Chapter Two

Dr Spencer Reid sipped his extremely sugary coffee, deep in thought. As Garcia explained the details of the case, his dark eyes quickly scanned the document, the words flying into his highly intelligent brain at 100 miles per hour. California, Murder, Drunk teenage boys, Knife, Slit throats. These words stood out the most, perhaps because he's seen them more often than the others. It may be easier to see these words pop up nearly every month...but it doesn't make it any easier.

"Were there any other victims?" A sleak, monotonous voice asked the flamed haired woman. Aaron Hotchner, the least emotional and the leader of the team. There are times when he misses his sweetheart Haley dearly...but all he can do now is focus on the job, in order to spend more time with his son. The quicker they wrap up the case, the better.

Spencer looked up at the screen, the most recent victim, Toby Hucknell, skipping past one more victim, before stopping at the earliest victim, Katie Dear.

"She was a cheerleader, classed the prettiest girl in school, but also branded a 'total bitch' by her classmates" Garcia explained, looking at the document that sat on the table, helping her. Spencer couldn't help but think that JJ would've memorized it before the briefing.

JJ isn't here anymore, Spencer thought, as he looked at the screen as if he was concentrating on the case and not his closest friend, who's sudden and forced departure had left him heartbroken. Move on already.

"So, the MO's the same but the motives different?" asked a darker skinned, attractive man. Spencer and Derek Morgan have been friends for a long time now, but Spencer still envied Morgans ability to chat up women, better than he. Garcia looked at him, adoration in her eyes, and replied with a confused tone,

"I have no idea sugar, sorry."

"Nearly 500 teenagers are killed by guns each year, but 50,000 of them are killed worldwide each year with knives" Spencer blurted out, even though it probably has nothing to do with the case. David Rossi, the man who replaced Spencer's mentor and idol Jason Gideon, nodded and replied,

"That's understandable. It's more common to find a knife in your kitchen, than a gun"

"So, basically we have to go around and test everyone's kitchen knife in California, for fingerprints and dried blood?" asked Morgan in disbelief. Hotch looked at him with a 'Seriously?' look, and said,

"Wheels up in 20" As the team dispersed around him, Spencer stayed where he was, staring at the picture of the girl. From where she was cut, it was like she was..grinning. It reminded him of a short horror story he read, where a man, who was so sick of his relatives being so unhappy, slit their throats from ear-to-ear, sat them down them at the dinner table and had a conversation with them, the shadows of the room making the corpses 'smile'.

It creeped Spencer out each time he thought about it.

"Hey kid," Spencer looked up at the sound of his nickname, and smiled at Morgan.

"Hey" he replied, coughing to make his throat clear. Morgan sat next to him, and looked at him, concerned.

"You okay? You hardly said a word during the briefing" Spencer nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine" Morgan tilted his head, his eyes looking hard into Spencer's, searching hard for the truth.

"You sure? You know you can talk to me about anything" Spencer nodded, his freshly cut hair bouncing slightly on the top of his head.

"I know.." Morgan sighed.

"Reid, JJ's departure is hard on all of us. She was a good agent, no doubt about it. But you'll still see her, I mean you are the godfather to her child. Just keep your chin up, okay?" Spencer looked to the floor, bewildered. When he looked up again, he spoke in a soft voice,

"This has nothing to do with JJ" Morgan stared long and hard at Spencer, making him fidget awkwardly. After Morgan had finished studying him closely, he stood up and patted Spencer on the back.

"Better get your stuff together" Spencer nodded, and placed the yellow folder into his brown bag. He headed to his desk, and started to hunt through his drawers, looking for something to do on the way back from California, or at least something to do there. He grabbed a book, one that he had read countless of times, and slipped it into his bag. On his desk, in a silver photo frame, was a picture of JJ and himself. Spencer stared at his old, shaggy haired, young smiling self, before placing the frame into the drawer, slamming it shut.

"Woah, you okay?" asked a dark haired woman. Emily Prentiss smiled cautiously at the young doctor. In the past, the two of them hadn't exactly seen eye-to-eye, especially when Spencer was addicted to Dilaudid. Spencer just smiled politely, and replied,

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Emily considered mentioning the fact that he had slammed his desk drawer shut with such force, it could have broke, after staring at a picture of himself and JJ. Instead, she shrugged.

"I don't know..You just seem a bit on edge, that's all" Spencer shook his head.

"No." Emily nodded.

"Alright. You ready?" Spencer nodded and smiled.

"I always am"

Meanwhile- California

"Jenna, wake the hell up!" A brunette woman screamed from the bottom of the stairs, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration. She strained her ears, and heard a muffled,

"I'm coming" The woman grinned, satisfied and headed into the kitchen. On the table, sat the dreaded yellow folder. The woman grinned, eagerly. It may sound cruel, but she hadn't been into work for almost 6 months, due to the fact her parents had recently died and she's taken in her 16 year old, younger sister. Needless to say, she spent most of the 6 months adjusting to her sudden new change in lifestyle.

"Alright, let's see what we've got today" Almost immediately, her jaw dropped in astonishment, her blue eyes widened in a horrified expression, as she read the words that would surely break her sisters heart.

May 14th, Toby Hucknell is the third victim of teenage murders. He was stabbed in the back once, his throat slit from ear-to-ear, and a X was carved into his right cheek. He was found on a neighbours lawn, after they assumed he passed out drunk from last night...

