Criminal Minds 1. A Connection

Joan let out a sigh as she continued down the dimly lit hallway to her hotel room. She felt like trash, but in truth, she was trash.

It wasn't her fault, she had three kids at home to feed and rent to keep up with even though it was a hell hole. She had no choice but to be trash since she wasn't highly educated like her _younger_ sibling.

No, she was the screw-up, meaning she was stuck at the low end field of jobs. Since not a lot of people were hiring, she was stuck with the only thing that never guaranteed her health or safety, but brought in a nice sum of money. Well, enough to keep her children alive.

"Bitch, hurry it up," the man growled as she neared the room not too far from him. His face was obscured with the hat hung low over his face and his jacket collar was popped up to cover the lower half of his face. Though, this wasn't exactly not normal for her customers. She actually had a man that wore a mask of a sad face, which freaked her out but money was money.

"Mmm, sorry baby," she cooed seductively as she batted her eyes at him. With a smirk, she leaned in and tried to place a kiss on his cheek, but paused when he flinched. "What's wrong? Nervous? Don't be nervous, baby. You're going to have one hell of a night."

"Oh…I know I am," the man muttered as he walked into the room, pulling her along with him. He slammed the door shut and shoved her deeper into the room.

"Hey!" She frowned, stumbling a bit since she was wearing stilettos. "No need to be hasty, now. Jeez, aren't you just moody."

Joan was about to say something else but froze when he brought up a hand with something metallic and sharp aimed right at her. First thing she wanted to do was scream, yet not a sound came out with her mouth wide open in terror.

* * *

><p>Samantha chuckled when her friend went off to dance with some guy, who was rather attractive. It was amusing to watch her friend slide right up to the guy and without a single ounce of shame, began pulling him away from his friend right into the dance floor. After a few seconds, she wasn't able to tell her friend and the guy apart from the mass.<p>

"They all look so…"

"Sweaty? Uncomfortable? Animalistic?"

"All of the above," the person replied with a small grin. Samantha looked over at the friend the other man had left behind and chuckled. He looked so out of place compared to his friend that it amused her to no end. She would have un-tucked his shirt, rolled up his sleeves, undo a few buttons and messed up his hair a little so that he could score a few of the girls that night, but she hardly knew him well enough to do something like that. Instead, she continued to talk to him so that he wouldn't feel left out.

"Thinking about joining them?" She asked.

"No," he chuckled nervously, shaking his head. "Not for me. I can't dance like Morgan and all those bodies so close together, it doesn't look like fun."

"Won't know until you try." Samantha grinned.

"Are you asking?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

Samantha laughed. "Don't know your name, sweetheart. Give me a name and maybe I'll give you a spectacular experience out on the dance floor."

"Are you basing this off my name? As in if I have a spectacular name, I'll get a spectacular time? Or-"

"How about I start off instead?" she cut him off quickly, biting back another laugh. "I'm Samantha Bennett." She extended a hand out to him to shake just as another couple rushed past them and onto the dance floor. "Wow, almost had my arm taken off right then."

"I should tell you my name before that happens then," he mumbled with a small smile. He shook her hand, saying, "Spencer Reid. I'm older than I look and I have a high IQ."

"Fantastic, I have an average IQ?" She wasn't sure how to respond, but tried not to dwell on it. "Since you brought it up, how old are you?"

"Twenty-four," he answered with a nod. "But my IQ is actually 187 and I have a few Ph. D and BAs in different subjects." Samantha's eyes widened as he went on, but she didn't mind it too much. If anything, it was rather interesting to meet someone so smart, but she began to feel very stupid.

"Wow, that's quite impressive, Mr. Smarty Pants." She smiled, showing that she meant no harm by the last bit. "I really need to go back to college so I can at least match you in all those degrees. Man, I used to think I was smart. Guess not!"

Reid was about to reply, but his cell phone interrupted him. He glanced at Samantha, who tilted her head in curiosity on what was going on. For a second, he forgot about the phone as he looked into her worried green eyes.

He snapped himself out of it and answered the phone. With a frown, he hung up and turned back to the girl.

"I have to get going," he sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Samantha pouted playfully. "Oh darn, will I ever get to meet you again?"

"It would be nice to talk to you again." He smiled, thinking that he did have a pleasant time with her when Morgan went off with her friend. "Maybe next time you'll take me out onto the dance floor?"

"Well, I have to make sure you're ready for that step. But yeah, sounds like a plan." She nodded as her friend and the guy, Morgan, joined them. With a nod and a wave, the two men departed from the women to most likely catch an unsub.

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><p>Don't own Criminal Minds. Weird to state I own any of my OCs...but I do own them. I like reviews since it tells me that the people reading likes it...or dislikes it. Meh, first chapter...still getting used to the show, but I'm learning.<p> 


	2. A Coincidence?

"A twenty-eight year old woman was found murdered in a small, common hotel room in New Brunswick, New Jersey less than eight hours ago," Agent Aaron Hotchner, the Unit Chief, said as he passed the case file out to his team members of the BAU.

They were seated around a round table with a board covered in photos from each crime scene with the pictures of each women that unsub had killed before the police decided to call in for help.

"This is his tenth victim in the last three months," he continued with a grim look.

"They are all women, but they have different professions," Special agent Jennifer Jareau sighed as she looked over the file filled with paperwork of each victim. She looked over the details of the victims, trying to find a connection between them. "Most of them live in New Jersey, but it seems police connected a few murders out of state to our unsub…"

"Most are simple gun shootings while a few are specifically brutal." Dr. Spencer Reid frowned when he noted the last name of the latest victim. Bennett…he had heard that last name before. Where had he heard it?

With a small shake of his head, he went on without dwelling on it any longer. "You can see that the unsub's MO is not the same, which could mean two unsubs."

"Except for the fact each women had a special mark on their abdomen. Now, the marks are different, but all located in the same place."

"A helper that is ordered to use the same signature area?" Agent Derek Morgan offered, but knew that was highly doubtful. "It could be that the women with much more intense killings are actually connected while the rest are random to throw the police off or perhaps moments of rage in between the killings."

"But the women that are killed by knife instead of gun still have various backgrounds…except, wait...," Dr. Reid mumbled as he shifted through the files quickly, spreading out. He got up and walked to the board, rearranging the picture so that the more violent murders were right next to each other.

"These other women that were simply shot were all found on some kind of rarely used road while they were out for a jog while these women were all dressed up and found in some public area that makes them easy to find."

The famous and most experienced agent, Jason Gideon, sat up, adding, "Our unsub doesn't want to hide our victims. He wants them to be found."

"He's sending a message, but what is his message?" Agent Elle Greenway asked, leaning forward in her chair as she looked over the board.

"We will have to figure that out while we are on the plane to New Brunswick. Let's go," Hotchner commanded in his usual strict tone. The others nodded, getting up to leave their conference room for the jet.

