Author's note: The synopsis says it all. Trying to keep as historically and factually accurate as possible

Chapter One

"... So what've we got, JJ?" Agent Aaron Hotchner asked the blonde BAU liasion.

"A series of rapes and murders of young women," JJ replied, clicking her remote to change pictures on the white board in the BAU conference room. "At first there was no evidence to tie these crimes together since they were all over the state, but they've now seemed to have found their comfort zone, as the last three have all been from there, while the rest were, of course, in separate cities, counties..."

"They're all blondes," Dr. Spencer Reid noted, "so it's evident that he has a type."

"Local PD said that these bodies were at dump sites - there's evidence of the bodies being moved post-mortum," JJ added.

"So he has a hide-out," Agent Derek Morgan piped in.

"Likely. Where are we going?" Agent David Rossi asked.

"Denver," was her solmn reply.

Agent Emily Prentiss' spine went rigid and a million thoughts raced through her head, No, not Denver...

"Okay everyone, wheels up in twenty," Hotch said finally, then saw the look on Emily's face. "Emily, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Hotch, I'm fine..." was her shaky reply, "just... wow. What these girls had to go through..."

Hotch wasn't convinced, but seeing as they needed to board the jet soon, he couldn't really stand around playing guessing games. Everyone exited the conference room and went to their respective cubicles and offices to grab their go-bags.

On the plane, Emily sat apart from the others after the team was briefed a bit more, taking advantage of her alone time. She put in her earbuds and put her iPod on shuffle as she pulled a small, old photograph from her wallet. Her eyes teared up a little bit and her mind was racing.

Denver's too big, there's no way you would ever run into her... besides, how would you recognize her? She's 23 now. And she hasn't found you...

She shook her head and put the photo away, intent on enjoying her music and chilling a little before they touched down.

Touchdown came all too quickly for the whole team as they split up into smaller teams to cover more ground faster. It was Emily and Morgan's job to go to the last victim's apartment and ask her room mate some questions, as well as look for some clues as to anyone who might have recently came into her life and could have done this.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team went to the police station to get a little more insight and start setting up their center where they could meet and have Garcia phone them with break throughs she managed to make.

The police chief was a short, red haired man named Bryan Danes. He hadn't been police chief for very long, but seemed very proud of his line of work just based on how he presented himself to others.

"Hi, I'm Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone," she extended her hand to him.

"I'm so glad you all are here. This son of a bitch is proving really hard to catch," Chief Danes replied with a shake of his head. "'S got everyone around here torn up. Most of them have caught on that all the vic's were blonde and some of the women are either dying their hair or just plain panicking. I can't have my people this worked up."

"Rest assured we're going to do everything we can," Hotch said to the man, hoping to calm him a little.

"These are Agents Hotchner, Reid, and Rossi; our other two agents are out in the field questioning the last victim's room mate," JJ made introductions.

"Ah, good. Poor Claire; she and Sarah, the last victim, were such good friends..." Chief Danes shook his head.

"Hopefully she'll be able to give the other agents insight about her life and maybe even some information about our UnSub..." Hotch said.

"Was there any DNA or any other kind of evidence left on the victims?" Reid asked.

Chief Danes shook his head, "Nothing on the others, though Sarah's still being processed and we haven't gotten any word back yet."

"Maybe he got sloppy and left us a clue," Rossi suggested hopefully.

Meanwhile, Emily and Morgan were already inside Claire and Sarah's apartment, asking Claire questions and looking through Sarah's things as gently as possible. Claire informed them that her parents were coming for her belongings soon.

"If it turns out her computer or diary may hold any clues, we'll have to at least take those for now," Emily said quietly.

Clarie nodded. "Sarah was really pretty, you know... there were lots of guys who would've loved to have been with her. I just can't believe that someone would do something like that to her..." her eyes welled with tears.

Emily rubbed her arm as Morgan looked through drawers and shelves looking for a diary, "I know this is hard for you, but as much information as you can give us will bring us that much closer to catching her killer."

Claire nodded, "There was this one guy she was seeing about a month ago... he seemed kinda, I dunno... weird."

"Weird how?" Morgan looked up from his search, concluding that she had no physical diary.

"Like, he wasn't really comfortable around other people... and sometimes I'd hear him yelling at her. She didn't talk about him much, but when they broke up I know she was glad for it," Clarie replied.

"What was his name?" Emily asked.

"Um... Anthony... Mullins. Anthony Mullins. Yeah, that's it. I remember he wore his work shirts a lot and they had his last name on them..."

"Okay, thank you very much, Claire. For now, we're gonna take her computer just in case she may have talked to the guy we're looking for online before she left the apartment that night," Emily told the young woman.

Claire nodded, "I'll tell her family if they happen to come by. I'm sure they'll understand. Do you think Anthony might've done it?..."

"Honestly, we don't know," Morgan replied as he picked up Sarah's laptop, "but if he is, we'll find out."

The two agents walked out of the apartment and headed back to the station with the computer.

"Claire's really struggling with this..." Emily said, shaking her head. "Poor girl..."

"Yeah... her best friend raped and murdered, and she's blonde too, so she's gotta be scared out of her mind, too," was Morgan's reply.

"These are times so many women dread being the mother of a daughter... because of all the bad things that could happen..."

Morgan looked at her and understood immediately, "You worry about her every case we get, don't you?"

Of course he knew; when she had confessed to being pregnant at fifteen and giving the child up for adoption, it was him she had been talking to.

"I do..." she sighed, trying to push it from her mind. "But I have a feeling... she's okay. I dunno if that's mother's intuition or what. Seeing as I was never really a mother..."

Morgan was silent for a moment, "You know, if ever you wanna take some time..."

She shook her head, "She may not even know she was adopted. And if she did she probably doesn't wanna see the mother who gave her up for the dignity of her family."

"Now you stop that, Prentiss. You were a fifteen year old girl. Most girls in your place would've done the same thing. You wanted the best for her and that's the most wonderful gift a parent can give a child," Morgan replied, surprised at himself for saying something that sentimental.

She nodded, trying to take Morgan's words to heart and believe that she was a good mother for letting her baby girl go. But even though many other people had told her that, she could never quite convince herself of that when she managed to creep back into the forefront of her mind. And with them being in so close of a proximity of where she might still be living, it was near impossible to keep her small, peaceful face from her mind and all the guilt that came along with it.