A.N:Soo... I am so sorry for the delay. My muse went on vacation and decided to stay there. I really had to bust my ass for this one. To anyone who is wondering when there will be action, excitement, guns, and all that jazz it will happen, just need backstory to be established. A little more Em and J.J in this one (Jemily will happen ppl just need time). So to anyone who started school again hope things are going well. Uni starts on Monday for me (yay frosh week for delaying school!) So I will be busy and my ADD doesn't help with my focus but I will try and update frequently-no promises. I do have a plan for this fic though so I won't give up on it!

Thank you to anyone and everyone who has read, followed, favourited, and reviewed.

Special thanks to anyone who reviewed I send you an epic *fist bump*

As always, everything belongs to their respective owners, unless that lottery ticket I'm planning on buying works out for me...

Stay golden


Ace had been gone for only a few minutes for her phone call and Hotch had sent them off to survey the crime scenes. Reid and Rossi were off to the first victim's house while Emily, J.J, Morgan and Ace were off to the second. Hotch asked them to meet up at the third crime scene and then head to the precinct to regroup. They had all gone to the parking lot when Ace turned to Morgan,

"I will follow you guys to the crime scenes from my car."

"Ok little lady, are you sure you're gonna be able to keep up?" Morgan says with a cheeky grin

"Morgan is quite famous for his terrible driving." quips Reid

"Hey I'm not terrible!"

"Well maybe not terrible but you tend to ignore the speed limit most of the time Derek" J.J says to a grinning Morgan

Aces watches the interaction with a small grin as she pulls on her sunglasses which had been hanging from her shirt.

"I don't think I will have many problems keeping up Agent Morgan" Ace replies with a small smirk as she points her car keys towards her vehicle and pushes the button to unlock it.

Five heads turn towards where she is pointing. Morgan lets out a low whistle, eyes going wide, which for once, Emily totally agrees with. Her eyebrows rise as she takes in the sight. Sitting twenty feet away from them was a sleek, matte black BMW X5 M G Power. Cars were a guilty pleasure of Emily, owning several nice models herself, but not this particular model. Emily glances over at Rossi who is also slightly taken aback at the sight. They make eye-contact and both think the same thing. Not only is the car one of the fastest available cars on the market but it is also fucking ridiculously expensive. Definitely not available on a normal salary.

Ace broke them all out of their trance as she turns towards her car

"Now the real question is whether you can keep up with me Agents" and with a small smirk she walks away.

The ride to the crime scene was silent as the three agents were each deep in thought. Morgan glances at the rear-view mirror to check on Ace.

"Hey Em, what's with the scowl?"

Emily pulls herself out of her thoughts and turns to the blonde agent

"I'm sorry Jayje, what did you say?"

"I asked why you were scowling. You have also been really quiet today. What's going through that head of yours?"

"I have a bad feeling about this case thats all." Emily says trying to brush off J.J's question. She wasn't sure what was throwing her off so much.

J.J nods but Emily knows that the blonde has not dropped the subject entirely.

They arrive at the crime scene in record time (with the help of the surprising lack of traffic and Morgan's driving) and pull up next to the squad cars. The police had tried their best to recreate the old crime scene for the benefit of the agents. They flash their badges at the officer standing behind the crime scene tape and head towards the area where the body was found.

Morgan turns to Ace with a slight scowl

"Didn't know you were an Agent, Agent."

"I'm not. The Director had it issued to me just for the duration of this case for things such as checking out crime scenes. In case Agent Hotchner forgot to mention, I will not be making any arrests, and officially I was never here."

She then turns and surveys the area. Timmons had been found face up lying under a tree, his watch, wallet, and the keys to his car were all still in place so the police had ruled out robbery as a motive.

Emily looks around

"This place is not too far off the beaten path but it doesn't look like it gets too much foot traffic."

"Yeah I agree Em I think that dog walkers and people on their morning jog use this place more than anyone."

"Prentiss would you agree with me if I said that Timmons didn't just happen to wander in here? I mean probably wasn't jogging, especially since he lives and works across town and doesn't have a dog to walk."

