Author's note: disclaimer - I do not own any of the characters from Criminal Minds! | This is just the first chapter - if you like it, I'll write and upload more. Please feel free to review my story. It's my first "baby" and I wanna improve as a writer!!!| It takes place somewhere around the end of season 2 | Have fun!

Chapter 1

She was taking a walk at the beach, watching a gorgeous sunset, simply enjoying the calm and peaceful moment. But what was that noise? Something was definitely ringing. She scanned the surroundings, searching for the origin of this nerve-wrecking noise, unsuccessfully. Suddenly, she realized that she was only wearing her blue boxers and black top – didn't she go to bed like that last night??? Something was wrong, definitely wrong… She took one last look at the sun that seemed to have set the sea on fire and with a sigh, Emily Prentiss opened her eyes.

The sound of her alarm clock had brought her back to reality, had ended a beautiful dream and now it was time to get up and spend another day hunting down the worst criminals in the entire country. Still yawning, the brunette switched on the lights and went to the bathroom, a quick and more importantly, cold shower would help her to wake up.

Fifteen minutes later, Emily was already on her way to work, only to stop at the Starbucks just around the corner from her apartment and buy seven large cups of coffee and some muffins. Somehow she had the feeling, the whole team could need some caffeine for their morning briefing. It was definitely summer in Washington D.C., Emily was already sweating in her black pantsuit. Before entering the building the BAU – the Behaviour Analysis Unit of the FBI – was located in, the brunette agent took off her jacket and was glad to only be wearing a red tank top underneath.

Once again, everyone else already seemed to be at work, even though she was 10 minutes early. She loved her team for their motivation and the discipline they began every day with. With a smile on her face, Emily entered the meeting room and watched her colleagues for a moment: Agent Derek Morgan, a black guy in his thirties, for whom the word "handsome" probably had been invented in the first place; Agent Aaron Hotchner, the team leader who always had a serious look on his face and who still didn't trust her completely; Agent Jason Gideon, the oldest team member and certainly the most gifted behavioural analyst she had ever met; Agent Dr. Spencer Reid, a real genius in his twenties who seemed to know pretty much everything and everyone; the computer technician Penelope Garcia who had probably never been stopped from hacking into databases by any firewall ever; and Agent Jennifer, JJ, Jareau, a extraordinarily beautiful blonde in her early thirties who acted as the team's liaison with the media and local police agencies.

Finally, Emily put the cups and the muffins on the table and sat down next to Morgan who was having one of his flirty conversations with Garcia: "Good Morning!" Hotch looked up from a file he was obviously studying and mumbled something that could have meant "Hallo", everyone else greeted her friendly, happy about the breakfast she had brought. JJ was checking something on her laptop, apparently preparing to show them details of yet another case, they had been called to help with. Now she looked up from her work, her glance flickering from the coffee to Emily and back. She winked at the brunette and her mouth formed a silent "Thank you!". Emily knew that JJ loved coffee and how much she needed it to survive stressful days at work. Still smiling, she got up, took one of the cups and went over to JJ to hand it to her: "I thought you might need some caffeine" Her glance flickered to the laptop, the picture of a dead woman could be seen on screen. "Actually, now I think, we will all need it", Emily added nodding towards the screen. JJ sighed and took the cup, the women's hands touched for a second. Before Emily could even shudder, the moment was over and JJ turned around to start the morning briefing. Feeling a little confused by the intensity of the moment, Emily sat down again, listening carefully to what JJ was now telling them:

"NYPD sent me their file a few days ago and since they found another body last night, the case just hit priority!", photographs of several dead women now appeared on the big projection screen in the meeting room, " Eight victims in the past six months, all females. They were found in garbage cans all over the city, naked and with their necks broken." The blonde agent paused for a moment watching her colleagues taking in the information. Reid was taking notes, Gideon and the others just stared at the pictures of the murdered women. "NYPD is groping in the dark. Until now they haven't come up with a single suspect and the period of time between the murders is decreasing. They definitely need the BAU's help.", Agent Jareau added. Aaron Hotchner nodded, got up and looked at his watch: "The plane leaves in 15 minutes. JJ will provide further information on our way to New York. Hurry, guys!" The morning briefing was obviously over and the team was about to leave to hunt down another UnSub. Every team member took a cup of coffee and a muffin on their way out of the meeting room – at least Emily hadn't bought them in vain. At the door, the brunette waited for her blonde co-worker not without missing the worried look on her face: "It's gonna be a tough one, right?" JJ who was the only one already aware of every single cruel detail nodded: "Yes, definitely." Without really thinking about it, Emily reached out and touched JJ's arm gently: "We won't let this UnSub run! We'll get him!" JJ smiled at her colleague and nodded once again. Both women returned to their desks and packed up the things they needed to take to the Big Apple. Emily opened one of her drawers and took out a small bag in which she always kept some clothes and toiletries in case they had to leave town in a hurry.

