kyle and i were arguing over the phone, once again. i stepped into the elevator at the headquarters, ready to strangle him. i pressed the button to get me to the bau and sighed.

"kyle, when i give you grocery money, it's not so you can buy bear shaped juice boxes, okay?" i rolled my eyes, not understanding why he was so stupid.

he scoffed, and i heard the beep of him locking his car,"hey, listen here," he started, causing me to inwardly chuckle,"if you don't want to enjoy the fruits of my labor, buy your own groceries."

i rolled my eyes. he was so annoying, but i could never truly be mad at him.

"that's not what i'm saying," i started, trying to get him to give a little,"what i'm saying is...maybe we don't need a twenty pack of circus cookies," i thought of another discrepancy,"or sixty packs of gum."

"you like gum!" he reasoned, utterly clueless to adult life.

i groaned and looked at the ceiling, his stupidity tiring me,"who the fuck wants chocolate gum, kyle, huh?"

he sounded meek, knowing chocolate flavored gum should have never even been conceived,"...it was on sale."

i pinched the bring of my nose, feeling a headache coming on,"can you maybe buy a head of lettuce every once and awhile?"

he huffed, and i could hear sounds of children laughing,"oh, and what? play basketball with it? it's useless, laine."

the elevator dinged open and i walked out, heading to the doors that led to the bullpen, "you're a pediatric nurse, for fucks sake, how do you let this happen to yourself?"

he laughed, my words going in one ear and out the other,"speaking of, a kid just threw up on another kid. gotta run, but we can talk later."

i took a deep breath, mostly relieved that he agreed to discuss this further. i walked to my desk and set my bag down,"okay, bye. i love you, miss girl."

"love you, twin," he then gasped,"and i packed you a lunch in your bag. i'm thoughtful like that."

"alright, thanks, twin."

i hung up and dropped my phone on my desk, resting my head in my hands.

"everything okay?" spencer asked from his desk.

i shook my head, not able to look at him,"i live with a pediatric nurse who thinks carrots should be used as a weapon and not nutrition."

elle laughed as she walked buy,"who is this girl and is she four?"

"kyle james," i corrected, and she gave me a  surprised look, not expecting my roommate to be a boy. and probably not expecting a boy to be a nurse,"my best friend for about ten years now," i rolled my eyes, looking into my bag,"let's see what he brought me for lunch, shall we?"

elle nodded and stood next to me, spencer also interested. i laughed and ran my hand over my face as i saw what it was.

"oh my god." elle cackled, getting a sneak peek.

"and would you look at that," i dumped my bag out, my wallet and badge falling out as well,"jolly ranchers and apple juice in a bottle with the hulk's head built on top."

"please tell me he doesn't have a girlfriend." elle said with an amused smirk, finding my downfall hilarious.

i sat down at my desk and groaned. he was helpless.

•

we sat in the conference room, reading a ransom note. it was the start of our next case, trish davenport.

"you will follow instructions carefully. you will do this to ensure the safety of your daughter. you will wait for the call. you will answer the call at eight p.m. you will write down the instructions and follow them to the letter," hotch read aloud, before telling us the facts, "that means we have less than nine hours to get to connecticut, work up victimology on trish davenport, and prepare her father for the ransom drop."

i knit my eyebrows together, this particular ransom note, irking me. i wasn't written like most are. it had a different style.

i would address that later, but for now,"how do we know the letter is real?"

"the handwriting is a match for trish's. he dictated it to her and they found saline on the paper." hotch clarified.

"her tears." gideon explained what the 'saline' actually was.

i nodded slowly, deciding to bring up my point from earlier,"and he never says 'i'. he says 'you will'. every time. he's trying to distance himself from the kidnapping, because if he said 'i'...he would be taking responsibility for it."

"and there's another missing element." hotch told us.

i bit my lip, trying to think of what it was. but morgan beat me to it,"no mention of the police. ransom notes almost always forbid police involvement."

"so is he expecting the police to get involved?" reid questioned, his head tilted slightly.

gideon shrugged as he quipped,"well, if he's expecting us, let's not disappoint him."

