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At 5 o’clock on the dot, Behavioral Analyst Lexa Woods wakes up, just like she does every other day. She gets herself out of bed, makes herself a cup of coffee, and—like every other day—she begins her relentless workout routine. With a little hop, Lexa pulls herself up on the pull up bar and starts.
It’s how she starts her day. She gets her blood pumping and flowing so she’s in pristine condition to take down the bad guys. And… she may just like the way a certain tech analyst checks out her ass in her tight-fitting jeans that she wears.
Unfortunately, a mere five minutes in, the agent’s workout is cut short by a phone. Barely even out of breath, she answers.
“Woods.” She huffs.
“We got a bad one.” Is all Octavia has to say before she’s hanging up the phone, and that’s all it takes to get Lexa into gear, rushing to get ready. With a quick shower and another cup of coffee, the brunette is out her door.
Lexa walks into the BAU in her grey slacks and button down black shirt, ready for a day of crime. The one thing, or person, she’s looking forward to seeing the most is the beautiful blonde Tech Analyst. Her relationship with Clarke is rather different… They openly flirt with each other so much, some days it’s tame… while others… not so much. Lexa absolutely loves it.
The only downside is they’re not actually dating… and Lexa isn’t sure if they’re anywhere close. They’ve been playfully flirting with each other the whole time Clarke has worked at Quantico, and Lexa wonders if she’d be crossing a line by asking the blonde out.
She pushes through the glass doors and her heart stutters at the sight of Clarke Griffin walking towards her cave of computers.
She’s taken back to the moment where she first met Clarke, and when her crush instantly began.
~~~
Lexa, Raven and Kane hover above a desk computer, going over a new case file, when Lexa turns to notice a girl she’s never seen at the BAU before. And surely, she would’ve remembered this girl. She has on a green dress that’s modest, but still very flattering for her body. She has a white cardigan over that makes her golden hair pop, and her white heels make her ass look fantastic.
Lexa quickly shakes that last thought out of her mind.
She was beautiful, stunning. Her hair is pulled up into a ponytail, and she tucks a lose strand behind her ear, and her brows are furrowed in a concentration that makes her look completely adorable as she looks through a file cabinet of cases. Lexa can’t help but smile at the action.
That’s when the agent realized that she must be the new Technical Analyst, which is ironic because they actually need her help right about now. Without taking her eyes off of the beautiful blonde, she asks Raven,
“Hey what’s the new Tech girl’s name?”
“Uh, Gardner I think.” Raven answers absentmindedly as she continues to evaluate the screen with Kane. Lexa steps away from the desk she was leaning on to get closer to the girl.
“Excuse me, Gardner.” She calls trying to gain her attention but to no avail. That must not be her name. Lexa is internally cursing Raven as the blonde begins to walk away. “Hey baby girl.” Lexa tries and the blonde completely stops in her tracks.
She turns around slowly, leveling Lexa with a curious expression with a quirked brow. The agent feels like her breath has been knocked out of her, her heart stuttering for a second as her eyes connect with the most beautiful, captivating blue she has ever seen. Lexa has to take a deep breath at how utterly stunning this girl is.
“Baby girl?” She questions, and oh god her voice. So husky and rough, Lexa think she might die right there.
“I- Forgive me. I just didn’t know your real-”
“I’ve been called worse.” She interrupts with a soft smile as she hugs the case files in her arms tighter into her chest. “What can I do for you?”
~~~
Today Clarke is wearing a tight, black pencil skirt, with a sky-blue blouse that makes her eyes pop—and man is Lexa a sucker for those beautiful blue eyes—and heels that make her legs go on for miles. Lexa has a hard time not openly gawking at the woman.
Playing cool, she tosses her usual smirk towards the blonde analyst as they pass each other in the hallway.
“Good morning, Princess.” She says with a smirk and a quirk of her brow as she takes a sip of her coffee.
“Oh, I’ll show you a good morning hot stuff.” Clarke retorts with a smirk and a wink. Lexa just chuckles as she continues to walk towards the briefing room. The agent loves the flirtatious banter between the technical analysts and herself, Clarke is easily her favorite part of the day.
She’s brought out of her thoughts about Clarke when she enters the briefing room, seeing that only two out of the six members are there.
“What, no Kane, now no Sinclair?” She questions, her voice confused and frustrated that her superiors seem to be nowhere in sight. Kane, she at least understands… he was unfortunately suspended, Sinclair is a different story. He’s just been MIA for 2 weeks…
“No, not yet.” Octavia sighs as Lexa takes a seat next to her.
“These guys have been out two weeks you'd think the least they could do is be on time.” Lexa sasses as she leans back in her chair with a huff.
