Author's Note:

So, this is my first stab at a Criminal Mind's fanfic. I have a terrible habit of not finishing my fanfics, so we'll see what happens. The title is subject to change as I don't like it but all I can come up with at the time. I've vaguely edited/proofed this myself so hopefully its okay. I like feedback, so please review. If you decide to flame it, at least be constructive with your criticism. The fanfic is turning out to be Hotch-centric, which isn't something I intended...it just sort of happened.

Fishers, Indiana

They all deserve to die. Every. Last. One. Of. Them. The stopping of the child thrashing broke the killer's thoughts. A sick smile of satisfaction creased the lips. The killer removed the small body from the tub, water dripping all around and laid the limp body on the floor. Black gloves reached for the knife on the floor and tore into the already dead flesh. Blood spilled onto the floor. The gloved hands dipped in the display of freshly fallen blood. The killer wrote the message on the wall. "They all deserve to die." The blood dripped with each letter.

Quantico, Virginia

FBI Unit Chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, Aaron Hotchner, hung up the phone. It was time to assemble the team. With no official media liaison, sometimes cases came directly to him these days. His brown eyes looked down at the file that had been faxed over while he had been on the phone. Children being killed was troublesome enough, but the message in blood was even more troubling. Who could possibly think that children deserved to die? This was not going to be an easy case, but then again, the ones with kids never were. He glanced at the photo of his son, Jack, that was on his desk. For a brief moment he thought of George Foyet and how close he come to losing his own son. He shook his head and let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He organized the pictures and other papers into a folder and then rose from his desk. He left his office and walked the short distance to another office.

Hotch popped his head into Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi's office. "Hey, assemble the team. We've got a new case." Without waiting for an answer he left and went to get ready to brief the team.

Rossi quickly finished up what he was working on and then went down the stairs to inform the rest of the team. He came in on the middle of a conversation that Dr. Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan were having and had interrupted with a brief clearing of his voice and then said, "Hotch wants us."

"Oh thank God. If I had to keep listening to Reid go on about the difference between pink and red tomatoes, you'd be hauling me way in hand cuffs." Morgan smiled, uncrossed his arms and got up off the desk he had been leaning on.

Reid looked confused and seemed about to protest but the other two agents were already heading upstairs. He grabbed his satchel and followed after his colleagues.

The three men took their seats quietly and looked expectantly to their boss. Hotch waited for a few more moments and then looked questioningly to Rossi. "Where's Prentiss?"

"She's on vacation, remember?"

"Right, I knew that." The truth was, Hotch hadn't remembered but being anything other than confident in front of his team wasn't acceptable in his eyes. They were going to be short a team member. Fantastic. He turned his attention to the screen behind him and began the slide show. "Indianapolis, Indiana. A family of three was killed. The mother and father were shot in the head and the child was abducted and found two days later. COD was drowning and then the body was cut post mortem. Fishers, Indiana one week later. Another family of three was killed. Same as the last, parents shot in the head and the child abducted. This time the body was found one day after abduction. MO is the same otherwise though, drowning and then cut post mortem. However, the unsub left a message with the body this time." He clicked to the message written in blood, "They all deserve to die."

A muffled sound of horror came from the door way as the team's technician, Penelope Garcia, walked in. She averted her gaze from the pictures. "Uh Sir, I did a background check on the families like you asked, and I couldn't find anything to connect the two. If there isn't anything else, I'll be going." She didn't want to stick around any longer than she had to.

"Garcia, you'll be going with us to Indiana."

"Sir?"

"You're going. Wheels go up in an hour." The words came out a little harsher than Hotch had intended. His tone of voice wasn't lost on Garcia but she mustered a "Yes Sir" and left the room. The room fell quiet and he quickly regrouped. "Thoughts on the case?" Better to press on, than try to explain anything. There was a ruffling a paper as his team glanced over their copies of the case.

Morgan broke the silence. "Well, both families lived off of 96th street. Maybe the number has some kind of significance to the unsub."

"Actually, 96th street in this case is a county line. The north side is Hamilton County and the southern side is Marion County. Same road, different counties." Reid chimed in. When the team looked at him, he merely shrugged and said in way of explanation. "The last time we were in Indiana I studied a map of it."

Morgan half smiled at Reid's explanation and noticed something of interest in the autopsy report. "Autopsy of the first boy says there was chloroform was used. Chances are, the second boy will show the same. Chloroform? That's old school."

"People use what they know." Rossi finally added some input.

"Chloroform has variety of uses. It's used for Teflon and refrigerant uses. However, the use as a refrigerant is being phased out due to the potential harm it can do to the ozone. Chloroform is also commonly used in pharmaceutical industry as a solvent because of how volatile it is. Vets sometimes use it to kill maggots from wounds. Of course the most common known use for it was as an anesthetic. Oh and it used to be used in tooth pastes, cough syrup and other pharmaceuticals but that was outlawed in 1976, except for some cough syrups in the UK can still be bought in super markets." Reid rattled off the information with ease.

"So our unsub most likely works with it on a regular basis or used to." Rossi mused out loud.

"If the unsub stays on the schedule it's been on, then we have five days until they find another family and kill them. The plane leaves soon. Everyone get a ready and we'll discuss the case further on the flight." Hotch ended the meeting and began putting everything back.

Reid and Morgan had left but Rossi lingered. "What's going on with you Hotch?"

Hotch stared down at the paper work before meeting Rossi's gaze. "I'm not sure."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Fair enough." Without further inquiry Rossi left Hotch alone.

Hotch hadn't lied, he really wasn't sure what was going on with him. He thought he'd put the business of Foyet behind him but now it all seemed to be coming back to him. He needed to keep it together, he'd been under close scrutiny already.