When Delilah woke up and left her room, she found Morgan and Rossi in the living room looking like...well...crap. She apologized profusely for putting them in that situation. She couldn't wait to see the end of this madness, even if it didn't end with her going back home (which it most likely wouldn't).

Later that day, the team brought Delilah back to the precinct to scope out more of the possible assailants. They had the names of the other four men in Michael and Jordan's team but without any concrete locations.

Delilah set apart the last picture of the men. "They were pretty active in Virginia and D.C. but then with everything that happened, they picked up and left. Their last known homicide was at the banquet but…" She set her eyes on the evidence board. As she identified pictures of the Unsubs, the agents placed them on the board. She hadn't asked if they had delved deep into the past case - if they had then they would know who she was - and they weren't exactly making it easy to know. They were profilers, after all.

"There's something missing," Delilah blinked when a new thought came to mind. Emily had given her the files on the two previous homicides. "Someone missing. Maybe it's nothing but—"

"Anything is useful, trust us," Emily said.

Delilah smiled without a second thought. "I do."

At the automatic agreement, Emily swayed her head in Spencer's direction, reminding him of the 'conversation' — although in Spencer's mind it wasn't anywhere close to a conversation — from last night. Delilah stood up from her chair and apologized beforehand for the spreading of papers she was about to do.

"You don't have it," Delilah said after gazing at the papers in front of her. "It's the very first public homicides they were responsible for. At the D.C. banquet, amongst the mess, these men left a, um, a message. They made it clear that it wasn't their intention to kill everyone in the room but because there were so many witnesses...they had to get rid of them. They had a few targets in mind and I'm sure of that because I sort of worked for people of the targets." The purposeful silence Delilah entered was taken with caution.

"Telling us the name of your boss would endanger you, it's alright," Hotch said. For as brave as Delilah was, no one would fault her for keeping a detail like that a secret.

With a sigh, Delilah moved around the table until she reached the evidence board. "These guys are insane. My boss' name was meaningful and…" she shook her head, "they left a symbol of her name at her home. They had trashed her place before murdering her at the banquet."

"Trashing the home is part of their M.O.," Rossi said. "They did it to your home…"

"But there was no message left anywhere," Spencer reminded. They had searched through the entire house and nothing close to a message was found.

"Because the job's not done," Delilah said with the tiniest of smiles. It was dangerously close to resignation. "Not just that...there were 3 witnesses including myself and one of them was named Lily." She let her eyes fall shut for a moment. "They murdered her on her way to work but before doing that, they entered her home and trashed it, leaving behind one lily flower for the cops to find."

"Ah, so they're meaningful," Morgan said, earning himself a rolling-eye look, "But we already went through your place. It's like Reid said, there was nothing."

"I don't doubt that you did your best, I'm simply asking to let me take a look." When nobody said anything, Delilah added, "Ten minutes. Ten minutes is all I get and then I'll come right back, I swear!"

Against their better judgement, Delilah was allowed. Morgan and Emily were going to be her literal shadows. It was fine, she got what she wanted in the end. Her house was still taped up but at least there was no one around.

Delilah pushed open the front door and walked right in. "So when Lily's house was trashed, they found the flower in the garden. It was right on the step so that they knew it wasn't an accident."

"And let me guess, they got nothing off of it?" Emily asked.

Delilah shook her head. "Nope. Like I said, they're decently educated."

"So what do you think they'd leave you, then?" Morgan eyed the living room as if something new was going to pop up. It still looked the same as the pictures.

"Well, if they know that I'm using the name 'Delilah' I imagine it'd be something along the symbols of treachery." Delilah led them up the staircase.

"Treachery?" called Morgan.

Delilah had already made it to the top of the stairs. She hummed with a nod of her head. "Yeah. See, in the bible, Delilah is a woman who was bribed by the lords of the Philistines to find out where Samson got his strength from. She eventually gets him to tell her that his strength came from his hair so she had it cut and then turned him over to the Philistines. Because of that, the name is synonymous with treachery and basically your local voluptuous woman."

Both Morgan and Emily stared at her with blinking eyes.

"That's not why I chose the name!" Delilah said when she incorrectly assumed what they were thinking. "I didn't really get to choose it…"

"No, it's not that — how do you know that story?" Morgan finally asked her.

"Oh, um...my grandmother is very religious. Every year that we visited her in Mexico, she always read the bible to us."

"Oh, thank God," Morgan exhaled rather deeply as if something terrible nearly occurred.

"What?" Delilah cautiously, and curiously, asked.

"For a second there, I thought there were two of you."

Delilah lifted an eyebrow at him, not getting the joke but judging by the laugh Emily gave, she assumed that the other Agent had. "Okay…" Delilah turned away and headed for the bedroom.

"You're terrible," Emily said to Morgan as they finished their way up the stairs.