“Yeah, 'cause you're never late.” Raven remarks with a snort, and Lexa hits her with a playful glare.
“So, where's Lachman?” She asks, wondering where her best friend is. Anya is rarely ever late.
“Her phone keeps going straight to voicemail.” It’s Raven who informs her this time.
“Well, this room just keeps getting smaller and smaller.” Lexa sighs, tossing her pen onto the table in frustration. Half their team is missing, and they have a murder to solve.
“You know what, we can just brief them on the plane.” Octavia declares, as she connects her phone to the screen to show the newest murder victims. “Right now, the police taskforce in Milwaukee needs our help.”
“They've had 4 murders over the past 3 weeks, and in addition, another woman has been missing the last 2 days.” Octavia informs her colleagues, as the picture of the missing woman now pops up on the screen. “They've all been women in their thirties, all married with children.”
“Any connection between these victims?” Lexa asks her typical question when given a murder case. Octavia shakes her head in response.
“Just that they've all been abducted from the area of Portosala, all from very public places, but no witnesses.”
“How are we even certain it's the same killer?” Raven asks as she flips through the file in front of her, eyes furrowed in concentration as she tries to make any connection.
“Well, for starters” Octavia begins solemnly, her voice defeated after looking at pictures of these woman. “All of the bodies have been dumped in the city's third ward… And there's this.” She clicks over to the next slide and it feels like all the air leaves the room.
Lexa’s mouth falls open slightly, as she leans forward in shock. Her elbows rest on her knees as her eyes gaze over the disturbing scene. Similarly, Raven closes her case file distractedly, too focused on the picture across the TV screen. Sure, they’ve seen some grotesque stuff, but this definitely ranks up there with the most disturbing ones.
“Is that what I think it is?” Raven asks, her mouth still hanging open slightly as she stares at the cavern that has been cut into the woman’s chest.
“All the hearts have been cut from their bodies.” Octavia confirms, and Lexa has to close her eyes. That’s certainly an image she won’t be forgetting any time soon.
The flight to Milwaukee is only four of them. Kane was found at the office but stayed behind, due to his suspension from their section chief, who is now overseeing their operations. Nia Queen sits at the opposite end of the plane, away from the other agents.
“You know from this angle… she almost looks human.” Octavia remarks about Nia, causing the other agents to chuckle. Her and Raven fall into conversation, while Anya reads the case file and Lexa sits aimlessly next to her.
“Where were you this morning?” Lexa whispers to her best friend as she looks over the case file, trying to catch up on what she missed.
“Something came up with Ryder, so I had to take Aden for the night. My asshole brother didn’t get back early enough for me to get here on time.” Anya says, eyes never leaving the case file. “I couldn’t leave Aden by himself, so I had to wait until Ryder came back.” Anya clenches her jaw tight in anger, Lexa can see it shift back and forth with the pressure Anya applies to her teeth.
“He’s trying, Anya.” Lexa sighs as she looks over to her best friend.
“I know.” Anya lets out in a frustrated huff, closing her case file in the process. “He’s been clean for months, and he’s better with Aden… but he’s not there yet. I’m still raising Aden more than he is, and he’s his goddamn father.”
“You love being with Aden though,” Lexa points out.
“So much.” She releases in a breath, causing the brunette beside her to smile. “God, I love that kid. Ryder might be a fuck up, but the one thing he did good in life was make that boy.” Her eyes sparkle with love as she thinks about her nephew, and Lexa can’t help but smile. Aden is the best thing to ever happen Anya in a while.
“So, how’s blondie?” Anya questions with a smirk, and Lexa can’t hold in her smile. She ducks her head to avoid Anya seeing her blush, but to no avail. “God you’re a hopeless lesbian.” She remarks with a chuckle. “Are you ever going to ask her out?”
“I was thinking about it… maybe when we-”
“Correct me if I'm wrong,” The voice of Nia Queen pulls the groups attention to her, cutting off Lexa’s sentence in the process. “But I believe it's protocol to brief everyone before we arrive at the crime scene.” She states with a cold bite. She stands tall in the aisle, posture straight with her arms clasped behind her back.
“Yes, ma'am.” Octavia says with faux respect. Nia takes a seat across the aisle from the four agents, as she waits for one of them to begin talking. “This unsub is abducting women from very public places, with no witnesses. He holds them 48 hours, with no sexual assault, and then he dumps their bodies with their hearts carved out of their chests.”
Lexa takes a picture out of the file and tosses it on the table in front of the Chief. The woman visibly startles, clearly not anticipating this type of vulgarity with the victims. A chill rushes through her body as she pushes the picture back towards Agent Woods. Judging by her reaction, Lexa wonders if the woman has any field training at all.
