Alice's gaze was fixed on the mirror in front of her; the shocked expression she wore earlier had faded. This Alice appeared distant. It was as if her eyes were not seeing what was in front of them. She was off in her head, recounting the events that happened that morning. She had hoped this was all just some big misunderstanding. This was the work of some fanatical killer. Aiden couldn't have done this.

It simply wasn't possible.

Her arm was slung across her body, constricting her stomach. She feared that if she'd let go, that awful egg sandwich would come back up again. She's played the moment Aiden came into the lab, again and again. There wasn't anything sinister in his smile- was there? When he signed the guard's book, did he get some sort of sick gratification? No. She wasn't going to let herself spiral into doubt. Aiden Wheeler was not a murderer.

Her eyes refocused on the mirror, where a younger version of herself stared back at her. She widened her eyes, jumping back in her chair- the mirrored version of herself was doing the same as it was back to normal in an instant, "Hello?" she called out, hoping someone would come inside eventually. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there, maybe ten minutes, maybe an hour.

"Sorry for the wait Miss Wheeler," The tall, scrawny man from earlier entered the room. A dark-haired woman she hadn't seen before was by his side, "Are you alright? It looked like something startled you."

Alice nodded, "I'm fine, thanks," she said simply. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. It liked to do that from time to time. She stood up to shake the agent's hands, using the hand that wasn't currently holding on to her side. She felt like she was actually going to throw up now.

"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid, and this is Agent Emily Prentiss. We're just going to ask you a few questions," The man told her, the two of them sitting across the table from her, partially blocking her view of the mirror.

She looked at her reflection once more before looking at the two agents in front of her, "Sounds simple enough," she gave a harsh exhale out of her nose and a small smile. An attempt to ease the ever-growing tension, but it didn't work. Speaking to people wasn't her strong suit, unless it was about something she knew. That's why she got on so well with her coworkers. She could talk about fungus and bugs, and they wouldn't bat an eye.

Casual conversation and interrogation tactics, however,  were not things she knew.

"How long have you been living with your brother?" The woman, Prentiss, asked her while glancing at the papers in the folder in front of her.

Alice's eyes flitted between the two before she answered, "A little over a year now." The nerves inside her stomach twisted and twirled like an acrobat, "I was living on my own here for a while before that."

"And where was Aiden living before then?" Emily asked, looking up at her now.

Alice swallowed thickly, the two of them staring at her like vultures hovering over a meal. She guessed that meant she was the carcass, defenseless and already dead, "We both lived on our Aunt and Uncle's farm in Wyoming before that."

The dark-haired woman must've sensed her nerves, as she sent a small smile Alice's way, "Would you like a glass of water?"

"I would love one, actually," she let out a sigh of relief, rubbing her sweaty palms on the sides of her pants. She felt the tension in her shoulders go down as the woman exited the room. She knew that Emily had probably just gone to watch her behind the glass, but one less presence in the room eased her nerves slightly.

"What about this morning," Spencer began, "Could you tell me everything that happened from the moment you woke up?"

"Well, I woke up almost an hour later than I usually do, so I was in a rush all morning," She explained, "I got dressed, did my hair, and brushed my teeth. I was off to work after that."

"Did you see your brother at all this morning?" Spencer asked.

"No, I usually don't. He stays up writing most nights and sleeps half the day, so we don't usually see each other until I get off work," She told him truthfully, "He did say he heard me in my rush today though, and brought me breakfast at the lab."

Spencer nodded, "And-"

"Aiden couldn't have done this," she said suddenly. The nerves bundling in her stomach came loose as she blurted the words out, "He's a teddy bear. I know the stuff he writes is slightly concerning, but he couldn't hurt a fly. He cried for three days when we had to put a cow down at the farm. Three days!" She gasped, "I bet you he's bawling his eyes out right now because some idiot decided to do what he wrote."

Dr. Reid's face was blank. He stared back at her as her face went red. She felt like she was going to faint, but it was good to get that off of her chest.

"Miss Wheeler," Spencer adjusted in his seat, trying to appear more relaxed in hopes that it would help her, "This interview is just as a precaution, we're not charging anyone with anything yet. Now, could you tell me what were you doing yesterday evening?"

