A/N: i added stuff since i posted it the first time. only a few things, but enough that i wanted to repost. enjoy!

Chapter 6: Smyrna, Georgia

Headquarters

"Sorry to call everyone in on such short notice," Hotch said as the five filed into the conference room, Rossi and JJ already there. They sat around the table, Kaitlyn sitting herself next to Reid just as Hotch passed around file folders for them. "This one couldn't wait."

"I can see why," Rossi replied, opening his file just before everyone else opened theirs as well. JJ stepped up to the TV screen as Hotch took his seat, opening his own file as pictures of the victims of their latest case showed up on the screen.

"Two bodies have been found in Smyrna, Georgia in the past two weeks," JJ explained. "The first victim was found on his farm in the outskirts. He was identified as thirty-nine year old Calvin Myers." She zoomed in on one of the pictures of him, resuming, "His hands were cleanly cut at the wrists."

"Obviously it's not to avoid having the bodies being identified," Emily thought aloud. "There are still many things about the body left untouched that could identify him."

"Trophies?" Kaitlyn guessed, glancing around at the group. "Don't some serial killers like to take something to remind them of the kill?"

"It's possible," Hotch nodded in agreement and the red head turned back to taking notes.

"A few days later, a local woman was found near a river," JJ continued, clicking the remote in her hand to change the pictures. "The same thing was done to her. She was later identified as thirty-three year old Faith Abernethy. There were no signs of assault of any kind on them, almost like they gave in without a fight."

"Were there any drugs in the victims systems?" Derek wondered.

"Not that the coroners found," JJ replied with a shake of her head. "Cause of death for both victims was suffocation. Fibers were found in the throats and nostrils."

"They had to have been drugged at some point for there to be no defensive wounds," Spencer theorized. "The natural human instinct is to fight, even if it's to run away after breaking free."

"Were the hands taken before or after death?" Emily asked.

"The coroner concluded that because of the lack of blood around the wounds they were cut off postmortem," JJ replied.

"So it wasn't to torture them," Derek theorized. "They'd have to be trophies then, like Kate said."

"Have they identified the weapon used to take off the hands?" Rossi asked.

"There's nothing conclusive, but they suspect it might be some sort of knife," JJ replied. "Smyrna PD is leaning toward a butcher knife."

"Makes sense since the cut looks clean," Emily pointed out, examining one of the pictures in her file. "It would narrow down the list of suspects."

"Actually, it really wouldn't," Spencer chimed in. "Butchers, hunters and doctors could make clean cuts like this, even postmortem."

"We'll continue this on the plane," Hotch announced, shutting his file and the other's followed. "Garcia I'll need all the information you can find on the victims."

"Yes, Sir," Penelope nodded as everyone stood from the table. "I shall have it for you forthwith."

"Wheels up in thirty, everyone," Hotch reported as they all filed out of the office, Kaitlyn hurrying to catch up with Spencer.

"I hope I can keep up with you guys," she smiled, pulling her bag onto her shoulder.

"You're doin' just fine, Red," Derek smiled, ruffling her hair a bit as he passed to get to his desk, making her giggle.

Spencer looked up at her from gathering his things for a moment at the sound just as she looked at Derek with a smile, fixing her hair. He swallowed but when she looked back at him he quickly turned back to gathering his things, making her frown slightly before she headed toward his desk.

"Hey, Spence?" she called to get his attention and he looked up at her again as she smiled, "I had fun tonight. I'm sorry if I was a little—"

"You weren't," Spencer cut in, making her blink at him in surprise before she smiled again.

"Good," she sighed in relief. "I was afraid I'd scared you."

"No offense, but I think it'd take a little more than forcing me to dance to scare me," Spencer smiled, pulling his messenger bag over his head.

"That's a relief," Kaitlyn grinned, stepping next to him and taking his arm to walk with him out of the office.

Old hands soil, it seems, whatever they caress, but they too have their beauty when they are joined in prayer. Young hands were made for caresses and the sheathing of love. It is a pity to make them join too soon.

-Andre Gide

"It looks like this unsub has no specific type," Rossi observed as the team sat in the jet heading to Georgia. "One victim is male, the other one is female, and their features are completely different too. They don't even have the same eye or hair color."

"Maybe it's the hands," Kaitlyn guessed. "That's why he takes them."

"That's not all," Penelope chimed in from the laptop, catching everyone's attention. "I found out that the two victims each had their own properties. Not only did Calvin Myers have land, but Faith Abernethy had land in her name too, I'm sending you the addresses as we speak."

"Thanks, Garcia," Hotch nodded to the screen.

"That could be how he lures them in," Derek theorized. "Offers them a hand around the house."

"If that's the case, he's not reclusive," Emily chimed in. "He has people skills and can function in every day activities."

"We'll know more when we get to Smyrna," Hotch replied, looking over the file. "Morgan and Prentiss will go to the place Faith Abernethy was found. Kaitlyn and Reid, I need you to speak with Faith's daughter, Diana. The rest of us will go to the police station."

