Title: Meeting of the Minds

Author: jareaufan

Fandom: Criminal Minds/South of Nowhere

Pairing: Ashley/Morgan friendship, Ashley/Spencer relationship

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or South of Nowhere, this is just a work of fiction for fan entertainment. All similarities to actual people and places are pure coincidence.

Author's Note: Please review if you read. Anonymous or signed. By the way, Spencer refers to Spencer from SoN, not Dr. Reid from CriMi. Thank you to letsbefrankimawkward for the lovely review you left on "Tequila in the Tequila" (Chapter One).

As soon as Morgan and Ashley stepped out of the elevator, and onto the Behavioral Analysis Unit's floor, they quickly made their way to the bullpen and then to their neighboring desks. Their go-bags – duffel bags packed with outfits and necessities for whenever they were called up for a case – were placed on the desktops while they each gathered up materials to take notes with. Notepads and pens in hand, the friends then ascended the stairs to the raised level and entered the conference room – taking seats on both sides of Penelope Garcia, the pleasantly plump Technical Analyst for the BAU.

Garcia slid the two extra cups of coffee in front of her to the two Agents. "So what's up with this arriving together nonsense?" She asked, teasing her friends. "Something I should know about?" She smiled.

"You know what happened last night Garcia." Ashley replied, cherishing a sip from the coffee.

Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid then entered the room, a tall, lanky, socially-awkward genius – Reid was usually the last to be invited in on secrets or jokes, mostly because it always took him a few seconds to fully "get it." He set his own coffee down on the table in front of the empty seat next to Ashley, along with his messenger bag, before he took his seat. "What happened?"

"Ashley and Morgan hooked up last night." Garcia offered, causing Ashley to almost choke on her next sip of coffee.

Reid shook his head. "I'm not that easy to fool Garcia. Ashley called me this morning and asked me to drive her car here since I live close to the bar and usually take the train." The genius then retrieved Ashley's car keys from his messenger bag and handed them to their owner.

"Thank you Reid." Ashley replied.

"Not a problem."

Unit Chief Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner then entered the room – a dark-haired and almost perpetually serious man, he was followed by SSA David Rossi – the senior most member of the team, the older tan-skinned Italian-American was one of the original members of the BSU, the BAU's very first incarnation. Rossi was followed by SSA Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, the blonde-haired media/local law enforcement liaison who chose the cases that the team went on.

JJ shut the door, and then handed out copies of the casefile to the team after Hotch and Rossi took their seats. "Everybody good?" She asked before pressing a button on a remote, which turned on the LCD screen on the wall in front of them. "The Cincinnati, Ohio Field Office has called for our help." She pressed the button again, bringing up a few crime scene photos and the DMV photos of the victims pictured in each. "Over the past week and a half they've seen five people, all of differing backgrounds, beaten, tortured, murdered, and then dumped off Freeway exits."

"These victims are all of varying gender, race, and age. How did they make the connection?" Morgan asked.

"The Agent who's working the case noticed that each of the victims falls into some sort of minority. Damian Hewett's black, Frank Mathis is Jewish, Jorge Riviera is Hispanic, Paul Thomas is gay, Veronica Lau is Asian, and Kate Johnson was a lesbian." Rossi informed.

"So this is probably some angry middle-aged white guy." Ashley mused, almost annoyed. The 'middle-aged white guy' cases were usually the hardest to crack, and she knew there was a long road ahead of them before this case was solved. This type of UnSub – unidentified subject – usually wasn't caught until a few more bodies were dropped.

Hotch nodded. "That's exactly why they need us on this one, they've hit a roadblock and need our help. Wheels up in an hour, we're going to Ohio."

The next chapter will be significantly longer (and better), I promise.