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ilovehugslikealotalot · 8 months ago

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She Was Only Ever Mine

(not my gif)

WARNING: MINORS DNI, smut suggestive ending, jealous!emily, angst, mean!emily, flirty!emily/r, possessive!emily, alcohol consumption, brief mention of firearms, blood, one bed trope

req: So it’s Emily Prentiss x fem!reader and this is one of my first asks so idk if I’ll get picked or wtv but I appreciate your time anyway! :) So, maybe there’s a one bed trope somehow in this? But maybe during a case r and Em have to be roomies :) the team has just finished the case and is out for drinks, r suspiciously keeps getting alerts on her phone which the team is obviously curious about. Basically Emily hates r’s guts and r never figures out why despite her attempts at trying to befriend the woman. Bar after the case and Tara flirts with r because she knows Emily will get jealous and most likely confess

Long fic! Buckle up! (Not my best fic and was rushed pls forgive me)

Emily grumbled as she board the plane. This was absolute nonsense, of course she had to share a one bed hotel room with y/n. The woman was insufferable, smiling and prancing everywhere she went.

No words could describe the dread she felt everyday walking into work and seeing the prissy Princess, thank the Lord JJ would leave a coffee on her desk every morning, though, it’s strange she only started doing it after y/n came on the team..

Emily shook the thought off and continued her last page of paperwork. Signing off on it and pushing it aside. Checking the time she place a few more extra things in her go bag.

Knock. Knock.

“Come in!” The Unit Chief exclaimed, never lifting her eyes from her bag, a certain ‘prissy princess’ popped her head in with a bright smile. “Care for coffee?” she quipped, hoping for a yes, although, deep down, she knew she’d be rejected.

“I wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with you in public, princess” She had assigned her that nickname the minute she walked through the doors of the BAU. Her demeanor had screamed Disney Princess. Y/n frowned but slapped inside holding two coffee cups, “Thought so, I got you coffee anyways, Wicked Witch of the West” The younger woman smirked, when Emily’s mouth dropped open, “I’ll let you take that one, but I will get you back for that.” She warned, taking a sip of the warm liquid, she hummed in approval, “you know my order…do you stalk me, Princess?” Emily teased, y/n rolled her eyes as she sat down on the chair infront of the chief’s desk. “I wouldn’t dream of it”

—————

“Ugh, why are you so annoying?” The unit chief complained, the Young woman behind her bit her lip to hold back from saying something that could land her at a desk job, “why are you so mean?” Y/n retorted, crossing her arms as she stormed past the woman for what seemed like the 40th time that day. Not even the slightest moment of peace lasted, not when these two were in the same room. JJ and Tara looked at each other and sighed, “y’know, Em, you’ve gotta be nice to her some day” JJ lectured, her motherly tone popping out, Tara followed y/n into the jet.

Lord knows what’ll happen now that Emily and Y/n have to room together.

”Hey, y/n, you okay?” Tara cooed, noticing y/n’s angry gaze and sniffles, “I’m here if you need to talk.” Sitting down she gave the woman a sincere look, Tara had always been kind to her since her arrival at the BAU, even showed her the ropes and policies. “It’s just..I dunno, I’m so frustrated!” she exclaimed, picking at the skin around her nails, “I haven’t done anything to her! At least nothing that I know of”

JJ and Emily entered the jet last and Emily sat quietly next to y/n with an angry look, they both tensed, refusing to look at each other in any way. Clearly both JJ and Tara were weirded out with the tension and moved to the seats next to them, just to give them a little room. The guys were upfront talks about who knows what, while the back was as silent as a mouse. Emily glanced over to seeing y/n looking out the window and picking around the skin around her fingers. The older woman hated to admit it but she felt bad, she always did, but being the stubborn woman she was, never apologized, at least verbally.

Placing a soft hand on y/n thigh, she gave it a little squeeze as an ‘I’m sorry.’ Looking at the hand, y/n only scoffed, “Y/n..” Emily pleaded softly, looking at her with sincere regret in her eyes, “What, Emily?” Y/n turned, her eyes filled with annoyance, “Look, I’m-“ Emily looked down to see a red substance start to seep out of y/n’s finger, “Hey! Don’t pick at it, here, I’ll get you a band aid, she hurriedly dug in her bag for one and unwrapped it carefully, “I told you to stop, you’ll hurt yourself!” She tsked, trying to get the medical wrap to stick, “there, that’s better,” she smiled softly trying to not show too much tenderness, looking at the woman infront of her who held a curious expression, “Thank you, Emily.” The gray haired woman simply nodded, not saying another word.

Time passed quickly and upon landing, the team was debriefed by local police men, “and you’ve confirmed that this is him?” Emily stated, pointing to their Unsub who’s face on the paper, which was very clearly out in the open, “Yes Ma’am, we have agents stationed outside of his living area within a 100 acre radius.” The investigator replied, handing her the file, the team all sighed, they all could rest tonight, after weeks of intel gathering and tracking down some of the most evasive killers they’ve got their Unsub bagged. Tommorow was the night of a gala were several owners of various big name companies would attend. It was there where they would make an arrest.

It just so happend that their Unsub was Damian Frazier, a very charming man who killed his way to the top of the food chain. He had some connection which is how he evader for so long, but now they had to only wait one more day.

———

“Alright, I think I’ve about finished my report, I’m gonna call it a night” JJ groaned, Spencer following swiftly behind, Rossi sneaking with him. Tara stood up and straightened her shirt, “Yeah! I think I’m gonna hit the hay too, Luke, Matt” she said through gritted teeth, they looked at the woman confused before mouthing ‘ohhhhh’s. Sometimes, the two shared the same brain cell and it took for them to look at each other before realizing. The last three quickly excused themselves, getting the Assignment.

The team had took it upon themselves to start Project Cupid, amazing name, right?

Well, Garcia thought so, she made it up with an excited expression on her face. The plan was to do everything possible to get Emily and Y/n to realize their feelings for each other. That meant booking hotel rooms so the two had to room together.

“Ugh, why am I always stuck with you?” Emily sneered, writing a little more aggressively on her paper, y/n stayed silent, tired of the woman’s antics. She only tried distracting herself, in this case, it was by texting someone to keep her occupied.

Isobel Castille had been a good friend of hers for a while, they dared for precisely 3 months before moving on with their lives, realizing that they weren’t meant to be. That didn’t stop them from being close, no, it encouraged them to confide in each other. Y/n laughed at a joke her friend sent, Emily lifted her head and her jaw clearly tensed, “Holding out on me, Princess?” She commented, seemingly not caring about who was making her smile brightly. “Huh? Oh, it’s no one. You done?”