“There's an obvious dichotomy in the skill the unsub exhibits in abducting these women and the fact that he cuts their hearts out so crudely.” Raven continues.
Lexa can’t help but glare at the chief, who has no business being out in the field and with their team. Kane should be here helping them, not her. “We're probably looking at somebody in a psychotic break.” She says, her eyes never leaving the startled woman.
“Could be a butcher.” She continues, not caring about the obvious discomfort of Nia, “Might be a hunter. Somebody who's very comfortable being around blood, but as you can see, he obviously doesn't have the skills of a surgeon.”
Taking a deep breath, Nia Queen recomposes herself before addressing the Agents. The four members of the team can’t help but roll their eyes at this pathetic woman who calls herself chief.
“So, do we have a working theory?” She says, trying to play to her authority. Lexa lets out a breathy chuckle.
“Sure we do.” Anya answers for them before Lexa can say something to get herself in trouble, although her tone is just as bitter. “Somebody really doesn't like women.” Anya says with an impassive face. It takes all the agents have not to die of laughter at the terrified look that crosses Nia’s face.
As soon as the plane lands in Milwaukee, the group is brought directly to the newest crime scene. The agents walk into the area with a sense of power, ready to take on this case and catch this bastard.
“You the FBI?” They’re asked as they approach. A short, stocky man with a receding hairline stands before them, in a grey suit
“Lexa Woods.” Lexa introduces, shaking the hand of the lead detective. “Anya Lachman, Raven Reyes, Octavia Blake, and Section Chief Queen.” Lexa says that last name with a bite to her tongue that doesn’t go unnoticed by the other agents.
“Vic Wolynski, Milwaukee pd.” The man introduces himself, shaking each hand of the new comers.
“You worked the Jeffrey Dahmer case.” Raven states with a sense of awe.
“16 years ago.” The detective’s words are harsh, his northern accent sitting heavy on his words.
“I've studied it.” Raven comments, not registering the officer’s tone.
“And you remember my name?” He asks his tone almost rude, as if he doesn’t believe her. Yeah Raven’s young, but damn is that girl smart.
Octavia rolls her eyes.
“She remembers everything.” She defends. “It's what she does.”
“What can you tell us?” Nia asks, ignoring the small talk. Vic’s eyes move from Raven, to Nia as he begins to explain.
“Uh, local merchant noticed her a few hours ago. But he didn't see her when he first came to work, so we figure she was dumped there between 7:50 and 8:05. Same window as the others.” The Milwaukee detective states, pointing to where the body of the newest victim lies.
“All the bodies were found in this area, right?” Lexa asks and the detective nods.
“Yeah. Portosala is an upper-middle-class suburb. Approximately 15 minutes from here. All the women were abducted from there in the afternoon and turned up here in the morning two days later.”
The street buzzes around them as people continue on with their days. There is obvious curiosity as they walk past the crime scene while out, some even lingering behind the caution tape.
“All this foot traffic and no one saw anything.” Anya remarks as she looks around the area that has residents walking all over.
“Well, he, uh, wraps the bodies loosely so they're not immediately recognizable.” Vic says as he leads the agents over to the body that lays in a bloody bed sheet. “Eventually the, uh, wrapping comes open.” They can see the victim laying in the loose fabric, the wind having blown it off of her slightly.
“My guess is he has a van or a truck… something he can back up so he's shielded when he makes the drop.” The detective finishes.
“No prints on whatever he wraps them in?” Lexa asks as she and Anya bend down to get a closer look at the body. The Milwaukee detective shakes his head in the negative.
“There have been traces of paint and wood stain, but most of it's just common stuff you'd get at any hardware store.” He answers.
“He's trying to demean them, putting them out like trash.” Raven comments from beside Octavia. The two watch as Lexa and Anya examine the body for any other clues.
“This guy might work or live around here. Gets off on the reaction to his handiwork.” Lexa informs, eyes not leaving the body but still noticing the attention being drawn to the scene.
“What can you tell us about the victim?” Octavia asks, tucking a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear.
“She was taken from a supermarket. Her husband says that most days she would have been picking up her son at school, but he was spending the afternoon at a friend's.”
“This is your fifth victim, right?” Nia asks, her arms crossed over her chest as if to protect herself from the scene already in front of her.
“Yes.” Vic says with a curt nod.
“You should have called us sooner.” She says with a bite, trying to assert her dominance as an FBI section chief. Lexa and Anya both roll their eyes.