Since she still had a few minutes, the brunette decided to go and say goodbye to Garcia. With her ability the technician was as important for the BAU as every single member of the team, but she barely accompanied them to other cities. Instead, she stayed in her tiny office at Quantico, sitting in front of a dozen of computer screens and always helped the team out with invaluable information on victims, witnesses and the UnSubs themselves. JJ seemed to already have given her a copy of the NYPD file with all the details the computer technician needed to know. She was staring at all the screens at once and was already typing something. Emily knocked on the opened door in order to not frighten her too much. Garcia looked up for a second: "Hi there!" "I just wanted to say goodbye, Penelope. We're leaving!", Emily replied almost shyly. She was still the new agent, the outsider in the team and even more than catching any UnSub on the entire planet, she wanted to really belong to them. Wanted them to trust her, wanted them to be her friends. "Oh, yeah. I'll call you as soon as I have something new. And, Emily?", Garcia smiled at her co-worker, "Thanks for the breakfast, I totally overslept and there was just no time to eat. So you basically saved my life, Prentiss!" Emily laughed happily, waved to Garcia and left to once again get on that frighteningly fast plane.

During the flight, JJ gave each member of the BAU a copy of the file, including photographs of the victims: "The first victim was murdered approximately 6 months ago, she was found only a few hours after her death. The garbagemen found her, completely naked, neck broken. Her name was Katherine Walters, 27. She worked part-time in a supermarket, two kids, married." Spencer Reid was already looking at pictures of the other victims: "JayJ? How old were the other women?" "Ehrm…hang on", JJ mumbled and checked something in the file, "Victoria Bend, 34. Clara Leed, she was only 18. María Gonzalez, 29. Elizabeth Goldstein, 39. Gloria Baker, 20. Elina Berg, 40. Sophie Greene, 22." Reid stared at the photographs for another second, then shook his head in disbelief:" Well, that's just….random." Gideon nodded and raised his voice for the first time:" True, at first sight at least. The UnSub definitely doesn't care about a certain age. His victims were between 18 and 40 years old." "He doesn't care about a certain ethnic group either", Morgan added, "Victoria Bend and Clara Leed were black, María Gonzalez hispanic. The other victims were white." Emily stared out of the small window for a moment, then sighed:" They all have to have something particular in common." Once again, Gideon nodded:" Exactly. And that will surely be the key to our UnSub." "Try to get some rest now. Relax until we get to New York. It's our last chance until we catch the Unsub.", Hotch ordered and everyone obeyed. Morgan took out his iPod and headphones, Reid asked his mentor Gideon for a quick game of chess, Hotch simply closed his eyes and tried to take a nap – or at least pretended to do so.

Emily looked out of the window again and was still thinking about the case, when JJ all of a sudden stood next to her seat. She flinched and automatically blushed, embarrassed. "Oh sorry, Emily. I didn't mean to frighten you like that", JJ chuckled, " I just wanted to ask if I may sit with you!" Emily couldn't help but laugh about herself too:" Sure. I was just…thinking." " Yeah, you had that look on your face.", JJ stated while she was sitting down next to her older co-worker. Emily stared at the blonde agent, puzzled:" What?" Once again, JJ chuckled:" You have this certain look on your face when you really think about something, when you worry about something. It's really…intense." Was it just her imagination or was it now JJ's turn to blush? Since the very first day, when she had introduced herself to Hotch in his office and JJ had stormed in, Emily had been watching JJ whenever the blonde didn't pay attention. Jennifer Jareau was not only extremely gorgeous but also warm-hearted, open-minded and intelligent. She had shown her around the office the very first day, had explained her everything she needed to know, while the other team members had only looked at her suspiciously. It was impossible to not like JJ for being the generous person she was and Emily totally had succumbed to her charms. Besides having a great personality, JJ was also damn good at her job. She handled the media competently, oftentimes used and even manipulated them to catch an UnSub. And it was her who always had to choose which case hit priority and which had to wait. She had a hell lot of responsibility already at this young age and Emily looked up to her for dealing with it so well. "Hey, you wanna listen to some music?", JJ asked to break the awkward moment of silence and took out her iPod. Emily nodded in response. Music would mean no further discussion on the intensity of her glances.