* * *

><p>Samantha let out a sigh as she walked out of the club without her 'best' friend. The girl had met yet another guy and wanted to stay at the club longer while Samantha had to leave since she had work the next day.<p>

It was surprisingly dark outside, but she guessed that was normal since it was pretty late. Who knew time flew by when one wasn't having that much fun being abandoned pretty much the entire time one was there. Right, night well spent.

Well, maybe it hadn't been a complete waste of time. She had met the one guy-

"Hey!" Someone called out behind her, causing her turn around in confusion and fear. The club she was at wasn't located in the most safest place in Virginia, making her on edge with each guy she had met while inside. Well, except for one.

Spencer Reid…man, she hoped she would be able to meet him again. He seemed to be one of those nice guys, even though he was a thousand times smarter than her. She needed a nice guy in her life, but she had only met him that night. Who knew if they would ever meet again…

"Can I help you?" Samantha asked; she took a step back when he approached her rather quickly. The guy came to a stop, but was still too close for comfort, forcing her to take another nervous step back.

"Yeah, you dropped your wallet back there," he replied, holding out a small black leather wallet for her to take. It was hers since it had that small tear at the bottom left corner and a strip of silver ribbon that had been glued by her youngest niece one year during Christmas.

"Oh, thank you," she replied sheepishly, but paused when she realized that he was taking another step towards her, which made her nervous once again. With a quick glance around her, she noticed that one of the bouncers from the club wasn't too far away from where she was, meaning that if this guy tried anything, at least some was there to run to her aid.

Without wasting another second, Samantha grabbed the purse and turned to head to her car that was just down the street from the club. She heard footsteps right behind her, forcing to turn and say, "Look, thank you for returning my purse. Really, it means a lot, but I need to go home. Goodbye."

She turned around again and rushed to her car-thank god for flats-; keys already in hand. She opened the door, jumped in and locked all the doors. When she glanced out the window of her car the guy was gone.

Just then, her cell phone began ringing, making her scream out in surprise.

"Oh god…no more clubs down here. Nope, no more," Samantha mumbled to herself as she picked up her cell. "If she ever asks me to go to a club with her, I have to remember this night and say no…also, no more giving numbers to strangers." Not recognizing the caller ID, Samantha put her cell phone in her purse and threw it in the back seat before starting up her car and peeling away from the curb.

* * *

><p>"Spence, I heard that you met a girl tonight?" Agent Jennifer grinned as she took the seat next to the intelligent FBI agent once the jet was in the air. "Morgan told us all about it."<p>

Reid shrugged. "I meet girls everywhere, JJ. I don't understand why this one is special other than she was nice and fun to talk to especially since everyone else in that club simply wanted to hump each other."

"Was she pretty?"

"Moderately so, I guess. She looked like any other girls of today. Um, she had long, brown hair that was straightened, but not natural. Her skin was a darker shade than it normally is supposed to be, meaning she had gotten a tan either today or the day before. I think the only natural thing about her was her eye color and actions." Reid put the case file down and looked over at JJ. "Although, she didn't seem comfortable there like the others as if her friend forced her there and I know what that feels like..."

"Smart?"

"Average I assume."

JJ rolled her eyes at his response. "Everyone is average compared to you, Spence," she chuckled. "Is that her phone number in your shirt pocket?"

Reid frowned as he looked down to check his pocket only to see the napkin still folded neatly into his pocket. The napkin with her number and name on it. "Oh, I forgot that was there," he said, pulling it out.

He unfolded it and smoothed it out, looking it over with the smallest hint of a smile.

"Weird…" He frowned once again.

"What is it?" JJ asked, her smile dropping immediately.

"Our last victim's name was Joan Bennett, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it could be nothing," he began after a short pause. "But the girl I met at the club shares the same last name as the victim."

"Many people have the same last name, Spence. It's not uncommon, simply a coincidence," JJ sighed.

Reid frowned, opening the folder and looked over the case until they landed.

* * *

><p>Quick update only because I'm avoiding homework. Shhhhh...<p>

Thank you to all of those who put this on your favorite list and/or story alert. =) Also, special thanks to my reviewer~ Always makes me very happy when I check my email and I see that someone reviewed one of my stories. =D So thank you very much!

I forgot to mention that this is all taking place early in season one, a little after episode 4 or 5. However, the case in this story is of my own imagination.

Don't own Criminal Minds. Like reviews. Thank you!


	3. A Message

Samantha groaned when her alarm clock went off, followed by the annoying, high-pitched ring tone of her cell phone. She cursed rather loudly when she fell out of her bed when she was simply reaching out to turn off her alarm clock. Her phone eventually stopped ringing, but then her home phone began to ring, forcing to untangle herself and get up on her feet.

"Fine! Ruin a perfectly good dream," she grumbled as she shuffled to the phone. However, just as she picked it up, the person on the other end hung up. "Yeah, hang up you jackass! Wake someone up and then hang up."

She slammed the receiver down and began to head off to the bathroom to freshen up.

Yeah…she wasn't a morning person in any sense of the word. Well, not until her first cup of coffee that was normally filled with sugar and cream. Sugar is what kept her happy for most of the day; night was more her time of day even if she didn't enjoy the wild party scene all too much.

Her phone began ringing again, but she decided she would let the machine get it since she was in the bathroom already. Her cell phone also began to ring, but she would check her voicemail later.

_Is it on? Yes? You sure? Oh…Hey! This is Samantha Bennett, but you should already know that or else why would you be calling. Unless you have the wrong number, but anyways, leave a message and I should get back to you AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Bye!_

For a moment, a smile flitted across her face at how moronic she sounded in the recording. She would have to change that before her boss decided to call her while she was home or even if some guy she liked called her.

_BEEP_

Samantha washed out her mouth before moving onto doing her hair, making her hair less frizzy and smoother.

_Sam, honey, this is mom. I have some bad news._

Immediately she froze up, the hot curler stuck in mid-curl, burning her hair, but she could care less.

_Your sister, she…oh sweetie. Joan died last night._

The curler fell from her grip, but she didn't stay standing there. Instead, she ran to the phone and picked it up before her mother could hang up.

"Hello? Mom?" Samantha said hurriedly, hoping her mother would say this was all a misunderstanding. Something to keep her from losing her mind and falling all apart once again after the last death that had occurred in the family. "Oh, god, ho-ho-how? How could this have happened? What about the kids? Oh god, what about John, Lily and Ava?"

As her mother filled her in in-between sobs, Samantha was pacing around her room before eventually sitting against the wall, holding herself as the tears simply streamed down her cheeks.

"Ma, I'm coming home," she sobbed after calming herself down a little. "I'll call you later once I have everything set. Bye, love you too."

* * *

><p>Reid sat in a small uncomfortable, gray chair with his elbows on his knees as he stared at the jumble of letters on the white board before him. It was very humid outside and inside the police department they were stationed in.<p>

The sleeves of his gray oxford was rolled up past his elbows and he felt as if he should change into shorts or something since he could feel his clothes stick to him with his sweat as the glue. However, he simply sat there, focused on the letters that kept changing order before his eyes. He had a few words down, but none of them made sense.

