two,  old white men!

UPON LANDING IN ALABAMA, Billie Jean and David Rossi were immediately shooed off to the county morgue. In the car, Billie had called Maris to let her know that she had landed safely and tied her hair up due to the humidity, which she complained about to Maris— David chuckled softly at this. Her phone call ended as they arrived at their destination, a little building that looked like a run-down hospital. Billie frowned, but exited the vehicle as it was shut off and she followed Rossi towards the building.

The smell of bleach was heavy in the air once they entered the county morgue, and it made Billie crunch her nose. She internally chastised herself, she should've been used to it since the Roosevelt Institute used bleach and other various cleaning supplies to keep the odor of decomposing bodies and other odors away. It was just so strong, and Billie was afraid she'd begin choking on the stench.

Billie shook her shoulders, a way to regain control.

She continued to follow Rossi down the hallway, and waited for the elevator to open. Their ride to the basement was silent, but Billie really didn't mind. When they stepped off the elevator, the stench was worse, and combined with the smell of decomposing flesh. Again, Billie had the urge to crunch her nose, and she glanced to Rossi, who did the same thing out of surprise.

Rossi pushed open the door to the secluded morgue, and held it open for Billie, then followed her in. He smiled softly at the county coroner in greeting.

"Dr. Edwards, SSA Rossi and Dr. Austin." David Rossi introduced the two of them, and he didn't miss the off glance that the older doctor gave towards Billie. Rossi ignored it, for now. "We're here about the six bodies."

"Hm." Edwards nodded, and he casted another side glance to Billie. "A doctor, hm?"

Billie gave a condescending smile, "Yes. Expert in entomology, and forensic anthropology. I'm here because of the bugs."

"Interesting," he commented simply as he pulled on a new pair of gloves, and handed another pair to Rossi. Billie Jean pulled an expression of confusion when he simply pointed at the box of latex gloves, but grabbed a pair for herself anyway. Dr. Edwards pulled the first three bodies out of storage, all in a row. "Cause of death was exsanguination, but they were unconscious before they went into the lake. I found blunt force trauma at the base of the skull, then a small slice was made on the neck, right where the carotid artery is located."

"Death was quick and painless," Billie Jean murmured quietly to herself.

"I was told to send the water and blood samples to a Roosevelt Institute?" Dr. Edwards wanted to confirm. "Who would be handling those samples?"

Billie Jean glanced up at the old man, and grinned reassuringly. "Dr. Kama, my assistant at the Institute. He's very capable of handling the samples."

"Kama?"

"He's Indian."

David Rossi had to purse his lips to prevent the slippage of a chuckle. But, god, it was hilarious how Billie Jean had answered him so quickly, and it wasn't hard to see exactly who this doctor was. He was an older, white man who probably had lived in the South for most of his life.

Without another comment, they moved onto the next set of bodies. Two twenty-somethings, a male and a female, found on the edge of a marsh and surrounded by frogs, discovered by a couple of university students from the city. Billie Jean decided that she'd be taking a trip to the marsh later this evening.

When Dr. Edwards pulled out the last body, Billie crouched down to get a closer look. She paid no attention to the coroner as he spoke with Rossi, and frankly, he paid no attention to her. It wasn't a secret, Dr. Edwards did like Billie Jean, and she was okay with that. Except, when she called Rossi over, Dr. Edwards shot her a dirty look and Rossi came around the table.

"What is it?"

Billie Jean pointed at his wrist, "Do you see it? It's super faint, but it's there. I'm guessing it's about a week old, before time of death." She looked up to the  older doctor, "Are these in your report?"

Dr. Edwards rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's irrelevant to the death. He was known to wear a watch most days, but no watch was discovered at the scene." He scoffed, "Besides, I don't need a woman telling me how to do my job when I've been doing this job for longer than you've been alive."

She bit her tongue, holding back the smart remark. Instead, she had Rossi hold the victim's wrist as she snapped off her gloves and used her phone for the photographs. She slid her phone back into her pocket when she finished, and thanked the coroner with a sly smile as Rossi took off his gloves. They left, and as soon as her back was to the coroner, Billie rolled her eyes in frustration.

Rossi called for the elevator at the end of the hall, and they stepped on and watched the doors close.

"God," Billie Jean groaned, "Old white men."

"Hey!" Rossi tried to sound offended, but he was way too amused, his soft chuckle gave him away. "You're gonna see a lot of that in this town, kid. Don't let it get to you."

She sighed, "I know. It's just, people like him are the reason I left home. I lived in Dallas for a good majority of my life, but I left during college and decided I liked D.C. a hell lot more. I don't have time for old, racist men."



❝ARE ANY OF THEM cute?" Maris asked over the video call, and Billie couldn't be more thankful that she had earbuds plugged in. She rolled her eyes, and ignored the question. Billie was in the middle of a conference call with Tej, but Maris jumped in when she heard her best friend's voice.

"Expect those samples in the morning, Kama." Billie told him as she tightened her ponytail. Then she glanced to Maris, with the sole purpose to entertain her. "Alvez is," she answered with a shrug. "Reid too."

Maris grinned, "What if we swung the other way?"

"No, I'm done, Ms. Lee." Billie chuckled at the saddened expression on her best friend's face. "Besides, I heard that we got some paintings last week that have yet to be checked out and examined. I refuse to let that place fall apart just because I'm not there. Get to work."

Maris stuck her tongue out at Billie Jean before the left the frame, and Billie and Tej shared a look before they laughed together. Tej nodded his head when he settled down. "I'll start those samples as soon as they get here, Dr. Austin."

"Thank you, Tej." Billie Jean smiled, "Have Dr. Esmond call me in the morning, and please keep those two out of trouble."

"Yes, ma'am. Goodnight, Billie."

Billie Jean waved, "Goodnight, Tej."

When he hung up the call, she closed her laptop and took out her earbuds, and stood up from the end of the table. Emily shot her a soft glance as she joined the group, and she pointed at the printed photographs of the sixth victim's wrist.

"Rossi told me about that," Emily commented, and Billie tapped the photograph twice more.

"Yeah," she muttered as she narrowed her eyes. "Have any of you ever get head lice as a child? When I was in the second grade, there was a huge outbreak and we sent home for a good three weeks. I got lucky, my mom caught it early and I only had it for a couple days, but it's terrible. I'm thinking that our UNSUB tied our victim up to plant the lice, then when he deemed it, cut the restraints. It's torture, because scratching doesn't provide much relief. I saw the scratch marks on the victim's arms and legs, I didn't see his scalp."

JJ's eyes widened as she was taken back slightly. "That's unlike any torture we've seen."

Billie looked back to Emily, "If possible, I'd like to check out the bodies before the coroner does. He didn't document the ligature marks on his—" her eyes glistened as she got a sudden idea. "Can I pull rank on him?"

Emily chuckled, but shook her head. "No, we need to play nice with the locals. They don't like us enough. Chief gave me enough grief."

"Racist a—holes," Billie Jean muttered as she dropped her head, but she quickly regained her posture. "I'm gonna check out the second dump site, is that alright?"

Alvez stepped forward, "I'll go with her."

Emily then nodded, and let the two go on their way.

a/n → haven't updated since January? oops, sorry y'all 😬 but here's more our sweet baby Billie