Archive of Our Own

It was 3am. Three. Fricking. AM. And I was getting a call. I had finally gotten my brain to shut off for the best quality sleep of which I was capable not even two hours earlier, and I was getting a damn phone call. 

“What?” I answered, my voice groggy and annoyed. 

“We need you here, right now. Morgan’s cousin is missing.”

That was all I needed to snap me right out of my complainey mood. I was already out of bed and felt wide awake when answering, “I’m on my way.”

When I got to the office, everyone except for JJ and Rossi were there waiting. 

“Aundreya,” Penelope said.

“Hi, I came as quickly as possible, what’s happening?”

“Morgan’s sister came to him saying that his cousin never returned home last night. She went to check her apartment and called her several times and nothing.”

“What about her phone? Can you track it?”

“I already tried but it was left at her apartment.”

“And there are no other places around that she spends a lot of time at?” I asked.

“No. If there are, no one knows about them,” Penelope answered. I saw Morgan standing a few feet away and I walked over to him. 

No one wants to be asked how they’re doing, so I opted for, “Hey, we’re going to do everything we can to find her, okay.” He was clearly distressed, a hand on his head and he was slouching, something our big brave Morgan hardly ever did. 

He met my eyes. “I don’t know what to do. Sarah and I split up and looked for her, Garcia tracked her phone, and none of us know where she was or should have been, or what she was doing.” He was trying to keep it together, but I could hear the panicked undertone. 

“Okay, good to know what we can rule out. Do we have a picture of her that we can put out?”

“Yes,” JJ interjected. She and Rossi had just arrived. “I’m going to have Garcia get one out.” I nodded. 

I placed a hand on Derek’s shoulder and looked straight into his eyes, “We’re going to find her.” That was a promise I intended to keep. No matter what. I walked back toward the rest of the group to see if there was any new information. 

“Hey, how’d you get here so fast?” Rossi asked.

“I came as quickly as possible.”

“You live farther away from here than I do.”

“I said I came as quickly as possible.” I shrugged and he raised his eyebrows at me. 

“I’m letting this go, only because we have more pressing issues.”

“I think that’s a good plan,” I agreed. I love Rossi, but sometimes he felt like a parole officer. Leave it to him to put together that I sped about 30 over to get here in under 10. 

“Okay, we sent out a picture of her to the media as a missing person,” JJ said, rushing back into the room. I checked my phone and all the air inside me abruptly escaped once I saw the picture. I know her .

“I know her. I literally saw her last night,” I blurted before I could even think about what I was saying.

“Wait what? You saw my cousin last night?” Derek asked, chiming into the conversation.

“Yeah. Morgan, what does your cousin do for a living?” I wanted to be sure that this was the same person before I let on any more. 

He looked perplexed, but answered anyway. “She’s a finance consultant.”

“During the day,” I mumbled.

“What? What are you saying?” Derek was on a short fuse and I was going to have to remember that.

“I’m saying that at night, she works in a strip club.” Everyone’s faces contorted around me into a variety of different emotions. 

“How do you know that?” Emily asked.

“I went out for a walk last night-”

“ Last night as in 24 hours ago, or to night as in 5 hours ago?”

“ Last night. I went for a walk because I couldn’t sleep and needed some fresh air. I walked by a strip club and saw her exiting it in a nice robe and I could tell she was wearing some dancing outfit underneath,” I said. It actually sounded like a pretty plausible story, but I still got skeptical looks from people. 

“That had to have been just before she went missing,” JJ said.

“How do you even know it was her?” Morgan asked.

I held up my phone with her picture as if that was the answer. He was looking for more, though, so I simply stated, “I recognized her photo.”

“So if she’s been working at a strip club, that makes her a higher risk victim,” Prentiss said.

“Sure, but there are specific rules outlined for dancers. They do what they get paid for, and only what they get paid for. I don’t know a single dancer that would allow herself to go home with a customer,” I said. I gained more weary looks. 

“So you don’t think there is any chance that she got abducted from the club or from outside of it maybe?” JJ asked.

“It’s highly unlikely.”

“But it’s possible?” Morgan asked.

“Yes. It’s possible. But if that is the case, this guy is super sophisticated. He’d have to get around all of the security cameras,” I answered.

“I’ll go check those now. What club?” Penelope asked. 

“The Camelot,” I answered. She nodded and rushed as fast as she could in her nearly six inch heels to her bat cave. 

“I can’t believe this,” Morgan said. It was Rossi’s turn to console, and I turned to follow Garcia to see if there was any way I could help her go through the footage. On my way, a familiar hand grabbed my arm and spun me around.

“You weren’t on a walk,” Spencer stated, confusion and, even a bit of anger, in his voice.

“Yes, I was.”

“What time did you leave?”

“11:25ish.”

“How far did you walk?”

“Down a few blocks and back.”

“What time did you get home?”

I did some quick math. “12:10.”

He studied my body language, trying to spot anything that would indicate otherwise. 

“Why would you go walking by yourself at midnight?”

“I told you. I couldn’t sleep and needed some fresh air. Don’t worry, I had my gun with me,” I said. That part wasn’t a lie. I did in fact bring my gun. 

“Fine.” He released my arm and stood there staring at me. I returned his gaze for a couple of moments before continuing my path to Garcia. Of course Spencer would decide to fact check my story for any inconsistencies. 

The FBI hired me, which was great and all, but it wasn’t exactly like they were paying me. Kind of, but not really. I was as close to a volunteer as the FBI could manage. However, I needed extra money, just a little something that I could have for a rainy day. The best way I could think to achieve that goal, was to revert back to my old ways. My really old ways. Before I was thrown in prison, while I was in the gang and running the ring, I was dancing. I had been since the moment I landed on the streets. My stage name, and the one the ring came to call me by, was Alionth. I became one of the most well known dancers in the entire Chicago area, and even got prospects from clubs all around the nation. Once I got out of prison, it wasn’t that difficult for me to persuade the owners of certain clubs to let me ‘guest star’ here and there when I was available. One of those clubs was the Camelot. They allowed me to pop in on short notice (since I never knew when we’d close a case), and shift around their dance schedule. Of course, having me back drew more attention to that club, but my sketchy schedule actually worked in their favor. The manager said that they had more guys coming in, hoping to land on the right night that I’d be there. It kept customers in suspense and coming back for more. And they paid me really well. 

