i walked into the office, holding a small present in my hands. today was spencer's birthday, and i'll admit, i didn't really know him that well. but i'm a gift giver, so i just got him a bracelet. he might hate it, but i couldn't show up empty handed.

morgan, elle, and jj stood at spencer's desk, placing a cake and cake hat on it.

"hey, guys. what's with the hat?" i asked as i put my bag down in my chair.

morgan smiled devilishly,"my idea. you know what else was my idea?"

i looked at him expectantly, to which he pulled a box of trick candles from his pocket. i laughed and nodded, trick candles were always a great idea,"nice touch."

"yeah, but you need to put them in the cake." jj told him.

"that's what she said!" i fired off quickly.

elle and jj looked less than amused, but morgan chuckled and high fived me. at least someone appreciates my banter.

jj took the candles from morgan and shoved them into the cake, and i started to light them, knowing reid would be here any second.

we heard the door open, reid appearing from thin air. morgan smiled, grabbing the hat and running over to him. he smacked the hat on reid's head and brought him over to his desk.

i finished lighting them, setting the lighter down and grinning,"okay, spence, make a wish."

he looked at me for a second, smiling before closing his eyes and blowing at the candles.

of course, it was to no avail, because again, they were trick candles.

"come on! blow, baby, blow!" morgan exclaimed, his eyes lit with amusement.

"that's what-" i started, but elle elbowed me.

"laine, one was plenty." she shook her head, acting like it was annoying. but i could see the ends of her lips upturned in enjoyment.

after a few more painful seconds of reid still trying to blow out his candles, i decided to put an end to it,"alright, come on, they're not gonna work."

jj nodded in confirmation,"they're trick candles, reid. they're gonna come back on every time."

morgan rolled his eyes and teased,"oh, mommy to the rescue."

"mommy?" spencer questioned, not understanding what he meant at all.

i chuckled and shrugged as spencer stood up. i grabbed the present box and walked to him,"hey, um, i got you something," he gave me a strange look, which made me nervously talk more,"i know we don't really know each other that well, but um...i-i'm a gift giver so...here." i handed him the box.

he smiled lightly, our fingertips grazing for only a second,"thank you." he opened it, revealing a simple silver bracelet. he didn't exactly look enthusiastic.

i frowned, knowing i had made the wrong choice,"you hate it."

he looked at me with concerned eyes,"no, no, it's great."

i sighed, feeling bad that he now needed to lie to me,"it's okay, spencer, you don't have to wear it."

he shook his head, still trying to console me in some way,"no, i'm gonna put it on right now," he took it out of the box,"can, you, um, can you help me?"

i smiled lightly, his helplessness was very cute. it was very possible he was just doing this to make me happy, but i appreciated that he cared enough to do that. i took the bracelet and unclasped it, wrapping it around his wrist and redoing the clasp.

he smiled reassuringly at me and walked over to gideon.

i looked over at morgan, elle, and jj who were giving me an insinuating smirk.

"cake, delainey?" morgan asked me, not commenting on whatever it was he found so amusing.

"one don't call me delainey," i shot annoyed look, causing him to smile,"and no thanks, i don't like icing."

he looked at me with disgust, but didn't say anything. just glared at me taking a bite of his cake.

i shook my head and laughed, taking a seat at my desk.

•

"they're calling him the tommy killer," hotch told us, passing out the files,"six women raped and murdered in their homes in the last three weeks."

"six in three weeks?" elle asked with raised eyebrows,"short fuse."

"and getting shorter," hotch replied, looking at the information on the sheet,"the first two were eight days apart, the next four in two weeks."