"Reid, how are you doing there?" Morgan asked, leaning against the table with an exhausted sigh. He had just come back from questioning some of the family members related to the latest victim to understand her more, but it was hard since they were still grieving. Moreover, he had already worked up a sweat simply walking from the car into the station.

"These letters that we have identified off of the body of each victim don't seem to actually arrange anything of importance. I have a few words down, but none of them would relate to the case…unless I should simply focus on-"

"The more brutal killings," Morgan finished.

Reid stood up and began singling out the letters from the brutal killings, arranging and then rearranging them until he finally arrived at 'Saman.'

"Saman? What does that mean?"

"Well it could be referring to the tree, but it is located in the Neotropics, ranging from southern Mexico to Peru and Brazil. The Saman is a flowering tree in the pea family," Reid mumbled as his mind raced to find other explanations. "It could also be referring to a deity worshipped in Sri Lanka. His name means 'the rising morning sun." He is also called Sumana, Sumana Saman and Samantha…"

"What does any of this have to do with our unsub?" Morgan asked; he was confused by how the unsub had been acting with each killing. They got it, the unsub was sending someone a message, but who and why?

Reid let out a sigh. "Samantha…Joan Bennett, Samantha Bennett, maybe they are connected." Taking out his cell phone, he quickly called up the team's Technical Analyst, Penelope Garcia.

"Say my name and make me tremble," Garcia answered in her usual playful tone. Sometimes her playful manner would get her in trouble, but it was part of Garcia and the team never cared much in the first place. If anything, it told them that she was being her normal self.

"Garcia, can you look up to see if our victim, Joan Bennett has any kind of familial connection to Samantha Bennett?" he asked, frowning the more he thought over it.

After simply a few seconds, Garcia replied with, "Yes, they are related. They are actually sisters. Samantha Bennett is the younger sister of Joan Bennett. They both were born and raised in New Brunswick, New Jersey, but Samantha has moved to Virginia a little less than a year ago after graduating from Stanford after getting her BS in Psychology and Sociology, and a Ph. D in Mathematics all at the age of 23. Wow, she's like your other half, Reid."

Reid shook his head and then told her the other names to see if any of them were connected as well in any way. He had pretty good guess that there may be more connections than they might hope for.

* * *

><p>Samantha threw her bags into the trunk of the cab before getting in and telling the driver where to go. She had packed fairly quickly after getting off the phone with her boss about the urgent family business. He was a rather nice man that understood the situation and let her have a few days off to go back home to be with her family. Though, she had to come right back the day after the funeral, but she didn't have a problem with that. After all, her patients wouldn't have too easy of a time adjusting to a different therapist; especially the ones that had her since she moved to Virginia.<p>

"Miss Samantha?" someone said, forcing her to look up. The voice sounded familiar, but she didn't recognize the person at first.

"Max?" her eyes widened when she realized the driver was one of her former patients. "Oh, Max, how are you?"

"I'm great," he replied with a big grin. "I can never thank you enough for what you did."

"Max, you were the one that did everything. I simply helped." Samantha had to force a smile since she wasn't in the best mood; however, it was nice to know the driver.

Max had been one of her more unstable patients out of the rest, but he had pulled through once she had arrived. She had helped him get back to his family and fit for society, allowing him to leave the institution; sometimes referred to as the loony bin.

Instead of thanking her over and over, he frowned as he glanced at her from the rear view mirror. "Have you been crying? Are you okay, Samantha?"

"Yeah, no, just some family emergency back in New Jersey." She didn't quite feel like sharing, especially with her former patient. Moreover, it was too soon for her to talk freely about another death in her family. Fifth woman to be killed so far…how did it come to this? Why and who was killing off the women in her family? Why weren't the police doing anything?

She raised her hand up to her cover her face when her eyes watered up once more.

* * *

><p>"Mary Bennett, Sarah Michaels Bennett, Elena Moore, Tory Jones and Joan Bennett," Reid began as he posted up the photos of each woman on the board. "All related in some way, except for Elena Moore. She was not related to any of the women, but Garcia found out that she is friend's with Joan Bennett's younger sister. The two girls had gone to Stanford together, making Samantha Bennett the person the unsub is trying to communicate with or so we can assume."<p>

"It could be that this Samantha Bennett is our unsub," Elle said; she glanced at Reid to gauge his reaction, but the intelligent man simply frowned as he thought about it.

"But what about the random killings in-between?" Morgan asked, not buying it right away.

"School friends possibly." Elle shrugged.

JJ sighed, "Maybe, but she's a famous, highly asked for psychiatrist working in an asylum. There is no doubt that she would have an alibi."

"No, the killer is definitely sending her a message," said a voice from the laptop near Reid. He turned the laptop around only to reveal Garcia talking to them through the webcam. "There has been no records of our Sammi girl ever leaving Virginia in the last three months to even go to the other funerals. It could have been she wasn't that close to those family members, but I just found out she's flying out to go to her sister's funeral. And get this, the family seems to have insisted on having all the funerals in New Jersey so that they could be buried along side the rest of the family."

"Our unsub was trying to draw her out. He wanted her here, but couldn't bring her out until now." Hotch grimaced. "Garcia, find out when her plane arrives and give the information to Reid and Morgan. I want you two to pick her up at the airport and bring her directly here. Gideon, Elle and I will go talk to her family. Any one of them could be targeted next to finish the message. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Thank you to my reviewers! =D And all my other readers~<p>

anonymous - I hope you continue to enjoy this story. =)

Brittanie- I don't know much about New Brunswick, NJ since I picked it at random, so if you have any helpful info, that would be awesome and greatly appreciated! =D

Don't own Criminal Minds. Love reviews and my readers. Thank you~


	4. A Cup of Coffee

Reid shoved his hands in his pockets when people began walking out of the jet bridge, which was the connector between the plane and the destined terminal. Morgan was right at his side, watching closely for the person they were supposed to protect from the moment she walked in until they caught the unsub.

"There she is." Morgan nudged Reid, nodding over at the disheveled looking woman. Her face was noticeably puffy and red from all the crying and she looked as if she was about ready to break apart.

"We should approach her slowly so as not to give her too big of a scare," Reid sighed as they headed off towards her. Once they were a little closer, Reid called out, "Miss Bennett!"

Samantha snapped her head up in the direction of the voice, hoping that someone was calling out for another person with her same last name. She did not want another person keeping her from going home, curling up in her mom's arms, and crying her eyes out. Yet, as she searched the crowd for the person who had called out for her, there didn't seem to be anyone she recognized at first glance. Quickly, she turned around and continued on at a much faster pace.

"Samantha, hold up," Reid said as he made his way past the others at a quicker pace with Morgan right behind him.

Knowing she couldn't avoid the person, she turned around and snapped, "What?"

Reid came to a stop right before her, slightly surprised when her green eyes locked onto his. He remembered the first time he saw her, her eyes were bright and full of life. Now, they looked rather dull and lifeless…not that he could blame her.

