Somebody's Watching, Somebody's Waiting - Part 4
Title: Somebody’s Watching, Somebody’s Waiting
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Jennifer Jareau/Maggie Lowe
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is property of CBS and I don’t own anything.
Rating: PG
Summary/Spoilers: This is a retelling of the episode ‘Somebody’s Watching’. The BAU team is on the hunt for a killer stalking an actress. Meanwhile Jennifer Jareau begins dating the actress’s best friend, unaware she’s the stalker they’re searching for. Yeah that’s right I just revealed the ending of the episode, but it’s not possible to write this story without revealing it anyway. Numerous story revelations are revealed.
A/N: This episode not only had two women I really like (A.J. Cook and Katheryn Winnick) together, but the first portrayal of gay characters on Criminal Minds, with Katheryn being one of them. It had so many things going for it, but instead it was disappointing. A.J. and Katheryn’s screen time was minimal, they never appeared onscreen together, and the gay portrayals were terrible. Ironically Maggie Lowe is probably still the best portrayed gay character on the series. So I decided to write this episode the way it should’ve gone. Oh and that “lesbian” crushing on Gideon earlier in the episode because he reminded her of her dad? That scene alone warrants her getting erased from the story.
A/N 2: Special thanks to my betas talos13 and femme_slash_fan
Part 4
Maggie arrives home. She tosses the towel-wrapped revolver, her gloves, keys and wallet onto the coffee table. The blonde crashes on her couch and takes a breather. After a short while she sits up and opens up her wallet. The post-it with Jennifer’s number is attached inside. Maggie takes out the folded page with Martinez’s address as well as the post-it. She attaches the post-it onto her coffee table then opens up the page. She heads upstairs.
Once inside her bedroom, Maggie begins stripping down to her underwear. She goes into her drawer to pull out a loose white T-shirt and dark jeans. After getting dressed, the blonde heads into her closet. She reaches for a biker helmet with a visor from the top shelf then grabs a leather jacket and pair of boots.
Maggie heads back down stairs. She retrieves her things from the coffee table. First the boots go on. Next the blonde tucks the revolver in the back of her pants. Next the jacket goes on. She makes sure her hair is tucked inside the jacket before zipping it up. The blonde slips her gloves on, grabs the black helmet and heads back to the rear entrance.
She flicks the switch for the garage door then gets on the dark motorcycle parked next to her car. Maggie tops the ensemble off by finally putting on the biker helmet and starts the ignition. She pulls the visor down as the garage gate begins to open. Maggie rides out of her apartment complex and the black motorcycle takes off onto the road.
*****
Maggie strides the halls of the building Joe is supposed to be occupying. She takes a look at the address in her pocket and stops in front of the door with the loft number. The blonde pulls out the handgun from behind and knocks on the door. After no answer Maggie then takes out some slender pieces of metal from her jacket pocket and begins picking the lock. After successfully opening the door, she storms inside.
With her gun drawn out, she looks around the place. No one seems to be home. Maggie peeks into one of the rooms and doesn’t see anyone. She approaches the other room across from her. The room has photos pinned all over the walls and a batch scattered on the table in the middle of the room. Maggie examines the place. There’s a call sheet for the show she and Lila are working on pinned to the wall. She takes a look at the photos on the table. They are photos of Lila when she was leaving the police station. Joe has pictures of Lila and Natalie Ryan all over the place. Maggie lets out a laugh from within. This was too perfect. She’ll let Joe Martinez live so he can become the number one suspect in the murder case.
*****
Maggie exits the building through the side door. She looks to her rear and spots Derek and Owen getting out of their car parked from across the street. The cops are already here. Doesn’t appear as if they recognize or even notice her. She turns the other way and casually strides to the building’s back parking lot.
As she hops onto her bike, a thought occurs. ‘What if I attack Derek and Owen outside Joe Martinez’s place? Would they think I’m him?’
Maggie leaves the parking lot and circles the building to the front. She then stops her motorcycle on the side of the busy street and waits.
Several minutes later she sees Derek and Owen leaving the building. They cross the street as Derek’s on the phone, “Reid, it’s Morgan. Listen to me. You got to watch your back over there. We just found a bunch of photos at this guy Joseph Martinez’s studio.”
Maggie starts up the bike and rides up to the intersection. “It looks like he could be the unsub,” Derek and Owen walk to the other side of the street where their car is parked. “He has a ton of photos of Lila and Natalie, plus a call sheet for Lila’s show. We’re on our way right now, but we need you to be real careful until we get there alright?”
Once Derek finishes his call, the light turns green. Maggie turns right and opens fire. She purposely misses them and hits their car. One of the bullets bounces off the roof of the vehicle, keeps on going and nails Owen in the shoulder. Derek pulls out his gun as Maggie streaks away. He fires a shot but misses. The black motorcycle disappears into the night. Derek rushes to the other side of the car to attend to his injured comrade.
