Delilah Carrero was in Witness Protection which meant that as of now, she was supposed to be off limits. Supposed to be.

Delilah sat at one of the detectives' desks, her precious journal in her lap, while she watched the Marshal in charge of her case argue with the head of the precinct and Hotch. The rest of the team were not too far from where she sat.

"So, Delilah's off the suspect list but that doesn't mean she doesn't know anything," Emily spoke quietly to the others. "The way her house was trashed...it was personal."

"The bodies too?" asked JJ. Emily wasn't sure about that detail, yet.

"You notice the way she clutches that journal?" Morgan watched Delilah drum her fingers over the cover of her journal. Though she sat casually, her left arm was strategically over the journal while her right hand fingers did the drumming. Anyone who would want to take the journal away from her, would meet both of her hands before they got the chance to touch it.

"Garcia did a check for the name on it but there's no 'Tania Oranears' that she could find," Spencer shrugged. "Could be just a journal to write in. Many people in Witness Protection find writing therapeutic."

"Then why use the fake name?" Rossi asked.

"Maybe it's part of a story," Emily guessed.

"A story?" JJ glanced at her, face slightly scrunched. "About what?"

"Someone not in Witness Protection." Emily decided to walk over to Delilah, leaving the rest to wonder what she was planning on, if she was planning something. They had been warned to stay away from Delilah in the meantime things were sorted out with the Marshals.

Delilah could see Emily approaching her from the corner of her eye. It was strange to say that she welcomed it. Maybe it was the fact this was the first time in 6 months someone nonthreatening knew that she wasn't really Delilah. It was nice.

"Can I get you anything?" Emily politely asked the woman.

Delilah shook her head and thanked Emily for the offer. She watched the argument continue in the Captain's office across them. "It's funny," she said suddenly, puzzling Emily for a second. "Most women dream for 3 men to fight over her...but I can't seem to find the same desire."

Emily felt sympathy for the woman. "It can't be easy…"

Delilah scoffed but her face remained almost stoic. "I'm way past that, Agent Prentiss."

"Emily. You can call me Emily."

Delilah finally tore her eyes from the office. She was surprised by the offer. "Thank you." Emily nodded, smiling lightly "Your team can't seem to make up their minds about me. I don't blame them and I apologize in advance for the massive headache I'm going to give them due to my situation."

Emily found herself smiling again. Delilah matched it. She seemed honest, Emily noted. Ever since they met Delilah, she had been nothing but honest. She wasn't interested in deflecting anything which was quite surprising considering her situation.

"Do you have any idea who would do something like this?" Emily was aware of the dozens of rules she was breaking just by asking that question but she had a feeling that Delilah would continue that streak of honesty even now. Like the team, Delilah had been ordered to stay quiet.

Delilah sighed. "I have my suspicions but nothing concrete. Given the fact I'm in Witness Protection, you can assume that I pissed off a lot of people."

"But you still have ideas," Emily said, picking up on the key point Delilah made.

Delilah nodded. Before she could say anything, the office door opened. She jumped from her chair.

The marshal, Lewis - as she knew him - came directly for her. "You are leaving right now," he declared.

"You know I can't," Delilah said, starting a whole new argument.

Emily easily slipped away and returned to the team where Hotch was giving them the rundown of what occurred in the office. The marshal had of course argued for Delilah's safety and how it would be negligent to allow Delilah to stay in the neighborhood.

"Hotch, if they take her then we lose our only concrete piece of the puzzle," Morgan argued.

"I know but they're not wrong," Hotch nodded, "Their priority is to move Delilah to safety before something happens."

"If they're that concerned, then they know who did it," Spencer said, glancing in the marshal's direction. "Or they have some reasonable speculations."

Delilah seemed to be arguing just as strongly as Hotch and the precinct Captain had against the marshal. If she wanted to stay, then it meant they had a chance. Emily saw it as well.

"She has suspicions," she said. "We can't lose her. Plus, if we catch the Unsub then maybe it can get Delilah out of Witness in the process. Have they considered that?"

Hotch tilted his head. Perhaps they had, perhaps they didn't. It wasn't mentioned in the office.

Unknowingly to them, Delilah was making the same argument. "It has to be them," she hissed. "At least one of them and if we can take them down that means I'm one step closer to getting out of this hellhole! No offence."

