The lion hunts tonight

Chapter 1

Hotch is Bella's father, he sent her to live with his brother-in-law when she was five-years-old to protect her. I began looking for Reid/Bella stories and some were really good so I wrote this and I love Criminal Minds but wouldn't be able to write for just the Criminal Minds community as I don't fully understand the American federal system or the BAU.

Reid- 27

Bella-25

Hotch-43 (18 at birth of Bella)

EDITED 01/01/2018 (5 YEARS SINCE FIRST POST)

Reid was sat at his desk, surrounded by the only women he could really talk to: J.J, Emily and Penelope, as they waited in anticipation for the film canister rocket before him to take off. His lips set in a thin line, eyebrows twitching and fingers moving in expectation; to everyone else he probably looked more like a crazy, insane scientist than a SSA. This was the second rocket to launch in a matter of minutes, since the first had almost hit Emily in the nose on her way into the office. Wanting to see the process for herself, she had demanded he launch another for her.

Bubble...bubble...WHOOSH! Up it went with a violent pop. The women jumped and giggled in glee. However what they didn't expect was Bella's hasty entry to the office. Balancing a cardboard tray of coffees and checking her phone, she unknowingly came straight into the line of fire.

With a tapping sound the little film canister hit her between the eyes. "Ow!"She whined, "What the-"

"Bella, language." Hotchner deadpanned walking past her and up the stairs to his office. She stared after her father, still dumbstruck from the rocket.

"I am so sorry, Bella" Reid said sincerely, though trying not to laugh at the same time. Their little audience all burst into a fit of giggles. Bella pocketed her phone, bent swiftly to pick up the makeshift rocket, and crossed the office floor to Reid's desk.

"Physics magic?" She asked, highly amused. His timid but also amused grin answered for him, but he gave a small nod. She lent over his desk, holding the rocket between them, her face now serious. "What has my father told you about this?"

"Not in the work place?" It came out a question, not answer. Out of character for a know-it-all like Spencer, but her expression took him off guard.

"Exactly. No more popping your rocket in the office. Got it." She placed the rocket down before him.

Reid blushed hard. His eyes dropped to the desk. The women burst into laughter around him. "Little Reid got told off." Garcia half whispered, half giggled. Reid frowned like a five-year-old. He looked up at Bella and received a cheeky wink, meant only for him, that filled him with relief.

"Anyway...I got everyone coffee." Bella announced, holding out the tray which was snatched away in seconds. The ladies took their order and went off to the briefing room. "And I got you your favourite" She whispered to Reid, grabbing a brown Starbuck's bag out of her satchel and waving it around between them. "Blueberry muffin." This put a smile on his face. He took the bag, opening it up to peak inside.

"Thank you Bella," He grinned impishly up at her.

"Briefing room. Five minutes. Clean up your work space Spence." She ordered softly. He frowned again. Bella turned for the briefing room, rolling her eyes. Reid watched her go, then began to tidy.

As Reid sat down Garcia started the presentation. "Okay, so..." She clicked her remote, "There have been eleven murders up till now. All women. All white brunettes, brown eyes, same height, size, shape. All around the same age."

"He has a type," Morgan sighed.

"Where?" Hotch asked.

Garcia looked away, "That's the thing. The women where abducted from all across Washington, though Seattle and Portland mostly."

"With such a specific type of victim, the Unsub would need a rather large hunting ground," J.J surmised.

"What connects these murders apart from the victim profile?" Bella asked.

Garcia's eyes met Bella's. There was something behind them that caused a strange, queasiness to bloom in Bella's stomach. When Garcia looked away, the feeling stayed. "All the women were found in the same woodland area...in Forks."

The room went quite. Bella's heart seemed to stop, flutter and quicken in a matter of seconds. "Forks?" She whispered. They all knew about Forks, the town Hotch had sent her when she was little. To protect her. They just didn't know of what had happened there.

"Yep," Garcia said.

"But...Forks is so small. So close knit. Murders don't happen in Forks." Bella mumbled.

"Well...actually," Garcia looked down at her files for a second, hesitant. "I've looked over the town's history extensively, to try to find some sort of significance...over the last decade there have been numerous disappearances, possible murders and unexplained deaths. I would have thought you'd have some knowledge of them...the bulk took place whilst you were at Forks High school..." She seemed to trail off in a non-Garcia way. Bella felt eyes on her. She could hear the voices of local news broadcasters talking about the newest missing persons, or recently deceased, see the images they displayed of them, the headlines that brandished the morning newspapers. She knew all their names, she knew all the cases, and how none of them will ever be truly closed. That none of the families will ever know the truth of what happened, let alone believe it.