Everyone settled in for the rest of the flight and Kaitlyn finished off her thought in her notes with a nod before looking over the file again herself as Spencer glanced over at her. She didn't look up from the file as she scooted closer to Spencer, making him frown at her before looking to his bag to look for something. Kaitlyn glanced over at him, frowning in wonder at what he was doing. He pulled a book out, making Kaitlyn grin widely.

"That looks familiar," she smiled as Spencer placed her book on his lap to set his bag down again.

"I found it in my bookcase at home," he confirmed then handed it to her. "I thought I'd…take the opportunity to get an autograph."

"You don't even have to ask, Spence," Kaitlyn smiled before taking the book and opening it to write in it. "To my favorite Doctor and profiler…Love Karylin Rutan."

Spencer swallowed with a slight blush as Kaitlyn shut the book and handed it back to him then leaned in and smiled, "Always a pleasure to meet a fan."

She gave him a wink as he took the book back and she turned back to the file while Spencer tried to will his heart to slow its pace.

Meanwhile in Smyrna...

"Come on, Rachel, you don't really believe that, do you?" a girl with short, brown hair and cat-like gray eyes sneered at her friend with similar brown hair, but longer and her eyes were a glowing amber.

"And you don't?" Rachel shot back in wide-eyed shock as the girls sat at the table of a well-known diner having lunch together. "With all the murders on the news…how can you not think it's got something to do with him, Holly?!"

"Your ex is a lot of things, but I doubt he's a murderer with a fetish for hands," Holly retorted, glancing up from her plate to see Rachel staring at her own hands, making her frown in wonder. "Rach?"

"He always said…he liked my hands the best," Rachel muttered, making Holly roll her eyes and clap her hands in front of her friend's face and she jumped and looked to her friend in wide-eyed shock.

"Stop it!" Holly snapped. "You and your conspiracies. Quit freaking yourself out. Garret is not a murderer, just an ass."

Rachel nodded, skeptically.

They both finished their food, paid their check and stood to head for the door. They bid each other goodbye, saying they would see each other soon and parted ways, Holly down the alley toward her car and Rachel toward her car parked on the street. Holly dug into her purse for her keys but nearly ran into something in front of her, making her stop and gasp as she looked up in shock.

"Oh, it's you," she blurted, unenthusiastically. "Look, I don't have time for this, so could you just—?"

She was cut off when a fist came up and hit her across the face, sending her to the ground, unconscious. Her keys fell from her hand and her purse skittered across the asphalt, and a moment later she was being dragged away by her feet.

Later...

"Spence, you may have an eidetic memory, but I'm telling you right now, you're wrong," Kaitlyn insisted, sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV with Spencer driving. "The uniforms on Star Trek never changed."

"Actually, they did," he replied. "In the first two episodes, the uniforms changed in color and style."

"Kirk's never changed," she argued as they came to a stop in front of a house with a huge farm.

"It did," Spencer insisted, putting the SUV in park and shutting off the engine. "And I'll prove it to you when we get back."

"And how will you do that, Dr. Reid, when you have no television?" she smirked.

"You'll see when we get back," he replied, opening up his file to look over it. "Diana Abernethy is about your age. You should probably be the one to talk to her."

Kaitlyn shot a wide-eyed stare of disbelief at him as he looked back at her casually, and she chirped, "Me? Why me? I'm…not really a profiler. I'm a linguist."

"That's why you are gonna talk and I'm gonna watch," he nodded, reassuringly. "You can pick up on anything odd in her syntax. She'll probably open up to you far more than she would to me."

"Because I'm a woman," she nodded as they both pushed their doors open and climbed out of the SUV. "And her age. Guess it's the best play to get her to open up."

The two made their way toward the entrance where a screen was closed in front of the wood door. Spencer let Kaitlyn knock on the frame of the door and a moment later a young woman with disheveled brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and glassy violet eyes opened the wooden door, leaving the screen shut to stare out.

"Yes?" she sniffled in a Georgian accent. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Diana Abernethy?" Kaitlyn asked, gently and the brunette nodded with a slight frown. Kaitlyn pulled out her FBI badge to open it, showing her credentials as she explained, "My name is Kaitlyn Urran and this is Dr. Spencer Reid from the FBI. We're investigating your mother's murder and we just have a few questions for you. May we come in?"

"Oh, o'course," Diana nodded, opening the screen and entreating, "Come on in."

Kaitlyn and Spencer followed Diana into the cozy living room and the agents stood next to the sofa, waiting for Diana to ask them to sit.

"Did you…want anything to drink?" Diana wondered, clearly dazed and only offering out of courtesy. "Water, or…anything?"

"No, thanks, we're fine," Spencer replied and Kaitlyn shook her head in confirmation that her answer was the same.

"Ok…" Diana muttered, hugging herself and staring around the room, looking very lost.