Despite the argument, Lewis found a moment to smile at that. "Wouldn't that be nice? But you know the risks. We have to move you."

"And then what? Wait until they all magically die out so I can finally go home?" Delilah put her hands together in a praying motion. "Don't make me beg. We're in the middle of a precinct and...you know who's here."

"Delilah, don't," Lewis warned her.

Delilah made a noise akin to a child ready to cry. "Don't deny me the opportunity of shedding the awful name that is 'Delilah'. Please, Lewis. I'm sure there's a way where everyone can win."

Lewis let his smile drop. "I cannot be good at my job if I let you run the show." Delilah beamed, and triumphantly too. "I'm fired if you die, you know that right?"

Delilah smiled. "Don't worry, I'm very good at staying alive."

Lewis sighed. On some level, he should be glad to see Delilah still retained some of that optimism she had before any of the mess started.

The agents had pinpointed the exact moment Delilah was able to convince Lewis where they had failed. It was impressive, honestly. Now they, along with the precinct's Captain, were gathered in the room meant to serve as the BAU's temporary station until the case was solved. Delilah was promptly asked to wait outside with one of the detectives from the precinct.

"Miss Carrero's safety is my number one priority," Lewis was leading the meeting to set up the rules for the case. "Whether there's a homicide or not, if I feel a hint of a threat against her, she's out."

"With all due respect, I think her life is already in danger considering the gravity of the situation," Emily said. "Someone purposely left the corpses in her house and trashed it which meant they knew exactly who lived there. Letting her stay on to help us is the best thing you can do for her safety."

"She needs to be under constant protection," Lewis warned.

"We can do that," Hotch assured him. "She'll need to go back to the house and maybe around the neighborhood."

Lewis nodded then switched gazes towards the Captain. "I would prefer if none of your officers knew the nature of Miss Carrero's situation. The smaller the number, the better."

"Of course," the Captain agreed.

"No one is to know about Delilah's background, not even for the case. It's too dangerous," Lewis said and quickly had Morgan interjecting with a question.

"Sir if the Unsub is specifically after her then we'll need some background information on her."

"None," Lewis reiterated, holding the almost glare Morgan had on him.

"Non-invasive questions then," Rossi compromised for both sides. "We'll only ask questions that won't reveal anything from her real life." Lewis begrudgingly agreed to it.

"The house is completely destroyed so we'll have to move her for the duration of the investigation."

"You can move her to one of the hotels in the city," the Captain offered. "I can help you set it up."

"And we can organize shifts for her protection," JJ said. "I'm sure having one of our agents accompany her will draw less attention than having a whole other team follow her."

Lewis agreed. "Okay. I'm going to need time to set things up. Agent Hotchner, can your team start right now?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you," Lewis sighed. "Believe me when I say that Delilah hates this as much as you all do but if we don't keep an eye on her, she could die."

"We understand, don't worry. Until the investigation is closed, we won't let her out of our sight," Hotch said. The rest of his team nodded in agreement.

~0~

Delilah was flipping through her journal when the meeting finished. Lewis came to her first to tell her what would be happening for the next couple of days. She thanked him thoroughly for the opportunity and happily met with the agents afterwards.

"Lewis said I would be moving to a hotel during the investigation?" She started with that considering it meant she would have to go back to her house first.

"Yes, and we'll be your security detail until the case is closed," Hotch said.

"I really don't need to be watched like Lewis made it seem," Delilah smiled warmly.

"While we're here, this is how it's going to work," Hotch's tone left no room for Delilah to try and make her argument. "My team will be right beside you. You will not leave their sight and they will not leave you. That is the deal I made with Lewis and that is the deal I will see through. Do you understand?"

With that tone of voice and hard look, Delilah had no choice but to nod her head. She was allowed to come into their room to see what they had so far on the case. She noticed the door behind her had been shut and locked as soon as she was inside. She inwardly sighed. Maybe she'd been a fool to think that she'd get one minute of normality.

That all ended when she saw the evidence board at the end of the room. Her house wasn't the first to be intruded on.

"There were others?" she looked at the others with genuine shock. The agents took a special interest in that. Up until now, nothing had seemed to surprise Delilah.

