The shuffling sound of papers over took the office space she had situated herself in, a half-eaten sandwich sitting next to her on the desk. A mug with cooling tea sat to the side of the plate with the sandwich, tea bag still sitting inside as the liquid grew darker and steeped for far too long. But that was all abandoned on Jo as she scanned over the file she'd been handed on a set of murders. Four crime scenes, eight bodies, and all of them were left on the tracks. Words started to float before her, letting her get inside the head of the killer.

Meticulous. Well planned. Four murders in five months, the first two happening three weeks of each other, the third one two months, and then this one. The killer seemed to be slowing down, regret? No, probably choosing harder targets to get. Interesting.

She sighed lightly and ran a hand through her short hair, ruffling it before letting it fall back into its natural state. It really wasn't a wonder they had called in for a profiler, this man would be hard to crack. But she was positive it was a man, these were too cold and calculating to be female. Female murderers were more likely to have more passion in their work, lots of cuts and fight wounds. These deaths were clinical almost, which did make her wonder on how they were killed. The report didn't give any notion of that, perhaps even they hadn't figured it out yet. But that wouldn't make sense, they should have taken the blood in for a blood sample. If there were no wounds then surely they were poisoned, drowned, something. Even frozen at this point could be an option, but the pictures didn't seem to show any signs of the victims having been frozen beforehand.

She shook her head and closed the file, standing from her desk and tucking it into the briefcase sitting to the side. A moment later had her walking out the door after throwing the remains of her lunch away, briefcase at her side as she went to meet up with DI Lestrade at NSY. From there she could get the rest of the details and decide how to proceed with her profiling of the unsub, though she would likely have to go see the murder scene and really try to get into his head. Perhaps they would let her view the body as well, another viewpoint could always be good. At least her stint in the army had prepped her for scenes like this.

Jo quickly shook her head again, dispersing the thoughts about her past and folding her arms over her chest as she sat in the taxi. It was a quick trip over to Scotland Yard and she paid the cabbie quickly before walking inside the building. A quick check of identity and she had a visitor badge tacked onto her blouse and she was being escorted up to the Detective Inspector's office. Sergeant Sally Donovan rapped her knuckles against the wood of the door before letting the profiler through the door into Lestrade's space.

The man with the silver hair turned and gave her a pleasant smile. "You must be Joanne Watson," he said, rising to shake her hand quickly. "Greg Lestrade, I'm head of the case right now."

She smiled lightly back at him, taking the seat he proffered. "Jo, please. What can you tell me about the case that may have been missed in the report?" she asked.

Lestrade hummed and leaned back in his seat, shaking his head slightly. "Not much, I know the reports are scarce but that's all we've managed to dredge up on it."

"And none of the victims are connected in anyway at all?" she asked, arching a brow in mild shock. Sure the file had said that but to have it admitted was strange, there was always something that connected them.

"I wouldn't say they weren't connected."

The distinct crisp voice was clearly female, coming from behind her and she turned her head to take in the mop of dark curls pinned into a pony tail, bangs falling over piercing gray eyes that felt like they could assess everything in the blink of an eye. Jo felt the peculiar sensation of her entire life story suddenly being laid bare to this woman behind her that had entered unannounced. "What do you mean?" she asked, skipping over the pleasantries she was sure would happen later. After all, she was going to be working with the team so she may as well get to the bottom of this before learning the woman's name.

"There was something distinct that we seemed to have skimmed over when we were talking to the family and friends," she said, crossing over and sitting on the edge of Lestrade's desk like she belonged there. "Each one had just finished up a round of speed dating when they were taken, but apparently the department didn't decide it was enough of a lead."

The look the woman sent Lestrade was dark enough that Jo had to bite her cheek to stop from smiling too much. She's seen the look on many of her co-workers faces when they were forced to work with someone. "Alright, so the couples met at the speed dating when the unsub took them?" she suggested, leaning back in her seat.

Lestrade sat up, poking the woman off his desk as his eyes brightened with understanding. "So the unsub works in the speed dating bar, or at least frequents it often enough to choose people."

Jo nodded as the woman did, crossing her legs and clasping her hands over her knee. "He's been slowing down too, but it's not from regret. He's being more selective in his choices, wants to go for the harder pairs. Likely the ones that came in large groups of friends. He's very meticulous, practiced. Something tells me that these four crime scenes weren't the first of his work, you've probably encountered him before. Probably in a couple different cities. But he takes pride in his work, that's why he leaves them where he's sure they'll be found. Probably an artist," she said.

The woman with the dark hair arched a brow and smiled. "You say male," she said calmly. "Lots 'round here betting on a woman."

Jo shook her head. "No, definitely a male unsub. Too clinical and precise, women unsubs have more passion behind their attacks. There would be bruising, biting, nail marks, and many smaller wounds. It'd be bloodier, not them looking like they simply expired after a round of love making," she said.

"I told you Lestrade," the woman said, regarding the DI with a smirk. "You'd think by now you'd take my word as law when it comes to crime scenes and murderers." She turned back to Jo, holding a hand out. "Sherlock Holmes, it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Watson. Finally someone that can competently do their job aside from me."

Jo's lips twitched as she stood and shook her hand in return. "And a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. Holmes," she said, dropping her hand back to her side. She was mildly concerned as that piercing gaze swept over her once more, sending prickling sensations racing up her spine.

"Do you prefer Dr. Watson?" Sherlock asked after a moment, a smirk rising the corner of her bowed lips.

Jo blinked, startled briefly. Of course her badge did declare her as Doctor Joanne Watson, so she could have read it off of there. "Generally I just go by Jo," she said after a moment.

"Ah, I see. Was it Afghanistan or Iraq?" Sherlock asked this time, leaning back on her heels and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Pardon me?" She questioned in response. "Afghanistan… how?"

Sherlock only grinned. "I look forward to working with you, Jo," she said before sweeping out of the room.

At Jo's questing look, Lestrade only shook his head with a sigh. "She does that, she deduces things. One of the best Sergeants on our force though, has herself working on this team and on forensics. Come on, you'll probably need to see the crime scenes to get a good look at how the killer operates. You and Sherlock will catch whatever the rest of us didn't see," he said, standing from behind his desk and crossing to the door.

Jo could only nod and follow behind. This was sure to be an interesting partnership with the Met.

Hey everyone! Sorry this one was a bit of a time in the making, school life and such. College likes to drain you of any inspiration you might have and flaunt it on the streets like a blood soaked banner... Anyway, yeah. I hope you all enjoyed this, and that I didn't get this terribly out of character though Jo is definitely more observant than John seems to be in the series. So... yeah... sorry for any terrible out of characterness, and I hoped you like it. Love you all!

-Raine