My Beautiful Doll
Warning: Nothing. Just me using an abundance of dialogue even thought I am a socially awkward human being who can't interact with people to save their life. So if it sounds like a skinwalker...it's not. It's just me :)
A/N: *Moonwalks into the scene and tosses this chapter into the hungry void* He he-re's your chapter.
*crickets chirping and the sad trombone plays*
Nothing? Anyone? Tough crowd I guess. It's like three in the morning and I have both morning classes and work immediately after for today but my brain decided that it NEEDED to put this chapter out even though I already posted like yesterday. Oh well, such is the limitations of being confined in a meat suit. Anyways, hope y'all like the bonus chapter today because this is NOT going to happen often, as much as my hubris likes to think it can, it really can't so please for the love of God stop. I need sleep. Consider it my horrible gift to you since we're almost at the halfway point (I think, I didn't plan this story out as you can tell). Anyways, have a nice day!
Megan stared at the evidence and notes posted on the boards, unsure on where she should begin. This entire thing felt like a fever dream in a way. "Of course Don manages to land himself in this kind of trouble on his break" she sighed, "I think he could come across a smuggling ring just by going to the bathroom".
Colby winced, "Ouch, don't jinx it. My brain hurts just thinking about it".
David gave Colby the side eye, "I think that's a good thing. That means your brain is producing a thought instead of being just decoration."
Colby gave David a shove, "Asshole…" he muttered under his breath.
They all snickered, lighting the mood a bit more. They kind of needed that if they were going to get to the bottom of this behemoth.
"So…where do you guys usually start?" Charlie asked.
"Well, we'll have to wait for the Agent that Don was working with. He'll brief us on everything so far and we can go from there."
"You know I do not envy Don for being the first one on the case" David said, shuddering at the stacks of files, "this seems like a nightmare".
"I am still amazed at the fact that he managed to get through all of this with just the two of them. Almost hurts to think about it" Colby replied. Then he glared at David, "If you're going to make a joke about my brain again, I will toss you out this room".
David tried to suppress his smile, "Wasn't even thinking about it" he grinned.
Charlie, clearly itching to find a way to save his brother, picked up his notebook and read through it. "It says here that a part of the victim's heart has been taken from all recent cases, why did Don flag this as being strange?"
Megan was about to take the notebook so she can have a look but a cool smooth voice spoke up, "It's because he's always used components of previous victims in his next murders. So for him to take pieces from the victim and not use it immediately is considered an anomaly".
They all turned around to see another agent standing at the door. His cold gaze swept across them, making Megan feel like she was being evaluated and observed. She stiffened, not liking the tone on him. "And who are you?"
"I'm Special Agent Rick Baker" he said, "Agent Eppes trusted me to give you the information we gathered". His tone softened a bit at the second sentence, his eyes less harsh as they stared at the elevator's direction with a look that Megan could only describe as smitten.
Megan mentally winced. Ouch! Looks like Don "Pretty Boy" Eppes strikes again, she felt a bit bad for the man. He'd probably be disappointed when he realized the truth.
"Do you want to wait for Ian and Cooper to come back or should we start now?" David asked her.
Megan didn't miss the slight hardening of Agent Baker's eyes at the mention of those two. Oh? Looks like he might know the truth after all. "I think we can start now, We'll brief them once they're back from their Don-wrangling" she grinned.
"I definitely don't envy them," David joked.
Agent Baker only stared at them in confusion before shaking his head. "Alright, looks like I should start now". Then he pulled out the slides and started to explain the case from start to finish. As he went on, Megan felt more worried for Don. She didn't need her profiling expertise to see that this man is dangerous. Adding the obsessive factor of love and you have yourself a man who would burn the world for one person. Some obsessive stalkers do usually treat their victims well, usually using emotional manipulation to get what they want. Others are less kind or subtle. They would threaten physical violence in order to get submission from the one they love. These people are also the kind to kill their object of affection when rejected or pushed too far. But no matter the difference, they all have the same thing. They don't really care about their loved one, they only care about possessing them. The word "no" is practically nonexistent in their vocabulary. Judging by the events she overheard on the phone and the recent phone call earlier, she could tell that the killer was in the second category given the fact that he was willing to shoot Don in order to get him to comply. Considering the fact that Don keeps rejecting him, a part of her wonders when he'd push too far and cause the man to snap. She hoped that would never be the case.