The woman groaned. Fourth. Meaning that this was obviously serial killings.

"Great," she muttered, sipping her strong, black coffee, "my first day back, and my sister's boyfriend is dead and it doesn't look like the killer's going to stop there either." Her younger sister, Jenna, shuffled into the kitchen. Her blonde hair resembled a birds nest, her usually sparkling blue eyes, dull and red. Her skin looked pale and pasty. The woman scoffed.

"You look terrible. Good night then?" Jenna sniffed.

"I guess..." she mumbled. The woman frowned. Normally Jenna would be off on a rampage, telling her about last night, about the good things and the bad things. But for some reason, today, she was unusually quiet.

"You okay?" she asked, softly. Jenna looked up.

"Annabelle...can I...can I confide in you?" The woman, Annabelle, pulled a seat out from the table and patted it, in a welcoming manner. Jenna nervously sat down next to her.

"Last night I...I.." Jenna hesitated, and squirmed. Annabelle lightly grabbed her hand.

"It's okay. You can always tell me later, if you want"

"No. No I need to tell you now, before I chicken out.." Jenna took in a deep breath, before saying,

"Last night I...I dumped Toby" Annabelle bit her pink lips, and looked down in guilt. Jenna looked at her, curiously.

"What? What is it, what's happened?" Annabelle grabbed her sisters hands, and said in the way she would comfort a family who's child had been murdered,

"I'm so sorry..." Jenna stared at her older sister, puzzled. It was only when she realised why Annabelle was saying this after she told her that she had dumped Toby, did she click what had happened to her ex-boyfriend.

"Oh my god..." Jenna whispered, horrified as her sister showed her the picture. Annabelle regularly shared minor details of cases, as long as Jenna didn't tell a soul. Jenna swallowed, and looked at her sister, tears in her eyes.

"D-D-Do I h-h-have to go to s-s-?"

"No. Go back to sleep. I'll go to work" Annabelle kissed Jenna's forehead, and headed towards the front door.

"Remember to lock up after me!" called Annabelle, over her shoulder. Being a detective, she was always cautious to make sure her sister was safe, especially because she's the last of her immediate family. She heard a weak agreement from the kitchen, and left, grabbing her jacket in the process.

It was 15 minute drive to the station. There, Annabelle noticed a team of 5 people, talking to the deputy, Keith Thompson. He eagerly listened to the groups opinions of the case, nodding along, agreeing to whatever they were saying. Annabelle leaned over to whoever was behind her, and whispered,

"Who are they?"

"If you told me you were coming back, I would've made you a cake" replied a familiar, sarcastic voice. Annabelle rolled her eyes, and asked once more,

"Who are they?" Her friend, the ever charming Hannah, rolled her eyes and replied,

"FBI. They're from some unit, or something" Annabelle narrowed her eyes, an image in her mind blocking the truth. As she walked towards them, all she could see was the 5 of them in a closet together, exchanging facts and figures about a case.

"Annabelle!" a shocked voice snapped Annabelle back into reality. She turned to Keith, and looked at him, stunned for a minute. Keith looked at her, his eyes darting between her eyes, before turning back to the agents and introducing her.

"BAU, this is our head detective, Annabelle Summers. Annabelle, the BAU" Annabelle extended her hand out to who she assumed to be the leader, a man with cold, disconcerting eyes, his face as equally hard. Even his voice sent unwelcomed shivers down her spine.

"Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. This is my team, Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan," Annabelle shook hands with a handsome man, who's eyes seemed to be flirting with her. She smiled and greeted him.

"Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi," Annabelle shook hands with a man who seemed wise in features, despite them being slightly odd angled. She smiled and greeted him as well.

"Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss," Annabelle recognised the name from Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss, but she decided it to best to not ask whether or not the two are related. Annabelle didn't really fancy being embarrassed on her first day back. Instead, she decided it would best to once again, greet and smile.

"And Supervisory Special Agent, Doctor Spencer Reid" Annabelle held her hand out, before looking up into a pair of shy, brown eyes. The man was skinny, his arms looking as if they were about to break off at any moment. With his other hand, he held the brown bag that was slung around his neck, tightly. He had a mop of curly, light brown hair on top of his head. His teeth were white and perfectly straight, something which she was jealous of already. Annabelle smiled shyly, and mumbled a small,

"Hello" The man, Spencer, smiled an equally shy smile.

"Hey"

Annabelle held onto to his hand, completely forgetting about the others in the room. When one of the agents, Derek perhaps, coughed, the two jumped apart. In the corner of her eye, she saw Derek smirk at Spencer. Annabelle coughed, embarrassed already, and said,

"Right, I suppose you'll need to set up"

Authors Note; Admittedly, I was a bit uncertain of making them 'fall in love at first sight'. But, as I showered (yeah, I shower bitches), I realised that this is the only way for their relationship develop. No, they are not in love in this chapter, in case you're wondering. '"Don't be so ridiculous!" she boomed, in a deep voice.'

And don't worry, it's not going to be as straight forward as 'Oh look a girl, I like her, I'm going to date her, I'm dating her, Now we've broken up because I've done something dumb, Awkward work moment, Argument, Kiss, Argument, Kiss, Argument, Storm off, Awkward work moment, Solve crime, someone gets shot, and cue happily ever after'

Okay, that wasn't straight forward...What I mean is, I will try to make it as less cliché as possible.

Anyway! Review, please? No flamers!