However, when Samantha recognized Reid, it was her turn to be shocked. "Spencer. What are you doing here?" She turned to the other man who joined Reid and frowned. "Morgan? What's going on here?"

"Well, we need you to come with us and I promise we will explain everything," Reid replied quickly, wanting to get her back to the station, where it was safe.

"I want an explanation now, Spencer. I barely know you; there is no way I would go anywhere with you or your woman killer friend," Samantha practically growled defensively. She knew about the people around here and the crime rate. There was no way she was going to go with someone who she had met last night over in Virginia. "Are you stalking me?"

"What? No," Reid replied, shaking his head. "I'm part of the FBI in the behavioral analysis unit. We think you're in trouble. Please, I can explain further and in more detail back at the station. Samantha, I just want to help you."

Samantha frowned when both Spencer and Morgan pulled out their badges to show her. Putting his badge away, Morgan added, "We'll grab your bags on the way out, but we should do it quickly."

* * *

><p>There was a loud buzz all around her as police men ran around answering phone calls, getting some bad cups of coffee, and bringing in suspects from recent crimes in the area. Most of the people brought in looked fairly young as if they were college students. However, nothing around her made her comfortable as she sat in a worn-out cushioned chair in a small, dull room alone.<p>

It wasn't an interrogation room, thankfully, but she wanted to go home. After hearing Spencer tell her about the murderer and why her aunts, a cousin and her own sister had been killed, she _really_ wanted to go home.

The door creaked open, but Samantha didn't turn around to look at who it was.

"Um, Sam, I just have a few more questions for you," Reid began as he sat down in the chair across from her.

"Don't call me Sam, Dr. Reid," Samantha snapped; she was tired, scared and depressed. Moreover, she hadn't had her first cup of coffee, which would explain her excessive irritable mood. That was until Reid put down a steaming cup of fresh coffee in front of her. It was a nice light brown color, which made Samantha a little less off edge as she reached out for it.

"I hope you don't mind that I put a lot of sugar in it. I did it out of habit from making my own coffee," Reid said with the smallest hint of a smile. "And no need to call me Dr. Reid, Spencer is just fine."

"Thank you, Spencer," she sighed after her first sip.

"Now, just a few more questions and you'll be able to go home-"

Samantha cut him off. "And you'll have men watching our house in case the unsub comes after me there," she laughed wryly. "Look, I just came her for my sister's funeral; my family and I just want some peace for the next few days. How are you so sure that this man is after me?"

"I'm sorry, but we have to be careful," he tried to explain. "And the team and I are sure because it is our job to figure out things like this. Now, do you remember any past boyfriend of yours that was specifically clingy that may have kept trying to come back to you after you two broke up."

"I never had many boyfriends in my school life in either high school or college. I was nerdy and not very pretty." She shrugged. "There was Matthew Jones and Sebastian Moore. Matthew died last summer due to a car crash and Sebastian had broken up with me to marry my friend, Elena."

"O-oh."

"Yeah…"

"Well, any of your co-workers also show any kind of signs of obsession with you? Or possibly resentment towards you?"

"I work in an asylum, you tell me."

"You are an intelligent, hard-working woman that deserves her position. Obviously, you had to step on a few toes to get to where you were," Reid nodded calmly. "It is no surprise if someone has a few qualms about you getting the position before them."

"I am a young _woman_ that got _lucky_," Samantha corrected. "Everyone there resents me in some form and fears me in some form. Yet, none of them are stupid enough to think they would get away with killing all these people while working in a place filled with psychiatrists like me. We would notice if any of the other psychiatrists began to act differently."

"Maybe this unsub has always been killing, but you are now his new obsession."

"Surrounded by crazies all day, you would be able to pick another working by your side. Moreover, none of them have ever missed a day of work in the last fifty years. Not even vacation time. Trust _me_ when I tell you that your unsub does not work in the institution."

"What about your released patients?"

Samantha tilted her head, narrowing her eyes on him as she analyzed him. "That information is confidential."

"Your life is on the line," he practically exclaimed.

"None of them live in New Jersey, nor do any of them have the clearance to travel out of state, yet," she replied smoothly.

"He could have driven out of state."

She blinked, fear chilling her to the bone as only one patient of hers popped into her mind. The only one she had cleared and had a job as a driver. "Max," she whispered as her eyes widened at the thought of him killing people in her family and random girls.

"What was that?" Reid asked, moving in closer to hear her better.

Samantha's grip on the coffee cup tightened as she repeated, "Max Jarvis. A patient of mine, but he isn't capable of killing. It can't be him." Her green eyes looked into his, hoping that he would tell her it couldn't have been one of her patients.

"You need to give me all the information about this patient of yours," Reid insisted. "We just need to profile him and see if he matches the profile of the unsub."

"And if it does?"

Slowly, he reached out and rested his hand over hers as a comforting gesture; he had seen the others do it before and it seemed to work on calming her down. "We want to protect you." Reid looked her directly in the eye, trying to convey to her that he meant every word. "We will protect you, but you need to tell us everything. Every bit of information you can give us is crucial to the investigation."

* * *

><p>"No! No! Please, let me go. I won't tell anyone!" The woman cried as the man in black clothes drew closer; he twirled the knife in his hand as he thought of the many ways he could carve her up. None of her pleas affected him, barely penetrating him.<p>

He only say her beautiful brown hair flowing past her shoulders as those tears in her bright green eyes slipped down her cheeks. She looked just like _her_, that beautiful goddess of his, but she wasn't her.

Oh, yes. His goddess would soon be with him. The real one, not these false imitations. What angered him most was that some of the imitations didn't even look anything like her, but there were ways to change that.

With this thought, he stopped right before her; a wave of anger washed over him as he took in each physical aspect that didn't match up with his goddess. He slashed at her nose since it was slightly off center, making her cry out in pain, which annoyed him greatly.

Quickly, he forced her mouth open and grabbed a hold of her tongue before slicing it right down the middle. Her mouth was soon overflowing with blood, but left it at that before moving back to her body.

She was nicely tied up to a chair, making it easy for him to slice off many other imperfections.

After 'fixing' her nose, he moved onto the cheeks since they were too chubby. Her breasts were too big, but he found out they were fake. Her fingers were to skinny and long, making him cut each of them off. Well, he 'shortened' her fingers until he was happy. Though, eventually, he realized that no matter how much he did, she would never be perfect like his goddess, forcing him to simply jam his knife into her throat.

Once he was done, he stood back and watched her bleed out. He had done the world justice by getting rid of the imperfections of his goddess.

While the blood pooled around her feet, he walked over to the bathroom and washed off his blade. After all, it couldn't be dirty for his goddess. Nothing could be dirty for her.

'Everything had to perfect and clean,' he thought to himself as he washed off the blade with burning hot water.

