"All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust." – J.M. Barrie

After enjoying a couple of fun-filled, PG rated hours together, Brittany and Santana discussed how they could cleverly extract Sgt. Freeman from the police station and tactfully gather the intel they needed to rule out her co-workers as possible suspects. Once they were satisfied with their plan, the two women got some much needed rest.

In the morning, after enjoying a delightful wake-up kiss, Brittany returns to her room to get ready for the day. Afterwards, the two female profilers meet the rest of their team just outside of the lobby, currently enjoying their complimentary breakfast. Once they advised their team of their plan of action, Schue gave them the thumbs up to proceed.

As discussed, the guys on the team headed to the precinct after they finished their meals. Just as expected, Sgt. Freeman and Det. Shannon were already there, reviewing all of the case files. After exchanging quick 'hellos' and 'good mornings', the BAU joins them at the round table and begin reviewing the files as well.

"Where's Agent Pierce and Agent Lopez?" Detective Shannon wonders. His colleague had noticed their absence as well, but chose not to comment.

"They were following up on a possible lead late last night," Schuester replies curtly. "They should be in shortly."

Sure enough, 30 minutes later, Brittany and Santana arrived, looking slightly exhausted.

"There are my 2 favorite ladies," Puck smoothly greets.

"Don't let Fabray hear you saying that... she might chop off your manhood," Brittany playfully warns her teammate.

"I was just trying to be polite, but fine..." Noah retracts. "Mornin'... you both look like Hell."

"Ah gee... thanks partner, it's nice to see you too," Santana replies sarcastically.

"Did that lead pan out?" Will asks, ignoring the playful banter.

"No, just another dead end," the blonde profiler responds dejectedly. "Did the autopsy reports come in yet?"

"No; should be getting them any minute though," Detective Shannon answers.

"You said that half an hour ago," Sgt. Freeman playfully chides.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

"Well, while we're waiting for that, why don't you two go grab some breakfast," Schue suggests, directing his attention to his female agents.

"And some caffeine... Lord knows you could use it," Noah adds in.

"Bite me," Santana deadpans as she gives her partner an unimpressed look.

"Love you too, Lopez," Puckerman says back with a wink.

"Hey Freeman... you wanna join us? It would probably be a nice break from all this testosterone," Brittany asks hopefully.

"You know what... a good dose of caffeine sounds amazing right now," Sgt. Freeman agrees. "Pete, you want anything?"

"No thanks; I'm good," Detective Shannon replies. "Enjoy your time with the ladies."

"I'll try," she says back with a small smile.

With that, the three women make their way towards the exit.

Once arriving at a local diner, the ladies settle into a nice, casual conversation.

"So, what's your take on the suspect?"

"Hey now, Sarge... I thought we agreed to take a break from all things case related while we were away from the boys," Brittany playfully reminds.

"You're right; my bad," Sgt. Freeman says while holding her hands up in mock surrender. "And please, call me Kyler."

"Only if you agree to stop calling us agent."

"Fair enough," Kyler agrees. "So, tell me a little bit about yourselves. What's it like to work for the FBI?"

"This could take a while," Santana jokes while Brittany playfully nudges her.

"I'll start then," the blonde profiler interjects. "I'm from a small town in Pennsylvania; studied Communications and Journalism in college. I never thought that my studies would someday lead me to the FBI, but I'm glad that it did," Brittany says while subtly glancing towards Santana. "I've been with the team for 7 years now; they really are the best in the world."

"Britt here is being overly nice and way too modest," Santana breaks in. "She's the heart and soul of this team and has the toughest job out of all us."

"How so?" Kyler inquires, not missing the slight blush gracing the blonde agent's features.

"In addition to being a profiler, she has a pile of case files stacked on her desk that she has to sort through on a daily basis. She has to choose which cases take priority and need our immediate attention," the brunette explains. "She's always the first one in and the last one to leave. She never gives herself props, so I will."

"Stop it, San... you're embarrassing me," Brittany says as she gently slaps the Latina's arm.

"I know; why do you think I'm doing it?" Santana says knowingly with a grin.

"Because you're a jerk."

Santana shrugs her shoulders, taking the comment in stride. "Eh, I've been called worse."

