Chapter Text
I walked in to my bed room and turned to the closet to change in to some sweats so I could go do my work out. I pulled on my socks and tennis shoes. I was about to turn back to my room when I noticed a difference in the room around me. I focused on the thoughts of the people around me. None of them had noticed anyone near my room.
I walked out and found a figure looming over my desk. He turned sharply and jumped out the window of my second story bed room. He left behind an envelope that had my name scrawled across it in blocky print. I reached for it and tore it open. Inside was a picture of me walking in the woods near my home. I was alone, but you could see the rest of the Institute behind me.
I turned over the picture, and found a note scrawled in the same script from the envelope.
Isabella Xavier,
You are never as safe as you appear. Your home maybe surrounded by security, but that can no longer protect you from the determined. Watch who you call a friend, and who you call and enemy.
Your Admirer
I searched for the man who had jumped and found that he had moved to fast. I couldn’t search for unfamiliar brain waves from such a distance. I ran down to the main floor, and called out for my father. Even at the age of 26 I lived at home because I helped out at the school while I enjoyed my hobbies that became profitable over the years.
“Dad?” I called out a bit louder. We had made a deal when I was a child that we would not read the other’s thoughts without it being a dire emergency. It kept some form of being a normal family.
“Izzy? What is it? I thought you would be in the gym by now.” He came out of his study in his wheel chair.
“I was left this note.” I passed it to him and he read the words. When he finally looked up at me the question was written all over my face.
“We should rule out and mutant activity before we contact any authorities.” He made his way to the elevator. I followed closely behind. We went down to the security room, and he pulled up the cameras that would have caught any action near my bedroom. No cameras were placed in my room, my dad and I agreed that it would be a severe breach in privacy.
The cameras caught the man jumping but he appeared human. He rolled to break his fall and ran at normal speeds. We shared a look and both nodded that we believed him to be human. Since it was my note, I called the police.
The NYPD showed up quickly and we showed them the tapes, I gave my statement and they took the picture with them. A few of the officers gave me angry looks when they took in my home and my things. I finally snapped, overwhelmed by the pressure of the note and now the people who were supposed to be helping me were judging me.
“What could possibly make you so angry every time you look at me?” I walked up to one of the officers who had given the most looks.
“Nothing Ma’am.”
“One, I am a Miss, not a Ma’am. And two, your face is at best one of frustration. I watch after children for a living. I can read your face like a children’s book!”
“Izzy, calm down.” My dad placed his hand on my arm. “I apologize for my daughter. Although you might want to take this advice, don’t play poker with anyone. You’re sure to lose.” The officer turned and walked away from me. I walked over to my bed and sat down. The officers left slowly one by one. When they were finally all gone I heaved a sigh of relief. I flopped back on to my bed and my dad left my room to allow me a moment of peace.
I ended up back in my sweats, down in the gym beating my frustrations out on a punching bag. I turned the stereo up to full blast, and I put on a heavy hip hop playlist. I was angry that I hadn’t been thinking when he was close enough. I was feeling violated because this ass hole had actually had the balls to enter my private space. I placed the dark figure in the bag’s spot and beat the living shit out of it.
No one came down to check on me. They all knew better than to interrupt a work out while I was angry. I could kill any of them without even a second thought. I made my way over to the training room and I changed in to my X-men suit. I set up the scenario and I stood in the middle of the room. I waited for the go signal and then used my abilities until I could barely make my way back up the stairs to get to my bed.
I didn’t even bother showering; I was too tired to really care. I pulled off my sweats and slumped in to my over fluffed mattress. I surely snored, but I really didn’t give a shit. I had every right to be acting a bit off.
“Izzy, I would like you to meet Agent Rossi.” My father spoke from behind the couch where I was sitting. I put the book I was reading down on the coffee table and stood. I turned to find an older looking man who seemed to have the wise years vibe. I took a brief look inside his mind and found he was profiling me.
“Nice to meet you. I am Isabella Xavier, but you can call me Izzy.” He shook the hand I offered. Several more people came in to the room via the front door. “Why are all of you here?”
