Beautiful Things

More coffee. That's really all the BAU asked from me. It was early in the morning when they arrived at the station. I didn't sleep at all after I returned home, because I was too terrified of the man who lurked in the shadows after dark. It didn't seem to bother any of them.

"Was the body the same as the others?" Morgan surprised me by asking. He met me at the coffee machine, which we all had been abusing.

"Oh!" I caught my breath, "You scared me!"

Morgan laughed smoothly, "How was last night?"

"The body was exactly the same as the others," I replied, "And it was fine."

"Not painfully terrible?"

"I was wrong about him," I admitted, avoiding any eye contact by pouring my coffee. "He's alright."

Morgan didn't reply. I looked up at him after it was silent for awhile. He was simply smiling at me, but it wasn't just a smile. He was silently suggesting something. I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes.

"He's alright," I said a little more dully, trying to assure him there was nothing more to it. There wasn't anymore to it, was there...?

"Okay, okay," Morgan gave in, at least I thought, "Just try to keep your mind on the case." He laughed as he walked away, not allowing me to protest.

I cleared my head of Reid and Morgan and Jamie. I focused solely on the serial killer that was loose. I analyzed secretly in my office, thinking of something that could possibly be help to us.

"Hey Meg," Rory said as he invaded my office.

"What could you possibly want from me?" I scoffed.

"I just wanted to let you know we got another video tape and I handed it over to the FBI," he told me smugly.

"That's great, Rory," I snapped sarcastically. I excused myself and went to see the video tape. I was slightly aggravated he had handed it over to the FBI without letting me know, but I knew it was just how he was. And I would be stupid not to have expected it.

"Hey, how's the case going?" I asked as soon as I entered the room.

Morgan just got off the phone with somebody and turned to me. "Garcia found previous women who were murdered the same way as these girls. He's killed before."

"But why start with the video tapes?" Rossi wondered aloud.

"Maybe he wasn't getting the attention he wanted," Prentiss suggested. "Have you heard about the previous murders?" the question was directed to me.

"I've heard of them, but they were out of our district, so we didn't interfere," I said, "And then they just stopped, and they had no leads or anything. It went cold."

"How many girls?" Hotch asked.

"Seven," Morgan replied for me, "Garcia found seven."

"So he's experienced," Rossi confirmed with disappointment. He knew if they hadn't caught him by now, he was good. There was a difference between three victims and ten.

"We got another tape," Reid piped up after a moment of silence. The tension in the room grew. I shifted my weight uncomfortably.

"I know," I replied. "Who this time?"

"Well, uh..." Prentiss stalled. She made eye contact with Hotch, who then turned to me.

"It's you," he said quietly.



I was back in my office. My hands were wrapped around a coffee while Prentiss attempted to comfort me. She didn't allow me to watch the tape.

"Why can't I see the tape?"

"If you really want to, you can," she replied, "But I wouldn't recommend it."

I tried to replay the last few days. But how did I know he was watching me over the last few days? It could easily have been weeks or months. I didn't know and I didn't have any way of knowing, until we caught him, which I was really hoping we'd do.

"You're not putting me in some kind of protection program thing," I protested. I don't know where I got that from, probably from the movies, because no one had said anything about it.

"Megan, this is a very dangerous man," Prentiss reminded me.

"I don't care, I'm not going anywhere."

Prentiss sighed in defeat. Reid and Morgan entered my office. They knew I was on edge. Nothing this surreal has happened to me before, and I wasn't sure how to handle it. I needed to be strong, but this was making me so weak.

"No protection program," was the first thing I told them. "I'm going home to my apartment now."

"You're serious?" Morgan asked, disbelievingly.

"Very."

"I'm not letting you go home alone, no way around it."

"Well I have a couch," I told him, accepting his protection, "Actually, I have two."

"Me and Reid will take care of you," Morgan chuckled, "Right genius?"

"S-sure," Reid responded, clearly flustered.

I smiled for the first time in the past hour.