CM/WMC Crossover - The Unexpected, part 7/?
Title: The Unexpected, 7/?
Fandom: WMC/CM Crossover
Pairing: Emily/Cindy; Cindy/Lindsay and Emily/JJ implied, if you squint really hard.
Rating: PG/maybe PG-13. There will definitely be some NC-17 at some point, but I’ll forewarn you.
Disclaimer: Don’t own a damn thing except what’s in my head! If I did, I wouldn’t have to write these fics to fill in the blanks.
Warnings: This is un-beta’d. All mistakes are mine.
AN: Apologies for the delay in getting a new update, but RL has this nasty habit of interfering with my writing time. It’s some ugly little word I keep hearing called “work.”
AN2: This fic was nominated for Best Crossover over at the 2008 Criminal Minds Fan Fic Awards site. First of all, whoever nominated me THANK YOU because I never get nominated for anything, so that's way cool. Second, if you do like this fic, throw a vote down for me. Against such great competition, I have no chance of winning, but I'd like to give it a shot. Thanks guys!
Eight minutes and fifty-seven seconds later, Morgan’s cell came to life and with a knowing smirk, he held it out for all to hear.
“Whatcha find, sweetness?”
“Looks like Catherine Holloman is one busy lady who likes the ladies, but she’s definitely not a killer.”
Hotch stepped forward, wanting to be sure before they moved on to another target, “And you’re absolutely sure, Garcia?”
“Check it out,” a few clicks were heard and across the room the computer projected on the screen came to life, making Lindsay jump since she was standing next to it, “Here’s the outside of the bar, from the Lafayette Street side. The woman on the left is our Ms. Holloman and though it’s a little hard to tell considering where her face is at,” Garcia giggled, while Reid looked away and JJ and Emily fought the urge to make eye contact, that one on her knees is our first vic.”
“And you know this how?” Emily’s voice was strained, shifting uncomfortably.
A few more clicks and the camera zoomed in and cleared up the image. Coming into view was a well-defined dragon tattoo just above the hip of the kneeling woman.
“That, my dear friends, is the same exact tat our first vic had.”
Lindsay ran her fingers through her hair, “What I’ve seen so far does more to incriminate Catherine Holloman than to clear her.”
“True,” Garcia’s voice held in the secret information for a very calculated one-two punch, a few more clicks were heard, “but this does.”
On the screen was a new image, already cleaned up and crystal clear, “This is outside Catherine’s condo, that’s a kiss goodbye, that woman turning and walking away is our vic.”
“Damn,” Lindsay muttered and slumped down into the nearest chair.
“Garcia, would you run the same images for the nights running up to the latest vic and let us know what you find? The bartender didn’t recall seeing her leave with anyone, not even the illustrious Ms. Holloman, but we need to see if anyone suspicious was in the vicinity,” Morgan asked.
“Sure thing, hon.” With that, Garcia was gone on her mission.
Emily stepped closer to the screen, “12:33 am. She wasn’t found though until that morning by a tourist.”
“Plenty of time to slowly snip each finger off,” Morgan chimed in with the gory details.
“Jesus,” JJ muttered from behind all of them.
Emily ignored her, lost in her thoughts. She drew a line down the middle of the whiteboard, “Okay, there are two possibilities here. One, either our unsub is some random person that wanders the streets at night, or two, he’s purposefully targeting his victims. He watches them. He knows where they frequent. He knows where they live. Based on what we know about the type of murder involved, ritualistic and detailed, we can safely rule out the random public.” She draws a big X over the random column.
Hotch completes the thought, “That leaves anyone who knows or has had some individual contact with the victim. We’ve cleared the bar owner. Nobody else was seen with her that evening.”
“Whoever it was though would feel driven to kill by the sight of two women together, angered so much by it that he had to kill to rid himself of the image,” Rossi added.
“So, it has to be someone who would have probably come in contact with the women that evening, even if it was just visual contact,” Morgan finished.
“There had to be hundreds, maybe even a thousand people, either in or near the vicinity of that bar that night. There’s no way we could find the perp out of that kind of number,” JJ stood and started pacing, her arms wrapped protectively around herself. Emily watched her, rhymically moving back and forth like a caged animal, when the idea struck her.
“Maybe there is.”
********
“No way!” Everyone turned at JJ’s outburst. The blonde pulled back her glaring eyes from Emily in time to avoid the concerned looks of her team, but not before the brunette noticed the barely concealed look.
“Why not, JJ?” Emily started, but not before Lindsay could interrupt.
“I’m with her,” the two women stood only a few feet apart, practically staring each other down, “If anyone should be doing this, it should be me.”
Lindsay knew the attempt to put the game back in her court was completely off base, but the idea of Cindy going into a dangerous situation without her by her side was inconceivable to the detective.
Morgan jumped in, “How long have you been with the SFPD, Inspector? How many times have you been quoted by the paper or had your picture in the paper? You’re far more likely to be spotted as a cop than Prentiss is.”
“It’s unnecessarily dangerous,” JJ looked at Emily with a dull sadness and a touch of something else, concern…worry. Emily wasn’t sure, but she would’ve given anything at one point if JJ had shown even a fraction of that emotion months ago. JJ continued, looking to Hotch for support, “We could just as easily do external surveillance on the club and have Garcia log any suspicious characters.”
“True,” Hotch started.
