Please feel free to leave constructive criticism/requests for subsequent chapters. This story is really more for my own edification, though, so if you don't like it, feel free to move on.

This story will feature Reid as a central character, as well as my original female character, Riley Templeton. However, there are mentions of/conversations including Rossi, Hotch, Morgan, J.J., and Prentiss, as well as a few background OCs (minor roles like local police chiefs and such for cases they work).

TRIGGER WARNING for EDs and sexual assault. Includes some description of graphic violence, as well as details about food/calories/body image. All OCs described in this or following chapters are of my own creation, and any resemblance to real people or other fictional characters is purely coincidental. I own nothing.

"Templeton," Hotch's voice booms across the bullpen. "We've got a case. Debrief on the plane, Wheels up in 30," he tells me. Even though that never means good news, I can't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the thought of getting out of finishing my paperwork. I ease myself out of my chair and head to the kitchenette attached to the bullpen to top off my coffee before heading towards the jet. I grab my lunch box out of the fridge while I'm there. There will be food wherever we're going, sure, but there's no sense wasting what I already have. To avoid being teased over it by the rest of the team, I shove the canvas container into my Go-Bag.

I'm one of the first ones in the jet aside from Hotch and J.J. Hotch glances at me briefly as he hands me a file, his face as stern as ever, before his eyes return to his own folder filled with what I'm sure are gruesome images and pages detailing the levels of depravity of our next bad guy. Just another day at the office. I settle into a seat by myself and glance through today's reading material before the rest of the team gets here. Rossi arrives next, choosing the seat across from Hotch. He's the only one that dares place himself opposite our boss in a business setting. At social gatherings, Hotch is a much less formidable force, even cracking a smile upon occasion. On the job, though, the seat at Hotch's metaphorical right hand is indisputably in Rossi's possession. Morgan and Prentiss follow close behind, Prentiss sitting across from J.J. and Morgan opting to sit in the other empty set of chairs to wait for Reid rather than taking the seat by me, the newbie. The minutes tick by and we're all glancing at our watches, waiting for the final member of the team to show up so we can begin our journey. Finally, Reid makes an appearance, just shy of the 30-minute time limit imposed by Hotch. He shuffles in, mumbling an apology as well as some flimsy excuse about there being a long checkout line at the library, and slinks into the seat adjacent Morgan's. The young genius doesn't have much of a social life, so it's rare that many of us arrive on the jet before he does. Odd. I make a mental note of it.

"Seven bodies have made an appearance in southern Maryland. All of them show evidence of repeated sexual assault, as well as ligature marks on the wrists. All were strangled, and all were young women matching similar physical descriptions," J.J. begins. "The reason we were only just called in is because locals didn't recognize this as a signature and because a few of the bodies were disposed of across county lines, although it's unclear if this was an intentional forensic countermeasure or just a coincidence."

"Repeated sexual assault… so does that mean he's holding them somewhere? A secondary location points to the unsub being an organized offender," Morgan muses.

"The ligature marks appear to show the type of bruising that one would accrue if bound for a week or two. If that's the case, any drugs that could have been used are likely out of their systems by the time an autopsy is performed, making it nearly impossible to tell how he initially subdues his victims," Reid adds.

"But rape that escalates to murder is most often seen from the anger-retaliatory or anger-excitation subtypes. Aside from the sexual assaults, no aspects of torture appear to be present, which rules out an anger-excitation offender, but if he fell under the category of anger-retaliatory, the cause of death would most likely be blunt force trauma from a brutal beating delivered by the unsub. Strangulation, though… now that's a whole different beast," Rossi counters.

"We need to find out if he holds them for a fixed amount of time before he kills them and, if not, what's causing him to escalate to murder with his victims. Aside from the fact that they were all killed the same way, we don't have much to go off of as far as figuring out his signature, or if he even has one," says Hotch. "The fact that all of the victims were tourists or lived lives that were transient enough so as to minimize connection with other members of society makes it difficult to form an exact timeline."

"Okay, but the first body found was found, what, just over 5 months ago? That only gives around 2-3 weeks between murders, and the time between body discoveries is getting shorter. So either he's holding them for shorter periods of time or he's spending less and less time between the murder and the next abduction. Either way, he's devolving, and there's no evidence he'll stop anytime soon," Prentiss inserts with a worried voice. The rest of the team adopts their own expressions of contemplation. The mood is dark, and the rest of the flight is, for the most part, silent.