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"Has he said anything?"

"Not a word for the past few hours at least."

"Did they give him too much tranquilizer?"

"They had to control him just to get a blood sample. I'm betting PCP or worse. The tranq shouldn't screen anything in the system."

"Are the reports as bad as they say?"

"It wasn't pretty. Not the kind of thing you expect to find on a football field. I mean, even these pups and kits play pretty rough these days, but lot like this. This was personal."

"You mean he knew the other player?"

"Not so far as we know. But he must. I mean, look at what happened. Do they know the extent of the Shep's injuries?"

"Looks worse than it probably is, but they're taking no chances. And I doubt the pup will be playing for the rest of the season."

"Or at all, maybe."

"That bad?"

"Don't know. Hope not. This Akita is on the fine line between sanctions and criminal charges."

"Holy gods..."

"He might want to consult a few, if he's the religious type. The Shep could go either way."

* * * * *

"Jerry? It's Parker. I need to see you."

"Now?"

"Tonight. After the game."

"I don't think I'm available."

"You don't understand. I need to see you."

"How about tomorrow? Lunchtime, maybe?"

"No, it has to be tonight. I have to see you, Jerry."

"Parker, slow down; you're not making sense. What's going on?"

"I just... I have to see you."

"I can see you tomorrow."

"Why not tonight?"

"Why not now, if it's that urgent?"

"Can't. Game. Have to play, scholarship and all, have to see you after the game."

"I'm going to be busy tonight, Parker. I can see you tomorrow."

"Why can't... someone else... someone else coming over?"

"Yes, Parker. I can see you tomorrow. Would you like to meet somewhere, or come to my apartment?"

(silence)

"Parker? Are you there?"

"Tomorrow."

"Yes. Look, go win a game tonight, get some sleep, and call me tomorrow morning. I'll see you then, I promise. You'll be okay."

"Yeah. Fine."

"Parker, just... hello? ... Hello, Parker? ... Are you okay? Parker...?"

* * * * *

"Antonia,there you are, I've been looking all over the sorority house for you!"

"Well chill, Marcy, I'm right here - gods, your voice is like a fog horn sometimes!"

"Oh shut up, this is important. Have you seen Pris?"

"What's she done, stolen your diaphragm again?"

"Bitch, don't make me smack you - have you seen Pris?"

"Not since this afternoon. I thought she went to the game?"

"She's gone missing."

"I'll alert Hotch at the BAU."

"Dammit, Antonia, she's_missing,_ and I think it's because of Parker."

"Puh-leeze, they're not_that_ close."

"Then you haven't heard."

"What? You mean they've eloped or something? Didn't think the silly female had it in her. Hells, I don't think she's had_him_in her."

"Parker's been arrested."

"Not like him to get drunk and piss in the petunias.OW! Marcy, you miserable cunt, you slapped me!"

"Antonia, shut the hell up. Parker went nuts on the football field. Attacked one of the other team's players. No, I don't mean a blocking move; he went completely off, punching and kicking, even pulled off his helmet and tried to bite the guy! The other player is in hospital, and Parker's been hauled off. We've got to find Pris."

"What the hell do you think--"

"Pris may be the only one who can get through to him, find out what happened. Now where the hell is she?"

"I am not my sister's keeper, and if you try to hit me one more time, I'll end up in a cell right next to Parker! What about the party? We getting any of the team over here? Who won, anyway?"

"That's what you care about, after all that's happened? You really are a twat, aren't you?"

"You had doubts? What the fuck do you think a sorority is for, bitch? Out of the way, part of being a bitch is being in heat, and I've got males to hunt down."

"What about Pris?"

"Let her find her own cock replacement!"

* * * * *

"Can I see him, Sheriff?"

"Not right now, son. I need you to tell me what happened out there. Now wait, what's your name again?"

"Reynaldo Caraballo."

"You're, what, running back?"

"Yessir. Well, slotback in some formations."

"We'll talk the fine points another time. You were close enough to Parker on these plays to know what was going on between him and the other player?"

"One of the outside linebackers, yessir. He was ragging on Parker all night. Trash talk, mostly."

"Doesn't sound like good sportsmanship."

"We don't always follow the standards for etiquette, Sheriff."

"Surprised you pups let it get to you."

"He doesn't, usually. Something tonight was really weird. His game was off anyway, like he had something else on his mind. And then the other guy... the Shep linebacker, he started talkin' a lot of shit--um, I mean..."