"No, what would've been terrible is finding out that there were possibly two local geniuses."

"Oh c'mon, that wasn't even close!" Emily shook her head while Morgan laughed. "But hey, if you're interested in a story I have…"

Morgan was very interested in the story when he heard the beginning of it. By the time they entered Delilah's bedroom, he was so very thankful that Emily had been kind enough to share it with him. He had a lot of comments to make later on.

~ 0 ~

Delilah searched and searched through her bedroom for any sign of a message. She was sure that if there was one, it would've been left in her bedroom. The Unsubs knew that her room was the most important room in the house. But 20 minutes later, she found nothing.

"Maybe it's better this way," Emily tried making her feel better on their way down. "They're letting time pass before they act again."

"I just thought that they would," Delilah said. She supposed she should feel good that there was no message for her, but for some reason that wasn't the case. "Still, thanks for coming back with me."

"No problem, but we should head back to the precinct," Morgan opened the front door for them only to find several miscellaneous objects lined up on the ground.

A butterfly, a miniature plastic tree, a rose, a lemon, a mirror, an orange and a plastic star. Underneath it was a cotton candy and a chocolate marshmallow lollipop.

"What the hell…?" Emily made a face at the two objects.

"What are these things?" Delilah tried stepping forwards when Morgan barred the way with his arm.

"This wasn't here when we got here," he realized soon and acted just as fast. His hands had his gun out of its holster in two seconds, and perhaps less if Delilah's attention hadn't been driven by Emily pulling her behind.

"We gotta get back to the precinct," Emily said as she grabbed her own gun. "They were here."

Delilah felt her heart hammering in her chest. Her hands twitched on her sides with nothing to hold. She would've had something if she wasn't in Witness.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Morgan led the way to the SUV when Delilah stopped midway.

"Those are messages!" she exclaimed but Morgan wasn't listening.

"We gotta go now!"

Emily tried moving Delilah along but the latter was adamant about what she thought. "This is a message for me!"

"Exactly, so we have to—"

"But it's not about my name!" Delilah yelled over him. "It's about something else which means someone else could be in danger! Let me grab them!"

Morgan crossed gazes with Emily. In the long run, if they took the objects they could figure something else out of them.

"Dammit," Morgan muttered as he put his gun back in its holster. "Emily, get her into the car!" he ordered as he ran back to the front porch.

Emily pulled Delilah for the car and practically shoved her inside. She was cautious as she waited for Morgan to return with the two objects. When things calmed — only somewhat of course — both Morgan and Emily agreed that taking the objects was the best course of action.

~ 0 ~

The precinct was buzzing with new evidence and a suspected looming third homicide, everyone except the assumed victim. While the agents went back and forth with the U.S Marshal over the phone in the bullpen about the best, safest plan for Delilah, the woman herself had stationed herself in the meeting room with the two objects left at her front step.

"She needs to leave right now," Lewis was rightfully adamant. "It's no longer safe for her and not one of you can tell me otherwise."

Well, no, not really.

"We would move her out of the precinct but we're assuming that the Unsubs might be watching," Hotch said, though his eyes flickered to Delilah in the room. They could see her studying the objects through the glass wall. Before making the call to Lewis, the BAU had already discussed what would be most beneficial for the case.

"And what?" scoffed Lewis. "You can't handle 6 men?"

The other agents exchanged glances with each other. Hotch had not like the way that question had been worded.

"My team is more than capable of carrying out missions like these," he started with a low tone, "However, I'm more concerned with Miss Carrerro's safety than our pride. These Unsubs managed to sneak into her house not once but twice without being seen. That means they are well versed in the art of blending in. How do I know that they're not disguised as civilians outside? As soon as we step out, bullets can come our way and then what? She's dead."

Silence fell over for the next couple of minutes.

"We can extract her ourselves then," Lewis finally said.

"Or—" Hotch said with a few degrees less of respect for the man, "—you can give us the appropriate time to plan out an exit strategy that ensures Miss Carrerro's safety."

"...how long do you need?"

Hotch crossed gazes with his team. "One hour," he answered a moment later.

"One hour? Seriously?" Lewis scoffed. "Fine! But in one hour I want her in the hotel with two of your agents until my side can come up with a strategy to get her out of the city without being detected! Is that clear?"

"Yes." Hotch didn't wait to see if Lewis had anything else to say. He ended the call and looked at his team. "Can we do it?"

"I think so," Spencer was the one to answer. He glanced at Delilah through the glass. She was now circling the table with her eyes glued to the objects. "If Delilah's already seen these types of messages then it's more likely she'll be able to figure it out in a shorter amount of time than if it were just us."

"Including you?" Morgan shot him a look. He didn't know whether to shake his head or laugh when Spencer swayed his head. "Of course...because you like puzzles too, right?"

It was Spencer's turn to shoot the look but it soon drifted to Emily instead. She grinned so innocently it was like a confession all on its own.

