Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Criminal Minds characters, they belong to CBS and the writers.

Author's Note: I would just like to say that this is my first fanfic and it is a long, dark story. I will try to update as soon as possible, but in some cases it may take a while. I wrote parts of this back in March, but it has taken a while for me to gather and collect all of my ideas. I changed some of what I wrote, but in some cases the characters might be slightly out of character. Finally, I'm considering a sequel, but it depends on if I feel up to it, and what people think of this story first. Thanks and enjoy!

Ryan Jacobs calmly walked down the street in his suburban town. It was a cool and peaceful spring evening, and just the thing he needed to clear his mind. It had been a long day between the rough meeting at work and the fight he had just had with his girlfriend. All he wanted to do was get out for a minute and clear his head.

He took a deep breath and breathed in the cool night air. It helped him to relax and forget all of the stresses of the day. He continued on down the street, noticing that the houses on both sides of the street were quiet and most of the lights were turned off. The street was dark but he didn't mind this, as even when he was young he was never scared of the dark.

Ah yes, childhood. What he would give right now for his life to be as simple as it had been back then. Going to the park to play ball with the other kids, or just hanging out at his best friend's pool. Those were the days when life was easy. Easier than it was now. Sure, he'd get through his struggles; he had before and besides there were many people out there who had it worse than he did. He just had to suck it up, stay tough, and he'd make it through everything fine. Certainly he'd find another girlfriend –he was attractive and successful- and if he really had to, he could always quit his job and find something else. It would all work out, he was sure of it.

He had reached the end of his section of road and was now at the intersection. Given that he felt more at ease and didn't want to wander too far, Ryan decided that it was time to turn back. He turned and walked back slowly as the stress that had built up gradually dissipated.

What he failed to notice in his perpetual bliss, was the car on the other side of the intersection. It had sat there quietly in the dark watching him as he left his house, walked within twenty feet of it, and then turned around. Now the lights came on, bright, bearing into the man's back, hunting him. The man failed to notice this though, likely believing that it was just someone driving by. That would change when the tires squealed and it plowed through the intersection, the once silent car now full of life.

The man turned around and when he saw that the car was bearing down on him, he began to run for his life. He had been caught completely off-guard, just as it had been intended. The car caught up to him in no time, and continued right on through him. The driver smiled as he watched the poor man fall under the hood and the car buck up as it ran him over.

Almost as abruptly as the car had sped up, it came to a screeching stop and the driver got out. He slowly and calmly walked up to the man he had just run over. The man was still alive, but in tough shape with scratches and bruises as well as unseen internal injuries. The injured man looked up at the dark figure standing over him, fear in his eyes as he struggled to stay alive. His eyes widened as the car lights reflected off of the knife that was now hovering over him. He tried to yell for help, but it was too late.

Aaron Hotchner rested comfortably in the warmth of his own bed, his beautiful wife Haley sleeping peacefully beside him. He had just returned from another case just a few hours before, and it felt good to be in his own bed for once. It seemed like he was there less and less and what was worse, it seemed as though he saw even less of Haley.

Sure, he had some idea of what he was getting into when he took the job to help lead the FBI's Behavior Analysis Unit, but he still couldn't get over the lack of time he spent with his family. He worked odd hours and was gone for days at a time. Yes Haley had been very supportive, but he could tell that the lack of time they were spending together was beginning to take its toll on her. He didn't see her much and when he did, she just didn't seem as cheerful as she used to be.

Hotchner did what he could to help out around the house when he was home –both caring for his son and with chores- but again it was a matter of being home. Still, they both agreed that this was a change in their lives that they were still getting used to. Adjustments took time and they were both willing to put in the effort to make things work.

With that said, the time they spent away from each other caused them to miss each other very much. Every time he came home, Haley greeted him with a warm embrace and a kiss; something he always looked forward to while he was away. Tonight had been no different and after they ate as a family, and he did the dishes as she rested, they spent a peaceful evening together on the couch. It was the type of night that was rare for them and they had grown to treasure when one like it did come around.

Now it was 6:30 and he was staring at the ceiling, almost dreading that he would have to leave for work in less than two hours. He rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm around Haley, pulling her closer to him but at the same time careful not to wake her. The warmth of her body on his felt good and he didn't want to move from the spot. He rested like that for a while, just enjoying the presence of being there with her. Eventually the peaceful silence was broken by the sound of their son crying in the other room. Haley began to stir as Hotch rolled over onto his back again.