———

It was obvious now that the two had a…special relationship, they argue but it never got too heated. Prentiss had known when she crossed a line and apologized, non-verbally most of the time. But over this, said time, Emily developed a few feeling that she might’ve shoved down. It had just been 2 days after their last case, and Emily began to freak out about The events that unraveled at the hotel.

~~~ “You sure you don’t want me sleeping on the floor?” Y/n asked, making sure that she wouldn’t be making the gray haired woman anymore grump in the morning, “Yeah, Princess, just sleep so I don’t have to hear you squeaking.”

Y/n shrugged, pulling the covers over her as Emily silently read her book her glasses resting on the brdge of her nose. Before they knew it, both were fast asleep, the issue was, in the morning they had awoken tangled in each other’s arms, both also afraid to admit that it was the best night’s sleep they’d gotten in a while.

They very quickly pulled away, Emily being the first to zoom out of the comforting bed. Y/n laid motionless for a few minutes, replaying the memory of Emily’s warm and soft skin on hers. She knew this was messed up, Emily hated her, why should she be so attracted to someone who wouldn’t want her in a million years?

Before she started to spiral she brought up the courage to get out of bed and dress. It wasn’t flashy but she wore a tight fit long-sleeve and boot cut jeans that fit her well. She finished it off with a necklace that Tara had gifted her for her birthday and earrings.

Emily came out of the bathroom and tried to stop her lingering gaze, but she couldn’t hold back the way her eyes took in the sight before her. “What? Is it that bad?” Y/n questioned, crossing her arms in discomfort, clearly concious of the way Emily thinks of her.

The profiler immediately sense a change in tone and posture, “No, you look, good.” The corner’s of her lips turned up slightly in a almost invisible smile, not waiting for her response but swiftly moving across the room to retrieve her phone and badge.

———

The day went by quickly with the arrest going smoothly actually, not wanting to embarass himself further than he already had. Damian took the cuffs willingly but not without cursing the government, of course.

“Drinks on me?” Rossi asked, smiling as the team cheered, the weeks had been long but all became worth it in the end. It was safe to say that, good work was done and a reward was certainly due.

“Hey, y/n can I talk to you before we leave for the bar?” Tara asked, gently placing her hand on the woman’s bicep. “Uhm, Yeah, sure!” She smiled, walking with Tara away from the group, JJ smirked as she elbowed Garcia signalling that their plan was in motion.

The bubbly blonde spoke up, “Oh, aren’t Tara and Y/n just so cute?” Penelope felt excitement rush through her veins as Emily looked over with a blank expression. It was clear she was trying to stay composed, but her tensed jaw betrayed her. “I guess so, but y/n could do better” she said through gritted teeth, JJ cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eye, “Like who, Em?”

“Erm-“

“Em! You ready?” Y/n seemed a bit more joyful which made Emily worry about what they talked about. “Uh, Yeah, Princess, let’s go” this time, Prentiss said it with a softness in her tone, which of course made y/n’s heart race. Tara had pulled y/n aside to tell her the plan, Emily did like her, you couldn’t hide anything from a team of profilers. Now, y/n just had to play along like she didn’t know anything.

Emily shockingly accompanied y/n home since she knew she had left some clothes at her place. “You still have this shirt? No wonder why I couldn’t find it” Emily laughed as she brought the shirt up to her body and made a duck face. Y/n snorted as she put on some flare leggings and Emily’s old sweat shirt. “Okay, this is nice!” She said in the mirror coming into the bathroom where Emily was fixing her hair.

“Uhm, excuse me, miss, that’s my sweatshirt” she teased, pulling at it, slowly bit her lip as she took the woman in front her in. She ran a hand down her arms and gave a cocky smirk. “well, you look good in it” she assured, y/n couldn’t help but bask in the section cheif’s affection. Something that felt so foreign, yet, meant to be.

——

“There they are!” Luke beamed, everyone turning their heads immediately to the two. “Hey, y/n” Tara friendly greeted, but her stance suggested she wanted something more. With a deep breath y/n ripped herself from Emily’s hands and gravitated toward the doctor. “Tara, I’m practically peeing myself right now, what if if doesn’t work!” Y/n exclaimed, though her tone was hushed careful not to let Emily hear.

Speaking of the woman, she was conversing with Rossi and Simmons while she almost always had her eyes on you and Tara. It angered her the way that Tara could make her seem so comfortable and free so quickly. Perhaps it was a consequence for not dealing with her feelings sooner.

“Emily, if you keep staring I think you’ll actually burn a hole through her.” Rossi chuckled, giving the woman a nudge, she only chuckled half-heartedly, Simmons spoke up with a hand to her shoulder.

“What’s up?”

“I think I like y/n, it’s just that I know she doesn’t like me, I mean look at her and Tara” she admited, looking down at her drink swirling it around her cup. Rossi and Simmons looked at each other like they just got a coldblooded killer to confess to their crimes.

“Well, maybe if you just talk to her. It’ll help, before Tara makes a real move” Matt said, slowly pushing her over, Tara noticed a certain woman coming over and placed a hand on y/n’s waist and pulled her closer, “play along” she whispered, y/n nodded slightly and let out a laugh.

Emily scoffed, it should be her holding you like that not Tara.

“Oi, Princess, over here!” She stood with her arms crossed, y/n giddily walked over, but of course conceal if her excitement.

“Yeah? You okay, Emily? We can leave-“

“I want you, Y/n. I need you! I know I was so rude to you and I never told you why, but I just didn’t know how to handle my feelings. I love you, I mean it and I get it if you like Tara because she’s just amazing and I’m an asshole, I hope you can-“ as Emily rambled, not meeting y/n’s loving gaze, she kissed her first to shut her up. “You’re good, I like Tara, really. But, I love you”

Emily couldn’t stop the heat growing in her cheeks, or the way her lips bended into a wide smile.

Maybe this could work.

#emily prentiss x reader #criminal minds #david rossi #penelope garcia #tara lewis #luke alvez #matt simmons #maggie bell #I don’t know how to feel about this #she’s my wife

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gryfflepuffinthetardis · 10 days ago

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Somebody's Watching

Season One Masterlist

A Real Rain

Charm and Harm

Summary: While in Los Angeles conducting a profiling seminar with the LAPD, Gideon and Reid are brought in to consult when someone commits a series of murders occurring around a young Hollywood actress, who becomes attracted to Reid.

Warnings: Stalking; Killing; J.D. Zoe being mean to Spencer; Spencer being mean to Zoe; Spencer cursing; Zoe is being a bit shady when it comes to her photo being taken, Obsessive Love

Note: *Although I have recast Lila, because she’s played by a real life UnSub (someone on Archive of Our Own said “she wasn’t but okay” but come on, look what she tried to do) and a genuinely awful person who tried to ruin a good man’s life, there will be passive-aggressive comments about her because I hate her that much because I love Johnny Depp so much. My mom actually wouldn't let me watch Aquaman because she didn't like Herd and this was before the scandal broke, she didn't trust her. I kept being reminded of different actresses because she looked so different or more likely, my brain was trying to replace her with someone I actually like rather than a terrible human being who can't act. She is now cast by Claire Holt from the Originals and H2o*

"When you have seen as much as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love." — J.K. Rowling

youtube

Diane Arbus once said, "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know."

March 26, 2006

Zoe's suspension was up and she was in California with Spencer and Gideon to give a lecture and Spencer had brought them to an art gallery that a semi-friend from high school was hosting. He hadn't been a friend exactly but he hadn't been one of the cruel ones to Spencer and defended him a few times which Spencer had appreciated.

"Spencer! Spencer Reid!" The man was older than Spencer, obviously and hugged Spencer who awkwardly tried to return it. "Dude, dude, dude. Look at you. You look just the same. Look at you, dude, nothing changed. Spencer was the only twelve-year-old in our graduating class. Just the same."

"Thanks." Spencer said.

"This is Special Agent Jason Gideon and this is Doctor Zoe Noble-Valdez." Spencer introduced, "This is Parker Dunley. We went to high school together, as you can probably gather."

"Yeah, I gathered." Zoe said.

"Hi. How are you?" Gideon introduced.

Hey." He said and then he looked at Zoe and Spencer didn't miss how he eyed Zoe. "You work with the FBI?"

"Yeah, Spencer was the youngest before I came along." Zoe said and she looked at her hand still in Parker's hand too long and she pulled it back as Spencer shifted, uncomfortably.

"It's a beautiful gallery." Gideon said.

"Oh, thank you, thank you."

"Uh, Jason's a big contemporary art enthusiast." Zoe said.

"Well, we're exhibiting four up-and-coming artists in this show. Everything's for sale." Parker said.

"Yeah, birds are his favorite. You got any of those" Zoe deadpanned.

Parker looked at Spencer who just shook his head with a fond smile like, she's always like that.

"And I could definitely swing a nice discount for a friend of..." He spotted a pretty blonde woman enter the room with a brunette friend. "Lila." He turned back to them to bring them to introduce them. "Hey. Guys, come on." He walked to the woman.

Spencer turned to Zoe and Gideon, "Do I look twelve-years-old to you?"

"Basically." Zoe deadpanned with a smirk. Not that she

"Fourteen?" Gideon said.

Spencer looked away and shook his head and followed Parker.

"Spencer, you ever meet a real movie star?" Parker asked.

