Thank you everyone for your reviews. I love hearing what you all think of the rewrite. Sorry for the delay in chapters, my life has been quite hectic. Anyway, keep on reading and keep on giving me feedback, it all helps me become a better writer so I appreciate it a lot. Enjoy!

With quick permission from Debra, Liette closed herself in an empty office down the hall where she was shielded from Joe and his menacing looks. She tried desperately to pull away from the victimized girl that she had become in a matter of seconds. How had she come to this state? Why had she let him scare her into submission? One simple shout and she was cowering in the corner like a scolded child.

Get a hold of yourself.

This wasn't the first time she had slipped away like this but the sorrow had never come so quickly before. Her personal connection with Joe made this different. Her heartstrings were being plucked like an old violin, the musician careless and cruel as he pulled the strings so hard they snapped. Liette felt herself breaking, even more than her colleagues could see it.

She had become a teacher at the FBI academy early in her career, not just by her own choice but by order of the director. After hearing reports of Liette time and time again slip into a darker state of mind when working on cases the director of the FBI had wondered how she had passed her psychological evaluation at all. Liette sounded troubled and sometimes others would go as far to call her unstable. It was upon meeting Liette that the director had understood why the girl continued to be an effective agent. She made leaps and bounds that her other team members couldn't; she remembered minuscule facts that seemed irrelevant but quickly fit together in an important message once her brain had time to decipher them. In all, Liette really was as much of a genius as everyone said she was. She was a valuable asset to the FBI.

Also, keeping her on a team made it less likely that she'd become one of the predators that they were hunting. It seemed silly to think that a girl like Liette, who appeared cold but fragile could become anything more than a danger to herself. It seemed more likely that she'd end up in an asylum or in protective custody because of some harm that her complex and intricate brain caused herself than any harm that she could cause to others. And yet there was still that worry.

What if she became a monster?

In no way could anyone label Liette a psychopath. Despite her cold and calculating nature it was clear that she still felt empathy and remorse. There had been a number of cases already where Liette had showed unique connections with victims and their families, bringing out a side of herself that was pushed away with most of the team. She opened up on morning walks with Mike and the dogs. She checked in on people when something was wrong. It was clear that this wasn't a young woman who was malicious or didn't care, she was just slightly socially deficient. Still, she didn't need to be a full fledged psychopath to hurt someone, most criminals don't score that high on the scale, they just score higher than average.

The new question was, what if Joe turned Liette into the monster they feared?

It was the worry that plagued Debra Parker as she paced outside the office that Liette had locked herself into. She wanted to believe that Liette's shock and fear were real and that she wasn't some brilliant actor that had fooled them all for years. The idea of someone getting into the bureau on a mission for Joe Carroll was sickening, even with the knowledge of Joe's affluent influence. Liette couldn't be one of them, but then again even if she wasn't one of them now it didn't mean she wouldn't become one of them.

From watching the video tapes Debra recognized a power relationship between Joe and Liette that unsettled her. So far all of Joe's followers had been driven acolytes that had come to love and worship the man in the other room. Still, their relationship to Joe wasn't the only possible relationship between an acolyte and a cult member. Debra had dedicated much of her career to studying cults in order to try and understand the life she had come from. From the study of cults everyone was ready to provide descriptions of helpless followers, finding their place amongst a strange organization led by a sensational man. Not as many people were willing to talk about the people who found themselves amongst the ranks of cults but questioned their own loyalty.

What if Liette hadn't handed her soul over to Joe yet? What if she was one of those who hesitated, who didn't raise the poisoned chalice to her lips without hesitation but questioned him even as she revered him. The way Joe had controlled Liette's emotions had not been surprising to Debra but it had been eyeopening. Instead of completely withdrawing into a shell of silence the girl had flung back, moved into the corner and tried to escape. That flight response was not typical for Liette, in any other situation where Liette had become too invested in the case she had always shown to lower her voice, narrow her eyes and become someone of a ghost. Her reaction to Joe had been more violent in the sense that she had ripped herself away from his control. Debra hoped that meant she still had a chance.

Debra opened the door of the empty office with caution. Her eyes cast about the room until she found Liette standing against the back wall, shoulders slumped and head down.

"Liette?" Debra beckoned her attention, her voice snapping the young woman's head up, showing the tear filled brown eyes that shifted uncomfortable away from Debra's gaze. "Are you okay?"

It was a question Liette hated more than she could explain. It was vague and unanswerable. It wasn't as socially acceptable to say no because that put the asker in the difficult position. You were supposed to just say yes and move on. Liette couldn't.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Liette refused to answer the question but she posed her own, her hands shaking as she used their place on the stone wall to pick herself up a little. Her head lifted, her shoulders straightened. Debra understood that with all that had happened she had poised herself against Liette in a a way that she hadn't meant to. She had turned to girl into bait, all while accusing her of false loyalties. It had been unfair treatment but at the time it had seemed completely necessary.

Maybe it still was.

"You do realize what you did in there was a good thing, don't you?" Debra deflected, stepping into the room slowly. "He's told you more in the last hour than he's told any of us in the past two weeks."

"How is any of this a good thing?" Liette had already crossed the line of not being able to control her emotions. It was one of her weaker spots as a profiler. Despite her unsocial attitude, Liette had no problem in making things personal, even when they really weren't. She lost her control more than she would like to admit and her temper wasn't easily settled when it was awakened.

Debra had enough experience with Liette to know that her next words would likely be useless and yet she pushed on. "Putting you in there with him already helped us save Mike, it could save a lot more people. It could put an end to this."

It had been the wrong time to push the issue, to suggest that this was just the beginning. Liette's shaking hands came up to her face, messily wiping the tears for her eyes before her fingers tore through her hair, grasping at the strands as if she could grasp onto her sanity.

"We can get you a counsellor if this is too much."

"I don't want therapy! I want to be rid of him!"

A knock interrupted Debra before she could attempt to calm the other woman down. Both sets of eyes darted to the door that was then slowly opened to show Ryan standing there, his shoulders straight and his head held high.

"What is it?" Debra snapped, misdirecting her frustration.

"It's Mike." Ryan said cooly, ignoring Debra's tone. "He's asking for you." Ryan's eyes moved past Debra and connected with Liette's. Her hands lowered from her hair, she straightened every article of clothing on the way down to her hips where her arms came to hang dead by her side. A sharp breath seemed to steady her as she closed her eyes and slipped away into her thoughts for a moment.

"Liette." Debra's voice gave her no moment of peace, refusing to let the woman get lost in that dangerous mind of her. It was a beautiful and brilliant thing but Debra knew that it would take a lot more than simple therapy to help if Liette was given the chance to dwell on any of this for more than a moment.

"What?" Liette snapped, her eyes opening and narrowing on Debra as if she was staring at an opponent. Debra did not jump or even flinch, instead her charm tensed and the features of her face hardened, care slipping away from her as authority seemed to take over her entire body.

"Go see Weston." it wasn't a request, it was an order and although Liette wasn't entirely interested in listening to Debra right now she was interested in getting out of this prison for a few hours. Without another word she pushed past Debra and stopped at Ryan as he held up a set of car keys.

"No joy riding." he offered her a weak smile as he placed the keys in her hand.

For a moment Liette actually believed that they were going to let her go on her own and then Debra's voice sounded again.

"Why don't you go with her Ryan? I'll get the team working on Joe's men."

No one protested, there was no point.

"You drive." Liette said, placing the keys back in Ryan's hands before she headed towards the parking lot. The further she could get away from Joe, Debra and this place, the better.