Emily waved off the concern, “No, this guy is driven by his hate. It takes a visualization of his target in a compromising, immoral situation to set him off. He needs to see Ms. Thomas before we can drive him out of hiding.”
“And we’re sure as hell not sending Cindy in without protection,” Lindsay crossed her arms, determinedly.
“Right,” Emily agreed quickly, making both women look at each other in a type of shock at finally agreeing on something.
“Prentiss is right,” Hotch settled the discussion, “Let’s get Ms. Thomas in here so we can get rolling with this.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to take care of it,” Lindsay stated.
With a nod, Hotch settled it, “Sure.”
*********
Cindy was awakened from her nap on the couch to a soft knocking. The events of the last 48 hours had worn her out and all she wanted to do was crash when she was given the green light to go home. Cindy’s hands started to shake slightly when she reached for the door. Even though she had 24 hour watch outside, she couldn’t help but think twice before opening the door.
Looking through the peephole, she saw Lindsay’s unmistakable dark hair. Cindy wanted to ignore the knocking now, but knew she couldn’t or else draw Lindsay’s worry and suspicion. She hadn’t talked to her since Lindsay had walked out the door of the interview room. Now, everything had changed between them and she wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
With resolve, she opened the door, “Hi.”
Lindsay had her hands in her back pockets and was rocking, nervously, on her feet, “Hey…can I come in?”
“Of course,” Cindy moved aside.
Lindsay moved into the living room but didn’t sit on the couch. Cindy stood at the entrance to the hallway, simply looking at her.
“So…”
“Cindy,” they started at the same time.
“Cindy, let me…,” Lindsay struggled with the words, “I’m sorry…about the other day. I shouldn’t have stormed out like that. I should have talked to you.”
Cindy shrugged helplessly, emotion lacing her voice, “I should have told you.”
“I wish you had.”
“Me too. But, I didn’t want it to be weird between us. I wasn’t sure how you’d take it, and…well, now I know.”
“No, don’t. Cindy, it doesn’t bother me that you’re gay. Really. I guess I just feel like I didn’t really know you. I thought we were friends.”
Cindy stepped into the room, “We are. At least I hope so.”
Lindsay finally smiled, visibly relaxing, her shoulders slumping under the pressure, “Absolutely. Just don’t keep anything from me, okay? You can tell me anything.”
Cindy bit her lip. She fought the urge to rush forward and hug Lindsay. She missed her. She missed seeing her relaxed and smiling. It made her heart do a little leap. As if reading her mind, Lindsay stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman’s waist. Cindy could have sworn her heart would simply stop if it didn’t jump out of her chest first.
Still holding Cindy, Lindsay became concerned at the unusual silence, “Okay, what’s up, Thomas? Something’s still going on in that head.”
Cindy swallowed. She knew this was stupid, but par for the course, she couldn’t stop her mouth once it got started, “Just how honest can I be with you, Linz?”
“Completely. Why? What’s up?” Lindsay pulled back to look at the redhead.
Forever seemed to stretch between them. Cindy felt like time had stopped as she memorized the look on Lindsay’s face, letting herself get lost in the dark eyes and soft lips. When her eyes zeroed in on Lindsay’s lips, the taller woman sighed her name.
“Cindy.” It was all Cindy needed to urge her forward, letting their lips softly touch. With a tilt of her head, Cindy deepened the kiss, making sure Lindsay had no doubt about her feelings. Lindsay closed her eyes only briefly before pulling back. Her hands on Cindy’s shoulders.
Cindy shook slightly at the moment passing. She saw the look in Lindsay’s eyes change from curiosity to regret, but Cindy couldn’t regret anything. A serial killer was on her list and she didn’t want to regret a thing.
“Now you know everything, Linz.” Before the brunette could respond, her phone chirped. It was a familiar ring that Cindy had heard more than once. Lindsay got a goofy grin on her face that she tried to stifle.
“Pete.”
“Pete,” Lindsay took a couple of steps back and leaned against the column by the doorway, letting everything sink in. She silenced the phone and looked back up at Cindy.
“Cindy.”
“Don’t, Lindsay. I know.”
“We’re okay?”
“Yeah. We will be.”
Lindsay shrugged and shyly smiled at her friend, “I’m flattered.”
Cindy laughed, “You should be, Boxer!”
“Gee, smug much?”
Cindy held up her fingers about an inch apart, “Just a little bit.” Cindy smiled. They would be okay and it made her feel really good for the first time in a long time.
Both women smiled at each other until Lindsay pushed off the wall, “I guess I better get going.”
“That’s it? You came by here just to apologize. The great Lindsay Boxer made a special trip to see yours truly, just to apologize.”
“Oh, I knew I forgot something! No, don’t flatter yourself. We have a plan. Well, actually, Agent Prentiss has a plan.”
Cindy sat on the arm of the couch, “And this would be the point where you’d tell me the plan.”
“Hope you have your dancin’ shoes because you’re going out tonight.”
“What? I thought I was practically under house arrest.”
“Not anymore. Whoever this guy is he seems to be compelled to act by seeing his target in compromising situations. So, you need to go out and get picked up by some hot chick.”
“In any other situation, I’d say hell yeah to that, and I’m good, but even I can’t guarantee getting picked up.”
Lindsay smiled knowingly, “I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that. Just show up. 9 sharp. The FBI will take care of the rest.”
“And you?”
“I’ll be close. Don’t worry.” With that, Lindsay turned and walked out the door.