“I thought we had a handle on it.” Vic defends weakly, obviously distraught that this is happening in his town, under his jurisdiction.
“Apparently not.” She bites.
“Ma'am.” Octavia interrupts, gaining the attention of the chief. “Excuse me, sir.” She says to the lead detective, her voice apologetic as she leads Nia away from the scene.
While Octavia talks to Queen on how to not insult the lead detective—something Nia doesn’t seem too happy about—Lexa’s phone rings, and she smiles at the familiar name that pops up on her screen. Anya just rolls her eyes at the display, getting back to the scene.
“Hey gorgeous.” Lexa greets as she answers her phone, walking away from the crime scene to talk to Clarke.
“Hello, you beautiful Italian Stallion.” Clarke flirts and the agent knows the woman on the other line is smirking. Her stomach swoops at the sound of her voice. “How's it going?” Clarke asks with a smile, and Lexa can tell the blonde is swirling around in her chair. She chuckles to herself as she imagines the sight.
“Well, Queen just offended the lead detective 45 seconds into her first crime scene.” Lexa answers with a bite to her tone.
“I'm not surprised.” Clarke responds in a sigh. “Woods, listen,” Clarke says, her voice serious now. “I've been doing some research. Milwaukee schools start at 8:10 and get out at 3:10. Every abduction has taken place within 15 minutes of school getting out, and each body was dumped within 15 minutes of the first bell. You could easily be looking at somebody who works in the school system.”
Lexa is quick to take in the information, both thankful and amazed Clarke was able to notice that. “Ok. Thanks, baby girl”
“Anything for you.” She flirts. Lexa just chuckles to herself and hangs up the phone.
“Hey. What do we know?” Vic asks as he walks into the Police department, the FBI agents following behind. While at the crime scene, they got wind of another abduction. Now the clock is ticking for them to find, and save this woman.
“The woman's name was Cathryn Fox.” An officer informs them. He points to a disheveled man that sits hunched over at an officers desk. “Husband tried to reach her on her cell phone. When she didn't pick up, he drove to the department store. Car's in the parking lot, but she's not inside.”
“I had the department store uplink the security footage to your analyst in Quantico.” He continues.
“Perfect.” Lexa answers, knowing if anyone could find something on that footage, it’s Clarke. Vic leads Anya, Raven and Lexa to his desk, while Octavia takes Queen to talk to the husband. Lexa immediately dials Clarke’s number.
“Clarke, baby girl, please tell me something I want to hear.” Lexa says with a heavy sigh.
“You're a statuesque god of sculpted milk chocolate thunder.” Clarke answers quickly, and Lexa can’t help but smile. She can hear Clarke typing furiously at her keys, knowing the blonde is hard at work.
“How about something I don't already know?” Lexa retorts with a laugh. There’s a split second where Clarke pauses on the line before speaking again.
“I have a sweet tooth?” She answers, rather confidently too. Lexa’s eyebrows quirk at that as her stomach summersaults with butterflies and her heart beats rapidly in her chest.
“Ohhkay we are definitely coming back to that later,” She says with a bright, toothy smile and Clarke laughs on the other end. Man, is it a beautiful thing “Did you locate the missing girl on the security footage?”
“On it. It's coming your way in 5, 4, 3, 2--” Vic’s computer beeps right as Clarke is about to say one.
“We got it.” Lexa says as the footage is blown up into full screen and the group watches as Cathryn Fox shops.
“Keep me on speaker, will ya?” The analyst asks and Lexa obliges.
“She doesn't seem to be on anyone's radar.” Anya states as they watch the footage of Cathryn. She’s mindlessly shopping in the toddler section of the department store, no obvious signs of someone watching her.
Until a little boy shows up on screen.
“Okay, who's the kid?” Raven asks, confused. The kid seemed to come out of nowhere to talk to the victim.
“Does Cathryn Fox have a son?” Lexa asks Octavia as she approaches with Queen.
“No. 2-year-old daughter.” Octavia answers.
“It looks like the kid's lost.” Raven remarks as they watch the kid who seems to be asking for help. His back is turned, and they can’t see his face, but the concern on Cathryn’s face makes them sure the kid is asking for help.
“Princess, is this all you got?” Lexa questions the analyst incredulously, praying that there’s something more.
“That's it. Then they turned down a hallway with no security camera and we lose ‘em.” Clarke narrates as the video continues. It stops once Cathryn and the boy are out of frame.
“Alright thanks, Clarke.” Lexa says before hanging up her phone. Once the call ends, it’s then that the pieces of information finally click together. The woman being picked up after school… their bodies being dropped before school…
“Oh, shit.” She states. They’re not look for a suspect in the school system, they’re looking for a suspect that has a kid in the school system.
