-MAD WOMAN-
six!

fame doesn't fulfill you. it warms
you, but that warmth is
temporary.
- marilyn monroe

now - 6x08!

Attention was never something Wren reveled in. She didn't need it to feel like she had done something with her life. She didn't believe it would complete her. However, she understood why others lived for the spotlight. Why some enjoyed the moments all eyes were on them. To have the attention of others meant that you were on their mind. They were thinking about you and even the reassurance of someone thinking about you can be enough for you to keep going.

Another person's need for validation and time in the spotlight was exactly why Wren Spader sat in the fifth row of a small theater, watching one of her closest friends act her heart out. The brunette was the only one the actress had told about the show so she didn't plan on missing a single performance. She and Penelope had made a deal that for every show the actress was available to perform in, Wren would be in the audience.

Opening night of Conflictus was a huge success and Wren could not have been more proud of the leading lady. She played the part of the vengeful victim so well and was incredibly deserving of the standing ovation she and her acting partner received at the end of the performance. Nothing mattered more at that moment to the brunette than cheering as loud as she possibly could. She watched the smile on Penelope's face grow wider and wider as her phone sat in her coat pocket. The woman was blissfully unaware of the fact that Emily and Derek had called her multiple times, hoping she would meet them at a crime scene in the district.

Wren stood outside the stage door under a large umbrella with a bouquet of flowers that could be argued were larger than the umbrella she held. As soon as Penelope exited the theater, both women squealed in excitement, the actress approaching her friend. 

"I am so proud of you!" Wren exclaimed as they embraced. "You were fantastic, Penny!"

"I totally agree, there is no one better," the redhead nodded, pulling away from her so they could talk face-to-face. "But, thank you. It means a lot that you were here tonight."

"Of course, I was here! I wouldn't have missed tonight for the world," she reassured her, watching the smile on her face continue to wide. She then handed the woman the bouquet. "These are for you."

Penelope's jaw dropped as she examined the flowers. The arrangement could best be described as eccentric and bright, two words that Wren would gladly use to describe Penelope Garcia. "They're beautiful," the actress whispered as they stood under the umbrella. "You didn't have to do this."

"Are you kidding? When one of my best friends gets on stage in front of who knows how many people and does that amazing of a performance, my only job is to shower her in compliments and flowers," Wren replied. "I believe I also promised you a sleepover. So, my place or yours?"

"Mine please," Penelope begged. "I need to shower and you haven't seen my apartment yet."

Wren nodded as the redhead circled her arm through the brunette's and they started to walk down the street until they could wave down a cab.

✦✧✦

The next morning, both women found themselves hurriedly getting ready to go to work since Hotch had received a case the night before. Walking into the bullpen, Wren's eyebrows rose at the lack of two of their teammates. 

She sat across from Reid and Rossi in the roundtable room as she waited for Hotch and Garcia to join them. Once they did, the technical analyst started the case presentation.

"Kelly Landis went missing three days ago," Penelope began. "Two days ago, the Georgetown Monitor received this-" a monochrome of Kelly in a vintage fashion appeared on the screen, "-so, whoever took this, took Kelly."

"And wanted the world to know it," Hotch added as Penelope got her tablet and other miscellaneous papers out of her bag. "Is that you?"

The question was aimed at Garcia and Wren immediately looked over to see her hiding the advertisements for her show. A small smirk played on Spader's lips as Penelope became flustered.

"Where was she found?" Rossi moved the conversation forward, not paying attention to Hotch's question.

"Uh, she was found in Georgetown, in an alley late last night," Garcia replied as Hotch looked between her and Wren.

"I sent Morgan and Prentiss," Hotch informed before sparing another glace to Wren. "They called you to join them but you never answered."

"My phone was off until around eleven. I called Emily once I saw the calls and she said they already took care of it," Wren explained.

"Only one victim?" Rossi continued to ask questions.

"It's what he did to her that concerns me," Hotch said while Garcia handed a closed file over to Reid.

"Morgan sent these, also late last night."