“We are here because the NYPD asked for our help. You are not the first victim this man has targeted. He always goes for women who are in their mid-twenties, well off, and beautiful. We are from the FBI.”
“The BAU.” I whispered. I was a genius, not just because of my ability to read minds. I had an IQ of 176.
“Exactly.” A younger man with dark hair and an official looking suit took a deeper look at me.
“You are looking in to this man because he targets people like me and should be stopped. Yet you are looking in to me because you need to know what it is about me that could draw him in. I have already been violated, so I am now an open book. Ask your questions.” I sat down and motioned for each of them to pick a spot in the living room.
“For a victim you seem to be more ticked off than scared.” A man who looked to be a mix of both black and white races spoke with a honey like voice.
“I don’t tend to get scared by people. I have trained in combat and martial arts my whole life. My parents never argued with it because they always thought that someone should be able to defend themselves. I enjoyed it growing up because it gave me a confidence boost and a discipline that helped me with the rest of my life. I was actually changing in to sweats to go down to the gym here in the house to train against the punching bag.”
“I am actually quite surprised you would practice such activities. Most upper class families tend to not train in such things because it could be considered unbecoming of someone of their class.” I looked to the much younger man. He had to be closer to my age.
“How old are you?”
“I am 25. I am Dr. Spencer Reid.”
“I am older than you. Wow. Anyways, I am not the type of girl to get scared by an overly aggressive man. I know how to handle myself.” I looked down at my hands. I concentrated on their thoughts. They all had similar patterns to their reasoning.
“Did you get a good look at the man?”
“His hood covered most of his face. I only got a glimpse before he was jumping out of the window.”
“Morgan can you go with her? You can walk through the moment and the rest of us can set up shop here in case he tries to contact her again,” Rossi said. The honey voiced man stood and motioned for me to lead the way.
I stood and walked over to the stairs. Once on the second floor I stopped walking. “It would help if I knew your name.”
“I am Agent Derek Morgan. It is nice to meet you.” I shook his and then continued down to my bed room. When we entered I pointed to the window.
“He jumped there.” He walked over to the window and looked out and down. I could see the look on his face and I had to laugh. “Not exactly the nicest landing is it?” He turned to me and smiled.
“It is good that you are in good spirits.” He walked closer to my desk and sat down. “I do have to ask. You seem like the type of girl who would have taken this in to her own hands and not asked for help. Why did you?”
“Do you see where I live? Trust me I would normally done exactly as you described, if I lived anywhere else. I live on the grounds of a boarding school. I can’t have the students that attend school here be in danger because I attracted a psycho. Their parents entrusted us with the care of their children. I care too much about them to allow this to hurt them.”
He nodded and looked over my desk. I walked over to my closet and leaned on the door frame waiting for him to look up again. “Would you like me to walk you through how it happened?”
“That would be very helpful.” I stood straight again and walked deeper in to my closet. Morgan followed.
“I came in here to change in to sweats like I said. I pulled on my tennis shoes and when I stood back up I felt like something in my area had changed. I tried to figure it out for a second but shrugged it off. I exited the closet and when I looked up again he stood by my desk. He had just placed and envelope with my name on it on the desk. When he noticed my presence he jumped out the window.
“I froze for a second, and by the time I got over to the window he was gone from sight. I opened the envelope and it held a photo of me taking a walk in the woods that are on the edge of our land. You can see the school building in the back ground through the trees. I turned the picture over and found a note written on the back. ‘Isabella Xavier, You are never as safe as you appear. Your home maybe surrounded by security, but that can no longer protect you from the determined. Watch who you call a friend, and who you call and enemy. Your Admirer’ is what it said.
“I went down stairs and showed it to my father then we contacted the police. They arrived in about ten minutes, which is understandable considering we live about that far from the nearest precinct. There are perks and draw backs to living here. We own about five square miles of land that is useable. The rest is covered in water and woods. We try to preserve it. This means there are no near neighbors. So we gain quite a bit of privacy. The drawback being that we are so far away from town that if something were to happen we are not exactly next door to the city.”
