Chapter Two

There was a light breeze nipping at Jennifer's trench coat as she hurried from the parking lot to the employee entrance of the FBI headquarters on Monday morning. She quickly swiped her clearance card and entered the building, whisking through the tight, cramped hallway and stopping in front of the elevator, where a familiar face was waiting for the car to reach the first floor.

"Hey, Spence!" JJ greeted him warmly, gently grabbing his left arm and pulling him in for a hug. He rested his head on her shoulder.

"Hi JJ...you're freezing." he noted, observing her bright red cheeks.

"I parked outside." she explained as the elevator reached the lobby.

Both profilers stepped inside, joined by a couple of stuffy co-workers from the fifth floor. Spencer hit both buttons, and Jennifer lowered her voice.

"So did you hear about the transfer?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, Morgan told me. I heard she's coming in this morning."

As the car reached the six floor- the BAU's floor- spencer held the door open for JJ.

They walked through another set of doors to the bullpen, where Emily and Derek were waiting, impatiently pacing between their desks.

"Is she here yet?" JJ asked both agents as she scanned the bullpen, no sign of any new faces. Morgan finally stopped pacing, folded his arms, and leaned against his desk.

"She's up in Hotch's office, with Strauss...what do we know about this girl?"

JJ's eyes darted over in Emily's direction, not soon forgetting what they had discovered on Saturday night. She took a deep breath.

"She originally applied to the BAU, but got shot down because she didn't have enough experience."

"And now she's back." Derek frowned, obviously displeased with all the secrecy.

"Morgan..." Emily scolded him, and he unfolded his arms.

"Fine, you're right- i should give her a fair chance."

The team's pow-wow was interrupted when Jennifer's cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She had one new text, from their team's fearless leader.

"Be right back, guys." She gave them a reassuring smile. Aaron stood at the front of his office with the new girl, hoping his most personable Agent would give Kristina a warm welcome to the BAU.

Jennifer readied herself as she scaled the steps, where Special Agent Kristina Kent stood, looking positively no-nonsense in a black blazer and slacks.

"Thank you, JJ." Hotch excused himself, leaving the agents alone.

First impressions- Jennifer could immediately tell that Agent Kent was hiding something. Behind those fierce, hazel eyes was a steel fortress. It was Agent Jareau's job to read between the lines, but even she could not quite get a read on the newest member of the team. Still, she held out her hand, a momentary moratorium on the mystery behind Kristina Kent.

"Jennifer Jareau. You can call me JJ."

For the first time, she caught a glimpse behind the fortress when a hint of a smile spread across the brunette's lips.

"Hello, Jennifer. I'm Kristina Kent."

"Right this way, Agent Kent." Jennifer directed her down the hallway, pointing out each office as she passed. "You've already seen SSA Hotchner's office, then there's SSA Rossi and Chief Strauss's office..." Kristina followed closely behind her as she entered the bullpen. Jennifer stopped in front of the only unoccupied workspace.

"This will be your desk, you've got SSAs Morgan and Prentiss, and Dr. Reid." She motioned to each cluttered desk as she said their names. Kristina chuckled.

"Where did they all go?"

"Who knows..." Jennifer smiled, guessing that they had probably gone across the street for coffee to help ease them out of their weekend and into an undoubtedly stressful work week.

Kristina set her bag at her desk, and Jennifer let out a deep breath.

"Okay, that's pretty much it...there's just some paperwork you need to fill out, we can do that in my office."

The new girl offered another cryptic smile.


Jennifer's blue office walls almost matched the color of her eyes, it seemed, when Kristina first set foot inside. Upon closer inspection, she noted that the media liaison was either months behind on her paperwork or was a bit of a pack rat- dozens upon dozens of manila folders with an FBI insignia on the front formed the Everest of file mountains on her desk. She had not one, but three coats hanging from the black iron coat rack- one for every season. Several to-go coffee cups were in the trash can, along with an empty bag of Cheetos and several balled up pieces of paper. The other half of the admittedly small room had a tan duvet, a small office chair, and a window that had an excellent view of the parking lot. If Kristina had been profiling her, she would not hesitate to conclude that Miss Jennifer Jareau was overworked, stressed, and- as she noticed a 4-by-6 picture frame of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy- feeling a little guilty like any good mother does for spending so much time away from her son.

As it were, Kristina sat in front of her desk as JJ handed her the disclaimer form, which basically signed her life away to the BAU. She didn't mind. She'd given her life to the FBI almost thirteen years ago. The blonde agent watched her intently as she filled it out, which did not go unnoticed.

"Are you profiling me?" She looked up from the file, squinting her eyes at the Special Agent. Jennifer quickly diverted her eyes.

"Sorry, force of habit." She apologized with a laugh.

"Listen, if you need to know anything about me, you can just ask, Jennifer." Kristina shot back, then pulled back when she realized how harsh she had sounded.

"I just don't like being psychoanalyzed."

"We have that in common." Jennifer chuckled, remembering all the times the team had pulled her aside on a bad day, hell-bent on discovering all her dirty secrets.