•

after we had gone over the case, the plane ride proved to be a little longer than we needed it to be. i was a little on edge because trish had an identical twin.

"hey," spencer turned to me,"you're okay doing this case, yeah?"

hotch and gideon looked up from the files, hearing perfectly, as they sat right across from us. they were waiting to here my answer as well.

i looked at reid's concerned eyes for a moment before shrugging,"i'll be fine. identical twins and fraternal twins are... entirely different."

"still." he put his hand on my shoulder,"if it gets to be too much, we'll all understand."

i looked at his hand that connected us. i felt my heart start to beat faster as i took in what was happening. i actually liked it. as much as it confused me.

"don't worry about me, okay?" i placed my hand on top of his, grabbing it and setting it on the table.

he glanced at our connected hands, sucking in his breath.

of course, this gave morgan the perfect opportunity to grill spencer and i on the wicked show.

"so, how was the date, you two?" he asked from the couch.

i removed my hand from his instantly.

spencer's cheeks tinted red as he stuttered,"i-it wasn't a date."

i nodded, agreeing with him,"yeah. more like an outing."

morgan smirked,"did he give you a goodnight kiss?"

i laughed, dodging the question,"no, but i gave your mother one." i held my hand out to hotch for him to high five.

he looked at me with blank eyes,"put your hand down, laine."

"got it, boss." i set my hand down as gideon chuckled.

"avoiding the question, i see." morgan eyed me suspiciously.

i rolled my eyes, but still diverted the attention away from spencer and i,"more like..." i tried to think of a way to make this work,"avoiding your mother's question to... marry me."

hotch sighed,"laine, you know we can leave you in connecticut, right?"

"shutting my mouth now, boss." i shot him finger guns and winking.

i think he was starting to warm up to me.

•

derek and i watched as trish's twin, cheryl, was lying in the dirt where trish was abducted. i watched intently, wondering if she was ever going to get up.

finally, derek got fed up and leaned over to one of cheryl's two bodyguards,"what is she doing?"

"lying on the ground." he answered blankly.

derek rolled his eyes. that was not the answer he wanted,"but why?"

"she's trying to get a feel of what happened to her sister." i muttered, completely understanding what was happening.

"what?" morgan gave me a confused look.

i shrugged, not sure how to explain it,"i don't know. twins have a weird bond," i decided to use a personal example,"one time in kindergarten finn had wandered off into the pre-k class, and darcy cried to her teacher saying he was gone, mind you she hadn't seen him that day because she was late, her hair was messed up or something. she knew something wasn't right, without any physical evidence."

"finn and darcy?" he questioned, not recognizing the names.

i realized i had never told anyone their names. the only tell was my bracelets, which i doubt he had taken notice of.

i swallowed hard, trying to speak. but i never could when it came to them,"my baby siblings."

he nodded, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"he dragged her from the car," cheryl muttered, not moving from her spot,"and she fell here. trish is a fighter. she wouldn't have gone quietly, even with a gun pointed at her."

i raised my eyebrows, impressed at the fact,"my kinda girl."

"there are nail marks on the car seat." derek confirmed cheryl's character analysis of her sister.

"so you believe your sister is still alive?" i questioned, looking at the girl with fascination.

"i know she's still alive," the blonde said definitively, standing up and wiping her clothes off with her hands,"you know the way twins know. not the 'i can feel my sister's pain' crap-"

"you don't have to explain it to me," i cut her off, seeing she was annoyed at the stereotype,"i know what you mean."

she looked at me with knit eyebrows,"do you have a twin?"

i shook my head no, trying not to let the darkness overtake me,"my little siblings are twins."

she smiled, glad to have someone who understands,"how old are they?"

i sucked in my breath, biting my lip,"they, um...they would have been twelve."

cheryl frowned,"i'm sorry."

i nodded, acknowledging her apology before moving back to the case.