All Brittany can do in return is just humorously roll her eyes at her colleague, even though there is merit to her statements. Kyler silently watches the interaction between the two women sitting across from her while her curiosity piques.

"Well, although my job is very stressful but rewarding, Santana here is just trying to deflect on her attributes," the blonde finally says. "She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Yale, speaks 5 languages fluently, and is by far the best shot on the team."

"Now who's embarrassing whom?" Santana says pointedly as she takes a sip of her coffee.

"Hey... you started it."

Instead of responding back to her girlfriend, Santana impishly shakes her head and takes another sip of her beverage.

"You guys seem to be a pretty tight-knit group," Kyler says offhandedly.

"Yeah... they're my family," the Latina genuinely replies. Brittany smiles at the comment.

Unbeknownst to them, the brunette sergeant had been paying closer attention to their interactions since leaving the precinct. Freeman wasn't one hundred percent positive if her assessment on how 'close' the two female agents were was accurate; however, she could definitely tell that they had a stronger bond than anyone else on the team.

After their conversation hits a lull, Kyler decides to break the silence.

"So guys... as much as I've enjoyed not being surrounded by a bunch of dudes for more than an hour, what gives?" Freeman questions knowingly. As Brittany and Santana exchange 'confused' looks amongst each other, the detective sighs and tries to rethink her approach. "Okay... I see you guys are gonna make me work for it."

Neither agent comments on Sgt. Freeman's last statement. As the three women look back and forth at each other, Santana has to fight very hard to control the twitch in her cheek that wants to form a smirk and challenge the detective.

With no objections, Kyler takes a deep breath and seamlessly accepts the unspoken provocation.

"At first, I didn't think anything of it when Schuester said that you guys were following up on a lead late last night, but then... I felt like it didn't make any sense," Kyler starts off. "For one: we were never notified of any possible lead, which you guys have been very good about thus far. Two: even though I'm sure you guys are more than capable of taking care of yourselves, I find it hard to believe that a man like your boss - the protective, father-figure type - would send his two female agents out on an assignment so late at night..."

As Santana was about to erupt with disbelief at the detective's previous statement, Kyler holds up her hand, as if to say, 'I know it sounds bad, but that's not how I meant it'. After receiving pleading eyes from Brittany, the Latina calms down and allows the sergeant to continue her deduction.

"I didn't mean any disrespect and I'm definitely not trying to be sexist; I just know how men tend to be, even though we do the same exact job as they do," Kyler explains. Santana nods her head in understanding, thinking back on the numerous times that Puck and/or Schue subconsciously made a quick, split decision in order to protect the female members of their 'family'. Feeling relieved that she didn't offend the two agents, Kyler continues. "Well, then I started thinking about it some more. Even if I believed that you guys were out late on an assignment, I think it's kind of a dick move that you only got an extra 30 minutes to sleep in before having to be at the precinct."

As Brittany is about to break out in laughter after her temporary colleague's colorful selection of words, she skillfully covers it with a very loud - and obnoxious - cough.

"Are you okay?" Freeman asks the blonde.

"She'll be fine; drink some water Britt," the Latina quickly cuts in, sliding a glass of agua to her girlfriend. "Just ignore her."

Kyler eyes both agents suspiciously, feeling a great deal of concern for the blonde while trying to decipher the nonchalant behavior of the brunette. "Uh, sure... what was I saying?"

"Something about how you thought Supervisory Special Agent William Schuester was a dick for not letting us sleep in later," Santana says in the most serious and technical manner.

This time, it was Sgt. Freeman that was having a difficult time not cracking a smile and remaining stoic, much like her Latina counterpart sitting across from her.

"Riiight... so anyways, I started thinking about what would be the possible benefit of making something like that up. Fast forward to a couple of hours later and here we are," Kyler picks back up. "Inviting me out to breakfast gave you guys a chance to get me away from our male colleagues and away from the precinct to maybe pick my brain?"

Sgt. Freeman pauses to gauge the facial expressions of the two agents sitting across from her. When neither of them reacts to her statement, she continues on.

"Judging by your lack of response, that brings me to my third and final point," she continues on with her theory. "Since we got here, we've shared idle chit chat amongst each other. I asked you guys to tell me a little bit about yourselves, which you did, but it was very basic information that I probably could've found online if I just googled you. What I found odd though was that you guys didn't ask me anything about myself."

