The Butterfly returns {For Tagged Only}

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag: Dr Sofia Austin, Matthew Cole, Tess Walker

words

Thursday

Time: 12 Midnight

Place: Tess’ apartment.

The apartment is silent and dark, suddenly the front door opens slowly - light filters in from outside as a masked figure enters carefully, his gloved hand prevents him from leaving any traces on the door handle, he is completely covered in black, his shoes have plastic covering over them. Carefully he creeps through the apartment, like he knows his way around. Of course he does, he’d been staking out for weeks and weeks - so he knew her comings and goings, He’d even been inside a few times to ‘look around’ not that he left anything behind, no - he was too careful for that. As he walks he pulls from his pocket a rag that looks damp and wet, like it had been doused with something - he strolls towards the bedroom, entering he moves to the bed and smiles down at the figure in the bed creepily “Hello Butterfly” he says just as he reaches down and shoving the rag over the woman’s nose and mouth he pins her down firmly until she falls still, Tess.
Covering her head with a sheet and wrapping her in another sheet he picks her up and carries her out of the apartment, he takes the fire escape and disappears down the stairs. On the floor, by the door - discarded like waste, is a large butterfly shaped broach.

---

Location: a room, in a basement, in an abandoned warehouse somewhere.
Time: 1am
Mark approaches his new hostage, smiling has he rips off the sheet from her head, he had placed her on a chair in the centre of the room, tied her legs and arms to the legs and armrests, and bound her securely. Behind him was a long table with various instruments - in the centre was a camera, Mark takes the rest of the sheeting off Tess and tossing them aside he moves to start preparing the camera.

TAG: Tess Walker

---

Friday Morning

Time: 7am - 7 hours later.

Place: Chicago PD

At exactly 7am a man walks into the PD, he is wearing the uniform of a local flower store - in his arms he carries 12 lillies. As he enters he looks around confused for a moment then speaking to a detective nearby he approaches the desk Matt is sitting on and places the flowers down “Delivery for Mya Reagan” he announces handing over the card and scarpering. The card reads “To my dear Butterfly” and is not signed. The picture is of a beautiful butterfly with striking colors.

TAG: Matthew Cole

---

notes: When Matt gets the flowers he can call James, James will automatically call round to check on people, when he can't reach Tess he will call Sofia to ask if she knows where he is - hope that is okay

♡

[Matthew Cole]

Matt was at homicide waiting for a detective to return with the information he had asked him for.
Five minutes passed before Matt sauntered a couple of steps and eventually perching himself on the edge of a desk who's occupant was away on vacation.

It was only about a minute later that a gentleman in a florist uniform walked in with a bouquet of lilies. It wasn't a totally unusual sight at PD, spouses sent flowers to their better halves and families sent birthday bouquets so Matt didn't think too much of it at first.

It wasn't until the man started walking over to him that he quirked his brow a little.
He watched him with a hint of unseen caution but remained where he was perched as the man stepped over to him.

The man put the lilies down on the desk next to Matt and imminently handed him a card.

“Delivery for Mya Reagan”

The unexpected words caught Matt off guard, Mya had passed a couple of years ago but the guy left as quickly as he came before Matt could say anything.

Matt glanced down at the card in his hand, a distinctly beautiful butterfly with the words “To my dear Butterfly” written on it.

Matt looked at the card for a moment then pulled out his phone and called James, "Hey, Man. How are you?.." He said greeting him.

"Listen...Um, I’m at homicide right now and some flowers have just arrived...They're for Mya, Buddy. There’s a card with ‘em too. What do you want me to do with them, buddy?." He told him regardfully, understanding that it could be upsetting for him.

Tag: @james , Anyone.

[Tess Walker]

Tess was too tired to be bothered with much else other than her bed. It had been one of the longest shifts in her life and the commute across the city for some prankster had driven her half mad. Her bag and keys were left at the door and her gun was placed diligently in the night stand next to her bed. Her neighbourhood wasn’t the best, breakings and thefts among other things were rife but she didnt mind. Home was after all just a place to sleep and grab a change of clothes to her and she knew she was safe from her mother visiting because of the area.

She wasn’t sure what time it was when she heard someone say something about a butterfly. Her eyes flared open as when she had gotten home she was entirely alone though as her eyes opened only for them to lose seconds later falling still without much of a fight. It was as if her head was spinning as she felt something lifted from her head. Just a bad dream she thought as she tried to move her arm to wipe a hand across her face though something was stopping it.