"He and Prentiss are waiting in the district."

Reid opened the file and started to describe the photos to the group. "Body seems posed, left arm raised, oh... that's a first. I see your concern."

"What?" Garcia asked curiously. Wren leaned forward a little bit, hoping to see the photos sooner rather than later.

"A photo wasn't all he took," Rossi added as he looked at the photos. 

"Reid, what?" the technical analyst pestered. Reid passed the photos over to Wren and when she opened the file, she immediately tilted it away from Garcia. She didn't need to see the pictures, despite her curiosity.

"Her lips have been removed," he told her as Wren continued to examine the pictures.

"Oh, my god."

"Could be a trophy for the unsub," Wren theorized.

"Maybe he ate them?" Reid brought up and the two women in the room scrunched their faces together in disgust.

"Gross."

"Okay, now I have that memory burned in my mind for the rest of my life." Garcia stared at him as she spoke.

"You asked," he retorted and Wren just rolled her eyes as a smile tugged at her lips. She refocused her attention onto Rossi, who was contemplating something.

"The photo he sent to the 'Monitor,' and the way her body's posed, and the mutilation. It must be a representation of someone," the man spoke.

"Well, he's opened a line of communication by sending the photo to the media, right?" Wren assumed as the others nodded.

"Well, now that he's got the media's attention, we can expect more of these," Hotch added.

"Great," the brunette stood up and picked up her tablet. "Let's just hope we can find him before he kills again."

✧✦✧

After speaking with the lead detective at the precinct, he escorted Spader, Morgan, and Prentiss to the crime scene. Seeing the alley in daylight along with having a fresh set of eyes in Wren helped them get a better understanding of why the unsub decided to leave Kelly's body here of all places.

The trio of agents explained to the detective that bringing a body into D.C. wouldn't be a killer's first choice so that meant that the person they're looking for likely lives in the area. He picked that alley because it was close to his home in some way or another and the attention leaving Kelly in the district would bring. After he steps away, they each look around a bit before realizing that there was someone unauthorized within the closed-off crime scene.

They approached the homeless man's makeshift shelter and Wren knocked twice on the brick wall next to the tarp he had put up to announce their presence. He startled awake and emerged from his area holding a bottle of alcohol.

"One moment," he muttered as he swayed where he stood. After tripping on his own feet, the man sat down on a crate and looked up at the three agents, squinting a bit due to the sunlight. "How can I help you, beautiful people?"

"We're with the FBI, can we ask you some questions," Wren spoke first, watching as he took a swig of his alcohol. After he swallowed, he nodded.

"Where were you last night?" Derek asked him, not in the mood to wait for the man to verbally answer Wren's question. 

He stopped swaying in his seat for a moment to think before he replied. "Jail."

"There was a homeless man here," Emily continued. "6 feet tall, beard, late 40s."

The man chuckled and shook his head. "Impossible."

"No, there was definitely somebody right here last night," Morgan said.

"This is my place," the homeless man explained, looking up at each of them. "This alley's my home. Ain't nobody down here but me."

The detective reapproached the group and looked at the man with disgust. "Do we have a problem here?"

"No, we don't," Wren stated, almost protective of the man sitting in front of them. He had given the detective absolutely no reason to become hostile and yet, the detective saw him as an issue.

"The homeless guy who found Kelly's body, where is he?" Emily asked the detective. 

"He was right here," he explained. "He flagged down a patrol car and brought them back here."

"Do you mind if we take a look in your space?" Wren requested of the homeless man.

"Do I have a choice?" he retorted.

"I won't touch anything, I just want to see if anything is out of the ordinary," she explained and after a moment, he nodded. Placing gloves on her hands, Wren unclipped the tarp and looked on the wall to see a passage had been written in red. She looked back at the homeless man to see an expression just as confused as hers.

"Did you write that on the wall?" Morgan asked him.

"Son of a bitch wrote on my walls!" He exclaimed, walking towards the wall and Wren. He reached passed the brunette to attempt to rub the words off, but Wren held him back.