Again, Kyler pauses, giving the ladies an opportunity to interject or comment. The two agents remain silent and stoic.

"Now normally, I would find that quite rude, especially if you devised this whole thing to do just that. But then... I started using the old noggin," Kyler says as she taps the side of her head with her index finger. "You guys didn't ask me anything about my background not because you weren't interested; it's because you already knew. I'm sure your fancy computer tech friend is more than capable of running an extensive background check on me and anyone else they needed to."

"She actually prefers to be called the Oracle of All Knowledge," Brittany corrects.

"Or Goddess... whichever you feel more comfortable with," Santana adds in.

Kyler cracks a small smile. "My apologies."

"It's okay; you didn't know," the blonde agent says with understanding.

"C'mon guys, just be straight with me..." Sgt. Freeman asks more directly. "Why'd you really bring me here? What aren't you telling me?"

Brittany and Santana glance at each other and share a quick, silent exchange before addressing the brunette detective.

"We believe that the two recent victims were killed by two different people: the original Sandy Ridge Killer and..." Brittany briefly pauses, "... a copycat."

Kyler furrows her brow as she takes in the new information.

"We believe that Miss Wilde was killed by the copycat, which may have inadvertently caused the real Sandy Ridge Killer to come out of hiding in retaliation," the Latina agent continues on. "Although most of the evidence we have right now is circumstantial, we strongly believe that once the coroner's report is in, it will definitively support our theory."

"But how can that be possible?" Kyler inquires. "A majority of those details about the manner of death and conditions of the bodies when we found them were never released to the public. In order for there to be a copycat, that person would have to have..."

Sgt. Freeman stops mid-sentence as she puts the puzzle pieces together. Now, everything suddenly made sense.

"The copycat would have to have direct knowledge or access to the case files," Kyler says slowly, not wanting to believe the possibility of her next statement. "You think that one of my guys is the copycat?"

"No," Santana sternly says, easing the detective's mind slightly. "However... we do believe it's someone that you know; someone that you work with very closely."

"Oh man... that's such a long list," Kyler responds peevishly while rubbing her temple. "This is just a lot of information to process."

"I know, and we're sorry for that..." Brittany explains. "But we all felt that you would be the best person to help us with that."

"Well, although I am a bit taken aback, I appreciate your confidence," Kyler slowly counters. "How can you be so sure that I'm not the copycat?"

"Besides of your immaculate credentials... call it a gut feeling," Santana replies sincerely.

Sgt. Freeman nods her head in understanding.

"Is there anyone not directly involved in the case that may have shown a little too much interest?" The blonde agent implores.

Kyler takes a few moments to run through all of the people she's come into contact with during the duration of this investigation.

"Besides some overzealous reporters, not really."

"Are there any specific reporters that immediately come to mind?"

Sgt. Freeman takes a moment to rack her brain with all of the overly aggressive reporters she had encountered since the very first victim was claimed. Sadly, she couldn't think of anyone that stuck out enough to even be considered as the killer.

"Honestly, not really," Kyler replies solemnly, wishing she could be more help. "Most of the younger reporters here are just trying to make a name for themselves so that they can move up to bigger and well-known companies."

Santana and Brittany nod their heads in understanding. Before either of them could ask any additional questions, Kyler holds up her hand in apology while she retrieves her cell phone from her pocket.

"Hey Pete, what's up?" Sgt. Freeman inquires. "Okay, great. We're heading back that way now. See ya in a few."

As Kyler ends the phone call, Brittany and Santana pretty much ascertained what the call was in reference to based on the one-sided conversation they were able to hear.

"Let me guess... the autopsy report is finally in?" Brittany asks the obvious question.

"Yep."

"Alrighty. Why don't you guys go get the car and I'll take care of our bill?" Santana casually says as she's about to make her way to the cashier with their check.

"You don't have to do that," Kyler argues.

"It's all good; compliments of the FBI," Santana says with a wink.

"Yeah, don't worry about it Kyler," Brittany adds in. "We get crazy per diem. Plus, we're the ones that invited you."

"Well... if you're sure," the brunette sergeant reluctantly agrees.

Smiling in victory, Santana leaves the table and walks towards the front cashier to pay for their meal while Brittany and Kyler go outside and get settled inside of the SUV. A few minutes later, the Latina re-joins them and drives them back to the precinct.

