Paranoia - s.reid

Alias

(Mentions of sexual abuse.)

"Aaron, who the fuck is that? Isn't he supposed to be dead?" 

The resemblance was uncanny. It felt like Ted Bundy was actually in that room with them. "Elizabeth, it's not Ted."

"What the hell, Hotch?" Spencer scowled, making sure to keep a hand firmly planted on Liz's belly.

"He needed help, said someone's after him. He asked for you. His name is Lyle Stevens."

"No wonder someone's after him! He's a carbon copy of one of America's most prolific serial killers! Why didn't he go to the cops?"

"Elizabeth, please just speak to him."

She thought really hard. She wondered if his voice sounded like Ted's, if their humor and language was the same. Did he have the same wits? She nodded softly, placing a soft kiss on Spencer's cheek before closing the door to the interrogation room and turning to the somewhat familiar figure. "Elle." She froze. Their voice was the same.

"You even have the same voice." Her voice quivered as she sat down, desperately cradling her big baby bump. "What are you doing here?"

"I think someone is after me." 

"No shit, Sherlock. It's like my dad brought himself back to life through his scattered ashes." Liz deadpanned.

"I'm sorry- wait what? Your dad wasn't cremated."

"Look, if you're going to come and waste my time at least get your facts right. I'm the one who distributed his ashes, I would know if he's cremated or not. And he is. I think you should go home, ride this whole thing out and if you still think someone is after you go to the cops, not the FBI." She got ready to leave, only to be stopped by Lyle.

"I saw his headstone." His words were sincere, too sincere. It frustrated Liz how she couldn't find a single tell to reveal he was lying. She turned round to face the 'mirror', knowing that both Hotch and Spencer were on the other side. "Someone left a letter at my door, telling me to go to a specific cemetery, and told me where it would be. When I got there, there was another letter. It old me to come find you."

"Where is it?"

"Columbia Gardens Cemetery."

Without a single word, she left the room, rushing to dial her mother's phone number and place the phone to her ear as Spencer and Hotch met her outside, staring at her intently.

"Hello?"

"You lied to me. You said you cremated dad."

"Elizabeth, I can explain."

"Whose ashes are in that lake?"

"I don't know. Elizabeth, you were so damaged and you dwelled over his death so much that I knew that you would never leave that cemetery. I couldn't destroy your life like that."

"So you lied, you told me that he was a 3 hour drive away when he was really less than 45 minutes away?"

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"The only reason I'm forgiving you right now is because you're going to be a grandmother and I won't let your actions drive a wedge in your relationship." Without even sparing a last glance at Hotch and Spencer, Liz put the phone down and went straight back into the small closed off room. "I'll see what I can do to help you if you take me to see him."

"Okay."

-----

Liz's hand gripped Spencer's as if her life depended on it, the other hand cradling her baby bump. Hotch and Lyle walked ahead, guiding themselves through the sea of headstones.