For the rest of the flight, the women listened to JJ's iPod, one earphone each, and remained silent. Both apparently lost in thought, just sitting there and enjoying each others' company. And as far as Emily was concerned, it felt good. It felt right. Far too right.

As soon as the team had landed in New York City, they split up: Gideon and Reid went to the crime scene, where the last victim had been found; Morgan and Emily went to the victim's apartment to talk to her fiancé and analyse the life she had lived; JJ and Hotch went to the local police station to set up and contact the detective in charge.

"He definitely didn't kill her here!", Dr. Spencer Reid mumbled, "No signs of a struggle. Besides, what would woman do in Queens in the middle of the night, when she actually lived in Brooklyn?" His older colleague and mentor Jason Gideon was standing next to him, staring at a rusty garbage can in the backyard of a weird-smelling Chinese restaurant. For a moment, Gideon seemed to be lost in thought, then raised his always comforting voice:" Well, the UnSub did what everybody would do here, he got rid of his 'garbage'. After having killed his victim, he disposed of her here. He doesn't care about the women, they don't matter to him. It's the act of killing that makes him do what he does." Reid nodded in agreement: "So there's no sexual component to his murders?" "No, definitely not. None of the victims has been raped or sexually abused otherwise, neither pre nor post-mortem." "But why would he keep their clothes then? If the women didn't matter to him, then why would he want to remember them afterwards?" "Good point. Maybe he disposed of them elsewhere.", Gideon figured. Reid checked something in his copy of the file, then shook his head:" Unlikely, but not impossible. NYPD searched every garbage can within a radius of 5 miles. They didn't find any clothes that could have belonged to the victim. Neither this time, nor after the other victims' deaths." "I think we have seen enough. This place has no significance to the UnSub. Let's head back to the police station and see what the others have found out so far.", Gideon decided.