"rapid escalation. do you think he's going into a psychopathic frenzy?" reid asked.

i picked up a picture, engrossed in it's likeness. the woman's eyes had been glued open and they were the exact same color as my little sister's.

my breath hitched, i was unable to listen to anything else said. i couldn't hear anything but the sound of my sister's screaming and i could only see their crime scene.

i was drawn back into the deepest place of my mind, unable to stop myself.

i walked into the house to see my dad's crying, their whole bodies trembling. they couldn't bring themselves to walk any closer into serial killer's basement. they couldn't even bare to see if it was them.

they sent me to identify the bodies. i walked slowly, the steps creaking underneath me. i wanted to believe that if i just walked slower, i could delay the inevitable. they had been missing for a week.

i reached the final step, policemen swarming around the room, taking their pictures for evidence. i glanced around the room, my eyes landing on the bodies. they were so battered and beat up, i barely recognized them. but i knew their eyes. and the necklaces that i had given them for their birthday.

tears poured out of my eyes, my whole body was on fire. i screamed, louder than i ever knew i could. they're eyes were wide open, their clothes had switched. she was wearing his sweater and pants and he was wearing her pink dress. i didn't understand why at the time, but i was told it was part of the killer's signature. i was disgusted that my kid siblings were being used as a 'signature'. but it wasn't his only one:they were holding hands, something i would never be able to get over.

"lainey," spencer shook my shoulder lightly. i drew back quickly, my breathing unsteady as he asked me,"are you okay?"

i nodded, trying to compose myself,"fine, but um," i cleared my throat,"he uh, glues their eyes open?"

"he wants them to see him." hotch nodded.

"and feel him."

•

i sat in a chair on the plane, facing hotch at the table. but i wasn't looking him. i was staring at the bracelets i was wearing.

they were the necklaces i had gotten my siblings, but i had turned them into bracelets. it read their names, finn and darcy.

i managed to peel my eyes away from my wrist to catch hotch referencing an outdated ballad,"fair lady, throw those costly robes aside. no longer may you glory in your pride. take leave of all your carnal, vain delight-"

"i've come to summon you away this night," i cut him off, recognizing the literature. everyone looked at me with surprise, wondering how i knew that,"it's a ballad from the late seventeenth century. conversation between death and a lady, kyle and i performed it at a theatre competition. took first place."

"a seventeenth century ballad?" elle quirked her eyebrows.

spencer nodded, knowing of the ballad as well,"yeah, it's basically about a woman begging death to live."

"what kind of person knows this ballad? a lit professor, maybe?" jj asked.

"anyone with internet connection, actually," spencer corrected her,"you should see what comes up when you put 'death' into a search engine."

morgan chuckled, jokingly replying,"reid, no wonder you can't get a date."

i looked at reid, thinking he might have understood the tone, but instead it actually pricked a nerve. he looked upset.

noticing this, i tried to save him,"well, um, kyle and i found it at a public library in manhattan."

gideon nodded,"well...you two stay on the messages. see if there's a deeper meaning."

•

reid, jj, and i stood at the white board, looking at all the pieces of the ballad that had been left at the scenes.

the other members of the team tended to other things, but we were stuck on poem duty. i should have just kept my mouth shut about knowing it, then i could be in the action.

"my name is death, have you not heard of me? you may as well be mute," jj recited, looking at one of the verses,"creepy, huh?"

spencer disagreed, spouting another fact,"actually, conversations between death and his victims was a fairly popular literary and artistic theme throughout the renaissance."

jj stared at him for a second, not taking in anything he said,"yeah, creepy."

i looked intently at the words,"the woman part of the ballad...it's missing."

reid nodded slowly,"it's the first three versus of the ballad, but the woman's lines have been cut."

"it's only one part of the conversation. there's no between, it's one sided completely. death speaks, but the lady doesn't answer." i pointed out. it had been years, but i had this ballad burned in my brain. especially after it won kyle and i first place.

"maybe he feels like their bodies are answer enough." jj suggested.

"maybe." i responded, not one hundred percent sure that was the case.

spencer continued to read the ballad out loud,"here is no time at all for vain dispute your riches, gold, and garments, jewels bright your house and land must on new owners light."

"her riches," i said quietly, feeling there was a connection,"he goes after upper middle class women, right?"

"yeah." jj answered, looking at me with expectant eyes.

i bit the nail of my thumb, finding something i thought to be important,"i think he's jealous. he destroyed every valuable item in the house, he didn't take it."

spencer wrote jealousy on the board. it was only a hunch, i couldn't say for sure, but it definitely held some traction.

