Chapter Text
It was the mid-afternoon lull. You leaned against the counter of the bakery- your bakery- and stared at your empty shop, bored. The clock above the entrance read 2:45, despite the fact that an hour ago, it had read 2:40. Surely.
You sighed and walked back into the kitchen. Maybe there were some dishes that needed to be washed, or counters that needed a good wipe down. Anything to make the time pass.
Your hand that was wiping down the already clean counters paused when you heard the tinkle of the door chimes. You wiped your cleaner-soaked hand on your apron as you walked to the counter.
“What can I get for you?” You smiled at the tall, dark-haired man before you. You noticed a smaller blonde woman standing behind him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, flashing a badge at you.
“My name is Agent Hotchner. This is Agent Jareau. We’re with the FBI.”
You raised an eyebrow. “I take it that means you don’t want anything to eat?”
You heard Agent Jareau snicker behind Agent Hotchner’s back, but his face didn’t change.
“Sir, we believe that you might be in danger. We’re searching for a serial stalker and murderer, and we have reason to believe that you may be his next victim.”
Both of your eyebrows shot up and your eyes widened. “You think I’m gonna get murdered.”
Agent Hotchner nodded sagely.
You shook your head. “No way. Why in the hell would somebody be stalking me?”
Agent Jareau led you quietly over to a table and sat you down. She sat down across from you and spoke gently.
“This man has been targeting small business owners in your area. He poses as a customer, but he rarely ever buys anything. He’ll often stay in the shop for hours at a time, multiple days a week. Does this sound familiar to you at all?”
You slowly shook your head. “Most of my customers are tourists, and the ones that are local aren’t really regulars. I get some families that come in maybe once a week, but I can’t think of anyone like you’re describing. I’m sorry.”
Agent Hotchner looked down at you. “No need to apologize.” He looked completely expressionless. “JJ, can I talk to you?”
You took that as your cue, but JJ shook her head at you and stood up. She walked to a corner of the shop with Agent Hotchner, and they spoke quietly. You couldn’t make out what they said, but somewhere in the conversation, you heard the words “wrong one” and “someone else”.
You gave up trying to eavesdrop and gazed around your bakery. Your eye was drawn to the tables and chairs you have on the patio out front, and something dawned on you.
“Agents?” you called. “I just remembered something.”
They looked at each other, then walked back to you. Agent Hotchner spoke up.
“Yes, y/n? What did you remember?”
“Well,” you started. “Lately, I’ve noticed the same guy sitting on my patio. I don’t think he’s ever even been inside the building.”
“How often is he here?” Agent Jareau asked.
You thought for a moment. “At least twice a week, starting about a month ago. He just shows up, sits at a table for an hour or so, and then leaves.”
“Does he ever interact with anyone?” Agent Hotchner’s emotionless face was staring at you.
“No. Well, except for one time. About a week ago, he got into a big fight with another customer. I started to go outside to break it up, but a different customer beat me to it.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“I couldn’t hear them.”
“How did you know they were arguing, then?”
“I saw the creepy guy stand up and push the other customer. The girl who got pushed almost fell down, and they started to look like they were yelling at each other.”
Agent Hotchner furrowed his eyebrows. “Did you know the other customer? The one who got pushed?”
You blushed. “Um, not exactly. She had come in a few times and every time she was here, she would flirt with me. Quite a bit. She wasn’t subtle at all. But she wasn’t my type, and I finally made it pretty clear that I wasn’t interested, and then she left. That’s when the fight started. She hasn’t been back since.”
Agent Hotchner turned to Agent Jareau. “The unsub could have been jealous and become aggressive toward a stranger. We didn’t profile that.”
You blinked. “Unsub. . . Unnamed submarine?”
Agent Hotchner smirked. “Unknown subject.”
You nodded. “Got it. So, does he not normally get aggressive toward people that he isn’t stalking?”
Agent Jareau responded. “That’s what we’d predicted. Generally, people like him would be quiet and unnoticed. Never draw attention to themselves and are fairly antisocial. For the unsub to attack a stranger out of jealousy in a public place, well,” she hesitated. “We’ll just have to adjust our profile.”
