Author's Note: There is Character Death in this story, more then one. Also, for obvious reasons at least one member of the team is *very* OOC. Actually several probably are, since I'm not very good at writing in character, particularly Garcia. I'm *extremely* bad at Garcia, I can't write her for the life of me.

This is just supposed to be a fun murder mystery, not meant to be taken seriously. Obviously, none of this would ever happen :-) And it definitely takes some suspension of belief.

I also take some liberties with the layout of the office. I don't know all the rooms there, or if Garcia's office is on that floor or not. In this story, I assumed not.

Chapter One

It was late, almost eleven, Reid yawn and stretched, rubbing his neck. He checked his watch and sighed.

It'd been a long day, and an even longer case. So many people dead...but they had the killer. Malcolm Richards was in the interrogation room, giving his confession to Hotch and Rossi, or at least having it drawn out of him. Hopefully Hotch would let them write up the last of the reports tomorrow.

Across from him Morgan was staring blearily into a cup of de-caf. Prentiss had gone into JJ's office in hopes a brief chat might wake herself up a bit.

Reid had high hopes they would all be allowed to go sleep soon. He was very wrong.

The elevator doors opened.

"Hey baby girl," said Morgan, yawning and waving as Garcia entered the office. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for Kevin."

"And not me? I'm deeply hurt."

"Oh don't worry, maybe I can make a little time for you tomorrow night," she grinned. "But Kevin was supposed to come by my office an hour ago. No sign. I thought maybe it he ended up here somehow?"

"I haven't seen him, if he doesn't show up maybe I can take the date?"

"In your dreams."

Morgan sat up a little straighter. He could tell from her voice that Garcia was genuinely worried and trying to hide it. "An hour is only an hour. Traffic, flat tire, any little thing could delay him."

"Yes," said Garcia smiling, "I guess when you work at a job like this an hour feels like it has dire consequences." She sighed as she pulled out her phone, and tried to ring Kevin.

Hotch and Rossi emerged from the interrogation room.

"Well?" asked Prentiss, she and JJ also coming out.

"We're got the confession, I'll call someone to come down and get him. I think we can finish the reports in the morning," said Hotch, "We could all use some sleep."

They gathered their bags, their coats and jackets and started heading for the exit as a group. As they reached the elevator, Garcia once again half-heartedly tried Kevin's number. She waited a minute and then hung up as the elevator doors opened.

"Wait a second," said Morgan, "Try it again."

Looking at him curiously, Garcia tried again. Morgan slowly started towards the stairwell. The others, who had waited, followed. As they approached the door they could all hear it. A cell phone ringing. Morgan glanced at Hotch who nodded in understanding, and took a hold of Garcia's arm, and stood in front of her a little to block her view, as Derek opened the door and looked down the stairs.

Lying at the bottom of a staircase, lay Kevin, surrounded by blood.

"Oh..." JJ said breathlessly.

Garcia pulled away from Hotch long enough to see, and then with one piercing scream, fainted dead away. Morgan grabbed her, as Dave ran down the stairs, and bent over Kevin. Just looking at him it was clear the man was dead but Rossi still hopelessly checked his pulse. He then examined the wounds. Kevin had clearly been stabbed to death, multiple times.

Standing up, he headed back up the stairs.

x-x-x-x-x

Garcia was laid out on the couch in Hotch's office, and Hotch went to phone the police. JJ and Emily sat down next to her, ready for when she woke up. In the room next door Reid, Morgan and Rossi sat, talking.

"He was supposed to be here an hour ago," said Morgan. "How could he have been killed? In the BAU? I mean, what kind of maniac kills someone here, he had to have known he'd get caught, he had to have known the camera would pick it up."

x-x-x-x-x

In the conference room, Rossi reached for the phone and dialed a number. He waited for a minute. "No answer up at security, I'm going to go check on them." He left quickly.

"It had to have been someone with at least a visitor's badge," said Reid, "No one else would have been allowed in this part of the building."

Morgan nodded mutely.

"Do you the think Garcia is going to be alright?" asked Reid after a pause.

Morgan did not respond directly, instead he stood up, said, "I'm going to go check on her." And left the room.

x-x-x-x-x

"The police are on their way," said Hotch, placing the phone back down.

JJ nodded.

"Poor Garcia," said Prentiss, softly, almost to herself, "Poor Kevin."

"Hotch," said JJ, looking up at him, "Rossi keeps a bottle of scotch in his desk, doesn't he?"

"Yes, why?"

"I think Penelope might need it, when she wakes up."

"Go get it."

JJ rose and left.

Silence filled the room. Heavy silence. A clock on the wall ticked. Aaron had never realized how loud that dang clock was until now. Garcia's chest rose and fell in blissful unconsciousness.

"I know we've seen a lot of things," spoke Emily softly, "A lot of things that in someways are way more awful then what we saw tonight. But when it's someone you know..."

"It's different." Hotch nodded. His hand reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He looked at it for a long minute.

"Go," said Prentiss, looking at him. "Call Hayley, I can be here alone with her."

Nodding, and giving a curt thank-you, Hotch left the room.

x-x-x-x-x

Fifteen minutes later...

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"What is that?" Rossi, looked out from the conference room.

"It's the police," said Morgan, cocking his head to one side. "I never knew them to be so polite and knock."

Three uniformed officers, where banging on the glass doors that lead to the main hall.

The team all headed down the steps. Hotch reached the doors first and tried to open them. He paused, and then pulled again. He frowned.

"They're locked...they weren't locked before."

One of the police men made a gesture of impatience, and Hotch shrugged back at them.

"They can't be locked," said JJ, "We just used them twenty minutes ago. Who would have locked them?"

Rossi sighed.

"What?" asked Morgan sharply.

"Ten minutes ago they were unlocked," he corrected. "I went up to check the security cameras, see if the guards on duty had seen anything."

"And?"

"There was no one there."

"Where were they?" asked Hotch.

Thump. The police officer had realized he'd lost their attention and was trying again.

Rossi waved him aside. "I don't know. I saw no sign. But the police were coming, so I came back down and thought I'd let them investigate for a change."

Hotch looked back at the doors, and sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but he didn't see another alternative. He dialed Strauss.

Erin Strauss stretched, stood and headed for the door. It was time to go home. Far too late to get anymore work done. She called up the elevator, and had just stepped in and pressed lobby, when her cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller idea and sighed in annoyance. If Aaron Hotchner was actually willing seeking out a chance to talk to her...it couldn't be good news. She answered.

"Strauss, it's Hotchner."

"Yes. I know. What do you want?"

"We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"Well...first off Kevin Lynch is dead."

"What? How?"

"He was murdered in the stairwell."

"Wait...the stairwell? As in our stairwell?"

"Yes."

"Have you called the police?'

"Yes, they're here, only there's a problem."

"What is it?"

"We're locked in."

"How did you manage that?"

"We don't know. But the glass doors are locked and the key's missing."

Strauss sighed, as the elevator stopped and the doors opened out onto the lobby. "I'll call the janitors. I'll be right up." She pressed a floor button and leaned again the wall tiredly, as the elevator doors slid closed. Perfect, she thought bitterly.