Chapter Text
Whenever anyone asked him what a “normal day” as an FBI agent was like, OA would always say “there isn’t.” People usually took it as a joke, but he was completely serious, because some days were just paperwork, some days involved foot or car chases, and some days involved defusing bombs. A lot of days involved a combination thereof.
Despite all of that, there were still a few things he never really expected to happen.
Having his SAIC and a team member waiting for him when he got off the elevator was definitely on that list.
And yet.
“I need you two to come to the conference room with me,” Isobel said the moment she laid eyes on OA, and without waiting for an answer, she turned and started that way.
He exchanged a glance with Scola, who had been standing with her, before both men began following.
“What do you think we did?” Scola asked in a low whisper.
It was a joke, but OA couldn’t help racking his brain, trying to determine what she could possibly need him and Scola for. They didn’t spend a lot of time with just the two of them working together, as each of them had a different partner typically. The times they did team up for whatever reason OA typically enjoyed, though. Stuart was a good agent, and, on a more personal level, funny and nice to be around.
So OA could only shrug, completely unable to guess what the impromptu meeting could be about.
He definitely didn’t guess that Remy Scott and Hana Gibson from the Fugitive Task Force were waiting for them once they arrived to the conference room.
“Thanks for coming,” Remy said, standing and shaking their hands. “I know this is all a little sudden, sorry to spring a surprise meeting on you guys this morning, but we have a time-sensitive matter.”
They all took their seats, and OA looked up at the screen, which was showing crime scene photos.
“What you’re seeing here is what we believe to be the latest double-homicide from a killer my team has been tracking on and off for months now. Our victims are Jack and Peter Lewis, they were found stabbed to death in their suite in a resort in Boston this morning,” Remy said. “No sign of forced entry, so either our killer was let in, or he was able to access their room somehow. But we have no idea, because he never shows up on surveillance footage.
The scene was violent, blood everywhere. One victim was on a bed, and the other was in the middle of the floor in another room.
“This matches our killer’s MO perfectly,” Hana added. She counted off on five fingers “stabbing, with excessive violence, gay couple, on vacation, and no forced entry. Which would be enough, but then you add this.” She clicked a button on the remote, and the screen changed to an array of photos of electronics equipment.
“Cameras?” Scola asked.
“Yes. He leaves them behind, and we have no way of tracking the feed to a location. Something about dark web and encryption, I don’t know. Hana couldn’t figure it out though, and that means it’s not figure-out-able. We also can’t determine where the cameras themselves came from. No serial numbers to be found, and these are a very popular model. He always kills three couples in a city over the course of weeks, always in different hotels or resorts, before taking several months break, in which time he moves and there’s no way to know where he’ll go next. So the clock is ticking: we know he’s going to stay in Boston, but we don’t know how long, or where he’s going to strike next, and we need to find him. Fast.”
OA nodded. “So you need our help? As surveillance?”
Remy grimaced slightly. “Sort of.”
Scola was the one to figure it out first. “You want to use us as bait.”
“I wouldn’t put it quite like that,” Hana said quietly, at least having the decency to look a little bashful about it.
“This is or guy’s fifth city,” Remy said, getting to his feet and pacing a little as he spoke. “We can’t warn anyone, hell, he can’t even know we know that he exists . We have so little information to work with, any hint we’re onto him could make him change his plans, and that’s the last thing we need. Our idea is to recruit a number of agents from the Boston Field Office and nearby cities and post them as gay couples. Frankly, the chances any of our plants get picked as the next target is slim. But we hope some of them at least get considered. ”
“This is completely up to you,” Hana said. “It’s going to be a time commitment, and to be entirely honest, this isn’t exactly an undercover detail some people would even be comfortable doing. If you agree to do it, however, we’re going to have some of your team serve as surveillance to see if anyone follows you, and if anyone is suspicious around you, let us know, and we’ll look into it. The worst thing about this guy is that, even after killing over twenty people, we don’t know anything about him. We need information, and we need it fast.”
“You don’t have to answer right away,” Isobel told them. “But we would like to know by the end of the day.”
They sat quietly for a long moment before Scola shrugged dramatically. “I mean, I don’t have plans this weekend anyways, so, why not?”
OA couldn’t help smiling at the casual way he volunteered for possible mortal peril. Somehow it made it a little easier. “Well, when’s the next time the Bureau is going to put me up in a fancy resort? I’m in, too. When will we find out who we’re going to be paired with?”
“We want people that already know each other fairly well,” Hana said, “so we were planning on putting you with each other if you both said yes. If that’s okay?”
And that was when the entire crazy thing started to feel a little more real. OA glanced over at Scola, and caught the other man looking over at him as well, expression unreadable.
OA cleared his throat. “Of course, that makes sense.” Scola nodded in agreement.
“I have to say, I feel a lot better about our chances with you guys on board,” Remy said. And while he was probably giving everyone that same line, it seemed so sincere that OA felt a little more confident. “I’ve got some files here for you,” he picked a bulky folder up from a banker box sitting in a chair beside him and slid it across the table. “It’s got everything you’re both going to need to know: crime scene details, victim bios, our killer’s profile, and even a questionnaire for you guys to fill out to determine your cover story.”
“This case is your top priority as of now,” Isobel announced as she stood. “We have a few more people to talk to, so I’ll have you both go to another room to start looking over this information. By the end of the day we’re going to have information about how we’ll proceed. Until then, happy studying.”
OA and Scola stood and said their goodbyes to Remy and Hana. Grabbing the folder, OA followed Scola and Isobel out to an empty office.
As soon as she left, Scola blew out a breath. “What in the hell have we gotten ourselves into, OA?”
That seemed like a very, very good question.