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"to be free is often to be lonely." - w.h. auden

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Delilah blinked wearily at the body on the bed in Frank Giles' residence, a sword impaled through the man's chest. She looked up at the writing on the wall in what appeared to be blood.

Here thy quest doth truly begin.

Knights went on quests, often to rescue princesses.

"He's definitely playing with us," Hotch said.

"His identification checks out. That's Frank Giles," Elle said, stepping back into the room with the others.

"There's a big old bag of money sitting right here on the dresser," Derek said, starting to pull notes out of a bag.

"So Giles took Harris to Jamaica to kill him and the unsub kills Giles," Hotch said.

"Yeah, but he paid him first," Derek said.

"Left the cash?" Elle raised her eyebrows.

"He's apparently well-funded," Derek said.

"He said these were unrepentant bad men. Are we looking for some kind of vigilante?" Hotch asked.

"No. The bodies are nothing but a way to get us interested. They're game pieces. The kills are secondary," Gideon said.

"Well, this guy likes to write things in blood on the walls," Elle said.

"All kinds of cult and demonic significance to that," Derek said.

"Thy? Doth? Quest?" Elle asked. "Thy quest doth truly begin. Why start phrasing things like this now?"

"All the other messages were in modern english," Hotch said.

"Maybe this is the first one the unsub actually wrote," Derek said.

"So we're looking for Shakespeare?" Elle said.

"Hey, guys?" the coroner said, crouched at the side of the body.

"Yeah?" Derek said.

"There's something etched on the blade," she said.

The team moved closer, crouching down to look at the sword.

To learn of what should next be done, leave the blade till the hour be none.

"Hour be none?" Derek said.

"Leave the blade," Hotch said.

"Elle, move for a second, move to your left," Delilah said, looking up from the knife.

Elle stood up, moving to her left.

"The bed's in the middle of the room. Which isn't by chance," Delilah said.

"And maybe the light from here casts a shadow and points to something," Hotch said.

"Come on. Are we in the middle of an Indiana Jones movie?" Elle scoffed.

"The hour be none?" Hotch said.

"Midnight is 00:00 hours in 24-hour time. Would that be none?" Derek said.

"Midnight wouldn't cast a shadow," Hotch said.

"Hour be none," Derek said.

"3pm," Spencer stepped into the room, all of them looking up. "Garcia, told me where to find you."

"3pm?" Gideon said.

"It's medieval. The days used to be broken into hourly intervals. The canonical hours of the breviary. Prime: 6am, Terce: 9am, Sext: 12 noon. None: 3pm, and vespers : 6pm," Spencer explained.

"Reid, do not ever go away again," Elle said.

"Medieval. That's why the language changed," Gideon said.

"The knight and princess figures. He was telling us we're on a quest," Delilah said.

"Everything this guys does is a clue," Hotch said.

"Ok, but, guys, it's 4:35. What do we do? Leave the blade in 'til 3 pm tomorrow?" Derek said.

"Not if we can block that window out. Do you have any spotlights in your car?" Spencer looked at the coroner.

"Sure," she said, standing up to leave.

"Thanks, Jane," Elle said.

She left and Spencer grabbed a torch, crouching to face the wall opposite the window. The headlights shone through the room and Spencer turned the torch on, the sword's shadow coming up onto the wall.

"The sun is right here at 5pm. Morgan, follow the shadows. I move the light higher," Spencer said.

"Okay. And do what?" Derek said.

"Tap," Hotch said.

Derek started tapping on the wall with his fingertips, the wall sounding regular until an echoey sound burned into Delilah's brain.

"It's hollow," Derek said.

"Definitely an Indiana Jones movie," Elle said.

"Feels like the wallpaper's been replaced," Derek said.

"Tear it open," Hotch said.

Derek pulled out a knife, cutting through the wallpaper and grabbing a portion of the drywall, yanking it out.

"It's a box," Derek said.

"Take it out," Hotch said.

