reid simply smiled, "I have an eidetic memory, it gives me the ability to remember most of what I read and most of what I hear as well actually"
Jack looked at Nikki and raised his eyebrows causing her to stifle a laugh.
"Right these are our victims" Leo said indicating to the large pile of files "they are in chronological order so would you like me to go through them with you or..."
Hotch nodded, "any help you can give us would be much appreciated, thank you but we understand if you have other cases"
"We have been working this case for almost a year, finally ending it takes precedence over everything. We can set up in the conference room," Leo said with a weary look on his face. Hotch could tell that this case had been a burden not only to Emily but to their entire team and he hoped that they could help them catch this killer.
"Do you know if anyone has gone over Emily's office yet?" Jack asked Leo as he turned to leave.
Leo shook his head, "not that I'm aware of"
Jack grinned slightly and nodded at Nikki "that's my territory then, I'll let you know what I find"
"Reid, go with him" Hotch ordered looking at the young agent, "we need you to profile the scene"
He nodded and stood up next to Jack, leaving the team to begin to scour through the twelve murder victims case files in the hope that finally someone could put an end to this man's destruction. Hotch stared at them blankly, the fact that the unsub had the nerve to harm somebody he cared for, someone who he considered family, just made the need to put them behind bars so much stronger. And as he looked around at the determined faces of his team, Leo, Nikki and Jack, he realised what a strong force Emily had behind her, and he had full confidence that they would close this case.