"Then he must have been meeting someone. Can you call Garcia and ask her if Timmons had scheduled to meet someone close to his death?"

The dark-skinned agent nods and pulls out his cell to call the tech-analyst.

Emily turns around and sees J.J, but she can't locate Ace.

"Jayje, where is Ace?"

The blonde agent looks around and then turns to Emily

"I have no idea. She was here a second ago."

"Still here Agents"

Emily is surprised to hear the voice come from above her.

She and J.J look up to find the dark-haired assassin crouching from high in the tree next to where the body was found.

"It seems that our friend was lying in wait for your vic up here. I can see an old cut in the tree from where they scrapped at while waiting. I guess they were here for a while in wait and got bored, until Timmons actually showed up."

Right then Morgan returns from his call

"Hey what are you lookin- woah! How did she get up there?"

"I flew Agent Morgan."

"Great another smart mouth, you and Emily will get along just fine." he says with a chuckle

Emily gives him a light slap on his arm

Ace climbs down with practiced skill and gracefully lands on the ground then dusts her hands off on her jeans.

"Does Garcia have any leads for us?'

"Nope, the opposite really. Nothing connects these people. They have no common denominator. They have never come in contact with each other in any way. Its left Garcia extremely frustrated and us without proper victimology." Morgan says with a frustrated sigh.

"Actually Agent Morgan we have a clear profile on your 'Unsub' as you call them."

The three agents turn towards the young assassin, slight confusion on their faces.

"Elaborate."

"Well you guys are still in the mindset of a serial killer- what you normally profile- not an assassin. Your victims are unrelated in any because they are meant to be. They are- as cruel as this may sound- practice."

Ace points at the tree that she had been in not 10 minutes ago.

"He or she is practicing tracking and killing from many different positions and situations. While serial killers usually choose their victims based on their perverted preferences, assassins are usually given a target. Your vics were chosen because they are not related, which gives this person a chance to, lets say, hone, their skill before executing their real target."

The young assassin's face gets dark as she continues

"We are looking at two, maybe even three, unsubs."

Before Morgan could ask Ace puts one finger up

"One who is doing the actual killing at this point, lets call them the apprentice because that is what they are." she counts another finger off "another who is the master, teacher, sensei, whatever. He or she has not killed to our knowledge and his teaching the apprentice the art." one final finger goes up "Finally a possible third person who is calling the shots. This could be the master or a totally different person who has hired the assassins to take out a certain target or targets. This person would have to be incredibly wealthy to have hired these individuals though."

The last part she says mostly to herself but the agents catch it

"Morgan can you call the others and give them the rundown?"

"Sure Prentiss, meet me at the car when you are finished so we can head to the third crime scene"

She nods as he walks off, phone already out and dialing

"How do you know all of this?"

Emily turns to J.J noting the slight sadness on her face.

Ace turns to the agent, sky blue meeting dark brown

"Agent Jareau-"

"it's J.J" corrects the blonde agent

"My apologies" she says with a slight bow? Emily shakes her head

She would fit right in at my mother's parties, but unlike the snobbish attitude that everyone there seems to have, she is genuinely being polite. It reminds me of...me?

"J.J, your team and I are a lot alike. We are both hunters. Who we hunt may vary but the techniques we use are quite similar." she continues to hold J.J's gaze " We put ourselves in the mindset of our targets, trying to understand how they think, perceive and act, so that we can predict what they will do. Then we strike. You strike most of the time not knowing who you are hunting until the end, but I know my targets sometimes better than they know themselves. You hunt people who hurt innocents, unsubs who are broken people, suffering from the compulsions their mind sets on them, powerless to their condition." she breaks eye contact and looks up at the sky "I hunt people who are most of the time in full control of their actions, who don't suffer from anything other than greed, who become much too powerful and tyrannical for the good of others, but most of my targets are very human. Some have probably been slightly sociopathic, many a little egotistical, but few were truly evil."

J.J blinks in slight shock. "Then why do you do it?"

Ace looks back at the agent "Someone has to."