A/N: I wanted to tell you that I adore Derek Morgan. He is a beautiful man. Elle is going to be facing a decision here soon.
As always enjoy the story, and tell me what you think!
*Ray-Ray
Elle pulled into the station.
Wasn't I just here about four hours ago? She asked herself. The sun was setting now and it was getting a little chilly. She wrapped her jacket tighter around herself. She stepped into the station.
"Can I help you my dear?" A middle aged woman said. She was holding a large box full of files. She wore a knee length skirt, a pink blouse, and wedge heals.
"Oh, I am Elle Greenaway; I was called in by an agent of the B.A.U." She replied. She took a hesitant step forward.
"They said a woman would be coming by. I will take you over to the conference room. I believe that is where they are setting up." Turned and began to walk down the hall. Elle followed silently behind the woman. "I think it is pretty amazing that the B.A.U. is here. The circumstances aren't all that great." The woman finished awkwardly. Elle only nodded, she remembered how the local law enforcement would gawk as the team strode into interrogation rooms and conference rooms.
"Elle Greenaway, is that you?" Elle turned to see Reid standing behind her. He still had the awkward posture and carried his satchel with him. Elle noticed that his hair had grown in the two months sense she had last seen him, but he was still Spencer Reid the genius.
"Hello Dr. Reid," she said.
"Why the formality" He asked, taking a couple steps toward her. Elle smiled softly.
"It's good to see you again Reid." She remembered how she had confided in him she had been shot by the un-sub; she then got her revenge later when she confronted the man, and killed him. He had reached out to her, visiting her hotel room to check on her.
"It is the same here." He walked forward and continued. "The team is in here, come one." He then took the lead and walked forward. "When the locals said you were the witness, I couldn't believe it. The team was shocked, but we still figured that you would end up in the field again. What are you doing now-a-days?" Reid was speaking a mile a minute. Elle was having difficulty keeping up.
"I didn't intend to be involved in crime solving again actually. It was completely a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Right now, I am still trying to get a hold of myself." Elle said truthfully. "How is the rest of the team holding up?"
"Things aren't getting any easier, but we are holding up pretty well. Gideon left." Spencer said quietly.
Elle was shocked. Gideon had always been about keeping as many serial killers off the streets as possible, why had he quite?
"When did he leave? Why did he leave?" Elle asked
"He left a shot while after you did. I think all of the loses were getting to him. He felt self-hatred for the times he had failed. I think that was piling up in his mind. In the end, it was too much for him. He was stressed when he first rejoined the team." Reid said as they entered the conference room.
Hotch was standing in front of a large group of officers, with Morgan by his side. Hotch looked exactly as he did months ago; his face was shaved and his hair cut to the same length. Derek Morgan looked the same as well, with his dark skin and smiling eyes. But lack of sleep was beginning to show on their faces.
A dark haired woman that Elle didn't recognize was standing in the back of the room. As she and Reid stepped into the room, the conversation stopped.
"Ms. Greenaway, Agent Prentiss will take you to the interrogation rooms for now." Hotch said.
"Wonderful… two times in one day," she muttered. The dark haired woman stepped forward and led Elle away.
"I am Emily Prentiss." She said politely.
"I am aware of that." Elle said hotly. Truthfully she had no reason to show disdain towards anyone on the team, but she continued to do so. "I'm Elle."
Prentiss then left her in the interrogation room where she sat for another half hour.
*Meanwhile, in the conference room*
"This un-sub has a temper, and a short one. If anyone does something to ignite a flame, he will blow. His latest victim, a young woman only twenty years old, seemed to have been killed due to a sudden outburst of rage. If the un-sub feels that his authority is being threatened he will act upon that. He will harm anyone who gets in the way of what he wants. We believe that he is a white male from the ages of twenty-five to thirty. He may be severely bipolar. We believe that he grew up in a home where his mother may have been beaten when his father didn't have power. Therefore, if he tried to protect himself or his mother; he would be beaten.
"This leads us to our next move. We want to try and provoke him to act on impulse, force him out of his comfort zone. "Hotch was keeping eye contact with everyone in the room. He tried not to let Elle's presence throw him off his game.
"We will start with a press conference; one of our agents will be preparing that once we have finished this briefing." He turned to the rest of the team. He noticed that Prentiss had reentered to room.
"Do you have anything to add?" He asked.
"If our un-sub does have bipolar disorder, his moods will change erratically. This could mean a number of things. He may only rape his next victim. As Hotch said before, any one small thing could turn the tables completely. It would not be surprising if he left a letter of remorse, or one of his trophies at one of the scenes. This also leads to the possibility of him returning to the crime scene to relive the moment, or mourn." Morgan added.
