My Beautiful Doll

Warning: Mentions of a dead body

A/N: Heyyyy! Sorry for the inactivity. My spinal cord decided to make itself violently known as my body started to revolt against my poor life decisions. I would say that my back hurts because of the weight of my sins, but I'm pretty sure that if that was the case, I would certainly be in hell right now. Anyways, here's a small cliffy chapter for you guys. Don't worry, I'll post a bit more regularly once my back heals up. Anyways, that's all from me and have a nice day!

Don groaned as he lowered himself into his chair in the office, feeling the pulsing headache that decided to come back with a vengeance. After the entire argument he had at the hospital, all he wanted to do was take a nap. Thankfully, the injury he sustained wasn't serious and it passed through all of the vital parts, which allowed him to make a break for the exit once everything was done. Unfortunately, that also meant that Don had wasted precious time by getting himself stitched up since when he walked out, it was around twelve the next day. Gary wasn't even there when he left. He was probably busy with something else.

Don knew it was a bad idea to just leave the hospital and take a cab to the office, but at this point he couldn't care less. He was tired, exhausted, and in pain. He had gotten the prescription for painkillers, but he never bothered to get them from the pharmacy. Don wasn't planning on taking anything anytime soon, lest he gets affected by them. He needs his mind to be sharp and ready for anything.

"You look like shit Eppes," Baker joked as he walked towards his desk, two coffee mugs in hand. He shoved one towards Don, "Looks like you need it".

Don reached out with his left hand and breathed in the calming scent. "More than you might think" he muttered, taking a small sip. "Do we still have nothing on our list?"

Baker shrugged, "We've been trying to compare names from the list of artists from our first victim to our current list of guests but so far it's been pretty slow."

"Yeah well, unfortunately we don't have a mathematician fairy godmother to help us right now" Don said sarcastically. "Anything else new?"

"We got a call about a new body. Techs are almost certain it's the Artist but we weren't able to trace the call" the man replied, his face scrunched up in disgust, "I just came back from the crime scene actually, the body is just as pretty as the first few I suppose".

"What happened this time?"

"Well they were almost certainly mauled by something" his expression disturbed, "Corner said that it happened while they were alive."

Don had to suppress a shudder at that. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be ripped apart and powerless to stop it. "Do we know what they were mauled by?"

Baker shook his head, "Not yet. Still waiting for the lab results". Then his face darkened, his expression troubled.

"What's up?" he asked, noticing the sudden change.

"Well…I noticed something weird in these last few crime scenes."

Don leaned forward, interested. "What is it?"

"Well I'm not sure if it means anything, but the killer seems to leave something else at the crime scene."

"You mean something other than a dead body and a note?"

Baker nodded then shoved two pictures on his desk. "Take a look and tell me what you see". Don took them and compared them, trying to see what Baker saw. "What are the similarities between both pictures?"

"Other than the fact these pictures are both the inside of fridges?" Don asked, his tone a little sarcastic.

"Don't get snarky with me, Eppes. Try again".

Don almost rolled his eyes at the comment. The man reminded him a bit of his old trainers back in Quantico. He placed the two pictures side by side, comparing them both. "Well, other than a few similar vegetables lying around, I think the next biggest similarity is that apple" he pointed at the red fruit that was in both crime scene shots. "They both only have one bite taken out of if and are placed in the center of everything".

"Good," Baker said, satisfied. Then he gave Don a third picture. "Now look at this".

Don took it and felt his eyebrows raise. "Two apples in the fridge can be chalked up to coincidence, but having the same type of apple in the woods where no apple trees or hiking paths are in sight and next to the body?"

"Seems a bit more than a coincidence don't you think?"

"No kidding…"

Baker ran a hand through his hair aggressively, looking frustrated. "But what does this all mean? Does it even mean anything or is he just pulling our leg?"

"I don't think so…". Don squinted at the first picture, feeling something blaring to life within him. "This picture, something's not right".

Baker looked at the picture, his expression confused. "What do you mean? Seems the same to me".

Don shook his head, placing all three pictures on the table. "The quality seems a bit different in the first picture, almost like this was taken on a different camera". "Where did you get this?"

Baker pointed towards the war room where stacks of files were strewn about. "I got that picture from the top of one of the boxes."

Don raised an eyebrow, "Only the first picture?"

Baker nodded, "Yeah. The other two I got from the evidence box earlier".

Don placed a finger on his lip, deep in thought. "What if the first picture was a setup…?"

"Are you saying the killer planted the evidence here?"

Don nodded, "I mean, he has access to the FBI building already. I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to get in here. He might be insane, but the man is crafty."

"If the picture is a plant then it could mean that either he took a picture before we came and then placed it in the office or…"

"The killer went back to the first crime scene after we left" Don shot up, his eyes wide as he scrambled to get his suit jacket back on. "We need to go back, now!"