"Movie star? Please. She has a supporting role on a television series about beach volleyball." Lila's friend said, "Totally blue-collar."

"I'm Lila." She introduced to Spencer.

"Hi, I'm uh, Doctor Spencer Reid. Um... I'm Spencer. You don't have to call me doctor." Spencer stammered.

"I won't."

"Doctor Zoe Noble-Valdez, M.D." Zoe said and then started to turn to make her leave before turning back around at such a quick pace that something was clearly wrong and standing stiffly as someone started to take pictures of Lila.

"Excuse me." Parker said and turned to confront the photographer, "Hey, you. I told you no photos in the gallery. All right? Out!

When the photographer moved as Parker made him move, still taking pictures of the group, Zoe ducked and reemerged with her leather jacket hood over her head but she wasn't sure if she had kept herself hidden enough.

A waiter offered them champagne, Lila took one and Spencer declined, Zoe immediately took it, rather annoyed with the situation but unable to leave without risk of getting her photo taken.

"So, you're not from around here, are you?"

"No." Zoe said, blankly.

"Me? No, no. I'm... We're running a training service about profiling for the Los Angeles Police Department." Spencer explained.

"Profiling?" Lila asked.

"Yeah, we're with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. We psychoanalyze crime scenes in order to gain a better understanding of the criminal who might have committed the crime." Spencer explained.

"Psychoanalyze, huh?" Lila said and Spencer nodded and glanced away awkwardly.

Zoe stuck her tongue out in disgust. Barf.

"Are you doing that to me right now?" Lila asked

"What? No. I'm not psychoanalyzing you. I'm just..." Spencer stammered.

"I'm kidding." Lila chuckled and Spencer pressed his lips together, nodding.

He noticed Zoe, giving him a rather annoyed look as Lila was clearly charmed by Spencer's awkward nature.

"You're an idiot." Zoe said.

"What?" Spencer asked but she then spun and getting on her phone, deeming possibly being caught on camera was worth getting away from these two.

"Hey, J.D." He caught her say before she disappeared into the crowd. Spencer bit his tongue. "Hey, uh, I know this is just a message but I might have been captured on some paparazzi photos and I'd really appreciate it if you could search for those to make sure they don't reach anyone who may have seen me. I'm at an art gallery actually, I know you don't have many pleasant things to look at other than computer screens, I can look for one something that you'd like as a thank you. And if I wasn't, just... I can't say I'm sorry because I was doing my job but you are where you are because of me. Bye, J.D. I hope you get this soon."

Zoe was examining a piece of art that was closest to JD's taste but still not to it. It was gothic enough. He was dark. When she got the call from him.

He spoke to her with his usual... JD-ness, only she ever understood him. Zoe knew she shouldn't smile when she talked to him but she still did which Spencer noted bitterly.

"I don't think any of these are to your liking. Too modern. You're both. You're classical and modern." Then she spotted Gideon looking deeply uncomfortable. "Uh, Gideon looks like he's freaking out, I gotta go but I'll call you later. Well, Johnson can say that to my face, if he wants. We both know he won't."

"Zoe, let's go. Where's the kid?" Zoe led Gideon to Spencer.

"I can't tell you how to feel." Lila said.

"Right now I feel pretty good." Spencer said, awkwardly.

"We're leaving." Gideon told him

"We're still looking at the exhibit." Spencer protested.

"Now." Gideon said but Spencer hesitated, "Now. Now."

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I guess we're leaving." He shook Lila's hand, "Nice to meet you."

"You too..."

"Reid, now." Gideon said.

"Bye, Spencer." Lila chuckled and watched as he awkwardly weaved his way around the caterers, meeting up with Zoe who was downing a last glass of champagne and not looking at him, determinedly.

——————————————————————————————————

March 27, 2006

They gave the lecture to the LAPD in the morning, "Today, we thought we'd focus on what is probably the most important component of profiling... or, for that matter, any investigative technique, victimology. The word victim stems from the Latin word, 'victima,' which means sacrifice. Victims of violent crimes are brutalized by a subject who takes it upon him or herself to decide life or death over a fellow human being."

Zoe jumped into her work as usual. "There are around sixteen million people in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Every time a person is killed, robbed or raped, the most important question you will ask yourself is why. Why did your UnSub choose this victim at this time? Was there anything done which provoked the criminal to act or was the target available or weak? A casualty of circumstance?"

Spencer had never seen Zoe be so focused on a lecture, she didn't give one sarcastic comment, and she seemed to be ignoring him.

The detective who had invited them walked the three to their car, Detective Owen Kim.

"You know, we really can get ourselves to the airport." Gideon said.

"I didn't invite the FBI here to let them make their own way around town." He said.

"We really appreciate it." Spencer said.

"Hey, I can't thank you guys enough for conducting the seminar." Kim said.

"Well, don't hesitate to call if there's anything we can help with." Gideon said.

They started to pack up their things when Kim got a call and stepped aside to take it. His body language seemed to change as he got off it.

"Everything all right?" Zoe asked.

"Double murder at a Hollywood bungalow. A celebrity. A young movie star, Natalie Ryan, and her fiancé apparently shot to death. It's going to be a major pain in the ass." Kim said, "Hey, you guys care to take a quick look before I drive you to the airport? It's on the way."

"Absolutely."

Zoe unattached her motorcycle, not wanting to sit next to Spencer and drove off at once.

Kim, Spencer, and Gideon met up with Zoe at the crime scene as she examined the bodies. The woman was on her couch with a bullet to the head, eyes open

"No sign of forced entry." Spencer noted.

"Same weapon." Gideon said.

"Natalie was shot execution style, once in the head. Jeremy Collins, her fiancé, three times in the torso." Zoe said.

"So, you have two different MOs." Gideon said.

Kim approached them, "We have an image on the video surveillance camera. Looks like a messenger of some kind wearing a motorcycle helmet. He's unidentifiable."

"There's no sign of a struggle between the girl and the UnSub from the door to the couch. He most likely forced her at gunpoint." Spencer said.

"He told her to trust him, 'Do what I say. I won't hurt you'." Zoe said.

"Fatal mistake." Kim said and Zoe hummed in agreement.

"He asked her to sit on the couch and then shot her in the head."

"Fiancé wasn't expected. His killing's messier. It's less controlled. It's less organized." Gideon said and looked at Kim, "What do you think?" "I've had a couple other cases recently, past few months. Same type of weapon, .22 caliber handgun, both shot in the head. The first was an established film producer, Wally Melman, and the second was Chloe Harris, another young actress. Though not as well-known as Natalie here." Kim said.

"Sounds like a pattern." Zoe said.

"Any forensic evidence?" Spencer asked.

"No, and the guys have been going through this place all morning and haven't come up with anything."

"So, he clearly knows how to cover his tracks." Zoe said, walking around.

"Like a professional hit man?"

"Maybe." Zoe said and then she suddenly ducked and reemerged, looking annoyed and with her hood back over her head.

"Gideon, there are people actually taking photographs of us from the next yard." Spencer said, looking at what made Zoe duck.

"Yeah, welcome to LA." Kim said.

"Well, some of us don't want their photo taken." Zoe grumbled, turning away from the paparazzi.

Zoe made her way back to the bodies and turned her back to the windows.

"Twenty-two's are small, but efficient. They bounce around inside a person like a pinball." Zoe said.

"Preferred weapon of the Mafia." Spencer said, "You know, there's no obvious sexual component to these crimes, which is usually the case with serial murders."

"So, you are thinking this is a serial killer?" Kim asked.

"Well, it's certainly a series of murders. We don't know enough yet to call them serial." Gideon said.

"Would you consider hanging out in LA a little while?" Kim asked. "Let me lean on your expertise until we do figure out what we've got?"

"As long as I don't get my photo taken." Zoe deadpanned.

"Yeah, just cancel the flights. We'll have the rest of our team out here ASAP."

——————————————————————————————————

Kim listened to what the team had come up with so far once the rest of them arrived.

"This guy is an assassin?"

"When you look at the victimology, there's no obvious links." Morgan said, "All the kills are clean, except in the instance of the last victim, Jeremy Collins."

"There's absolutely no evidence left at the crime scene. There's no DNA. No manifestation of psychosexual release and there's no detectable signature of any kind." Elle said.

"Remember, our profiles are formulated not just by what's present at the scene, but also what's absent." Gideon said.

"From all the evidence that we've gathered, we believe that you're looking for a Type Four Assassin." Alexander said.

"Type Four?"

"Type One's are political assassins like John Wilkes Booth." Spencer explained.

"Type Two's are egocentrics looking for simple recognition." Zoe said.

"Type Three's are psychopaths, cold-blooded killers who leave far messier scenes." Hotch said.

"And Type Four, our UnSub, suffers from a major mental disorder and is frequently delusional." Alexander said.

"The closer we come to figuring out that delusion, the closer we'll get to finding the UnSub." Spencer said.

"Well, what's he going to be doing until we do?" Kim asked.

"Finding other victims." Gideon said.

A man entered, "Excuse me?" He knocked on the open doorway, "Hi. Is there a Detective Kim here?""

"Right here.

"You're heading the investigation into the Natalie Ryan murder?" The man asked.

"Yes."

"Um... My... I have a client, she's... Is there any place we could be private?" He asked.

