A/N: I want to say that I am humbled by all the kind comments I've received so far on this story. I truly am flabbergasted that so many folks have taken the time to read this story. I hope you do enjoy the rest. The pressure is on! Thank you all again!
Emily Prentiss hurried into the warm police station out of the bitter cold of the DC morning. For a brief moment, she felt caught between two climates as the heat made the cold skin on her face tingle as blood began to circulate again, but the bitter chill penetrated through her clothes to rake icy fingers against her spine. Abruptly, the cold disappeared as Rossi let the door close behind him.
"Who knew just walking a couple of hundred feet from the car could turn you into an iceberg," Rossi said through chattering teeth as he rubbed his arms, trying to warm up quickly.
"It didn't help that the heater gave out in the car," Emily shivered. She sneezed quietly. She rolled her shoulders slightly, the ache in her body that she woke up with yesterday was much worse today, but she wasn't about to let Rossi know about it. "What a bust this morning was." They had been following up a lead that lead to nothing.
"We don't seem to be getting anywhere on this one," Rossi groused as he began to strip off his gloves and scarf.
A week ago, they had been called in to investigate a series of murders that had taken place in the tri-state area of Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland. Due to the multiple states the bodies had been found in, the Bureau was given jurisdiction and the Director wanted the best team on the case which, despite recent events, was still Aaron Hotchner's team.
There was great pressure to solve the case and many doubted Hotch's abilities so soon after the death of his ex-wife. The victims had been tall, slender brunettes in their 30s or 40s. Emily bore a passing physical resemblance to the women, but there was something else that she had in common with the victims. They were all women who came from prominent families and who themselves were successful in their own professions. One was a well-known environmental attorney, another an investment banker and one victim was the CFO of a Fortune 500 company. Combined with their familial ties, the calls to capture the monster killing these women were great.
Not that they were getting any special treatment from Hotchner. He would have pursued this Unsub with the same zeal and determination if the victims had been prostitutes or homeless women. The horrific torture the women had suffered only spurred him to greater efforts. The victims were found with several holes drilled into their skulls in a crude attempt at performing a lobotomy. The women had suffered repeated sexual assaults. The theory was the Unsub was trying to create a docile woman, that he deliberately targeted these powerful women in order to make them into to obedient, sexual servants. When he tired of them, he would strangle them and dump their bodies in various locations.
As grotesque as the crimes had been, their depraved killer was also a smart one. Very little forensic evidence had been found and aside from the generalities of looks and background, there was little to connect the victims together. The BAU team had been having no luck so far and the lack of progress was frustrating everyone.
"Maybe Hotch has something," Emily said as she nodded towards their team leader. They could see him through the glass that surrounded the room they had been given to use as their command center. Both agents could clearly see Hotch talking animatedly and grimly on the phone.
"Doesn't look like its good news," Rossi observed.
"It doesn't ever seem to be these days," was Emily's soft response. When Foyet was loose and Jack and Haley were in hiding, she knew Hotch missed them both, especially his son. However, he wasn't always grim. Maybe it was his determination to catch Foyet that drove him, but there was still a spark of something within the man. But with Haley's death, that spark was gone. All that was left was just a drive to catch the monsters they chased. Any softness, any light that remained in Aaron Hotchner was saved for his son. All they and anyone else saw was just this avenging warrior who stopped at nothing, and felt nothing.
"Whoever he's talking to is getting Aaron pretty worked up," the other agent commented. "Which is my cue to go look for some coffee." Emily agreed and the two were about to move off when Hotch suddenly flung open the door to the office he was in and he barked out,
"Prentiss! You're with me!" He strode past them while putting on his black overcoat and flung open the door to the station with a loud bang.
Emily looked at Rossi in dismay. He returned the look with a sympathetic one of his own. She sighed and rebuttoned her coat as she hurried out of the stationhouse and back into the cold.
She practically sprinted over to the SUV that she and Rossi had parked minutes ago. Hotch had already started it up and she could see through the windshield that he was waiting impatiently for her, his fingers tapping the steering wheel. Emily slid into the passenger seat and had barely closed the door before Hotch peeled out of the parking lot on squealing tires.
