AN: I am so pleased and proud to be working with two dear friends, JenRar and Harleyzgirl, on this team saga. I love writing full team dialogue; I hope you enjoy the prologue! Kricket

Chapter 1 - Prologue

"Hey, Hotch," Prentiss said, giving the ever stoic leader a confused look. "What's going on?"

It was a good question to ask. All six of her colleagues were sitting around the large meeting table, looking irritated and tired. One of the longest and most brutal cases the BAU ever worked had finished very early this morning.

After arriving back from Huntsville, Alabama at six a.m., the entire team had been looking forward to somewhat of a respite. It was standard protocol to have the next two days off once they'd arrived home. After only two hours, they were called back to the meeting room by an urgent text from Hotch.

"I was called into the office by Strauss after the plane landed," Hotch began, looking around the table at the weary faces of his team. "She requested a meeting with the entire team."

"Today?" Morgan was absolutely incredulous. "Damn it, Hotch; we just got back! This is not-"

Garcia leaned over towards Morgan's chair, placed her hand on his knee, and whispered something that caused the supervisory special agent to become quiet. He continued to scowl, but he stifled any further comment.

"Ah, Hotch?" Reid began, swallowing slowly. "Why did Chief Strauss request the presence of our entire unmitigated team?"

"I believe I can answer that best," Section Chief Erin Strauss said, walking into the room.

Looking very cool and crisp in a tan linen suit with a starched white shirt underneath, she stood at the end of the table, opposite Hotch. She glanced at everyone, taking note of the impatience on their faces, then poured herself a glass of water. She started to take a sip when Agent Rossi spoke.

"Erin, you dragged us all here after no sleep," Rossi said, narrowing his right eye at her. "You could at least have the decency to speed things up."

Paying Rossi no regard, she finished her sip. She placed her glass down on a coaster and looked out over the group, ending with Hotch. "I have been informed that an evaluation needs to be performed immediately on the BAU team. There have been some allegations and complaints about how this team operates."

Hotch's brow furrowed. "I have not been made aware of any complaints."

Chief Strauss nearly smiled. Her eyes showed snarky satisfaction. "No, these are internal complaints. IAU has been notified, but I felt it was necessary to get to the root cause of this."

"I suppose you mean Hotch," Rossi began, nearly growling at the section chief. "We have been down this route before and found it to be completely unsubstantiated."

"Oh, no, Agent Rossi," she said, narrowing her eyes in mock concern. "This is much bigger than that."

A chill ran down Hotch's back before he asked the next question. "What is the issue?"

"Actually, it is more of a question that myself and the entire upper structure of the FBI is asking." She looked over the entire group again, one by one, then reached for her water glass. "Should this BAU team remain solvent?"

She watched the shock fall over each member of the team as she took another sip of refreshing water, smiling inwardly.