Morgan’s cousin, Cinthia, or Thia as we knew her, was one of the girls that I worked with. She was there the night before and I saw her walk into a private showing room. After that, I didn't remember seeing her. I assumed she had just finished the dance and went home. Based on what Garcia found, or more like what she didn’t find, that wasn’t the case.

“Riiiiiight … there! Did you see it?” she asked me. There was a portion of the outside security footage that started over. The scene barely faltered, but with someone as good as Garcia, barely wasn’t enough to protect them. 

“Yeah, I did,” I said. “This is not good.”

I returned to the rest of the team to give them the information.

“So this guy is sophisticated enough to hack into the feed and set it on a loop before he abducts the women,” Emily confirmed.

“Or worse. Someone on the inside is helping him change the footage,” I offered. Neither one was a good scenario. 

“Chambers, Prentiss, why don’t you go down there and see if you can get anyone to talk,” Hotch ordered. Prentiss nodded at me and I followed her lead out to the elevator. Hopefully, without my wig and elaborate outfits, the girls wouldn’t recognize me. 

We entered the club and it was strange being there at 4am. I was usually out of there at 2 or 2:30 at the latest, so I never knew how it looked when it was more calm. There were about a third of the people there than during the busy hours, but luckily I still saw some girls that we could talk to. We approached them and I recognized them immediately. They were the two new girls who unfortunately had to work the crappy hours until they moved up the ranks. Steph had huge, curly blonde hair and Heidi had short black waves. 

“Hi, I’m Emily and this is Aundreya. Could we speak with you for a moment?” Prentiss asked. I was definitely going to let her take the lead on this one. I wanted to stay as inconspicuous to both parties as possible. 

“What for?” Steph asked. 

“We were just wanting to ask you about a woman who works here, Cindi Burns?” Prentiss held out the photo to them. 

“I don’t know a Cindi, but the girl you’re showing me is Thia. She works here,” Heidi answered. 

“Okay, well have you seen Thia recently?” Prentiss pressed. 

They both just shook their heads. “Why?”

“She’s been reported missing.”

“Missing? By who, I thought Thia didn’t have anyone,” Heidi asked. 

“Her cousin.”

“Oh damn. We didn’t see her last night. Sorry,” Steph said. Both of them turned to walk away and that’s how I knew something was up. Most of us stuck together, and were concerned when we heard about something happening to one of us. Not only because we cared, but because we knew there was a likelihood that we could be next. 

“Was she with someone?” I asked.

They slowly turned around to look at me, sizing me up. 

“Don’t think so. Sorry, we don’t know anything.” Lies, more lies. I shot Emily a look. She’d caught it too. I tilted my head in the opposite direction of the girls, asking her to let me talk to them alone. She arched an eyebrow. 

“Trust me,” I said. She complied and walked away. I chased after the girls. 

“Please,” I called after them, “She is in trouble and I know you know what’s going on.”

They ignored me.

“Look, we don’t have a problem but we could depending on if and how you answer these next questions,” I threatened. That’s when they heard it. The sass in my voice that was always more amplified when I was here, playing my character. 

Both of their heads whipped around. “There’s no way.”

“Steph, Heidi-”

“Alionth?” they screeched and tossed their arms around me.

“It’s me,” I confirmed.

“What the hell are you doing with the police?” Steph asked.

“I know the cousin who reported Thia missing. Somehow I never put together that they were related,” I said, avoiding their real question. 

“Oh wow. Small world,” Heidi said.

“Yeah. So she didn’t show last night?”

“No. She was supposed to, but she never came,” Heidi answered.

“Do you have any idea what happened to her?”

“I mean, I saw her go into the private room with that guy, but after that, nothing.”

“Have you ever seen that man before? Could you describe him?” 

“Not really. It was dark,” Heidi said.

“No, but I’ve seen him before. Well, I didn’t recognize his face, but he was wearing a long trench coat that I’ve seen before,” Steph said. 

I was about to ask if there was anything about the coat that stood out when a girl came stumbling out of the bathroom. “Help,” she croaked.

Prentiss and I rushed over to her.

“I tried to stop it,” she said. Her breathing was labored and she didn’t look familiar. 

“Tried to stop what?” I asked.

“I tried. I tried. He did it again.” She wasn’t making any sense and she looked high.

“Who? Who’s he?” I pushed.

“The guy in the coat.” She started coughing, then collapsed. 

She woke up in the hospital dazed and confused. I stayed with her while Prentiss went back to report to the team and assist them with whatever else they needed.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You collapsed after we found you in the Camelot. You were high,” I told her. Once we got her to the hospital and she was stable, we looked through her clothes and found a small bag full of a white powder. The lab was running it to figure out what it was. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Amanda. I dance at the gentlemen’s club a few blocks away. Who are you?”

“I’m Agent Chambers-”

“ Agent? ”

“Yes. We are investigating the disappearance of-”

“Multiple women in the area?” she finished eagerly. 

“No, actually. Just the disappearance of Cindi Burns, also known as Thia.”

“What? No,” she quickly became irritated. “This has been happening to exotic dancers all over the city.”

“What? How do you know this?”

“I’ve been tracking it. I bounce around a lot between clubs, and that’s when I realized that I kept seeing the same man. That doesn’t seem like a big deal, men go to multiple clubs, right? But it is weird if he wears the same exact coat each time he comes, and each time, he asks for a private dance with one of our girls, and then that very same girl goes missing the next day.” I was impressed at how observant she was. There’s a lot going on in a club, so most girls just tune it out and only focus on what they’re doing.

