Chapter 1 Bring in the BAU

Summary: Brutal murders plague the northeast zoos, the most recent at the Philadelphia Zoo. The BAU is called to assist and Dr. Spencer Reid finds himself protecting a beautiful vet. Can he help keep her safe or will his feelings cause more harm than good? R&R! :)

Of all the creatures ever made [man] is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one...that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. ~Mark Twain~

Philadelphia Zoo,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A young woman walked into her office and set her messenger bag down on a chair. She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a black medical bag. Checking her watch, the woman left the room and began making her rounds throughout the zoo before the visitors arrived. Her last stop was the tigers' den.

She opened the door and walked inside. There was no other noise besides her shoes as she walked across the outdoor facility. Something on the ground caught her attention and she bent down to take a closer look. Suddenly, there was a low noise and she whipped her head around.

"Sasha," she said with a smile but confused, "What are you doing out here baby?"

The tiger, Sasha, just rubbed her face against the woman's body and purred loudly. The woman patted the majestic beast's head distractedly. Something was wrong. All the animals slept in their roomy cages inside for the evening. What was Sasha doing outside?

Just then, another tiger came over and the woman froze. There was something red all over the tiger's face…

"Raja?" she said as the other tiger came friendly towards her, "What's that on your face buddy?"

Raja licked his face and turned back the way he came. The woman slowly walked over, all her senses on high alert. She arrived at the tigers' watering hole and saw it was blood red. She looked around and saw a sight that made her blood run cold.

Beside the water was a mutilated body. Gashes covered ever inch of the person and they were red from blood. The woman stood frozen with shock until Raja nudged her gently in the leg. She realized she had to keep calm, otherwise the tigers would feel her anxiety and become unruly. She had to move the tigers inside.

"Come on babies," she said softly, reaching into her bag and pulling out strips of meat from a container.

The tigers eagerly followed the woman into their cages and devoured the meat hungrily. She wondered how they could still be hungry and shivered violently.

"What happened last night?" she whispered and dialed 9-1-1 on her cell phone.

Dr. Spencer Reid's Apartment

Quantico, Virginia

Dr. Spencer Reid groaned loudly at the sound of his alarm clock but resisted the urge to hit the "Sleep" button. J.J had told them yesterday they would most likely have a new case today so they needed to sleep well and not be late. Reid turned the alarm clock off, stretched, and headed into the bathroom to get ready.

Ten minutes later, the young doctor was eating toast while throwing a shirt over his head. Once he was fully dressed, he looked at his reflection in the full-length mirror. Spencer Reid was a tall, scrawny man of twenty-six. He had brown hair that hung barely past his ears and brown, expressive eyes. As he ran his fingers through his hair, he decided he liked his hair long and thought maybe he'd let it grow a little more. He was wearing a dark green long-sleeved shirt with a brown sweater vest and long brown pants.

Reid sighed again as he adjusted the gun on his belt. He had told Gideon once that he looked like a teacher's assistant without his gun. Now though, he thought he looked like a teacher's assistant with a gun. He was so young that a gun looked awkward on him. It was one of the down sides of being the youngest member of the BAU, but Spencer loved what he did and never regretted taking Gideon's offer to join the team.

At least I earned the right to carry a gun this time, he thought in an attempt to cheer himself up.

It was true. Spencer had passed his gun qualification just last week. Hotch had continued to give Reid lessons after Reid had saved his superior by shooting the man in the head. Now the young doctor could hit someone in the leg if he was aiming for it instead of hitting them between the eyes.

Once the doctor made sure he looked presentable, he walked out of his apartment, got into his car, and drove to the BAU headquarters.

FBI, Behavioral Analysis Unit Headquarters

Quantico, Virginia

"We received the call this morning at around seven," J.J explained as she passed out the files to the team in the briefing room, "The victim is a white female, that's all we know."

"What do you mean that's all we know?" Hotch asked, "They haven't identified the body yet?"

"Not yet, they have to use dental records," said J.J, "But it should be identified by the time we get there."

"What, does this person not have any finger prints?" Morgan asked.

"No, they don't have fingers," said Gideon as he opened the file, "Or hands for that matter."

Reid was puzzled until he saw the crime scene photos. It took him a few seconds to realize what he was looking at was a body. It was so mutilated that it didn't even look human.

"Jeez, this unsub is a monster," Prentiss said.

"The unsub didn't do this," Reid said as he sped through the file, "Two tigers were found at the crime scene, one had blood all over its face. It looks as if the tigers were the killers."

"There we go, case solved," said Morgan, throwing the file on the table, "Next case please."

"Not quite actually," continued Reid, "Over the past week, zoo workers along the northern east coast have died. They were all found in the dens of dangerous animals. The last one was at the Camden Aquarium in a tank full of sharks. The one before that was at the Metro Richmond Zoo and the black bears had-"

"I think we got it Spence," said Morgan and Reid blushed slightly, turning back to the file.

"So the unsub is using animal instinct to cover the evidence," said Gideon, "The animals smell blood and think it's their meal."

"Let's go to the plane and continue from there," said Hotch and they all left the office for the airport.

Philadelphia Zoo

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Reid walked through the gates of the zoo and followed the rest of the team to the tiger area. The zoo was closed for today but there was still a crowd of people waiting on the other side of the "Crime Scene" tape. Spencer often wondered what it was about violence that interested people. Whenever there was an accident on the side of the road, people stopped to watch. Football was one of the most popular sports in America and it consisted of two teams running and attempting to beat the stuffing out of the other. There was something about violent acts that brought people in.

