E L E V E N

HER MOUTH DRIED from the nerves felt in Scout's stomach.

"My name's SSA Hotchner and this is Agent Jareau and Agent Wiley. The rest of my team are already divided between the coroners' office and the location of the crime." Hotch spoke in a tone of voice that few could ever grow comfortable in.

But Scout wasn't focused on his tone. In fact, her mind only traced itself back to one word that he said: Agent.

She wasn't an agent.

"I wish we could've met on better circumstances but this isn't usual for our neck of the woods. Evansville doesn't exactly scream murder, really. Folks around here call me Sheriff Olson."

Scout nodded a hello, not feeling as formal or experienced as she should be in the situation for a handshake.

"Well, I've got a room set up for your team," Olson said as he walked towards the back of the station. "It's not much, but we've got boards and tables for you to work."

"It's more than enough, thank you." JJ smiled and set her bag down on a chair.

"Are the girls here?" Scout questioned. It was time that she took initiative. If she wanted to actually impress the team and complete Xander's mission then she would have to start somewhere she knew best.

The sheriff nodded, "Yea, they're still a bit shook up and refuse to go anywhere else. They lived there for a few weeks, poor girls don't have anywhere else to go."

"I'd like to go talk to them, if that's alright." Scout directed towards Hotch.

He nodded, "You're closest to their age so they'd be more willing to open up to you. Take JJ with you, try to find out if you can get anymore information as to how they obtained the house."

"Maybe they can connect a part of the timeline and determine whether or not the Unsub wanted them to live in that house." Scout agreed.

Sheriff Olson showed the female agents the way to a room that had large windows and dimmed lights. Scout could see the two girls, sitting next to each other in silence as they stared into nothing. They were traumatized, Scout knew right away.

With a swift knock, JJ opened the door and let the brunette agent in first before trailing behind to close it again.

"Hello, my name is er- Agent Wiley and this is Agent Jareau, we're with the FBI. Would it be alright if we asked you a couple of questions?"

The pair of girls nodded, one more hesitant than the other.

"Look, we already told the police everything we know. We don't have anything new to say, really." One girl said.

Scout recognized her from the picture that Garcia gave, her name was Maddison. Her hand grabbed the girl next to her, which she could only assume would be Auggie.

JJ stepped in, "Sometimes our files may not do your perspective justice, we just like to give you a chance to voice your side of the story. There's always a possibility that you might've missed a detail over all the commotion and stress."

Auggie nodded towards Maddison, telling her to push on and talk further.

"Fine, what do you want to know?"

"How did you come across the house?" Scout cleared her voice, piercing together which questions would be best to get anything different than what they already knew.

Maddison sighed, "Someone posted a flyer on the board outside a coffee shop, they're practically everywhere across town. It's almost impossible to miss."

"And you were the only ones interested?"

"Seemed like it. It's practically about to fall apart but we wanted to build it up and fix what we could."

Scout tilted her head, "But that sounds like a big commitment for two young adults, it could cost quite a bit. And you both just graduated from college, you must have some debts to repay."

"Yeah but we work full time, and we didn't take out any loans. Auggie never let me."

"Fixing it up would take some time too, atleast 2 or 3 years. It'll be quite a big investment for two roommates."

"So?"

"So, who gets the house after it's done?"

"We both do." Maddison scoffed.

Scout nodded, "But you're young, there must be the possibility of growing up and getting married. What if one of you wants to stay there?"

The girl exchange a looked.

"We don't want to get married."

"And if you fight? Friendships can break sometimes and you could loose a lot of money."

"The house is signed under both our names. And we wouldn't want anyone to move into it except the two of us."

"What about a boyfriend, that one day turns into a fiancé, then a husband? You'd want your own space then." Scout knew what was going on, but she needed the girl to say it. She couldn't just assume, it had to be concrete fact.

"We don't want that," Auggie whispered.

The shy girl had the attention of all the time room. Her hands grasping on to Maddison's, looking directly at Scout. The look she gave with her eyes, pleading to stop the questioning.

"Auggie." Maddison scolded.

"I'm guessing Evansville isn't as dandy as they try to make it out to be?" Scout softened.

The girl shook her head, "No, it's not. They don't exactly show open arms to those waving around a rainbow flag."

"And the town doesn't know. We'd like to keep it that way." Maddison growler under her breath.

JJ came forward, "It's possible that the person that did this to your house could be trying to send a message against those in the LGBTQ community. If we want to find out and protect those then we need to know anyone you've told."

The pair of girls looked at each other and nodded.

Scout sighed and got up, leaving JJ with them as they continued to talk about the details of the case. When she walked outside, she was faced with the dark eyes of Hotch.

"You heard?" She asked.

He nodded, "It's possible that our unsub is directly his hate towards those who are on the homosexual spectrum. We need to know everyone in this town that is open about their sexuality."

"No," Scout countered. "I don't think the Unsub is going after them. I think he's after those who are hiding it. This sounds like a message to the town, he's shaming them."

"The people?"

"No, the town itself." Scout looked back at the girls. Hotch stayed silent, waiting to hear what Wiley said next.

"He's saying that either they come out or he'll make them. We need to find out who exactly is apart of that wallpaper."

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