"We're all working this murder." Kim said.

"Well... She received a note. My client did and she freaked out. I told her not to worry about it, and..." He explained.

"Where's the note?" Morgan asked and the man handed it to him, it was an article about Natalie Ryan's death with three words written in red: You owe me.

"Where is your client?" Hotch asked.

"She's waiting in the other room."

"Reid, Zoe, let's go." Morgan said.

Zoe, Morgan, and Spencer walked through the precinct and... you gotta be kidding me.

"Lila." Spencer recognized her. Why wouldn't he? "Hi."

The team came to interrogate her.

"How well did you know Natalie Ryan?" Hotch asked.

"We spoke when we saw each other in public, but we were never friends." Lila said.

"How about Wally Melman?" Hotch asked.

"What?" Lila asked.

"Wally Melman, he was a producer who was killed a couple months ago." Zoe clarified.

"The-the paper said that was a robbery." Lila stammered.

"Well, the paper was wrong." Zoe said, somewhat curtly.

"Did you know him?"

"Well, we met a few times about a project, but I didn't get the part. They went a different way." Lila said.

"Which way?" Elle asked.

“He cast another act..." Realization came to her face, "Oh, my God."

"What is it?" Spencer asked.

"He cast Natalie Ryan." Her agent, Michael said.

"You owe me." Morgan held up the article with the note.

Lila sighed, devastated in guilt and put her head in her hands.

"I guess that's one way to ice out the competition?" Elle said.

"Don't look at me. I brought her into the police station." Michael pointed out.

"Have you ever had a sense that someone is watching you, following you?" Gideon asked.

"From the moment I get to work," Lila said, "I have hair and makeup, and wardrobe people, producers, writers, my agent, my manager, publicist. Not to mention photographers. I..."

"It's part of the life." Michael said.

"Anything that seems odd, out of the ordinary, happens on a regular basis or a semi-regular basis?" Gideon asked.

"What do you mean?" Lila asked.

"Repetitive phone calls with hang ups? Gifts left anonymously?" Spencer suggested.

"I receive flowers on the seventh of each month they just appear in my trailer. Never a note. Just a plain glass bowl. Red anemones. My favorite." She said.

"And you don't want to know who they're from?" Zoe asked.

"Celebrities get anonymous gifts all the time." Michael said, "She has fans, you know."

"You remember meeting anyone on the seventh day of the month?" Gideon asked, "Or in July, the seventh month of the year?"

"No."

"Wally Melman was a producer who considered hiring you but didn't and Natalie was a rival."

"And Chloe Harris, she looks a lot like you. Don't you think?" Elle asked, showing a picture of her.

"Who?" Lila asked.

"A potential rival." Elle said.

"She was murdered, too." Hotch said.

They doing a real good job at scaring this girl.

"So, all these people are being killed because of me?

"It's possible." Hotch admitted.

Lila put her head in her hands, briefly, this was too much for her. "I'm sorry. I can't. I have to go."

Spencer hurried after Lila, calling her name. He ran awkwardly out the station after her.

She turned to him, "What's happening, Spencer?"

Spencer brushed his hair out of his face as he explained, "Well, it's still rather speculative, but it appears there's a delusional assassin who's killing people to help further your career. It probably started as a stalker. An erotomanic stalker. There's a psychopathology of the evolution of these types of stalkers and the fact that he's contacting you indicates that he believes you owe him something. This model frequently concludes itself with one of two possibilities, either the stalker will kill himself or he'll kill the object of his affection."

——————————————————————————————————

When Spencer left, Zoe shifted and grabbed the file from Hotch aggressively and sat down, going through it.

Morgan did a full turn and walked away, not stupid enough to tease Zoe at the moment.

Alexander came up to her and sat down, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" She asked, shortly and hostilely.

"No reason. No reason." He sighed. "Just a father worries when his only daughter who he knows where she is faces heartache over the boy she's smitten with."

Zoe slammed her hands on the table. "I am not smitten!" She growled out.

"Of course not." He said, blankly, being sarcastic.

"He's twenty-four, he's a great guy, he's smart, single, and still a virgin. I don't get a say in his love life."

"You get a love life too as much as it pains for me to admit." Alexander said.

"No, I don't. The Satanists and the serial killer who paid them to kidnap me made sure of that. Because of them, I can't trust people and I can't let myself feel. Emotional detachment, remember? The last boyfriend I had now has multiple life sentences in jail because of me.”

She looked outside, seeing Lila walking away from Spencer who watching her go and tilting his head, obviously checking her out.

She groaned and dropped her head on the table.

"You're going to have to hit your head harder if you wish to induce a concussion, sweetheart." Her father deadpanned.

“I hate everything.” She groaned.

——————————————————————————————————

March 28, 2006

They gave the profile in the morning.

"With this UnSub we're looking at a compound profile. A Type Four delusional assassin with an erotomanic fixation on the actress, Lila Archer."

Zoe didn't like Lila. She was aware of that even if she was vehemently denying the possibility on why. But she knew what it was like to have an erotomanic stalker with murderous tendencies. Every time she got a package, she feared it would be another bouquet of white lilies covered in blood. She couldn't look at any kind of lilies without seeing them. Sometimes she felt like he was still watching her.

"Erotomanics are a form of stalker who possess the delusional belief that another person, usually of a higher social status, is in love with them."

Zoe's hand went to her biggest scar, all of them aching.

"This phenomena is commonly just thought of as another stalker case to many but they are quite dangerous. Famous erotomaniacs include John Hinckley Junior, Margaret Mary Ray, Michael David Barrett, and John Robert Bardo." Zoe said.

"In the United States, at any given time, there are over two hundred, thousand people being stalked." Elle said. "Our UnSub is having a fantasy love affair with Lila Archer. The way John Hinckley did with Jodie Foster."

"Miss Archer was not aware of her stalker until yesterday." Hotch said, "He wasn't trying to impress her. He was more like an unwanted, very violent guardian angel.

"When the stalker feels as if they've been in some way betrayed by their love object, this often leads to violence against the target." Gideon said.

"In the case of John Robert Bardo, when actress Rebecca Schaeffer took a role where she had to have a sexual relationship with another character, it was enough to force him to snap and seek her out to kill her." Spencer said.

"Though stalkers can be either male or female, it's most likely we're looking for a single male. A loner in his late twenties to early forties, very intelligent with ample time to follow his victim and study her habits." Hotch said.

"As of yet, the UnSub has not directed any violence towards Miss Archer, but he has shifted his focus from those around her to her directly." Spencer said.

"This doesn't preclude the fact that anyone who has the vaguest association with Miss Archer is a potential target." Gideon said.

——————————————————————————————————

Lila had gotten another note that said: Lila—I've always been so good to you. Why would you go to the police?

They were in her trailer looking at the note in the evidence bag now

"I'm intrigued by this particular version of the verb 'to be." Gideon said.

"Past participle." Spencer said.

"Steady state of being. Preceding adverb." Gideon agreed.

"Always."

"In English." Kim requested.

"That is English. We're discussing the verb tenses..." Reid started.

"Reid. Reid." Morgan cut him off.

"No offense but now not the time for a vocab lesson." Zoe said.

Gideon turned to Officer Kim, "Our stalker sounds like someone she knows."

"Based on the tense of the verb." Spencer continued as Lila tilted her head back in exasperation.

Zoe looked at her and gave her a sympathetic smile like, sorry about this.

"Maybe it's time to get her off the street." Morgan suggested.

"You know there's been no physical threat to her. She might be safe just staying put as opposed to anywhere else." Spencer countered.

"I'm standing right here, guys." Lila complained.

“If we did remove you, we’d have to take you to an undisclosed location. I’m sure your stalker knows where you live.” Gideon said.

“I’m not having the whole show close down. I only need one more scene to shoot. Look, last night I decided I wasn’t gonna be afraid of this lunatic." Lila said, reminding Alexander of a rather defiant pair of girls he fathered.

Lila looked at Detective Kim, “Am I safe here?”

“The set’s cleared of everyone except essential personnel, and we have increased security at the gate.” Kim relented.

"But if the stalker sees that she's moved then they may feel more betrayed and try to find her and that never ends well. We don't know how much they know about her." Zoe pointed out.

There was a knock and a young woman with blonde hair around Lila's age stuck her head in. Zoe couldn't get a read off her since she was looking at Lila with the back of her head facing the law enforcement. “Lila, they’re ready for you.”

“Thanks, Mags. I’m staying at work” Lila said and left the trailer.

“Well, she’s one tough girl,” Derek stated the obvious.

“Yeah,” Spencer agreed.

Zoe showed no reaction, putting on her usual apathetic facade.

“I didn’t want to say anything in front of her, but his anger about her going to the police suggests he might alter his agenda." Gideon said.

"It’s typical for a stalker,” Morgan said.

“She didn’t go alone to the police.”

“Her manager took her.” Zoe recalled, "the stalker could perceive him as guilty for getting the police involved.

“You, Morgan, and Reid stay here. Keep an eye on her,” Gideon instructed.

"Awesome." She muttered.