Walking back into the police station, the three ladies quickly take a seat at the table as Schuester goes over the latest autopsy report.

"According to the ME, Mrs. Grisby's cause of death was exsanguination; the same as the other four victims. The injury to the femoral artery sealed her fate," Schue states somberly. "The remaining penetrating injuries found on her body were caused by a sharp-forced object... consistent with the same type of serrated edged knife used in the other murders."

"Were the other knife wounds made postmortem like Agent Pierce suggested?" Detective Shannon inquires.

"Yes. Out of all of the victims, Mrs. Grisby appeared to have suffered the least," Agent Schuester replies.

"That's odd, considering that she had far more stab wounds than probably all of the other victims combined," Hudson adds in.

"Approximately 53 more, to be exact," Dr. Abrams confirms. "While each of previous 4 victims were stabbed between 10-15 times, Mrs. Grisby was stabbed a total of 107 times."

"I would say that's overkill, but since Mrs. Grisby was already dead, what's the point of mutilating her body afterwards?" Kyler ponders. "I mean, the killer showed mercy by killing her so quickly and then took the time to cover her body up after dumping it. It seems like two conflicting personalities."

After Kyler had finished her statement, she glanced at Brittany and Santana knowingly. She desperately wanted to tell her partner about the BAU's alternate theory of Miss Wilde's murder being committed by a copycat; however, she understood that this theory was still a work in progress and she didn't want to alarm Detective Shannon or any of her other co-workers prematurely. As much as she hated keeping this to herself, she had to trust in Santana and Brittany and their team; just like they had trusted her.

When the time was right, the BAU would share this information with the rest of her colleagues.

Santana subtly nods her head towards Sgt. Freeman, thanking her for not saying anything.

"The manner of attack on Mrs. Grisby and how her body was discovered is indicative of her attack being personal," Schue clarifies. "This type of overkill, albeit after her actual death, is a form of acute aggression."

"I think we're ready to deliver the profile." Brittany announces.

"I'll let everyone know," Sgt. Freeman states as she steps out of the room to make a few phone calls.

After about 15 minutes had passed by, every detective and police officer on duty that was available gathered into the Roll Call room at the Central Precinct while the members of the BAU stood at the front to address everyone.

"The UnSub we're looking for is a white male in his early to mid 30s," Puckerman starts off. "He's very familiar with the Ola area of Henry County and most likely lives and/or works here as well."

"He lives alone. No girlfriend or pets. He doesn't have time for them because he's so consumed and focused on making the person that hurt him suffer," Dr. Abrams adds in. "He'll have a menial job; something that allows him to have a flexible schedule so that he has all the time he needs to stalk his victims before abducting them."

"Our UnSub doesn't have any trouble blending in, which is why he was able to kidnap his victims from public places without anyone noticing anything," Santana advises. "Everything about him is average, from his physical stature to his physical appearance."

"He's quiet and keeps to himself; he's someone that no one pays attention to," Brittany says, taking over. "He lives in a secluded place that either has lots of open land or has a shed or some type of basement where he conducts his 'business' after hours."

"Although he may be average is most areas in his life, he's highly intelligent and very patient," Hudson states. "But something happened recently to make him come out of hiding. Something happened to make him kill again; to kill so abruptly and quickly in such a short amount of time."

"Our UnSub suffers from Intermediate Explosive Disorder," Schuester informs.

"What's that?" One of the younger officers asks.

"It's a disorder that involves repeated, sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior. Sometimes it can just consist of an angry outburst in which the person reacts grossly out of proportion to the situation that they're in," Schue explains.

"These episodes are what you would probably expect to see during a temper tantrum," Santana says, piggybacking off of her leader's explanation.

"They may occur frequently or be separated by weeks or even months. And when they do occur... they happen suddenly, with little or no warning," Brittany supplies.

"After the episode occurs, you may feel a sense of relief or tiredness. In some instances, you may feel embarrassment, regret, or remorse... which seems to be the case with our latest victim," Dr. Abrams adds.

"Because of this sudden development and the expedited timeline in between kills, this suggests that our UnSub is escalating," Santana explains. "His endgame is in motion and he's starting to lose control. Until he has the opportunity to get his hands on his intended target, any female with blonde hair and blue eyes is at risk."

