AN: Thank you for the reviews and reading. Glad I got some people's attention and hope I can please you guys.

Warning: I feel like this one is pretty boring. I set up the whole case basically so... a lot of description and all of that. So... sorry but it's a necessary evil.

That's about it so...

Chapter Two:


FOUR DAYS EARLIER

Reid unconsciously swished from side to side in his chair as he read his daily regimen of articles on the computer. Things had been oddly quiet at the BAU for the past couple of days which was a relief to Reid but it also made him antsy. He did not like to idly sit around very much which made this job perfect for him because there was usually always some case to solve and puzzle to piece together. However, this had not been the case for the past few days.

So, today, Reid chose to get updates on some of the various cases they had worked and memorable people they had met along the way. He had already looked up a Dr. Barton whose son had been targeted when really the target was the doctor himself. This was memorable for Reid who had been shot during that case as well as the Hotch/Foyet ordeal, but he had also been curious about the Barton's themselves. Apparently, Dr. Barton had been promoted recently and his son was accepted into a very prestigious school. Reid smiled, knowing that the team had played a major role in where that family was now.

Then there was Sarah Hillridge whose son was one of many abducted but also one of three saved. Charlie, Sarah's son, had been held for almost a decade but Sarah had never given up on him and it paid off for her as well as the other parents who, if nothing else, got closure from her persistence. The powerful connection between mother and child had intrigued Reid from this case and he was pleased to see that they were also doing well in the aftermath.

Finally, there was the case of young women disappearing in the Atlanta club scene in which the team had worked with a Detective Rachel Harding. This is where the good news had ended. Rachel Harding had gone missing five days before being found dead in Louisiana. As curious as that was, the story persisted with the fact that she had been abducted in the middle of the night and was found with absolutely no identification. In fact, the only reason that she was identified was because a family member of hers who was vacationing in the area saw the report about Rachel and was able to identify her body.

Reid frowned as he read this, not only because he had worked closely with this woman, but also because of the case itself. The police had of course looked into it but they had no suspects and no leads which had left the case cold for several months now.

With the gut feeling that something wasn't right, Reid decided to look further into this case. Given how wide the parameters were, he would first have to find a pattern, if one existed. That meant looking into the notable elements of this case: law enforcement officer, abduction, murdered several states away. First, he pulled up missing law enforcement officers and was almost surprised at how many results were returned.

After quickly reading the details of the case, he then decided to narrow the search more by only looking at people taken from the eastern half of the United States. Finally, he looked into any cases that had been solved.

"What you doing, kid?"

Reid jumped at Morgan's inquiry, clearly having been quite engulfed in his research.

"Oh, nothing," he replied, not wanting to get to bring up a case that may not even exist. "Just doing some research."

Morgan looked at the screen and frowned. "Missing officers? Pretty depressing, Reid."

"Um, yes, but who knows what kind of patterns one may find when looking at data…"

Morgan grinned and rolled his eyes. "Man, you are just itching for a case, aren't you?"

Reid shrugged, wanting the conversation to end quickly.

"Just don't get too caught up in it, or you'll start seeing things that aren't there," Morgan stated and followed up with a friendly slap to the shoulder.

Reid frowned. Maybe he was itching for a case. Or maybe the death of a fellow law enforcement officer that he had personally worked with got to him. Either way, he owed it to Rachel Harding to at least follow through with it and check all possibilities.

So, turning back to the computer, he examined the new results of solved cases. He began reading and before he had even realized that half an hour had passed, he was done and was rather surprised at his findings.


Aaron Hotchner stood along the rail overlooking the bullpen. He often found himself observing his agents, especially during times like these when there were no cases. As important as it was to observe them in action, he also found that monitoring them at leisure was also important. They all had their ways of handling the horrors of the job and for the most part, they were usually in light moods during down times. They would joke and speak with each other playfully; catching up on what little of the lives they had outside of the job.

Especially after everything that had happened with Emily's presumed death and resurrection, Hotch was finally beginning to see the team become a family once more. The ladies seemed to fall into place rather easily with JJ having known the truth the whole time and Garcia being far too pleased to be upset. Rossi had not seemed to surprised or upset by it all but Hotch had a feeling the legendary agent had guessed what was going on quite some time ago . Morgan and Reid, however, had taken it the hardest: Morgan angry for being kept in the dark and Reid hurt and betrayed for the same reasons.

Still, that was almost two months ago now and both Morgan and Reid had been doing a lot better. Still, as Hotch observed them all, he noticed that Reid was the only one who was not at all social with the others. JJ, Morgan and Rossi were all speaking to each other and laughing while Prentiss and Garcia was seemingly engaged in a conversation about cats. But Reid was alone. He didn't seem upset; in fact, he seemed extremely engaged with whatever he was working on.

Hotch had been watching him off and on for about two hours now. It had started with him looking through articles on the internet, then it was followed by unknown searches and now he had been on the phone several times and this last call had lasted for at least twenty minutes. All the while, Reid had been getting more and more interested in whatever he was doing.