"We sure it's safe?" Spencer asked.

"What, you think it's a bomb? You think he'd be playing this game just to blow us up?" Hotch raised an eyebrow.

"He'd have already done that as long as we've been standing here," Derek said, lifting the box out.

He put it on the desk in front of him, all of them moving around to look at it properly. It was a dark jewelry box.

"Locked. You want me to break it?" Derek said, tugging on the lid.

"No. We should process it first," Hotch said.

"The youngest holds the key," Gideon quoted.

Spencer pulled a skeleton key out of his pocket, unlocking the box. Derek lifted the lid, music starting to play.

"Schubert. The Trout quintet," Gideon said.

"Five people fishing," Hotch said.

"Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man's sight," Spencer read off the paper he pulled out of the box.

"Well, that was worth it," Elle scoffed.

"The lid. Little tab right under the lock," Gideon pointed at the lid.

Spencer pulled the little tab down, the inside layer of felt covering the lid falling down. A lock of blonde hair and a disc.

"Oh, god," Elle scoffed. "Do you have that evidence bag?" she asked another agent.

"Here you go," he said, handing it over.

"Thy quest," Derek held up the disc, black sharpie staining it.

"Knights have quests to save princesses. You think we've got a Rapunzel situation?" Delilah asked Hotch.

"I think we've definitely got a situation," Hotch said.

"I'm gonna need more coffee when we get back to Quantico," Delilah said.

"Me, too," Hotch sighed.

•

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Delilah sat around the round table in the conference room, head propped up against her arms as she stared at the tape playing on the television. The rest of the team were around her, JJ sat on the arm of Delilah's chair, Delilah's shoulder pressing into her thigh.

"He moves funny," Delilah commented, watching the man on the video limp towards the seat in the office.

"Looks like he's injured or something," Derek said.

"I assure you.. You'll all understand in the end why it must be that way. You might even thank me," the unsub said.

"Don't hold your breath, scumbag," Elle scoffed.

Delilah watched the imagine change on the screen to a young blonde girl in what looked like a cell, screaming silently at the camera that was filming her.

"You know now you're on a quest. A young girls life depends on the successful completion of it. As you can see, she's quite beautiful... And in distress. Now please listen closely for there is one rule and this rule must be followed. The one rule is... Only the members of your team may participate in the quest. Jason Gideon, Aaron Hotchner, Delilah Bellerose, Derek Morgan, Elle Greenaway, Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia," the unsub said.

Delilah swallowed roughly when she saw the photographs of the team flash across the screen. She'd been getting followed. Delilah's own photo was of her at a crime scene, sunglasses on as she stared down at her phone with a frown.

The worst part was, Delilah had no idea what crime scene that photo was even taken at. She had no idea she'd been getting followed. And, considering she had been trained to follow people and know when she was being followed, she was furious. Either this guy was really good, or Delilah had lost her edge and had gotten weak.

"A quest must be completed in the proper way or it isn't a quest, is it? That's it. One rule. Simple. Now, you will be receiving an item soon that will hold the final clue you'll need to finish the quest. You will find you will also need a book which has inspired many an adventure like mine. Believe me when I tell you I'm truly hope to see you all soon. It will mean a successful end to this adventure... For all of us," the unsub said.

The disc went to static on the screen and Delilah tugged her hands through her hair, blinking tiredly down at the table.

"This guy's got pictures of us?" Elle scoffed.

"What do we do now?" Spencer said.

"The lock of hair's being analyzed for DNA. There might be something on file," Hotch said.

"I'll get video to enhance the shots of the girl," JJ said.

"Let's get the clues up on the board. Maybe we can make some sense of something," Hotch said.

"We're gonna play this guy's game?" Elle scoffed.

"Do we have a choice?" Spencer said.

The door slammed and they all turned, seeing Gideon storming to his office through the windows.

"Like my hangover wasn't horrific enough, he has to slam doors," Delilah muttered, putting her face down on the table.