Her eyes opened as she started to look around unable to move her arms or legs as she started to wiggle in the chair. Her eyes fell across the long table with instruments on it and a camera. Oh thing wasn’t good she thought as she glared a little groggily at the man preparing the camera. “What... are you doing?” She asked before her head managed to take twenty leaps ahead of itself. What was on the table was idea enough though really clarification was good in life especially when she wanted to know if she was going to live or die or simply have the worst day in her life.

“Who are you?” She asked just as confused, how had she gotten to where she was as the last thing she remembered was being in bed. It wasn’t as if she had invited a stranger back to her place or gone drinking and it had ended badly. No she had gone straight home from work as gone to bed until. Butterfly, she remembered that word or rather it was sticking with her for some reason. She didnt have butterflies or anything like them as it made no sense.

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag

words

“What... are you doing?” Hearing her the man turned slightly a smirk on his lips “Who are you?” Chuckling the man finished off setting up the camera and turning it on he turned and strolled calmly towards Tess until he was right in front of her - he reached out to stroke her head “I am disappointed” he shook his head “after all this time?” he gave a sort of offended look then turning he looked right at the camera “I am who your closest friend fears the most, I took away what he loved most precious” he glanced back at Tess smirking “I am the keeper of butterflies” he looked pointedly over at the far corner where a big freezer was sitting closed and locked with a padlock “I’ve been waiting for so long, wanted to make sure he remembered me” he chuckled and approached the camera “Did you miss me?” he asked - as if asking someone within the camera.

Tess Walker

---

---

FBI Building.

It was 7am and James had already arrived at work just moments ago, and was already settling down to do some paperwork when his cell rang, pulling it out he hit answer and put it to his ear “Reagan” "Hey, Man. How are you?.." “I’m good, you?” There was something in Matt’s tone but thinking nothing of it James placed the phone down on his desk hitting loudspeaker as he continued to work "Listen...Um, I’m at homicide right now and some flowers have just arrived… They're for Mya” The first part of Matt’s words drew James’ attention, and the moment he spoke Mya’s name James’ blood ran cold, the pen fell to the desk and rolled off, falling to the floor - his face paled and his eyes widened “Buddy. There’s a card with ‘em too. What do you want me to do with them, buddy?." James didn’t move, silence descended - you could hear a pin drop - a passing Agent paused seeing the look on James’ face and approached “Hey man, you okay?” he leaned forward, across the desk touching James’ shoulder causing him to leap back as he flinched standing up in shock - The agent stepped back surprised and James inhaled slowly, deeply, trying to contain himself, the wild eyed look in his eyes danced before he realised the phone was on the table and snatching it up he turned off the speaker so he could talk normally, placing the phone to his ear he fought the urge to be sick “When?” he asked he needed a specific time as he beckoned to the agent, grabbing another pen from the pen holder on his desk he jotted down something on a nearby notepad and the agent read it and nodded darting off to another desk to make a call. Once James had recieved an answer from Matt he pulled his other phone from his pocket and hit dial as he placed it down on his desk “Matt, whatever you do - do not touch those flowers or card, if you have just leave it with the flowers” James’ voice was cold, laced with emotion, shaky - every emotion you could think of was throwing themselves at him.

The line on his other phone connected “Hang on Matt, don’t hang up stay on the line” he said softly, the urgency in his tone strong before speaking to the person on the other end of his other phone, he made a few other similar calls before deciding to try reach out to Tess, it was when he didn’t get an answer that panic began to set in “Matt, Can you get over here?, make sure no one touches those flowers or anything. I can’t drive. I need you - please” He knew there was no way he’d be driving in his current state, not after last time.

Ending the call to Matt and the calls on his other phone - he made one more call, to the mobile number he had for Dr Sofia Austin really hoping Tess had just not heard her phone, maybe she was at her friends, well some people did that!

Please answer, please answer PLEASE ANSWER - James paced, urgency in his pacing, urgency and fear in his features.

The agent watched as he too spoke on the phone, he knew why James was so upset - the name had told him everything he needed to know.

On the notepad on James desk were the words in almost shaky lettering.

‘Mark Evans Is Back - call the task force’.

notes

♡

[Matthew Cole]

The line went silent as soon as Matt mentioned Mya, “Hey man, you okay?” he just made out someone ask James in the background.