"No, please, sir. Don't touch that!" She pleaded as Morgan came over to help move him. "Sir, this is evidence that we need. I promise that once this case is closed, this will be washed off your wall."

With the help of Derek, Wren was able to get the man away from the wall, only to turn back and see that he had smudged it just a bit. The words were still legible, so she pulled out her phone and took a photo of the passage before calling over some of the CSU techs. 

Morgan went to call Garcia and through that phone call, they found out that the same quote had been found on a piece of paper shoved down Kelly Landis's throat. With that information, the team realized that their unsub was disguised as a homeless man the night before.

✦✧✦

Once the team had given the profile to the district precinct, Wren accompanied Hotch, Reid, and Prentiss to the Washington Union Station. The interchange was busy and filled with people who had places to be or were waiting until their train arrived.

"This building has three exits. North, south, and west," Reid begins as the group walks. "You're here to target a woman, but you don't want to attract attention."

"Well, if I'm walking past, no one that's sitting down is really going to stand out to me unless they're wearing or doing something out of the ordinary," Wren states as they stop walking close to the middle of the room. She watches as Spencer's eyes catch on something behind her and he follows the figure as they move.

"And standing in the middle gawking at passing women would certainly attract that attention," Hotch added as the woman Reid was looking at passed the group. "Like you're doing now."

Wren couldn't help but smirk at the total obliviousness of her colleague. After a beat, Spencer turned to face the group again. "What's that?"

"Just like that," Prentiss smiled and snapped her fingers. "I.Q. of 187 is slashed to 60."

"Hey, maybe I'll finally be the smartest on the team," Wren joked, nudging Emily a bit, who chuckled.

"What's your I.Q?" Reid asked her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Oh, don't feel threatened now, smartie. Mine's 163, you have nothing to worry about," she reassured him before she separated herself from the group. Hotch, Reid, and Prentiss continued their conversation as they walked over to the side of the corridor, by another set of seats. Once Hotch nodded at her, she started to walk across the room, like they assumed the most recent victim had.

Her walk was confident and poised. If the unsub weren't so dead-set on blondes, Wren would've caught his attention in an instant. She moved with purpose, only looking over to her teammates once before she finished the march across the room.

✧✦✧

"A kid on a BMX dropped this off at the 'Monitor' a half-hour ago," the detective announced his presence in the conference room as the BAU was brainstorming with Garcia on call. He held a small picture of Penny Hanley, the unsub's latest victim. "Said a bum gave him 20 bucks."

Wren sighed as she looked at the photo. Penny looked frightened but stoic. She was doing her best to play into the unsub's fantasies and if they found her alive, Wren hoped she'd be able to tell her that she was proud of her for doing what she did to survive. 

"Well, at least it didn't make the news," Rossi stated, providing a bit of optimism.

"It buys us some time, right?" the detective asked.

"Until he finds another way to contact the media," Reid replied.

Hotch looked between Wren and Penelope on the laptop for a moment before speaking. "We'll do it for him. Garcia, I need you here as soon as possible."

"Sure, what for?" the technical analyst inquired as Wren studied her boss. Within a second, she was able to figure out what he was planning.

"We need him to break cover, get out in the open," he said.

"I'll go call a press conference," Wren informed him, pulling out her phone and starting to walk out of the room.

"Make sure every major media outlet is present," Hotch called after her and she turned to give him a thumbs-up as she walked backward for a moment. 

She could hear the sounds of a protesting Garcia as she left the room and immediately pulled up the contact information for as many media outlets as she could think of or other officers could suggest. Her phone calls were brief and the people she spoke to had far more questions than she would've liked. She was calling to schedule the press conference, not have it over the phone.

Once she was finished on the phone, Hotch found her again and requested that she help prep Garcia for the conference, to which she agreed. She and Hotch were the only ones that knew Penelope was actually capable of this. It was only a matter of convincing the redhead that this would work and that she could do it.