"Be right back. You guys keep working," Hotch said, leaving the room quickly after Gideon.

"Just kill me. I've never felt this bad in my life, and that's saying something," Delilah groaned.

"Have you had any painkillers?" JJ asked.

"Enough to kill a small child," Delilah said.

"Well, no more painkillers. More coffee?" Derek said.

Delilah just groaned.

"I'm never drinking again," Delilah said.

"I'll get more coffee," JJ said, squeezing Delilah's shoulder and leaving the room.

"Why are you this hungover? It's weird," Elle said.

"I'm going through something," Delilah said, muffled into her arm.

"Getting over JJ?" Spencer said.

"You're supposed to be oblivious to these things," Delilah said.

"I'm not oblivious," Spencer said. "I just fail to pick up on most social cues. Garcia, Morgan and Elle got me up to date," he said.

"Fuck you all," Delilah said.

"Were you really drinking to get over JJ?" Elle asked.

"Yes," Delilah groaned.

"Did it work?" Elle said.

"Does it look like it worked?" Delilah said.

"I've never seen hungover and heartbroken Delilah. I don't like it," Spencer said.

Delilah just groaned loudly. Spencer awkwardly stretched his hand out, patting Delilah's head like she was a dog.

"That actually feels nice," Delilah mumbled.

"How much did you drink?" JJ asked, carrying a cup of coffee for Delilah back into the room.

"Too much," Delilah shook her head, taking the cup and sipping from it.

"Why?" JJ chuckled, sitting back on the arm of Delilah's chair.

Delilah choked on her coffee, putting the cup down and coughing into her arm. Elle and Derek smirked, Spencer grinning at them before turning back to the whiteboard.

Delilah forced herself to take a deep breath, tugging her hands through her hair.

"Okay, these clues must add up to reveal whatever book this guy wants us to find. Let's get looking," Delilah said.

"You okay, there, honey?" JJ said.

"Yep. Totally fine," Delilah flashed a smile at JJ. "Totally fine."

"You don't sound fine," Derek said.

"I will cut up that t-shirt that makes your arms look huge," Delilah glared at him.

Derek gasped, putting his hand over his heart.

"You wouldn't," he whispered.

"Try me, big man," Delilah narrowed her eyes at him.

"You bitch," Derek gasped.

"You fucking-"

"Guys, there's been a murder. Maybe we should focus," Spencer said.

"Sorry, pretty boy," Delilah and Derek chorused, smirking at each other before turning back to the whiteboard.

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Delilah stared at a large page on the whiteboard, a series of numbers written on the paper. The page had been delivered by Haley Hotchner, who had received the paper in a box from a man at the Hotch house. Hotch was getting Haley and baby Jack somewhere safe while the others tackled the paper, Gideon still off doing whatever Gideon did.

"My eyes are so heavy, I can barely see it," Elle said.

"Are the numbers moving? Or is that just me?" Delilah whispered.

"No, they're moving," Elle said.

"Sleep deprivation, hangover," Derek said, pointing at Elle and then Delilah. "Or dyslexia," he said.

"Liv has dyslexia. She made me read most of her medical textbooks to her all throughout med school. I'm pretty confident I could do brain surgery myself, now," Delilah said.

"I would not let you near my skull with a scalpel. No offence," Elle said.

"None taken," Delilah said.

"I think it's a coded message of some sort," Spencer spoke up.

"Huh?" Delilah said.

"The unsub said we needed a book, didn't he?" Spencer said.

"Yeah. A book that inspired many an adventure," Derek said.

"It's a book code. Each one of these sets of numbers represents a particular word. For instance, the page 118, line 30, word 3. We need to figure out what the words are and fill in the blanks," Spencer said.

"Yeah, but from what book?" Elle asked.

"I don't know. The trouble is it has to be the exact same edition of the exact same book that he used," Spencer said.

"Just got a DNA hit on the lock of hair. Rebecca Bryant. She's been missing out of Boston for 2 years," JJ walked into the room with a photograph of the girl from the missing video, holding it out to Spencer.