"James? Are you ok, mate?"

“When?”
 
"Just now." He replied. "The delivery guy just put them on the desk here and I called you right away to see what you want me to do with them. James what's going on?" He asked, a touch of worry for his friend coming through in his voice.

“Matt, whatever you do - do not touch those flowers or card, if you have just leave it with the flowers”

Hearing James' words Matt looked down at the card that was already in his hand, an almost guilty frown on his face. It would have almost been funny if it didn't seem so serious.

Being careful to keep his fingers in the same spot and not to touch it any more, Matt waved the hand he was holding the card in to get the attention of a nearby detective, "Collins, grab me an evidence bag for this, and for those." He said, motioning to flowers with his head.

The seriousness on Matt's face and in his voice meant that Collins went to get the evidence bag without question.

“Hang on Matt, don’t hang up stay on the line”  

"Ok, sure." Matt's worry deepened as he held the line. There was obviously something very wrong but he didn't know what.

“Matt, Can you get over here?, make sure no one touches those flowers or anything. I can’t drive. I need you - please”

Now Matt was truly concern for James. He'd seen James upset before, but he had never heard him sound like this, something was very wrong indeed. And for him to tell Matt that he needed him like that, in that shaken, frazzled tone, Matt knew whatever was wrong must be BIG.

Collins returned with the evidence bags and held open a small bag for the card, "Ok, I'm on my way, mate." He said as he slipped the card into the evidence bag.

"Don't worry I'll be their soon, just sit tight." With that James hung up and Matt put his phone away in his pocket.

Matt grabbed a napkin from the next desk and used it to pick up the flowers and put them into a larger bag.

"What's going on?" Collins asked.

"I'm not sure. James doesn't sound good and somethings not right." He replied.
"I've gotta go, can you ask Grimsby to cover for me, and if the Capitan asks I'm taking evidence down to the FBI." He said as he sealed and tagged the card and flowers properly.

"Sure." Collins replied.

"Thanks, Man." With that Matt was out the door and on his way to James' building as quickly as he could.

Arriving he had to sign in, and as much as he understood why he had to it was very frustrating when he was in a rush to get to his distressed friend and it seemed to take longer than ever to do.

After showing his credentials and checked his firearm he was eventually was allowed in. He headed straight for James' desk with evidence in hand, protecting the chane of custody.

"Hey, Man." He said greeting James as he got to him. He could tell James was in a spin, just by looking at him

"What's going on?" He asked, clearly a level of concern on his face and in his voice.

Tag: @james, Anyone.

[Tess Walker]

Tess felt groggy as she tried to focus on what the guy was saying, in her head she wanted to scream the place down but the entire thing told her that this was professional. It wasn’t like she was going to be right next door or anyone she thought as she watched him turn the camera on. She glared at him trying to pull her head away from his touch. After all what time she thought trying to place the voice and the word but then her mind was ten steps behind what she was trying to do.

Her closest friend? Then it dawned on her, Mark it couldn’t be could it? Surely he wouldn’t have come back she told herself until she heard about the butterflies again and her stomach did a flip. Tess kept up her glare at him as her eyes managed to glance across at the freezer. She gulped wondering how long it would be until the inevitable happened. He had gotten to Mya and Tess knew that they hadn’t managed to catch Mark at all. Too good or just lucky but she swore if she ever got the chance and now she was tied to a chair unable to do much but yell.

“Son of a...” She yelled as she struggled in her chair again as she saw him play to the camera. “Trust me if he has any sense he’s forgotten you entirely. You’re not worth wasting brain power on.” She snapped trying her best not to show that she was utterly terrified of what was going on. “You’re name hasn’t even been mentioned, I mean really... the butterfly guy? You’re a footnote on a case file that hasn’t been looked at in years.” She stated.

Tess wasn’t about to give the guy any other impression but that, sure the case file was filled with details and Mark wasn’t a foot note at all the file was generally about him and his work but at the end of the day. She wasn’t going to give him anything that made him think otherwise."So what's your great plan here? Say Hi I'm back, well you picked the wrong person or are you just that out of touch these days?" She asked still glaring at him. As long as she could talk she would annoy the hell out of the guy if she could.