Once he was done, someone let out a low whistle. "You really landed yourself in hot water this time didn't you…" Ian muttered. Megan was so absorbed in the case that she didn't notice that both men had come back.
"Should've known that one day his looks would get him in deep trouble" Billy replied, shaking his head in concern, probably recalling all the criminals who were either attracted to or had fallen in love with his partner over the years he's known Don. God knows she's come across quite a number of those people, and she hadn't been working with the man for more than a few months.
Charlie looked at them worriedly, "Are you telling me that this has happened before?"
Billy shrugged. "Not to this crazy extent, but if I had a nickel for everytime I've had criminals tell me that they only wanted to talk to the 'pretty dark haired FBI agent that arrested me' alone, I would be able to retire right now and still have money to fund the college of five kids. And that's not even mentioning the…other stuff."
Megan winced as she looked over at Charlie. He looked like he was actually calculating the numbers to come to a conclusion from Billy's words. "Charlie, I don't think he means that literally".
"Ah…I knew that," he said sheepishly.
"So where do we start?" Colby asked, eyeing the stacks of papers warily.
"Well we can start with Don's hunch that this is an inside job" Megan said. "We'll need to cross reference the agents that come and go on the days that the killer was around, maybe check if they have shown to have any special interest in Don".
"Maybe we can look in past records of people who have read his cases. Some of these locations were from some pretty high-profile cases so I don't think just any agent can access them. That could help narrow down our search" Ian continued.
"Sounds like a good idea. I'll make an algorithm that will help compare these lists to the other list that we have, the one that came from the first victim. Maybe we can find something that overlaps" Charlie replied, opening up his computer. "Although I might have to call Larry and Amita to help me with this one".
"Sure, call whoever you need. I think the rest of us should pour over these letters and crime scene photos, see what we might've missed" Megan ordered, looking at them. They all nodded in agreement.
"Oh Agent Baker, can I have that picture that Don said looked different than other crime scene photos?"
Baker looked at Charlie quizzically, but handed over the pictures. "What for?"
"Well, each camera obviously has different qualities depending on the make and build of them. The FBI specifically always uses the same camera to capture crime scene photos. If I can isolate the differences in things like pixels, camera quality, etc. I might be able to pin down which kind of camera was used originally by the killer".
"Sounds like a good idea Charlie" David grinned. "That could help narrow down our search even more."
Baker looked at his watch. "I have some reports to send to my boss so I'll let you guys handle it. Tell me if you find anything". Then he nodded towards them and walked off to the elevators.
Colby raised an eyebrow, "Wait, he's just going to leave like that? His own case?"
"And let us do the work?" David continued, looking just as perplexed as they were.
Charlie looked at the retreating figure with disdain. "Apparently Gary told me that the man had a habit of disappearing every time. He was only around when Don was in the office to look over some stuff and maybe join him for an interrogation or two but that was it. He even suggested using Don as bait at one point".
"You're kidding me" Ian hissed, looking angry. "He would willingly toss Don to his attacker just for a chance to nab him?"
"No wonder Donnie looked dead on his feet, he was doing the work of a team alone" Billy replied, looking both annoyed and disappointed.
"Well not really alone" Charlie amended, "He did get some help from Gary eventually, but yeah. Knowing my brother, he probably took the brunt of most of the work."
"Sounds like him alright" Megan muttered.
Charlie stared at his computer before sighing. "I'll have Amita and Larry continue this algorithm that we're going to use to run the lists".
"You going somewhere?" Billy asked.
"I need to go back home. I think Dad has some photography books so I want to use them as reference. I think I'll do the rest of that work there. That way, I can also monitor Don and see if he tries to sneak out or not".