"Do you mind if we have a seat?" Kaitlyn asked, drawing Diana's wide-eyed stare at her in surprise.

"Oh! Yeah! Sorry," she blurted before waving them toward the sofa and taking a seat herself in an armchair across from it. "Drainin' day."

"We understand," Kaitlyn nodded as she and Spencer sat on the sofa. "We'll be brief, Miss Abernethy. Can I call you Diana?"

Diana only nodded and Spencer watched Diana as she only gave a nod of understanding, sitting forward in her chair and still hugging herself. Kaitlyn noticed her tension as well, and decided, instead of getting on with the questions right away, she would try putting her at ease.

"This is a really nice house," she began, drawing Diana's gaze to her again, and she only nodded, prompting Kaitlyn to ask, "Did you grow up here?"

"Yeah," Diana sighed. "Me and my brothers."

"How many brothers do you have?" Kaitlyn wondered.

"Two," Diana murmured, rubbing her arms. "One older and one younger."

"Cool," Kaitlyn nodded with a small smile as Spencer only watched the exchange. "I'm an only child myself. But I always wanted a brother."

"No you don't. Trust me. Brothers can be stupid," Diana scoffed, making Kaitlyn chuckle as the brunette looked to Spencer and asked, "How 'bout you, handsome? Only child?"

"Yeah," Spencer nodded and Kaitlyn couldn't help but smirk slightly as she saw Diana give him the once over. She instantly realized that maybe Spencer would get more out of her then she probably would and he must have picked up on it too when he asked, "Where are your brother's now?"

"One of them is a detective," she replied. "His name is different though. You'll probably meet him at the station. Chris Hanson."

"Why is his name different?" Kaitlyn wondered, writing in her notepad as she waited for a response.

"He has Ma's maiden name," Diana explained. "She got pregnant with him when she was about sixteen and never married till just before she had me. I was a honeymoon baby and my younger brother was a planned one."

"And what does your younger brother do?" Kaitlyn asked.

"He's a bus boy at the diner in town," Diana replied. "He and Chris don't really get along."

"Why's that?" Spencer asked.

"Chris would pick on him a lot," Diana shrugged, slightly as she sat back, now feeling a lot more relaxed. "No more than usual siblings do, but he took a lot of it personal. And he got into a lot of trouble with the law. Then when Chris became a cop it got worse between them."

"How did your mom take them fighting all the time?" he wondered, making Diana shrug, slightly.

"Like any mother would," she guessed. "Whenever we misbehaved we got disciplined like any other kids. No more, no less, really. If Chris started somethin' he'd be put in a time out and it went the other way 'round. I tried to stay out of it and kept my nose clean. But I would end up in the middle of it sometimes."

They both noticed her visibly relax, and knew now was the time to start asking the real questions they came to ask. Kaitlyn kept her notepad open as she sat back as well, but Spencer sat forward, ready to question her.

"Diana, were you close to your mom?" Spencer asked, and she stiffened, only slightly as she sensed they were getting to the hard part of the interview.

"Pretty close," she shrugged one shoulder, slowly.

"And was there anyone new to the household?" Spencer continued. "A cleaner or worker to help her around the house or ranch?"

"Not that I know of," she replied, shaking her head. "She ran it all on her own. Chris goes—went to help her once in a while, but other than that, it was all her. Then again, she wouldn't have told me if she had, though. I always warned her about hirin' strangers."

"What about your younger brother? Would he have helped her out?"

"Probably not. He means well, but when it comes to workin', he's not the most reliable. I'm surprised he's still got his job at the diner."

"What about your father?" Kaitlyn wondered, noting the sudden shift in her eyes as she looked to her hands in her lap. "Is he in the picture at all?"

"Pa…died," she murmured just above a whisper as her hands fidgeted in her lap. "Two months ago. It was an accident. He was…tryin' to break one of the stallions but…the horse threw him and he was…trampled to death."

"Diana," Kaitlyn whispered, chancing to lean forward and grasp her hands, bringing her attention to the red-head's sorrowful gaze. "I'm really sorry."

Diana sniffled and nodded, casting her gaze down again at their hands, murmuring, "Thanks…I guess."

"This next question might seem a little odd, but we need to ask you…to describe your mother's hands," Spencer asked.

As they expected, she frowned at them in shock and confusion before frowning in concentration and replying, "Um…feminine. Her fingers were long and slender."

"Thank you for your time, Diana," Kaitlyn nodded, closing her notepad and standing with Spencer. "We'll be sure to keep you informed, ok?"

"Yeah," Diana nodded, standing as well. "Thanks."

She shook Spencer's hand and Kaitlyn consolingly rubbed her arm before the agents made their way to the front door. However, before they were completely across the threshold, Kaitlyn recalled something and turned to Diana once more.

"You never did mention your younger brother's name," she voiced. "What was it?"

"Oh, of course," Diana recalled as well, shaking her head at herself before replying, "Garret. His name is Garret."

A/N: reviews?