"Yeah," Emily took the opportunity as fast as it came. "Last week, two other houses were previously broken into. Two couples were murdered in their sleep."

"And you think it's connected to what happened with my house?"

"The previous houses had messages left for us to see," Spencer moved towards the board, "We thought they were meant as a way to taunt the police but now I'm thinking it was directed towards you."

"Ha, lucky me," Delilah visibly struggled to swallow. Her eyes searched behind Spencer for the pictures that would show the messages. When he stepped aside, she was able to see the bloody words on the wall.

'Lucky you found us first…'

'We're ending this for you.'

Delilah immediately scowled at the pictures. If she could, she'd rip them off right there and then. She turned away from it before she lost control. "They weren't random messages," she confirmed Spencer's suspicions. "I saw them first back when...when everything happened. And now they're trying to find me."

"How about we go over this case specifically?" asked Emily who was already motioning Delilah to come sit. With a sigh, Delilah obeyed.

"Approximately at 8:00 a.m these corpses were brought into your home," JJ brought over the file to Delilah once she was seated. "The police don't have any witnesses who saw anyone go in. You said you left at 7 today?"

Delilah nodded. "Mhm. I have a scheduled yoga class."

"Is it a scheduled class or do you go in whenever?"

"I go every Tuesday in the morning at 7 a.m and then in the afternoon on Thursdays and Fridays at 5, after my shift."

"Something the Unsub must have known," said Rossi. "There would've been a much higher risk of a witness if he had struck in the afternoon."

"Which means he's been watching you," Morgan added.

"Can we ask how long you've been in the neighborhood?" Emily asked cautiously. She may have exchanged looks with Hotch as she made the question. There were going to be various gray lines with Delilah.

Delilah didn't seem to mind. "This is the first relocation since I was placed in the program. I arrived 6 months ago."

"Have you made any friends since you arrived?" asked Spencer. "Any co-workers you've gotten close to? Neighbors?"

Delilah scoffed lightly. "My neighbors hate me, as you all saw. I haven't made friends. My co-workers are on a need-to-talk basis with me. The only person I have a somewhat friendship with is the barista at the coffee shop I go to every morning."

"What's her name?" Hotch passed by JJ's chair to motion her to take the name down.

"What?" Delilah blinked. "No, no, it's not her! She's like a kid! She is a kid! A college student! She's the only one I have pleasant conversations with! It's not her."

"Actually, 80% of people stalked usually report that their stalkers were someone they knew," Spencer took to listing off his fingers as he went on. "An acquaintance, a friend, a family member. And more than 60% of people say that their stalker was a previous partner, sometimes current."

Delilah blinked several times at him before she spoke. "Right...but the person who did this was a man, not a 100 lb pound girl who serves me coffee."

Seeing her getting worked up, JJ reached for Delilah's closest hand on the table. "You're right, we're definitely looking at a man and if that's the case then maybe this man has been stalking you in some way."

"I would've noticed…" Delilah said in a manner that sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. "I would've…"

"We can't always see everything," JJ said, offering a kind smile at Delilah. "We're human and sometimes we miss things. Maybe this barista caught something that you missed. We just want to talk to her."

Delilah sighed. "Okay. Her name's Marlene. She works at the Starbucks on Main and 3rd street in the morning before her classes. I don't remember what school she goes to."

JJ had quickly written down the information. "That's okay. This is more than enough."

Delilah nodded and got up from her chair. "Can I use the restroom before I go back to the house?"

"Of course," JJ said and stood up with her. Delilah wouldn't even point out that she could very well use the restroom on her own. She learned a long time ago not to waste her breath.

Hotch picked up the scrap of paper JJ left on the table and read the information. He then handed it over to Rossi. "You and Morgan go talk to the barista."

"Maybe I should go," Emily said. "If she's really the only person Delilah talks to, she might feel like she's betraying Delilah by talking to two grown men about her."

"No, I want you and Reid to be with Delilah at the house. You've already started a rapport with her."

Emily nodded. She noticed Spencer staring at the journal Delilah left on the table, partially covered. "Hey," she called, "Don't go touching it. You get caught and we lose Delilah completely." She had no doubt that it would happen.