“What?” Raven asks.
“Something Clarke said earlier. All the abductions and disposals have been timed around school. She thought the unsub might work in the system…” Lexa pauses as she watches the little boy on screen again. She looks to her fellow agents before asking the question that just worked its way into the back of her mind.
“What if this guy's actually using his own son to lure his victims?” Lexa finishes, then looks to her team who looks equally as shocked. Slowly, they all turn to Wolynski.
“Get your officers ready for a profile.”
“Detective Wolynski told us you're trying to single out trucks and vans.” Lexa addresses the officers as they brief them on the new information. “That's smart. The unsub is dumping his victims in the business district, so I'd agree with you. He's probably not driving something that stands out. He may even have some type of company logo on the side of his vehicle as well.” Lexa finishes and Raven starts to take over.
“We know that he abducts the women in Portosala, then dumps their bodies somewhere in the third ward.” Raven points to the map standing at the front of the room. Gesturing to the areas of the abduction, and where the bodies are found. “Most unsubs keep their area of control—Where they kill their victims—between the two points.”
“Which means that the unsub Probably lives in Portosala, or the third ward.” Anya adds. “Somewhere in that area. The people who live there know him.”
“There's no sexual component to these crimes, which means it's more about the unsub making a point.” Octavia throws in. The police in the room nod their heads as they take in all the information presented by the agents. “He's cutting their hearts out.”
Many officers in the room slow their writing and glance around at each other. Most of them haven’t had to deal with anything like this. Some of them most likely worried about their own wives.
“The two most important questions to ask ourselves are: What is this guy doing with these women for 48 hours? And why is he willing to use his own son to abduct them?” Anya tells them, and the officers are quick to write that down.
“And if he is truly using his own son, then it's likely that he has what we call borderline personality disorder.” Lexa begins, “Now, borderlines… They think that all relationships revolve entirely around them. When they set their mind to something, it’s absolute. There is no gray area.” The officers nod and when none of the agents continue talking they begin to pack their stuff up, ready to get out there and look for this sick bastard. Lexa takes a pregnant pause.
“And one last thing.” Lexa calls, gaining their attention back. “It is not easy to crack clean through breastbone… You're dealing with a guy who works with his hands, he's used to hard labor. Someone who’s not afraid to get dirty.”
The silence that passes over the officers is heavy, and fueled with fear, and even some audible gulps. They break to the streets, leaving the team of agents to stay and work through theories at the office.
“All right, it- Is it possible we're looking at this the wrong way?” Octavia questions the group as they sit around the table. All their theories have led to dead ends so far, but she can’t help but think they need to take another angle.
“What do you mean?” Section Chief Queen asks.
“Well, we're trying to zero in on the unsub.” Octavia starts, leaning forward in her seat and placing her elbows on the table. “Now, you guys tell me, but if he really is using his son, wouldn't the trauma manifest more clearly on the boy?”
The room is enveloped in silence as the realization washes over all of them.
“Can your analyst get a list of all the children in the area that we're targeting?” Nia asks the agents.
“Clarke can get you whatever you want.” Lexa tells the chief proudly, and every agent in the room rolls their eyes. Octavia pretends to gag, while Raven lets out a fake cough, muttering the word ‘gay’, Anya just stares expectantly at her best friend. It all seems to go over Nia’s head as she is quick to dial the blonde’s number. Nia places the call on speaker phone, for all of the group to listen in.
“Talk dirty to me.” Is the first thing Clarke says in greeting, her voice husky and teasing when she picks up the phone. Lexa’s face flushes red and the only thing she can do is scratch her forehead in embarrassment for herself and Clarke. Anya nudges her in the ribs with her elbow to tease, while Octavia and Raven can barely contain their laughter.
“I-” Nia starts, visibly startled by the analyst’s response. “This is section chief Nia Queen.” She asserts and Lexa can almost hear Clarke’s shock through the phone. The blonde quickly composes herself.
“Ma'am, I think it goes without saying that I was expecting it to be someone else.” Lexa tries to stifle a laugh into her hand, knowing she shouldn’t be laughing at this. Anya bites her tongue from commenting, but can’t help but look at Lexa with quirked brows.
“I need a list of every grade school in the third ward and Portosala.” She finishes her sentence looking at Lexa with a knowing glare.
“Yes, ma'am.” Clarke’s voice is respectful and wavers slightly as she begins to work her magic. “Uh the third ward has one public grade school, but there appears to be four private schools that draw from that area.”
“And Portosala?”
“That would be 9, ma'am.”