“Wow. How long has this been going on?”

“Probably four or five months. No one is looking for these girls because most of them don’t have people who are looking out for them. I tried telling the police but they brushed them off as run-aways.” She was very passionate, and I respected her dedication. 

“Do you want to do something in law enforcement when you graduate?” I asked. Her eyes went wide and I knew I was right.

“Yes. How did you know that?” she asked in wonder. 

“I’m with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. It’s part of my job,” I smiled. These girls didn’t hear it enough that needing financial help to get them through college was acceptable, that what they were doing was an acceptable form of secondary income to get them a higher education. “You seem like you’d be a great addition to the system.”

“Thanks. You’re literally my age, how is it possible that you are already working in a top unit of the FBI?” Her excitement quickly diminished. “You’re probably looking at me and wondering what in the hell I’m doing.”

“No, actually. I’ve been where you are. Actually, I still am where you are. I dance at the Camelot occasionally.” Amanda looked at me bewildered, but it brought light to her eyes.

“You work for the FBI and dance?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Must be. What are you going to do about this?”

“Can I ask you a few more questions?”

“Absolutely. What do you need to know?” It gave me hope that this woman was so invested in helping. 

“Walk me through what happened and what you remember.” 

She told me that she’d gone for a ‘smoke break’ around midnight because that’s when the man usually showed up at the club. She looked around for him but never saw him. Amanda had only ever seen him at three of the five clubs she worked at, so she called the other two to ask them if a man like that was there. When the Camelot told her that someone there matched her description of him, she hailed a cab and drove over. When she arrived, she went straight to the private rooms, and found him forcing a girl to take drugs. When he saw her, he panicked and yanked her into the room and forced her to take the drugs as well. They immediately kicked in, she recalled, but she had enough wits about her to keep hold of the bag because the drug was nothing she recognized. She finally came-to in the bathroom, but by then, Thia was already gone and Prentiss and I had arrived. 

I called Aaron and relayed the information. 

“She messed up his routine and he panicked, causing him to get sloppy,” he told me. 

“Yeah, but that means he might accelerate, which means …” I didn’t want to say it. 

“I know. Hopefully we’ll get the toxicology report back soon so we can narrow down our search based on whatever drugs are in that bag,” he said, still trying to stay positive, even though deep down he knew this didn’t look good. 

“How’s Morgan?”

“As expected. See if Amanda remembers anything else, then head back here."

“Will do.”

When I got back to the office, I could feel the tension radiating through the room. 

“What’s going on?” I asked carefully. 

“The tox screen came back and they were only able to identify three of the substances in the mixture: heroin, cocaine, and MDMA,” Reid said. 

“So there are more within the mixture?” I clarified.

“Their best guess is that there are two others in there.”

“What? And they can’t test it?” I was flabbergasted. How could a lab not test drugs? Isn't that literally half their job?

“They’re saying that they’re being overpowered by the other three in the mix, and they don’t have a good starting point as to what the others would be.”

“Do we have the drug?” I asked. I could give a stab at it. I was, what one could describe as, well versed in drugs. 

“It’s in evidence,” Spencer said, skepticism coating his voice. Instead of explaining, I marched out of our meeting room and headed straight to evidence. 

When I got back, everyone was looking at me. I opened the bag and dumped just a little bit on the round table. 

“What are you doing?” Hotch asked. I pinched the white powder between my fingers and lightly rubbed them together. 

“I’ve had a lot of experience with drugs. I’m just trying to figure out what the other two are,” I said. 

“You’re not going to be able to do that. Especially not by just looking and touching because a lot of drugs come in white powder form,” JJ said.

I sighed. “I know, you’re right. But if I can figure out what the other two are, is that information going to lead us to our unsub?”

“There’s a very good chance. Obtaining five different drugs would hopefully leave enough records to track someone down, especially if the other two aren’t classic street drugs,” Reid said. 

“Okay,” I said, ignoring the lingering question pertaining to my motives. I took a deep breath as everyone’s eyes were still on me. I looked around at the people in the room, trying to completely absorb them in their entirety, attempting to remember as much of reality as I could. Then, before anyone could bat an eyelash, I swooped toward the table and sniffed up whatever powder I had put there. 

Amanda was not messing around when she said they acted almost instantly. I had barely raised my head back up when the euphoric feeling hit me. That must be the cocaine . 

Cocaine acted the fastest so I would feel that first. Someone was grabbing my shoulder, ushering me to sit down, but I swatted them away. 

“Shut up,” I mumbled. The noise around me had amplified, either because of the drugs, or… because of the drugs. Because I had taken the drugs, and people were freaking out.

The noise didn’t stop so I yelled, “Shut up!” That did it. “Listen to me,” I said, looking at everyone around the room. “There is nothing you can do about it now but let it run its course. I need you to trust me. Like I said … I’ve had a lot of experience with a lot of different drugs. I need you … I need you to let me do this my way. I can help,” I said. Sentences were already hard to concentrate on forming. 

“What are you feeling?” It sounded like Emily.

“Yes, can confirm, there is cocaine in this,” I responded. “What do I look like? Like do you see any signs of other drugs?”

“Your pupils haven’t changed, but your eyes are watering,” JJ said, leaning in. 

“Okay yeah. So we know there is also heroin in it,” I said.

“Wait, what?”

“Cocaine would make my pupils big, but heroin would make them small, so they’re balancing out. Also, heroin causes watery eyes along with flushed and itchy skin and a runny nose and drowsiness,” I explained. Speaking of, I was starting to feel woozy and put my hands out on the table. 

Definitely heroin. 

“Thank you, Doctor Spencer Reid,” Prentiss joked.

“You’re welcome, Aundreya Chambers,” I clapped back. It was almost always me that was on the receiving end of the info-dumping.