"Right behind you," Baker replied, grabbing his things.

When they both got to the elevator, Gary was there, looking stern. "Eppes! Where the hell have you been?"

"No time for lectures, we need to go back to the first crime scene."

Gary was instantly on high alert, "What do you mean?"

"We'll explain it on the way, right now we need to get back there."

"Alright, I'm coming with you," he said. Don nodded as the three of them rushed through the halls and through the elevators, not stopping to talk with anyone. They didn't stop until they reached Gary's squad car. As soon as they all slid into the car, Gary pressed on the gas and they peeled out of the parking lot.

On their way, both Don and Baker filled Gary in about what they had discovered. "Why would he do it?"

Don shrugged, "We're still thinking about that. Everything about this case is different than anything else he's ever done."

"Maybe it's because you're here," Baker mused.

"Huh?" Don asked, cocking his head to the side.

"He's right…You being here is throwing him off as much as he's throwing us off" Gary said, eyes still on the road.

"I guess, but that also means that everything we know about him can't really be used."

"Maybe so, but that still means that he has a higher chance of making a mistake. That's better than what we usually have" Baker replied.

"You're oddly optimistic" Don stated, looking at the man.

"When you've followed a case for too long, you tend to grasp at whatever advantage you can get".

Gary snorted, "Amen to that".

Don let out a small amused huff. But as soon as he did that, he noticed the familiar white houses that they saw a few days ago. "Looks like we're here". They all looked out the window, gauging to see if anything had changed. From the outside, everything seems like it was still in place.

Gary parked the car and turned to Don, "Careful Eppes, this could be a trap".

Don raised an eyebrow, "You think I don't know that?". Then he looked at the house, the seemingly innocuous area was now giving of a threatening air, "It's not like we have a choice…" he muttered under his breath.

"He's right," Baker agreed, "This could be the key to uncovering everything".

Gary sighed, "I know, I just have a bad feeling about this" he said as they stepped out, guns in hand.

"Don't we all?" Don asked sarcastically, already moving in front. Gary followed behind him with Baker being last. Don turned to the older agent, "You go check in the back. Gary and I will see inside."

"Okay. Be careful Eppes".

Don nodded before they both stepped slowly up to the door. Don frowned as he noticed the tape that sealed the door was cut open. "Seems like our suspicions were right, the killer did come here after we left". They both pressed against the wall with Don keeping his hand on the door. He mouthed, one…two…THREE before he pushed the door screaming, "FBI FREEZE!" Gary following not far behind him.

They both then branched out, slowly examining each and every inch of the house. "CLEAR!" he heard Gary shout from one end of the house.

"CLEAR!" He shouted back once he was done examining the opposite areas. They both met in the middle inside the living room, holstering their weapons back. "We missed him".

"I'm not surprised, it's been a few days since anyone was last here. He could've taken the picture ages ago" Gary surmised.

"You're right," Don sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The best thing we can do now is get some techs down here to re-process the place. Maybe this time he made a mistake."

Suddenly Baker called from the outside, "Hey Eppes! Come here! I think I see something!"

Both of their heads snapped towards the direction of the voice. It was outside, near the backyard. They both looked at each other and started walking towards where Baker was. But then suddenly Gary froze, his head tilting to the side.

"What's wrong?" Don asked.

"I hear something," he replied. Don strained his ears, but all he heard was the tick tick tick of the large grandfather clock that was sitting in the end of the living room.

"The only thing that's making noise here is that," he said, pointing towards the wooden structure. "Maybe you're hearing things, old man," he teased.

Gary rolled his eyes. He was about to open his mouth when-

BOOM!

Don's entire vision turned bright as they both were thrown away by the sudden explosion. Don felt his body fly and then tumble onto the floor as the heat licked at his clothes. He hissed as he crashed into some furniture, grateful that he had landed on his uninjured shoulder. Unfortunately his head hadn't escaped as it bumped harshly onto the floor, almost making him black out. He didn't know how long he laid there, stunned as the ringing in his ears made itself known. All he knew was that when he finally had the energy to look up, the house was in flames.

"Shit!" he shouted. Looking around, he realized that a figure laid unmoving. Suddenly there was a CRASH as parts of the ceiling fell, sending flaming material on top of the unconscious figure. Don somehow managed to ignore the pounding headache as he painfully lifted his head, covering his face from the fire. He hacked and coughed as the smoke filled the air, a singular name on his lips.

"GARY!"

A/N: Oh shit...is Gary okay? Will Don blame himself for what happened (almost certainly yes). Also, does anyone notice that Don almost gets blown up more times than what's usual. Plus, he survives that shit with minimal consequences. Is there something you want to say to us Donnie?