Emily looked over at Hotch in alarm. He never drove this aggressively unless there was some urgent reason. "What happened?" she asked, concern written over her face. "Where are we going?"
"After you and Rossi left this morning, another victim was found in Rock Creek Park. It appears she was dumped sometime last night."
Emily closed her eyes. With each new victim they felt a sense of failure and a growing helplessness. She let out a small sigh.
Hotch continued, ignoring his companion's small sign of distress. "Reid and Morgan are already there."
Emily looked at him with an arched eyebrow. With one team already dispatched, it was unusual for Hotch to send anyone else. "Did they find something new?"
"I don't know," Hotch snapped out.
She was taken aback by his tone. While Hotch had pulled back from the team considerably since Haley's death, he never displayed any anger or rudeness to them but he seemed angry or rather angry with her. Emily racked her brain for something she might have done to upset him. But even if she had, that didn't explain why they were going to a crime scene while a team was already there or why Hotch had no idea what was going on with the new victim.
"I don't understand," she decided was the best way to respond.
Hotch glanced at her with his sunglass covered eyes for a long moment before he returned his attention back to the road. "The reason Morgan and Reid have not been able to find anything out is because they haven't been able to do anything is because another agency has taken control of the crime scene."
She blinked at him in surprise. "Another agency? What other agency would be investigating a murder?"
Hotch turned back towards her to give her another hard stare. "NCIS, or more specifically, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs."
Her lips parted slightly in surprise as she gave him a wide-eyed gaze. No sound came out but one word echoed loudly in her head,
Crap.
Ominous clouds had gathered in the sky by the time Hotch and Emily arrived at Rock Creek Park. Hotch parked and got out of the car quickly. He strode forward with long strides, not caring if Emily was following him. He was too angry that Gibbs was interfering with his investigation and irrationally, some of that anger was directed at Emily merely because she was friends with the man who was proving to be such an obstacle to him.
Morgan and Reid were standing just outside the yellow crime scene tape where a lone female NCIS agent was watching them carefully, making sure they didn't breach the perimeter.
"Morgan!" Hotch cried out sharply. "What's going on?"
"At this point we don't know, Hotch," Morgan replied. He threw Ziva David an annoyed look. "We haven't even been allowed near the body."
"I have orders to make certain the crime scene is not contaminated," Ziva responded as she folded her arms over her chest.
Hotch's brown darkened dangerously. He stepped closer to the petite woman who merely stared back at him with a bored look. "Listen here agent, NCIS is interfering with an ongoing FBI investigation. You are to stand aside right now."
"My orders are to make sure the crime scene remains secure," Ziva said in a crisp tone. "That means you do not cross this line."
"Ziva?" Emily came hurrying up.
"Emily, Shalom," the Israeli woman said in a warmer tone than she had been using with Emily's male teammates. She turned a grin to Hotch. "I am still not letting you through."
Just as the day had darkened considerably as the minutes ticked by, so had Hotch's temper. "I can have you and the rest of your team brought up on charges for deliberately hindering a federal investigation," snarled out.
"Might be kinda hard since you don't know if it is a part of your investigation," Gibbs said as he came up to the group. "Hotchner."
"Gibbs," Aaron ground out. He turned to Morgan. "Morgan? Reid?"
"We uh, never got close to the body so we can't confirm if it is the work of the same killer," Reid replied in a sheepish tone.
Gibbs' smirk nearly sent Hotch into an apoplectic fit.
"Gibbs," Emily said in a weary voice. "Come on, it won't hurt to let us to look at the body." She knew Hotch and the NCIS agent did not like each other. She knew it was partially due to her. Both were alpha males to the extreme, but Gibbs had gotten it into his mind that Hotch was an unworthy team leader. As the FBI man's subordinate, Emily, in Gibbs' mind, had to suffer the other man's ineffective leadership. She wasn't certain where Gibbs got such an idea. When she first met Jethro it had been a rocky time between herself and Hotch, but she had never given any indication that the other man's abilities as an agent and team leader should be questioned. Gibbs simply didn't like Hotch.