“Touché,” Emily acknowledged.

Spencer, ignoring our jabs, reached his hand out and placed it on my neck, which shocked my whole system. His hand felt like ice pricking my burning skin.

“That must be the MDMA,” he said, retracting his hand. He was checking my temperature and pulse. Nice. I looked up at him and immediately turned away, grimacing. “What, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. You’re right, Molly’s kicking in, that’s all,” I sighed. 

“I don’t understand,” Hotch questioned. If I wasn’t so high and using every ounce of willpower not to be dragged under by the euphoria pounding in my head, I’d make a smartass remark regarding Aaron’s uneducatedness in the realm of drugs. Not like I expected anything different.

“MDMA usually causes hallucinations, and some of them can get pretty weird and pretty graphic. She must be experiencing one now,” Emily explained, and I was grateful she stepped in. Wait. Ha! Of course Emily knows the effects of MDMA. I should have guessed.

I tried to look up at her to silently thank her, but her face was too messed up and I had to look away. Now I just had to wait for other signs of other drugs. 

“Your hand twitched.” It was a voice that I hadn’t heard before.

“Huh?”

“Your hand. It’s twitching,” the small, squeaky voice restated. I whipped my head around to identify the source and it was a little girl in a white sunflower dress. “Look.” I directed my attention to my hand and she was right. It was in fact twitching. 

“That’s not a cocaine thing, right?” I asked her. My mind was getting foggier by the second.

“What’s not a cocaine th-” JJ started.

“Shh!” I snapped. I bent down and stretched my neck out as far as I could toward the girl to get as close to her as possible without moving a foot. 

“No. It’s not,” she answered simply, “so then what is it?”

“I don’t - I don’t know,” I racked my brain, but nothing was coming.

“Your foot. You’re tapping your foot,” she said.

“What does that have to do-” I tried. 

“And your eyes. Everything looks shaky, doesn’t it? They’re moving around really fast,” she said in that high pitched, sing-songy voice. 

“What other drug does that?” 

She just shrugged at me. Twitching, fast eyes, uncontrollable and jumpy muscles…

“Hyperactivity,” I realized.

“What?” someone around me asked.

“Hyperactivity! Spence, what’s the drug that makes you super hyped up?”

“There are a lot that do that,” he said, and I jumped. His voice came from the right side of me and I snapped my head up to look at him. Had he always been standing there? I thought for sure he was on the other side of me.

“There’s Adderall, concerta, dexedrine-”

“No, no, no. Twitching, jumpy muscles, shaky eyes, that kind of thing,” I said, getting impatient, knowing that I didn’t have time to spare for one of his lists right now.

“Methamphetamine?” 

“Yes! Yes! That’s the one! There’s meth in here too,” I verified. 

“Can I ask you something?” Emily asked. I nodded.

“Who are you talking to?” I turned around to look at the little girl. She waved at me. 

“Uh, there’s a uh …” How should I explain this? “She’s helping me figure out what I’m on.”

“Who’s she?”

“This girl over here,” I said, turning back to face Prentiss and pointing my thumb over my shoulder.

“Cool, cool. That girl is obviously a hallucination-”

“I know that,” I interrupted.

“Right, but a hallucination from what drug?” Prentiss asked. My eyes got wide.

“Em, you’re a genius! Not to take anything away from the actual genius over here. Not saying that you aren’t smart or like super-nearly-genius-material or anything-”

“Aundreya,” JJ said sternly. I swallowed and looked at her. “What drug causes that hallucination?”

“Right. Um …” I started. 

“Acid,” the girl behind me helped me out. 

“Yeah. What she said,” I seconded. The team looked at me. “You can’t hear her, either. Sorry. Acid.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, the swirling in my head nearly becoming too much. 

“Okay, well those are the other two drugs in there,” JJ concluded. She gave me a reassuring smile. “You did great.” 

I sat down, prepared to let myself fall into the euphoric feeling now that I had gotten the information we needed, but it never came. 

What’s that about? I take five different drugs which are supposed to make me feel better and I get nothing?

“Let’s move you to a private room,” Rossi said, approaching me. I backed away, shaking my head. “It will only be for a little while until you come down from your high.”

“No! I don’t want to move,” I said on impulse. Suddenly, all I wanted to do was stay with people I knew, people I was comfortable with, and just curl up in a corner. 

“Whatsamatter? Are you nervous?” the little girl taunted. I turned toward her, but she evaporated before I could ask her what she meant. 

“Come on. I’ll help you there,” Rossi offered again. I took another step back.

“I can get to wherever it is myself,” I insisted, turning toward the door. I got halfway out when I realized, “Where is it, exactly, that we’re going?”

Rossi gave me a soft smile. “Why don’t I lead the way, and you can follow me, yeah?”

“Alright.” He led me straight to his office and shut the door. He locked it too. 

“Wait, no, please don’t lock it,” I begged. He looked at me confused. 

“Okay, I won’t. Is it okay if I stay in here with you for a while?” I nodded. I felt paranoid, like someone was watching me. I frantically looked around to identify anything that seemed out of place, or anyone else that could have been spying on me. 

Come on, where’s that euphoria? I could use a little release right about now… 

We sat there in silence for a good 20 minutes when he got up.

“Where are you going?” I asked. I would have been embarrassed by how childish and reliant my voice sounded, but I was honestly too worried about his answer. 

“I’m just going to step out for a bit, and JJ is going to come in here instead. Is that alright with you?” he asked. He seemed to know a bit about how to deal with high people, yet another one I should have seen coming. I attempted to make a mental note that Emily, Rossi, and I should get high together at some point. No need to drag in inexperienced people, although I would definitely love to see our team members high. I hoped I would remember that when I was sober. 

“Fine. Yeah. Sure. I’m good with that,” I said. Rossi opened the door and JJ quickly slipped in. Had she been waiting out there this whole time? Obviously not, but considering how fast she came in, it was like she was already prepared for the swap. Duh, Aundreya, you’re high and already seem to have an unstable personality. Of course she was already prepared for the swap. 