•

gideon and morgan walked into the bullpen, hopeful that reid and i had made a discovery.

"found something?" gideon asked.

spencer sighed,"not an answer, a question. laine wrote the whole ballad down, and just to be sure we found the full text. he's pretty much following it exactly, at least on the death part of the conversation."

"but?" gideon asked, aware that wasn't the point.

i decided to interject, i would get to it quicker. spencer likes to ramble, which i actually find very endearing, but we didn't have the time,"why didn't he leave them at the first three murders? there's ten verses and that's just on the death side. if it's not a part of his signature, and he doesn't do it for emotional release, then why start?"

gideon gave it a moment of thought, turning to address jj,"find out when the press started running stories on the unsub."

"when?" jj looked for clarification.

"after which victim."

"you got it." she walked away to make some calls.

"what are you thinking?" morgan asked, looking down at him with crossed arms.

gideon shrugged,"i'm thinking he wasn't getting enough attention."

his words made sense to me, making everything click in my head. especially after jj told us he only started getting recognition after the fourth victim.

"tell 'em we're ready for the profile." gideon instructed.

•

after we had given the profile, jj did the press conference and set up a tip-line. we were gonna make the killer contact us. we had falsely identified another rape attempt as the tommy killer specifically to lure him out. he wouldn't allow someone taking credit for his work, it was the perfect plan. it'll be all over the news any minute. and then we'll get the call, garcia was prepared for a trap and trace.

i twisted the ring i wore on my pointer finger in anticipation and a little nervousness. i sat at a desk that the police station had offered us, groaning to no one in particular,"i hate waiting like this."

"do you think it's weird i knew the ballad?" spencer asked abruptly, ignoring what i said completely.

i swung my chair over to face him,"i knew the ballad."

"yeah, but..." he trailed off, feeling like there was difference between my knowledge and his,"do you think it's why i can't get a date?"

i chuckled, finding his concern cute,"well, have you ever asked anyone out?"

"no."

i shrugged, not understanding his overthinking,"that's why you can't get a date."

he looked at me for a moment,"do you get dates?"

i laughed and bit my lip, the personal question flustering me a little bit,"i do alright for myself. not necessarily dates, but..." i trailed off, not wanting to go into further detail.

"got it." reid said quickly, his cheeks flushing red.

i pressed my lips together awkwardly, over-sharing once again.

a phone started to ring, it was line six. a detective gestured for us to come over. my heart fluttered as i sprung up and walked to the phone with my team.

"line six, penelope, line six." jj spoke urgently.

gideon answered the call, the unsub's voice booming, laced with intense and burning anger,"you stupid, incompetent sons of bitches! i don't make mistakes," i looked at the phone with raised eyebrows and an amused smirk. profiling is an amazing science,"i am death! you hear me?! i am death! you'll see now. tomorrow, mark my words, you will see. and while i'm taking her, i'm gonna be thinking of you."

he hung up immediately after, leaving no time for us to play anymore mind games.

"anything?" jj asked garcia. after a few seconds, jj's face showed it wasn't anything good,"she said she got nothing."

"nothing?" i gaped. garcia is an amazing tech analyst, so whatever this guy did...it must have been good.

•

first thing this morning, morgan, reid, and i had gotten an undercover red car. i was sitting in the back, morgan in the driver's seat, reid in the passenger. i was eating scooby doo gummies, i didn't get the chance to eat breakfast.

"hey, lainey?" morgan asked, looking around the street.

"huh?" i responded, digging out a blue scooby.