While Emily and Morgan climbed what seemed a never-ending line of stairs to Sophie Greene's apartment, they discussed their strategy. Morgan was supposed to talk to the victim's fiancé, while Emily wanted to search her possessions in order to profile the dead woman. Victimology was probably the most important aspect of the BAU's job in order to provide an accurate profile of the UnSub. "Hallo?", the victim's fiancé answered the door quickly. "Mr. Rick?", Emily asked and both agents took out their badges, "I'm Agent Emily Prentiss, this is Agent Derek Morgan. May we come in, please?" " FBI? NYPD has already been here, going through Sophie's stuff and insulting me with questions about my whereabouts and alibi", he answered, eyes obviously red and swollen from crying. "Sir, we're with the Behaviour Analysis Unit. Our questions are different from the NYPD's. We need to gain insight in your fiancée's life to be able to catch the bastard that killed her. We're not interested in the standard procedure, we study behaviour. That's how we will be able to hunt him down", Morgan explained with his calm, reassuring voice. Lucas Rick still seemed to be confused – not too weird given the situation he was in, but finally stepped aside to let the two agents in. "Sir, do you mind if I go and look at some of Sophie's stuff?", Emily asked politely. "No. Go ahead. Most of her stuff is in our bedroom anyways.", he answered and pointed at a door at the end of the small hallway. Emily nodded briefly and left the two men at the entrance. "I would like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind. Where could we sit down?", Morgan watched every movement of the victim's fiancé, every gesture and every facial expression. Finally, the men sat down on a worn-out couch in the small living-room. "Mr. Rick, when did Sophie leave the house yesterday? Do you know where she was headed to?" Rick's eyes filled with tears and it was hard to miss how much it hurt him to think about the last moments with his fiancée: " I am really not sure. I think she left at about 8 pm or something. She works night shifts in a diner. That's where she was headed to." "Sir, can you please give me the name of the diner? We need to find out if she even made it to work.", Morgan dug deeper. Lucas Rick blushed and shook his head, he seemed embarrassed: " I already told the police, that I am sorry. Sophie started working there a few weeks ago. I am sure she gave a name, but I forgot. Some days we missed each other completely. I came home from my shift, and she was already gone. I think it was something like….Mary-Ann's Diner? But you know. Everything's just blurry in my head right now." Morgan shrugged, then took out his cell phone, calling speed dial #1: "Hey there, sweetness! You gotta check something for me. I need to know whether or not there's a diner in New York City called "Mary-Ann's Diner". Thanks. Later, doll!" If there was such a diner, Penelope Garcia would surely find it. "Has your fiancée been behaving differently in the past couple of weeks? Have you noticed anything unusual at all? Maybe something she did or told you about?" Rick remained silent for a while, thinking about the past days and weeks, then nodded: "Well. We haven't had…you know…physical contact in weeks. Almost a month, I think. But you know? Two months ago I had an accident while I was playing basketball with my friends. I broke my arm. We don't have insurance, so we got into trouble. Financial trouble. That's why Sophie started working at that diner, to pay for everything. I thought that's why she wouldn't want me to touch her any more…she just seemed stressed out. And I'm sure she was. So I didn't put any pressure on her, I didn't want to fight with her on top of everything, I didn't want her to think of me as some kind of horny sicko." Rick's voice broke, he stared at the ground. "I loved her so much. We wanted to get married in October." Morgan simply nodded and got up. He clearly wasn't talking to a suspect, he was talking to a mourning man who had lost the woman he loved due to some sick bastard. "Sir, I'll go check on my colleague. I am sorry for your loss, but I promise you we do everything we can to lock him up.", Morgan explained, then walked out of the living-room into the even smaller bedroom. Emily was sitting on the bed, staring at a black box: "Morgan. Do me a favour, close the door before you come and take a look at this." "Sure. Explanation though, please", Morgan answered with a puzzled look on his face. "I went through Sophie's clothes, her possessions, everything basically. As far as I could tell she was a normal woman in her early twenties. The couple didn't seem to have too much money though – her clothes are worn-out, nothing expensive. But look at the photographs on the walls and nightstands! They were happy, they were in love – they had each other. But then I accidentally stepped on a plank that seemed to be loose and I found this box right here that NYPD obviously didn't find.", Emily handed it to him and watched him raising his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh Well.", he mumbled, "that makes sense then." Before Emily could dig deeper, Morgan's cell phone rang: "Garcia? ....yes. Thank you, I figured that. Bye." He sighed: "I think we just found out where the victim was really headed to. We should go, tell the others." Emily got up, took the box back and hid it behind her back: "You go and tell him we gotta leave. I don't think he needs to see this. See you outside…. Oh and please tell me what exactly "makes sense then" in the car." Morgan chuckled lightly, then nodded in response: "Sure, Prentiss."

The detective in charge, Meredith Baker, had told them to set up in the station's meeting room. JJ and Hotch had spent the last hour putting up all the pictures of the victims pre- and post-mortem, the crime scenes and anything that was potential evidence on a huge pin board and were now going through all the details again, when Gideon and Reid entered the room. "Any luck?", Hotch asked. "That depends.", Reid stated, " we found out that the UnSub simply disposed of his victims at the crime scene. After having killed them, they were nothing more than garbage to him. He didn't kill them there, he just got rid of them." Hotch nodded, he had already figured: "We have just received the coroner's report on Sophie Greene. Just like the others, she hasn't been raped. No sign of physical resistance either. The Unsub must have surprised all of them." JJ sighed and looked once again at the pin board: "He broke their necks before they even realized what was happening. What a monster" "I think that's exactly right. He isn't sexually motivated, he isn't a sadist. He kills for a reason, of course. But it's not to satisfy his sexual needs.", Gideon added calmly and took the cup of coffee JJ was offering him.

Just a few minutes later, the door to the meeting room opened again and Morgan and Emily walked in. With an excited look on her face, Emily put the mysterious box on the table in the middle of the room and cleared her throat: "Okay, Garcia is still doing some research and of course will we have to investigate further, but I think we might have found the commonality between the victims."

For a moment, both, Emily and Morgan, looked at five puzzled, yet curious agents before they sat down with them and explained everything they had found out at Sophie Greene's apartment.