American Soldier

Rainbow Haired Girl

Summary: Aaron Hotchner hasn't heard from his younger cousin in ten years. When a military personnel is killed by something unknown NCIS is called in on the case as well. Spencer Reid profiles her and finds out that she is Hotchner's cousin. He finds out from profiling her that she was part of the military before she was part of NCIS.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or NCIS. I do own Keria-Leigh Hotchner.

Authoress Note: I am not sure if this is going to be a long or short chapter. It is also set during Amplification. It will take certain turns in it and won't be following the plot of Amplification that closely. There will be key points in it, but the rest of the plot of this chapter and the chapter to come will be fictional. Hopefully it is enough to catch some peoples eyes and hopefully it is enjoyable.

Chapter 1

Brand New Case

Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life.- William Shakespeare

May 12, 2009

25 year old Keria-Leigh Hotchner was pulling up to NCIS with McGee and DiNozzo in her car. She put her car in park to allow them to get out of her car so they could go home and get some much needed rest even though it was eleven thirty at night. They had to be in the office by eight in the morning.

"Good job out there today Hotchner." Tony told the younger agent with a smile. "I didn't think you had it in you to take someone down."

Keria-Leigh rolled her eyes. "Why the hell does it always sound like you don't have any faith in me not in the least bit. You sound like my cousin Aaron." She said, as she unlocked the doors so they could get out of her car.

McGee got out of the car. "I will see you in the morning Keria..." He said smiling at her.

She smiled at him. "See you in the morning Tim."

Tony got out of her car as well. "See you in the morning probie."

"I am not a probie." She hissed at him.

"I know I know." He told her. "Bye."

The two of them closed the doors to allow her to leave and go home and get some rest.

Keria-Leigh pulled out of her parking spot and drove towards her home.

X * X * X * X * X * X

May 13, 2009

Keria-Leigh Hotchner was at her desk typing on her computer. She was just wrapping up on some information that was part of a case that they had wrapped up the night before. She was making sure that the information was all in the computer before printing the file out, closing it down on the computer, and put it into the folder that it belonged to.

She slowly got up from her desk and stretched her arms out. Her white button up shirt moved with her movements. Her black blazer jacket hung over the back of her black office chair. Her raven colored hair hung loosely over her shoulders curling inward at the ends and her green eyes shined brightly. There were dark circles underneath her pretty eyes like she hadn't slept good in a while. She grabbed the mug of coffee that was on her desk and took a sip of the overly sweet liquid.

Gibbs came into the room. "Load up dead marine in Annapolis, Maryland." He said, gathering his gear up.

Keria-Leigh grabbed her bag and her blazer. She slipped her blazer on and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Two separate cars." He told them. "Ziva you're with me. McGee and DiNozzo with Hotchner."

"Right boss." Tony said, looking at the younger field agent.

Keria-Leigh grabbed her keys to her work car and walked with the rest of them.

"Fair warning we will be working with another group the FBI's BAU." Gibbs told the five of them. "They know we are coming."

X * X * X * X * X * X

Aaron Hotchner had a bad feeling about this case. He knew that they would be working with the army to figure out what the heck was going on. Why there were 25 people ill already, who knew how many were already dead. For the first time instead of flying there, they were actually driving to their location. It rarely happened, but it was nice to do so.

Reid was going over information in his head, his longer hair hung over his eyes as he thought about why the problem had happened. He wasn't use to dealing with this kind of unsub. Dealing with this kind of unsub was really rare. This case was going to be harder to determine what exactly happened. He could only hope that this would be a quick case so they could all go home and rest.

X * X * X * X * X * X

Keria-Leigh parked her car along side Gibbs's car. She grabbed the hair tie that was on her rear view mirror tying her raven hair back into a ponytail. She removed her black blazer, unbuttoned her white button up shirt and removed it revealing a white tank top. She slipped her NCIS hat over her head and got out of the car.

Gibbs looked at the younger field agent seeing the tank top that she was wearing. He didn't seem to mind since the day was warmer than others and there was no way that the others were going to be wearing their NCIS jackets. "McGee... Hotchner... photos... David... DiNozzo check for evidence." He told his crew.

Keria-Leigh grabbed her camera putting it around her neck. She walked along side McGee. "This really looks odd. I've never heard of 25 people getting sick around the same time and a few of them have already died... one being our marine." She said, as she turned her camera on to begin taking pictures of what Gibbs wanted her and McGee to do.`

"This has to be an attack of some kind." McGee said, taking a stab at what it could be.

Keria-Leigh shook her head. "Rule #8 Never Assume." She said, as she began snapping photos of the crime scene.

McGee laughed lightly. "Of course." He said, as he began snapping some photos as well. "We were lucky enough to have the army call us. We wouldn't have known if they didn't call us."

Keria-Leigh laughed lightly. "Ain't that the truth. This will be a fun trip knowing that the FBI will be here." She said, before kneeling down showing off some of her smooth pale vampire like skin that looked even paler with the white tank top that she wore. She snapped a few more photos.