“And how many students?” Nia asks as her pen continues to write down the notes Clarke is giving her.
“3,200.”
“Can you also get me a list of every guidance counselor that deals directly with the student body in that area?”
“Certainly, ma'am.”
The agents can’t help but laugh at how curt and respectful Clarke is being. They feel bad for her being embarrassed but god damn was it funny; Nia’s reaction was priceless.
“And again, I'd like to ap-” Clarke starts but her apology is cut short as Nia hangs up on her. Lexa shakes her head in annoyance at the disrespect the chief has been showing the team.
“You need to present these counselors with a profile of a troubled kid.” Is all Nia says before she is up and walking out of the room, once again not doing anything to help the agents.
They separate and quickly make their ways to the schools to get the profile to the counselors immediately.
“The boy we're looking for is possibly from a single-parent home. He's sullen and withdrawn. He's more than likely clinging to maternal figures in inappropriate settings- Hugging the female bus driver or the woman in the lunchroom. His classmates might notice this inappropriate behavior and tease him, which makes the boy incredibly angry.”
The guidance counselor that Octavia and Raven are talking to hands them a big stack of files, of at least 40 kids that could possibly fit the profile. Octavia sighs, with a sad smile.
“That many?” She questions knowingly.
“I'm afraid so.” The counselor answers with a nod.
With the new files, Octavia and Raven take their stack back to the police department. Anya, Lexa and Detective Vic all walk in with their own files from schools they interviewed at. They all sigh at the work they have ahead of them.
“All right, the boy doesn't look like he could be any older than 7.” Lexa starts as she sets her files down and addresses the team. “Let's work youngest to oldest. Start with the worst behavior. Get the names of the parents, send them over to Clarke. She can cross-check for criminal records.”
“This guy's dumping bodies Between 7:30 and 8:00.” Anya adds as she checks the watch on her wrist. “That gives us a little over 12 hours to get it done.”
The hours tick by as the group turns up dead end after dead end. Each kids file giving them nothing, not one lead.
“It's impossible. There's too many.” Raven comments, trying to rub the tiredness and frustration out of her eyes.
“Keep looking, Reyes. We still have an hour.” Anya tells her, eyes never looking up from the current file she’s looking at.
It’s 9am when they get the call that Cathryn Fox’s body has been found. Defeated, the team makes their way to the crime scene… this one hidden behind a fence and some trees, less out of view. Unlike the others.
Nia leads the way to the body, Lexa and the other agents following shortly behind, and Lexa can’t help but notice that Nia’s heels are rather impractical for the field. Surely the section chief should’ve known that…
As if on cue, Nia’s heel sticks into the grass and she slips down the hill slightly. The section chief grabs the fence to stabilize herself, but that doesn’t stop her from stepping on Cathryn Fox’s hair.
“Are you all right?” Lexa asks, her hands automatically shooting out to help the captain stand upright.
“I st-I stepped on her hair.” Nia stutters, looking like she’s going to be sick.
“If you need a second, take a second. This is what it is. Just don't let the public see you break down.” Lexa says, her voice not soothing or coddling. Rather it’s professional, and a little condescending.
Queen walks away, leaving the agents with the body.
“This is a different area from the other dump sites.” Octavia states from the back.
“He's getting smart. He knows where all of our manpower will be so he's changing locations.” Raven builds off of the younger brunette’s statement.
The murder takes them back to the office. They try to use as much information as the scene gave them—which was very little—to continue building off of what they already know.
“Okay, so here's the old printing press of quad graphics, the paving yard, and then the concrete factory where we found the body.”
“You don't end up there by accident.” Anya inquires as she fiddles with the pen in her hand. The killer obviously knows the work yards too.
“So, we go back to the schools,” Lexa starts, her eyebrows furrowed and chin in her hand as she looks over the map of the area. “We eliminate the third ward. Target problem kids whose fathers have held blue-collar jobs over the last 10 years.”
“What if he's not a problem kid?” Raven whispers under her breath.
“What?” Lexa furrows, turning around to address the young agent.
“Sometimes when a parent is unstable, especially if the other one's out of the picture, you'll do anything to be the perfect child.” She finishes, her voice louder and more certain.
“Like help your father abduct women?” Anya says oddly skeptical of the theory. Raven sits up in her chair, pointing her finger to address Anya.
“They're never late for school… Even with the abductions. The disposal of the bodies, it's always timed perfectly so the kid will be on time to school. I don't think the killer would care. I think the kid would.”
All eyes in the room dance around each other’s at Raven’s shocking realization. Anya is quick to pull her phone out and call Clarke.
