I guess I really went to town with this chapter! Thank you to everyone who has read this story, favorited, and added it to their alerts! You guys are amazing!!

And a very special Thank You and shout out to cloudgirl9, who has the honor of being my first reviewer!!! :D

Again, except for Aislinn, nothing is mine! If it was, Morgan and Garcia would've gotten together in season three, and Reid would have a girl hanging off his arm (and his every word).

~~~***~~~***

Aislinn staggered to the top of the staircase, panting; four flights of steep stairs was too much for anyone to handle, even her. But it had to be done; the elevator was too slow, and she needed the exercise.

Her hand brushed the edge of her pocket, and was surprised to see that her notebook's familiar presence was gone.

But I KNOW I put it there, she mused. But it wasn't there. Suddenly Aislinn remembered the quad, and bumping into the young man walking on the quad. She sighed. She could get it later; now she needed to get to class before her Math professor lowered her grade anymore than it already was.

~~~***~~~***

Spencer Reid had been in the presence of crying women before; in his line of work, it was almost as common as the dead bodies left by the UnSubs. So he had been surprised when he was told to stay on campus for the time being to work a geographical profile. But he didn't mind; he liked working on this aspect of the process of building the profile. He felt that is stimulated his mind, and helped him think.

JJ had called shortly after the interview with Aimee's roommate; they were setting up base at the St. Catherine's Public Safety office, and he was needed to start the geographical profile. Prentiss would go interview the parents with Morgan, who had been questioning the Public Safety officers, and exploring the campus, trying to figure out how the UnSub would've gotten access to Aimee.

Now, Reid was checking a map of West St. Paul that had been tacked to a whiteboard in an office in the Public Safety building. He had a system, a method for the multicolored pins he placed. The red ones were the dorm halls (or family residences) of the victims; Jessica and Lainey had lived at home, not in a dorm. Green was where they had last been seen; outside Barnes & Noble in Highland Park (Jacob Swan), walking past the pond on campus (Aimee Sawyer), outside the Italian restaurant he worked at (Alec Sawyer), and just down the street from school (Lainey and Jessica). White was where the bodies had been discovered; an ally just down the street from the St. Catherine's campus, the wooded area of the campus, and the corner where Jessica and Lainey had been shot.

It was late afternoon; most of the students on campus were out of classes; Reid could hear voices outside on the quad, and a voice floated from the main desk, where a woman was asking to borrow a bike. Reid paused for a moment to pick up a pin (white), and placed it on the corner of Randolph and Hamline. He faintly heard a voice ask for something at the front desk, but was engrossed in his locating that he didn't hear exactly what it was. I wasn't until he felt eyes on him that Reid managed to turn around.

"Um…Hi," the girl muttered

"Hi." Reid began. "Umm, did you want something?"

~~~***~~~***

Aislinn was beyond nervous. Does he remember the fiasco this morning? And how do I know for sure he has my notebook? Oh, God, this was a really bad idea!

And he seemed so nice, too. Not to mention handsome. Tall, with longish thick, curly brown hair, a soft, lilting face, and expressive caramel brown eyes. He was dressed in such a way that reminded her of a stereotypical college professor, or a stately young gentleman from London in the 1800's. He had seemed so engrossed in the map, she hadn't wanted to disturb him….

"Umm…" She began hastily, "I… erm… I kinda owe you an apology." She muttered, her head hanging, one hand scratching at the peeling purple polish on her fingernails.

~~~***~~~***

Reid watched her silently. She was clearly nervous about seeing him; her body language, and lack of eye contact proved that. Also, she seemed to be paying more attention to her nails.

But Reid also noticed how her hair caught the late afternoon sunlight that was shining through the office, turning it from brown to blonde, and revealing what appeared to be slight highlights of red, the way it curled around her face, and how she tucked it behind her ear so quickly. The freckles on her cheeks, and the way she still seemed like a child in so many ways.

He noticed from the corner of his eye the black notebook with the butterflies, and he picked it up. Turning to her, he held it up. "Umm… E-excuse, me, umm…"

The girl looked up, startled.