"Don't get up, I'll handle it." He told her as he kissed her and lifted himself from the bed as she gave him a grateful smile.

Hotch entered the room where his son lay noisily in his crib, obviously wanting breakfast, a diaper change, or both. He carefully lifted his son and cradled him in his arms as he carried him to the bathroom. He laid his son on the changing table and took off the dirty diaper, holding his nose with his free hand as he disposed of it. He cleaned up the mess and put on a new diaper as Haley came in with a warm bottle of milk.

"Here, you're going to be late. I'll feed him while you get ready." She offered as she picked up and held their son.

"Thanks. I love you." He said as he kissed her again.

"I know. I love you too." She smiled as she carried their son back to his room.

Maybe today would be a good day, Hotch thought to himself. After all, it had been a while since he had one of those.

Jason Gideon arrived at the Behavior Analysis Unit building in Quantico, Virginia promptly at nine as he did every morning when they weren't in the middle of a case. He had to admit, he didn't mind the extra sleep or just a day to relax. It seemed as though they had been unusually busy lately and everyone had been exhausted when they had arrived home the previous evening.

Now he sat at his desk, feet up, as he slowly sipped his coffee and scanned over the newspaper in front of him. He quickly skimmed the headlines, followed by sports and some of the other smaller sections. He wasn't really a big sports fan, but it was a good way to start up a conversation with someone and it was good to sometimes focus on something else in news other than work. Besides, if the Redskins lost again it was an easy way of teasing J.J. and keeping the mood light. Gideon glanced over the scores and found that they had won just as J.J. knocked on the doorway to his office.

"Hey J.J., the Redskins won yesterday."

"Yeah, I noticed. It's about time they started winning some games. With any luck, they might just make the playoffs." She smiled weakly before her expression turned more serious.

"So, what can I do for you?" Gideon asked noticing her expression.

"Well, I hate to bring this up but we have another case." J.J. stated as she handed him a copy of the file she was holding.

"It's what we do." Gideon said as he scanned through the papers before closing the folder and slowly rising up from his chair.

"Come on, let's round up the team." He said as he left his office and J.J. followed closely behind. She went to tell Hotch while Gideon went down to the pen to get Reid, Morgan and Elle.

Spencer Reid sat at his desk in the pen, studying the term he had just googled on the internet. "Don't stare too hard Reid, you might go blind." Morgan teased while Elle turned and glared at him. When Reid didn't answer, Morgan got up from his chair and walked over.

"Don't tell me you're looking at porn Reid, you know you're not supposed to do that on company time." He said as he leaned in to see what their boy genius was staring at. When Morgan saw that Reid was reading about the history of some ancient civilization, he rolled his eyes.

"I take that back, some good porn might just be what you need my friend." He said as he patted Reid on the shoulder and walked away just as Gideon entered the room.

"Hey guys, we've got another case." He said holding up the file folder in his hand. "Conference room in five." He said as he walked away and the team rolled their collective eyes.

"Damn, I was just starting to get over the jet lag too." Morgan said as Elle flashed him a sympathetic smile.

"Poor baby." She said just loud enough for Reid to hear, and he chuckled in response.

"Okay, so what do we have?" Hotch asked as he opened the folder J.J. placed in front of him.

"What we have is a series of murders, four now, within the past two weeks." She stated as she stood in front of them.

"Two weeks? Wow, our un-sub works fast." Morgan commented.

"All of the victims died slow painful, deaths at the hands of our un-sub. The victims were all injured in someway, enough to disable but not kill. Then our un-sub stabbed them three times, normally in the chest and stomach areas."

"Obviously he wants his victims to know who he is and he enjoys watching them suffer." Hotch said lifting his head from the file.

"That would appear to be the case. The last victim was attacked some where around one o'clock this morning. His name was Ryan Jacobs, a successful worker at an insurance company. He was found by a policeman on patrol. The early report states that it appeared he had been hit by a car before being stabbed three times in the chest. He died slowly." J.J. said as she grimaced at the last details of her speech.

"Sounds like this is one sick puppy. So where are we going this time?" Morgan asked, waiting for the response to be Montana, Maine or somewhere else in the middle of no where.

"That's the most intriguing part," J.J. said "it's happening right here."

"What do you mean here?" Elle said looking up surprised.

"All of the murders have occurred within a ten mile radius of our building." Gideon answered calmly.