•

"situs inverses, huh?" i asked, looking at reid's notes with intrigue.

reid turned to me with glowing eyes,"you've heard of situs inverses?"

i nodded and smiled,"yeah, one of kyle's patients had it. he thought it was so cool he talked about it to me for an hour."

reid frowned at the mention of my best friend's name,"yeah, well...it's pretty rare."

morgan chuckled, taking a seat next to us,"are you guys talking about crazy mcgee and her twin telepathy?"

i looked at him with wide eyes and i shook my head in disbelief at his insensitivity,"yeah, no it's okay derek, you don't have to be sensitive to the victim's twin sister, that's fine."

derek scoffed and leaned back,"i'm just saying, it's a little...out of left field."

reid, naturally, took this opportunity to spout a fact he had learned from god knows where,"actually there may be a physiological basis for it. reversed asymmetry monozygotic eggs split late between 9 to 12 days. the dna matches right down to the very last stranded code and there's sporadic documentation of shared physiological pain."

derek looked at him with judge mental eyes,"and you believe it?"

spencer shrugged, not making a definitive stance,"no, i'm just saying it's possible. i don't know everything, despite the fact that you think i do."

"i never said that," derek denied it, causing me to roll my eyes,"when have i ever said that?"

"everyday since i met you." spencer replied.

i looked up in my head, searching for a specific date. it popped into my head and i snapped my fingers,"this morning at breakfast, umm...." i trailed off, looking for another instance.

"yesterday when he beat you at cards." hotch added causing me to smiled at him.

"when he accurately predicted a basketball team's win last week, when he told us that fact about jellyfish, when he-" elle cited more sources, effectively building our case against special agent derek morgan.

"have any of you ever heard of sarcasm?" derek cut her off.

i laughed, but it was cut off quickly as gideon breezed by the room,"ransom call in one minute."

we all got up and walked into the room with all the equipment set up. gideon had gone over it earlier with mr. davenport and it all laid on the table, ready to help us catch the unsub.

mr. davenport sat at the head of the table, his desperate eyes locked on the clock that hung on the wall. gideon and hotch sat on either side of him, ready to jump into the call if need be. reid sat at a comfortable decorative chair, headphones on and laptop prepared for him to record the call and take notes.

elle, derek, and i stood off to the sides, the other cops somewhere around the house. this part of the investigation really only needed bau ears.

cheryl walked to stand next to me, biting the nail of her thumb, anxiety radiating from her. i suppose she trusted me, because of what i had shared with her earlier. not everyone gets to know about my dead siblings, and i guess it made her feel some comfort in me. which i didn't mind providing by any means. i just wanted her to feel safe, despite the chaos that was raining around her. she deserved that much.

"he's late." mr. davenport announced, his voice strangled from the nerves he was feeling.

"he'll call," hotch reassured the man,"just try to relax. this is his strategy, he wants you on edge."

suddenly the phone rang out, causing me to jump back slightly. i guess i had been anticipating this and when it came...it started me.

derek placed his hand at the small of my back, i couldn't seem to regain my balance. maybe it was my slippery heels, that i now vowed to never wear again.

"remember to repeat any important information he gives you to make sure you understand," gideon reminded davenport before he answered the phone,"you try to keep him talking to reveal something about trish or about himself."

mr. davenport nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. he needed to keep himself calm, as hard as it was.

almost reluctantly, he pressed the green button to answer the call,"this is evan davenport."

my phone started to buzz erratically in my pocket. my eyes widened as i got out of the room quickly, making my way to the kitchen.

i looked to see kyle calling. i was going to hang up, but i got the nagging feeling that it might be something important.

"this better be a matter of life or death." i whispered, trying not to create a stir in the other room.

"did you know you're supposed to put pop tarts in the toaster?"

i covered my mouth with my hand, amazed that he had the audacity to call me about pop tarts right now.

"kyle, i will eviscerate you with those pop tarts if you don't leave me alone," i said through gritted teeth, still trying to be quiet,"the man who kidnapped our victim is on the phone right now."

"sorry, it's nighttime. i thought you'd be at your hotel by now."

i sighed,"i'm not and i really have to go."

"okay, i'll-"

i hung up and walked back into the room just in time to hear the unsub say,"i want to talk to cheryl."

cheryl looked at me with wide eyes as gideon sprang to press the mute button.

