"I see check in five."

"What? No way…"

Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss and Dr. Spencer Reid were in the middle of a chess game. The young genius smiled as he had already won 3 games. SSA Derek Morgan sat across them, and smirked.

"Actually, I see it in two." The three of them looked up to see a new figure standing above them. She seemed young, maybe late 20's. Her long black hair was in a French braid and she wore a midnight blue collared shirt tucked into black jeans. She smiled and shrugged, then walked up to the landing, and stepped into Unit Chief Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner's office.

Morgan and Prentiss laughed, as Reid gave a bewildered look to the chess board.

"Hey, JJ! You know who that was?" Morgan asked a young blonde woman carrying a mountain of files.

JJ set them down on Morgan's desk. "Hotch is recruiting new agents." She pointed to their boss' door. "And, I heard a rumor."

"What?"
"You have to promise me you'll finish these files." Morgan scowled at this.

"Come on!" He pouted his lip, then gave up. "Fine!"
JJ leaned in mysteriously. "I heard Hotch requested her personally. I think her name's Serena something." Derek whistled and Prentiss raised her eyebrows. Reid remained focused on the chess board.

Hotch stepped out of his office, followed by Serena. "Everyone, we have a case. We'll make introductions in the conference room."

The team filed in and sat down, looking expectedly at Hotch and Serena. She stood up straight but looked slightly uncomfortable in this formal setting.

"Everyone, this is Agent Serena Chen." She pointed to each team member and introduced them. "That's Garcia. She's our technical analyst, and usually stays behind at Quantico while we work cases. A happy bubbly woman in a yellow dress waved, and gave Serena a bright sunflower pin. Serena smiled back. "This is JJ. She's our media liaison." The young blonde shook her hand.

"And that's-"

"David Rossi!" The young agent rushed forward to shake the renowned author's hand. "I've read all of your books! I can't believe I'm meeting you in person." She looked over at Hotch, and cleared her throat. "Ahem. Sorry…" Rossi chuckled and Hotch almost smiled.

Prentiss and Morgan introduced themselves, and Morgan said, "Pretty Boy's a little bummed out that you beat him at chess."

Serena looked over to the young man. He looked up awkwardly and straightened his tie. "H-hi, uh, I'm uh, Dr. Spencer Reid."

Serena smiled at Morgan and replied, "Hi, I'm Serena Chen."

"Did you know the name Serena is derived from the masculine Roman name Serenus? It means tranquil and clearness. Actually, it has a resemblance to the Greek mythological creatures called sirens, who lured in sailors with their enchanted song and music to their rocky island shore causing them to crash and die. According to the Greek Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus, Plato said there were three kinds of sirens: the celestial, the generative, and the purificatory and or cathartic. The first were under the government of Zeus, the second under that of Poseidon, and the third of Hades. "

The team stared at Reid and Prentiss gave a small cough.
"Yeah, and they were believed to look like a combination of women and birds in various forms, though they're commonly mistaken as mermaids. But the seventh-century Anglo-Latin catalogue Liber Monstrorum says that Sirens were women from their heads to their navels, and instead of legs they had fish tails." Serena replied.

The team stared open-mouthed as Reid gave her a grateful smile. Morgan closed his eyes and sighed. Hotch passed around case files and JJ set up the screen.

"It's been 5 murders in 2 months in NYC. The first victim was Tracey Willson, a prostitute. Next was a John Doe, nobody could identify him. Third, Mark Gomez, a worker for some drill factory. Fourth, a CEO of a company. And fifth, a-"
"NYPD police officer." Hotch finished grimly.

"Sniper attacks?" Serena asked, looking over the report.

"We don't call them snipers. We call them L.D.S.K's. Long Distance Serial Killer." Rossi said.

"And, have you caught any?"

"We've found one. He's dead though." Morgan shrugged. At this comment, Reid squirmed in his seat. He fiddled with the buttons on his vest and nervously flattened his hair. Serena gave him a look. "Reid killed him." Morgan finished.

"This unsub already killed five people,and has no intention of stopping. Wheels up in thirty." Hotch said, and the team got up. Reid looked around and seemed jumpy.

"Hey." Serena tapped him on the shoulder.

"Jesus. You scared me.." The young doctor said, whipping around.

"Sorry. So uh, the L.D.S.K-"

Reid sighed. "I don't want to talk about it." And with that, he gathered his papers and left, leaving Serena alone in the conference room.

Serena boarded the jet and settled in a chair next to Prentiss. The two chatted while waiting for Hotch to start the briefing. Reid stole her glances occasionally from where he was sitting. Morgan was quick to notice this.

"Pretty Boy's got his eye on somethin'." He gave Reid a nudge. Reid looked away.

"Alright, it's a short flight. Let's get started. Garcia, you got anything on the victims?" Hotch asked the screen, where Garcia's happy smiling face appeared.

"Yes, sir!" She gave a small salute. "Tracey Wilson, was your average working girl. She had a son though, poor boy. Nothing out of the ordinary. As for John Doe, I, your queen of magic and wonderful goodness, have identified as a Ben McCallister. He ran away from home at 16, has been in and out of Juvie. Mark Gomez, married with two kids. Boring life. He likes to go fishing and camping. The CEO's name was Martin Lee. He was divorced two times. Not as good as our Italian pasta papa," She gave a look at Rossi, and the whole team chuckled. "And the company was doing pretty good. As for the police officer, name was John Desmonds. Aw, he was on his way to become a detective. Poor guy."

"This unsub is working his way up the top. Started with prostitutes and runaways, and now he's killed a cop. This guy ain't stopping." Morgan remarked. Everyone nodded grimly.

"When we land, Morgan and Prentiss, go check with the M.E." Hotch said. "Reid and Chen, go to the crime scene, Times Square." The two shared an awkward glance.

"JJ, Rossi, and I will set up at NYPD and interview the victims' families. Garcia, see if you can get any connections."

The plane made a smooth landing, and the profilers went straight to their posts. Reid pulled on his blue latex gloves and started surveying the area. Chen reluctantly followed.

Dammit, Serena. You just had to ask about the L.D.S.K. He seemed uncomfortable, why'd you ask?!

NYPD cops had taped off the area, and the two young agents flashed their badges. They ducked down and quickly located Detective Harvey, the leading detective on this case.

"When I asked for FBI agents, I wasn't expecting kids like you," The old man chuckled. Serena was annoyed, but ignored him nonetheless.

"Actually, kids are proven in multiple studies that they observe and pay attention to things adults miss. Adults may overpass them in cognative tasks, but kids tend to focus more on information that's not directly presented to them. Kids actually end up noticing and remembering more than what's not required." Reid replied.

The detective gave him a weird look, then stared at Serena. She was busy looking at the spots where victims had been shot. "Don't argue with him, he has 3 PhDs." The detective scoffed.

"Hey, Reid...I've been thinking." Serena said thoughtfully, kicking at a few pebbles with her boot.

"What?"

"Well, it's about what Morgan said. On the jet. This guy is escalating...going from prostitutes to a CEO and a cop? He may be injecting himself into the investigation. Watching the news. He'll definitely know we, the feds, are here." At this, the doctor stopped walking. He stared at Serena with a strange look on his face.

"Which means he'll most likely come after us…" The doctor's eyes widened. "SERENA GET DOWN!"