“That was incredibly detailed. Do you have a photographic memory?”
“It is called an Eidetic memory, and yes I do. Also I have an IQ of 176.” He looked at me with surprise on his face.
“You are only a year older than Reid and your mind can rival his. You both are geniuses.”
“I not only attended the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children because of my father. I belong there. I would have been asked to attend even if I didn't sport the same last name as the owners.” I smiled at him.
“Well, it is good to know that you aren’t just a pretty face.”
“No, I am not. I am a pretty face that can kick your ass in both combat and strategy. I am a force to be reckoned with. Are you up to the challenge Agent Morgan?” I let my voice dip on the last sentence. He looked me over, taking all of me in this time. I couldn’t help flirting a little bit because his voice made my knees turn to jelly.
“I do believe I will ignore the obvious innuendo there. Let’s go back down stairs and you can get to know the rest of the team and we can get started.”
“Do you really see any harm in flirting with me? You obviously find me attractive. The sentiment is obviously returned. So I see very little harm. If my clinical way of looking at things is what is bothering you, don’t worry. I am only acting this way because less than a day ago I had a strange man standing in my bed room uninvited. This place is surrounded by security. I am a bit rattled that a man who can seem to walk right pass all of it has an interest in me. Eventually I will revert back to myself, the normal me, is much, much more fun to flirt with.”
I brushed his arm with my hand as I walked out the door to head down to find the rest of his team. I laughed silently at his thoughts as he trailed behind me. They were heavy with lust, and he also seemed to be scolding himself.
~She is a victim. You are only here to help the NYPD put this sick bastard away. You are not here to let some smoking hot girl get inside your head.~
I laughed audibly at his last thought. I couldn’t help myself. The irony was too good. Lucky for me he was too far behind me to actually hear my laughter. I reached the dining room first and saw that everyone had computers and my dad had loaned them a few white boards to use. They were talking and only Reid looked up when I entered.
I took in the sight of the boards. They had several young girls’ pictures, all around my age, taped to them. I saw the similarities to the appearances and also saw how they looked like me. “I know some of these girls. Hannah James used to hang around here during the summer because our mothers were friends. We lost contact the year my mother died. Lois Henry lives just north of here. They are our closest neighbors. They told us they were having some security issues and that they had them fixed.”
Everyone watched as I walked over to the boards. I pointed to each girl and turned to the table. I noticed my father had retreated to his study. “Before any of you ask, my mother died when I was 14. She was very sick, leukemia.” I turned back around and studied the faces. I was entranced by the facts. I took them all in and tried to put the pieces of the order of events. “If this continues I will be abducted and held for ransom. He pretends that he loves me because this is the age most women will start to look for worthy mates. I for one am not quite there yet. Anyways, Hannah would of course enjoy the attention. Lois would be petrified of someone willing to do this. He wants to gage how we will react. He wants the money, and to see us suffer because of our lives.”
Rossi stepped up behind me. “You are very intelligent. I only ask that you put your trust in us that we won’t let it get that far.” I nodded and turned back to the table.
“I would love to know your names. I really don’t like using the he, she, it, you stuff.” A blonde stood and extended her hand to me.
“I am Jennifer Jereau, most call me JJ though.” Next a lady with darker hair and a stiff posture stood.
“I am Emily Prentiss.” I nodded at her and finally the dark haired man stood and fixed his stern gaze on my face.
“I am Aaron Hotchner.” I nodded at him and then took a seat on the table. I made a move for one of the case files and Derek moved it so it was just outside my grip. I looked up at him, an irritated look on my face.
“You are not supposed to look at that. There is no need for you to trouble yourself with the details of the case.” I turned so my legs were on the table and I sat with them crossed. I continued to glare at him. “That look is not going to get me to change my mind.”
“And neither will me pouting, doesn’t stop it from making me feel better.” JJ smiled and tried to hide a laugh.
“What JJ?” Derek turned to her.
“Looks like you have finally met your verbal sparring match.” I smiled and placed my chin in my hands. I looked at the files that were all over the table and started to focus. I enjoyed watching each of them think. It was like my own personal movie.