“So, I don’t want to sound dumb here,” You started. “But where exactly do I fit into all of this? Like, I’m being stalked. Cool. But what am I gonna do about it if you don’t know who the guy is?”
Agent Hotchner replied, “We’re going to get you home safely, and you’re going to stay there.”
“You want me to close the shop early?” You asked incredulously.
Agent Hotchner nodded. “And you’ll be staying in your home with a lookout until we catch him.”
You stared at him. “You know that this shop is my only source of income, right? And that I have to be open to make a profit, which is the only way that I can pay the rent on both this place and my apartment, right? I can’t just close the shop for an undetermined amount of time.”
Agent Hotchner looked at you sternly. “You can have one of your employees keep the place running.”
You glared at him. “I don’t have any employees. I can’t afford to pay anybody. I run the place by myself 7 days a week just to get by. I’m not closing the bakery and that’s final.”
Agent Hotchner’s gaze never left yours. “You either close the bakery and stay safely in your apartment, or you risk your life every second that you’re at work. You choose.”
You paused for a moment. “Hold on. If you’re putting me in protective custody with one of your agents, why can’t they just accompany me to the bakery and stay here while I’m working?”
Agent Jareau chimed in. “We’re worried about traveling. While you’re in your apartment, you’re safe. He can’t see you. And while you’re here, sure, our agent could just be another customer. But while you’re walking to and from work, it becomes pretty obvious if you’re traveling with someone else. And we don’t want him to see you leaving your apartment building with the same person multiple days. He would get suspicious and probably jealous.”
Agent Hotchner, who had been looking thoughtful, appeared to have just had an idea. “What if we put him in protection with Morgan or Reid? Then they’re just two guy friends who live in the same building. Maybe he wouldn’t get jealous.”
You stared at Agent Hotchner, dumbfounded. “You. . . you know that I’m gay, right?”
Agent Hotchner blinked. “Well, I certainly didn’t know that. And it seems like the unsub doesn’t know that, either. If he felt jealous seeing you interact with a woman, chances are that he thinks that you’re attracted to women and sees them as a threat.”
“Okay but I’m not into women. At all.” You paused. “Is it possible that the stalker is a woman?”
“We’ll consider that possibility once we get some more information. For now, we need to safely return you to your apartment.”
“What? Why? It’s two o’clock in the afternoon!”
Agent Hotchner sighed. “We need to make sure you’re safe as soon as possible. Would you be willing to put a sign on your door? Just say that there was a family emergency and you’ll be closing the bakery for an undetermined amount of time. Before you do that, we’ll brief you on how this is going to work.”
Agent Jareau took over. “After you put the sign on your door, lock the door. While you’re doing this, one of our agents will come around the corner. He’ll see you, and pretend to be an old friend that just happened to run into you on the street. His name is Agent Morgan. He is a tall African American man who is bald and has a goatee. You two will walk in the direction of your apartment building. Make pleasant, friendly conversation.”
Agent Hotchner continued explaining. “Once you get to the street your apartment is on, a black SUV will pull up in front of your apartment building. Another agent will get out and enter the building without talking to you. Once you get in front of your building, casually say goodbye to Agent Morgan and go inside. Doctor Reid will hold the elevator for you.”
Agent Jareau interjected. “He’s a tall, skinny man with hair that needs to be cut and he dresses like a grandfather.” She giggled to herself.
Agent Hotchner smirked and continued. “Doctor Reid will ride up the elevator with you and he’ll stay at your apartment with you. When you walk in, the first thing you should do is make sure that the curtains are closed. Do this before Reid enters the apartment. It is imperative that the stalker is given no impression that you are in your apartment with anyone, especially an FBI agent. Do you understand all of the directions?”
You took a deep breath and nodded. “Sure, yeah. Seems pretty straightforward. When are we doing this?”
“We’re leaving now. Make your sign, and we’ll be set to go.”
You nodded. “Let’s do this.”