"what kind of car do you drive?"

i knit my eyebrows together,"why?"

he shrugged,"it can tell a lot about a person. we don't know each other all that well, so...tell me."

i sighed, setting down my gummies and tucking my hair behind my ear,"a 1969 toyota land cruiser."

morgan smiled,"what color?"

i sucked my teeth, not seeing the point to all of this,"mint green."

spencer clearly had no idea what the car looked like due to his utterly confused face,"what does that tell you about her?"

morgan smiled lightly,"a vintage car means you value your individuality. you always have, it probably stems from your childhood. my guess is your parents let you express yourself through clothing or hair during your adolescence and you've carried it to your adulthood. am i in the ballpark?"

i narrowed my eyes, knowing he was spot on,"yeah, well chris and james were very into free will and all that," i referred to my parents, before seeing if he had anything else for me,"what else?"

morgan smirked, having a lot more to say,"the unique color of your car means you like attention. you want people to notice you, which is probably why musical theatre was so appealing to you; people's sole focus is on you for an hour or longer," he looked at my dumbfounded face, his words were scarily accurate,"heard enough?"

i nodded quickly,"yes, but good job."

"so he was right?" spencer turned to me with raised eyebrows.

"pretty much." i shrugged.

•

derek sighed. it had been an hour of our stakeout and there was still nothing,"he could be anywhere in this neighborhood. he knows the area, he's comfortable with it, and he's had victims on either side of us. god, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, here."

"actually, it's more like looking for a needle in a stack of needles." spencer corrected him.

"what?" i asked, derek's analogy making a lot more sense to me.

spencer shook his head, further explaining,"a needle in a haystack would stand out. we're looking for a particular needle in a stack of needles. you could find a needle in a haystack with a magnet."

i nodded slowly as morgan's phone beeped. spencer sure was an oddball, but i actually thought he was really cool. and i liked that he knew a lot of stuff. some would call him a know it all, but i'd just call him awesome.

"it's gideon. we have a name."

•

we ran into the phone technician work place, needing information as soon as possible.

we stopped at the front desk, his voice rigid with a touch of urgency,"fbi," we quickly flashed our badges,"we need to know where one of your technicians is."

"fbi?" the man asked with a frightened voice.

"where is franklin graney?" i asked sharply, not having time to put him at ease.

the man quickly typed in his computer, searching for the thing we needed,"875 orange street."

"thank you," i said quickly, whipping out my phone and calling gideon. it took a second for him to answer,"gideon. 875 orange street."

"alright, we've got it from here. go ahead and go back to the station." he told me.

"got it, good luck," i heard the dial tone and looked up to reid and morgan,"he said to go back to the station."

•

i sat on the plane, arguing with kyle over mrs. rodiguez.

"kyle, i'm on the plane coming home now. but i won't be there in time for her appointment. just go alone." i advised, rolling my eyes at his dramatics.

he groaned,"but they're mean to me when you aren't there."

"because you're helpless, kyle!" i snapped, needing him to gain a little bit of intelligence, "you never remember anything about mrs. rodriguez and it pisses them off." i leaned back in my seat, annoyed at him.

"which is why you need to be there. laine, please can i reschedule?" i heard mrs. rodriguez start barking, causing me to smile.

"the lady has spoken, dummy. good luck." i smirked and hung up before he could say anything else.

i felt a presence near me and looked up to see spencer,"hey, laine."

"hey. what's up?" i asked as he took a seat next to me.

he stared down at the box in his hands, trying to gain the courage to ask me something. i smiled lightly, my heart fluttering as he pulled out tickets to something.

"um, you like musical theatre." he said definitely.

i looked at him with fake shock,"how'd you know that?"

confusion painted his face, my sarcasm flying over his head,"wh- you...you talk about it all the time, i don't-" he stopped when he saw my amused grin. he chuckled lightly, easing up in the slightest bit,"that was a joke, right."

i nodded and nudged him,"you're learning." he smiled lightheartedly and stared at me for a second, forgetting all about the tickets. i held his gaze for a moment, but looked down at his hands, when things became weird for me,"so...what's with the tickets?"

he shook himself out of his trance and held them up to me,"do you, um, do you wanna go see wicked...with me?"

i smiled and bit my lip, trying to steady my fast beating heart,"you like musicals?"

he shrugged,"i could. maybe."

"well, let's find out." i answered, causing him to break out in a grin.

and he thought no one would go out with him.