"Considering we have not discovered any trophy that he has taken from the victims physically, he may be keeping pictures or videos." Reid suggested.
"Now we will have some of you patrolling the crime scenes, that way if he does return we will be ready." Hotch dismissed the officers and called the team to a small meeting. Rossi and Jay-Jay joined the others.
"Now we know that our one witness is probably the best that we could ask for. However, we cannot let that get too far ahead of us. She knows about profiling and this kind of crime. She was a part of the team. Now Morgan, you will speak with Elle now." Morgan looked stunned.
"Elle, as in Elle Greenaway," he asked. Hotch nodded.
"But you must not speak to her casually, treat he as you would any other witness or suspect." Hotch said. He didn't want to give her a hard time. But at the same time, he knew that he couldn't let her off easy. She was no different than any other witness.
"Hotch; I think it would be better if I interviewed her." Reid spoke up. Morgan looked up at his co-worker.
"You got some unsettled business?" Morgan joked. Reid looked at him confused. "There is no use joking with you Reid," Morgan laughed; patting Reid hard on the back, who winced.
"Why do you say that Reid," Rossi asked.
"I think she will be more comfortable with me. I believe she will be more open with me because of…" Reid trailed off; he had not told anyone else about how she was affected after she had been attacked. He helped her feel calmer, but he could tell that she was still on edge.
"Well, I still think we should let Morgan begin with the interrogation, because her comfort isn't necessarily what we want. She may be our friend, but what we want from her is a recollection of what she saw."
Reid nodded in understanding. Morgan grabbed Reid's shoulder before walking into the interrogation room. Reid and Hotch stood on the other side of the glass and watched. Jay-Jay and Rossi went to set up a press conference.
"Hello," Morgan said as he sat down. Elle nodded. She looked bored. Morgan slid a glass of water in her direction; she took a sip of with without her gaze leaving Derek. "So, as I understand it, you witnessed a murder, and have a glimpse of our un-sub." He said. He was calm, but on the inside his head was spinning.
"Yes, I did." Elle replied simply. "I suppose you want me to retell my encounter.
"Yes, if you would." Derek said. He leaned forward. "Don't leave out any details Elle."
Elle shot into her meeting with the killer. She explained every detail, including her arrival. She described everything perfectly, elaborating on the physical details of the staff member who had been killed, and how she attempted to save his life. She moved on the police's questions and her relocation. She did mention her visit to the crime scene.
"God, Elle" Morgan mumbled. He put his hand over his brow and sighed heavily.
"What? I was curious; I had to know what happened. Once I saw the woman, I was disgusted. You know these are the cases that really irk me. But what disturbed me the most was the way he didn't even glance over at me. He ran on as if I wasn't there. I wondered if I wasn't important enough for him to bother, or he didn't see me. Either way, it was his own mistake; it could lead to his capture."
Morgan only shook his head.
"What?" Elle demanded; she was becoming irritated.
"It is just like you to sneak onto a crime scene." Morgan whispered. "If you still want to do the work, why leave?" He asked.
"It was tearing my life apart from the seams. I was unstable." She looked to her glass and spun it around in her hand a few times.
"Yes," he replied. "If you can come up with a description of the un-sub; it would be most helpful."
"Yeah," Elle said. She understood how this kind of thing worked, so why was Morgan going about the normal routine. The logical part of her mind was able to answer that question. Hotch had probably said something to the team. They were going to treat her like another witness.
"Come with me, and we will talk to a sketch artist." Morgan stood and opened the door for her. She walked out of the room and was immediately escorted by an officer and Derek down to another room.
Elle spent the next hour with the sketch artist. She was becoming very irritable. She wanted to sleep. But mostly, she wanted to be away from this environment. She couldn't admit to herself that it felt good to be near the danger and excitement. She didn't want to get back into that profession again.
"Am I able to leave yet?" Elle asked in a dry tone. An older man walked up to Elle just then.
"Hello, my name is Agent David Rossi. I heard that you are a former agent. You happened to work with most of the team here. I don't want to take up too much of your time so I will be brief. If you have any interest in helping us with the case I would much appreciate it. I am sure the team feels the same. I was told that you did specialize in sex crimes. This would be a great opportunity for you get back into the field."
Elle smiled politely. She was tempted by the offer.
"Thanks, but I think I will have to take a rain check on that one." Rossi nodded. Elle was able to feel the team's gaze upon her.
"If you change your mind, please call." Rossi turned to the team, "let's get to work."
Elle turned and walked out to her car. Now it was dark outside. Elle reached her car and drove to the hotel. Once inside her room she climbed into her bed. She finally was able to sleep. It was the first peaceful sleep she had had in a long time.