Chapter Text
She awakes with a stir.
The slightest breath falling from her lips as she groans, rolling over into her pillow.
She grips the pillow as she curls herself into a ball protecting her fair skin from the blistering cold in her room.
"fuck." she whines into the room, taking a quick glance at the alarm on her side table her eyes widen as she finally snaps out of her sleep-induced haze and scrambles to get out of her pile of blankets
There's 20 minutes until she has to be at work and she's notoriously known for waking up late, she's a heavy sleeper always has and always will be.
Her foot gets caught on her cream knitted blanket ending in her having to catch herself on her hands as she almost face plants onto the ground
half off her bed she decides to just let her body slide out and tumbles onto the floor with a slight grunt.
"shit shit shit" quickly grabbing the closest pair of pants to her she slips them on over her legs, quickly buttoning them.
As she grabs the rest of her items which include her tote bag riddled with little pins here and there, a jacket, and a bottle of green tea she keeps in her mini-fridge that's
tucked away in her walk-in closet, she hops to the bathroom tugging on her shoes. Hurriedly grabbing her toothbrush she squeezes toothpaste on to it and going to town on her teeth.
Quickly rinsing out her mouth she bolts to the front door almost tripping on her untied shoelaces quickly double-checking that the door is locked she runs to her car,
a cute little van littered with bumper stickers making it obvious its a very loved car. Sliding into the front seat she reverses and quickly starts down the road of her home
she lives a bit away from other people which comes from her anxiety revolving around people
Her personality lines up with her job she works as a forensic pathologist although most of the people she's around don't speak
since well...they're dead
but that doesn't mean she's completely excluded from people she has her coworkers who she doesn't talk to unless need be and of course her cat, Lavender
She thought it would be funny to name him that since Lavender essential oil is deadly to cats and for some reason he had an infatuation with the essential oil.
Before she found Lavender barely breathing in the snow last year she use to be very fond of lavender essential oil and used it often to help aid her insomnia.
But after doing some casual research which lasted around 7 hours she found out many things were deadly to felines and she wanted only the best for her fuzzy companion.
As lavender grew older and became braver the cat started climbing places. On one on the several occasions of him hopping and jumping on things the cat knocked over the little
vial of the deadly essential oil and for some reason curled around it like a baby would a bottle. Thankfully it didn't spill or else Lavender might not have survived.
Purring like crazy Victoria comes to pet her beloved friend only to realize he was rubbing against the small vial.
Frankly, Victoria found it hilarious, yes, it was dangerous to Lavender but it reminded her so much of herself she cackled before scooping him up and quickly putting the
the essential oil in a safer spot where the cat wouldn't be able to knock it off and wrap his body around it.
Victoria shakes her head at the memory as she turns into the parking lot of her job.
Lavender reminded her of herself because of the simple fact he adored something toxic to his wellbeing, her lips frown slightly at that thought.
Why does everyone crave something that will end in horror and tragedy? God she was really starting to sound like her job description fit her though she supposed it did because of
her antisocial tendencies. Laughing slightly at her own thoughts only to jump in her seat as someone knocks on her window. Eyes widened slightly she looks to the left to see Brandon Leen, a coworker of hers, she wouldn't consider him a friend simply because he was a sexist asshole who made it a point to bother her when she wished to be left alone.
Many times she's found herself in situations where he tries to mansplain her work to her as if she was a child
Brandon grins at her through the window waving at her to come out
Turning to switch off her ignition as she slams open her door bumping his legs making him let out a grunt as she swiftly grabs her tote bag from the passenger seat.
She locks her car and starts off towards the front doors of the building.
Brandon tries to keep up with her limping slightly
"Hey, hey wait up gosh you walk fast" muttering the last words under his breath but not quite enough as she can still hear him. Rolling her eyes she grabs her keycard, beeping it and keeping up her unbothered façade
As she gets to her desk she drops her tote bag with a sigh and slides into her chair
Time to get to work.
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She lets out a grunt as she hauls the box of paperwork over to her desk dropping it with a thud onto the counter. Just as she's about to sit down Dylan, her team leader, informs them a
body has been found and they've got to go asap.
Victoria feels a sliver of anxiety well up in her chest as she hurriedly goes with the rest of her team to the van that hauls all of them off to the area of the crime.
As she sits in the back quietly listening to Dylan explaining the situation to them she picks at her cuticles, "They found a married couple dead in their home both of them were shot."
Victoria begins to think about the situation. There's two dead bodies, a married couple at that. What could the motive be behind this? Its likely the killer was jealous or angry she hums under her breath as the rest of her coworkers speak among themselves
Everything soon blurs out sounds quieting, her sense of touch falling flat and her eyelids laying heavily of her eyes
"I'm home with my husband I'm in the living room my husband is upstairs I'm waiting for him to join me in the living room to lay down and watch a movie
maybe I should order out tonight I'm a bit too tired to cook
I begin to turn in the direction of my front door as its being kicked down
I stumble back with a cry, grasping onto the cold wall behind me
What's going on my heart beating fast I'm scared
I'm so scared
why can't I breathe
my husband tumbles hurriedly down the stairs attempting to reach the bottom right before he gets there the gun goes off twice I watch with shiny eyes as this man
no, this KILLER shoots my husband
The man I love dearly but all I can think about is getting help
I watch as he pulls the trigger a second time a heart-shattering cry leaves my mouth as I stumble in my position grasping the wall everything is moving in slow motion
I fumble with the house protection panel we bought
it doesn't work
sobs leaving my mouth consistently
"no no no please please please"
but its too late
I feel it before I hear it
pain erupts from my throat
I fall
and I fall and I fall
And then I'm stuck
I can see the killer standing over me
but I can't seem to be able to move a single limb
slowly my life leaves me
everything hurts please make it stop
PLEASE"
Just like that Victoria snaps out of her mind. Dead. Victoria thinks to herself a small tilt downwards pulling at her lips unnoticeable to the ignorant plain as day
to the intelligent tapping her foot slightly on the ground she glides her fingers over the cool seating her bitten down nails on display as she rubs the metal under her fingertips.