"Aislinn. Aislinn Werner."

~~~***~~~***

Aislinn had surprised herself on many occasions. It had always been that way, since she'd been a small child.

During the 8th grade field trip to Eagle Bluff, the retreat center near Apple Valley, she had been the only person to get hot in her winter clothes, which everyone had worn all that week. That same year, she'd gone to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for a trip with some other kids, and for some reason, she wanted to stay there forever; the other students couldn't wait to go home, even though they had enjoyed the beauty of the park. She hadn't acted on those impulses, but they had stayed with her.

A little over a year ago, she had gone on a trip to Washington DC to see the inauguration of President Obama, and they had spent a few days in New York City. Aislinn remembered how the city had seemed so big and bright, full of pulsing light and life. However, when the plane had landed back in St. Paul, Aislinn hadn't wanted to leave. She felt like she had forgotten something, even though she checked everything -- the seat, the pockets, the floor. It turned out that her grandfather had died while she had been on the trip, a surprise for her whole family.

A few months later, she had felt a similar feeling at her grandmother's funeral, something more acute to a premonition, like she knew she'd be attending another funeral very soon, and she wouldn't be happy about it. She had admitted to dismissing the notion, but then, only a few days later….

No! She chided herself. Don't think about it. You have enough nightmares and thoughts about it; you don't need to worry about more!

But now she had told her name to a strange young man, someone who she didn't know, someone who she'd accidently ran into simply because she'd been late for class, looking for her cell phone when it was still sitting on a shelf in her room, complete with charger still jammed into the side. She'd figured out he was one of the people from the FBI who was investigating the murder of Aimee Sawyer and the other people around town. And now…

"Aislinn, I-I think this belongs to you."

~~~***~~~***

"Aislinn, I-I think this belongs to you."

Spencer Reid watched Aislinn for a moment. She looked surprised, and a bit relieved about the whole thing.

"Thanks," she said, thankfully taking the book from Reid's hands. "I thought I'd lost it. Thank you again, umm…"

"Dr. Spencer Reid… umm, well, you can call me Reid. Or Spencer; you, ah… you don't have to call me Doctor." Reid cleared his throat; he felt his face suddenly glow with heat.

"Well, thank you… umm, Spencer?" She asked. He nodded. "Yeah, and…um, no hard feeling about this morning?"

Reid shook his head. "Ah, no, actually. This morning I can understand. You… you were late for class; I get that. I've had that happen to me, too. And on more than one occasion."

~~~***~~~***

It had been a long time since Aislinn had been able to open up like this. She liked Spencer. He was very nice. If he hadn't forgotten about this morning, then at least he had forgiven Aislinn for it.

"Well," she began, "It was very nice to meet you, Spencer. You seem… altogether normal. You know, for an FBI agent."

"I'm not really normal, Aislinn." Spencer admitted. "I mean, I'm basically a genius; I highly doubt you know anyone with an IQ of 187, or an eidetic memory."

Aislinn shook her head. "No, I don't." She admitted. "I…" I also haven't been able to feel so comfortable around someone for such a long time, she thought. Not since…

"I… Do you want to get coffee with me sometime?" Aislinn blurted out, once again, surprising herself; she had never done that twice in one day.

She thought Spencer looked surprised. She didn't know where the words came from, or how they had come out of her mouth, but… Suddenly, they were there.

"Umm… I'd like that, yeah," Spencer replied; Aislinn noticed that his voice seemed to rise a few octaves when he said that.

For some reason, she found it… nice.

~~~***~~~***

Reid watched her leave, smiling slightly. They had decided to meet for coffee at Brewberrys, a local coffee shop within walking distance of the St. Catherine's campus. The hadn't decided on an exact time and date, though; Reid was working a profile, and Aislinn had classes and homework on a regular basis.

Reid smiled, glancing at his phone, Aislinn had given him her number, and he had returned the favor by not only programming in his number, but also handing her one of his business cards. He smiled as he flipped through his contacts, finding her number.

He smiled as he remembered all the details of their encounter; her smile as she talked to him, the way she seemed to pay attention to everything he said. He thought of the way her eyes lit up when he mentioned some of the literature his mother had read to him as a child.