McGee looked up hearing more cars pulling up into the park. "Looks like the FBI is here." He said, as he turned off his camera.

Keria-Leigh slowly got up to her feet. She turned and saw six people get out of the cars that had just arrived. Two women and four males. "Might as well get the introductions over with." She said, as she looked over at McGee.

The six BAU members saw five NCIS agents there on the scene and two medical examiners.

"Looks like we are working with NCIS." Rossi said, looking at the two women and five males that were there. He watched the older agent motion to his crew to walk over to them.

"You must be the FBI's BAU." Gibbs said to the six BAU agents.

"Yes, that would be us." Hotchner said, with a nod of his head.

"Good. This is my team Dr. Donald Mallard and Dr. Jimmy Palmer. I am Special Agent Gibbs. These are Special Agents McGee, DiNozzo, David, and Hotchner."

Everyone on Hotchner's team eyes were wide including Hotchner's as well.

"I am Agent Hotchner. These are Agents Morgan, Jareau, Prentiss, Rossi, and Dr. Reid." Hotchner said, noticing his younger cousin standing there with NCIS.

Keria-Leigh's team mates eyes widened as well when they heard Aaron's last name.

"Keria-Leigh." Hotchner said, to the dark haired, green eyed female, that wore the white tank top.

"Aaron..." She stated, as she looked at him.

"Hotchner... McGee." Gibbs simply stated.

"Right boss." The two younger agents said at the same time. They went right back to taking pictures like they were supposed to.

Rossi looked at Hotchner. "You didn't tell us that you had a relative that worked in NCIS."

Hotchner looked at Rossi. "I didn't know that she was working with NCIS. Last thing I heard she was in the military." He told them.

"Ducky, did you find out the time of death and what might have killed our Marine?" He asked the older male.

"Nothing yet Jethro... but I would have to take him to autopsy." Ducky said, looking at Gibbs. "Then I will be able to give you what really killed him."

"Alright Ducky..." He said with a nod of his head. "David... DiNozzo what are you two standing around for. Did you find any evidence near the dead marine's body?"

"No, boss we didn't." Tony said, looking at his boss.

"Alright DiNozzo tell McGee and Hotchner to wrap up the photos. We will find out what killed our marine shortly." He told them.

"Right boss." Tony said, running towards the two younger agents. "Hey probies! Boss says it is time to go."

Keria-Leigh turned and faced Tony slapping him upside the back of the head.

"Ow!What was that for?" He asked her.

"Rule #1 Don't call me Probie." She told him, as she shut her camera off. She walked over to the group. "What now boss?" She asked softly, looking at him.

"We go to the hotel and go from there." He told her.

Keria-Leigh nodded her head. "Alright boss."

"Hotchner I get to drive!" Tony yelled at the younger field agent.

"Sorry that ain't going to happen. I don't trust any one driving my car after Ziva." She stated, as she took her camera from around her neck. She walked towards her car putting the camera inside of her car.

"I take it that we are all staying at the same hotel." Rossi said, looking at Gibbs.

"That would be correct since we are all working together." Gibbs said, looking at the man that was close enough to his own age.

X * X * X * X * X * X

Keria-Leigh was in her hotel room unpacking the few things that she needed. She was rooming with her friend and colleague Ziva.

"So you have a relative working for the FBI." Ziva said, slightly curious of the younger woman's relationship with the one Aaron Hotchner.

Keria-Leigh took her hair down from its binding, tossing it around a little bit to fix it. "I rather not talk about Aaron." She told her friend as she changed her tank top into a black one instead of a white one that she was wearing.

There was a knock on the door.

Keria-Leigh let out a sigh and walked over to the door. She opened it and saw Hotchner standing right there. "What do you want Aaron?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Can we talk in private?" Hotchner asked, looking at his younger cousin. He was surprised to see how she looked truly. She was different from the last time that he seen her and that was when she was 15 years old.

Keria-Leigh let out a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. "Alright... I guess after ten years we have a lot to catch up on." She said softly, as she walked out of the room to talk to him. "Where to Aaron?"

"The coffee shop that is right across the street from here."

Keria-Leigh nodded her head and followed him to the coffee shop that was across the street. She knew that they probably weren't going to get anywhere on the case until they had gotten the reason for the death of the marine and probably now a few others if they didn't figure out what it was and fast. She ordered her cup of coffee and ordered him one as well. She pulled money out of her wallet and paid for it. She picked up her coffee and handed him his coffee. She quickly doctored hers up to what she liked and looked at him. "Now what was so damn important that you wanted to talk to me privately about?" She asked, as she sat down taking a sip of her overly sweet coffee.

Hotchner sat down and looked at his cousin. "I thought you were in the marines?" He said, as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Was..." She stated, as she looked down at her coffee cup. "I got injured over there." She hated admitting that she use to be something. It was something that she hated. She hated the fact that she was a has-been in the military.

"Why become an NCIS agent?" He asked, wondering why she was now part of NCIS.