She both didn't want to stay and watch Lila flirt with Spencer while he remained painfully oblivious to it but stay to make sure they didn't cross any lines, not that they likely would with Spencer's utter inability to interact with other people, especially women.

"I'll hang back, too." Kim said.

"Where are you going?" Morgan asked.

"To talk to her manager." Gideon said.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Zoe remained on set of this painfully dull set about beach volleyball. God, she hated the beach. She was on her phone searching for a painting to send to J.D. that he'd actually like or maybe she'd get him a book, but the problem was finding on he hadn't read yet.

Zoe looked up, seeing Spencer bump into a camera and try not to knock it down as he made his way to speak to Lila who had put a robe over her bikini.

"Sorry, if I was, um, insensitive last night." Spencer apologized to her.

"You're only doing your job, right?" Lila asked as Spencer drank some a coke bottle.

"Yeah."

"Then there's no need to apologize." She said, giving a doey-eyed look as she sipped her tea or coffee but apparently it was one of those drinks she had to drink to keep her figure or something or she saw another opportunity to flirt because she made a disgusted face. "Ugh." Then she took Spencer's coke. "You don't mind sharing, do you?" She drank it without a reply but he answered anyways. Spencer shook his head.

"No." The germophobe said.

The bell rang, signifying her break was over, so she took off her robe and moved past Spencer who was drinking from the soda again, trying and failing to appear as if he wasn't looking at Lila's body and watching her walk off.

Morgan walked up to Spencer and mimicked Lila, teasingly while Zoe hit the buttons on her phone harder than necessary. "You don't mind sharing with me, do you?"

"Shut up." Spencer told him, sharply.

"Go get 'em, lover."

Spencer went to walk after Lila before realizing he was going in the wrong direction.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "I didn't think you had it in you to be jealous."

Zoe sharply brought her head up from her phone and glared at Morgan. "I am not jealous."

"Then why are you upset?"

"I am not upset. Spencer's just a friend and I don't have any feelings for him and he doesn't have any feelings for me."

Are you blind? Morgan thought.

"Even if he did, he can do much better than me." She said.

Morgan's teasing smirk fell, "You don't really believe that do you."

"My last boyfriend... wasn't totally dissimilar from Spencer. High IQ, Neurodivergent, book lover, but he was... he was homeless when I met him, and I was in a bad place. We clicked because we had similar traumas, but we never really labeled it. I let him help in the cases I was working on when I was Maze's apprentice and we both ended up being kidnapped for six months. What he saw in that prison... it was my fault. And what he did after that led to him being arrested was my fault too. He was survived so much only for me to finally break him."

"You didn't break him, those men did."

"They hurt us but me more than him because I volunteered to be tortured instead of him."

"You volunteered to be tortured."

"He had been hurt so much, if I could keep him from feeling more pain, then I would. And I did. I can take it. That's something you learn when you're being tortured just because." Zoe said, "I'm too broken for someone like Spencer. Even if we did have those feelings, he could do so much better than me." She stiffened up, "If anyone asks, I never said a word."

Morgan saw he had something in common with Zoe. They had both been hurt by men who took advantage of them, even if they weren't aware of it in each other's past yet but they had ways of refusing relationships because of it.

——————————————————————————————————

Michael Ryler, Lila's agent had been shot in the head. They were too late.

Zoe left the studio with Morgan and Kim while Spencer had taken Lila to her house when Elle called, he put her on speaker phone while Zoe pulled her hoodie over her head.

"Morgan, it's Elle."

"Yeah?

"We just found a manila envelope on Michael Ryer's desk. It's full of photos."

"Okay."

"Well, they're candid shots of Lila Archer nude. I'm guessing he was probably paying someone off to keep them out of the press." Elle said as they got in the car, a groan rumbling in Zoe's throat.

"Do we know who?"

"The name on the envelope was Joe Martinez."

"The paparazzo?" Kim asked.

"You know him?"

"Yeah, I deal with him a lot."

"So the creep kind?" Zoe asked.

"You could say that."

"Elle, we're on it."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Spencer entered Lila's house which was more lavish than his apartment that could be mistaken for a mini-library.

"Wow. I like your house."

"I rent it." Lila said.

"Nice. You should also probably change all your phone numbers." Spencer said.

"I'm unlisted." She told him.

"Anytime you call an 800 number or an 888 number your phone number's put into a data bank that's then sold to telemarketers. If someone gets your cell phone number, they can go online and research all your records." Spencer explained.

Lila looked at him with the usual look.

"Hanging out with you could be really depressing." She said, walking to a different part of the house.

Spencer could practically hear Zoe's remark: He gets that a lot.

"You should also probably carry a piece of paper and a pen with you where ever you go in case you see any suspicious license plates that often reappear." Spencer said, following.

Spencer saw a piece of part that seemed to be randomized bits and pieces.

"Photographic collage." Lila said, "I like it because it's like life, you know? You know, like obscure, difficult."

Spencer nodded and then said, "You should also get a dog. Like a guard dog of some sort."

"Allergic." She said. "Earl Gray or Chamomile?"

"What?" He asked, still oblivious to her attempts to flirt with him and she walked off to the kitchen, "What..."

"Would you like some tea?" She clarified.

"Yes. Yes, uh, sure." He said and then mouthed to himself, scoldingly.

No wonder he had never had a real date-date.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Zoe beat Morgan to the door and kicked it down with her hood still up.

"FBI! Come out where ever you are, creep!" She shouted.

"Martinez?" Morgan shouted.

"The creep's not here. Probably on the prowl." Zoe sighed, coming upon what seemed to be practically a shrine to Lila Archer due to the amount of photos of her "Come look at this!"

"See? This guy's a real scumbag." Kim said.

"You got that right." Spencer said.

"Oh, this creeper." Zoe said, finding a picture of the first paparazzi, "He was taking pictures of her at the gallery we were at the other day. The owner had to kick him out. Morgan, do me a favor. If you see any photos of me, burn them. I'm not being sarcastic, I have a lot of enemies who know what I look like but don't know my name or where I actually live. If they know I'm in America now, it could cause a real problem."

Morgan spotted a piece of paper, "What's this?"

"It's a call sheet." Kim recognized. "It's the shooting schedule for a film or television show."

"That's Lila's show." Zoe recognized.

"Yeah."

"He's not supposed to have that, is he?" Morgan asked.

"No.

"So, at minimum, we can charge him with stalking because this," Zoe gestured around with a finger, "Goes beyond paparazzi to just plain stalking."

Zoe walked to a table and shifted through the photos. She stopped when she spotted a photo of Lila talking to a man. She knew the back of that man.

"Morgan, it's Spencer." Zoe called.

"There's a whole bunch of them." Kim said, shifting through the photos, some directly on Spencer, and some had Zoe in them, turning away from the camera. "He a target now?"

Zoe looked at him, "Not if I can help it. Let's go." Zoe headed to the door, leaving all the pictures of her behind. Who cared if any of those terrorists saw her in the paper, she had to go get Spencer.

"You and me both." Morgan agreed, right on her heels.

"You call him." Zoe said once they left.

Morgan rolled his eyes and called the second youngest agent in the team, "Reid, it's Morgan. Listen to me. You got to watch your back over there. We just found a bunch of close-up photos of you at this guy Joseph Martinez's studio. It looks like he could be the UnSub. He had a ton of photos of Lila and Natalie plus a call sheet for Lila's show. We're on our way right now," Zoe froze, "but I need you to be real careful until we get there, all right? All right."

Zoe had stopped and there was a motorcycle revving up.

"GET DOWN!" She shouted but before they could react gunshots went off at the car, hitting Kim.

Zoe and Morgan pulled their guns and shot at the motorcycle but they were too far away.

Zoe broke away and ran to Kim.

"You hit?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's just my shoulder." He said and Zoe went to applying pressure to the wound.

"All right. I'm calling for help." Morgan said, "Officer down. We need an ambulance at La Brea and Wilshire."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Gideon, Elle, JJ, Alexander, and Hotch came upon them as they had Kim in the ambulance, it wasn't critical but he did need a hospital.

"How we doing?

"He'll make it." Zoe said, "Caught one in the shoulder and shattered his collarbone.

"You okay?" Alexander asked.

"We're fine." Morgan confirmed.

"Yeah."

"No sign of this Martinez, the photographer?" Gideon asked.

"No."

"Whoever took a shot at you followed you from the set."

"I'm sorry. I should've noticed." Zoe said.

"You can't notice everything." Alexander told his daughter.

"I'm going to head to Lila's to provide extra cover." Zoe said and headed off.

She took out her phone and called Spender.

"Yeah?" Spencer said into the phone.

"Hey, there's been another shooting, Officer Kim. Don't worry, he's still alive but it was only the shoulder and since you know you can barely shoot, I'm heading over to Lila's."

"Alright." Spencer ignored the jab, "You have her address?"

"Yeah." Spencer overlayed the message to Lila who seemed indifferent but when Spencer went back to the phone, Zoe had hung up.

"Huh? She must've gone out of service." He said, oblivious as ever.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Zoe's motorcycle shot off at top speed but barely any noise.

