be the one ⇢ s. reid

xvi.

Melanie and Sam have been super involved in the case surrounding the killer clown. There have been similar cases in the past in the nearby town of Guymon, Oklahoma. In cases like these, it comes down to two theories: it's the actual killer or it's a copycat. Melanie had just assumed the former because there was a "clown epidemic" at one point where there were people dressing up as clowns to scare people and there were often times people took it to the next level where they would actually harm individuals. Even though that sounded bizarre, it seemed plausible. But because the two wanted to be thorough in their investigation, they didn't want that to be their final conclusion. On top of that, they needed to get some more information that wasn't already out there. So of course they go to their main source: Penelope Garcia.

While Sam was working on writing up an outline, Melanie went to Penelope's lair to see if she could help her with some digging. She knocked on her friend's already opened door and leaned against the door frame.

"Hey P, I was wondering if you look some things up for me?" She asked. Penelope turned around in her chair and looked at the journalist with a big smile on her face.

"Of course I can, cupcake! What is it?" She questioned. Melanie walked in and handed her a list of names that she needed searched. Penelope took the piece of paper from Melanie and began to do her magic. "So...I hear Boy Genius is taking you on a vacation in the near future. Any places you were thinking about?" 

Melanie raised an eyebrow. She wanted to be surprised that word got around fast in her group of friends at the Bureau but at the same time she wasn't. The group almost always told each other everything that was going on in their lives. Melanie was still trying to figure out if it was a good or bad thing that everyone knew about one another's business, even if it was unintentional. 

"Oh? And who's the culprit that told you this?" She asked, crossing her arms. She wasn't mad of course. Just genuinely interested on who told the tech analyst. If there was one thing she did know, it wasn't Spencer. At the most, he would've probably told JJ due to their close friendship and JJ knew better than to go telling people around the group. 

Penelope hummed softly. "I shall not say." 

Melanie shook her head. "I'm going to kill Sam." 

Penelope giggled softly. "Never said it was him. But you didn't answer my question!" 

"You didn't have to! You two gossip like two teenage girls." The journalist sighed softly. It was either now or never that she gave Penelope the answers she deserved even though she knew that Penelope wasn't the best with keeping secrets. "Honestly I don't know. Maybe somewhere tropical. That's super cliche but when I was in California I enjoyed the nice weather. Sunny. Warm. Bora Bora sounds pretty nice. Maybe Tahiti." 

As the journalist talked, Penelope started to grin and get all giddy. She loved things like this: seeing her friends in love, cute things, innocent things. They helped give her a peace of mind when she was mostly surrounded by nothing but sad and depressing things due to their cases. The tech analyst finished up looking up the information for Melanie and printed it out for her then handed it over to you.

"Here you go my little angel. What exactly is this for? Who are these people?" Penelope asked. 

Melanie began to explain to Penelope what Sam had stumbled upon. Seeing Penelope's reaction to how the case linked to clowns, Melanie wasn't surprised.  It was truly was a bizarre case to be working on and if Emily were to even take it would actually be surprising. Though hearing about that one case where they found a doctor in a bathtub full of cockroaches, it seemed like any case was possible. 

"Why clowns?" Penelope whined. 

Melanie giggled softly. "I don't know P but it's one of the most interesting things to happen in my writing career."

"I would have thought Peter Lewis would have been the most interesting." Penelope reminded. Realizing what she had just said, her eyes widened. "Oh no Mel. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up." 

Melanie shrugged her shoulders and waved off Penelope. "It's no worries. That whole Scratch fiasco was an experience and it made me the person I am today. If I ever write a book, that would be one hell of a chapter." 

Penelope laughed softly. "That would be good for you. Writing a book. You seem to have so many life experiences, especially since coming into this lovely BAU family's life. " 

Hm. A book?  Melanie thought. It was something that she seriously thought about. It's an idea she had here and there but never had any aspirations for it. 

"The BAU family somehow became everything to me." Melanie stated. "Anyhow, thanks for this P. Both the information as well as talking to me about my life choices." She let out a soft chuckle. 

"Of course, little bear. Anything for you!" Penelope exclaimed.

Melanie waved goodbye to her friend before walking out of her office and over to Sam's desk. "Here are some things that Penelope pulled up for us. I'm thinking I take half and you take the other?" 

Sam nodded his head and picked out which potential unsubs and victims he wanted to work on. "Really cannot believe this town has a killer clown. I thought we were past having the clown epidemic." 

Melanie laughed softly. "Well. Trends to seem to make a comeback every now and then. If we end up having to go into the sewers, it's going to be a no for me." 

Sam chuckled. "Well that's why there's agents here that will do that for them." 

"True. Guess we're the lucky ones." Melanie said. The girl went back to her desk and got to work. 

author's note:

GOSH HI HELLO. it's been a long while! life has been crazy, mentally and just...in general. i've been moving and then also started up a new college. i also kinda hit a wall with this story and now that CM is back with another season, i've found motivation. a part of me wants to already skip to s14 e1 cause it sparked an idea. but im probably gonna just skip to the last episode of s13 in the next chapter. thank you so much for being patient with me!