Next up was Emily’s shift, but things didn’t get bad until after that, during Derek’s shift. Why’d it have to be during Derek’s shift? He already had a lot on his plate, and I didn’t even think he should have been watching me to begin with because of that, but being the good guy he was, he wanted to help in any way he could. 

I started screaming. “Oh my god! Help him! Somebody please do something!”

On the floor, in a bloody heap, was none other than Spencer Reid. His body was bent in ways it shouldn’t have been, blood was pouring from his chest, his neck, his head, his mouth. And those eyes, those precious, movie star eyes, were completely glazed over. There was a split second before I started screaming in which I tried to remind myself I was high, and convince myself it was only a hallucination, but I couldn’t take that chance. 

I rushed over to him on the floor and just started shouting for anyone to help and to save him. Oh dear lord just save him. 

Morgan got down on the floor next to me and placed a hand on my back. “Who, Chambers? Help who?”

“Spencer!” I yelped. He got up and backed away from me. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you helping?”

“Aundreya, I’m going to be right back with help.” His gaze was the most intense I’d ever seen it. When the door opened again, I saw Spencer. My jaw hit the floor.

“Spencer?” I stammered, standing up. “Tell me that’s not real!” I gestured to the other him on the floor next to me, “Tell me that’s not fucking real!”

“I’m right here and I’m okay. What’s wrong?” he asked. He seemed sincere but I had to be sure. I glanced back to the floor where the other Spencer was still dying and bleeding profusely. I winced and tore my gaze away. 

“Tell me something that I’m too stupid to come up with on my own so I know you’re not just another hallucination,” I demanded.

Without hesitation, he said, “Quantum mechanics is the science dealing with the behavior of matter and light on the atomic and subatomic scale. It attempts to describe and account for the properties of molecules and atoms and their constituents-electrons, protons, neutrons, and other more esoteric particles such as quarks and gluons. These properties include-”

“Oh thank god!” I stopped him, quickly embracing him with everything I had. I’d never been more grateful to hear his rambling, and I was pretty certain he was prepared to continue on until I knew he was real and I told him to stop. 

He gladly accepted the hug, rubbing his hands up and down my back, assuring me he was real and was okay. I pulled away from him, and he cupped my face, brushing away the tears I hadn’t noticed falling. Standing so close to him with relief pulsating through me, his hands still supporting me, I suddenly had the intense urge to kiss him. I’d never felt that before, but even with the uncertainty, I was totally willing to let that urge dominate my actions. My eyes quickly scanned his face, trying to see if he was feeling the same.

What are you thinking? You are high , remember? Don’t do something stupid. This is not you thinking, this is drugged out crazy you thinking. 

That was the problem, though. Even if it was drugged out, crazy me, it was still me thinking those things.

It scared me so much that I actually gained a moment of clarity, finding the willpower to turn away. Hoping he didn’t read the thoughts on my face and embarrassed by the whole thing, I said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you or pull you away from what you were doing. And Derek, I’m so sorry. You already have enough to worry about, you don’t need me adding to the stress.”

“It’s okay,” they both said at the same time. Spencer’s voice was soft and supportive in contrast to Derek’s strong and understanding one, both of which I needed to hear. It was nice to have a sturdy base and a safe net to fall back on.

“You don’t need to apologize. You took a dangerous, unknown mixture of drugs just so you could help get my cousin back. The least I could do is look after you for a little while,” Derek said, changing to that silky smooth voice of his.

“And I’m just glad that I could help you out of whatever terrible thing you were seeing,” Spencer added. 

“I don’t know what got into me. That’s never happened to me before,” I stated, still feeling like I owed them an explanation.

“It’s just gotta be the intense mixture of drugs,” Derek said, waving it off. 

“You’re probably right…” I started, but it didn’t feel right. 

‘Whatsamatter? Are you nervous?’ The little girl's voice came ringing back into my head. What was she trying to tell me?

“What’s wrong?” Reid asked, clearly able to read my troubled expression.

“I’m not sure yet. Has Garcia come up with anyone?”

“She’s narrowed it down,” he said. Why’d he pause like that?

“What’s that mean? What’re you not telling me?”

“It’s just that, uh, she has narrowed it down to eleven people.”

“Eleven? Not farther than that? There are eleven people who are using all five of these?” I asked. How is it possible that my extra information didn’t narrow it down farther than that?

“I guess, but don’t worry,” Reid quickly added, “we are still using what we know to narrow it down even further.”

“Okay,” I said, disappointed, “I wouldn’t want to hold you up.” He gave me a small smile and exited the room. It was back to just Derek and I. 

Whatsamatter? Are you nervous? Something about that was not settling right with me. That girl was helping me figure out what I was on, but she just left me with a cliffhanger? A taunt? What was she trying to tell me?

I sat there for the next 20 minutes (it felt like hours) trying to figure out what was going on.

Nervous, lack of euphoria.

Think, Aundreya, think.

A hallucination that had to do with a big fear, drowsy.

Come on. There’s got to be another drug involved.

Anxiety, emotional. Wait. Anxiety.

I was anxious about moving locations, I was anxious about people switching out, I was anxious that someone was watching me. Spencer dying is a root of anxiety, not to mention just sitting here, unmoving? There’s got to be another downer in here. What downer do you have less experience with? One that would cause lots of anxiety and a hallucination you aren’t familiar with? 

I racked my brain until it came to me. 

OxyContin.

“OxyContin!” I yelled. Derek looked up at me, drowsiness in his eyes. I rushed toward the door and into the meeting room before he could do anything about it. “There’s OxyContin in this, too!” I must have startled them because Penelope nearly knocked her drink over from the surprise. 

“Don’t do that to me!” she yelped. 