“Argh,” Owen moans as he slouches against the vehicle.
“You hit?” Derek places his gun back in its holster.
“Yeah it’s just my shoulder,” the detective answers.
“Alright I’m calling for help.” Derek pulls out his cell, “Officer down. We need an ambulance at Lebray and Wilshire.”
*****
Blue and red lights surround the area. Derek looks at Owen inside the ambulance. The paramedics have the detective lie down on a stretcher as they treat him.
Gideon, Elle and Jennifer arrive on the site. “How are we doing?” Gideon asks as he approaches the ambulance.
Owen gives them the thumbs up, “I’ll make it. Caught one in the shoulder. Didn’t go in too deep, but will have to spend the night in the hospital however.”
Jennifer looks at Derek, “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” he responds.
“Any sign of this Martinez the photographer?” Gideon asks.
“No,” answers Derek.
“Whoever took a shot at you followed you from the set,” Gideon suggests.
“Martinez has a bunch of paper work in his studio that says where Lila’s going to be everyday,” Derek abruptly informs Gideon.
Gideon cell rings, “Gideon... that’s what I thought thanks.” He hangs up, “Garcia has gone through every article written about Lila. She never says anything about red Anemones being her favourite flower.”
“Well we’re looking for someone pretty close to her,” Elle states.
“This list gets shorter every day,” Derek remarks.
“Let’s circle him,” Gideon advises. “We need to get to her house.” The two profilers dart off.
“I’ll make sure the press doesn’t get out of hand with this mess,” Jennifer tells Derek before leaving.
Owen flashes Derek the two finger peace sign and bids him farewell.
*****
Maggie steps inside her bedroom clad in her biker outfit. She places the motorcycle helmet, gun and all the accessories in her pockets like her keys and lock pick material on top of the drawer, then falls back onto her bed. She looks up at the ceiling as she rests for a bit. After the blonde gets back up she opens her drawer to pull out a new set of clothes. After getting changed, she then stuffs the handgun into the drawer underneath all the clothing.
Maggie’s outside in a courtyard of the apartment complex. There’s a small empty metal trashcan in front of her. She takes out the page with Martinez’s address as well as a lighter and begins to burn it. She drops it into the metal pail and watches as it slowly turns into ash. The orange glow of the flames light up Maggie’s silhouette against the dark night.
It’s late into the night and Maggie is going off to bed. She flicks on the night lamp and turns off the bedroom lights. She removes her clothes and slips into something more comfortable.
She snuggles in to her blanket. Maggie then takes a look at a photo on the head board. It’s of her and Lila on their college graduation day. She smiles at how happy they look together. She turns off the lamp and goes to sleep.
*****
The next morning Lila is talking on the phone with Maggie. “So Lila how much longer before you move out of your home and into this safe house?” Maggie asks her friend.
“They had me pack my things last night,” she answers. “By the looks of it I’ll be out of here in an hour or two.”
“I’m amazed they were able to convince the studio to put production on hold for the rest of the week. So I won’t be seeing you till the end of the week?”
Lila leans back on her couch, “Sure looks like it.”
“We’ll just have to learn to survive the week without each other’s company then. Talk to you later sweetie.”
“Bye hon.”
“Were you talking to a friend?” Gideon asks from the hallway.
“Yes I was,” Lila says in a sarcastic tone.
“Well you won’t be allowed to do that anymore when you’re staying in the safe house,” the senior agent tells her.
“You can’t be serious,” Lila responds.
“Oh he’s very serious,” Spencer confirms to her. “We can’t risk the stalker tracing any of your calls and figuring out your location.”
“Who will I talk to in the meantime?” the actress wonders.
“You can talk to us,” answers Spencer.
Lila looks at them and isn’t thrilled by that answer. “Okay I can understand you guys trying to get this lunatic, but do you guys even care about me?”
“Of course we care about you Lila,” Gideon answers.
“If that’s true, then when were you guys planning to tell me that my manager was killed yesterday?” Lila replies back. The two profilers are stunned at what Lila just said to them. “Oh you guys surprised that I know?”
Now Spencer is speechless. “Don’t blame Reid Lila,” Gideon tells her. “I was the one that ordered him to keep quiet about this. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”
“Oh I am,” Lila tells Gideon.
A shot from outside peeking at Lila through her patio door is snapped.
“May I ask when you found out?” he asks.
“Yesterday before I even got back home,” Lila gets off the couch. “JJ told me about it, and said you thought I wouldn’t cooperate if I knew. So I’m going to prove you wrong and go along with this plan of yours.”
“I guess there’s nothing more I can ask for,” says Gideon.
The actress gives the senior agent a look, “But don’t think I’m not going to be calling my friends.”
More pictures spying on Lila from outside are taken. Joe Martinez continues to snap his camera while remaining hidden behind the bushes. “Give me a reason,” Derek tells him as he has a gun pointed at Joe.