[Dr Sofia Austin]

The buzzing in her head. It was incessant and as she reached toward the arm of the sofa, her hand patting around for the source of the noise. An eighteen hour shift and after thirty minutes of sleep her phone was light up like a Christmas tree. It took Sofia a moment to focus on the caller ID as she stared at James’ details. He really did pick the worst times to call she thought as she sat herself up and answered the phone. “Hello James, how are you?” She asked as she glanced around at her living room.

The all too familiar sight greeted her, the bag she had dropped by the door and her shoes she had kicked off when she swore it was just a five minute sit down. Half an hour later and the five minutes turned into a half hour sleep as she waited to hear why James thought disturbing her at this hour was a good idea. Not that he was keenly aware of her work patterns however sleep was what she planned on no matter what time of day it was. She was supposed to be meeting Tess for dinner later that evening but when she looked at the clock there were hours to go before that.

It was another new place that they had decided to try but Sofia had a good amount of time before that after all it was the morning and the rest of the day sleeping she would wake up to a meal and her best friend for company. Which in her head was why James was phoning, maybe he wanted to go too. After all she still had to work on pushing James and Tess together more, it was clear to her that they liked each other even loved each other but she often wondered if they even knew it or just danced around the fact.

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag

words

FBI Building

“Hello James, how are you?” When the line connected and Sofia’s voice came on the line James had to admit the hopeful feeling began to rise within him, maybe Mark hadn’t taken her, the tone in James’ voice was not normal as he tried to force himself to speak “Is- Is Tess with you?” he asked urgently, yes normally he was much more friendly, much more controlled - but they had to act quickly and that was the urgency in James’ voice, he ran a shaky hand over his face "Hey, Man." Hearing Matt’s voice he looked up, his his hand dropping from his face and his eyes landing on the flowers in Matt’s hand, twelve lilies, Mark’s message to them after he killed Mya. "What's going on?" James indicated towards the agent who was still by the phone, the agent saw James’ motion as he hadn’t seen Matt walk in and looking up he too saw the lilies and approaching he took the bags “I’ll take em” he said softly shooting a glance at James. Once the agent had the evidence he took them to his desk just as two agents walked in with boxes glancing at James as they passed him, they joined the first agent at the desk, James locked eyes with Matt as he waited for a reply on the line, pointing at it with a shaky finger for Matt’s sake. Matthew Cole, Dr Sofia Austin

---

---

Abandoned Warehouse

“Son of a...” Mark chuckled hearing her yell “Trust me if he has any sense he’s forgotten you entirely. You’re not worth wasting brain power on.” Mark grinned almost manically, oh he knew full well James had not forgotten him, He’d gotten so far into James’ head and the head of Byron the boyfriend of the woman he’d kidnapped before taking Mya that they both were severely messed up after and Mark knew it. Byron he knew couldn’t work again, he’d retired and moved away with his girlfriend who also was badly affected by the ordeal - he was disappointed when James ‘ran away’ but once he saw that James was back he wanted to make sure James remembered him “You’re name hasn’t even been mentioned, I mean really... the butterfly guy? You’re a footnote on a case file that hasn’t been looked at in years.” Mark shook his head, turning towards the table he picked up a syringe and turning he started to get it ready "So what's your great plan here? Say Hi I'm back, well you picked the wrong person or are you just that out of touch these days?" Mark just shot her a smirk “Oh you should know I am not that sort of fellow, You mean a lot more to him than you realise” he answered calmly as he walked towards her - reaching her he was just within arms reach “Say hello to your friends” he said indicating that the camera was actually rolling. Tess Walker

notes

♡

[Matthew Cole]

“Is- Is Tess with you?”

James was already on the phone when Matt walked in. His eyes fell straight on the flowers in Matt's hand and he indicated to one of the other agents.

“I’ll take em”

The agent took both of the evidence bags from him and he watched as two other agents entered with boxes.

Everything seemed to be on Go but no one had answered his question, "I'm gonna need a chain of custody voucher for those." Matt said after a second, distractedly glancing to the agent who had taken the evidence from him, before he turned his attention back to James who was practically shaking.

Matt's mind was screaming "What is going on!?", his friend -possibly his best friend- had called him down saying he needed him and the FBI was making a fuss over whatever it was that was happening, meaning that it must be something critical.