Alice nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself, "We've been watching a show on Netflix. A new season is coming out soon, so we've been watching to catch up."

"And what time would you say you went to bed last night?" He asked her as Emily returned with the water. The woman stood in the corner of the room, arms crossed across her chest.

Alice nodded a thank you, taking a sip before answering, "I'd say around 10:30. It was getting late and I didn't want to oversleep, so much for that."

"I think that's all the questions we have for you for now," Emily spoke before Spencer could ask another question, "We'll find you if we have any more."

"Is Aiden good to go too? Because if not I can just stick around till he is," Alice stood, taking another sip of her water.

Emily began to guide her out of the room and into the narrow hallway, "Actually, we haven't been able to speak to your brother yet."

Alice blinked for a moment, almost stumbling to catch up with the woman. Her sure strides were faster than Alice's wary ones, "Why?" She asked as the hallway opened up to another room, a waiting room of sorts. Alice stopped, furrowing her brow, "Why can't you speak with him?"

Prentiss sighed, stopped, and turned to the young woman, "He's requested a lawyer."

_

"Don't assume he's guilty just because he asked for a lawyer," Angela said with a slightly irritated tone, pointing at Hodgins with her fork.

"But you understand the implications, right?" Jack asked, and Alice let out a groan, letting her head fall to the table.

Alice insisted she wasn't hungry, but despite her protests, Angela had swooped in the minute she had got back to the lab. She dragged Alice to the Royal Diner with Zack and Hodgins in tow. Alice really wasn't hungry at all. Her worries didn't leave much room for an appetite, but she ordered a plate of fries just to placate the concerned woman.

"You're getting ketchup in your hair," Zack said flatly before reaching across the booth and carefully guiding the woman's hair away from her plate.

Alice let out another groan. Angela rubbed her back gently, "It's okay, sweetie. We know he didn't do it," What Alice didn't see was Hodgin's giving Angela a 'we do?' look, the woman quickly shot him down with a glare.

Alice lifted her head. A loose fry dangled from her hair as she did so. She looked like she was almost about to cry. She grabbed the fry from her hair and slowly began to chew on it, "What if he did, though?"

"You said it yourself, hun. It's not possible," Angela told her. The woman grabbed a napkin to help clear some of the ketchup from the strands of hair, "You live together, I think you'd know if he was sneaking off to murder people."

"Would I?" she asked, thinking about the hours of the night where he was unaccounted for. Would she notice if he was sneaking out in the night when she was asleep, only to return the next morning before she woke up?

Jack sighed, "Don't start blaming yourself before any evidence comes through," He told Alice sincerely, "All they have on him is that he wrote a book. I swear these FBI guys just come in and think they own the place."

"It will be okay, Alice," Zack told her, "Judging from the size and placement of the body at the scene, it was somebody much larger and stronger than your brother."

"Yeah," Hodgins agreed, "You two are pretty scrawny. Didn't you grow up on a farm? You'd think you two would have some muscle under there. I think Zack could fight your brother and win," The man chuckled.

"Why would I fight her brother?" Zack asked, furrowing his brows.

Alice sat up defensively, "Hey, I bet the two of us can chuck all three of you like a bale of hay. Looks can be deceiving."

"Please don't," Zack sighed, taking a sip of his drink.

Alice let out a soft laugh, "Don't worry Zack. I won't- unless you give me a reason to," She gave a small smile and he smiled back. He was glad to get something other than worry out of the woman.

The four of them finished their food and headed back to the Jeffersonian. All Alice wanted to do right now was bury herself in work. If she did, it would distract her from the thought of her brother sitting in that interrogation room. She stared at the empty examination table in front of her, where just that morning lay the victim of her brother's writings. The place where fiction had become reality. Zack at her side brought her from her trance, "Back to square one," He commented whilst lifting the box of soldiers' bones onto the table.

"I'm grateful to be on any square," Alice chuckled as she put on her gloves.

She opened the lid as Zack gathered the tools they might need on the tray next to him. She began placing the bones on the table as they lay in the box. A fine display of mortality betwixt her fingers. She wasn't one for pondering her demise. She knew that at the end of it all, she'd end up buried. The bugs would pick away at her until there was nothing left but bone, there was not much else she could wonder about. After helping her arrange the bones for a moment, Zach cleared his throat.

