"Sorry for the confusion," Aaron says, as he and Emily leave his office.

"It's fine," Emily assures him again. "I'm sure I'd be confused, too, if a new employee was sprung on me without my knowing."

Aaron smiles politely.

So much for a good start, Emily thinks to herself.

This isn't exactly how she wanted her first day to go, with Aaron disappearing into the Chief's office to discuss Emily's presence. But he'd be nice enough since returning to his own office, and now he was showing her to her own desk.

Four people are standing around one of the desks talking.

"Guys, this is Emily Prentiss," Aaron says to the group.

They smile.

"Agent Prentiss, meet Jennifer Jareau, or JJ, Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia, and Derek Morgan," Aaron introduces.

She shakes each hand in turn.

"It's nice to meet you guys," Emily smiles.

"Welcome aboard," Spencer smiles.

Emily already likes his nerdy vibe.

"Thanks, I'm really excited to get started," Emily replies.

"I've gotta run, but I'll introduce you to Gideon in a little while," Aaron tells her.

Emily nods and he leaves.

"Come on, I'll show you where the coffee is," Penelope smiles warmly.


Back at the group 10 minutes later, Derek turns his attention to Emily, abandoning Spencer's explanation of something physics related.

"So, Emily, where were you before this?"

"France," she replies. "And Italy. And a couple of years here, in New York."

"Sounds like you've travelled," Derek grins.

"Yeah, I'm trying to stop, actually," she replies.

"Really? I'd love to get to see the world like that," Penelope says.

"No, it's great to see it, definitely," Emily nods. "I guess I'd just like some stability for a change. I grew up living all over the place and I don't want my daughter to have to do the same thing."

"Oh, you have a daughter," Penelope smiles brightly. "How old?"

"She'll be 15 in February," Emily replies.

"Wow," JJ raises her brow as the rest of the team gives Emily a similar look. "You look pretty amazing for having a teenager."

Emily chuckles shyly. "Good genes, I guess," she replies quietly, as JJ's phone goes off.

Before Penelope can ask what Emily's daughter's name is, JJ looks up.

"Duty calls, guys," she tells them.

After JJ's announcement, Penelope hurried off to her office, and Derek and Reid, as he likes to be called, lead her to the room where they meet.

Inside is a man Emily hasn't met yet.

"Agent Prentiss," Aaron says formally. "This is Jason Gideon."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Emily shakes his hand.

He nods politely but doesn't say much. It just makes Emily feel even more uncomfortable, knowing that both of her superiors didn't know of her starting today, and apparently aren't very pleased about it.

There's no time to dwell on it, though, because JJ is already clicking on a large computer screen with photos and information on it.

"This is Brianne Johnson," JJ begins. "She was found last night in her car. She had been beaten, raped, and strangled to death."

Graphic images fill the screen.

"Boston PD say this is the fifth murder in as many months," JJ goes on. "All victims have been young, physically fit, and all of them were killed the exact same way. Found in their cars in vacant areas."

"Was anything taken from them, or left at the scene?" Derek asks.

"Just jewelry," JJ replies. "But it's inconsistent. Three of the girls had a ring taken from them, and the other two had their necklaces taken."

"Seems like a lot of brutal work, just for a mugging," Spencer mumbles, reading the file in front of him.

"Also, a young girl went missing last night," JJ informs them. "She's 17 years old, said she was going to a friend's house, but never showed up. No one's heard from her since and her phone is turned off."

"Alright," Aaron says, his usual stern expression on his face. "Wheels up in 20."


"Hey, baby, how's your day going?" Emily asks, sitting near the back of the private jet.

"Not bad, actually," Violet replies, sounding less morose than she did this morning. "How's yours?"

"On my way to Boston," Emily replies.

"What's the case?" Violet asks.

She's always been endlessly interested in Emily's work.

"Five murders in five months," Emily replies. "But we'll talk about it later, okay?"

"Yeah," Violet says. "I have to get going, anyway. Chem class."

"Have you made any friends?" Emily asks, hiding how hopeful she feels.

"Kind of," Violet replies, and Emily can't help but smile. "His name's Matthew. He's hilarious. You'd like him."

"Matthew, hey?" Emily says, sounding a little protective.

"Yeah, we actually have a lot in common. We both love books and clothes, and boys," Violet responds, knowing what her mother is getting at.

"Well you'll have to invite him over," Emily answers.

It's muffled for a second and Emily hears a sound she hasn't heard too often lately — Violet laughing.

"I gotta go, Mom," she says into the phone.

"Okay, honey. I love you," Emily tells her. "I'll call you later."

"Love you," Violet replies.

Emily hangs up and wanders down the aisle towards where the others are seated.

Gideon and Reid are in the middle of a game of chess.