"Two years?" Elle said.

"If he's had her for two years, she's gonna be fucked up," Delilah said bluntly.

"You're mean when you're hungover," Derek said.

"It's the truth," Delilah said.

"Guys, how are we supposed to figure out which book this code is copied out of?" Derek sighed.

"I have no idea," Spencer said, pinning the photo on the board.

"Okay, so, two years," Delilah grabbed a pen off the whiteboard and wrote two years underneath the photo of Rebecca. "Why Rebecca? What's her connection to Giles? And where is she? If she was from Boston, but the last few clues are here, is she here or there? Or is she neither?" Delilah said, starting to write it all down.

"We're waiting for Penelope's systems to come back online so she can research this for us," JJ said.

"Good, 'cause we're gonna need to speak to her parents. You said she went missing. Missing, not abducted. So, did she just run away one day? Or never came home from school? Did anybody see her before she disappeared?" Delilah said, starting to write these questions down on the board. "Pen needs to fix her shit."

"He said we have everything needed to complete the quest," Spencer said.

"The answer's gotta be up there somewhere," Elle said.

Gideon walked into the room, looking at JJ.

"JJ, get some reporters here as soon as possible," he said.

"For what?" JJ asked.

"Just say we need help on a new case," Gideon said, leaving the room.

"Press conference?" Derek said.

JJ shrugged, standing up to leave the room. She squeezed Delilah's shoulder as she passed.

"Try and get some sleep. Your hangover will go away," JJ said.

"I wish," Delilah said.

•

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Delilah lay on the couch in the conference room an hour later, half asleep with her head resting on Elle's stomach. Elle was actually asleep, one of her hands splayed over Delilah's face that Delilah was just too exhausted to move.

"A pale clouded yellow butterfly indigenous to great britain," Spencer mumbled, staring down at JJ's butterfly.

"How's it going?" Hotch walked into the room, eying Derek and Spencer and then Delilah and Elle.

"The answer to what book we need has to be in here," Spencer said.

"Yeah, but we sure as hell can't see it," Derek huffed.

"Yet," Spencer said.

"Elle," Hotch said, shaking Elle gently.

"I'm awake," Elle jerked up, hand moving off Delilah's face.

"I'm not," Delilah groaned, shuffling down on the couch to spread out more now Elle was moving to sit up.

"I'm sending you home. Both of you," Hotch said, looking at the girls.

"No," Elle said.

"I'm not going home alone, sorry. Might choke on my own vomit and die," Delilah mumbled, turning onto her side.

"You need to get some rest. We won't do anything without you, I promise," Hotch said.

"Elle, seriously, we're not any closer than we were. Get out of here. Go home," Derek said.

"But-" Elle started.

"That's an order. Let's go," Hotch said.

Elle groaned, getting to her feet and following Hotch towards the door. Delilah groaned to herself, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"I'm going to the bathroom and grab a drink," Delilah said, stumbling out of the conference room.

She headed down to the bathroom, doing her business and then washing her hands. She stared at herself in the mirror, wincing at her pale skin, the bags under her eyes and the chapped lips from spending most of the day with her head over a toilet or picking at them from stress of this case.

"Can't even have a fucking vacation without serial killers ruining my life," Delilah muttered.

She left the bathroom and headed to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a sip. She stared straight ahead for a few minutes, then peered around the door and down the hallway. She could see JJ's office door was closed, but the light inside shone through the window.

She was still here.

Delilah's legs were moving before her brain could catch up to her. She reached the office and opened the door, not even bothering to knock. JJ looked up from the files on her desk, eyebrows raising curiously.

"Hey, honey. You okay?" JJ asked.

"Hotch sent Elle home to sleep," Delilah said, squeezing the water bottle in her hands.

"Why didn't you go home, too? You look exhausted, and you're hungover," JJ said.