Kristina signed her name in large, loopy cursive.

"So when do I start?"

JJ glanced over at the digital clock on the wall.

"Briefing is in the conference room in... three minutes. Come on, I'll walk with you."

They walked past the offices to the largest room at the end of the hallway. There was a small dark mahogany table with several chairs around it, three of which were already occupied, each toting a cup of coffee in their right hand.

"Um, guys, this is Agent Kristina Kent." Jennifer quickly introduced her. The first to offer her hand was an older female, probably in her early forties, who wore a beige turtleneck and a big, winning smile.

"Emily Prentiss," she smiled even bigger, perhaps overselling the hospitality so that the others would follow suit. The two others, both men, stood after SSA Prentiss's lead.

SSA Derek Morgan was quite the specimen- tall, with dark chocolate skin and pure toned muscle, it was easy to pinpoint him as the enforcer of the group. Dr. Spencer Reid was a literal yin to Morgan's yang. A beanpole with bottle-cap glasses in a sweater vest, Dr. Reid was young but undoubtedly the most intelligent person in the room.

Behind them, an older Italian man in a blazer and blue jeans rushed into the conference room.

"Am I late?"

Agent Prentiss shook her head.

"You're just in time, Hotch will be here in just a sec."

"Oh, good. Traffic was a pain this morning." He huffed, trying to catch his breath. When he looked up and met Kristina's eye, he gasped.

"Well, look who it is!"

Kristina couldn't help but grin.

"Dave, it's been too long."

He crossed the room and enveloped her in a hug.

"What, seven years? How have you been?"

Jennifer cast a questioning glance across the table, and the others shrugged in response as Kristina replied.

"Seven years, wow...I've been good, y'know, working pretty much non-stop."

Rossi paused, noting the confusion amongst the other members of the team.

"Guys, Kristina here was one of my first students." he explained. "You must've been what, eighteen at the time? I was teaching classes in California, and this one showed up for every single class."

JJ was slowly starting to put the pieces together.

"The youngest person to go out in the field in FBI history." Reid offered, twirling a pen in his right hand. "Twenty-one years, four months, and ten days."

Emily shot a glance over at the boy genius, wondering what else he knew that he wasn't telling them. Her guess-everything.

"We're glad to have you." Rossi assured her, offering her a chair and then sitting down next to her.

"Where's Hotch?"

"Right here," he shuffled to the front of the room, quickly adjusted his tie, and cleared his throat, "let's get started."

The team directed their attention to the large computer screen behind him, where there were three gruesome photos of young women.

"Columbus, Ohio. Alicia Gray, Patty Priestly, and Christy Carlsbad were found in this field along route 104 yesterday."

Agent Jareau clicked the remote to show the next slide: a close-up shot of the victims' bloody wrists, ankles, and throats.

"The ME has determined that the initial slashing of the throat is the cause of death for all three victims. The cuts on the wrists and ankles were post-mortem."

"Overkill." Morgan, an expert on obsessive behavior, noted immediately.

"And a dump site suggests an organized kill." Prentiss sighed. "How many days apart is he killing these women?"

"Three days." Jennifer clicked to the next slide, with three stock photos of the victims; each in their mid-twenties but with varying ethnicities and body types.

"85 percent of serial killer victims are white," Reid began, "so the fact that he's choosing to target these specific women is significant. The dump site indicates premeditation. What's the connection between these three women?"

"Nothing yet." Jennifer frowned, wishing they had more to go on before her team traveled to Ohio. Of course, she had absolute faith that they would get the job done. They were the best in the business.

"Well, we need to figure out where he's killing these women. If the cycle holds, we haven't much time." Agent Hotchner stated the obvious, glancing down at his watch.

"Wheels up in thirty minutes."

Dave turned to the newest member of the team.

"You ready, kiddo?"

She let out a deep breath, pushing herself up out of her chair.

"I was born ready, Dave."

"That's my girl." he smiled.

Jennifer observed their interaction, becoming more and more curious about the woman behind the mask with every passing second. Perhaps she was too quick to judge the hardworking Agent. After all, anyone who was alright in Agent Rossi's book had to be someone worth their salt.

"JJ, you coming?" Morgan called after her, holding open the glass door to the now-empty conference room.

"Yeah, just give me a second." She waved him off, waiting until after he turned and walked away to reach up and gently twist the charm hanging from the necklace around her neck between her fingers. This was her most prized possession- it was a gift from her sister on the day before she killed herself.

This job was beyond tough. It nearly broke Jennifer so many times over the years, left her with nightmares based in the harsh reality she had witnessed with so many families. The most terrifying nightmares the thirty-three year old had, however, were the ones involving her sister. When she was younger, they happened at least three times a week. Now they seemed to come whenever something in the case reminded her of Rebecca. She would wake up in a cold sweat, panting heavily, clutching her necklace like a life line. For a long time, she considered this a weakness. Now, she saw it as a strength. It reminded her that no matter how many victims or how many killers they came across, theirs was a battle worth fighting.