Matt resisted actually asking the question again though, everyone was obviously busy and James was on the phone. A fact he indicated by pointed a trembling finger at the phone by his ear. The look on his face showed he was desperate for an answer from whoever it was on the other end of the line.

Matt stood by James' desk fidgeting a little as he waited, refrained from interrupting and allowing James to do what he was doing as the agents worked around them.
It wasn't until he let his eyes looked around at everything that was going on that he saw the note scribbled in shaky hand writing, ‘Mark Evans Is Back - call the task force’.

A deep frown immediately set on Matt face and a little colour even drained from his face.

He locked eyes with James, an earnest expression on his face as James stood with the phone to his ear waiting for a reply. He still did not fully understand what was going on, but the note was more than enough for him to understand why James was in such a state.  

Matt could only imagine that James was probably freaking out and falling apart inside. He was there ready to talk James down as soon as he got off the phone, but until then he just stood by waiting, shifting his weight from foot to foot a little antsy.

Tag: @james, anyone.

[Tess Walker]

His chuckle made a shiver run down her spine, why was this happening now she wondered. James was just back and this, was this going to be what pushed him over the edge again? Was she going to be the cause of that as she glared at Mark who’s grin was just as awful as his laugh. Tess could only hope that James had no idea, if she was classed as missing then maybe he wouldnt know if he was working a case or something.

Tess could feel her mouth dry when she saw Mark pick up the syringe, this was bad, really, really bad she thought though if she was getting to him then unless he did something drastic then she wasn’t going to stop talking. Tess shook her head when he said she meant a lot more than she realised, maybe she did but that wasn’t for him to know she decided. “Yeah well then you’re sicker than I thought because you need your eyes and head checked. Why is it that killers always act so stupid.” She snapped before she realised his was indicating that the camera was on.

No this couldnt be happening, it was a nightmare, she would wake up and be in her apartment safe and fine. It was just because James was back her own head had to be messing with her as she tried to struggled against the chair and the bonds again with no luck. Tess simply chose to glare at Mark again, “What do you want me to say to them? That you’re an idiot?” She asked as she smiled sweetly toward Mark, “Or how about that you made a mistake? Or that you’re really into butterflies and that I’m sure is in every single serial something manual cops read.” She added deciding that as long as she could talk she could annoy him until he did make a mistake of some sort.

[Dr Sofia Austin]

Even half asleep and tired Sofia knew his voice was different, it screamed at her there was a problem and yet she waited to hear what James had to say. Sofia shook her head at the question before she realised that she was on a phone call and not face to face with anyone. “No she’s not.” She said as she tried to rub her face awake at least. “We’re meeting up later though, have you tried her phone?” Sofia asked innocently enough as she had no idea what was happening.

Sofia could hear different voices as she tried to clear her head. “James what’s going on? Are you alright? Do you have Tess with you?” She said as she stood up and started to look for where she had dropped her bag and keys. “What’s wrong? Is she hurt? Where are you?” She asked as she shuffled around her house trying to follow the hit and miss trail she had left when she had returned home not too long ago.

It was that horrid sinking feeling that had her insides tightening with fear, James never spoke like that to her before and to do with Tess. No she was missing a crucial part to what was going on and she was not sitting whatever it was out. Not if her friends were in trouble though what trouble was the key question as she kept the phone pressed to her ear to try and figure that part out.

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag;; Matthew Cole ,Tess Walker ,Dr Sofia Austin ,

words

"I'm gonna need a chain of custody voucher for those." The agent hadn’t failed to hear him and looked over at him for a moment, nailing him with a ‘are you kidding?’ look before looking at the agent opposite him “Burke” he said gruffly, it wasn't that he didn't want to follow the chain of custody on evidence but right now his mind was completely elsewhere, the three agents on the task force knew all too well what they were dealing with.

The second agent, Burke proceeded to quickly do something which was hidden by the pile of boxes then straightening he picked up the paper and strolled over, he could see that Matt was confused, evidently didn’t know yet  “Serial killer reached out” he said quietly, softly glancing discreetly at James, his voice too quiet for James to hear over the chaos in his head “The one that killed his wife” Burke Jnr was the lead agent of the task force assigned to Evans, he had other cases but every time Evans popped up they were on top of it fast “Flowers were the last thing Evans did after he killed his wife, and lilies were one of his signatures”

“No she’s not.” James’ face fell “We’re meeting up later though, have you tried her phone?” The gasp that escaped James’ mouth was chilling, the look in James’ eyes was the same that he had when he found out Mya had died Burke Jnr gritted his teeth looking to Matt “Buddy, you’re his friend right? Gotta be if you’re hanging around, stay to close to him” he knew the look on James’ face, he looked over at the other two agents one of them grabbing the evidence and running out of the room whilst the first agent straightened up and moved towards James.

