Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Criminal Minds.

A/N: Fair warning folks; I am going to be slow in updating for the next month or so because I've pledged myself to Camp NaNoWriMo. This is similar to NaNoWriMo save for the time of year in which it takes place. I promise that after I hit my target word count every day, I'll try to write some fanfiction, but I can't guarentee that I'll finish a chapter every night for you guys. Plus there are all of my other WIPs to worry about. The bonus to this is that I am writing an original murder mystery that you guys will be able to buy, download and read (hopefully).


When Derek, Hotch and Elle arrived at the police station, Derek hesitated before shutting the door to the SUV, "Think Anna's still mad?" Elle asked, giving him a knowing smile.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Derek replied, "given the way she was glaring at Hotch."

Their arrival at Honolulu International had been marked by the appearance of yet another body, and Hotch's unilateral decision that Anna would not be going to the crime scene. Anna had asked why, and Hotch told her it was because of her injuries. Anna had clearly swallowed back a number of statements that would have gotten her a reprimand at the least before following Reid, Gideon and J.J. to the police station. "She's going to be mad at Hotch," Elle said, "not you."

"No," Derek said, "she's just going to want to know every detail I can remember."

Elle laughed as they entered the station and Derek looked around for Anna. He found her standing by the desk of a young detective who looked pale. Anna was giving her a mug of coffee. When Anna looked up, she tilted her head to Derek, and then jerked it in an invitation to come over. Derek did, wondering why Anna wanted him. "Morgan," she said, "This is Detective Chan. Ami, this is Agent Derek Morgan." Derek glanced at her desk, noting a newspaper clipping and some files as well as a name plate that had been knocked over.

The woman nodded to him as Derek glanced between them, "It's nice to meet you," Derek said. "Anna, did you need something?"

"Ami," Anna said, gently, "would you tell Agent Morgan what you told me?"

"Ok," Ami said, she took a breath, "I know the people who were murdered."

"Ok," Derek said.

"I've been working undercover helping the HPD and North Shore with a drug ring," Ami continued, "and I haven't really looked at the papers. When I saw the photos your team put up, I recognized them because I knew them in college. They're Alliance members."

"Alliance?" Derek looked between the two women in confusion.

"GLSBTA Alliance," Ami said.

"Gay-Lesbian-Straight-Bisexual-Transsexual-Asexual Alliance," Anna added.

"Right," Ami said, "we usually just called it the Alliance." She sipped her coffee for a moment, "The thing is," Ami continued, "all of them identified as asexual."

"I didn't tell her that," Anna said, looking up at Morgan, "she told me."

"That's not the only thing," Ami added, she handed him a newspaper clipping; "This is from the Big Island. She went to school here in Honolulu, and was part of the Alliance. She also identified as asexual."

Morgan looked at the picture of a pretty young woman. According to the paper, she had been found on a trail in Volcano Natural Park, strangled. She had been found by hikers within hours of her death. According to the park, she had arrived alone in her jeep but had made a comment about meeting 'a friend' who had not been identified. "Derek," Anna said, "I don't know how to play this."

He looked at Anna, and then Ami, "I'll talk to Hotch," he said. "You two wait here."

Derek hurried over to the conference room that had been made available to them, "What's going on?" Hotch asked, looking up from his conversation with the lead Detective on the strangler case.

"Detective Conners," Derek said, "what can you tell me about Detective Ami Chan?"

"Good detective," Conners said, "good mind. Newly promoted, but I understand she was invaluable in a recent case."

"All right," Derek said, "Hotch, she knows the victims, all of them." He glanced over his shoulder to where Anna was telling Ami something. "I think she thinks there may have been a related case." He handed over the newspaper article.

Conners leaned over and nodded, "I remember this; Ami was really upset because the girl was a friend of hers."

Hotch looked at the clipping, and then at Derek and Conners, "I want to speak to Detective Chan," he said.

While Hotch spoke to Ami, Derek and Anna joined the rest of the team, "Have we anything else to connect the victims?" Jason asked as Elle finished putting up the information on the newest victim, a man named Keoni Darwin.

"They all went to the University of Hawaii in Honolulu," Garcia announced over speaker phone, "and they were all active members of the GLSBTA Alliance."

"What's that?" Reid said.

"Gay-Lesbian-Straight-Bisexual-Transsexual-Asexual Alliance," Anna said, sitting down, "They call it the Alliance, according to one of the detectives, Ami Chan." She started to twist her chair, "Ami is straight, but she joined the alliance to support her brother Kai and her best friend, Carrie. Kai is gay, Carrie identified herself as asexual."

"Hotch is currently talking to Detective Chan," Derek added, "given that she knows all of our victims."

"It's starting to look like I was right," Anna said, "asexuality as a trigger for a killer." She stared pensively at the white board.

"But how would they know," Elle said, "how could the killer be sure."

"He's probably associated with the Alliance," Anna replied, "either as a member or a friend of a member. The Alliance is meant to be a 'safe zone', a place for people to go where they can just be themselves. At the least, it's a place for people to be unafraid of being degraded or derided by the society around them. For some people, it's the only place where they can tell the truth about themselves."

"Where you in an Alliance?" J.J. asked.

Anna smiled at her, "I never felt like I could. Being a Marine, I was subject to DADT, any hint that I might be less than straight and I would have been gone. My first year after the discharge, I needed my medical insurance too much to risk losing it that way. My second year, I'd decided that I really wanted to go into the Bureau and overloaded my courses so that I could have both degrees ahead of schedule and didn't have the time. I had friends who were in the Alliance; they used to joke about me being a closeted Alliance member."

"Garcia," Hotch said as he stepped into the room followed by Ami Chan, "I want you to see what information you can get on the local Alliance. Once you've got a member list, Morgan, you will take Campbell and Chan with you to start talking to people. Find out what you can about each of the victims." He added the newspaper clipping of Carrie Jones to the board, "After Garcia gets the Alliance information I want everything that can be found on Carrie Jones. Gideon, Elle, you'll be headed over to the Big Island to talk to the park rangers and the police about her."

"On it," Derek said as Anna stood up.

"There's a meeting right now," Ami added as she checked her watch, "With the campus about to close for Christmas, they're having a final meeting before the holiday party tonight."

"Let's get over there while everyone's still sober," Anna said.


A/N: Minor changes made to help identify the difference between Ami and Anna after confusion was expressed.