Delilah chewed the inside of her cheek, closing JJ's office door behind her and walking to JJ's couch. She lay down, resting her head on the armrest and staring up at the ceiling.

"He sent the package to my place. And I know he got in through the database and that's the only way he could find where I live, but it's freaking me out. He knows where I live. What if he turns up while I'm home alone? We broke a rule by having that press conference. What's he going to do?" Delilah said.

"You think he's going to retaliate?" JJ said.

"It's his game we're playing. We broke his rule. Of course he's going to retaliate. It's a good thing Anderson is with Elle, so she's not alone," Delilah said.

"Someone would've stayed with you, if you wanted someone there. You should get some proper sleep, in a real bed," JJ said, turning in her chair to look at Delilah.

"I don't want anyone in my apartment. I can defend myself. I just didn't want to be alone," Delilah said. "Nobody is supposed to know where I live. Nobody comes over. Not my friends, not Liv's friends, not any boyfriends or girlfriends or anything," Delilah said.

"I know where you live. I'd had sleepovers," JJ said, tilting her head to the side.

Delilah turned her head to look at JJ, shrugging her shoulders.

"I trust you. Clearly. But my point is, nobody comes home with me. I would have to be there alone and, honestly, I am not in the mood to have some psychopath unsub try and kill me out of retaliation, or something," Delilah said.

JJ stared at Delilah for a few seconds before nodding.

"You're scared. That's understandable," JJ said. "Go to sleep, okay? I'll stay here, so, you won't be on your own," JJ said.

"You think I'll be back to normal when I wake up? I'm horrific when I'm hungover," Delilah said.

"Hopefully," JJ smiled, eyes crinkled at the corners. "I'm sorry your holiday was ruined," she said.

"It's fine. Wasn't working the way I wanted it to, anyway," Delilah said.

"You wanna talk about that?" JJ said.

"No," Delilah sighed. "I want to solve this case. Soon. To do that, I need sleep," Delilah said.

JJ stood up, grabbing a blanket from the drawer in her desk and draping it over Delilah. Delilah smiled up at her, heart skipping a beat when JJ smiled back down at her with that sweet smile she kept for just Delilah.

JJ leaned down, kissing Delilah's forehead lightly.

"Night, Lilah," she said.

"Night," Delilah mumbled.

She closed her eyes, turning on the couch so she was facing JJ. She exhaled slowly, flinching when she felt a hand press against her hair. JJ hummed quietly.

"Just me, honey. Just me," she whispered. "Go to sleep, okay?"

Delilah nodded, relaxing again as JJ started running her fingers through Delilah's hair. JJ sat on the arm of the sofa near Delilah's head, her other hand moving to tuck the blanket tighter around Delilah's neck so she stayed warm.

Delilah drifted off there, feeling calmer than she had done with that stranger in the bed back in Spain the previous afternoon. The women both had blonde hair, both had blue eyes, both had stared at her with an awestruck expression on their face, but there was only one Jennifer Jareau.

And Delilah was lucky to call this woman her best friend. She'd broken so many rules, like keeping work and private life separate, just for this woman. JJ had even met Liv and Liv had started picking up JJ's favourite flavour tea for the nights she spent with Delilah and Liv in their apartment.

Delilah's own father had approved of JJ, having only heard stories about this girl from his daughters. Yet, he knew enough to tell Delilah that she could experience something beautiful if she just let her walls down.

In moments like these, Delilah wondered why she even kept her walls up. JJ had clearly been jealous that night in the bar with that Jacey girl. That jealousy was why Delilah hadn't even checked the burner phone for messages from Jacey. There clearly was something between them if drunk JJ and the rest of the world seemed to see it.

And JJ clearly cared about Delilah, considering this and any of their other displays of affection. But Delilah wouldn't do it. It was messy. Delilah destroyed the things she loved, accidentally or not. She would not add JJ to that list.

JJ had told Delilah that she loved her. Delilah didn't understand how a heart like JJ's could ever love a heart like hers.

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