"Martinez has a bunch of paperwork in the studio that says where Lila's going to be every day." Morgan said as Gideon's phone rang once Zoe was long gone.

"Gideon. That's what I thought. Thanks." He hung up, "Garcia's gone through every article written about Lila. She never says anything about red anemones being her favorite flower."

"Well, we're looking for someone pretty close to her." Elle said.

"This list gets shorter every day." Morgan said.

"He's circling in. We need to get to her house." Gideon said.

"I'll make sure the press doesn't get out of hand with this mess." JJ said and Kim held up a sign with his fingers.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Spencer stared at the college when Lila came up behind him. "Feel anything yet?"

"There is something definitely appealing about this one." Spencer said, not being able to tell what.

"That's a start." Lila chuckled and headed towards her pool in the backwards undoing her robe.

"What are you doing?" Spencer asked.

"Going for a swim." She said, dropping the robe to reveal her in a bikini.

"What? No, Lila." Spencer ran after her.

Zoe unlocked the door with Lila's spare key that she had found rather easily and walked through the house, not finding them when she heard a loud splash.

She followed it and saw that Lila had rebelliously jumped into the pool with Spencer stuck between his normal awkwardness and his duty to be responsible towards his job.

Zoe had stopped, watching from inside the house where she was unnoticed by both Spencer and Lila.

"Lila, you cannot do this!" He complained.

"Five minutes." She told him and pointed at her house, "go get a suit in the house."

"What!? No! I don't want to grab a suit!" He exclaimed, his voice going more than a few octaves higher as if she had asked for something else, he had yet experienced.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Join me."

"No, I'm not gonna join you." He said.

"Why not?"

"You're being pursued by a psychotic killer who shoots people in the head!" Spencer exclaimed.

"I'm not gonna stop living my life. I'm just not." Lila said, words Zoe had said all too often to her dad.

Zoe had to admit, there were some similarities between her and Lila. They were both tough and rebellious, refusing to just submit to whatever people told them to do. They both had a way of teasing for what they want while never actually making a grab for it, hoping someone will take the hint (but he never will). They were determined not to let a little trauma stop them from living their life. The difference was Lila was a tall, beautiful blonde actress with blue eyes, Zoe was a short, tomboyish noirette (black hair) with at best amber-brown eyes. Lila had no scars that littered her skin unlike Zoe's. Lila was full of light while Zoe's had been snuffed out a long time ago, in her opinion.

"Lila, I'm begging of you. Will you please get out of the pool?" Spencer sighed, exasperatedly, feeling like he was babysitting or hanging out with Zoe.

"Really, Spence," Lila said and Zoe flinched; she was the only one who called him Spence.

"You should live a little." She had a point. He was way too uptight.

"Live a little!? I've known you forty-eight hours; I feel like I've aged ten years!" Spencer exclaimed.

Don't we all feel like that when spending time with or watching her?

"Oh. I can't be that bad." She teased.

"Yes. No, you-you are that bad." Spencer exclaimed.

Preach! Truer words have never been said.

"Oh." She said and Zoe could recognize her tactic at once: to pretend to submit to tease some more. "Fine, can you help me out at least?"

Spencer bent down and reached to grab her hand but predictably, she pulled him in with all his clothes on with her laughing. Spencer came back up, now soaked in pool water, brushing his soaked hair out of his face.

"Yes, very funny. Laugh it up, Lila. Hilarious." Spencer said, sarcastically. "You and Zoe would really get along. My gun's wet. Great." He took his holster off and placed it on the side of the pool, not noticing Zoe watching, unable to look away. He looked down at himself and he actually laughed—a beautiful, beautiful laugh but it caused a small hurt in Zoe's chest that it wasn't because of her. "My clothes."

"You should have worn the suit." Lila flirted, getting close to him, and as apparently nothing less would cause him to get the hint, Lila placed her hand on the back of his head and kissed him and to his better judgment he started to kiss back. Zoe couldn't move. She wanted to flee. She wanted to do what she did best and run from her emotions but she couldn't move. Guess it was just the masochist in her.

Realizing how unprofessional this was, Spencer pulled away, "This is completely inappropriate."

"This?" She asked, "What this? And she pulled him back in for another kiss, this one brief as he kept pulling away to protest yet continued to kiss her with every other word. "This is..." Kiss. "I can..." Kiss. "But I..." He gave up, running his hands through his wet hair and fully leaned in for another kiss, this one was open-mouthed which even Zoe could see from her angle which had shifted since she was now standing outside, watching solemnly for reasons she could not (or would not) understand for the life of her. Spencer cupped her face and deepened the kiss before he pulled away with another logical explanation why this beautiful woman was kissing him.

His first kiss with Zoe had been preceded by her drunkenly (while underage in America) telling him, it was merely for the purposes of him losing his kiss-ginity though Spencer had seen and still saw it as one of the best moments of his life as it continuously appeared in his more pleasant dreams, she had no memory of it and he still didn't want to embarrass her further.

"No, there's this thing called transference..." He insisted, apparently under the impression Lila was redirecting her feelings on someone onto him or it was just because he was supposed to be (and failing to do so) protecting her.

"You don't like me?" Lila frowned, completely unaware of Zoe frozen to the spot in front of her house as Spencer's head blocked her.

"What?" He asked, shocked she would even think that.

"You don't like me." She repeated.

"No. Are you cra—I-I-I do." He stammered.

"I like you." She told him.

"I like you too." He reassured her. "Just I'm a federal agent, you know, and I'm supposed to protect you." He explained.

Yeah. Right. With his aim? Said the sardonicism in Zoe's head.

"Then keep me close." Lila said, getting in close to him again.

"I'm just, uhm I'm a little bit worried." He said and she leaned in. "You know, we're..." She kissed him and he kissed back, not wanting to stop it, no matter what his words said, "we're in a pool." Another kiss. "and it's a—we're..." Another kiss. "Pretty much exposed. They kissed passionately some more before he pulled away and waited for her to answer.

"We have cops posted out front." Lila said, kissing him again. "There are coyotes out back. And right here, it's just you and me." Lila rested her head against Spencer's and they gently rubbed their noses but not in that nauseating couple way, but more of the we-were—just-making-out lips hovering above lips way.

"Ahem." Zoe finally managed to clear her throat, startling Spencer and he lost his footing and went back under the water before popping back up to see Zoe, looking as closed off as he had ever seen her, she wouldn't meet his eyes. How long had she been standing there? "If you're not too busy, trying to lose your virginity, Reid. We should get the target of the psychotic shooter inside now." She said with a noticeable icy cold sharpness in her voice. "We wouldn't want them to shoot her like they did her manager, Michael."

Lila seemed to be in a brief state of shock as Spencer's eyes widened.

"Zo..." Spencer looked at her and then back at Lila, "I was going to tell you. I swear I was."

She turned back to him, "How could you—how could you not tell me?"

"I was afraid you'd be upset." He said.

She started to get angry, "You...! You knew what you knew, and... how could you not..."

"I'm so sorry." He said.

Lila pulled herself out of the pool and Spencer swam after her. "No, don't-don't touch me! Don't touch me!"

Then she stormed off past Zoe back into the house, leaving Spencer in the pool and Zoe feeling guilty.

"Spen... Reid..." She struggled whether or not she should call him by his surname which she only did when she was mad at him or to call him by his first name to apologize to and comfort him.

"Why would you do that!?" He cut her off. "I get what I was doing was unprofessional but... you... she's really upset now. She cared about him!" He pulled himself out of the pool and continued to yell at her, "You know, this is the first time in my life a girl is interested in me." Oblivious. But they both were. She was oblivious to her own feelings for him. "And while I don't understand why she would be interested in someone like me, that gives you no right to chase her off. You're not exactly the most professional person here, you know! You were hired by your dad at nineteen. You're whole family's in the FBI. You're just... you always bring your own bullshit into this. You just bring it up, casually and ignore it when I try to talk to you about it because I'm concerned but you refuse to deal with it and then I'm left standing alone like a jackass! Sometimes you can be such a... such a..." He seemed to calm down and swallowed the insult he didn't mean at the hurt look in her eyes that mingled with the coldness.

"You think I got hired because of nepotism? You think Shyster was right?"

It just now hit him on what he had said. He could barely believe he had said them.

"No. I didn't say that." He backtracked. He was so bad as talking to women. Why? He grew up with one. He grew up without a father so why did he just act like a jerk. Why did he never know what to say?