“James what’s going on? Are you alright? Do you have Tess with you?” the chaos in James’ mind exploded, memories flooded him “What’s wrong? Is she hurt? Where are you?” blinking he realised he had to try protect Sofia too if he could, At least everyone else close to him who were right here in Chicago were pretty much busy enough for Mark to not be able to grab them, Mark only grabbed one hostage at a time, suddenly he remembered - his kids… he guestured to the first agent who rose a brow, James moved to the desk and scribbled the word ‘kids’ on the paper, he pointed at it and the agent looked over his shoulder and nodded returning once more to the desk to make calls.

Taking a deep breath James forced the words out, his voice cracking under the pressure “Can you… Can you get to the FBI building?” James grunted trying to push down the urge to be sick, as the urge to drink charged right at him “When you get there Agent Burke will” a pause “Ask for Agent Burke, He’ll" James was struggling to even piece his words together to make sense "meet you, just get here as fast as you can, make no stops” James wanted to run, to do something - but he knew he couldn’t, hitting hang up James slammed his free hand down on the desk and leaned down on it breathing heavily and raggedly trying to calm himself.

“He’s back” he murmured, his eyes closed tightly “And he’s taken Tess” he fought the emotions down painfully “We have to find her, we need to, before it’s too late” again he slammed his hand down as he placed the phone carefully down on the desk eager not to break it, he knew what was going to come eventually - and breaking the phone was NOT a good idea.

---

---

“Yeah well then you’re sicker than I thought because you need your eyes and head checked. Why is it that killers always act so stupid.” Mark smirked “What do you want me to say to them? That you’re an idiot?” Mark chuckled as he continued to edge towards her “Or how about that you made a mistake? Or that you’re really into butterflies and that I’m sure is in every single serial something manual cops read.” Shaking his head Mark regarded her “Mya was an easier patient” he replied “A lot more cooperative” he snickered before turning towards the camera “She seems a lot more fiesty” he commented to the camera “Must make you miss Mya” he chuckled heading back to the table, placing the unused syringe down he moved to the laptop that was beside the camera and opening it he turned it on, taking a wire from the side he connected it to the USB port and then connected it to the camera “Lets give him a front row seat shall we?” he asked Tess glancing at her “He missed out last time” he chuckled. Oh he was insane, but he was going outside his ‘MO’ but right now he was bored and wanted to shake James up some more. But would James take the bait? Was he a better Agent than he was a CID-Army officer?.

notes: Once Sofia comes to the FBI building it will really hit the fan, feel free to skip and have her arrive  

♡

[Matthew Cole]

“Serial killer reached out” “The one that killed his wife”

Matt nodded. After seeing the note he got the gist of what'd happened and why James was in a tizzy.

James had talked about his wife's death the night Matt had to go searching for him when he went AWOL after seeing his wife's doppleganger at a family dinner.
He had also mentioned a few things about the case since then, not enough for Matt to know all of the finer details of what went down, but enough for him to know the name Mark Evens as soon as he heard it -or read it.    

“Flowers were the last thing Evans did after he killed his wife, and lilies were one of his signatures”

Matt's stomach dropped at that piece of information and he looked over at James with a deep frown, his eyes filled with pained empathy. A look that only deepened as James let out a rending gasp because of whatever the person on the other end of the phone had said.

“Buddy, you’re his friend right? Gotta be if you’re hanging around, stay to close to him”

Matt didn't need to be told to stay close to James. He stepped over to his desk and leaned both hands on it as James struggled to talk on the phone. The fact that James was not making eye contact was a huge indicator of the place he was in right now. All he could do was watch and wait for James to finish his call so that he could try and steady him a bit.

Hanging up James hit his hand on the desk and breathed raggedly, causing Matt to stand up straight again.

“He’s back”

Matt could see from his mannerisms, shaky breathing and cracking voice that James was buckling under the overwhelming feeling of 'It's happening again'

“And he’s taken Tess”

Matt drew in a tiny gasp of his own at that one.

