Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I had a bit of writer's block going for me. A special thank you goes to my beta reader crazykelly101. Check out her stories Here I Go and An Untraditional Love Story.

As always I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters, just Hope Bering….

It was definitely Monday.

Hope could tell it was Monday just by the fact she didn't want to get up…that and yesterday had been Sunday. It was also so ridiculously sunny outside that she was sure that they would be called out today. The past two weeks at the BAU had been relatively calm; they had just been doing consultations and paperwork. It wasn't that Hope wanted to have to go outside D.C., but it was a matter of the inevitable.

She was adjusting well. The first weeks had been full of learning the ropes; the ins and outs of how the office worked, doing profiles on paper, getting to see the team dynamics and where she fit in to that. She also had been doing a bunch of unpacking, which wasn't quite finished yet. These were just a few of the thoughts that ran through Hope's head as she got ready to go into the office. But before she could get out the door her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and smiled a little to herself before answering.

"Hey Pen," she greeted the TA.

"Hope, have you left home yet?"

"No, but I am on my way out."

"Ok, Hotch told me to call everyone and tell you that you are to go straight to the plane. We have a case in Idaho and he wants to get there ASAP," Garcia informed her.

Knew it… thought Hope to herself. "Will do, thanks Garcia."

"Alright… Hey Hope," Penelope interjected.

"Yeah,"

"Good luck."

Hope shut her phone and headed out to her car. Thankfully, she had thought a head to locate the air strip before they actually had a case so she knew her way. But as she pulled into the parking space, noting that she was the first one there, she decided that there was one person that she needed to call first. She punched 1 on her speed dial, hit send, and waited for the line to connect.

"Hello," greeted a groggy voice on the other end.

"Hey Dad, it's me," Hope started out. "Sorry to wake you up but I wanted to let you know I am going out on my first case and I would like for you to pray with me, for me and the team."

"Sure Princess," her father replied, his voice instantly brighter at hearing his daughter. He led her in a short, but heartfelt prayer, asking Jesus for protection and guidance for the team.

They ended their conversation just as Hotch, followed by Morgan pulled into the spaces next to her. She greeted her team members as she exited the car and followed them into the jet, carrying her go bag. JJ, Rossi, and Reid joined them not long after.

"Good morning everyone," Hotch began. "Thank you for getting here so quickly but we have a bit of way to go and we need to get to Idaho soon. There have been three house fires in Durant, all of them family homes, resulting in the deaths of three young girls. The families are seemingly unconnected and even though it is a small town the police are having difficulty pinpointing a suspect, which makes it difficult to carry out this investigation."

Hope looked at the file in front of her. All the homes were nice; two story buildings, located in different parts of town. She looked up as Hotch continued the briefing.

"The first fire happened four weeks ago, to the Harris family, David, Martha, and their two children Gwen, 7, and Jay, 6 months. David woke up to smoke filling up his and Martha's room on the lower level, Martha grabbed Jay and got out to the front while David went to try to get Gwen. Her room had already been filled with flames and there was no way to get to her in time." All the team winced at this; Hope couldn't even imagine the pain that Dad was feeling knowing that couldn't save his daughter. Hotch continued further, "This fire was followed by the James family two weeks later. Single father, Ryan, woke up to find his room similarly enveloped in smoke. He was able to get to his son Jacob in time and get his daughter, Sophie, out of her room but she died later from smoke inhalation. A week later, there was a fire set at the Royal's home where daughter Ann was babysitting her two younger brothers and a family friend. After getting them out of the house she went back in for her brother, Drew's, inhaler and didn't come back out." There was a slight pause as the team absorbed this information.

Derek was the first to speak up. "What do the local officers know?"

"The accelerant was regular gasoline," Hotch replied. "They are having a hard time figuring out how the unsub started the fires as none of the witnesses smelled gas."

"Most arsonists are just trying to get attention or prove a point," Rossi interjected. "Their aims usually don't coincide with murder, so why would these deaths be accidental?"

Hope took a careful look at the crime scene photos again. "The fires were deliberate, those girls were definitely targets."

"What makes you say that," asked Hotch?

"Well first of all, the windows to Gwen and Sophie's rooms are broken, as is the window to the front hall that stands next to the living room where Anna was watching those boys. My guess is the unsub used a Molotov cocktail to start the fires."

"That would make the most sense," Reid stated. "Containing the gas in a bottle which wouldn't ignite until impact would keep the families from smelling the gas, thereby preventing them from having any forewarning about the danger. It would also allow the unsub to pinpoint where he wanted the fire to start."

"But wouldn't the families have heard the glass breaking," Derek asked.

"Not necessarily," Hope replied, "especially if the members are heavy sleepers. That, and have you ever watched three young boys? It can get pretty noisy. Besides, a Molotov cocktail would create a quick burning fire, and there would have been enough fuel around the ignition point to keep the fires burning."

The rest of the flight continued in relative silence as the team continued to study the files. They soon landed in Durant and were met by the local Sherriff, Doug Adams. He greeted the BAU and updated them.

"I'm glad that you all are here," began Sherriff Adams. "We are still working on the Royal's home, and I can get you access to the first crime scenes as well as the current addresses for the families if you need to speak with them. Please tell me you can get this guy." His last words had a pleading note to them that Hope recognized as a cry for help. She wondered how many more of those cries she would hear today.

"We have means, now all we need is a motive. JJ and Reid go interview the families, Dave and Derek go to the most recent crime scene and Hope and I will go to the first two and speak with the lead investigators," Hotch instructed. "After that we will meet back at the station and start to work on finding connections and forming the profile."

The team broke up into their groups and Agent Bering began to focus more. It was hard when children were involved, most cops she knew would be flustered by that fact. It was the opposite for her, the fact that these attacks were focused on children made her want to find the unsub even more. As she and Hotch got closer to the first house she made a silent promise to herself that she would to her absolute best to find this guy before any other girls were hurt. Strike that, no other girls will die this week, I put my life on it.

Thanks for reading; remember to review!

Blessings-Hope'sFace