* * *

><p>Fast update due to extreme dislike of doing my homework...and studying for chemistry test...Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...hope it's awesome or somewhere around those lines...<p>

LeedsUK- =D I'm very happy to know you're enjoying this so far!

anonymous- I hope I can keep it up~

Brittanie- o.o I was not expecting you to actually respond to that. Wow, thank you. That was quite helpful actually. What is the temperature like over there in the summer? Does it rain often during the summer?

Encyclopedia- I'm sort of at a loss as how to respond to 'pretty cool' other than Yay~ Glad you think so! I hope I exceed that 'pretty cool' at some point, though =)

Don't own Criminal Minds. Like reviews. Thank you!


	5. Another Visit

"Here is my number in case you are ever in trouble, or see the possible unsub," Reid said as he handed her a small card with his name and number printed on it. Samantha smiled lightly, feeling a little safer, but was scared nonetheless. "I always answer my phone."

"Even if you don't have any reception?" Samantha asked teasingly.

He offered her a sympathetic smile, knowing she was only cracking jokes because the emotional stress was too much for her. "That's when you would call '911'."

"Right," she chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "I wish you luck in this investigation since my life depends on it. I know I'll talk to you sooner than later, so until then."

"Until then." He nodded, waving as she headed into a black SUV. The team and chief of police had decided that it would be best if someone drove her home and then stayed stationed near the house on the look out for suspicious activity.

The driver happened to be a police officer, but no one wanted to cause any trouble for her by having her dropped at her house by a police car. After all, her neighborhood was filled with gossip loving morons.

The drive was rather quiet, but Samantha didn't mind that since she occupied herself by blankly looking out the car window, her mind elsewhere. She wasn't sure what she was looking at, not that anything really affected her right then. If anything, this was what she imagined what people meant by when they said they felt empty like a hollow shell.

She wasn't sure where she was going anymore and she wasn't sure who was in the car with her. None of it mattered until she felt the car come to a stop in front of a rather ordinary looking wooden house that needed a new coat of white paint since it was chipping off in some places. Maybe, at some point on her visit, Samantha would go down to the hardware store and get a few buckets of paint.

"Miss Bennett?" the officer said when Samantha didn't move, at first. She was just sitting there, biting the nail on her left thumb, and staring at the house. "Miss Bennett, we are at your house." Still no response. "Miss Bennett," he repeated a little louder, reaching over to shake her shoulder so as to snap her out of it; whatever 'it' was.

Samantha jumped in her seat, startled when she was pulled out of her own world. She stared at the officer with wide eyes filled with fear since she didn't recognize him at first. The fear subsided when she realized that he was one of the good guys, thankfully.

"Right, thank you," she replied as she pushed the door open and hopped out. The moment she stepped onto the curb, she heard that creaky old door swing open and that sweet, familiar voice cry out her name in joy and sadness. Not waiting to grab her bags, Samantha, as if she were a small child that hadn't seen her parent in years, bolted from the sidewalk and into her mother's wide open arms.

* * *

><p>"Garcia, I need a list of men that work at the same institute as Samantha," Reid said quickly, shuffling around papers on the desk he had taken over at the police station. "Actually, just give me a list of their patients and cross reference it to the list of Samantha's patients. Find out which one had been transferred to her and pull up their records."<p>

"Ask and you shall receive," Garcia drawled as her fingers went at lightning speed across the keyboard. "I am faxing them over to you right now."

"Is a man named Max Jarvis among the people that were transferred to her?" Reid asked as he walked over to the fax machine, waiting for the papers.

"Yes, he is actually one of the first people to be transferred to our Sammi girl and man, is he one menace. I'm surprised that he was actually allowed back into society," she sighed as she kept pulling up files and records about him. "Why did she ever give this man clearance to go back into society?"

"She's an intelligent woman, I'm sure she knew what she was doing," Reid muttered distractedly as he gathered up the papers and headed back to the desk. He spread them out and sighed as he read over each of them.

"Oh, aren't you being a little defensive?" she teased light heartedly. "Protecting your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," he mumbled. With a frown, he picked up a file, but put it down when he realized that very few things matched with the profile of their unsub.

"What's her DOB?"

"April 1, 1982," he replied immediately.

"Stalker."

"I read up on her…"

"Which means you like her," Garcia giggled in a sing song voice.

"It means I wanted to read up on the target to get a better understanding of her," he sighed, still looking over each profile since he knew that he had to have missed something.

"Oh my god," Garcia exclaimed, furiously typing away and bring up records. "A year back, one of the patients there had escaped. Guess who it was?"

"Um, a crazy person?"

"You know how Sammi told you that her first boyfriend died in a car crash last summer?" she began. "He was actually put into the asylum years ago, but I guess the parents covered it up and then lied when he escaped. He was never caught."

"So, she would never have known if he was obsessed with her if he was forced away from her," he put the papers in his hands down and looked at the phone, which was on speaker phone so that he could hear her without needing to hold up his cell.

"Maybe you should go visit her and talk to her again."

"Um, yeah, good idea, but can you fax me the file on her ex?"

Before Garcia could respond, Hotch walked past him tight-lipped. He glanced at Reid just as the others walked in as well. "There has been another victim found. She was brutally murdered and found in a nice hotel. I think you and Gideon should go break it to Samantha and her family before they hear about it on the news. Morgan, Elle and I will go to the crime scene. JJ, I want you to release this to the press that we have a serial killer in this town. He only has two letters left before he goes after her so we need to put the other family members that live in New Jersey under surveillance. We can't risk any chances."

* * *

><p>The second Samantha had gotten inside the house, her mother made her change into shorts and a t-shirt before stuffing her with ice-cream and pie; the major comfort foods for the women in the family. As long as she could remember, whenever something sad happened in the family, her mother would buy vanilla ice-cream and bake at least two pies, cherry and apple; Samantha liked cherry pie and Joan liked apple pie. Of course, Samantha had figured it out much longer than her sister had, but that hardly mattered. Nothing like that seemed to matter anymore…just the memories of them together mattered.<p>

Samantha let out a sigh as she sat on the couch in her large shirt with her university name printed on the front in big block letters. Her bare legs stuck to the leather couch because the heat managed to seep into the building and the AC wasn't working as well as it once had.

However, before she could drift off into the peaceful world of napping, a small giggling mass jumped on her. "Auntie Sammi! Auntie Sammi!"

"Lily," Samantha chuckled, wrapping her arms around the five year-old. "I thought you were playing with Ava."

Before Samantha had arrived, a few of the other families that already lived in New Jersey came over so as to help her mother and father take care of Joan's three kids. After all, a year-old baby boy, five year-old girl and ten year-old girl were pretty hard to handle for two people almost in their sixties.

"Ava don't wanna play…" Lily pouted, crossing her chubby arms over her chest. "She only crying, but won't tell me why."

"Is she up in your mama's old room?" she asked, moving a little to get up. "Let's go see her. Okay?"

"We going to play with her?" the small child asked, looking up at her Aunt with big brown eyes still full of hope and happiness. She still didn't truly know what was going on and no one had the heart to tell her mother would never come back home to her.