"Alice," He got her attention, pausing for a moment as hummed in response, "I was wondering if..." He trailed off, shaking his head, "Nevermind."

Her eyes stayed on the bones for a moment as her head turned. She met his gaze with furrowed brows, "What is it, Zack?"

He only broke eye contact to look at Hodgins, who had just entered the lab. The two men looked at each other for a moment, having some silent conversation that Alice was not tuned into. She grabbed the photos of the skull for Angela, waving the folder in between the two to draw their attention.

"I'm going to run these to Angela real quick. You guys keep doing... whatever it is you're doing," She awkwardly turned on her heels and made her way towards Angela's office.

She entered Angela's office, setting the folder next to her as she tapped away at her keyboard. Alice leaned over to look at the woman's computer screen, "Whatcha doing?" she asked, seeing that the woman had multiple tabs open.

"I'm researching. The BAU has more hot people in it than I expected," She commented, a grin appearing on her face.

"Are you really looking these people up?" Alice asked, her brow furrowed in both question and amusement. She pulled up a chair to sit with the woman, looking at the agent's pictures on her screen.

"Of course!" Angela told her, "We've got to know what we're up against. I wouldn't mind being up against some of them," Alice rolled her eyes as the woman joked.

Alice sighed, "Angela," and the woman raised her hands in defense.

"I'm sorry, just trying to make some light of the situation. I know you're scared, sweetie," Angela put a hand on her friend's shoulder and Alice laid her head on top of it. The two of them just sitting there for a moment. She was scared shitless, but she tried not to show it too much. Her mind wandered back to the lab, to Zack and Jack's staring match.

Alice spoke after a moment, "Are Hodgins and Zack acting strange to you?"

Angela scoffed, "Not more than normal, why?"

Alice shook her head, "I don't know. Zack seems more skittish than usual, and whenever we're in a room together with Hodgins it always feels like they're hiding something from me."

"Ah," The smile crept back to Angela's face for a moment. The woman shrugged, grabbing the file as her sly smile seemed fixed in its place, "I'm sure it's nothing, maybe some weird competition they've got going on."

"Now you're doing it," Alice pointed out, "You know something. Spill."

"All I know is, I've got to do this reconstruction before you guys get any further," Angela told her, closing out her tabs and booting up her program.

Alice narrowed her eyes, wagging her pointed finger at the woman as she exited the room, "I'll figure it out, Montenegro. Just you wait."

On her way back she bumped into Dr. Brennan, who stopped her in her tracks, "Alice, I promise you, Booth is doing everything he can to get your brother out of there and get us back on the case."

She studied the woman for a moment, Dr. Brennan was normally a calm, put-together woman. Now she seemed frazzled and rushed. Alice's eyes lit up as she spoke, "Oh, wow. Thank you, Dr. Brennan. Thank you."

The woman nodded before quickly heading towards her office where Alice saw their boss, Dr. Saroyan, waiting for her. Alice worried that this would get her in trouble, though she didn't know why she would be.

She walked back to the lab, seeing Zack working away at the table, "Sorry Zack, I'm back. I was talking to Dr. Brennan. She seems as stressed as I am," she let out a single chuckle.

Zack's eyes flitted down to her as she stood next to him, his head still hunkered down towards the table, "It's okay. Is Angela working on the reconstruction?"

"Yep," Alice nodded, grabbing some of the tools off of the tray, "We should be good to go once she's finished. I'll take some samples to see if there's any matching DNA in the database that might've been missed."

"Alice," Zack turned to her, more confident than before. Alice paused what she was doing and turned to look at him. He let out a wavering breath, "Would it be alright if I walked you home?"

Alice blinked a moment, surprised at the question. Zack shifted uncomfortably on his feet, her moment of silence making him uneasy, "It's just that... I wanted to make sure you got home safe."

"Of course, Zack," Alice nodded with a small smile, "but, you do know I live on the opposite side of town than you do? I don't want you to have to-"

"I know," Zack cut her off with a curt nod.

Alice slowly began to nod, the soft smile growing on her face, "Okay."

