Disclaimer: "Criminal Minds" and the characters from the show are owned by CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of this show. Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

Chapter 6

Lucy splashed ice-cold water on her face, letting it soak in a moment before she grabbed a few paper towels from the dispenser next to the mirror.

As she dried off her face, she thought about how her partner believed she was upset because of the FBI being called in, but it was more than just a dislike for the way that branch of law enforcement tended to take all of the credit and push the local enforcement to the side.

Opening her eyes and peering at herself in the mirror she knew that she would have to reveal to Darryl the reason why she despised the FBI, but it would have to wait.

She shook her head to clear out resurfacing memories that she didn't want in her mind. There was a serial killer to stop and whatever lay in the past needed to stay there.

She looked at the damp paper towel in her hand and took a deep breath before she threw it into the trash can as she exited the women's restroom. She turned right to return to the Ranger's office, her mind elsewhere, but she bumped into something rather solid in the hallway.

"I am sorry," she apologized, looking to see that she had run into the backside of a tall and muscular, African-American man.

The man turned around, dark brown eyes widening in surprise and recognition, "Ms. Silver, what are you doing here?"

Lucy's eyes hardened and a look complete dislike swept across her face at the sight of Agent Derek Morgan of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Anger, resentments and a smidge of fear rose within her as she struggled to keep it from bursting out of her.

Suddenly, a familiar male voice spoke her name and when she turned to look she saw Gage and Sydney standing there, both were carrying a large assortment of coffees as well as a couple of paper bags.

"Oh, hey," Gage greeted looking from Lucy to the unknown man standing in the hallway.

Lucy looked at Sydney who had raised a concerned eyebrow.

"Rangers' Cooke and Gage," Lucy introduced with a hand. "This is one of the FBI agents. Agent Morgan, her voice having turned cold and emotionless and then turned to Gage, grabbed some of the supplies from the sandy-haired Ranger and went down the hall and through the door into the Rangers' office.

Gage blinked a couple of times and then looked over at the FBI agent whose facial expression showed a mixture of bewilderment and surprise.

"Nice to meet you, Agent Morgan," Gage responded.

Derek looked at the ranger and gave a nod of greeting to the two rangers but didn't say anything.

Sydney cleared her throat. "We need get to the office because everyone is waiting to discuss the case."

Derek seemed to snap out of his thoughts when he nodded his head, offered to carry something, which Sydney handed him a bag of food.

Sydney led the two men into the room and saw that Lucy was sitting next to her partner, the signs of anger gone from her face, but her eyes focused intently on Walker, seemingly ignoring the presence of the FBI agents.

Once the coffees and treats had been passed around and everyone had taken a seat, Walker and Hotchner stood before the murder boards, gazing at the various assembled investigators.

Walker thanked the FBI Agents and the detectives for arriving quickly and then introduced his team and the detectives, while Agent Hotchner introduced his team.

"I'll let you start," Walker said to Hotchner as he stepped aside.

Hotchner nodded his head and stood before the group. "Everyone here as read the files on this case, so I will start with the profile. The Unsub appears to be a white male, 30 to 40 years old with experience, considering the precision and the lack of forensic evidence. It is also concerning how close in time the murders have occurred," Agent Hotchner stated.

"The twine used by the Unsub to bind the victim's wrists might be significant to him, since it is unusual and appears to be the same type in all three cases. Usually, duct tape or rope or zip ties are the bindings that a predominately used," Dr. Reid added.

"And it is interesting that the Unsub hasn't taken any personal items from the victims as a trophy, as far as we can tell," Emily commented.

Derek looked up from the case file in front of him and said, "Emily and I should examine the crime scenes."

"Gage will show you the locations and I think Lucy and Darryl should go with you," Walker suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea, Walker," Darryl said while Lucy gave a nod of her head.

The five stood up and left, and once they were gone Trivette looked at Walker and spoke quietly, "Does it seem like Detective Silver has an issue with the FBI agents?"

"Yes, Trivette, she does, but we both know that will not prevent her from doing her job."

"I don't think we are the only ones that noticed."

"Nope, we certainly are not the only ones," Walker said, as he went to his desk to talk more with Hotchner and Jareu.

Darryl wanted to question Lucy about her past interaction with the FBI because it was clear that she had had a history with some of them. It had been a surprise at the extreme dislike that she had for them and she was unable to hide it.

She usually could hide her emotions, maybe only catch a glimpse if you were observant enough, but lately, her emotions were more visible. He didn't know if that was because he had gotten to know his partner better or if she had opened herself up more.

Gage pulled off the road and that is when Darryl knew that they had arrived at the first crime scene.

Agent Morgan had brought pictures with him as he studied the area and then looked at the captured images.

"This is not where she was killed," Emily said.

"No, it isn't," Derek agreed, imagining the body being dumped and then posed.

"No tire tracks had been found," Gage added and took a step forward. "He might have parked on the pavement and then brought her here. There had been rain that night before she had been found, so no footprints, but it wouldn't have been enough rain to completely wipe out tire tracks if the vehicle was heavy enough. It would have washed out footprints though."

Darryl glanced over at his silent partner. It appeared that she was gazing off into the distance, perhaps looking at the tree line twenty-five feet beyond the shrubbery clusters that they were currently standing in. As he looked closer, her eyes were staring beyond the tree line and seeing something else that wasn't really there.

Suddenly, Lucy's body shivered and her normal green eye gaze returned.

"Do you have anything to add, Detective Silver?" Emily challenged.

"No," she answered simply and turned away, walking to the SUV.

Darryl blinked. His partner had sounded, if he thought about it for a moment, sad.

Darryl exchanged a look with Gage, and he out of the corner of his eye, the two FBI Agents exchanged a look.

Lucy sat in the front passenger seat and waited for Darryl to return. They had taken two cars to the site. Derek and Emily had driven a borrowed car from the Texas Rangers, while she, Gage and Darryl had arrived in Darryl's car.

She watched as Darryl approached and was surprised when Gage walked with the two FBI agents to their car.

"So, what's going on, Lucy?" Darryl asked.

"Does this have something to do with Carlos?"

She spun her head to face him, surprised at the question. "What would any of this have to do with Carlos?"

Darryl sighed. "I know that things have been different since he had been abducted. It was obvious something changed between you two when you actually allowed Thunder Investigations to work with us on the last case."

"Darryl, this has nothing to do with Carlos Sandoval." Her gaze turned to where the first victim had been discovered. A long silence occurred between the partners until Lucy spoke up. "Let's follow them to the next victim's location."

He could tell by Lucy's tone that it was time to let the matter drop and he silently agreed to focus on the case, but he knew that he would be talking to his partner about the situation when they had the time. He just hoped that the time would be sooner rather than later, especially since it would mean that the killer would be brought to justice without any more deaths.

They visited the other crime scenes and nothing new could be discovered. Semi-remote locations, but it was apparent that the unsub wanted the victims discovered sooner rather than later.