“Sorry. Narrow down your search by only looking at those with access to OxyContin, either because they work in the medical field or because they or someone in their orbit just had surgery,” I commanded. My thinking felt oddly sharp and clear. 

“Okay, that leaves us with-” she stopped. Her eyes went wide. “Only one suspect. Dom Forester.”

“Address?” Aaron insisted.

“Already sent.”

“Let’s go. Morgan, Chambers, stay here,” I nodded. Morgan was about to challenge that order when I lightly grabbed his arm, leading him away from the rest of the team.

“They’ve got it,” I said. 

“I know. I just wish he’d let me help more,” he complained. 

“I know.”

“Hey, how are you feeling? You seem pretty clear headed for someone who is supposed to be high on now six different drugs,” he pointed out. 

“Have I mentioned that I’ve had a shit ton of experience with drugs?”

“Yes you have.”

“Let’s just say I’ve built up quite the tolerance,” I said with a quick eyebrow raise. We didn’t need to get further into it. 

He sighed. “Well I appreciate you doing that. Let’s just hope they catch this sonuvabitch.”

“Amen,” I replied.

So they didn’t catch the sonuvabitch. 

Actually, they didn’t catch anything. They swept his whole place, twice , and didn’t get even so much as a dirty sock on the floor. The guy was squeaky clean. 

“That’s not possible,” Derek said, fuming. “Can we track his phone?” 

“We tried, but it's pinged at his house for the past two months without moving. Everything we have is purely circumstantial,” Prentiss said with an undertone of pity. 

“So what do we need to do to nail this guy?” I asked. We were certain it was him, but we just didn’t have anything to prove it. 

It was several hours later, so I had pretty much come down from my high. Drugs pumped in and out of my system very quickly at this point. 

“The best way is if we can catch him in the act,” JJ said.

“Okay, but how? You want us all to split up and stake out the clubs? That would take too long,” Morgan said.

“Well, Amanda said that he only went to three of them, so we’d only have to look at those three,” I said, trying to add some optimism. 

“We don’t know if he’ll go to one of those tonight, though,” JJ said.

“Okay, let’s revisit the profile. What do we know,” Hotch redirected us.

“We know that he’s devolving because he got thrown off his routine, which probably means he’s accelerating,” Rossi said.

“It also means that he’s probably going back out tonight,” JJ added. It also means that Thia is probably dead. 

“Okay, so he goes out tonight. What then? We’re at the clubs and just have to bust into all of the private rooms constantly to make sure none of them are our guy?” Morgan said. He was right. That was never going to work.

“Catch him in the act, right?” I confirmed, a plan forming in my head.

“Right,” Aaron said. He looked at me suspiciously because he knew I was coming up with something.

“Why don’t you send me in? I’ll go in and act like I’m one of the dancers there, then he can-”

“No,” Emily said, cutting me off. “You’ve been through enough today. I’ll do it.”

I shook my head. “Trust me, I can-”

“I don’t think either of you should do it,” JJ said, cutting me off again. “There’s got to be a better way.”

“But this will work. We can make sure that-”

“It seems risky, but I think we can pull it off,” Morgan said, the third in a row to interrupt me. I rolled my eyes. 

“How though? There are too many factors to consider,” JJ questioned.

“Well if any of you would like to let me finish one goddamned sentence around here, I’d tell you,” I snapped. They all turned to look at me. “ Sorry . All I’m saying is that you can send me in as a dancer, he’ll ask for a private with me, then when we are in the private room, Dom will make his move and we catch him in the act.”

“How are you going to make sure he’ll ask for a private with you?” Morgan asked. 

“Trust me. He will,” I said. If there was one thing I knew, if I paid enough attention to him and made eye contact while I was dancing, he’d almost certainly pick me for a private.

“Let me guess. ‘I have a lot of experience with dancing?’” Morgan mocked. I just nodded. “Is there anything you don’t have a lot of experience with?”

I shrugged, “Anything legal.” He blew a slight laugh out of his nose. 

“That’s great and all, but you actually have to be at the right club,” Rossi stated.

“So we divide and conquer. We’ll stake out the three clubs and call to let her know which one he’s at,” Emily said. 

“Are you sure you are okay with this?” Spencer asked me. 

“I’m positive. Plus, I’m the only one with a heavy resistance to drugs, so I’ll still have my wits about me to alert you. You’ll give me like a small button or something to push when he’s gone too far, right?” I confirmed. Hotch nodded. “Then let's do this.”

The team split up and went to look for Dom at all three locations. Typically, they found him at the Camelot, which was good and bad for me. Good that I would know people there and could get them to cooperate with me easier and I already had some of my outfits there. Bad because I knew people there and had outfits there and the team could pick up on the fact that I’d been there many times recently as a dancer. 

I showed up to the Camelot and went through the back door.

“Alionth! Hey, what’re you doing here? I thought you were off for a while?” JoJo said. She and I had worked together for many years and were the ultimate veterans of the group. Her long, fiery red hair and gorgeous long legs made her quite the attraction and I’d told her that. She always complained and said she wished she had more toned, muscular legs like mine. I guess the grass is always greener, right?

“Yeah well, I decided to pop in,” I replied. I was trying to keep the real motives of my visit under wraps. I walked over to the mini cabinet that I kept my clothes in. I slipped on the tight, black, leather outfit that provided the least coverage. I always caught a lot of attention wearing it. I quickly pulled my hair back and hid it under my signature wig. It was long, straight hair, nearing my waist, and was a bright orange on the right half, and bright yellow on the left half. I threw in my green contacts as well, completely transforming myself into the persona I let take the stage. Not to be confused with the other half of the Alionth persona, who was the badass criminal ringleader.

I poked my head around the side of the stage so that I could find the man in the trench coat. He wasn’t hard to spot, standing behind the third row of tables, directly in the center.

Time to turn on the charm.

They announced me as ‘Alionth: special guest star’, followed by a bunch of hoots and hollers. 