As those words leave her mouth, Santana fights a war against herself not to look directly at Brittany. She knows that her girlfriend can take care of herself; there's no doubt about that. However, just the thought of some sick son of a bitch currently roaming the streets of Henry County trolling for his next victim made Santana feel very uneasy.

At the same time the Latina agent is trying to remain poised and calm, Kyler glances over to Santana and sees the little muscles of her jawline twitch. It's small, but enough for Kyler to notice since she was already paying closer attention to the two female agents.

Kyler then looks over at Brittany and finds her subtly side-eyeing Santana. Once she looks up and sees the brunette sergeant watching her, Brittany offers a quick head nod and gives her attention back to her boss.

"Be vigilant and maintain a very high presence in the Ola area, especially in public places," Schue reminds. "If you receive any calls involving suspicious persons or if the complainant is a woman that matches the description of our victims, respond immediately and don't respond alone. Get as much information as possible."

"Alright guys, you heard them; let's go catch this bastard," the Chief says.

As all of the police officers and detectives file out of the room and hit the streets, Kyler casually walks over to Brittany.

"Hey... is Santana okay?"

As Brittany scrunches her face in confusion, she slowly scans the room until she finds the mocha eyes she was looking for. As she briefly makes eye contact with her girlfriend, Santana offers her a wink before returning her attention to the phone call she was currently on. Brittany can't stop the small grin that appears on her face.

"Yeah, she's fine... probably just a little bit worried," Brittany finally responds.

"Aren't you worried?" Kyler counters. "I mean, isn't it kinda creepy that all of the victims resemble you."

"Yes... it's a little unsettling, but I can't let that distract me," Brittany replies. "Besides, I know none of those guys are gonna let anything happen to me. Especially Santana."

Kyler lightly chuckles at that comment. "Yeah, I kinda figured that already. You guys seem really close."

"We are; she's my best friend," Brittany sincerely says.

"That's sweet," Kyler says back. "Well, just so you know... you have another friend worried about you now."

Brittany genuinely smiles at the brunette sergeant. "Thanks Kyler."

"No thanks needed."

"Hey, everything okay over here?" Santana inquires as she walks up to the two women.

"Yeah, everything's good San," Brittany answers. "What's up?"

"I just got off the phone with Q and I think we may have a lead," Santana says hopefully. "You ladies up for a field trip?"

"Hell to the yeah!" Kyler responds back enthusiastically.

"Wait a minute; that's my line," Brittany states playfully.

"She's right... Britt's kinda known for that," Santana concurs.

All of the ladies share a small laugh.

"Let's head out," Kyler says, getting them back on track. "Where are we going?"

"Walgreens… everyone's favorite local shopping spot," Santana replies as they all walk outside. "Q combed through all of the victims' financials and found that they all made purchases at the same Walgreens. Well… all except for Kitty Wilde."

"Which Walgreens?" Brittany questions.

"If I had to guess, probably the one right next door to the Dunkin' Donuts Mrs. Grisby was last seen at," Kyler answers.

"You'd be correct, Sarge."

"So, if Wilde was really killed by someone else, how do we prove it? How is she connected to all of this, besides the obvious reasons?" Kyler asks.

"We find the real Sandy Ridge Killer. Once we do that, we'll have a better understanding of who our copycat is," Santana replies.

"Well then, we should get going," Kyler says.

With everyone in agreeance, the three women got into the SUV and made their way to a familiar store where they hoped they would finally get the break they desperately needed before another victim was claimed.

Author's Note:

Hey guys! First off, I just want to thank you all for sticking around and still reading my stories. I got a lot of feedback from my last update of The Girl Next Door and I'm so appreciative of that. It has given me the renewed energy to get out of this writer's block and to continue writing. Once again, I am so sorry for making you guys wait so long for another update. Sometimes life just happens. I've had a lot of different changes going on in my life that have kept me from being able to stay as connected with all of you as I would like to, but hopefully that won't be the case anymore. I'll be working on the next update to this story and hopefully get that out to you in a few weeks. Again, thanks for sticking around. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Stay classy,

K

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Criminal Minds, Walgreens, or the Henry County Police Department; I'm just borrowing them for the sake of this story.