"I know," Spencer mumbled. He kept staring at the name on the cover. Tania Oranears. There was something gnawing at his head and when that happened it was usually for a good reason. "The name…I feel like we're not seeing something there."

"Therapeutic, remember?" Emily' question came rhetorically. Of course he remembered.

The problem now was that Spencer was doubting his own theory. "Is it?"

"Garcia didn't find anyone with that name so for now we'll keep assuming it's just therapeutic," Hotch said but his lingering look on Spencer welcomed any other theory he could come up with.

~ 0 ~

Delilah was more than relieved to see the neighbors had disbanded from her front yard. She had no doubt that they were probably looking at her from their respective windows but that was better.

Emily led the way up to the house and gave Delilah the rundown of the scene. As she explained, Spencer would watch. When Emily mentioned the no forced entry bit, Spencer noticed the fact Delilah didn't look at all surprised. The same happened when Emily introduced the theory that the Unsub had a lot of rage towards Delilah based on the way the house was destroyed. Something changed when Emily said that the corpses were insignificant to the Unsub — they were local junkies in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Anger crossed Delilah's features almost instantaneously. That type of anger wouldn't show so quickly if it wasn't already something Delilah hadn't already been upset about. But, since this was the first time she learned of the corpses' identities, it meant that the anger she felt was from before Witness Protection.

"I don't mean to snap but those people were not insignificant," Delilah huffed. "They were people who were murdered because of me!"

Emily motioned for Delilah to calm down. "Of course, I didn't mean—"

Delilah shook her head. "I need a moment," she muttered and hurried out of the living room.

"Whatever put her into Witness Protection involves this same scenario," Spencer remarked when it was just him and Emily. "Every detail you mentioned she took it in with a simple nod. She's heard this before, maybe even seen it."

"Yeah," Emily nodded. "But she's too guarded. We won't get anything from her if that doesn't change."

"She can't — she's been in Witness for 6 months now so she's very accustomed to being on guard 24/7. It's survival at this point."

"So let's see if we can change that, at least for a bit."

~ 0 ~

"What can I get for you?" Marlene the barista had no idea she was speaking to two FBI agents. Upon learning it, her eyes widened in alarm. "Am I in trouble?" She asked once they pulled her to the side.

"No, we just have some questions about one of your recurring customers: Delilah Carrero," Morgan explained and watched as Marlene grew even more alarmed.

"Is she in trouble?"

"Perhaps," Rossi nodded. "We're trying to see if anyone might have had a problem with her."

"Well, I don't see how much help I can be," Marlene bit on her lower lip. "The most I've talked to her is 10 minutes a day."

"Maybe those 10 minutes might help us."

"Okay," Marlene set her hands on her hips after motioning them to go ahead with the questions they had.

"Does Delilah come here every morning?"

"Usually, yeah. Around the same time before work."

"Does she ever speak to another customer?" asked Morgan, already eyeing potential customers in the area.

"No. She's always watching the television," Marlene pointed to the screen hanging on the wall. "When she happens to stick around at a table, that's all she does. I don't know how interesting that might be, though, considering we only really show the boring newscasts."

That was something for later.

"Has she ever mentioned anyone in her life to you?" Rossi was met with a scrunched face.

"Not really. Like I said, we only really talk for orders and the usual casual conversations between customers and barista — 'How's your day going?' 'Fine, thank you'." Marlene shrugged and gestured to the counter. "I have a long line in the mornings."

"What about in the afternoons, then?"

"I mean...sometimes. When there's not a lot of customers around, we talk a bit."

"About what?" Morgan pressed for the answers since Marlene seemed way too hesitant.

"She's really pretty, alright?" she huffed. "I have this guy I want to ask out and I always ask her for some advice when I can."

"Okay," Morgan said, trying not to smile out of amusement. "How about this: have you ever noticed someone looking at her funny? Maybe staring?"

Marlene scrunched her face again. "What?"

"Maybe somebody who talked to her and made Delilah really uncomfortable?" Rossi said. "It would've changed Delilah's entire mood around if she talked to them."

Marlene was in the middle of shaking her head when both agents heard a small 'Oh!' slip from her lips. "There was this one guy one time…"

~ 0 ~

Delilah had gone into the kitchen to sulk and finally get to see the state of it. None of her glass utensils had survived. She couldn't even sit down at the table. There were no chairs left standing.