Reid moved through his contacts for a moment longer before settling on a familiar number, and pressing 'Send.'

~~~***~~~***

"Crossroads of Information, how may I service you today?" Garcia sang as she answered her phone. She twirled her favorite purple fuzzy pen, and adjusted her glasses.

"Garcia, it's Reid."

"Hey, Sweet-Cheeks. Is there something you want me to run for you?" She uncrossed her feet, and drew herself up to the keyboard, fingers ready.

"Actually, I, uh… I need some advice."

"On what?" Garcia paused; what would Reid want advice on?

"A girl. I just met her, and we're hopefully going out for coffee later this week."

Ooh, what's her name?"

"Aislinn Werner. She's a student at St. Catherine's. We, uh, bumped into each other this morning."

"And you want me to dig up some juicy tidbits on her so you can question her about her life? Is that it?"

"No, Garcia," Reid sounded flustered at the very idea of peeking into Aislinn's life; to him, it seemed… wrong. "Just… just some, ah, conversation starters; she loves to read, apparently, and I was hoping you could dig up a few book tiles that she may have read. Just because she may not have read the same literature I have."

"Right you are, Genius. Listen, is the rest of Hotchner's Army in the vincinity?"

The door opened as Reid looked up.

~~~***~~~***

"Garcia's got something." Reid said as the rest of the team walked into the room.

"Contrary to most popular beliefs, it isn't contagious, my lovelies." Garcia called from over the phone.

"What do you have for us, Baby Girl," Morgan asked sweetly, "You know I love it when you work your magic!"

"Keep your chaps on, Chocolate God." This elected a few chuckles from the rest of the team before Garcia continued.

"I think I may have found a connection between you victims," She began in earnest. "Although it is quite… well, odd."

"What's the connection, Garcia?" Prentiss asked.

"Okay, so your first victim, Jacob Swan. Fourth of July 2009. Edward Swan, age 77 goes out for a stint in the fishing boat on Otter Lake, but doesn't come back when the sun sets. A group of recreational boaters found his body the next morning; he had suffered a major heart attack and died within minutes."

"What about Aimee and Alec Sawyer?" Hotch asked.

"Their uncle Charlie, who was fondly known as "Uncle Chuck", according to obituary, was the victim of a car-deer accident in October; he was driving a stretch of road just outside of Hastings, Minnesota, when a deer bounded out of the brush. He swerved and hit a tree, died on impact."

"And our latest victims, Jessica and Lainey. What happened to them?" Rossi asked.

"That, Sir David Rossi, is where it gets hinky. Lainey Jones' brother, Andrew, died in Iraq sometime last month. Poor girl," Garcia added. But Jessica King… There are no recent deaths in her family history at all. Her grandmother died when she was three, but that's it. Unless there is a family friend who shuffled off this mortal coil recently or something to that extent, I am clueless as to why the UnSub killed her."

"Unless it was simply the fact that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Reid pointed out.

"Thank you, Garcia." Rossi said.

"Garcia out, lovelies!"

"So this UnSub," Prentiss countered, "Is targeting people who have recently had loved ones die?!"

"Maybe he feels that they are unhappy with the fact that their loved ones are dead, and thinks he's doing them a service, reuniting them with the loved one." Morgan said

"But why kidnap the last three victims, and then shoot the last two?" JJ asked, confused

"It's like what Reid said. Jessica hadn't lost anyone, Lainey had." Rossi theorized. "The UnSub was only prepared for one person, not two. Seeing Jessica made him panic, and shoot them instead of taking them; he knew Jessica would talk if he only took Lainey, and he wasn't prepared to see Jessica with her."

"So he shoots Jessica because she's there, and Lainey because it'll be faster than trying to grab her." Morgan concluded.

"We're ready to give the profile," Hotch said.

~~~***~~~***

A/N: Hi!

You're probably tired of hearing this, but please… I love to hear feedback on my stories. Give me a chance; review for me. Just click on the little icon-thingy down there, wait for the window to open and write something so I can see if I'm doing a good job.

It's appreciated! And for a good cause.

*~N_CBAU~*