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𝑬 𝑽 𝑬 𝑹 𝑮 𝑹 𝑬 𝑬 𝑵
❝ 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 ❞

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ㅤ"𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐒: 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐋𝐎𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐒," Derek began, starting off their debrief on the plane. "Both killed in public places."

Sitting next to him was May, who continued. "Chloe was killed while walking her dog on the beach in Santa Monica, which she did every morning."

"And Wally was killed outside of a massage parlor," JJ read out loud, stepping out from the back of the plane with a coffee in hand before sitting beside Elle.

"In Culver City," Derek added.

"Which he went to every Tuesday," Elle added.

"Well, if he knows their schedules, maybe that means he follows his victims for a while," May offered.

It was then that Hotch entered the conversation. "And not a single witness. Regardless of the location, he has the ability to hide in plain sight."

"He's meticulous," Elle commented.

"The media's calling Natalie Ryan's murder the biggest celebrity homicide since Sharon Tate," JJ spoke up, looking at all of them pointedly.

Elle scoffed. "What does that mean for us?"

Hotch looked down. "That everybody will be watching."

Eventually, they arrive at the LAPD precinct, meeting with Gideon and Spencer who were waiting for them. The latter quickly gave May a hug in greeting, whispering details of the case in rapid succession as they walked towards the detective they were working whose name was Owen Kim.

May's outfit, as usual, was turning heads with its oddity and lack of normal professionalism. It's LA, she defended in her head as she looked down at her outfit consisting of a white tank top underneath a green cardigan, paired with loose, gray denim pants held up by a brown belt. On her feet were some black sneakers.

After getting introduced to each other, they quickly explained their findings.

"This guy is an assassin?" Detective Kim wondered, brows furrowed as he looked towards the BAU, all of them sitting in his office.

"When you look at the victimology, there's no obvious links," Derek explained from beside May again. "All the kills are cleaned except in the instance of the last victim, Jeremy Collins."

"There's absolutely no evidence left at the crime scene," Elle pointed out. "There's no DNA, no manifestation of psychosexual release, and there's no detectable signature of any kind."

"Remember, our profiles are formulated not just by what's present at the scene but also what's absent," Gideon reminded the detective upon entering the room, quickly taking the detective back to the seminar he'd attended prior. So, he nodded at Gideon's words.

"From all the evidence we've gathered, we believe that you're looking for a type 4 assassin," May spoke up, turning the detective's attention towards her.

"Type 4?" He wondered.

"Type 1's are political assassins, like John Wilkes Booth," Spencer explained. "Type 2's are egocentrics looking for simple recognition."

"Type 3's are psychopaths, cold-blooded killers who leave far messier scenes," Hotch added.

"And type 4, our unsub," May sighed, "suffers from a major mental disorder...and is frequently delusional." She then crossed her arms and leaned back against the back of her chair.

"The closer we come to figuring out that delusion, the closer we'll get to finding the unsub," Spencer told the detective, who was looking at them in contemplation, before looking down in thought.

"Well, what's he going to be doing until we do?" He asked.

Gideon looked at him. "Finding other victims."

They were then plunged in silence as they all realized the gravity of this current case. May couldn't help herself from fiddling with her fingers while deep in thought, unknowingly catching Derek's attention with her fidgeting. He chuckled under his breath, a mellifluous sound that was caught by her heightened hearing, and offered his own hand to her. Biting her lip, she accepted the gesture and began to play with his rough and calloused hands.

This interaction didn't go unnoticed by Spencer, who rolled his eyes.

The silence was then broken by a knock on the open door, everyone shifting their attention towards a stubby man who said a quick 'excuse me' before asking for a detective Kim.

"Right here," the man in question said to him. "Uh, you're heading the investigation into the Natalie Ryan murder?"

"Yes."

"Well, um, my-- I have a client. She's uh," the man kept stuttering. "Is there another place we can be private?"

"We're all working this murder," the detective nodded to him, inviting him to speak with everyone paying attention to him.

The man nervously looked around and nodded. "Well, um," he cleared his throat, "she received a note, my client did, and she freaked out. I told her not to worry about it--"

"Where's the note?" Derek cut him off. The man handed the note to him, and he quickly showed it to everyone. It was an article about Natalie Ryan's murder, and the words 'you owe me' was written on it.

"Where's your client?" Hotch asked.

"She's waiting in the other room." At this point, everyone had exchanged looks, knowing that this could be a lead. Derek quickly offered himself to talk to her, along with the Wonder Twins, leaving everyone else in the detective's office, wondering about the implications of this note.

Upon entering the room, it was a shock to both Derek and May when Spencer revealed that he and the Lila Archer, knew each other. May tried not to let her smile show, but when she looked at Derek's face of shock, she couldn't help but let out a breathy giggle, patting him on the shoulder to break his stupor, then she quickly led all of them out to talk with the rest of the team.

After talking to the actress and giving the profile to the detectives, the team made quick work into making sure the actress was safe. After another message from her stalker, Derek, May, and Spencer were once again assigned together, to watch over the actress as she shoots her show.

May was quick to tease Spencer about Lila's obvious flirting with him, enjoying the way the man blubbered and continuously asked her to stop, teasing her back about Derek after knowing her own affections, especially now that she was doing their dishes. May, of course, stopped to make sure he wasn't uncomfortable, but immediately after, Derek began to do the teasing.

Derek was relentless compared to May, grinning at Spencer and shooting him looks every time Lila was in their vicinity. Little did he know that Spencer was doing the exact same with May.