David snorted, "I don't think Don is going anywhere anytime soon. Alan Eppes makes things like escaping Alcatraz a breeze."
Charlie chuckled a bit. "You're right, but I do need those books and some other stuff as well. I'll tell you guys once I have something."
Megan nodded. "Alright, I'll have some men escort you back home as well. We have a few of them patrolling the area just in case."
"Sounds like a good idea. I'll be back soon once I'm done. And hey, maybe I'll bring Don too if enough time has passed."
Colby grinned, "I think your brother likes the idea of being alive too much to let you drive Charlie".
Charlie gave them all the stink eye as they laughed. "Alright…see if I do anything for you guys ever again" he complained as he walked out.
"Just be careful on the way back okay?" Megan said.
"I will" Charlie replied. They watched his retreating figure get smaller and smaller until it disappeared inside the elevators. Once that was done, Megan turned to everyone.
"Alright then, let's start assembling our list before Amita and Larry get here". Then they all scrambled to get the information needed. Although, throughout the process, something kept tugging at Megan's instincts. Something that told her that something will go horribly wrong.
It's probably nothing…
Don stepped downstairs, feeling better than he had in weeks. Maybe they were right, I do need a break. Although he definitely won't admit it out loud, that would make everyone even more insufferable. When he woke up and glanced at the clock, he realized that he had five more hours before his 'banishment' from the office was lifted. But since he wasn't feeling tired, he decided to just do some things around the house. So after a long shower, he wanted to search around the fridge to see what was there. Knowing his father, he was probably in a cooking frenzy before Don got back home so there should be plenty of food.
"Dad! Did you turn off the lights?" he said as he stumbled around in the darkness. Touching the walls, his fingers found a familiar light switch. Turning it on, he sighed as he slowly turned to face the dining room "I know you're trying to conserve energy dad, but is it really necessary-" he froze as he saw what was there. Both his father and brother were duct taped to the chairs, eyes wide in fear. They both let out muffled cries when they saw him. "What the hell!" he shouted as he ran towards them. He looked over them, making sure there were no injuries. Then he slowly peeled the tape off of his brother's face, "Are you okay? Who did this?"
Charlie's expression was urgent, "Don run, you don't have time" he said, pleading.
"What are you talking about? I'm not leaving you" Don hissed, angry. Then he peeled the tape off of his father's face as well.
"Donnie, get out now! He's after you, not us. We'll be alright" Alan urged, tugging at his restraints.
"Who are you talking about?" Don asked as he looked around, trying to find something to cut the tape.
Suddenly there was a soft click behind him, one that Don knew well. Well shit he thought to himself. Both of his family froze, eyeing the person behind him. "Me" a voice said, one that Don was familiar with.
"Baker?" he said, whirling back. He was surprised to see the older agent there, gun aimed at him. "What the hell are you doing? What is going on?!"
The agent gave him a hollow smile, "Don't you remember your suspicions about the Artist and how they're possibly the work of an inside man?"
Don tensed, instantly realizing what was going on. All of the pieces started to fall into place. "It's you" he said simply, horror dawning on him, "You're the Artist all along."
The man grinned as he stepped closer. Without lowering his gun hand, his other hand reached out and grabbed Don by the collar of his shirt, yanking him closer. Those green eyes were filled with warmth on the surface, but Don can see the obsessive insanity that laid beneath it, one that made Don's skin crawl. He gently caressed Don's cheek, "And you, your my beautiful doll~"
A/N: dun, Dun, DUNNNNNNNN! Did I say that I'm giving Don downtime this chapter? What I meant was that I'm giving him a false sense of security before completely destroying him :). Anyways, finally the identity is revealed, although you guys most likely already guessed it from his first appearance (that is if you didn't forget that he existed in the first place...whoops). Finally, the real fun begins...(I would do an evil laugh but it's like three in the morning and I have roommates so we'll have to settle with an evil smirk as I roll around in a chair with a fake cat in my lap).