"Can I help you?" an officer asked. Hotch flashed his badge to the cop.

"I'm SA Aaron Hotchner, this is SA's Jason Gideon, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, and Jenifer Jareau, and this is Dr. Spencer Reid. We're from the Behavioral Analysis Unit from the FBI."

"Oh right, the captain said you'd be coming. Follow me," the officer said.

They followed the officer into a room and through a door that led to the tiger's outdoor area. On the other side of the area were a pool full of red water and two men and a woman talking. The one man was tall and dark, wearing a police uniform. He had a pad of paper in his hand and was listening to the other man. The woman had her arms crossed and looked like she was in shock. Reid could tell by her body language she was uncomfortable with the situation.

"Captain Johnson!" the officer called and the man looked up. He said a couple words to the other man and walked over.

"Welcome agents, I'm glad you guys could come out so quickly," the captain said as he shook hands with Hotch, "I was talking with the zoo's owner, Mr. Oliver Twain. He said that there's always a worker here during the evening in case one of the animals gets sick. We identified the woman as Dr. Sally Dinucci. She was thirty-five years old and had been working here for about ten years. She was apparently very experienced with the tigers and she specialized with large animals."

Reid looked at the owner. He was a big, broad-shouldered guy with thick black hair, tan skin, and dark eyes. He had an air of authority about him as he talked with the woman beside him.

"Who's the girl?" Reid asked, nodding towards the woman. The captain looked over his shoulder.

"That's Dr. Olivia Tusconi. She found the body this morning while making her rounds around the zoo."

Reid looked back at the doctor. She was talking now and was obviously not happy. Her hands were moving animatedly as she talked and her face was angry.

"All right Morgan and Reid, go talk with Dr. Tusconi while J.J and I talk to Mr. Twain," said Hotch.

"Agent Prentiss and I will stay with you captain and go over the other cases," said Gideon, "We'll meet at the station in two hours and compile information. We should have a complete profile by then."

Everyone nodded and left. Reid and Morgan followed Hotch and J.J over to the doctor and owner. Immediately they stopped talking.

"Mr. Twain, I'm Special Agent Hotchner and this is Special Agent Jareau. We're from the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI and have a couple questions we'd like to ask you," said Hotch, showing the man his badge.

"I've already talked with the police and answered their questions," Mr. Twain said, not even bothering to hide his annoyance.

"We understand, but our questions will be different from those of the police," J.J said and Mr. Twain nodded, following the two agents to a more private place to talk. Dr. Tusconi looked at Reid and Morgan with a suspicious gaze.

"And I take it you're FBI as well?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm Dr. Spencer Reid and this is Special Agent Derek Morgan," Reid said, "We just have a few questions, it won't take long."

"Do you mind if we go to my office?" the doctor asked, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering, "I've been standing here for hours and need to get away from here and sit down."

"Lead the way," Morgan said and Dr. Tusconi smiled a little.

As they walked, Spencer looked at the doctor. She was extremely pretty with long dark brown hair that was pulled back in a neat ponytail. She was tall and slight, and walked with an air of grace and importance. He remembered her eyes were a deep brown and full of sadness. Today's events had taken an emotional toll on her.

She led them to a small building behind the tiger's area and unlocked the front door. There was a main room with a desk and computer where a man was typing and looked up.

"Can I get you anything Doctor?" he asked in a kind tone.

"No, but thank you Steve," she said and introduced them to the man. "Steve is an intern from Drexel University," she explained as Morgan and Reid shook hands with the young man.

"We may need to talk with you later," said Morgan and Steve seemed eager to help.

"Sally was a great veterinarian," he said, "She will be sorely missed around here."

"If anyone calls for me, tell them I'm busy please," Dr. Tusconi said and Steve nodded.

She led the agents into her office and closed the door behind them. She let out a huge breath and went over to the coffee machine.

"Can I get you anything? I have hot chocolate, tea, or coffee," she said.

Morgan shook his head and Reid declined the offer. He actually would have loved some coffee, but then again he always wanted coffee. Morgan cast him a side-long look as if to say, "Since when did you refuse free coffee?" but Reid ignored him. He didn't want to be rude and have something while Morgan didn't.

"Then if you gentlemen don't mind, I need some hot chocolate," she continued as she poured a packet of brown powder and steaming water into a mug, "It's my weakness I'm afraid. I can't stand drinking tea or coffee, although I love the smell of coffee in the morning, but give me a cup of hot chocolate and I'll do anything you ask."

She sat down and smiled at the agents, sipping her drink.

"So," she said, "I guess you want to know what happened last night?"

Author's Note: Hi everyone! This is my first Criminal Minds story, although I wrote a one-shot before. Any tips, suggestions, praises, or constructive criticisms are always appreciated. Reid is my favorite character so this fanfic is centered around him. Also, it is a total coincidence that the head of the zoo's last name is Twain and the quote I used is by Mark Twain. I found the quote right before I posted this and really liked it. :) Big shout-out to my little sister who listened to me trying to explain this story to her. She's introduced me to the show so if you like this story, you have her to thank for it. Please tell me what you think and I promise to update soon!