"Let's start off with a hug first," Samantha drawled as she was finally able to get off the couch. She took Lily's hand in hers and headed down the hall and turning left at the very end to go up the stairs to the second floor. "Which room is she in, Lily?"

Lily pointed at the door at the very end of the hallway. It was painted pink and had gold stars all over it with the name 'Joan' painted in big, curly script. "That room."

Samantha stared at the door, feeling a lump in her throat as tears welled up in her eyes. Every step she took toward the door, the more blurry it became to her, but just as she was reaching out to open it, Lily opened it for her instead.

Trying to keep back the tears, Samantha walked in with the small, still happy child only to see the oldest of the three sitting on the ledge by the window, which was blanketed and decorated with pillows.

"Ava, honey?" Samantha said softly, wiping the tears from her own eyes.

The small girl's head snapped up; her eyes were a beautiful color of brown and green, and filled with tears, making Samantha's heart stop. However, instead of completely breaking down in front of both girls, Samantha sniffled. "Lily, go downstairs and check on Nana. See if she needs any help or has any ice-cream left over. Okay, sweetie?"

"Okay!" Lily chirped happily as she skipped on out, leaving Samantha alone with Ava.

Slowly, the older woman walked over to the ten year-old, sitting down on the ledge.

"Ava, I know this is a hard time for you," Samantha began as she reached over to wipe away the tears. "But you need to be strong for your sister…I know it will be hard, but you can strong for your sister, can't you?"

Ava bit her lip, but she sobbed even harder when Samantha pulled her into a hug. She buried her head into her Aunt's chest, her tears soaking up the large t-shirt.

"I know, I know…," Samantha let a small sob escape, but just as she was saying that Ava needed to be strong for her sister, she had to be strong for the girls.

"She's gone. Ma is gone," Ava cried; her hands fisting into the cloth of her shirt.

"No, she's never gone, Ava. She's always here with you," her aunt replied strongly as she looked down at her niece. When she looked up with teary eyes, Samantha repeated with a stronger tone. "_Always._ Every time you think about her, she's right at your side. Whenever you sleep, she's right there watching you. Protecting you. If you ever want to see her, just look out the window and in the stars, your mama will be smiling right back down at you."

With a watery smile, she reached down and wiped the tears away and brushed back her soft brown hair from her face. "No matter what anyone tells you, your mama will always be here for you. _I_ will always be here for _you. _Everyone is this house is here for you, Ava. Don't you ever forget that you're not alone in this world."

Slowly, Ava nodded her head, but neither got up to go anywhere. If anything, they just sat there in silence, sharing the peaceful moment between accepting the death and falling apart again. Well, that was until that moment was interrupted from a crash of metal against tiles from somewhere downstairs.

"I think Nana is trying to break the world record of who can bake the most pies," Samantha chuckled. "Let's go check up on her. Okay?"

With a nod, they got up and made their way into the downstairs kitchen.

"Ma, what're you doing?" Samantha asked when she walked in. "Please don't tell me that you're baking anything."

"Oh, nothing, dear," her mother replied, laying on her accent rather thick. "Just need to keep my mind off of things. You want apple or cherry pie, dear?"

"Ma, no," she grumbled as she got off the couch. "No baking. Just relax and-"

"Samantha, you get your pretty little butt back down on that couch and let your mama cook. That's an order, young lady." Her mother cut her off with her stern voice. "Go on, get. Leave your mama alone. I got help in here, no need for you."

For a little old woman, she was tough and still had a fighting spirit that no one could take away from her. Her hair was no longer the chestnut brown that it used to be in the prime of her life; her hair had long since thinned out, turned a snowy white and was tied up in a neat bun.

"Fine," Samantha sighed. "I want cherry pie like always. Come Ava, darling, we know when we're not wanted."

Lily stuck her tongue out at them, giggling, "Yeah, we no need you, Ava can stay! Oh, Grand Pappy can stay too!"

"I want apple pie," grumbled a low, gruff voice that always told Samantha fairy tales before she and Joan went to sleep at night.

"Too bad, Papa," she chuckled. "I put my order in before you did."

"Damn it." He shook his head and acted as if it truly was disappointed, but cracked a grin as he pulled his daughter into a hug. Before, when she had been younger, he had to reach down and pull her up into his arms, but now that she was at least a head taller than him, he had to pull her down into his arms for a hug.

He held onto her for a little while, releasing her just as he was tearing up. Quickly, Samantha pulled her father to his lazy boy in front of the TV before turning it own and curling up beside him. She knew her father disliked crying too much, so she wanted to keep her parents relatively as relaxed as possible before the funeral in a week.

Moreover, there was still more family to drive over and stay for the week, meaning a whole lot more teary eyed people…including her sister's children. She had to stay strong each and every single one of them. They used to count on Joan, but the responsibility fell onto Samantha's shoulders.

Just as she was getting comfortable sitting by her father's side and watching the baseball game rather mindlessly the doorbell rang out through the house. She heard her mother shuffling out of the kitchen, saying, "You two keep your butts planted on the couch, I got it. No, Lily, go stay in the kitchen with your sister. Nana got the door, don't worry."

"No, ma!" Samantha jumped up, running after her to get the door first. However, along with being strong, her mother was fast, reaching the door long before she could.

"Oh my, aren't you a handsome fellow," her mother laughed, but her laugh was different. If anything, it almost sounded forced. "But I'm sorry to say that I'm already married. Oh, and you're pretty handsome too, young man, but a little too young for me. I think Samantha might like you.

The older agent, Gideon smiled sympathetically at the elder woman, imagining what it would be like to bury her own child. "I am SSA Gideon and this is Dr. Reid. Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you, but we need to talk to you."

"Why of course, come on in. I'm baking some pie, but it's not ready yet," she said as she let them in. However, Samantha was frozen on the spot in the long hallway. When she heard the other man introduce himself and his partner, Samantha wasn't able to move away or closer.

Gideon nodded and thanked her even though he had bad news for her. Reid followed, but frowned when his eyes landed on the girl standing as still as a statue a several feet away from them.

She was just standing there, yet not once did she look at them. It wasn't that she was scared with what bad news they may have brought with them, just the fact they brought not too long after she had left the police station…

* * *

><p>Without reviews, I never know whether to continue these stories for ya'll or not. If something is wrong like a character is OOC, I would like to know ASAP so I can fix it. Criticisms that help with the story are always appreciated. Like I said before, I have only started Criminal Minds; I'm still getting all the characters down so help would be nice.<p>

Don't own Criminal Mind. Like reviews. Thank you.


	6. A Game of Chess

Reid took a step towards her, saying, "Samantha-"

She shook her head, but her eyes stayed on his. However, it was her mother who directed her daughter, trying to distract her. "Sami, go get Lily and Ava from the kitchen and take them to the park down the street. I know Lily has wanted to go for some time now, but your Papa and I have been so busy."

"Dr. Reid can also go with you," Gideon added quickly with a small, harmless smile. "He needs his daily walk and I don't feel like walking him today." He was joking, so she was forced to crack a smile.