"Go solve the puzzle, pretty boy—"

"Shut up!" Spencer snapped and stormed away from the group. Those who weren't in the loop were quite baffled with the sight.

"We'll talk," Morgan promised them.

~0~

Delilah had moved the three objects in front of her. She was on her knees in front of the table, both of her arms resting on top with her chin right on her hands. Even when the door opened, her eyes kept flickering from one object to the next.

"I know you guys have been in plenty of danger but have you ever been stalked?"

Spencer didn't understand what the question was for but he would still answer her if it made her feel any better. "Not really…"

"I used to know exactly what was going on. My job demanded it. I knew the crooks and crannys of everything...and then poof," her eyes finally looked up at him. "It went away. Just because 6 men decided that people shouldn't get to live."

"It has to be hard—"

"Noo," Delilah whispered. "It's not hard. Hard is trying to do something you never had before. Hard is me trying to figure out how the hell to sneak out of my house as a teenager. This...this is something else, and the only concrete thing I feel is anger. But it's not that type of anger that you scream to get it out. It's an anger that you carry with you and it just poisons you over time. I don't suppose you've ever been that type of angry?"

While Spencer had been plenty angry before, he couldn't remember ever feeling that type of angry Delilah described. "No, not really."

Delilah nodded like she already knew, because she had. She saw it on his face. "So, when am I supposed to run and hide?"

"Well, we have one hour to figure out what that message is—"

Delilah's face scrunched in confusion. "Seriously? Lewis would never agree to that—"

"Yeah, he may not exactly know that's what he agreed to…"

A smile slowly spread across Delilah's face. "Really?" Spencer nodded. "Okay!" Delilah absolutely beamed at the opportunity. "Um, okay, I can definitely solve this!" She was quick to gather up the objects. She wanted them close enough to find any pattern she may have missed before.

"I'll help, I like puzzles too," Spencer reminded as he moved closer to the objects.

Delilah laughed. "Yeah. Well, there's 9 things here but so far I haven't really figured out anything. I mean, they're completely unrelated to each other."

At first glance, Spencer would agree but he knew better. Things were always related after a deep study, at least to an Unsub. "Spread them out again," he instructed Delilah. She quickly did as told. "Preferably, set them up how you found each object. More than often the order matters."

"Right." Delilah struggled to remember in the beginning but she ultimately got it. The butterfly was first, then the miniature tree, the rose, the orange, the mirror, and the star. After a minute Delilah switched the cotton candy and the marshmallow lollipop under the first line of objects. "They were set this way. I'm sure of it."

She scooted back as Spencer moved to the front. It was a curious setup and no doubt with a special meaning. Delilah watched him shift from one end of the line to the next, picking things up here and now. She didn't realize when she ended biting her index nail.

"Anything?" she asked ten minutes into the study.

Spencer was examining the star when she made the question. "Why don't you try your hand at it?"

Delilah dropped her nail from her lips. "You don't think I've tried? Silently, but I've tried."

"You said you liked puzzles, this is a puzzle…"

"But I don't see anything!"

Spencer took Delilah's snap with a nod of his head. He wouldn't fault her for her behavior when the stakes were so high and directly in relation to her. He still kept to his original theory that she would be able to see the real message in a shorter time than if it was just him and the team.

"Just try to look at it calmly," he instructed. He could see her breathing was jagged from where he stood. If she didn't focus, it would be impossible for her to figure out anything.

Delilah would only listen for the sake of not feeling like a child. She turned towards the table and gazed at the objects. Nothing was really special. They were ordinary objects with nothing secretive inside of them. Both she and Spencer had already checked that possibility out and they came up with zero. They were truly ordinary objects that could've been bought anywhere.

"I don't see it," she sighed.

"Nothing?" Spencer asked her, motioning at the same time for her to give it another try.

Delilah shook her head. "No—I mean…" she grabbed the butterfly and waved it around, "This is a simple butterfly. It doesn't mean anything. It has no meaning!" She let the butterfly fall back on the table and walked a few steps away from it all.

"That's not quite true," Spencer moved to take her spot and picked up the butterfly. "Butterflies are very symbolic. Metamorphosis would be the most obvious symbol for someone who's changed. There's others, slightly less popular, meanings like resurrection. Back in the Old World, butterflies were given a negative connotation. Instead of what we think of them now, butterflies were rationalized as the spirit of the dead."

"Seriously?" Delilah blinked.

Spencer nodded. "Yeah. Do you know about Gnostic art?"

"I don't think anyone does," Delilah offered an apologetic smile his way.

Spencer would concede with her but went on with his explanation, somewhat simplified. "Basically, it's all about self-knowledge of the spiritual truth. It's how people would perceive God. It's not a knowledge that you could argue about whether or not you're right or wrong because the knowledge would come from within each person."

