"Good Morning."

Hotch entered the conference room, coffee in hand. It was filled with a quiet buzz of activity. Rossi was shuffling through a stack of crime scene photos. Morgan was flipping through more images on the ipad that had quickly become attached to his hip. Reid was working on a rather complex computation on one of the white boards, referencing pages from a stack of files. JJ was laying out more files, photos and such. Garcia was at her laptop, furiously clicking together the briefing slide show.

Before anyone else could speak, Emily walked in with another agent in tow.

"Agent Hotchner." The man extended a hand. "Jack Parsons. Thank you for agreeing to this. Especially on a weekend."

Hotch nodded. He would much rather be at home watching cartoons and making pancakes with Jack, but killers didn't care about such things. Why make Parsons feel bad about it.

"You know Agent Prentiss already. These are Agents Morgan, Rossi, Jareau and Dr Reid. Agent Garcia is our Chief Analyst."

"I prefer Goddess of All Things Discoverable." Garcia quipped.

"You help me discover who is doing this and I'll call you whatever you want." Parsons shot back. The tension in the room noticeably dropped.

He turned to Hotch. "What do you need from me?"

Hotch motioned the man to a seat. "We have the case files from your office to review in detail but a summary version would be very useful."

"Not much really to go on. This is the fifth shooting in five weeks. All on Friday nights. All male victims. 30 years of age give or take. All shot. All in crowded public places."

"Ballistics?" Morgan jumped in.

"High powered rifle. Military grade. No fingerprints. No casings left behind."

Rossi flipped a page over in notebook. "All 5 were shot from a slightly upward angle?"

"Yes." Parsons nodded. "We searched the areas were he was most likely positioned. No trace evidence. Footprints were boots, also military grade. But you can buy those at any army surplus."

"He's careful not to leave any clues." Emily spoke up. "Shoes were common place. He probably is also. Blended in with the crowds, nothing remarkable about his appearance. Find a place where he could have his slight line and then blend back in long enough to slip away in the chaos."

"And he's a good shot." Reid shuffled some pages. "Four perfect killing shots in an unpredictable crowd. That's not something you can do without practice and calm. He's definitely comfortable with at least the rifle and chaotic circumstances."

"You're thinking a cop?"

"Police special unit like SWAT is possible. Military is another option." Reid nodded. "Some kind of special forces could explain both the precision and removing his casing."

"Or he could have been preparing for this for a while. Practiced months with the weapon." Morgan countered. "Plus these days you can watch primetime TV and figure out enough to know to wear gloves, non specific clothes, drive a typical looking car. Even crossing state lines to screw with jurisdictions."

"So we have nothing?" Parsons sighed. He nodded as JJ set a cup of coffee down in front of him.

"The implication of careful planning and the steady time table suggests that he's an organized killer." Hotch explained. "He has some kind of method or goal and he's careful in pursuing it. The venues, the crowds suggest strong anti social tendencies."

"So we are dealing with a guy who is smart and psycho? Great."

"In a way it is." Morgan added. "Anti social personalities tend to be noticeable. If we can narrow down the list of suspects we can interview people who may recognize the unsub once we ask them about particular traits and attitudes."

"But that list is every cop, federal agent, military member or gun fanatic in the DC area. That has to be hundreds, even thousands."

"Garcia, start with SWAT and similar groups. Look for anyone with money issues-"

"Divorce, death in the family, recent censure. Potential stressors." Garcia nodded. "I'll also sort the list of registered gun owners in the area to those with rifle purchases, logged a lot of practice time in recent months, criminal records, stressors."

"Check for range or gun shop break ins within the last several months." Reid added. "It's possible that the unsub is avoiding a record of his purchase by using a stolen weapon."

"Add military or police break ins." Emily suggested. "Transit deliveries that could have been hijacked. Or any recent cases involving weapons seizures. If the unsub is law enforcement perhaps the weapon was conveniently left out of or removed from evidence."

"On it, my turtle doves." Garcia scooped up her laptop and hurried off to her office.

"Reid, Geographic profile?"

Reid shook his head. "Too diverse."

"Okay then we're left with victimology." Hotch nodded at the photos Garcia had put up on the display before leaving. "Thoughts?"

Reid spoke up first. "At first glance, they're all the same type. Tall. Ectomorphic. Classic Beta Male form. Unassuming, unthreatening."

"Innocent." Parsons blushed as the room went silent. "No offense Ag- Dr Reid but when I first saw you I was thinking what the hell is such a sweet looking kid doing in such a messed up job. You're just like them. Same body, same hair, skin. Hell the victims and you all have the same color eyes. This killer could have walked right past them, looked them in the eye before he turned and shot them in the back."

"No offense taken. Thankfully I don't really have time for a life and I'm mildly claustrophobic so even when I have time I avoid crowds. And it is an astute observation. There is a innocence about them. That could be an important detail."

Rossi chimed in. "He could be like them. Perhaps he does walk right past them, makes eye contact even. He wouldn't be seen as threatening because of the similar type. It could also explain why he shoots them in the back, he can't face them when he kills them because he is like them and is conflicted over the notion of a natural victim targeting other victims."

"It's also possible that these are surrogates. Perhaps he was the victim of that kind of attack. Someone that should have been a friend, an ally turned on him. Perhaps someone that fits exactly this appearance. Which is why he is targeting men of this age and appearance, rather than it simply being due to the commonality of the appearance."

"What if that's too vague?" Emily interjected. "Last night at the bar there had to be at least ten guys with similar looks, body type, height as Auggie. Even the guy that works there, Patrick, he looked like he could be Auggie's brother. So why Auggie and not the bar back. I bet if we looked at the other four scenes we could ask the same thing. Why this guy and not that one?"

"You think there's a connection?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Maybe they went to the same school. Maybe they shop at the same grocery store or go to the same gym. Maybe our unsub picked a particular group of young men, stalked them, figured out their movements."

"Planned the work." Morgan nodded, using an old mantra from years past. "Now he's working the plan. Ticking off his list one by one."

"I'll have Garcia pull school records, financials, whatever she can find." JJ volunteered. "See if there's a commonality. Even a thin one."

"Good." Hotch nodded. "There's also Mr Anderson. He may not have seen anything but perhaps someone spoke to him, or something odd happened recently that could be connected. Morgan, you and Prentiss see what he can tell us."

"Actually Hotch," Emily said cautiously. "I think it might be better if Reid goes. He's less threatening and I'm guessing he spent the morning reading up on sensory coping methods among the visually impaired so he'll know the right questions to ask in a cognitive interview. "

"I might have googled a paper or two." Reid blushed. "We've never interviewed a blind witness. It's a fascinating prospect."

Morgan tried to hide his grin. "I'd rather go to The Tavern. Talk to the staff, put some fresh eyes on the scene."

"I'll go with Morgan." Rossi volunteered. "We can pay the other scenes a visit. That is if Agent Parsons doesn't mind giving us the tour."

"Or course." The field agent seemed relieved to finally have something in his grasp to do.

"JJ and I start with the witness statements from the other shootings." Hotch reached for a file as the others slipped on jackets, grabbed notebooks and such.

Emily turned to Parsons. "Don't worry, we'll catch this guy."

"Before he kills anyone else?"

"That's the plan. And not to brag, we are pretty good at our job." Morgan said confidently.

"Plan the work, work the plan?" Parsons quipped. "You said that about the killer also."

"Understanding how the unsub thinks is key to finding him or her." Reid grabbed his bag, slipping the strap over his shoulder. "Sometimes that means thinking like they do."

"That is both comforting and disconcerting."

Rossi sighed. "Yes Agent Parsons it is."