"So, your daughter," JJ says, smiling at Emily from across the table. "What's her name?"

"Violet," Emily replies.

She usually doesn't share much of her personal life with people, especially when they've just met. But she gets the feeling that this group of people are alright, and she doesn't want to be rude to JJ.

"Aw, that's beautiful," JJ says.

"For the colour or for the flower?" Derek asks.

"Maybe a little of both," Emily shrugs. "And I didn't want her to have a common name and have to go by her last initial."

"Violet's only come back into popularity in the last few years," Reid announces, while focusing on the chess board. "It's an old French name, typically used as violette, which is a diminutive form of viole. That's where the word violet comes from — the Latin word viola. It was common in the Middle Ages but really gained popularity in the middle of the 19th century."

He stops to glance at Emily.

"It's really quite beautiful," he tells her.

Everyone seems to be used to Reid but Emily is surprised by this spout of information.

"Kid has an eidetic memory," Derek informs her. "And an IQ of 300 or something."

"One hundred and eighty-seven," Reid corrects him. "An IQ of 300 is literally impossible."

"Alright, brainiac," Derek laughs. Suffice to say that you're a genius."

"Well, technically," Reid replies, frowning in concentration.

"Anybody with an IQ over 160 is considered a genius, aren't they?" Emily asks, even though she knows the answer.

She went through all of this information when Violet was five and being tested for giftedness.

"Yes, that's correct," Reid nods. "Although anybody over 130 is considered to be moderately gifted."

"What's yours?" Derek teases Emily, nudging her.

"I don't even remember," Emily frowns, trying to remember the last time she was tested.

"Must be pretty high," JJ says. "You graduated from Yale, right?"

"Yeah," Emily answers. "How'd you know?"

"Your necklace," JJ replies.

Emily immediately touches the necklace near her collarbone.

"Does Violet take after you?" Derek asks.

Emily lets her brow raise and fall. "In more ways than she likes to acknowledge," she answers.

"She's a genius, too?"

"Pretty much, but she'll kill me if I go around telling everyone that," Emily replies.

"We can keep a secret," JJ winks.

"Does she play chess?" Reid asks, looking up from the chess board.

"Actually, yes," Emily nods. "She loves it."

"That's great," Reid says, looking back at the board. "It's hard to find a good component."

"Well I think you've got a pretty good one here," Emily nods towards the board.

"We're descending," JJ announces.

"I hate not finishing a game," Reid mumbles, as they prepare to land.

"Don't worry," Emily replies, putting on her seatbelt. "He would have had you in three."

Reid freezes and looks at the board, then to the grinning face of Jason Gideon, before he turns to look back at Emily who is now busy with her phone.


"Someone called in an hour ago," Detective Barnes, Boston PD, informs the group as he leads them to their work room. "Said the car had been sitting there all day, still running."

He hands JJ a folder which she opens up to find photographs of the crime scene.

"Same MO?" JJ asks.

"Identical," Barnes nods. "Even took the girl's bracelet that she was wearing, but left behind a white gold ring."

"What is with this guy?" Derek murmurs, looking at the pictures.

"Jason, why don't you and Prentiss and Morgan go to the crime scene," Hotchner orders. "Reid and I will stay here and go over the info."

"So she must have been here all day," Derek says, walking around the perimeter of the car. "M.E. says her body hasn't been moved in at least 12 hours."

"So why didn't someone call it in sooner?" Prentiss asks.

"Kids come out here all the time," Barnes replies. "Park their cars, get the windows foggy, if you know what I mean. No one would think anything of a car parked here."

Emily looks around. The parking area is right beside a park, but not a swings and slides park. Just an open area for people to walk their dogs or ride their bikes.

"Who called it in?" she asks.

Barnes points towards a woman speaking to a couple of police officers.

She and Derek head over.

"I just thought it was stupid," the woman shrugs. "I mean, to leave a car running that long. I drove past on my way to work, at 8:00 this morning. When I was driving home at 2:00, it was still there, ignition still on. Just seemed weird."

"Did you see anyone else around?" Derek asks.

"No," she shakes her head. "Just the car. I parked right over there and walked over. That's when I saw her…her face."

Since she was strangled, the girl's eyes were still open and blood vessels had popped in them, as well as on her face. It obviously was a hard thing for the woman to see.

"We've already got her information," Barnes tells them. "Her footprints are these right here."

He points at the ground and they follow the prints over to the car where they stop abruptly, and then the woman obviously backed up a few steps before turning around and rushing back to her car.

The other prints are ruined. Whoever it was must have kicked at them to muss them up.

"There's gotta be at least one decent print here," Derek says, kneeling in the dirt.

"I hope so," Emily murmurs. "He's not leaving us much else to go by."