The young girl glanced at her watch. Five past midnight. Mom's gonna kill me. She heard a sound behind her and turned around. Nothing there. Just relax, she tried to tell herself. It was probably only a cat or something. She quickened her step. Hearing the sound again, she turned around. Her big blue eyes widened in fright at the ghostly figure following her. She started running, and so did the figure. But he was faster. He grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth, stifling the scream. Then, she was gone, as if she'd never been there.

"Morning, Elle."

Elle Greenaway glared at Special Agent Derek Morgan. "It's been a long night, Morgan, don't get cute with me."

Morgan feigned hurt. "Can't a guy just say 'Good morning' to his colleague? Gosh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or maybe it wasn't your bed." Morgan grinned slightly.

Elle punched him hard in the arm, and suddenly fell into a coughing spell. Morgan's grin faded. "Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

She sat at her desk and rubbed her temples. "Damn cold."

Special Agent Aaron Hotchner walked into the office from the BAU meeting room. "Elle, Morgan…" He stopped as he saw Elle's face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just have a cold." Elle sniffed and grabbed a couple of tissues. "What's up, Hotch?"

"Gideon wants a meeting. Now."

The BAU profiler team assembled in one of the large meeting rooms off the main office. Special Agent Jason Gideon was already there, tacking pictures on one of the many bulletin boards that lined the room. Elle stopped short as she entered the room and stared at the pictures. She was young, pretty, and covered in blood. . A young life snuffed out by the cruelty of man. Somehow this girl reminded her of something. Something she kept hidden deep inside her…

"Elle?" The entire team was seated and staring at her. Gideon motioned to the empty chair at the table. "Can we get started?"

"Oh. Sure." Elle tried to hide the blush that slowly crept to her cheeks. She sneezed loudly as she sat down. "Sorry." Reid quietly handed her a box of tissues, and she smiled at him gratefully.

"Bertrand Russell said, 'Life is nothing more than a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.'" Gideon tacked a final picture on the board. "Sixteen-year-old Jamie Hudson, from Weatherford, Texas, found last night behind a dumpster just outside the city limits. Clothes missing, throat cut almost to the spine."

"Sexual assault?" J.J. asked.

"Brutally." Gideon replied.

"Anything left?" Hotch asked.

"No, no DNA, no fingerprints, no murder weapon."

"So why call us in?" Reid leaned back in his chair.

Gideon tacked two more pictures onto the bulletin board. "Because she's not the only one. Two more. Jennifer MacPherson, killed three weeks ago, and Michelle Howard, killed two weeks before that. Both killed in the exact same manner, both brutally raped, both left behind a dumpster. Jennifer was found just outside Richardson, Texas, and Michelle was found just outside Euless, Texas." Gideon turned toward a map on the opposite wall. "That makes them from the general Dallas-Fort Worth area."

Elle stared at the pictures. The team was quiet.

"Serial killer and rapist." Morgan sighed forlornly, breaking the silence. "Wonderful. Any suspects?"

"The cops haven't found anything yet," Gideon replied.

"What could they have in common? There has to be a link." Reid mused.

"Boyfriends?" J.J. asked.

"We'll see soon enough. Better go pack. And we'll be working with the local law enforcement, so get ready for some Southern hospitality" Hotch said as he stood, signifying that the meeting was over.