Author's Note: Thank you to anyone who reviewed, followed or favourited this. I love the idea of these two teams working together and am so excited to continue this story! I actually have a few ideas, including some more light-hearted ones for crossover stories between the two teams. I am thinking of having multiple stories in this universe I'm creating here.

Gravel crunched under the wheels of the black SUV as it pulled up in the small parking lot. On a sunny day like this, the lot would normally be about half full of the cars of hikers and families out to enjoy a bit of nature. Today, instead, most of the spaces were filled by the vehicles of law enforcement officers, and there was no sign of children. One door slammed as Agent Hotchner stepped out calmly, while Doctor Reid nearly bounced out the other side, followed quickly by Agent Prentiss. Emily Prentiss caught up to Spencer Reid quickly, and gently caught his shoulder. She whispered something to him and Reid came to a quick halt, with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Booth. It's great to see you again," Aaron Hotchner announced warmly as he stepped forward and caught the approaching agent's hand in a firm handshake.

"Hotch! It's been a while. Nice to see you close to home, but I hope you're not here to poach my case," Seeley Booth responded in a half-joking tone, returning the handshake. Booth turned toward the trail into the forest and continued, "Bones has things pretty well in hand down the trail, if you'll follow me." Booth turned briskly, starting to walk onto the trail, but was stopped mid-stride.

"Bones?" Prentiss called from a few steps behind, in a questioning tone, "Who or what is 'Bones'?"

"Sorry," Booth said as he turned back, looking contrite and perhaps a bit amused, "I mean Dr. Brennan. She's an expert with analyzing bones for all kinds of evidence. So I just call her, well, Bones," Booth didn't notice the indignant look on Reid's face at this announcement, as he laughed a bit, "Inside joke, I guess."

"I see," said Prentiss carefully, touching Reid's arm to show him she had noticed his face, "I think I'll just stick with 'Dr. Brennan'."

"Sure, sounds good," said Seeley casually. He turned back to the trail, "Anyways. There were a lot more remains here than we originally thought. They look like they go back… years." Booth went quiet as he turned and led the group into the forest.

Dr. Temperance Brennan looked over the investigation site and was surprised to realize that the FBI techs were as meticulous as any archaeological team she had ever been a part of. By the time they were done, every bit of evidence would be properly photographed exactly where it had been found. Every hand that touched an item found in the area would be covered by a disposable nitrile glove. Each piece, whether it be a small bone like a phalange to a larger bone like a femur that Brennan had to consider before matching it to a nearby skeleton, a fresh corpse in the process of decomposition or the insects who were active in that process, would be labelled and bagged – or in the case of the insects, jarred. Each bag would be carefully taped and sealed to preserve its contents. When it was removed from the site, she knew all the evidence would be efficiently organized and precisely loaded for safe transport to Tempe's lab at the Jeffersonian.

She heard her friend Seeley Booth's voice carrying from the hiking trail as it approached the area and turned to see him with three unfamiliar people – one in a standard, boring suit, one a more fashionable woman in clothing only slightly less conservative, both looking around slowly with the demeanor of agents who had seen just about everything. The last looked younger and was wearing a sweater that didn't quite fit with FBI standard issue, and he seemed… excited? Booth walked the group over to her.

"Bones, these are the agents from the Behavioural Analysis Unit that I told you were going to be coming into the investigation," Booth said quickly, stepping out of the way as they approached.

"SSA Hotchner," Aaron told Brennan as he shook her hand, "Dr. Brennan, I've heard a lot about your work on some other FBI cases."

"SSA Prentiss," Emily introduced herself, casually shaking Brennan's hand, "I'm sorry we can't meet under better circumstances."

"Doctor Reid," Reid thrust his hand forward, eagerly shaking her hand, "I'm a big fan of your work. I've read all your books," Emily placed a hand on his back and tugged Reid back lightly, clearing her throat, and Spencer stopped a moment then continued, "And I'm pleased to be working together on this case."

"I see. Well. Doctor, agents… I'm not sure what 'Behavioural Analysis' is about," she looked over at Booth, standing behind the rest of the group, to catch a meaningful look from him, "But I'm open to hearing about it," Dr. Brennan stated calmly, carefully pulling her hand out of Reid's grip. "We're still pulling remains out of the ground here, but some are already back in my lab at the Jeffersonian. You're welcome to stay and check out this scene, or just meet me back there," Brennan finished.

The clear ring of a cell phone chimed out at just that moment.

"Hotchner," Hotch said smoothly, as he answered it, "They did? And you're on the way? That's good to hear. Please update me after you speak to her." He hung the phone up as quickly as he had answered it and looked up to speak to the rest of the group, who were watching him with obvious curiosity.

