Ok don't panic, I haven't given up on It's What They Did. This fic just popped into my head the other day and I felt extremely compelled to write it. I still intend to finish IWTD and am actually hoping writing this story will jog my creativity for it.

Now, moving on to this story, things might be a little confusing at first because I am switching from the present to the past and back again throughout the first few chapters. So wording in BOLD is the present, italics represent thoughts and regular font is flashback(s) to the past.

Confused yet? Lol

Enjoy!

Morgan held JJ close as she shivered against the cold chill that hung in the air of the concrete cell that had become their home. He moved a stray piece of hair from her face and watched her for signs of discomfort. Her whimpers of pain had finally died down and she seemed to have fallen asleep, mostly out of exhaustion. The last session with Watkins had been one of the more brutal ones since they had been taken by him nearly 4 months ago. One would think being in a cold, dark, dank, cellar lit only by a small 60 watt light bulb would cause a person to lose track of time. But Morgan was able to track the date and time since Watkins had let him keep his watch. For Watkins, the torture wasn't in the not knowing, the torture was in the fact that his victims knew exactly what was coming and were powerless to stop it. So he had let Morgan keep his watch in an effort to break him and let him know exactly how long he was in control.

JJ shifted slightly next to him in an obvious effort to alleviate pressure on what were probably a couple of broken ribs. Loosening his grip just enough to be sure he wasn't hurting her, Morgan thought back to their shared nightmare

Harvey Watkins had been one of the most detailed and coordinated unsubs the team had even encountered. When they took the case in Colorado they all thought the unsub they were chasing was a recent killer, meaning he would have had a stressor not too long ago and began killing soon there after. However, they couldn't have been more wrong. It turned out, as the investigation progressed, that the unsub was far from being a rookie. He had actually been kidnapping, torturing and killing young woman for nearly 12 years and his victims totaled up to a number near 15 based on the pattern. Well, they could confirm at least 15. This unsub was shaping up to be one of the worst serial killers the team had ever investigated.

The original profile had the unsub as a white male in his mid to late 40's who probably had some type of physical disability that hindered his motion because all the victims showed signs of long term drug exposure and being restrained which told them he wasn't, even though many of the women were small in stature, completely capable of exerting total physical control over them without some help. He would be outwardly charming yet arrogant. He would own a large SUV or van which would give him the space needed to transport the bodies once he was ready to dispose of them. He would have had a recent stressor, one that probably involved a woman who had authority over him. There were no signs of sexual assault which meant what got this unsub off was the torture itself. His gratification came from making the women submit and having total power over them.

Several victims' bruises and wounds showed signs of healing, meaning the unsub kept them for a considerable amount of time. He never took more than one at a time or picked up his next victim until he had dumped the last one. However he had no clear set time table for how much time he spent with the women. Some victims were kept for weeks while others kept only a few days. If the team was going to catch him they would have to do it soon because it seemed like the unsub could be very patient if needed and wait them out.

The last victim who was dumped the day after they arrived but take two days before their arrival had showed all the usual signs of the other victims indicating it was the same unsub but Reid noticed the time spent with her was extremely small and she showed very little bruising. The unsub had instead opted for a quick death by slashing her throat instead of a slow one. Going back and looking at the victim previous to this one, they noticed she too showed the same lack of bruising and quick mode of death. Something, once they discovered he was a long time serial killer all of them found extremely unsettling. It told them he was growing tired of his current methods and probably wanted a new challenge which made him very dangerous and extremely unpredictable.

Watkins had always been so careful not to leave any evidence behind on his victims, something which allowed him to continue to kill for so long but it seemed as he got bored he got a little careless too. He had left a fingerprint on the latest victims belt buckle. Garcia was able to identify Watkins since he was in the Colorado corrections database stemming from a bar fight he was in 8 years earlier where he stabbed a man with a broken beer bottle after the man slashed his arm with a knife he had been carrying. It was the only blemish the man had on his record and after serving 6 months in prison he was released and then promptly disappeared.

Garcia was unable to locate any properties or bank accounts in his name the man was totally off the grid. Something that was hard to believe because he had been profiled as being disabled so he had to be getting money to live from somewhere.

Coming up empty after having been on the case for nearly two weeks, Hotch decided a press conference releasing the profile and details of his crimes to the public would be the team's best bet of getting fresh leads. The hope was someone somewhere out there would recognize the man being described and call in.

As usual JJ was perfect. She had the press eating out of her hands and held the vultures off as they demanded answers and more information. They were obviously all very scared and had every right to be there was a very dangerous and meticulous serial killer living in their neighborhood. It was, on their part a scare tactic meant to get the press talking about the unsub and therefore warning and educating the public on what to be aware of and look for. It worked too. A woman came forward who said she knew a woman who, in a support group described an ordeal with a man who kidnapped, held her hostage and tortured her. Unlike all the other victims this woman had survived.