“FBI Technical Analyst Clarke Griffin speaking.” The blonde greets, her voice sweet and professional. Anya laughs a little at her response, knowing she really didn’t want to risk it being Queen again.
“Griffin, I need a list of parents from the Portosala school district, eliminating any two-parent households, or any fathers holding white collar jobs that aren't labor management.”
Anya can hear Clarke sigh in relief when she realizes it’s Anya and not Nia again.
“You'll see it flying over the transom momentarily.” Clarke answers and Anya hangs up.
“Clarke is sending the list our way, lets divide and conquer. Lexa and I will go to Portosala, Blake and Reyes, you go to the third ward schools.”
“I’ll go with you, Agent Lachman.” Nia says, and Anya has to take in a deep breath so she doesn’t scream across the room. She offers the chief a curt nod, before the room splits up with Clarke’s list.
“He's a kid that's a model student.” Anya tells the principal that sits across from them in her mahogany wooden desk.
“Not just straight A’s, though.” Lexa adds, “It's someone who tries to please in a way that the other teachers have probably talked about. Inventing extra-credit projects, volunteering to skip recess to help clean the classroom, stuff like that.”
“Johnathon Murphy.” The principal says, her voice so sure and full of conviction. Lexa’s eyes widen at the new lead.
“Do you know his father?” Lexa asks and the woman nods, her mouth downturned in pity.
“Oh, it's such a sad story. The teachers all talk about it. He was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor. His wife left the two of them.”
“She just left?” Anya questions timidly.
“Yeah. I don't know what's gonna happen to Johnathon.” The principal states solemnly. Lexa and Anya share a look before telling the principal to take them to his class.
They walk briskly down the hallway trying to get as much information out of the woman as possible.
“I can't imagine Johnathon’s father could be someone you're looking for.” She says as she attempts to keep in line with the two agents. “He's very involved. Drops John off and picks him up every day.”
“Do you happen to know what kind of car he drives?” Lexa asks.
“A van, maybe? I can't say. Something big. He makes hand-crafted furniture. I know he does deliveries.” She says before she stops in front of a classroom with an open door.
“Miss Bennett.” The principal calls, gaining the attention of the teacher.
“Just continue working, class.” She tells them as she walks out of the classroom.
“We're looking for Johnathon Murphy.” Lexa states, her voice calm but assertive.
“You just missed him.” The teacher informs them with an apologetic look.
“Do you know where he went?” Lexa asks.
“He wasn't feeling well, so the nurse volunteered to drive him home to help out John's father.”
Lexa and Anya share an exasperated look.
“Thank you.” They both say before their sprinting out of the school. They get his address from his record and send it to the team, telling them what’s going on, and urging everyone to meet at the Murphy residence.
“The boy's alone in the family room.” Lexa says to Vic and Queen after looking into the house. She sends Raven and Anya to cover the back side of the house, while Lexa and Octavia head back to the front to grab a police task force. “They have an eye-line just in case somebody tries to sneak out the back.”
“Is there any sign of the nurse or the dad?” Nia asks.
“No.” Lexa answers with a firm shake of her head.
“So, what are we doing here?” Detective Vic questions as he waits for the Agents next call.
“We call in S.W.A.T, secure the perimeter, and wait for him to come out.” Nia decides.
“Ma'am, he's holding a woman inside.” Lexa states, her voice harsh as she addresses the incompetent chief.
“We don't know that for certain. We don't have probable cause.”
“She's right.” Octavia says with a heavy sigh, hating to agree with Nia.
“If he's got her, he waits 48 hours. He's not gonna kill her yet.” Nia states, defending her decision. Lexa shakes her head at the chief trying to act like she knows anything going on in this case.
“He's changed the pattern of the dump sites. Now he's changed how he abducts them. Do we really want to gamble that he's sticking to the rest of the model?” Lexa seethes.
“So, let's pound on the door.” The Milwaukee detective adds. “Maybe he'll panic.” He adds in a hopeful tone. Both Octavia and Lexa shake their heads no.
“He could spook just enough to kill her early.” Octavia sighs. “Let me go in alone.” Octavia proposes, “The boy's in the family room. He'll answer the door.”
“No.” Nia demands.
“We need to get invited in that door.” Octavia’s voice raises, but she remains calm as she addresses Nia. “He's looking for female authority figures. If he lets me in, I can signal as soon as I see anything that gives us cause.”
“She’s going in.” Lexa decides, and before Nia can argue against, she’s addressing Octavia. “As soon as you have probable cause, give us a signal and get out of there.”
“Ok.” Octavia answers with a knowing nod. She tucks her gun into the back waistband of her pants and heads towards the door. Lexa can feel Nia creep up next to her.