"what is he doing?" davenport asked angrily.

i sighed, running a hand through my hair,"he's establishing dominance."

i walked over to cheryl's side as elle asked,"how long can we keep him on hold?"

hotch shook his head,"we can't put her on."

i had to disagree,"i don't think we have much of a choice. we put on cheryl, he talks more, he reveals more."

hotch and gideon shared a look, mulling over my words. cheryl looked at them expectantly, waiting idly by for an answer.

gideon hung his head,"we can't. laine, pretend to be cheryl."

i figured that was close enough to what i wanted, so i walked over and pressed the green button, trying my best to imitate cheryl's voice,"this is cheryl."

when he didn't answer, simply let out an exasperated sigh, i reiterated,"hello? this is cheryl."

"a very close imitation, i'll admit," the unsub told us, making me look up at the ceiling in frustration. he didn't buy it,"but, i have patricia by my side. i know her voice therefore i know her sister's. get off the phone. i want cheryl. i'll give you 60 seconds. if you don't put her on the phone i will hang up and you will never hear from me or patricia again."

gideon pressed the red button as he caved,"prep her."

•

hotch and i barged back into the house, my arm wrapped around cheryl to comfort her. the drop wasn't a drop at all and she was crushed.

mr. davenport ran to us and when he didn't see doubles he cried out,"where's trish?! what happened?"

"it wasn't a ransom drop," i said angrily, walking back into the telephone room with the rest of the team,"it was an attempted second kidnapping."

everyone looked shocked, except for hotch and i, who were just pissed off. mr. davenport pulled cheryl into a hug, thankful he didn't lose her as well. i'm not sure he would have been able to handle it.

the phone rang and, me being the closest, i pressed the green button.

"that was fun, wasn't it? a little running around, getting our pulses racing," the unsub said cockily, making me want to deck him in the face. i had fired three shots, despite how i felt about guns, and it had done almost nothing except a little damage to his car.

cheryl remained silent, as did the rest of us,"are you there, cheryl? are you there?!" she made no attempt to speak,"tell me you didn't feel a slight tingle, a thrill run up your spine. huh? but those clever and cunning fbi agents deduced my little plan just in time. they figured it out. if they hadn't, i would have had you both. the whole set. the matching pair."

i cringed at the words, they're connotation making me feel dirty. i felt today's jolly ranchers coming back up and to fight the urge to void them.

"why are you doing this?" cheryl asked, with a shaky voice, tears slipping from her eyes.

"because you asked me to, cheryl," he answered, causing me to look at cheryl with surprise. until he spoke again,"you asked me with your glances. the way you talk. those little gestures."

i gave her a weary glance, pressing the red button quickly,"cheryl you can't engage with him, especially if you want to know what he wants."

"you asked for this cheryl!" his voice boomed from the speakers,"you asked for it!"

cheryl's demeanor changed from injured lamb, to angry and determined mountain lion. his words had angered her, which i understood because if you ever tell a woman she asked for it, they have every right to chew your head off.

"what do you want?!" she yelled at him, no longer scared of his threats.

"what do i want?!" he asked angrily,"you! it may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but i promise you: we will be together."

and with that he hung up.

•

i sat at the head of the table, waiting for the call from our unsub. gideon had chosen me to mess with his head, knowing it was a special skill of mine.

"you're sure you can do this, agent harris-tran?" hotch asked me, leaning against the table.

i smirked, confident in my abilities,"i can play narcissistic men like a fiddle. i dated male leads all through high school, they're the most pretentious of them all. i've got this down-pat."

hotch nodded, easing up a little.

the phone started to ring and i smiled devilishly, letting the games begin. i took a deep breath, getting into character, letting the phone ring.

mr. davenport sprung up, reaching over me to answer the call. i pushed his hand away and turned to him,"trust me."

i let it ring a few more times before answering and immediately hanging up afterwards.

"what are you doing?!" davenport asked angrily.

i held my hand up, a magician never reveals her secrets.

the phone rang again and i smiled, letting it continue to ring.

i pressed the green button, asking in a bored voice,"hello?" i popped my gum, wanting to seem as uninterested as possible. the gum was something i had thought of in the kitchen, knowing my ex had hated when i did that.