"Little traumatized Zoe, still very much a child. Unable to move on from her past." She said with cold mockery in her voice, clearly deeply hurt and Spencer was aware people with ADHD usually had something called RSD or Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, meaning she didn't handle rejection or criticism well, especially not from people she cares about, feeling severe emotional pain when they feel they are shunned or criticized and according to a study he read one in three referred to it being the hardest part of living with ADHD, this was what likely led to her shutting down her emotions during her months of captivity along with the expected trauma, "So traumatized that she numbed herself of all basic emotions without her twin who very well could be dead but she hangs onto this absurd belief that she's still alive, no matter she was just starting to trust again. Trust a man of all things after what they did to me. I thought you were different than all the other boys but you're just like them all. You're willing to string along any girl who'll slip you the tongue and get into your virgin pants."

"No! That's not... I am different. I don't..." Spencer felt near close to tears at how badly he had screwed up and hurt her.

"Am I interrupting something?" Elle asked.

"No!" Zoe said.

"Yes." Spencer said.

"No. What do you need, Elle?" Zoe said, sharply.

"Well, we found him in the bushes." Elle said, taking a towel and handing it to Spencer as Morgan brought a handcuffed Martinez to them.

"I told her she should cut those." Elle looked at Spencer, waiting for an explanation for why he was all wet. "I, uh, fell in."

"Yeah and I'm sure there's plenty of photos of it." Elle remarked.

Morgan pushed Martinez in front of them. "Stop shoving me, man."

He turned to them, "You're a suspect in the murder of Wally Melman, Natalie Ryan, and Jeremy Collins." Morgan said.

"Murder? What? Whoa! Whoa, whoa." Martinez said with his eyes bugging.

"Just shut up with the 'whoa'!" Morgan shouted. "We know for a fact that you have hundreds of photographs of Lila Archer and Natalie Ryan on the walls of your studio. You have Miss Archer's daily schedule on your desk. You've been stalking her."

"Look, guy, look, hold up." Martinez said, "Every paparazzi's a celebrity stalker. If you don't stalk them, you don't get the shot, and if you don't make the shot, you don't sell no pictures.

"You're not supposed to have that schedule or take dozens of photos of her in her personal home in her personal bedroom. That's not being a paparazzi, that's being a pervert." Zoe said in a rougher deadpan than usual. She looked at Elle. "Give me that."

Elle handed the camera to Zoe who looked at Spencer as he looked at her with sad puppy dog eyes and she ripped the film out.

"Whoa. That's just wrong."

"So is stalking, you pervert. Taking photos of people like that is a crime. You're trespassing and you're stalking and now..." She threw the camera on the ground and stomped on it, never breaking eye contact with the man.

"Whoa! Whoa! That thing's expensive."

She got closer in his face with an intense death glare in her eyes. "Should I bill your widow?" She growled and he gulped. "Get this ass out of my sight before I do some digging and find out what else he's done." She snarled.

"I'm still being locked up?"

"At the very least, you're trespassing." Morgan said and pulled him away. Zoe held up the film and handed it to Spencer, "You're welcome, Reid."

"Zoe..." He said with pleading eyes.

"I have to call my dad." She brushed him off and walked to the other side of the house, disappearing around the corner.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Spencer knew Lila would be easier to apologize to... he didn't even know how to apologize to Zoe.

"Lila?" He asked as she cried, mourning her agent's death, "Are you still... Are you okay?"

"Michael was like family." She cried.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's just so hard to trust people out here. You don't know who to believe." Lila said as Gideon entered the house from behind them, "Everybody wants something from you."

"That's why I thought you were different."

Zoe's words rang in Spencer's head. "I thought you were different than all the other boys but you're just like them all."

"I know I should have told you..." Spencer said.

"I told him not to." Gideon said, they looked back to see him as Alexander and Zoe reentered. Spencer immediately noticed, Alexander giving him the evil eye, like nothing would give him greater pleasure than to empty his clips of the many, many, many guns he had on him into Spencer and then beat him into the ground. "He was only following my orders." He patted Spencer's shoulder and walked off. Then he came back and pulled Alexander away before he actually did shoot Spencer.

"You know the last time I was able to fully trust someone was at Juilliard? Before I was a somebody."

"Lila, sorry, but did you just say Julliard?" Zoe suddenly asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Spencer saw she was looking at the college and he looked at it and he spotted something, a piece of what looked like the front of a street sigh name: Hous"

"And didn't you say you used to live on Houston Street?"

"What?" Lila asked.

"You were a waitress, you lived on Houston?" Spencer clarified.

"Yeah." Lila said and got up as both the young geniuses looked at the college.

"I need to take this thing apart."

"What?" Lila asked, still very confused.

"I'll-I'll put it back." He promised, "I think I see images of you."

"Guys!" Zoe called.

———————————————��——————————————————————————————

Zoe and Spencer took the college apart, spreading it on Lila's kitchen counter and put the strips of arts together, forming a full picture, all of which related to Lila's life, having several pictures of Lila in it.

"Lila, it looks like someone's been stalking you for years." Morgan said.

"Yeah, this tells your whole life story." Elle said, "Movie premieres, theater playbills."

"Everything since college." Spencer said.

"That's our country house. Right here." Lila said, pointing to a suburban house.

"Who gave you this collage?

"He did." Lila said, pointing to a picture of Spencer's high school semi-friend, Parker.

"This guy? Who is he?" Morgan asked.

"That's the guy I went to high school with, Parker Dunley." Spencer said.

Morgan took his phone out and called Garcia, "Garcia. Parker Dunley. E-mail me a sheet on him, all right?"

——————————————————————————————————————————————

The rest of the team went to question Parker while Zoe stayed with Spencer and Lila.

"You don't seem to like me very much." Lila said as she handed Zoe a mug of tea.

"It's nothing personal." Zoe said, "there's nothing wrong with you. I just have issues.”

"With Spencer?" Lila guessed.

"No." She said, sharply. "We're just friends..."

"Why are you here?"

"I know what you're going through." Zoe confessed.

"How?" Lila scoffed.

"When I was twelve, a serial killer held a gun to my head. He gets off on control and the fear he inflicts in others, and I knew that so I didn't show him fear. I was first person to not do that. It fascinated him. He kidnapped me for five days. I have no memory of what happened. But once he got what he wanted, he let me go... barely. I was comatose for a week and that when I got the first bouquet of flowers... white lilies. Every time I'm near that place, I get white lilies but for a while now, they're covered in blood. It's a taunt. I can usually manage to use their logic against them but not him. He's the only one who has ever had full control over me. He's gonna kill someone one day and it'll be my fault."

"I'm sorry." Lila said.

"Yeah." Zoe sighed and drank some of her tea. It was more bitter than she preferred but she just let it burn her tongue.

Lila wasn't a bad person. She was bold and independent. She didn't deserve this.

Across the room, Spencer's phone rang, and Gideon spoke to him without saying hello.

"We have a name. Maggie Lowe. She's the UnSub. She's on Lila's show. We're on our way."

Spencer hung up and turned to Lila and Zoe.

"Lila, do you know someone named Maggie Lowe?" Spencer said.

"Mags? Yeah, of course I know her. I've known her for years." Lila said, "I got her a job on my show."

Lila's phone started to ring, and she looked at it. Zoe looked at it too and looked at Spencer.

"What?"

"That's her calling right now." Lila said.

"Is she calling from a cell phone?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah."

"Lila, we think Maggie's the UnSub." Spencer said.

"The what?" Lila asked, being unfamiliar with the term.

"The stalker." Spencer clarified.

"No way." Lila said.

"Answer the phone." Spencer said.

"That's-that's crazy." Lila said, standing up.

"We assumed that the UnSub was a man but it's not unheard of that an erotomaniac stalkers are women. Both David Letterman and Story Musgrave were stalked by Margaret Mary Ray." Zoe said. "Answer the phone. Act completely natural. The longer we keep her on the line, the more likely we'll be able to trace the call." Lila looked at her. "I'm doomed with mine, he's going to torment me until one of us dies or I can redeem myself and help arrest him but I can still stop yours. Trust me."

"You can trust her." Spencer nodded.

Spencer went to call Garcia while Lila answered the call.

"Hello? Hello, Maggie? Maggie, is that you? What's wrong?"

Garcia picked up Spencer's call. "Oracle of Quantico, speak if you deign to hear truth."

"Garcia, I need an emergency trace on a cell phone call to Lila Archer's cell phone." Spencer said into his dinosaur phone.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"(323) 555-0129." Spencer recited Lila's phone number to her.

"Okay. Keep her talking. Keep her talking.

"Maggie?" Lila asked.

Zoe put Lila's phone on speakerphone so they could all hear it while Zoe went to Spencer to hear Garcia on the other end too.

"Oh, I am so tired." Maggie sighed.

"Tired?" Lila asked.

"There's been so much upset in the world really. I think it's just so tragic. All of it." Maggie said, so far she didn't exactly sound stable which fit the profile, "I miss you. I just do."

"Mags, I saw you today." Lila said.

"It's never going to be the same as it was. It's just never going to be the same."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lila said, choking slightly as she started to realize that they could be right about Maggie being the "unsub".

"I'm talking about that time in college! When the heat in your apartment was off and the two of us stayed in my dorm room. Don't you remember?" Maggie asked, sharply as though angry that it wasn't as important to Lila as it was to her, "You were playing Ophelia on the mainstage."

"I remember." Lila recalled, uneasily.

"That was the happiest time of my life." Maggie breathed.