"Maybe," She tried to say as confidently as possible, "I was so busy with...school and life, that I didn't really pay attention."

Hotch stared at his daughter, unsure of her demeanor, unsure of what she wasn't saying, "Where any of these cases solved?"

"No. The deaths just sort of faded out after a couple of months. Nothing's happened there since..." Garcia answered.

"How long is the cooling off period between each murder?" JJ asked.

"Four to six days. However, each woman was held somewhere for one to two days before their bodies were found. Each had only been deceased a few hours."

"How far into the woods were they found?" Morgan mused.

"At least five to six miles. The first nine where found by hikers. The remainder were by police. Even though police are patrolling as much of the border as possible to stop the Unsub being able to get in to dump the next body, there is too much surface area to cover. It's near impossible."

"Okay. We'll read further into it on the plane. Wheels up in thirty." Hotch ordered before leaving the room. Bella sat frozen. All the details had slowly sunk in, but they weren't being processed properly.

"Bella? You okay?" Morgan asked, his voice rousing her from her haze.

"What?" She looked up didn't seem to know where he's voice had come from, taking a second to find him. "Yeah, yeah...I'm...fine" She dismissed. "Just Forks, brings back a lot of memories." Her smile was clearly false as she stood up, shuffling her files together.

"Good memories I hope." He watched her carefully. She didn't answer, just grabbed her bag and left.

As she sat on the plane, on her way to the place she so had come to despise, Bella couldn't help but think about how much her life had changed. She had once thought of Forks as her home. She hadn't been back since graduation. She hadn't kept in touch with Charlie or Jacob the way she knew she should have. They had protected her when she couldn't protect herself.

The pictures of the victims felt heavy in her hands. She rifled through once more. It was like look at the same girl, just slight changes. It was like looking at herself. She was unaware of whether her teammates had made the connection too, and against her better judgement she wasn't about to bring it up right that second. She fit the description, or maybe the description fit her. Was that just two ways to say the same thing? Or was there a difference?

Was it him? Could he do this?

Her father's voice forced her to look up. "So the women are practically identical."

"Each sexually assaulted and beat to death." Morgan finished. "Hand shaped bruising around the chest and waist. Cause of death, head trauma."

"Is there a signature?" Emily asked.

"Bite marks on the neck, thighs, arms and hands." Reid answered.

"The Unsubs turned to cannibalism?" Emily inquired.

"It seems so; they were all drained of blood. Two of them only had around a pint of blood left in their system. The others had none."

"What is the Unsub doing with the blood though? What point is there to taking it?" Emily asked.

"Well, it looks like they're drinking it." Spencer answered, disgusted. "The most contradictory part the murders is the placement of the bodies. This man is clearly violent. He snatches these women, some from their homes, some straight off the street. He keeps them somewhere for one to two days. Brutally rapes them whilst still alive, the bruising shows how strong he is. He doesn't hold back."

"Yet when dumping the bodies, takes the time to arrange them in the exact same way." J.J interupts. She holds up the one of the photos that shows the victims whole body. Legs together. Hands folded on top of her stomach. Hair splayed out around her face.

"Snow White, Sleeping Beauty...they look like princesses in a fairy tale." Emily's nose wrinkles at her own words.

Reid looks at her with sadness. "I don't think it's a sign of remorse. I think he's just making them 'beautiful' again. If his choice of victim is based off a woman from his life, an ex-girlfriend, or a woman he's in love with but cannot have, and so he must live out his fantasy with these women, then perhaps this is how he sees her; as the beautiful princess."

"Maybe he see's himself the villain of their fairy tale fantasy? Not her prince." Emily interjected. "What if he believes himself to be the monster?"

"Then he'd be absolutely right," Morgan sighed.

FORKS, WASHINGTON

They landed within an hour. Chef Swan expected them at the police station. Bella led their entry, but stopped momentarily at the sight of Charlie. He was stood across the room, studying a board, set up with photos taken from the crime scenes. He'd come to stay with Hotch on special occasions but aside from that it had been seven long years since she had left his home. She took a deep breath and walked up to him, the team following behind. He turned at the sound of their approach.

