Chapter 2: Missing Persons

When the call came in that Dana Zerch's body had been found the team all reconvened at the police department.

"He's keeping them for shorter periods of time, that means he's already devolving," Hotch said, his tone as stiff as ever.

"It also means he has another victim already, he hasn't dumped a body until he had another one," Rossi added.

As if on cue some commotion broke out in the main area of the police department. The team walked out of the conference room and into the bull pen. "What's going on?" Prentiss demanded of the nearest officer.

"One of our female detectives is missing, we sent a unit to her house when she was late for work and there were signs of a struggle."

"Who's missing?" Morgan said instantly, his dark eyes clearly filled with concern for another law enforcement officer.

"Chloe Danvers."

Reid, who had been quiet all morning, turned pale white and his eyes widened. "Chloe's missing?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly. The team turned to look at him, perplexed by his reaction. The officer looked at Reid and nodded slowly.

Reid's body began to shake and he began to pace as he muttered to himself. "Reid? What's going on man?" Morgan asked as he placed his hands on Reid's shoulders to stop the young man from walking.

"I know her."

Everyone stared at Reid in silence. Morgan frowned as he watched Reid closely. "You know the victim?"

"She's not a victim!" Reid shouted, glaring at Morgan.

The entire police forced stared at the young agent. "Reid? If you know her that means you can help us with profiling her as the unsub's prey and that can help us find him," Hotch reasoned, his voice softer than it had ever been in a work setting.

Reid nodded and immediately everyone set out to work, the entire force concentrated on finding the unsub now that one of their own was on the line.

The team watched Reid nervously, waiting for him to break down but the only visible sign of his distress was his even paler skin and his shaking hands. He was quiet as he worked, biting his lower lip constantly, making it bleed.

"Reid, you need a break," Rossi said, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder and offering a cup of coffee to him.

"I can't take a break," he insisted, his hands shaking even more as he looked at the map, avoiding Rossi's eyes.

"Yes you can and you need to. You're no good to us if you're stressed and exhausted."

"She has approximately two days before he kills her if he keeps to his pattern. Less if she's the one he's been after all along. I'm not going to take a break," Reid said, putting the untouched coffee down and continuing to work.

Rossi frowned and walked away, being stopped by Emily in the bull pen. "How is he?" she asked, her voice low.

"He's panicking. He's never mentioned her to me before and, from the look on all our faces, he hasn't told anyone on the team. But he's acting as if she's of extreme importance to him."

Emily nodded and walked into the conference room and stood between Reid and the map. "How do you know her?" She asked, her voice steady.

Reid tried to look away but Emily grabbed his arm, pulled his body around and made him look at her. "Tell me."

Reid's eyes began to fill halfway with tears before he took a deep breath, wiped the unshed tears away and looked at Emily.

"I met her at Caltech, she was the only other person I've ever met who graduated high school before the age of fourteen. She came there while I was taking sophomore level classes and she started with freshman classes."

"You're friends with her."

"More." Reid said, his voice cracking again.

-Flashback-

"So, you're the other underage student here," came a soft yet confident voice from behind him.

Spencer Reid turned around and stared at the girl in front of him, her thin arms loaded with books, the obvious weight of all the volumes making Reid concerned about her ability to hold them much longer.

"Uhm, yes," he said awkwardly, his eyes traveling over her from head to toe. "I'm Spencer Reid…" he said, not sure if he should offer his hand or not due to the fact that her hands were occupied at the moment.

"I'm Chloe Danvers, it's nice to meet you." She smiled at him, her eyes bright. Reid felt his heart skip.

At that moment on the quad of Caltech Reid knew she would be important.

AN: Thank you all so much for reading the story. I know this chapter is short but I had to set it up this way in order to give the next chapter some action. Enjoy!