/Needless to say, this is an AU BtVS and CM fic./
Morgan and Reid walked along behind the group. Morgan was occupied by the crime photos that seemed to get more and more disturbing, and Reid was matching his pace out of camaraderie. The Sherriff stood on the landing strip, already awaiting them. He was an uncomfortably slight man in his late forties with dark rings under his eyes and wild, sandy-coloured hair.
The late-evening sun shone brightly lending a bright and cheerful tone to their surroundings. The airport was reasonably quiet as it was for official use only, rather than that of the public. In the distance the hum of cars could be heard on a highway and they could see the ocean glistening over the nearby hills. The Sherriff contrasted starkly with the setting he stood in. He stood ramrod straight with a dark expression on his face and an equally sombre woman in a suit beside him. Behind them were three parked sedans, as requested.
The Sherriff stepped forward, offering his bony hand to Hotch, who shook it. "I'm Sherriff Penn and I'd like to get started right away if your team is able."
"Special Agent Hotchner", Hotch returned ",This is; SSA Rossi, Agent Derek Morgan, our Tech Penelope Garcia, Agent Emily Prentiss, our Media Liaison Jennifer Jareau and Dr. Spencer Reid. And we can start immediately."
"Good" the Sherriff said in a voice strangled by relief and fatigue. He nodded sharply, reining in his emotions, before slipping a pair of sunglasses onto his nose and climbing into the nearest car.
The woman, a slim brunette in pencil-skirt and suit jacket stepped forward as the Sherriff started the ignition. "I'm Officer Patricia Ray; I'll be accommodating your needs while you are here. If you'll follow Penn and me, we'll lead you to the station."
"Thank you very much" JJ said graciously as they all got into the vehicles and pulled out of the airport.
Morgan looked out the window as the picturesque little town passed by, "It's always the towns that seem nicest where the freakiest crap goes down," he commented.
"How's that, sweetness?" Garcia asked from beside him.
Morgan didn't reply just passed her a stack of pictures of pretty young girls with their throats ripped out. "Ewww!" Garcia exclaimed, wincing as she looked at the photos "It looks like an animal did this!"
"It does, doesn't it?" Reid agreed curiously. "Another strange item of interest about this town, with a population of only around 32,900 Sunnydale has a disproportionate amount of churches and cemeteries numbering at 43 churches and 12 gothic cemeteries. You can't have missed the six churches we've already passed."
"That's not that strange," JJ argued.
"Maybe not for a bible-belt city but this is California." Reid insisted, "Plus, the population has decreased by 5,600 since 1996. Far too high a drop for a city that has not been struck by a major natural catastrophe or virus scare."
"Also, you know, THIS!" Garcia said, waving the pictures in JJ'S face.
"Point taken", JJ admitted with a shudder, as she pushed the photos away.
Patricia whisked JJ away to figure out how to deal with the media coverage as the rest of the group entered a designated room and got to work pouring over the files and brainstorming ideas.
"Well, this unsub's definitely got a type", Prentiss said after hours of fruitless labour. "That's a plus."
Hotch looked out the window to see that it had somehow gotten dark without his notice. "How long have we been at this?"
"Three hours" Rossi informed him tiredly.
Hotch stood up and stretched his limbs, "We're getting nowhere here. Okay…I want Rossi and Prentiss to go interview Mary's parents at their hotel and Reid, Morgan you two go check out the place she was last seen."
They all nodded and stood up, happy to get out of the tiny room and glad to have a new sense of purpose.