She had to remind herself that she had to keep the mask on for everyone else. It had normally always been her duty since Joan's head usually was in the clouds. She knew the routine well enough by then…

Taking in a deep breath of air, she smiled lightly at them before nodding at her mother as she headed into the kitchen, trying to be as cheery as possible when she told them that they would be going to the nearby park.

Lily was practically hopping the whole time out of the kitchen while Ava followed her little sister slowly. For a second, Samantha was going to run upstairs and change, but everyone in this neighborhood had known her since she was a kid meaning not many would care about the fact she in shorts and a t-shirt. Plus, it was uncomfortably warm outside, she didn't feel like wearing anything else.

"Come on, Dr. Reid, let's go out for your walk," she sighed as she walked past him with Ava and Lily already out the front door. She sighed, "I better get paid for this."

Reid followed at her side, trying to talk to her as they began walking down the sidewalk towards the park, which was just down the block. Most of his 'casual' talk came off as uncomfortable since he was fidgeting most of the time. However, Samantha didn't mind since she hardly paid attention to his chatter. Her mind was once again elsewhere, but she didn't purposefully tune him out. Samantha just needed time to think things out, but sadly this wasn't the time to do it when Reid asked her something.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, looking up at him.

"How are the children?" Reid repeated, nodding at the giggling girls up ahead. A few other kids were already playing around on the street that was usually empty of cars driving by.

"Well, there is Jon, the youngest, but he's napping back in the house and he's too young to understand his mother is gone. He's only a year old, so everything is pretty much still filled with sunshine for him," Samantha sighed. "Lily asks where her mother is daily, but none of us have the heart to tell her what is really going on. Everyone sort of waited until I arrived…Ava is a mess, but I'm doing my best to help her through it."

"Everyone in your family count on you?"

Samantha crossed her arms over her chest, nodding her head in response. "I don't know why people count on me, though. Joan was the stronger one, no matter what anyone said. She pulled through for everyone when I wasn't there or couldn't make it. She was the one who had three kids and raised them on her own. No matter what people say about my sister, she was the best kind of person out there…," she sighed, but added with a dry laugh, "I wouldn't be the average cook without her help and I was one horrible cook."

With a small smile, Reid shrugged. "I'm not a great cook either. The mechanics of such things are very confusing. I mean how does one separate the egg white from the yoke? It seems tedious and unnecessary. Plus, most of the time, the team goes out for food whenever we have time for actual food."

"I bet your main diet consists of donuts and bad coffee?" Samantha quirked a real smile.

"My coffee is never bad the way I make it," he replied, grinning.

"That's true," she chuckled, but frowned when Lily stumbled to the ground. For a second, Samantha was about to run over and help her up, but Ava was the one who slowly helped her little sister to her feet and then brushed her off before setting off running down the street again.

It wasn't long until they reached the park, where there were a mass swarm of small children and adults running around and having fun in the summer heat of New Brunswick. It wasn't that big of a park, but it was nice enough for the people living in the surrounding neighborhood.

Without any warning, two thick arms grabbed Samantha from behind, picking her up and swinging her over the person's shoulder. Samantha screamed out in surprise, but laughed when she recognized the red and yellow football jersey with Payton 17 printed on the back. She began struggling, which forced her neighbor to put her back on the ground laughing.

"Payton, you jerk!" Samantha giggled, punching him in the arm. Of course, it didn't do much since he had more muscles than most guys. It always surprised her that he didn't break every bone in a person's body when he went for a hug.

"Sam Sam!" he smirked down at her. He frowned slightly when he noticed a tall, lanky man standing a little awkwardly not too far from them. He didn't look like much or really pose a threat against Peyton who was twice his size. This guy was wearing an oxford with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black slacks. He had brown hair that reached his chin, which Payton found a little odd, but didn't think much of it until he noticed the gun at his hip.

He nodded at Reid, saying, "Wanna put that away, man? There are little kids around."

"Payton," Samantha began with a frown. "This is Dr. Spencer Reid, he's an agent of the BAU, which is a department of the FBI."

Reid waved with a slight smile, but didn't say anything.

"FBI? Sam, what's going on?" Payton asked.

"Don't call me Sam," she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. It was the one thing that bothered her and everyone knew it, yet everyone still called her by that dreaded nickname. People calling her Sam was simply annoying. Her name was Samantha and if that was too long for them, well too bad. With a sigh, Samantha shook her head and went on. "Nothing you need to worry your thick head about. Spencer is just here, that's all you need to know. Now, if you excuse us, we're going to go sit somewhere where I can watch over the girls. See ya, Payton."

With that, she motioned Spencer to follow her after she waved off Payton.

* * *

><p>His dark eyes watched her walk across the park with excitement; his goddess was finally there and within his reach.<p>

She was exactly as he had remembered her from when he had first saw her years ago on that college campus. Back then, she had her long, dark hair in a high ponytail and wore a t-shirt with Harrison Ford as Hans Solo on it and a pair of torn up jeans. Before she could afford contacts, she had worn those large, black rimmed glasses, but luckily her braces had been taken off by then so she hadn't looked terribly goofy.

Well, no matter what, he always saw her as perfect. Though as he looked upon her then, he noticed that her hair was up in a messy bun, but a few strands of hair was framing her heart-shaped face. Though that didn't please him at all; he liked it when her hair was down, framing that lovely face of hers.

However, his scowl deepened when he noticed her with someone else, a guy to be exact. Snarling, he left the park, bumping into people on the way. Some people yelled at him, but he kept running until he reached his van, got in, and drove off.

* * *

><p>"Wow," Samantha whistled when she saw Reid rapidly win a game of chess against some of the nerdiest kids she knew back in high school and some new nerdy kids. She started laughing when Reid asked if she wanted to play next.<p>

"Right, because I can play against you," she laughed, shaking her head. "I would most likely loose within the first five minutes."

"Well, maybe I could teach you how not to loose," he began, sitting back in the old-fashioned metal chair. His brown eyes looked into hers, showing her that he was serious as he continued. "The number of possible, unique chess games is far greater than the number of electrons in the universe. The number of electrons is estimated to be a mere ten to the seventy-ninth power, while the number of unique chess games is ten to the one hundred twentieth. So, as much as there a possibility of winning there is of losing. I can teach you some tactics, but ultimately it's up to your own strategy."

Samantha blinked, a smile frozen on her face. "Hah, right."

"You're scared of losing." Reid smirked, tilting his head as he assessed her.

"Oh, really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't ever put yourself in a situation unless you are sure to win. It's pretty common among women such as you," he answered, shrugging as if it was no big deal. "Hard working throughout your life, doing anything you can to get out of the mediocre life style. You probably saw the other kids with 'better' and you couldn't help but strive towards for possibly your own children. It wasn't particularly because you had a bad childhood, but you wish certain things were different."

Samantha frowned. "You can't possibly be so sure of that."