"With as smart as I am Aaron they needed someone that could help out. So I took the job." She said, as she looked at him. "It wasn't a bad thing me joining NCIS... it was actually a really good thing." She laughed lightly. "DiNozzo thought that it was strange having another ex-marine working with them, but I proved him wrong on so many things that it wasn't funny." Her phone began to ring. She looked at it and saw that it was Gibbs calling. She quickly answered it. "Hotchner."

"Hotchner we need you here with Agent Hotchner. Ducky is going to tell us the reason of the marine's death. How fast do you think that you can get here?"

"I can get there in two minutes."

"Alright."

She hung up her phone. She looked up at Hotchner. "Looks like Ducky found out the cause of death." She said, as she stood up.

Hotchner nodded his head and finished what was left of his coffee. "I guess we should get going then."

The two Hotchner cousins walked back over to the hotel and saw that Ducky was arriving with Palmer.

"Keira... good to see that Jethro gave you the message." Ducky said, with a smile to the younger woman. It was slightly forced and he knew that she could tell. He knew that she was a fairly good profiler.

Keria-Leigh nodded her head and followed him inside along with Hotchner. Keria-Leigh sat down with the rest of the group in Gibbs's room that was more like an office than anything else.

Hotchner sat down with his group that was on the other side of the table.

"What did you find out the cause of death was, Ducky?" Asked Gibbs, looking at the older man.

"This was the strangest thing. What has already killed three others after it killed our Marine... it was... Anthrax."

Keria-Leigh's eyes went wide.

"Jethro this could be an act of terrorism." Ducky told Gibbs with a sad smile on his face.

Gibbs was angry. How the hell were they going to catch this guy if they didn't even know who the killer was. "Looks like we're going to be working in three groups." He stated, as he looked at the rest of the team mates on both his team and on Hotchner's. "I will take David and Rossi. Agent Hotchner will take McGee, Prentiss, and Jareau. DiNozzo will take Morgan, Keria-Leigh, and Dr. Reid."

"Right boss." Tony said, nodding his head.

"Just remember the rules DiNozzo, Keria-Leigh, and McGee."

"Right boss." The three agents said, nodding their heads.

"What rules?" Asked Prentiss, who was slightly confused of what the rules were.

"The rules that Gibbs has us follow." Keria-Leigh said, with a small smile.

"And even some of us have our own rules as well." Tony said, nodding his head.

Keria-Leigh laughed. "Ain't that the truth. You, McGee, and me all have rules. So does our forensic scientist." She shook her head.

"Ducky where is Palmer?" Gibbs asked the older man.

"I told Mr. Palmer to take a sample of the anthrax that was found to Abby."

Gibbs nodded his head. "We will be getting some information then fairly shortly from her."

The rest of them nodded their heads.

Ducky looked at Gibbs. "I am going to be heading back to DC. Mr. Palmer and I have quite a few autopsies to finish."

"Alright Ducky. I will see you when we get back."

Ducky nodded his head.

"But you should stay the night Ducky... it is rather late and you won't get back to D.C until one am." Keria-Leigh said, with a small sad smile.

Ducky patted Keria-Leigh on the shoulder. "I know you care Keria." He said, with a smile.

Keria-Leigh looked up at him.

"I will stay for tonight and then I will have to head back."

Keria-Leigh smiled knowing that she had succeeded. She saw Ducky as a grandfather since both of her grandfathers had died.

"Alright everyone get some rest and we will get to work in the morning." Gibbs told the group. He knew that it was only right for them to get some rest since tomorrow morning would be a fairly long day for them.

Each agent went to their own respective rooms to get some sleep.

X * X * X * X * X * X

Morgan looked at Reid. "It is surprising to hear that Hotch has a cousin that works with NCIS." Morgan said, as he slipped on a shirt over his buff body.

"Yes, it would appear though that she is hiding something. She had a look on her face that she didn't want Hotch to find out that she was working with NCIS." Reid said, looking up from the book that he was reading that night. He was half way through it and they had only been in the room for thirty minutes.

"You noticed that too. But I do have to say one thing that girl is hot."

Reid's face flushed. He didn't want to admit that Keria-Leigh was someone that you wouldn't expect to be a NCIS agent. She was fairly pretty. He wasn't expecting someone with green eyes to be related to Aaron Hotchner the hard core FBI agent.

"You think she is hot, Reid?" Morgan asked, sitting down on his bed.

Reid looked up at Morgan. "S-she's cute..." He told him, lying slightly. He didn't want to admit that Keria-Leigh was better than cute. She was different than any other woman that he had seen in his life. He wasn't sure that it was a good idea to mention it to his friend.

X * X * X * X * X * X

Keria-Leigh was still awake while Ziva was sound asleep. She was curled up on her bed dressed in a black camisole, and a pair of black sleep pants. She was busy reading a book that Abby had given her The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro. It was just a book of short stories, but it was a book that she enjoyed. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to get any sleep that night. Normally when they had cases like this she never slept. It was either she slept and didn't get much work done on the case or didn't sleep and got the most work done on the case. She always opted for the second one. She worked better when she was under pressure of some kind.

X * X * X * X * X * X

That is the end of this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think.