"And somehow they got the idea that a butterfly was the spirit of the dead?" Delilah was both puzzled with the logic process those people used and slightly curious how the story ended.

"Yes. In Gnostic art, the angel of death crushed a butterfly with its foot. It was said that when Sailors saw butterflies before embarking in the ocean, they believed it was a warning that they would die at sea."

Delilah nodded but couldn't help the tiny smile that threatened to break on her face. There was no way in hell anyone would know that unless they specifically studied it as a major — she was absolutely sure. And yet she was also sure that Spencer didn't study this as a major yet he had delivered the entire lesson without the slightest of troubles.

"Okay," she exhaled lightly and walked back to the table. "While all of that makes sense — somewhat — I stand by what I said about these men. They're not educated enough to come up with a deep symbolism like what you explained."

"No, I wouldn't think so either," Spencer put the butterfly back on the table. Penelope had already done a background search on the two Unsubs they had in mind and while they did attend school and some college, they wouldn't know anything about Gnostic art.

"Do you know what I think they saw when they got this thing?" Delilah took the butterfly into her hands. "A butterfly, because they're not complicated at all. They simplify things to make it easier. Because in their mind, the easier things are the easier they are to carry out. The only remotely special things I see here are the frikin candy." She traded the butterfly for the cotton candy and the marshmallow lollipop. "I love cotton candy and these lollipops are my favorite Mexican candy."

Now that was a curious thing to say. Spencer tilted his head at her. "They are?"

Delilah nodded. "I love these," she made a nod to the lollipop. "Have you ever had one?"

Spencer shook his head. "No."

Delilah smiled at the lollipop. "It's one of the best Mexican sweets you can have. I buy these things all the time — the clown picture is misleading but the sweetness is indescribable. When you go home, you should have it," she handed him the lollipop with a smile. "Trust me."

"Uuh...thanks," Spencer was cautious when he took the sweet as if it were really going to break. According to Delilah a moment later, the chocolate was bound to be cracked but still — she swore — it would be quite tasty.

"Trust me," she insisted. "My family used to visit my grandparents in Mexico and in my suitcase I'd have at least ten of those to bring back home.

"It's curious that the Unsubs chose to leave behind the candy for you knowing that you liked sweets," Spencer remarked after a moment of watching her toy with the cotton candy in her other hand.

"Well, they knew enough about me to learn about my sweeth tooth…"

And suddenly, Delilah froze. It was rather fascinating catching the glint of realization that struck her. It reminded Spencer a lot of their puzzle partnership the previous night. Whenever Delilah figured out another puzzle piece, her eyes would go insanely wide. She resembled a lot like a child caught in the biggest mess.

Delilah slowly started to move but even then it was her going from the cotton candy in her hand to the lollipop in Spencer's hand. "My Mom said that when she was pregnant with me, she used to have a lot of cravings for sweets. Chocolates, cookies, cakes, pies, you name it. So when I was born, they, uh…" Delilah's eyes flickered to the door, giving the impression that whatever she was about to say next was truly secretive. "My middle name — my actual middle name — is Dulce." It was funny how 6 months without using one of her actual names made it sound completely strange to her tongue.

"Your middle name is Dulce?" Spencer repeated, trying to follow her.

Delilah nodded. "Yeah," she did nothing to hide her smile. "Sweet, you know? So if these things—" she gestured to the sweets in their hands, "—represent me, it's doing it in Spanish." She quickly dropped the cotton candy on the table and grabbed a marker to write on the clear board. "What do we have?"

Spencer quickly put the lollipop back on the table and went to the beginning of the line of objects. "A-a butterfly?"

"Mariposa!" Delilah wrote the word at the top of the board. "And then?"

"A tree?"

"Árbol! Next?"

"Rose!"

"Rosa!"

"Lemon."

"Limón!"

"A mirror."

"Espejo!"

"There's an orange!"

"Naranja!"

"Then the star!"

"Estrella!"

When Delilah had translated all of them on the board, she proudly stepped back to see all of the words. No one could understand the thrill she got from doing something she used to. For a moment, she was not Delilah Carrerro. She was herself. Her actual self.

Spencer stepped up beside Delilah with his hands in his pockets. He tilted his head at the board and gazed at the board with Delilah in silence. The translations didn't have anything remarkable about them. As they had said before, they were ordinary objects...until something popped out.

Spencer's eyes widened and immediately looked at Delilah. "Do you see—"

Delilah walked up to the board and grabbed the marker again. She drew a circle along the first letters of each word. She nearly lost her balance when she moved back and saw exactly what it had spelled.

It spelled Marlene.

A/N:

Trust me, the lollipop thing will be a huge thing for these two in the story. Has anyone ever had one? They're so frikin good (but the wrapper picture is misleading) xD

Thanks to the reviewer! Hope you like the new chapter!

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"