"Bella!" He beamed grabbing her into a hug. At first it was awkward on her part, but she relaxed into it after a moment.

"Uncle Charlie." She mumbled into his shoulder, pulling back a little sooner than he would have liked.

"Eight months, not a word." He frowned.

"Well no, I've been really busy... with work and stuff." She explained, awkwardly. He knew the real reason; she didn't like this town, it all reminded her of them.

"Well, we'll have to rectify that soon. Everyone has been asking about you, Mike, Jessica, Jacob."

"You know Jacob and I aren't that close anymore." Bella whispered. Charlie frowned again.

"Is it because of his new girlfriend? Vanessa is a good woman. Have you met her yet? She's really made a man out of him..."

"I haven't. But I will." She said firmly. Charlie nodded as if to say 'Yes you will young lady.' Then looked past her to her group, that were watching them quietly.

"Aaron." Charlie greeted his sister's ex-husband with a hand shake, however kept hold of his hand and pulled him in for a hug and pat on the back. Aaron stiffed slightly, Bella smirked at him.

"Charlie" He sighed, pulling back from the embrace. He turned to smirks from his team. "This is Agent Prentiss, Agent Jareau, Agent Morgan, and finally Dr Spencer Reid" he pointed to each of his team in turn, Charlie shook each of their hands with both of his and exchanged pleasantries.

When he got to Reid he stopped, keeping a hold of his hand. Everyone could see the brief moment of fear behind Reid's eyes at the possibility of being brought in for a hug and back pat. "Ya look a bit young to be a doctor." Charlie commented with a playful frown.

Reid gave a breathy laugh and pulled his hand from Charlie's, "I get that a lot. I'm actually 27." Charlie snorted in response.

"So," Hotch interjected. Reid gave him a thankful smile. "How far are your guys with the case?" Aaron asked appraising the board in front of them.

"Well, we have policeman set up around the perimeter of the woods searching for evidence on the last murder." Charlie answered. "Abby Stevens was found two days ago, semen was the only source of DNA found on the body, however it's no match for anyone on our system."

"No other DNA was found on the body or around the crime scene?" Spencer asked.

"Nope. No fingerprints, hair or saliva."

"What about the bite marks? Surely if the Unsub is drinking the blood of his victims there would be saliva around the wounds." Morgan questioned.

"Forensics found a weird clear substance around the wounds, definitely not saliva, but they're unsure of what it is." Charlie says, unsatisfied with the lack of information his has to give.

Hotch looks down at the files in his hands and sighs, "We will go back to our hotel. Do further reading and individual research and start fresh in the morning." The team nod and head for the door.

When they got to the hotel they set them up in one of the private guest house, each agent had their own room set down a long corridor. At around 10 they retired to their rooms after planning that Bella and Morgan would investigate the dump sites, JJ and Emily would visit families and Hotch and Reid would stay at the station. Later that night when most were asleep, nobody heard Reid open his door, or him then shuffle over to Agent Swans room.

The hotel has set them up in their own private guest house, in order to give them the freedom to work on the investigation. The guest house is one level with a large open-plan communal room and kitchen. Each agent has a room to themselves with an en-suite.

Everyone is sat somewhere: Hotch, Emily and J.J at the kitchen table, Morgan and Bella on the sofa and Reid on the floor between them. They're all nose deep in their files but after an afternoon of talking over every detail they had nothing concrete about the Unsub.

Hotch checks his phone. It's 10PM and a quick glance around the room tells him there's no use in stringing this out. "I think it best we retire for the night. Don't worry about the files anymore. Tomorrow Bella and Morgan will investigate the dump sites, J.J and Emily will visit the families and Reid and I will stay at the station in case any new evidence is found."

Everyone nods at their orders, internally thankful for rest, each hastily going to their rooms.

"Night Dad," Bella smiles, kissing him on the check.

"Night Sweetheart," He smiles back as she walks away.

"Goodnight Sir," Reid says quietly on his way out the room.

"It's Hotch, Reid." Hotch calls after him, "Goodnight."

Later that night, when most were asleep, nobody heard Dr Reid open his door, or him shuffle across to Agent Swan's room. Or slip in without knocking.

That's the chapter, I don't know what you lot would think of it or if anyone would read it. I'm not sure how big the fan base for twilight criminal minds crossovers is, anyway hope you like it.