𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬; 𝚜. 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚍

2 - BEST FRIEND

After concluding speaking with Derek, Stephanie makes her way back over to Agent Hotchner and Spencer Reid. The two agents are hovered over a table, with bones covering the top. "Hey, how's victimology?" Stephanie questions, causing Agent Hotchner and Spencer to turn around to look at her. "The earliest victims appear to be high-risk. These lesions are consistent with syphilis, most likely a prostitute." He begins, as he picks up a bone with his gloved hand. "This one has severely ground and missing teeth, commonly seen in excessive methamphetamine abuse." He gestures at yet another bone. "And then all of a sudden out of nowhere, a sea change... Healthier and stronger victims all the way through to number 12."

The way that the doctor spoke intrigued Stephanie- she couldn't help but hang onto every word that came out of his mouth. She was grasping for any information she was able to get, and it seemed like Spencer had a lot of it.

"Lower-risk, harder for him to hunt." Stephanie adds, pointing to the bone Spencer currently had in his hands.

Agent Hotchner quickly glanced up at Stephanie then back down at the bone. "What do we know about the first victim?"

Spencer put the bone down back on the table. Spencer began, "You know, that one's tough. He or she has been in the water so long, they're mostly bone fragments. I can attempt to reconstruct..." Agent Hotchner cut him off quickly. "You've got three hours."

The doctor replied, while grabbing bones from the table. "I can do it in two." Agent Hotchner's phone buzzed in his hand, and he quickly turned it on, earning a *beep* before he spoke again urgently. "Make it one."

Stephanie sends a small smile to Spencer and follows Agent Hotchner outside, stopping next to a colleague. "How much has gotten out?" The man next to him softly sighed. "Can't tell. Some of these news crews are national. If the unsub doesn't know we found his graveyard yet, he will soon."

Stephanie spoke up, causing the two men to look at her. "Then we'll hear from everyone who's ever filed a missing persons report." The older man thought for a moment before talking again. "Maybe we can use this to our advantage."

Stephanie responded, "I can talk to them. It might inflate his ego, but it will take the sting out of him losing his sight. It might even keep him local." Agent Hotchner nodded his head firmly. "Good."

Stephanie and Agent Hotchner walk up to the news reporters, telling them that they would like to speak with them, causing camera's to turn on and microphones come close to their faces. "As of now, it would be premature to comment on the details of this case. Our goal is to identify the recovered remains as quickly as possible for all the families involved. In order to expedite that, we're asking that the families or friends of people who went missing from the east coast of the United States since the year 2000 come forward. We'll be matching DNA to the remains, And it will be extremely helpful for us to have a personal item from each of the missing persons. An article of clothing, a hairbrush, a blanket, a pillowcase, photographs or medical or dental records if you have them. We're also looking for items of significance to help us determine the last known whereabouts of each of the victims. Correspondence like letters or emails will be helpful."

Just as she was speaking, she heard a cell phone ring. Causing her to pause for a moment to glance at her big brother receive a call before continuing to speak, and she quickly finished the speech she had planned.

After arriving back at the station, she was sent to work with Derek. She was handed a picture of a woman, and then handed it to Derek. "We were working on a gene therapy project at Johns Hopkins when Samantha got the news. Parkinson's." Derek's face fell and he looked at the picture again. "That must have been pretty rough on her."

"I was her best friend, and all I ever got was this postcard." This time the woman handed the postcard to Derek. Stephanie glanced over to see, and it was a picture of a horse drawn carriage. He flipped the postcard over and read what was written. "Weze, I'm not going back to school. There's nothing there for me. I need to find myself. Love, Sammy."

Stephanie's face turned. "Does that sound like her to you?"

The woman shook her head no. "Not really, no. She would have written a 12-page letter. But she addressed it to "Weze." She's the only one who called me that."

Derek and Stephanie looked at each other, then at the woman. "We'd like to keep this if that's all right. It may be evidence." Derek asked softly to the woman, not wanting to cause anything.

"I... Yeah, okay." She says, agreeing with the man.

Stephanie sent a kind smile to the woman. "Thank you." She asked, "Did you happen to bring anything of hers that we could get DNA from?"

"Well, everyone on the project mapped their DNA into the database." The woman quickly responded.

"We're gonna need that information."

The brother and sister bid farewell to the woman and thanked her for all her help, and sat at a desk together, looking at the postcard now put into an evidence bag. The same older man walked in, "Think it's time to rethink Cindi?" He asked.

"Rossi, the only connection right now is Charleston. It's weak." Derek says, moving the bag into the air so the man named Rossi can see it. Rossi walked closer to the table. "Victim number 5 is an African-American woman in her 20s who died in 2004. That's not weak." He argues.

Derek motions his hand to point to himself, then to Stephanie. "Our aunt has spent years obsessing over Cindi's last few hours. She doesn't go out. She doesn't sleep. She forgets to take her medication. It's killing her, Rossi."

Stephanie stands up and walks behind Derek's chair and puts her hands on the back of the seat. "It hasn't been easy for you, either." He says to Derek, then points to Stephanie. "Or you too."

Derek argues back to Rossi. "But everything I've learned as a profiler has taught me that it's not about what I want to be true. It's about what I can prove. So I can't go there."

Ashley walks into the room.

"We got a match."

❦----SAVINGHARRINGTON SPEAKS !

again, another short chapter. but, i actually think they'll be about 1k - 1.5k words. i feel like i can lay out the story better in my head, then ultimately here. please vote or comment if you liked this chapter, it really motivates me!

if any of you were curious, steph gives off like major caitlin snow / sara lance vibes in my head. her personality isn't shown to much in these first two chapters, but i assure you, you will definitely see it.