"I know the word, son; keep talking."

"Well, he was talkin' shit about Parker, gettin' real personal. Parker was gettin' more and more pissed."

"The ref tried to talk him down a few plays prior to all this, didn't he?"

"Yessir. Coach Boswell was signaling Ryan - that's Ryan Roslander, the quarterback - signaling Ryan to rein Parker in before coach benched him. Then came the next play, and..."

"That's when it happened."

"Yessir."

"What did the Shep say, son? What set him off so badly?"

* * * * *

"I should have told him to come over."

"Don't take that on. It's not your fault."

"You didn't hear him, Harris. You have no idea what he sounded like to me on the phone. He was so... oh, gods, I should have seen this coming."

"How could you? Jerry, look me in the eye and explain to me how you could see the future. You don't even know what happened--"

"It's all over the local news. He almost killed that Shep!"

"Jerry, that's not true."

"The attack was brutal."

"But not fatal. The pup will pull through well enough."

"Injuries reported that are enough to make the doctors wonder if he'll ever play football again! Harris, Parker went completely nuts! What if it's because of what I did to him? What if it's because I wouldn't see him?"

"Even if it is, how is that your fault? How is what he did, the actions he took, how are you responsible for that?"

"What if it's because he thinks I turned him queer? He wanted to talk to me, what if it was about what happened?"

"Do you think I'm going to attack someone now? Am I going to turn vicious because you opened my eyes, Jerry, because you showed me how to love, how to really love?"

"You don't mean that."

"Jerry, I do. I love you. I've meant it every time I've said it, and it's still true. I didn't understand at first, but I understand now. I love you, Jerry."

"You can't, not after what I've done to you."

"What...? What do you think you've done?"

"Gods dammit, Harris, I've turned Parker into a killer; what horrible thing will I do to you? You've got to go, get out of here, before I hurt you worse."

"You could only hurt me by throwing me away. I love you, Jerry. Hold me. Come here and hold me."

"My fault... it's my fault..."

"Hold me."

"...hurt you..."

"Hold on to me, Jerry. I won't let you go. Yeah. That's right. Hold on. I'll get you through this. We'll get through this. It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault. Just hold on to me..."

"I've as good as killed him."

"...not your fault... you didn't do it..."

"...but what if I did..."

* * * * *

"Here's the file, Doc."

"Thanks, Sheriff. Okay... Zachary Parker, 23, senior, decent grades, no priors, nothing in his school medical folder... have you questioned friends?"

"Not yet. It's only gone midnight; not even sure his parents have been contacted yet, although it's all over the damn news. Local media was taping for highlights, caught it all. Surprised it hasn't gotten onto the Internet yet; everything's digital."

"You couldn't stop it?"

"If it were a death, we might have been able to do something. As it is, everything got out faster than any of us could think to contain it. Talked to the coach, a couple of teammates, including one who was first to try to break it up."

"So what caused all this?"

"You're the shrink; you tell me."

"That, if you'll pardon the pun, is a cop-out, Sheriff. From the file, and from what you've told me, Parker is one of thousands of younguns that come through this university without even getting noticed enough to be remembered by faculty, staff, or anyone else. Plain vanilla, nothing extraordinary, quiet and unknown. Pups like this don't just suddenly slip a cog and get violent. Something has to have happened. Somebody knows something."

"We turned over his apartment, looking for drugs, alcohol, anything. Not a beer, not an aspirin. Some elastic bandages, elbow brace, stuff like that; coaches' office has a record of some sprains, nothing the sports doc couldn't take care of. The pup even turned down muscle relaxers. His bloodwork came back clean, no drugs legal or otherwise. He's so clean he squeaks."

"Phone book? List of friends? Is he Greek?"

"Not a frat boy, no; more loner than not. Cell phone lists various people, but we're not likely to get hold of many of them on a Friday night. His last call was to a name we tracked down to the grad student apartments, a Jerry Bunting; got a squad car heading out there now."

"What about the teammate, the one who was first there when it happened?"

"Yeah, the running back, Caraballo. Told me that the Shep was doing a lot of trash talking, focused in on Parker, as if it were personal. It built up and, so far as I can tell, the other player said something that made the Akita just explode."

"What was said?"

"Apparently, the Shep called him a fag."