“Nobody knows better than us that we need to make this arrest legal.” Lexa says to the chief and the woman doesn’t respond. Only crosses her arms in annoyance and sighs.
They see Octavia walk into the house, and the door is shut in her wake. Lexa grabs bullet proof vests and runs around the house getting into place
“Blake is in.” Lexa says as she tosses the vest to Anya and Raven. “We're waiting on her go.” Just then the Walky-Talky on Lexa’s hip beeps, and she instantly knows it’s Octavia.
“Go!” Lexa yells as she kicks down the door and enters the house. She sees a door slightly ajar to her left and motions for the team to follow. She burst through the door to find Octavia being held down by Johnathon’s father, Johnathon holding a gun towards her, and the school nurse tied up against a pole.
The father immediately lets go of Octavia, and backs away with his hands in the air.
“Drop the weapon, son.” Lexa tells him, but the boy is so shaky and scared he doesn’t listen. “Give me the gun.” She tries again. “Don't be scared.”
“John. It's ok. Do what they say.” His father says and the boy lets Lexa take the gun from his hands. Tucking it away in her pants, she picks him up and carries him out of the house, while Anya arrests the father.
“Are you ok?” Raven asks as she looks over the injury on Octavia’s forehead. “What happened?”
“Ah,” She winces, “I’ll be fine. He just hit me with a two by four.”
“I'll call an ambulance.” Raven says.
“You're dying, and this is what you want to leave your son?” Detective Vic seethes as Anya aggressively pushes the guy into handcuffs, then hands him off to the man. Vic pushes him out of the house to a cop car to make the arrest.
“I'll be dead before I ever stand trial.” He comments with a devilish smirk as Vic guides him towards the car.
“Good.” He’s harsh as she pushes him down the sidewalk. His gaze falls over his son, that sits in the back of another cop car.
“You know, I never even told the boy to bring me this last one.”
Lexa turns to face the guy, disgusted that he would put his son in a position like that.
The plane ride home was long and quiet. Nia was pissed that Lexa disobeyed her, and ultimately made her look stupid in doing so. The agents were too tired to care about that, they were all finally able to close their eyes after 4 days of almost no rest.
Lexa was on auto-pilot as she walked into the BAU late that night. She could barely even recognize her surroundings she was so tired.
“Hey there, Tiger.” A soft voice pulls her out of her haze.
“Clarke?” She questions, as she watches the blonde walk towards her in her black heels and black dress. God how does she look amazing even so late at night? “What are you still doing here?”
“I had some stuff to tie up back here…” She says with a gesture back to her office, “And… I wanted to wait for you.”
“You waited for me?” Lexa asks, dropping her bag onto the floor the look at Clarke directly. The blonde blushes, as she tries to duck her head to hide it.
“Congrats on finishing this case.” Clarke says, changing the subject. “With Kane gone, you were the leader they needed.”
“You do realize that I wouldn’t be half as good without you, right?” Lexa tells her. It’s true though. Clarke was the one who realized the timing with the schools, Clarke got them the lists of all the names of the schools and parents. Clarke is a huge reason they solve a lot of their cases.
“Oh, come on, you getting soft on me now, Woods?” Clarke teases. Her eyes widen as she watches Lexa take a step closer, slightly invading her personal space.
“Never.” Lexa whispers with a smirk. Call it sleep deprivation, call it a high after solving a case, call it whatever you want. With Clarke standing before her, Lexa is feeling bold. And before she can talk herself out of it, Lexa is leaning forward and pressing her lips to Clarke’s in a soft, sweet kiss. It feels like a breath of fresh air when their lips connect, and Lexa wonders why she didn’t do this sooner.
It’s simple, but it means so much to the two. As their lips slowly glide together, they realize that they never want to go a day without doing this again.
She pulls away and opens her eyes to see Clarke is still in a daze. Her eyes closed and her mouth slightly hanging open. Lexa chuckles to herself.
“What um… what was that for?” Clarke asks, too afraid to open her eyes and actually look at Lexa. Worried this is all just going to be a dream.
“That was a little something to help with your sweet tooth.” Lexa smirks even though she knows Clarke can’t see it, but the blonde definitely knows it’s there.
“Oh honey,” Clarke says, finally gaining some courage back, “That did nothing, to help with my sweet tooth.” She says before she’s pulling Lexa in by the collar of her shirt and kissing her. The previous case, the outside world, everything is forgotten as the two kiss in the middle of the BAU.
Who knew this little flirtatious game they started three years ago would turn into this?
Yeah being an FBI agent can be rough, but boy does it have its perks.