"That was JJ. A truck picked up a girl running out of the forest, onto the highway. She's in the hospital now, and JJ is on the way to interview her," he told them calmly, answering the question no one needed to voice.

Ashley's heart was as fast and as loud as a jackhammer in her chest. She silently cursed it as she desperately tried to listen for the sound of footsteps near her, imagining they could hear her heart from a mile away. Ashley had tried to hold herself up with the aid of a large oak tree next to her, but she was too weak and tired for even that, and it wasn't long before she collapsed onto the hard, damp ground. She had no idea how long she had been running, but it felt like hours. Tears filled her eyes as she looked down at her leg, which was covered in blood and sweat. Somewhere along the way, she had nicked her leg on one of the many branches sticking out into her path. She hadn't even noticed when it happened. It hadn't started hurting until now. Dakota, Dakota, Dakota. The guilt gnawed at her as she tried to recover her breath. Okay, Ashley. Focus. It was near impossible to hear anything over her pounding heart or the gasping, desperate breaths that were coming out of her mouth. But she did hear something. Or was she imagining it? With a newfound energy, Ashley forced herself to get to her feet and run towards the sounds that she recognized as a highway. Her ears were ringing and her vision blurred, and every step seemed harder than the last. Everything was darkening around her but she forced herself to push on. She could see vehicles speeding by as she collapsed again, her hands digging into the soft earth as she tried to pull her exhausted body to safety.

JJ paused outside the window to the hospital room. The woman in the room barely resembled the picture she'd been shown just the day before. She looked starved, frail and exhausted, and JJ had the impression she would have trouble lifting her head from the bed. Her pale blonde hair was a tangled mess and despite the quick efforts of the nurses, JJ could see remnants of blood and dirt on the girl's face. There were livid purple bruises up and down her arms and red marks on her throat, and JJ could see her leg was bandaged. The missing person report had been filed by her boyfriend approximately a week ago. JJ tried to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach when she considered the idea of someone keeping the woman captive for that length of time. In order to help this girl, JJ had to compartmentalize. Taking a deep breath, JJ opened the door. The woman on the bed gasped and jumped at the sudden noise.

"I didn't mean to startle you," JJ said gently. "My name is Jennifer Jareau and I'm an Agent for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. Is it okay if I sit and ask you a few questions?"

The woman didn't speak, but her eyes moved rapidly, frantically looking the Agent up and down, her quick breaths beginning to slow. Eventually, she nodded.

"Okay," JJ said, slowly taking a seat on the chair next to the hospital bed and avoiding sudden movements. "Do you know where you are?"

"H-hospital," the girl whispered, though she didn't sound at all sure.

"That's right. Can you tell me your name?"

"Ashley."

"Okay, Ashley. Can you tell me a bit about what happened?"

"I-I," Ashley broke off as her voice cracked. "I-I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," JJ said quickly, smoothly grabbing the tissue box from the side table to hand to her. "Can you start by telling me where you were? Your boyfriend, David, reported you missing just over a week ago."

"A week? It felt like so much longer," Ashley said with a tone of disbelief, trailing off. It took her almost a full minute to continue, "The man... He took, he took me. He took me."

"Where were you when he took you?" JJ asked as she tried to ignore the guilt she felt at forcing the woman to think about her terrible ordeal.

As Ashley began to sob softly, JJ reached forward to take her hand. JJ gave her a reassuring squeeze, and then spoke in a calm voice. "It's okay. Take your time."

It took a few moments, but Ashley's sobs quieted. "I was going to work."

"You work as an elementary school teacher, correct?"

"Yes," Ashley said. "He asked me for directions. How stupid am I? They always tell us all these things to try and make us safe but he looked so friendly..."

"You aren't stupid at all," JJ said with a firm and gentle tone. "So, you'd never seen him before?"

Ashley shook her head and tossed a crumpled tissue onto the bed.

"Do you know where he took you?"

"No," Ashley said, the frustration evident in her tone.

"Can you tell me a bit about what you saw?"

"Wait," Ashley said urgently, her eyes widening. "There was another girl. Did you find another girl?"

JJ felt her heart sink. "There was another woman there with you?"

"Yes," Ashley said, her lip beginning to tremble. "And I left her."

JJ stopped momentarily in the restroom after the interview. She splashed some cool water on her face as she desperately tried to compose herself. The interview had given her a lot of information. There were images flashing in her mind that she tried to black out. Images of what the man had done to Ashley and the other woman. Dakota. That was all she had from Ashley and a vague description. It wasn't a lot to work with, and JJ worried that even the magical Garcia wouldn't be able to identify the missing woman based on so little information. And based on what she'd been told, JJ couldn't help but wonder if the woman was still alive.

Having regained her composure, JJ grabbed her phone out of her pocket and left the restroom. She needed to fill the team in on what she had learned, if they were going to have any hope of finding this other girl.