Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Whew! Sorry the release time on this was so long…I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL! Next one of this little thriller tale is up! Thank you for the reviews and support with it :) I'm having lots of fun with this story…coming up in this chapter: a conversation between Olivia and Derek regarding a certain lady, JJ pondering her feelings for Olivia, and obviously more on our unknown subject! Enjoy!

The crime scene that both the SVU and BAU arrived at was much different than the last ones they'd seen. It was in a more secluded area where the kill could have been committed on the spot. The M.E. had timed the death at around eleven pm and midnight the previous night. A kid taking a short cut to get home found the body and from there they were called in.

"This is a definite change in the unsub's M.O.," JJ breathed out.

Olivia nodded. "This is much worse," she said.

The scene was indeed worse. Where there had been nothing but a pool of blood around the bodies at the previous six scenes, this scene was covered in blood all over. It covered the walls of the alley, it was splattered on the dumpster. And where the others had been relatively flawless, there was a partial foot print in the blood at this one.

Blake shook her head. "He's devolving," she said. "And by the looks of it, rapidly. This victim was in quicker succession that the others, it's disorganized."

"Do we know if this woman attended the Church of the True Disciples?" Olivia asked, kneeling down to observe the girl's mauled face closer. She couldn't have been more than eighteen years old. Her hair was red, just like the others'; her skin was fair, marred by the dark scarlet blood that had dried from the deep lacerations all over her body.

What was most eerie was the girl looked an awful lot like Penelope. Olivia wondered how Derek would react when he came and got a closer look at the body. She sighed internally. She knew that Penelope thought she and Derek were getting a little friendly with one another. Something had to be done to stop that thinking. In no way was she interested in Derek Morgan in that aspect. It was Penelope's best girlfriend who she wanted.

"Do we know who she is?" JJ asked, leaning down next to her.

She turned her head to look JJ in the eye and shook her head. "No, but from the look of her clothing she's got some money," she said. "I don't understand all these women. They're different professions. Victim number six, Sally Hawkins, was a church-going prostitute; victim number four, Trisha Jones, was a small business owner. How can all these different women go to a place like the Church of the True Disciples? It makes no sense. What could there possibly be drawing them to it like moths to flames?"

JJ shrugged in confusion. "I really don't know," she said. "We're going to have to find out though. That place is like a drug."

Derek was now striding towards them, his sunglasses covering his face. He gazed down at the body and pushed the glasses onto his smooth head. His eyes went wide when he looked at the dead girl on the ground, her red locks covered in dried blood, her curvy body deeply slashed up. He looked like his mouth had dried up and he was in complete shock. It was very clear where his mind had gone.

Gulping, he said, "We've got an ID on the girl. Her wallet was found in her purse over that way. She's Jennifer Stanley, nineteen. I'll have Garcia look more into her…" His voice trailed off as he walked away to call Penelope.

"She looks just like Penelope," JJ said in a small voice. "I hope he'll be okay."

Olivia nodded. "I think he'll be okay," she said. "What he needs to do is talk to Penelope about how he feels."

She was silent while she and JJ stared at each other. Maybe she should tell JJ about the fluttering she caused in her stomach whenever her jasmine smelling self rolled on by.

On second thought, maybe not.

They were standing by a dead body, after all.

XXXXX

Olivia plopped down in the car's passenger seat next to Derek. They were on their way back to check out the Church of the True Disciples to question the "good" Father more on the girls who'd been murdered. But Olivia also had an ulterior motive.

As the two pulled away from the curb, she decided to jump right in.

"Derek, I'm a fairly blunt person and I'm not going to spare you of it," she said straight out.

He chuckled. "Okay," he said. "So what've you got to tell me? I'm curious."

"You need to tell Penelope how you feel," she stated. "You love her. I don't know how you can't tell she's in love with you too, but she very clearly is. Whenever you say her name, you literally light up. You say her name with love…I mean, 'Baby Girl'? You don't call someone that if you don't have strong feelings for them."

His face went pale almost immediately. Swiftly he shook his head. He knew Penelope didn't love him. Months after she'd broken up with Kevin, she'd called the dweeb to try and rekindle their relationship. He'd ended up treating her like garbage and very unlike the beautiful deserving woman she was. But what stung the most was that she'd called Lynch to have romance. He wished with all his heart that he could've been the one to make love to her that night. He would've poured out his whole heart and soul into their lovemaking. But he was just the guy who was the shoulder to cry on.

Yes…she didn't love him at all.

"Olivia, I appreciate you trying to give me relationship advice – 'cause let's face it, I need it – but Penelope…she doesn't love me in that way. She never has."

Snorting, she stared at him incredulously. "Are you freakin' kidding me? Have you seen the way that girl looks at you? Wait, scratch that…have you seen the way she looks at me? She looks like she wants to claw my eyes out because I've been working with you and calling you 'sweetheart' and other names like that."

Derek looked at her oddly. "Are you serious?" he asked. "Like, do you really mean that she looks at me that way?" Hope had lit up his eyes and a small smile was on his face.

She nodded. "I am dead serious," she told him confidently. "You are shockingly not perceptive when it comes to women, you know that?"

A crooked grin covered his face and he said, "Yes. I am. But at least I'm a damn good lay."

"Awfully sure of yourself there, aren't you?" she laughed.

He snorted. "I'm positive of my statement, as cocky as it sounds."

Olivia shook her head and laughed. "But seriously, I think you need to have a nice long chat with her," she said. "You're just a damn coward if you don't say anything to her. It's something you just have to do. You can't ignore something like that, especially with the job you have. You need some light in your life and something tells me that Penelope is that light you need."

For a moment Derek pondered Olivia's words of advice. Just the look on his face told her that he was thinking over them. Then his face turned more serious and work-oriented. "I'll figure this out at some point," he said quietly. "Right now we just need to solve this case."

Olivia felt truly sorry for him. But then again, she was no better. She couldn't seem to figure out her feelings for a woman she hardly knew. So instead of pushing the subject of Penelope with Derek, she sat back to prepare for the meeting with the Church.

XXXXX

JJ rubbed her face and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She'd needed to clear her head and splash water on her face. It was partly the case, partly the separation from Henry, partly the insane attraction she felt for Detective Benson.

It wasn't just her personality either. JJ couldn't seem to stop her mouth from watering whenever she laid eyes on the woman. And if she walked by her or got too close to her, the scent of something spicy and cinnamon would fill her nose and keep her brain cloudy for a good hour before she could think straight again.

She figured she should probably talk to someone, say, Penelope, but she was so wrapped up in her own drama with Morgan that she was nothing but snappy with everyone with the exception of Detectives Fin and Munch.

Sighing, JJ exited the bathroom of the SVU precinct and tried to center her brain around the case.