"that better have been a technical issue with the line, because if you actually just hung up on-" i cut him off with the dial tone as i ended the call.

"what the hell are you doing?" davenport asked through gritted teeth.

the ringing started up once again, like i knew it would. i stared at my nails, checking out my manicure. i had fully stepped into this character and i wasn't getting out until i got what i want.

i adjusted my rings, my gum continuing to pop in my mouth. the phone only kept ringing.

"is she gonna answer?" i heard cheryl ask elle.

"w-why is she doing this? she clearly doesn't even care about what's going on!" it was then i knew my character was having just the right affect. davenport whipped his head towards me,"answer the phone damn it, you're gonna drive him crazy!"

derek leaned over, whispering to hotch,"she's good, i can't tell if she cares either."

cheryl reached over to answer the phone, but elle grabbed her and pulled her back,"why isn't she answering?! someone needs to answer!"

"she knows what she's doing, cheryl." elle told her, keeping her arms around the girl.

the phone stopped ringing momentarily, but started again just as quickly. i sighed and answered it.

"what?" i rolled my eyes and grabbed the nail file in front of me, working on shaping my nails.

"are you out of your mind?!" the unsub's voice shook with anger,"you do realize that i'll kill patricia? do you-"

i hung up and let out a yawn. he called again and i waited moments to answer.

"she's killing my daughter!" davenport screamed, derek and hotch having to restrain him as he continued to yell at me.

i needed to concentrate and having a grown man screaming in my face wasn't helping,"shut him up!" i yelled, breaking character for a second.

i waited until he was quiet to answer again,"patricia is dead! you hang up on me and i rip her open!"

i heard cheryl's muffled scream, but i simply rolled my eyes, blowing a bubble with my gum,"dude, i think you have the wrong number."

i hung up and the room was silent. but knew he'd be back.

"you killed my daughter." davenport slumped his shoulders, looking dead inside.

it was a mind game for all, apparently. i looked up at him through lashes and shook my head,"she's alive."

"what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"saving your daughter." i answered as the phone started ringing. i pressed the green button.

"put cheryl on the phone." the unsub demanded.

i scoffed,"you're done talking to cheryl."

the unsub laughed,"well, for such a new girl you do seem to be calling the shots, don't you? agent harris-tran," he said as if him knowing my name was supposed to scare me,"do you really think anyone respects you? a washed up actor with such an immense amount of hubris that it takes up the whole room."

i raised my eyebrows, patronizing him, and still keeping up the uninterested act by crunching on chips,"well, that's a very interesting conclusion. how long did it take you to look through the thesaurus?"

he was absolutely seething,"i know about you! i know about all of you!"

he then went after every member of our team, but it made no difference to me. he might have affected the others, but i stopped listening awhile ago.

when he finished i sighed deeply,"are you done yet? it's late, call in the morning and maybe i'll answer."

i heard his angry scream,"i know what to do next! do you?" he hung up.

"you're welcome." i looked up, smiling at how much i had been able to get out of him.

"you expect me thank you?!" davenport seethed, ready to wring my neck,"how did you help at all?"

i smiled devilishly,"i got him to tell us how to find him."

•

i sat on the plane, elle and derek had finished off the job. mr. davenport demanded that i had nothing to do with the case after what i did to his daughter.

and by that he meant 'you saved her, i hate you'.

my eyes were closed as i leaned against the back of my seat.

"you were amazing out there," i heard spencer say. i sat up, looking at him as he continued to talk his eyes shined with awe,"you know, with the call."

i smiled lightly,"i was just playing a character."

jj laughed from her seat,"well you had everyone convinced. i genuinely thought you were gonna get trish killed."

"now i get why gideon hired you, lainey." derek gave the backhanded compliment.

i gave him an annoyed look before turning back to spencer,"it got me thrown off the case."

spencer shook his head,"it got you everything we needed to find this guy, and thanks to your trish and cheryl are safe. it's not a loss."

i smiled as he walked away to take his seat. he somehow manages to make everything good. funny how that works.