"Delilah," she heard Emily's call. "We're sorry if we were too much."

"You're not," she said shortly. "I'm just…" she gave a shake of her head and turned to face the two agents. "You have no idea how frustrated I am. I lost everything to go into hiding and these...these people still managed to find me."

"We're not 100% sure it's the same people…" Spencer tried to say but Delilah scoffed. She caught his lie.

"I think we all know it is. No one trashes a house like they did to mine if they didn't know me. I gave up my family — I had my parents, my brothers, friends...I already had a job that I really wanted and they just took it away. Now 6 months later, I realize nothing we did mattered. I have pretended to be someone else for nothing. I've...I've swallowed every real detail about myself to be this…" Delilah gestured to her appearance, "...this person. Delilah has no family, no friends, no personality."

"Okay," Emily raised her hands over her chest. "You may be right but we have a chance at catching him. We just need your help."

"What does it really matter if you catch him? Because I can tell you that I didn't run away from one man."

"How many were there?" asked Spencer.

"Six."

"If we get one, he's more likely to sell the others out for a good deal."

"Wouldn't that be nice," Delilah exhaled a deep sigh. She let her hand land on her journal sitting on the counter. She gazed at it sadly. "Who I used to be might as well be dead. Everything about her...she's gone."

"That's not true," Emily said cautiously. "It doesn't have to be. Tell us something about yourself — something that the other you loved. What is something you liked to do?"

"Seriously?"

Emily nodded. "One thing," she raised a single finger.

Delilah sighed and thought very shortly before she found the right answer. "Puzzles. I liked doing puzzles."

"Really?"

"Mhm, I used to have a lot of jigsaw puzzles at home. I had all types of them — the 1,000, a 2,000...all of them." A smile crossed Delilah's face at the memory.

"Well then you lied," said Spencer suddenly, making the smile on her face drop in a second.

"What?" she frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You said everything about the old you was dead but I saw a 3,000 puzzle in your living room," he jerked a thumb in the living room's direction. "You clearly let that piece fit in this new life."

Delilah lifted an eyebrow at him. "Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"I...don't know. I don't usually tell good ones." He supposed today's joke would be a good one judging by the short laugh Delilah awarded him.

"Okay, you caught me. Maybe I did sneak in some things from the past," Delilah grabbed her journal off the counter. "I actually forgot I had that puzzle in the living room — maybe I can salvage it." She left the kitchen in a hurry.

"Good job," Emily said with relief. "I didn't actually know you could tell a joke."

"Neither did I," Spencer shrugged. He still had no idea. "But I do suspect she won't be happy in a few seconds." At Emily's questioning glance, he answered her, "She had about 1500 pieces already put together. I'm pretty sure it was the Venice at Dusk by Anatolin."

Just as Emily opened her mouth to remark how the hell he could tell the exact number of the pieces and the picture, they heard Delilah's sharp 'Dammit!' from the living room.

~ 0 ~

"The guy looked a lot older than Delilah and he kept staring at her when she was making her order," Marlene was sharing the particular experience that seemed to even put her at edge. "I didn't like the way he was looking at her. I mean, like I said, Delilah's really pretty and I have noticed other heads turning her way but this guy wasn't even, like, ogling her. He was just staring like a creep."

"Did he try to talk to her?" asked Morgan. "Get close to her?"

"No," Marlene shook her head. "That's what made it weird. There've been a couple guys who actually got the courage to talk to Delilah — not that it mattered because they didn't get her number — but this guy didn't even get within 10 feet of her. He was at a table in the corner."

"Did Delilah ever notice him?" Rossi asked.

"No. Delilah keeps to herself when she's here. I only saw the guy that one day and then he was gone."

"And now long ago was that?"

"Umm, last week. Thursday morning."

"Alright," Morgan nodded. The first murders happened Friday and the second on Tuesday of this week. It was definitely connected. "Do you have security cameras?"

"Yeah."

"You think you could show them to us?"

"Of course!" Marlene led the way to the backroom but stopped to ask, "Is Delilah okay?"

"We're hoping she will be," Rossi answered honestly because at that point, they had no idea what the ending would be like.

Author's Note:

My poor girl! Trouble's-a-coming for her!

P.S. As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"