The two continued to make what little progress they could. Before they knew it, it was time to head home. Alice frowned looking at her phone. She hadn't heard from her brother at all, was he still being interrogated? Did he get detained? She felt the nerves bundling up in her stomach again.

"You ready to go?" Zack asked her, pulling his bag strap over his head and onto his shoulder. He frowned when he noticed her worried expression, "What's wrong?"

Alice sighed, "I still haven't heard from Aiden."

Alice knew Zack wasn't used to doing things like this, comforting people. After a moment of silence, he put a hand on her shoulder, "He'll be okay."

She slipped her phone back into her pocket. Letting out a deep sigh, she told Zack she was ready and the two made their way toward the twin's shared apartment. They walked side by side, joined by the busy crowd of other workers just trying to get home. They talked about how Zack's thesis was going, the weather, and even gossiped about the workplace relationships that seemed to keep coming up out of nowhere; Everything and anything but what was happening with her brother. Zack wouldn't allow it.

Her nerves had been kicked to the curb, ignored thanks to the help of her shaggy-haired coworker. He was not just her coworker, but her friend. She and Zack had started at the Jeffersonian at around the same time- the two newbies, young and full of naivety. She remembered being so nervous on her first day, intimidated by the knowledge of the people surrounding her. And there was Zack, this supposed genius with a photographic memory, just as nervous as her. The mutual nerves brought her some form of comfort. That combined with Dr. Brennan's patience with them.

Alice was brought from her reminisings as they got to the front of her building, the two paused. She tilted on her heels, not wanting to go up, and not wanting Zack to leave her side. Zack just gave her a tight-lipped smile, "I'll see you tomorrow," He told her.

"Do you want to come up with me?" She asked suddenly, "I was thinking that we could watch a movie or something. Maybe order a pizza?" She teetered on the edge of telling him that it was because she didn't want to be alone, but she decided against it.

Zack nodded, "Sure."

Alice got an inkling that he knew that was the reason she invited him up as he entered the building ahead of her. He glanced around the empty lobby before leading Alice up the stairs, letting her in front of him when they got to her floor. She fished for her keys in her purse as they walked down the hallway. Her nerves were slowly coming back as she had to face the realization that her brother wouldn't be there.

Stopping in front of the door she paused right as she was about to put the key in the knob.

It was already open.

Just a sliver, as if someone didn't get it closed all the way. She reached a hand out behind her to grab Zack's arm. The paranoia made its way from her stomach to her brain. She tried to calm herself, maybe it was just the FBI agents searching their apartment. Was it too early for them to get a warrant- Did they even have probable cause to get one? She couldn't remember; she couldn't think properly.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked as he felt her body tense up, "Alice?"

She pushed open the door and recoiled back into Zack at the sight of her apartment. The hallway filled with the smell of rust and iron as Alice clutched onto Zack with wide eyes. Zack was confused, looking down at her, asking her what was wrong until he stepped towards the doorway.

The kitchen table had been moved into the middle of the room, atop it lay the body of a woman. Her body was placed in a way that her head was dangling upside down off the table, facing the front door. Her face was contorted in a silent scream, her mouth and eyes open wide and her tongue missing. The white walls were painted red with blood, words that Alice couldn't help but stare at.

Her expression mirrored the corpses, the terror blocking the words from escaping her throat. She had seen countless murder scenes in her time working alongside Booth and the FBI. It was different when it took place in her own home, when she was the one discovering the body. This was supposed to be her safe space, her get away from the macabre details of her job.

Zack was already on the phone, calling Dr. Brennan as he tried his best to balance Alice and himself in the hallway. Alice turned her head toward Zack's chest, finally ripping her gaze away from the gruesome display in front of them. She squeezed her eyes shut, but it seemed that the words were burned into her eyelids, "It's okay, Alice," Zack assured her, "Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan are on their way."

She pushed out of his arms and towards the stairs, afraid that she might vomit if she didn't get away from the smell. She grabbed ahold of the railing and sat on the first step, the world spinning around her. She stared down at the ground, the phrase repeating in her head like a broken record:

Let my muse go, for I must sing.

-
A.N.

AAAAHHHHH!!

That is all.