Her name was Stephanie Long a middle aged single woman who still lived in the area. They tracked her down but the woman was reluctant to speak with them at first or even leave her home. She had changed her appearance and her name but was still living in fear that the man would come back to finish what he started and after seeing the press conference her fear had only heightened. When they did finally convince her to speak with them, Stephanie was able to tell them she met the man while working on the streets. She had a pretty bad meth habit back then and was doing almost anything to feed her habit. She thought him to be just another paying john. He was nice enough she said, polite even but deep down there was something about him that was off to her but she was so desperate to feed her habit that she ignored her instincts and got into his van. She said they drove for a while discussing what she was up for and how much it would cost before he pulled into a deserted parking lot and they moved to the back of the van. She remembered she tried several times to get him in the mood but she was unsuccessful. Finding it odd he remained so calm as most men would have gotten frustrated by that point she asked him what usually "helped" get him in the mood. He just smiled at her. The smile though she said sent a chill down her spine and before she could react he had her by the throat and stuck a needle in her arm.

When she woke up they were in a dark cement cellar of some kind. He kept her drugged the majority of the time while he beat her and kept ordering her to "submit" to him. He would taunt her, telling her he was going to break her, that he was in control of her life and the only way for her to survive was to submit to him. Oddly though he had never touched her sexually but he did masturbate after she finally broke down and said she would submit to him. Hotch asked her how he knew she had finally broken down but Stephanie had no answer for that.

After she had broken down, she had expected him to kill her or at the very least drug her again but he didn't. Instead he simply walked out of the room and left her alone for what felt like days. When he finally did come back, he drugged her and the next thing she remembers clearly was waking up in the hospital. There, the police told her he had dumped her in an alley in the part of town where he had picked her up. He been left for dead but a homeless man scrounging for food found her and had the decency to call 911. As they were leaving she told them one thing she thought she remembered but was never quite sure on and it always bothered her, was the sensation of bouncing up and down while in the van as if they were off road. She always chalked the sensation up to her being drugged but it bothered her none the less.

At the time Morgan too chalked up the bouncing sensation to her being drugged but after having experienced it for himself, he knew it was real.

After the interview with Stephanie the whole team was convinced she was Watkins first victim. His only mistake with her had been she had survived and when no one came looking for him it gave him a sense of empowerment and freedom to do it again and he never made the same mistake he made with Stephanie again.

JJ told Stephanie to stay in touch and call if she remembered anything else that might help them.

A few days later Stephanie contacted JJ to tell her she remembered more and asked if she would come by to discuss it. She didn't want to leave her home nor did she want to speak on the phone in fear someone could be listening. Stephanie was not only extremely scared she was extremely paranoid as well. Hotch agreed to let JJ go since the woman had felt comfortable speaking with the young agent when they were there the first time and as a precaution he sent Morgan along with her.

In hindsight, they should have put Stephanie under surveillance but the local police were just stretched far too thin at the moment and they couldn't spare the men or the time. If they had been able to watch Stephanie's home they probably would have caught Watkins the second he walked onto her block and he and JJ would have avoided the situation they were in.

At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary at Stephanie's house but when no one answered their repeated knocking they became concerned. Looking through a side window, Morgan noticed several pieces of overturned furniture which signaled to him something wrong. Automatically drawing their guns on instinct they entered the house through the front door which was oddly left unlocked, another sign something was wrong.

After entering the house, Morgan went to the back to inspect the bedrooms while JJ went to the living room and kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen JJ was shocked to find Stephanie Long laying a pool of her own blood. She was very obviously dead and JJ was about to call for Morgan when she felt the tell tale prick of a needle in her neck and everything went black. Her body then fell to the floor with a loud thud.

When he heard the thud from the other room, fear gripped Morgan and without thinking he quickly moved through the house failing to secure his surroundings as he went. His sole focus has been to get to JJ and when he found her unconscious on the kitchen floor he should have immediately checked his surroundings because if he had he would have seen Watkins coming up behind him and been able to stop him from tasing him into unconciousness.

JJ whimpered in his arms as she shifted to her side in order to alleviate the pain of her more than likely broken ribs. Hoping to help calm her, Morgan ran his hand gently along the side of her face. It seemed to work because she settled into a position and her whimpers died down again. Morgan silently cursed the son of a bitch Watkins for making them endure all they had and testing the bounds of their friendship. They both knew from the very first session with Watkins that nothing would ever be the same with and between them ever again. He prayed the team would find them soon because while they had held out for this long, he wasn't sure how much longer they could endure of the mental and physical torture Watkins sadistically enjoyed putting them through.

Ok that is chapter 1! Please, please be sure to review and let me know what you think. This is my first attempt at writing this type of story.