Why did this person kill this couple? What was the reasoning behind it? How did it feel to pull the trigger? How did the blood look splattered on the wall because
of a simple twitch of the finger? What did they sound like as you shot this couple? How did it sound hearing her sobs of grief? Begging for mercy?
Shaking herself out of her thoughts the car comes to a stop and everyone piles out having already changed into the appropriate clothing to begin their job.
They all rush into the building, Victoria taking in the crime scene silently.
Just as she thought. The blood on the walls was splattered at an angle showing how the killer burst into this house with vigor and anger.
But she didn't get the feeling of true unbridled anger in this murder.
She felt if you truly hated someone wouldn't you make the death more meaningful.
This felt fake and wrong in a way, it felt as if the true motivation was childish.
Why kill like this? It didn't make any sense to Victoria her face angled with disappointment and contempt.
Realizing how she sounded she gaped wordlessly, "Jesus Christ I need to see a therapist" she muttered softly under her breath.
"Yeah tell that to Dylan," Emily said as she nudged Victoria's hip with her own. Victoria stiffened at the contact giving a fake laugh shifting slightly away from Emily,
"Come on we have to go label shit," Emily says as she walks over to dead body number one
Victoria found it easier to call the bodies by who died first and so on not only does it make it easier on her mind it helps relax her as well.
She doesn't feel pity or guilt for these people like the common person would.
She finds joy in her job.
Death is interesting, invigorating almost. But the minds of these killers, murderers, arsonists, the overall horrible human being interests her more.
Why else would she pick a job like this? Most people can't even handle the smell of rotting bodies. It's hard for her sometimes when they're getting torn apart by maggots.
She's seen her fair share of peculiar situations.
Once she saw people being treated like wet specimen. The murderer in question was testing if she could make it possible for humans to be able to breathe underwater.
Victoria has never seen so many drowned people in one night before.
As she labels and collects samples to inspect later in the lab she hears the front door open, Jack Crawford the head of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit walks in already throwing questions peoples ways. But there's someone else with him, a man with dark, fluffy hair not to mention the fact he looks vastly uncomfortable.
Victoria's right eyebrow quirks in interest but it quickly sizzles down to nothing when she hears Jack speak, his voice never fails to irritate her.
She's not prone to getting annoyed fast but he's a loud, fiery, and stubborn man
Most of those traits don't line up with her personality in the slightest and she finds it hard to empathize with the man when he's hounding everyone 24/7
The man with him on the other hand is interesting. So very interesting. Victoria feels her heartbeat slow down as he stands there taking everything in almost like he's not even
there.
He's wearing a camo-colored overcoat, blue button-up shirt and she thinks those might be dark grey slacks. The lighting in the room was a tad bit dim so it was hard to tell.
He has slight facial hair, beautiful deep eyes. She can't tell what color they are because of the distance between the two of them.
Something about him draws her in.
She wants to know more about him, she feels her stomach tug but can't quite name the reason behind it.
What emotion is she feeling?
Need? Want? Desire? Envy? Infatuation?
Her slight frustration grows, her eyebrows furrowing in response as she continues to stare at him.
Realizing she's been staring for a bit too long she shifts her gaze away from the strange man and continues her work.
Ignoring the stranger wasn't too hard but avoiding the questions scratching at her brain was difficult. She swiftly decides its none of her business who he is and why he interests her so much.
As she mindlessly labels evidence she feels the familiar feeling of eyes on her.
Ignoring it she continues on with labeling only to realize someone is calling for her attention.
Eyebrows lowered in confusion and slight irritation she looks up from her crouched position by body number two only to see the stranger himself speaking to her.
"what the fuck is he saying," Victoria thinks to herself only to realize her headphones were in.
fuck.
That's why everything was so pleasant for such a long time.
Victoria has always had sensory issues and as much as she'd wish they were slight she can't help but feel overwhelmed at the idea of living music free.
No headphones on her at any time would most likely through her into a very uncomfortable situation for her and the people around her
Shit. She says to herself as she realizes she once again was in her head for too long. Blankly staring at the guy wasn't going to make him go away as he seemed very insistent
on getting something from her.
What did stranger number one want?
Her face was showed clearly what she was feeling as she pulls out one of her earbuds, instantly stiffening as the uncomfortable feeling of chatter rushes into her ears making her frown even more apparent.
"yes?" a simple response to whatever stranger number one said her face falling into a practiced bland face.
blunt but not rude. Polite but not welcoming.
"I need the incident report for the home security company."
Once again her eyebrows furrow. Home security report? She doesn't have that as far as she knows.
"Ask Dylan for it. I don't have it on me."
"It's right next to you." He says eyebrows drawing together an uncomfortable look crossing his face at how long their conversation was lasting.
This entire time he hasn't looked her in the eyes once Victoria notices. She tucks it away for later use.
"huh?"
Looking down beside her right foot she realizes there's a file sitting there. Instantly looking over to Emily she sees her give her a mischievous grin
A frown graces Victoria's face once again, this is troublesome.
"Sorry" she blandly states as she hands him the file, quickly retreating and putting her earbud back in its rightful place.
As she walks away from him she doesn't see his eyes linger for just one slight second longer than normal.