The team made their way back to Union Station where one of the corridors had been cleared for a stage to be set up. She stood and listened to Hotch's side of his conversation with Penelope as they waited for things to be ready for them. The technical analyst arrived after a short time and continued her discussion with Hotch in person.

"That's why I stay in a room 6 by 9 feet," she finished as Emily approached Wren and handed her a paper bag. "I feel safe there."

"Breathe, Pen," Wren attempted to comfort her friend.

"Garcia, what about the Tolgate Theater?" Hotch asked, causing the rest of the team to ask about it. Spencer started to explain but was quickly interrupted by Morgan.

A beat of silence passed as Garcia looked between Wren, Hotch, and the rest of the team. "That is not the same thing," she stated, reaching for Wren and pulling the woman to walk next to her as she attempted to stride away from the team. Hotch moved in front of the pair, stopping Penelope in her tracks. Wren felt a touch on her shoulder and looked back to see a confused Prentiss, Rossi, and Morgan. All she could do was shake her head, it wasn't her story to tell. "I can't even look at you right now. I am mad. I asked you not to say anything."

 "We need him to see a face and look he recognizes," the unit chief explained as Garcia held onto Wren's arm a little tighter.

"Well, he likes blondes, and I'm red now," she argued. "Besides, why can't Wren do it? Isn't she supposed to be the new face for the media?"

"And I would be happy to if I looked good a blonde. My complexion just doesn't with that color very well," Wren replied. "But, I have something that can change you being a redhead for the night."

She lifted up the paper bag Emily had handed her before and Penelope took it from her.

"Toward the end, Morgan's gonna hand you a note," Hotch continued. "Take a moment, let the room settle, and when you have everyone's attention, read it out. You're gonna be fine."

Each of the team members passed on words of encouragement to Penelope before leaving her alone with Wren and Derek. The brunette let the pair have their moment before taking Penelope to a nearby bathroom to help her get ready.

As they stood in front of the mirror, Penelope took off her chunky necklace and allowed Wren to place the pendant necklace the brunette wears daily around her neck.

"This is my good luck charm," Wren told the woman as she closed the latch on the necklace and started to help pin her hair to go under the wig. "A close friend of mine got it for me a few weeks before he died."

"A friend?" Penelope asked and Wren bit the inside of her cheek to hide the smile that was forming.

"He and I tried to be more but it didn't work out," she continued, clearing her throat. "He was a good man. Anyway, the pendant is of a dahlia."

"Your middle name," the technical analyst spoke as she fiddled with the charm. Her knowledge of Wren's full name got a soft smile and a nod from the brunette.

"Yes, but that's not why he got it for me. You see, the flower symbolizes a lot of things. The first is beauty, something you have in spades," Wren told her, continuing to place pins in her hair while the redhead adjusted her makeup. "Another is elegance, which isn't a word I would use for you on a day-to-day basis, but when you need to be, you hold so much grace in your body. The way you can compose yourself is incredibly impressive. Next is dignity. Now, some say that dignity is based on what others think of you but I disagree. I think dignity shows in the respect you have for yourself. And you, Penelope, you know yourself so well and you know what you're worth, which is part of why I enjoy spending so much time with you. You are every bit of who you are on the inside as you are on the out."

"Why are you telling me this?" the technical analyst questioned her.

"I'm not done. The dahlia also symbolizes confidence. Confidence can show itself in many ways. For some, it shows in how they hold themselves. Others, in how they speak. The confidence you hold when you're on stage can be held everywhere else if you let it. Tonight, I want you to just think of yourself playing a role. Hold the confidence you do when you put that black wig on tonight when you put this blonde one on."

Penelope stared at her friend through the mirror for a moment before nodding, accepting the words the brunette had told her.

After standing with Morgan and Garcia on the stage for the press conference, Wren escorted Penny Hanley's father to the hospital since Hotch and Rossi had found her. The night turned out to be a success, seeing as they found Penny alive and they apprehended the unsub before he could hurt anyone else. By the end of the week, Penny had been released from the hospital and went home with her dad, while Wren was seeing Penelope's show once more with Hotch and Morgan.