Then came the news that Lila's agent was now a part of the list of victims. Of course, there was a shift in the assignments; Spencer was left to care for Lila alone given how comfortable he is with her compared to the rest; Elle, Gideon, and Hotch were looking at the mess left by the stalker in Ryer's office; and finally, Derek, May, and Detective Kim were together, looking for Joe Martinez.

When they came upon his office and saw images of Spencer with Lila, making them assume he's now also a target, May couldn't help herself from bristling in anger and a ringing began in her ears. The thought of him hurt will always, always, make her irrational. But the presence of Derek beside her brought her back to reality, and his words of reassurance actually helped.

"We're gonna get this guy," he told her with a certainty only he possessed, and she believed him.

On their way back to the car, a motorcycle's engine caught May's attention. She quickly glimpsed at the rider, brows furrowing at the silhouette. Before she could point the person out, they revved and rushed towards them.

"Derek! Kim!" She warned, quickly rushing to both men—admittedly using her abilities—to push them both down and make sure they wouldn't get hurt. A gunshot rang in the air, making her flinch. "You guys okay?"

Detective Kim groaned. "Bullet grazed my shoulder."

Derek nodded. "I'll call for help."

It wasn't long before the secret's out: that it was Maggie Lowe all along.

Maggie Lowe, Lila's assistant. Friend since college. Got obsessed with her after staying together for a weekend, years ago. Though May has known her fair share of...well, everything, it still baffles her sometimes that someone can be obsessively infatuated by someone—enough to kill others—in just a snap of a finger.

Soon after wrapping up the case, and teasing Spencer about the whole Lila Archer thing, they were on the plane back to Quantico. While Spencer and Gideon played their regular game of chess, Derek surprisingly asked her to teach him how to play go.

This request had everyone turning heads to their resident door-kicker.

At the stares he was receiving, Derek had to ask, "What?"

"You? Playing go? With May?" Elle gave him a smirk. "Really?"

"What?!"

"Nothing," she shrugged.

"She's gonna kick your ass," Spencer commented, turning back to his own board game.

"Damn right," Gideon nodded.

JJ giggled. "Good luck, Morgan."

"You're gonna need it," Hotch added.

"You guys no faith in me," Derek huffed. But everyone had already turned away at that point. "What is up with all of them?"

"They just think it's odd," May told him. "You're not really into...nerd stuff."

"Hey, doesn't mean I can't be," he defended.

"We know, Derek," she chuckled. "It's still very out of character for you. Makes me wonder, what made you want to learn?"

He shrugged. "I want to get to know you, remember? Change your mind."

"You're still on that?"

"Never gonna stop, May. I'm in this."

"A lot of other girls are more interesting than me, you know. A lot more...your type."

"My type, I'll have you know, is someone who can understand me and my line of work. Not a lot of people can tick off one box, let alone two," he grinned, giving her a wink. "But here you are."

"Dork. Let's just play."

"Go easy on me."

"Never."

Upon arriving home, she quickly bids Spencer a quick 'bye' as she decided to stay in her room in silence for the time being. It's about time that she pours all her focus on traveling. She, of course, continued her yoga every morning—even during cases, no matter who she's assigned to share a room with if she does—and meditates consistently. But she supposes that she's not desperate enough.

So, before anything, she decides to call Sam. As her acting alpha, he would know more about what's happening compared to any other. And so, she calls him. Surprisingly, he answers only after the second ring.

"Accalia?" He calls out. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on, Samuel," she snickered. "I, uh, just wanted to know if anything new's happening."

"Well, you called just in time."

"...What do you mean?"

"Your brother's in a shit ton of trouble."

Then he proceeds to tell her everything. She knew a few things, like vampires going in and out of Forks due to the lack of Cullen family presence, Harry Clearwater's heart attack—which made her tremble from where she stood when she'd learned about it, and sadly she was in New Mexico at that time, helping John Blackwolf; this is why her emotions were so heightened. There was, of course, Jacob who'd tried to keep Bella from leaving with Alice Cullen. And the new members of the pack: Embry and Quil.

But she hadn't known anything else. She hadn't known how Bella knew about the pack because of Jacob, she hadn't known that she came into their house and confronted the pack, she hadn't known about her jumping off a cliff simply for her vampire. She hadn't known so many crucial details about her own pack that once Sam stopped speaking, she was in tears.

"I didn't...I didn't know..." She was trembling, guilt eating her inside out. "Why...why didn't I know?"

"Partly my fault, I'm sorry," Sam apologized. "I wanted to prove myself to you. That I can...I can lead in your place without bothering you, stressing you out. I know your job is already stressful enough, and I just..."

"Sam, whether I'm there or not, I'm still the alpha, I'm your alpha," she hadn't realized it, but she was beginning to use the so-called alpha voice. "It's my job to take care of you all. You...you're all so young. And with Embry and Quil joining...it should be my responsibility. I'm so, so sorry I hadn't been there. I haven't even...my abilities...I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. I...I understand that it's difficult for you, you're the only one burdened with traveling, and the fact that you're alpha too...I guess I just didn't want you to have to take it all on your own. That's why I acted the way I did, and I'm sorry too."

"I...I need to be connected with you all again. That's what I need."

"What will you do?"

"I don't know yet, but I want to be there."

author's note: how i love developing their relationship then adding hurdles ... ;p

i'm just kidding y'all. we gotta understand that may is living two different worlds, and like how i'm writing it, she's struggling to live both of them. i'm making sure that the juxtaposition is felt throughout, which is especially noticeable in her relationship with derek.

but we have to remember that derek is the bridge between those two worlds. a fellow profiler, while also being her imprint. he is important to her in both ways, both 'sides'. it's cute.

ily all !! hope you all enjoyeeddd