"It's my job to be sure of things like _that_." He leaned forward, arranging the pieces as another kid came over to play with him. It didn't take long for them to start the game and quickly be consumed by it. It was interesting to watch Reid rapidly move his hand around the board, taking pieces and putting them to the side as the other player tried his best to do the same. As he played, Reid eventually went back to what he was telling Samantha. "For example, you don't like people forcing things onto up, such as being there for people unless you are certain you can be there. You don't make promises because you want to mean it so as to keep it, which could mean that as you were growing up someone constantly broke whatever promise they made with you."

She only blinked, stunned into silence.

"Checkmate," Reid said, grinning, The other boy shrugged, waved, and walked off without really saying much, not that Samantha was really paying much attention. Samantha just sitting there, thinking it all over. However, there were some things she did not want to dwell on, so she quirked a smirk and nodded.

"Okay, _genius_, teach me how to play."

* * *

><p>Don't own Criminal Minds. Like reviews. Thank you for reading~<p>

Right, if anyone was annoyed with how I responded to all the reviews, I'm here to say that is stopping. I never really liked doing that because I'm really lazy and I normally just list the names of my reviewers, so yeah. Anyways, if my readers could tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong would be nice. I mean seriously, I'm a big girl. I can handle criticisms because I know I'm not some fantastic writer...yet. =P So, in simpler terms...review or no update.

Also, I need a beta reader because my grammar is...blah. So anyone up for that?


	7. A Bad Day

It had been a couple days since any of the members of the BAU had come into come contact with Samantha or her family, but only a few hours since another girl had been shot randomly and inscribed with an unimportant letter.

Samantha had watched it on the news, but she tried not to think about it when Ava walked into the living room dressed in a simple black dress with a solemn expression on her face. The young girl crawled onto the couch and into her aunt's open arms.

They would be leaving soon for the funeral that morning, but the worst part of that morning was the fact they knew who the killer was, but he hadn't been caught yet. It made Samantha sick to the stomach since she knew her sister was killed because of her. Her sister's children were motherless because of her…

Closing her eyes, Samantha rested her head against the coach so as to keep back the tears. She didn't want to openly cry in front of her whole family when she had to be strong for them. Despite the fact that she knew that was not the best way to deal with things, but she couldn't help it.

"Sami, honey," her mother said softly. "It's time to go."

Opening her eyes, Samantha looked at her mother before glancing down at Ava, who was simply sitting there with her head against her Aunt's chest. Her eyes were drooping closed, showing how tired she was since she had been barely sleeping at night since her mother's death.

"Ava, wake up," Samantha sighed, but didn't move to get up immediately.

At first, she didn't move, but eventually she got off the couch with some help from her aunt. The two headed out of the hand in hand; one supporting the other.

* * *

><p>Reid frowned slightly when he figured out that their unsub would most likely be at the funeral. For the most part, they were looking out for Samantha's ex-boyfriend, but Reid had a feeling of dread since there was more to it than just that.<p>

Just looking out for him at the funeral wouldn't be enough; there was a chance that the crazy ex-boyfriend, Matthew, would try and actually take Samantha to finish his message. She would be the last letter, but there was no saying if he would stop there and commit suicide or find another woman in his life to obsess over. Reid was sure it was the first theory since just yesterday the unsub had sent something to Samantha.

It was a gift, something she used to have back in college; a small stuffed animal he had won her at the state fair. To the members of the BAU, this was a big red flag. It meant he was ready to confront Samantha and make her his last victim.

"Reid," Morgan said, snapping the genius out of his thoughts. "Hotch, Elle and Gideon are heading to where our unsub might have been living for the past few months. You and I are the lucky ones going to a funeral."

Reid simply nodded as he got up. He safely tucked his gun into the holster, despite the fact that he wasn't that great at aiming especially since he barely passed his last firearms test. Though he had no fear of shooting someone if it meant saving someone's life.

"I'm driving," Morgan said once they were outside near the black SUV. Reid simply nodded as he got in the passenger side and buckled up. His mind was on Samantha and the two girls since that day was the funeral and it was hardly a happy occasion; he wondered how they were taking it all since Lily had yet to truly understand that her mother was gone.

The drive there was silent and felt a little long even though it was a twenty minute drive. When they arrived at the cemetery, it wasn't hard to spot where they were holding the service. A clad of black was surrounding one spot in between two trees.

Slowly, the two BAU agents got out of the SUV and headed toward the crowd, deciding to keep towards the back so as not to disrupt the service. It wasn't hard for them to spot Samantha since she was sitting up front with two small girls on either side of her. For a second, Reid thought about going to her side t comfort her, but he quickly shook that thought out of his head. Instead, he stood where he was, keeping an eye out for their unsub.

That was when it all went downhill…

Almost out of nowhere, a man approached Samantha and stood behind her chair. The person behind him was clearly angry at him for blocking the view, trying to quietly move him out of the way, but instead a gun shot rang out. The person fell to the ground without another word as the others stood up and cried out in fear. Samantha was barely able to turn around when this man wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her out of her seat and away from the girls.

Reid and Morgan pulled out their guns, but didn't approach the man since his gun was aimed at the children. They knew the man had no fear of killing anyone there if it meant being able to take Samantha with him, but they also knew that he wouldn't kill Samantha anytime soon.

"Let go of me!" Samantha yelled, struggling to get out of his grip.

"Samantha, stop struggling," Reid said before the unsub, her ex, could say anything. "He won't hurt you, trust me."

"Yeah, trust _him_," the man growled, walking back from the others slowly. "You two put your weapons down or I'll blow her fucking head off."

Not wanting to provoke him from shooting anyone else there, both agents put there guns slowly to the ground. Meanwhile, Morgan was trying to calm the unsub down.

"Matthew, it doesn't have to be like this," Morgan began calmly. "You don't need to hurt anyone else here. Look, you're scaring the one girl you care for. How do you think she will love you after what you've done?"

Matthew grimaced, looking down at the goddess in his arms. However, she didn't look like his goddess with tears running down her face and nothing but fear in those dimmed green orbs of hers. She didn't look happy to be with him…if anything, she looked afraid of him.

That wasn't how it's supposed be. She wasn't supposed to fear him. She was supposed to love him and thank him for taking her away from the others. She was supposed to be happy that he was taking her far away from the ones that always oppressed her and kept her from truly being happy. How could she fear him?

"Samantha?" he said, confusion written all over his face. "I'm here to save you. Don't you remember the promise we made? At the fair?"

Samantha frowned, too scared to shake her head. She knew he was very unstable at that moment, meaning she had to keep him from blowing up and possibly killing everyone else there.

"Auntie Sami!" Lily cried out, but her grandma kept her from running out to Samantha. "Leave her alone, big bully!"

"Matthew, please let me go," Samantha pleaded softly.

"No!" he shouted, dragging her a few more feet away from the others. "No! I'm here to save you. I won't let you go!"

* * *

><p>Thank you to LeedsUK for the review. Means a lot~<p>

Don't own Criminal Minds. Reviews always appreciated. Thank you.


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Criminal Minds, Hurt-Comfort, Suspense