Knowing that Reid would not be talking to anyone for the fun of it, Hotch was suddenly curious at what the man could have possibly been doing. But, after watching him get up and walk directly to Hotch with a determined look on his face, it was clear Aaron wouldn't have to wait much longer to find out.

"Hotch, I found something!" he stated importantly, coming up to Aaron.

"What is it?" Hotch asked, reaching for the manila folder he held in his hands. Hotch opened it and was immediately met with a familiar face.

"That's Detective Rachel Harding," Reid began, clearly noticing the confused look on Aaron's face. "We worked with her in Atlanta a couple years ago. Remember? The case about the pick-up artist who was killing girls from a bar?"

Hotch nodded, suddenly remembering the case. He flipped to the next page and was taken aback to now see a picture of Detective Harding on an autopsy table.

"She was abducted from her home in Atlanta four months ago and was found five days later in Lousiana. She was found with no I.D. and was only identified because a family member was on vacation in Louisiana and saw the report."

Hotch looked up at Reid who showed no signs of being done with the presentation.

"The case went cold so I decided to do a little digging and turns out there are two other law enforcement officers over the past six years who were abducted from different states along the eastern coast but were all found several states away with no identification. And all of the victims were beaten and eventually shot to death."

Reid took another deep breath and flipped the pages in Hotch's hands before continuing.

"And all of these victims were discovered purely by happenstance. Rachel Harding's family member was on vacation, Danny Finch was recognized by a former colleague and Ronald Darling was matched because he apparently had enough time to write his name in his own blood before dying. His case was the earliest so I'm guessing the unsub hadn't perfected his techniques."

Hotch finished looking at Reid's reports then looked back at the young agent. He couldn't deny it, it seemed as though Reid had stumbled across an actual case. He would need more details of course, but so far it looked like the real deal.

"Alright Reid," Hotch said and closed the folder. "Let's pull the team together and see what else we can find and go from there."


A few hours and several phone calls later, the team came together in the conference room. Hotch remained standing and watched as photos of victims were placed on the boards and Garcia pulled up other pictures and articles on the screen.

"Alright Reid, present," Hotch encouraged, wanting the young man to present the case he had discovered.

Reid, looking strangely embarrassed stood up and began repeating what he had already told Hotch, only this time he continued on and with more detail.

"I pulled up the autopsy reports and found that in addition to being beaten and shot, all of the victims were tossed out like trash in alley ways. All except Detective Harding," he clarified, pulling up the picture of the woman at the crime scene. "I talked with someone from the Atlanta police department and while still left in an alley, she did show some signs of remorse in her positioning. See how her hair is neatly brushed out of her face and the newspapers seem almost like a blanket?" he continued, pointing to the enlarged picture on the screen.

Hotch had to look away briefly, finding it hard to look at Detective Harding after having worked with her personally.

"The others were simply trash to the unsub but the small details of Rachel Harding suggest that the unsub cared about her at least to some degree. Now, so far there is no connection between the victims other than the fact that they are all law enforcement officers, but I guarantee you they will all have some connection to the unsub and Rachel Harding's will probably be the most obvious given her subtle, but apparent positioning."

"So we have a cop killer?" Morgan said in disgust. Hotch was not surprised by this reaction given that Morgan had spent so much of his time as an officer himself. These cases always struck home for him.

"It would appear so," Emily stated as she thumbed through the pictures on her iPad. "And who knows how many more this unsub has killed. Given his method there may be many people who were never identified."

"Which means we have a case," Rossi chimed in.

"And a difficult one, at that," JJ added.

There was no disagreement on that one. Given the nature of this unsub, the case would be much different than normal.

"We are going to have to approach this one a little differently," Hotch said, his hand resting on his chin. "It would be best to get as much information as possible from here before heading out to any certain location. Hopefully we will be able to gather more data before he strikes again.

"Garcia, look into the other missing persons and compare them with unidentified victims and see if there are any possible matches. JJ, Morgan and Prentiss contact each of the police departments and let them all know what's going on, collect more information and let them know we will contact them if we get any more information. Reid and Rossi, I want you to dive further into our victim's history and see if you can find any connections or even better, our unsub. I'll let Strauss know what's going on then be around to check in with you guys."

Everyone nodded then went in their respective directions to begin their jobs but before Reid left the room, Hotch called after him.

"Reid."

The young agent turned around with an inquisitive look.

"Good work."

After a brief moment of surprise, Reid grinned nervously and nodded before leaving the room. Hotch took a deep breath then began on his own task.


EN: Okay hope it wasn't too awful for anyone. Okay, here's a big thing that's been worrying me: I tried to research whether or not all law enforcement officers are in a database based on their DNA because it seems like a good idea but it would make this storyline very impossible to play out. However, after at least an hour of trying, I did not find an answer either way. So, if any of you know that they all are in a database, then feel free to tell me but we are just going to pretend like that database doesn't exist. Unless it bothers people too much because then I'll just abandon the story. Okay, that's all folks. Until next time!