“What did I tell you? Wait long enough and eventually they’ll show up,” remarks Elle.
*****
Elle paces towards Spencer and Gideon who are standing near the pool, just outside the patio door. “Well we found him in the bushes,” she explains to them.
“I told her she should cut those,” Spencer comments.
Derek pushes a handcuffed Joe towards them as he holds the camera in his other hand. “Stop shoving man,” Joe tells Derek.
Derek states the claims against him, “You’re a suspect in the murder of Wally Melman, Natalie Ryan and Michael Ryer.”
“Murder what?” Realization then hits Joe. “Whoa, whoa, whoa...”
“Hey shut up with the whoa,” Derek orders him. “We know for a fact that you have hundreds of photographs of Lila Archer and Natalie Ryan on the walls of your studio. You have Miss Archer’s daily schedule on your desk. You’ve been stalking her.”
“Look, I, look, hold up. Every paparazzo is a celebrity stalker,” Joe tries to explain himself. “If you don’t stalk them, you don’t get the shot, if you don’t make the shot, you don’t sell no pictures.”
“Well this one is going to cost you,” Elle yanks out the film reel.
“Whoa loo... that’s just wrong,” he reacts.
“Tell it to your lawyer,” Derek says to him.
“I’m still being locked up?” asks Joe.
“That’s right. At the very least you’re trespassing.” Derek grabs Joe by the arm and marches him off the premise, “Lets go.”
“At least now he won’t be able to follow Lila to the safe house,” Gideon remarks.
*****
Maggie relaxes on her living room couch. She’s watching the news about the case on TV. Jennifer Jareau is outside the police station informing the large amount of cameras and reporters surrounding her.
“Are the rumours that there’s a connection between this killer and actress Lila Archer true?” one of the reporters ask.
“That’s true,” the liaison answers. “It seems apparent this stalker is murdering people to try and impress Miss Archer.”
“Is it also true there was another victim yesterday?” another reporter blurts out.
“Again also true. However the victim this time was someone close to Miss Archer.” The sounds rises a bit as Jennifer goes on, “At the moment we have possible lead suspects in the case, but we can’t disclose any names yet.”
“What can you tell us about this stalker, you know, in case he’s still out there?” asks another reporter.
Maggie pays close attention. Jennifer goes on, “We believe we’re most likely looking for a single male in his late 20s to early 40s.”
Maggie giggles a bit after hearing that. “A loner type,” Jennifer continues.
“Hey I get along perfectly fine with people on set,” Maggie responds.
“Very intelligent, with ample time to follow his victims and study their habits,” the liaison adds.
“Try working on a film set,” Maggie comments. “See how much free time you can muster.”
“Like many celebrity stalkers, this person is very delusional and is having a fantasy love affair with Lila Archer.” Maggie looks upset at what she just heard. Jennifer goes on, “There’s also a possibility this stalker is pretty close to Miss Archer.” Maggie raises an eyebrow. “Someone who has been close to her on a number of occasions. This stalker in some way feels like they’ve been betrayed by their love object, something that leads to violence against the target. As of yet, the stalker has not directed any violence towards Miss Archer, but he has shifted his focus to those around her. This means anyone with the vaguest association with Miss Archer is a potential target. That’s all I can tell you for now.” Jennifer walks away from the crowd of news personnel.
Maggie just stares at the TV then smiles. “Wow they don’t know anything about me. I’m not even in my late 20s which is the youngest they thought I can be. They were right about me being close to Lila. Though the description they gave was an understatement.” Maggie gets off her couch and heads towards her kitchen.
*****
Jennifer meets up with Gideon and Hotchner just away from the cameras. “You think he was watching?” she asks them.
“If so let’s hope it’s enough to intimidate him so he starts getting sloppy once he tries to find Lila,” Gideon answers.
*****
Maggie is quietly enjoying her breakfast in the kitchen. She takes a bite of her pancakes. As she hacks up another piece, the blonde thinks about what she’ll be doing now that Lila is MIA for the rest of the week. One thing that comes to mind was how she was telling Jennifer she might show her around the place if she ever had time. Now she has plenty of time. It really starts to become a good idea when it’s apparent to Maggie that she can keep updated on the case once she becomes really close to the FBI agent.
She takes one more bite before marching to the living room to pick up the post-it from the coffee table. She walks over to the phone and dials the number.
Jennifer is still outside the police station with other colleagues and other news crews around the area when her cell rings. She doesn’t recognize the number, “Hello?”
“Jennifer.”
“Maggie?” she responds.
“Yeah it’s me. Say, want to take me up on my offer to show you around the place later today?”
Jennifer smiles, “What did you have in mind?”
“How about we start off by simply watching a movie?”
“Unless something develops in this case, I’ll probably be able to meet up with you. What time?”
“How about you pick me up at six?”
“Sounds great. I’ll call you later either if I have to cancel or simply get your address.”
“I’ll be waiting. Bye Jennifer.”
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8