Gibbs' cold eyes immediately softened when he took in Emily's appearance. She looked tired and cold. His usual annoyance with Hotchner's existence went up a notch. She looked like she was freezing and sick, yet the dumbass dragged her out into this miserable weather.
"Emily, you look cold," Gibbs stepped over to the brunette and looked over her face in concern. Her eyes were red-rimmed with dark circles underneath. She shouldn't be out in this freeing weather. He shot an accusatory glare at Hotch who bristled immediately.
"Agent Prentiss is fine and doing her job," Hotch's voice was as cold as the air that bit sharply at them.
Emily flushed in embarrassment and hastily interjected. "I'm fine, really. But getting back to the case, Gibbs, come on, it's highly likely this victim was killed by the killer we've been chasing for over a week."
"Over a week?" Gibbs' voice scaled up and Emily winced internally, realizing the mistake she had made. "You guys haven't found this killer yet?" Gibbs believed if fast results and resolutions. If Hotch was unable to figure out the case after more than a week working on it, then it might be better if someone else took over. So sayeth Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
Hotch's eyes narrowed at the obvious criticism behind Gibbs' question. "Our unsub has left very little evidence. That's why it's important for us to examine this victim."
"Her name is Commander Laura Hill," Gibbs growled out. "She was an officer in the United States Navy. Her case is mine." He ducked under the tape and began to walk away. He called out over his shoulder. "We'll let you know if we find anything."
Hotch glared after Gibbs' retreating back. His glare was then turned on Emily who was looking after Gibbs with a distressed look on her face. She looked at her supervisor and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Hotch, but I'm not going to get him to budge on this one. Only his boss will make Gibbs change his mind and even then I suspect he'll find a way around it."
"We'll see about that," Hotch replied as he pulled out his cell phone to inform his Director of the recent developments.
"Well, you've pissed off the Bureau. Again."
Gibbs merely looked at Director Vance and replied, "Commander Hill was a Naval officer and her murder falls under our jurisdiction. They have no proof she's a victim of the killer they've failed to find after almost a week on the job."
"That's because you wouldn't allow them to examine the body to see if it was the same killer." Vance seemed more amused than upset. He leaned back in his chair. "I hear Emily Prentiss' team is the group involved."
Gibbs grunted.
"You and her boss aren't exactly friends, I understand."
"Don't know much about Hotchner," was Gibbs' only reply.
"But you've decided you don't like the man." It wasn't a question.
"Doesn't matter what I think about the man." Gibbs shrugged.
"Oh, it might," Leon Vance said with a smirk that boded no good for the NCIS agent.
Gibbs' eyes narrowed as Vance buzzed his secretary and said, "Send him in."
A few seconds later, Aaron Hotchner walked through the door. He glanced at Gibbs, but dismissed him with a curt, "Gibbs."
"Hotchner."
Aaron turned his attention to Director Vance who was rising from his chair. "Director Vance," the FBI agent greeted as he held out his hand.
"Agent Hotchner. I've heard good things about your work. I also had the pleasure of having Emily Prentiss working with Agent Gibbs' team a few months ago. Exceptional agent."
Hotch acknowledged the compliment with an inclination of his head.
"Actually, that collaboration worked so well, I was able to convince your Director to allow you and Agent Gibbs to work together on this case."
"What?" both agents asked simultaneously.
Vance smiled. "You see, Commander Hill was the daughter of Admiral Warren Hill, a good friend of the Secretary of the Navy. Director Bernard at the Bureau couldn't very well refuse SecNav's request to have Gibbs run point on Commander Hill's case. I'm sure two such esteemed agent will have this case solved in no time. Afterall, you two represent the best of your respective agencies." Vance sat back down in his chair, the smirk wider than before.
A muscle worked in Hotch's jaw, but what could he say? What could he do? This was an order from his Director and the Secretary of the Navy. He looked over to Gibbs and could see the other man was just as displeased by these developments.
Hotch smothered a sigh. Against both their wishes, it appeared as though they would need to work together on what was already turning out to be a difficult case. Somehow, Hotch knew having Gibbs and his team on it as well wasn't going to make things easier.