"Maggie, sweetheart, that was only for a weekend." Lila told her.

"The happiest time... And you don't know anything about me at all." Maggie's voice broke. "And I did everything for you."

"Reid, is Lila's address 6028 Pike Street?" Garcia asked

"Yeah."

"She's calling from inside the house. I'll get you two some backup." Garcia said.

"Oh, it's Black Christmas. 'The calls are coming from inside the house'." Zoe said and she took out her holster gun which altered from her usual preference of revolvers and was a Glock. A Glock 19 to be exact. Of course, she would be quoting a horror movie from 1974.

"Lila." Spencer whispered.

"You... you... YOU!" Maggie shouted and then there was a thud from upstairs that echoed through the phone as Maggie brought the phone down from her ear.

"How'd she get in the house?"

"She has keys." Lila said.

Zoe lifted her leg up and pulled her ankle holster gun. It was a revolver

"Alright, Lila, I'm assuming you don't know how to use a gun?"

"No."

"All right. This is Glock 19. It's easy to shoot. The most commonly bought gun. There's no manual safety, so all you need to do is push this secondary trigger and when she pull the main trigger it'll shoot. There's fifteen rounds plus one in the chamber. Careful, it's heavier than it looks. But as long as that secondary trigger isn't pulled, it won't go off, even if you drop it." She handed Lila her hip gun. "It's not my preferred gun but I always try to prepare for the unlikely. I figured worse came to worse, you'd need to defend yourself. Only shoot if Reid and I go down. Only then. You're not experienced, only as a last defense. She's sick but she's still a person. She's still Maggie. She's still Mags."

Spencer's eyes watched Zoe as she explained all this to Lila who tried her best to understand.

They crept through the house with Zoe taking the lead, both she and Spencer holding their guns up.

They crept into Lila's room but saw nothing but then Zoe spun around just before Maggie revealed herself, holding a gun to Lila's head.

"Why'd you have to bring these people?" She demanded.

"Hey, Discount Billy. The only reason we're here because you killed a bunch of people to help her career which could've gotten her arrested, you batty loon. Now we really should calm down before we get a new Agnes."

"Put down the guns or I will shoot her." Maggie growled.

"Maggie." Spencer said, lowering the gun as Zoe did the same.

"Don't call me Maggie. You don't know me. Come on, Lila, let's go." Lila stared at the two, shaking her head, pleading with her eyes. "We really got to go, baby."

"Maggie, don't hurt her." Spencer pleaded.

"You don't need to hurt her." Zoe said.

"Why? I saw the look on your face while these two were..." She growled. "This way I get her and you get him."

"I don't want him!" Spencer flinched at her cruel words, "But you don't get her. You can't force her to be with you. It's not real love. If you hurt someone you love, that's not real love. That's toxicity. That's obsession. That's abuse."

"You don't know anything." She turned back to Lila, "I would never do anything to hurt you." She brushed back Lila's blonde hair, "No. I created you."

"No, you didn't." Lila shook her head. Maggie narrowed her eyes, gesturing at Lila with her gun,

"Yes, I did! I know I did. God. You stupid... ungrateful.... God. I can't believe I loved you."

"Maggie..." Zoe started.

"SHUT UP, BITCH!" Maggie screamed, pointing the gun at Zoe. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"Maggie, Lila, she loves me now." Spencer said.

"What?" Maggie demanded, pointing the gun at him now.

"She told me so. We were in the pool. She kissed me. Now she loves me, okay?" Spencer said.

"No." Maggie said, pointing the gun back at Lila.

"Zoe saw. Tell her. Tell her Lila and I kissed in the pool."

"Yeah, they did. It was full-on making out. Closest he's ever gotten to a woman since he came out of one." Spencer gave her an offended look and his surrender turned into an exasperated come on gesture. "I mean, he's known her for like two days and he's a nerd. I mean, look at him. He graduated high school when he was twelve and look at his hair. He practically screams virgin. To him, that's practically confessing his undying love."

"Zoe!" Spencer hissed.

"NO!" Maggie shouted, pointing the gun back at Lila.

"Is it true? Are you in love?" Lila looked at Zoe and Spencer who nodded.

"Yes. It's true. We kissed. We-we're in love."

Zoe decided to both twist the dagger in Maggie's heart and add salt to the wound. "That's gotta sting. Years of friendship and you get outdone by a nerdy virgin who looks like he's twelve who's known her for forty-eight hours. I mean, come on."

"Stop it." Maggie growled as she walked backwards, pointing the gun at Zoe. Zoe was walking forth, "At least, Morgan's athletic, Reid looks like a toothpick.”

"Shut up!"

"Then why don't you do something about it, Mags. You never did anything. Never. You're all alone."

Maggie pointed the gun at Lila and shot.

"NO!" Zoe jumped in front of the bullet, hitting her in the chest, making her hit the floor.

"NO!" Spencer screamed, he lunged and grabbed Maggie, tackling her to the ground and taking her gun, pointing it at her as Lila hurried to Zoe who landed in front of her bed.

"Don't move."

"PLEASE! PLEASE KILL ME! COME ON! SHOOT ME, PLEASE! I'D BE SO MUCH HAPPIER, PLEASE!" Maggie screamed.

"Is she okay?!" He called to Lila, his voice cracking with fear.

"I'm okay." Zoe coughed out, getting up and sitting up next to Lila who was trying to assess the damage even though she had no idea what she was doing.

Spencer breathed in relief and uncocked the gun.

"We're gonna get you help. It'll be alright." Maggie started to sob and Zoe went to comfort her, soothingly shushing her.

"How..." Spencer asked her.

Zoe pulled at her plaid shirt, making it unbutton and revealed a bulletproof vest. "You didn't think my dad was going to just let me walk around here with a shooter on the loose with no protection, did you?"

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Bernard Shaw once said, "An American has no sense of privacy. He does not know what it means. There is no such thing in the country."

Spencer and Lila parted ways and Spencer sat on the plane ride alone. Just the day after, a magazine published a picture of Lila and Spencer saying goodbye with the oh-so original headline: A Mystery Man in Lila's Life? As opposed to anything about her almost being murdered or stalked. Old news, I guess.

Spencer looked at the magazine as work wrapped up for the day or rather night, most of the BAU had left.

"Night, Hollywood." Morgan laughed.

"Come on, man." Spencer sighed.

"You know, Reid, you're lucky they didn't get a shot of you next to the pool trying to dry your gun. You looked like a wet rat." Morgan teased

Spencer shook his head, looking down.

"Hey, I was playing." He reassured him.

"Did you know that she... uh... I kissed her in the pool? It's so weird. It doesn't even feel like it really happened, you know?" Spencer said.

"Sure, sure, she's a beautiful young actress." Morgan said.

"Yeah. Yeah, you know, I kept explaining to her about transference and the fact that, you know, she probably only liked me because I was there to protect her..." He said.

"Reid. You were her hero." Morgan said.

"I wanted to think that." Spencer said.

"No, no, no, don't go selling yourself short, kid. You took down an armed subject without firing a shot. You saved her life. It's pretty much a hero in my book." Morgan reassured him.

"Let me ask you this, have you ever crossed professional boundaries with a victim of a case you were working on?" Spencer asked.

"No." Morgan admitted.

"It's pretty bad, right?"

"There's some things you can't control even with that big old brain of yours. No harm, no foul." Morgan said and he turned to get his stuff. "Let it go."

"Hey, Morgan?" Spencer asked and Morgan turned back to him, "Has there ever been a girl that you wanted to be with for more than, you know, just one night?"

"Excuse me?" Morgan asked.

"I've never seen you with the same girl twice." Spencer said.

"What, are you calling me a dog?" Morgan asked.

"No, no, no, not at all. I'm just trying to figure out if this feeling I have is ever going to go away?" Spencer said.

"Reid, what we do for a living, it takes up all our time, and a relationship's hard enough even in the same city." Morgan said.

"So, I mean, you're saying it's probably wise that I don't call her, right?" Spencer asked.

"I can't answer that one for you. Here, I'll tell you what I do know. You don't need to come up with that answer tonight" Morgan said. "I'm out." Then Morgan went and started to leave.

"Have a good weekend." Spencer said.

"Yeah, you too, Romeo." Morgan said before he left.

"Reid, no offense but Morgan's never had a relationship that's last more than twelve hours at most." Zoe sighed, making Spencer jump, he hadn't seen her in the darkness. "I wouldn't take his advice. It's not exactly fulfilling

"I know you're mad at me. But can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She said.

"Did you break up with J.D. because of the job?"

Zoe's jaw clenched. "No. It wasn't because of our job or because of the long distance with being not in America is as much as I can say and me flying around the United States every other week. It was what I pushed him into doing. Otherwise, we'd still be together. Long distance was most of the relationship, time-wise. I can do long distance. I can even deal with him being in prison for the rest of his life. Morgan's relationships are more about physical affection, sex, and fulfilling a temporary desire. J.D. and I... we met at a vulnerable time. It was about emotional connection, being understood, having someone to tell our trauma to, and most of all loyalty. It's why we're still friends. I couldn't cut him out completely. Not for me, but I couldn't do that to him."

"So, what do you think I should do?" Spencer asked tentatively.

"Just... think. Do you really see you and Lila going anywhere? Are you willing to wait for a day that may never happen?"

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Gif Sources: @criminalmindscaps, @thisiscalmanditsdoctor, @onscreenkisses, @islandellis, @tobias-hankel

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