Tess was a casual friend of his too, not to mention a fellow cop who he had once been trapped in a burning building with. The thought of her being in the hands of a known killer like Mark made him feel sick in the pit of his stomach, but he need to keep his head on straight right now because getting emotional was only going to make the current situation even worse.

“We have to find her, we need to, before it’s too late”
  
James slammed his hand down on the desk again. He looked near ready to collapse, as if his legs were ready to give way under him.

Matt gripped James by his upper arms, turning him to face him and hold him so that he didn't in fact collapse, "It's okay, it's okay." He said firmly, trying to help his friend get a grip.

"Breathe. Just breathe." He said in a supportive tone, trying to get him to take in steady breaths before he started hyperventilating.

Continuing to keep hold of his arms, Matt lowered his head a little to meet James lower than usual eye level, gently forcing James to look him in the eye, "We're going to find her. Look at me. We're going to find her, okay?" His tone was firm but not harsh.

"You know how this guy works now, okay. There is an entire task force who knows how this guy works and they're prepared this time. We're going to find her." He finished, keeping his tone firm and assuring.
Though he could not help just a little of his own emotion seeping out in his voice. He could only imagine what poor Tess was going through and what could be happening to her right now.

Tag: @james , Tess Walker , Anyone.

[Tess Walker]

Why was he laughing she wondered when he edged toward her, well like that wasn’t creepy at all she thought though she carried on. For one she never shut up and especially not when she hadn’t any control over what was going on, no being tied to a chair and waiting to see wasn’t really her thing. She would mouth off until Mark did something that was classed as a mistake, after all the guy had been away a while and they were all smarter now and knew more about the case than most cops did. It had to count for something.

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like her at all.” Tess snapped back knowing that Mya would have fought, she had a lot to fight for though if he thought for one moment that was going to rattle her then he was seriously miss informed. “Your insults are weak, give me a five year old and they can do better.” Tess said as she rolled her eyes watching as he moved to the laptop on the table. Tess had no clue what was going on until he spoke again, a front row seat well that was going to be even better as she cursed under her breath.

“You know when you change your MO you help the cops, or do you want to get caught?” She asked trying to figure out if Mark was just that insane that he didnt care anymore or that insane that she could actually follow any possible plan that he might have made. “Might as well get whatever it is you’re going to do to me over with because James won’t care. Just another name to add to your long sentence when you’re caught.” She stated trying to down play what she could even if it was just to annoy Mark with anything she could think of.

“Thought you were the smartest person in the room or maybe you just lose. I mean really, you can get these kinds of shows on a cheap horror flick, you’re no different to a creep behind a camera that likes to watch.” She added deciding that talking would keep her sane. “Maybe serial killer was the wrong file to put you under, I’m thinking more a perv.” She stated smiling as sweetly as she could.

[Dr Sofia Austin]

Sofia heard the gasp as she wondered what was going on, why was no one explaining things to her and why was James making her feel as if her best friend was in trouble. The doctor in her was telling her the hundred ways that Tess could have been hurt, the multitude of weapons used and the all the statistics that went along with those. She was about to scream down the phone for a voice, any voice to tell her what was going on when she heard James speak again.

His voice was cracking and what he said about coming to the FBI building, no she had to know what was happening as her free hand started to find her bag and keys. “Agent Burke, got it.” She said trying to focus. No stops and get there fast well she would do her best though she could feel her hands shaking as she locked her front door and headed to her car. Sofia could barely get the key into the ignition as she back out of the drive way, hitting her bin on the way out though as instructed she never stopped.

Between the traffic and her less than perfect driving skills she managed to make it to the FBI building She parked a street away not entirely sure that she would be able to park right outside as she hurried toward the door. Her head was spinning trying to think of the reasons Tess would avoid her phone, there was work but James had no idea where she was. If she was with James then she might but again he had no idea where she was, another case that no one knew about? It was possible though why did everyone seemed so worried by it all.

Striding into the FBI building Sofia grabbed the first agent she could see, a gun and a badge made them some sort of law enforcement. “I need to ask for an Agent Burke? Officer Reagan I mean Agent Reagan said I need to ask for an Agent Burke.” She said in rather a forceful tone, Sofia was too panicked to worry and to worried to panic much about whom she had grabbed or what was going on beyond getting Agent Burke and finding out the details she needed.