Great. The team will definitely ask what that’s about.

I walked out on stage, slowly, seductively, and made eye contact with Dom the whole time. I winked at him right before my music started.

I’d done this plenty of times, but it felt surreal knowing that the two worlds I tried so hard to keep separate were colliding. I fought the urge to look for my teammates, just having to trust the knowledge that they were there, and they were watching. I both wanted to, and didn’t want to see their reactions. Instead, I put forth all of my efforts into long-distance wooing Dom Forester. 

The song ended and the lights went dark. I gasped for air, just then realizing that I’d probably been holding my breath for the entirety of the dance. I felt a little light headed, but the chorus of cat calls and claps brought me back to Earth. I quickly collected the money strewn across the stage, went back to the dressing rooms, and waited. If this guy was as impatient as we profiled, I’d be getting the notice any minute. 

“Alionth,” Landice, the manager, said, “You’ve got a private.”

I took a deep breath. Now the real show begins.

I walked as confidently as I could into that room. I’d dealt with so many creeps it was unbelievable, but this was different. Different because I was actually going to have to wait for him to make a move on me and then not fight back, and different because I knew that I had a team of professionals watching my back. I did one last check of my bracelet, just to make sure the hidden button was still there and within reach.

“Hel-lo,” I said coquettishly, flashing him my best smile. He didn’t respond. I looked him up and down, and he returned the favor. “Like what you see?”

He patted the seat next to him. I went to sit down. I watched him intently as he pulled a small bag, filled with the same white powder I took earlier that day, out of his jacket pocket. He dumped a small portion on the table. He locked eyes with me and gestured toward the pile.

“Sir, are you sure you want to be high for this? I think the memories will be a lot more enjoyable if you can actually remember them,” I offered. 

“I don’t want to be high for this. I want you to be high for this,” he stated simply. 

I laughed. “Sir, I won’t be able to do my job as well.”

“That doesn’t matter to me. Come on, just take a little,” he tried. 

“What is it?”

“Just a small mixture that I made. It’ll help you relax and feel better.” If only that were true. 

“Sir, I don’t-”

“Look, I paid extra for this so I’d like you to do whatever I say. And since when did dancers turn down free drugs?” he spat. He had a point, that’s probably why he was able to lure so many girls. I took a deep breath, careful not to let him see it, and bent over to sniff some up. I tried to take as little as l could while still looking like I was taking some. The feeling of euphoria crashed into me, just like it had the first time. 

“Ready to start?” I asked, fighting hard to keep my balance and stay upright. He nodded with a hint of confusion and gestured toward the mini stage and pole in the middle of the room. I walked over to dim the lights, and started the music. For a split second, focusing all of my energy on the dance, I forgot why I was actually there. I was going through the motions repeating to myself that I had to stay clear headed. When it got to the portion of the dance where I would basically be right on top of him, I hesitated. I had no idea what his plan was or how he got the girls out of the room, and by now he had definitely messed with the cameras, so my safety was left to my ability to activate my bracelet. 

Here we go.

I strutted over to him, and bent over, sticking my ass high in the air. I quickly went to sit on his lap, slowly swishing my hips from side to side. The moment I actually made contact with his legs, he pulled a knife out and held it to my throat. His other hand quickly clasped over my mouth. 

“Would you be a doll and come with me for a second?” he asked, sounding smug. I moved my wrist slightly to let the extra chain with the button fall into my palm. I squeezed as hard as I could. Hopefully the message got sent. I nodded, trying to avoid getting the blade pushed into my neck any farther. He slowly stood up, careful not to actually hurt me, and started backing up toward the exit that only staff here was supposed to know about. I was surprised that he completely abandoned the drugs like last time. That wasn’t typically part of his MO until he got thrown off by Amanda. 

Finally, they burst into the room, all aiming their guns right at me. Well, right at the guy behind me, who was currently using me as a human shield. 

“Drop the knife,” Morgan said. My heart was pounding and my eyes were watering, both of which I attributed to the drugs. 

“I will kill this whore right now if you don’t back up !” he yelled. Emily was standing the furthest away by the door. I tried to make eye contact with her, attempting to burn holes into her face. She looked at me, and I slightly tilted my head toward the back door Dom was headed for. She looked at me bewildered. I directed my eyes in the same direction, willing her to get the message. Realization struck her face, and she slinked out of the room. 

“You don’t want to do this, Dom,” Rossi said.

“Why would that be?” he hissed.

“If you kill her, we will kill you in an instant. You will never get to fully develop your drug or sell it, which will earn you a lot of attention in prison,” Rossi said.

“And on the streets if you get out,” Morgan pointed out. 

“You won’t ever let me out. And they will think I’m a weak whore-killer in there, even if I do have new drugs,” Dom said, his voice defeated. 

Shit. That is not good. He’s about to give up and I’m willing to bet he’s gonna take me with him.

“Dom, just set the knife down. We can work this out, get you a deal. We can tell them you cooperated,” Rossi tried. It was a hollow effort. I felt Dom’s arm tense up and his grip tighten around the knife. I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw, preparing myself for the blow that was bound to come. I emptied my mind, praying to the god I never believed in that I wouldn’t go to hell, ready to give into the drugs and whatever darkness was sure to follow.

But it never came. 

My ears rang and a sudden stinging sensation was coming from my left collar bone. The knife fell to the floor with a clatter and Dom was quick to follow. That’s when I remembered that Prentiss had snuck out to come through the back entrance. I lifted my hand to my collar bone, the warm wet blood that I already knew was there coating it. I turned to face Emily who was holstering her gun, my body finally succumbing to the stress from the entire day. I let myself fall into her arms, and be dragged under by the drugs coursing through my veins at a rapid pace. She held me tight and helped me out to the ambulance that was somehow already there, whispering in my ear that I was going to be okay the whole way. Spencer was pacing out front and the moment he saw me, tears sprang into his eyes. He was next to me impossibly fast and I allowed myself to be swallowed up by his embrace, taking in his scent and basking in the safety of his arms. 

