Chapter 2

"Shh, Penelope, calm down," Hotch soothed, "it's all gonna be alright."

"No it's not!" Garcia exclaimed, "they're gonna find me and they'll find you and-"

Garcia bolted up from her chair. Hotch and Morgan had to gently restrain her.

"Babygirl," Morgan said, "do you think you could answer a couple of questions for me?"

"Maybe," Garcia answered, "I don't know. Whatever we can do to help catch this bastard."

"Okay," Morgan coaxed, "when did you first notice something was off?"

"A month ago. After we closed a case, I went to my apartment. I unlocked the door. Everything looked fine.

"Except?"

"Except my cat, Fluffles was missing. I looked everywhere for him. I figured he must've gone though a pipe or somethig. I asked Mrs. Marples, my neighbor if she let him out. She said she didn't. I figured he would come back. Sure enough, a week later Fluffles appeared. Nothing was wrong with him. I don't know how he got out!"

"The unsub got into your apartment somehow and let the cat out," Hotch reasoned.

"Why?" Garcia asked, "to mess with me?"

The agents just nodded.

"Alright, I'm gonna have agents at your apartment in case he comes back," Morgan said.

"Do you have any idea who would do this?" Hotch asked.

"No!" Garcia exclaimed.

The agents looked.

"Wait," Garcia started, "are you talking about someone from my hacker past?" I haven't seen any of them. You already know Shane from the Russel Smith case. Other than him, I can't think of anyone."

"Shane seems too cocky to pull this off," Morgan answered.

"He hasn't contacted me since that case," Garcia answered, "I figured he's moved on by now."

Meanwhile, Reid and Rossi were scoping out Garcia's apartment.

"Just got a text from Hotch," Rossi said, "apparently, Garcia's cat went missing for a week. And then, he just reappeared out of nowhere."

"I have him right here," Reid answered.

"Any signs of abuse?"

"No, nothing. The unsub took pretty good care of the cat."

"Okay. Anything else out of the ordinary?"

"The locks don't work at all."

"So this is about pyschological torture," Rossi explained, "he wants Garcia to be afraid in her own home. He wants her to know he can do anything he wants to her..."

"Lynch," JJ called out, "We need you."

"What? Is Penelope alright?" the nerdy tech analyst asked.

"Not quite," Lewis answered, "this note was sent to Penelope today. She has a stalker. We need all hands on deck to figure out who this unsub is."

"Is she alright? Tell me we'll get him!" Kevin exclaimed. They may have broken up, but they still cared for each other.

"Focus Kevin," JJ instructed, "we can get him, but we need your help to do it. Rossi and Reid just finished searching her apartment. He wants us all to meet in the conference room in five minutes."

"Okay, so I got some fingerprints off the note," Kevin started, "I ran the prints through CODIS, but nothing's come up. Which means that whoever did this hasn't been arrested."

"Run Shane Wyeth's name," Hotch instructed, "track his phone, bank activity, everything. Get everything you have on Starchamber too, while you're at it."

"You think he's good for this?" Kevin asked.

"We seriously doubt it's Shane," Rossi said, "he's too arrogant to pull this off by himself."

"Shane's all bark and no bite," Garcia explained, "he can talk up a good game, but he won't do anything about it."

"So he just wants to be a tough guy," JJ mused.

"Here he is. Shane Wyeth still lives in San Jose. He now works in cyber security."

"It takes a lot of works to fly to Quantico just to stalk someone," Hotch said.

"And knowing Shane, he wouldn't take the time anyway," Garcia added.

"What about the other members of Starchamber?" Morgan asked.

"Most of them have moved on. They grew up. I'm checking transactions, GPS activity. Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?" Hotch asked.

"I mean. Nothing. It doesn't look like anyone from her hacker past is connected. Everyone's alibies are rock solid. There's nothing in here that screams 'stalker activity.'"

The team sighed.

"Alright, go over every inch of her life," Hotch commanded, "parents, ex-boyfriends, classmates in school. I don't care if she kissed a boy in the first grade. I want to know about it!"

"Garcia," Rossi started, "we have agents at your apartment. We also have agents at Aaron's house, too. You, Aaron, and Jack are staying at my place."

Jack! Garcia thought. Oh my god! Jack!

"Aaron, I'm so sorry!" Garcia exclaimed, "I didn't think about Jack!"

She buried her face in her hands.

"I'm a horrible person!" she cried.

"No, you're not," Hotch stated firmly, taking her hand in his, "this is not your fault. This is the fault of the unsub."

"But you and Jack! You're in danger because of me."

"The stalker chose to target you," Hotch explained, "we're staying at Rossi's. We have agents. We'll be fine. Our main concern is protecting you and getting this guy."

"But—but what if you die because of me?" Garcia whispered.

"No one is going to die," Hotch assured. He kissed her lips.

"But...but-"

"I love you Penelope," Hotch gushed, "and I will not let this break us. I am not going to die. He wants to psychologically torture you. Do not let him win."

"Okay," Garcia replied, placing her head on his shoulder, "I won't let him win."

As Hotch was rocking his girlfriend, none of them could help thinking it—has he already won?