“Let’s get you over to a medic,” he said, steadying me with his grasp, ushering me toward one of the ambulances. I nodded and sat down on the edge as a man in a white uniform reached for a stack of gauze. He started working on my cut while the other paramedics wheeled out an injured Dom Forester, chained to his gurney.

The paramedics insisted that they take me to the hospital because of the sheer amount of drugs in my system and my ‘irregular heartbeat’. I tried to convince them I was fine but to no avail.

When I woke up, Spencer and Emily were sitting in chairs near my bed, looking like they had decided to hibernate. I scanned myself, realizing that I was in a hospital gown. Someone must have reverted me back to Aundreya, taking my wig, contacts, and outfit off. Next, I scanned the room. There were three trays full of untouched food on the table next to me. I started to reach over to the table on my left when Spencer, panic in his voice, said, “Stop! Don’t do that!”

I paused, my arm hanging in mid air over the bed. “What?” My voice sounded fogged. 

“You will damage your stitches,” he explained. All of his sudden movements and talking woke Emily up.

“Oh, good. You're up,” she said, casually.

“Yeah, about that. Why was I asleep to begin with? And what am I doing in a hospital?” I asked. It was weird, but over the 24 years of my life, with all that has happened, I’d never once been to a hospital, let alone be the reason for my visit. I mean, I’d been to the gang’s ‘ER’ but I didn’t really count that. 

“I came behind you and shot Dom in the leg. It forced him to buckle under his own weight, but he made a last-ditch effort to slice your throat. He must’ve caught your collar bone on his way down,” Emily explained.

“And once we got you to the paramedics, you insisted you were fine, but they took you here in an ambulance anyway. Good thing they did because two minutes into the drive, you passed out,” Spencer told me. 

“Passed out? From what?” I was confused. Nothing I could think of was ‘pass out’ worthy. 

“Probably just the combination of stress, blood loss, and the drugs. Because you’d had two doses of a highly toxic drug mixture within one day, your blood was pumping through your body very quickly, causing you to lose more blood than usual. It’s honestly a miracle you didn’t just have a heart attack,” Reid informed me. I nodded, slowly able to wrap my head around that.

I wonder how many times I’ve almost had a heart attack and died due to drugs but didn’t.  

I’d really never thought about it before. 

“That was actually something I’ve been meaning to ask you about,” Prentiss led in. 

“What?”

“I mean, skipping over the fact that you were able to take a mixture of drugs and tell us each drug that was in it, which is crazy, but how were you able to take the first dose, and then be completely fine within a few hours? Most people would be hopped up for like the next couple of days . Not to mention, you took a second dose within the same eight hour window, and not only survived, but could stay clear headed long enough for us to take down an unsub. Then you wake up just two hours later? Come on. What is your secret?” She sounded concerned, but actually kind of in awe, almost eager to hear my answer. 

“Like I said, I just have a super high tolerance to drugs,” I stated. 

“Come on, there’s gotta be more than that.”

I shook my head. “Sorry. I don’t know what to tell ya.” She looked incredulous and I don’t blame her. We all knew I was hiding something but she let it go. “Hey, what happened to Morgan’s cousin?”

“Oh yeah! We got Dom to tell us where he was keeping her, and she’s here in the hospital and is okay!” Reid cheered.

“Wait, what? I thought for sure that-”

“She’d be dead? That’s what we all thought. Turns out, the incident with Amanda threw him off so much that he needed a successful abduction before he could rebuild his confidence enough to kill her,” Reid said. 

“Wow. That’s great news. I’m glad she’s okay. And Morgan?” I questioned.

“Ecstatic,” Penelope said, entering my room. 

“Penelope!” I said, with a smile. There was just something about her entire being that could just light up a room. She came to give me a hug.

“How are you feeling? Good enough to stand?” she pushed.

“Garcia! Give the girl a minute,” Emily said. 

I laughed, “It’s okay. I’m good and definitely need to get out of this bed.” 

She pranced out of the room, me in tow, down the hall to where Derek and Thia were standing. Derek beamed at me, and embraced me in those giant teddy-bear arms. “You do not know how much this means to me,” he said, looking over at Thia. “Honestly, I cannot thank you enough for everything you’ve done. Risking your life to help someone that I care about … I just really appreciate it,” he said. He seemed speechless, which left a smile on my face. I enjoyed seeing him this happy and relieved after a rough couple of days. “I’d like you to meet my cousin, Cindi. Cindi, this is our new teammate, Aundreya, that did most of the work to help us find you.”

I laughed and extended my hand. “That’s completely inaccurate, but it’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” she said slowly, obviously confused. I flashed her a smile but quickly slipped in a warning look, expressing that I’d explain everything when we were alone. She smiled back, picking up what I was putting down. 

That’ll be a fun conversation.

“You know, if I can’t convince you to let me help you, and you are going to continue dancing, I’m sure this one could teach you a thing or two,” Morgan said jokingly, tossing his head in my direction. 

“What makes you say that?” Thia asked. I looked at him expectantly. 

“Well, she told me she had experience with dancing but damn . That was not what I was expecting,” he said. 

I looked at him, mouth slightly agape, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They literally announced you as ‘Alionth: special guest star,’” he said, with his eyebrows up.

“He has a point. Why did they do that?” Spencer asked me. He’d already been on my ass earlier about it, the last thing I wanted was for him to pick up on everything and start asking me 21 questions. 

“I told them to. It’d help sell it to Dom,” I stated simply. In order to change the subject I added, “You never answered my question, though. What were you expecting?”

“Look, I didn’t mean any disrespect, and if it wasn’t weird because we’re friends, I would’ve totally been tossing bills at you. All I’m saying is that you’re good,” he put his hands up in defense. 

“Bullshit,” I said with a wink, “I’m great. ”