A/N: Clarification, yes, this will be a pretty disturbing story. Think a little Chuck meets Burn Notice meets Criminal Minds with my own little flair. It will get graphic, and I don't think the first few chapters deserve the rating, but I might up this to M just in case. It won't all be dark and twisty of course, but I'm dealing with killers and killer killers so... yeah it'll be pretty intense. I wasn't sure what categories to put it in, this will turn into an adventure in a few chapters, it won't be a happy one, but adventure none the less, and the romance will play a main roll, which is of course, Prentiss/Reid, because I don't write anything else for this fandom. Hope you guys stick around through the gore. It'll probably alternate chapters so this one's not so bad. Enjoy!

A loud ring jarred Emily from her sleep. She scrounged around her night stand, trying to find her cell phone in the dark. Her hand finally landed on the item and she brought it to her ear. "Jayje?" she asked, her voice husky with sleep. "We got a case?"

"Yeah, sorry, Em, here in DC. Hotch wants everyone in the office in thirty, we're briefing in the conference room," JJ's equally tired voice came through the receiver, and Emily could just picture the sleepy look on her face.

"Alright, I'll be there," Emily replied with a yawn, flicking her phone shut and pushing herself out of the bed. It was still dark, barely four am, and she stumbled around her bedroom as she got dressed. She glanced at her watch as she stumbled out the front door, tucking her gun into its holster. Only once she got into her car and started driving did she realize that there was a serial killer on the loose, in her city.

XXX

"Oh good, everyone's here," Hotch spoke, strutting into the conference room and taking his seat. JJ nodded and turned her head to the screen, remote and file folder in hand. Everyone else was seated in their usual spots, looking expectedly exhausted, even Morgan looked rumpled; his arms crossed across his chest, a grimace on his face, letting everyone in the room know that he had been pulled away from a very good time.

"This is Javier Montoya, 34 found last night in a storage shed," JJ explained as she clicked the remote, flipping to a picture of a man, duct taped to a chair, "cause of death was a bullet to the head, his arms were sliced open, completely mutilating them, he also has stab wounds to the thighs, abdomen and superficial slicing around his neck," she flipped to a close up of his arms.

"The wounds on his arms appear to be a type of lingchi," Reid announced, his hands flailing slightly as he gestured, "It was originally a type of Chinese execution that literally meant slow slicing. It was eventually banned from practice due to the cruelty. Because of the slow death it was used for criminals considered most worthy, treason, killers and the like. It's unusual, though, lingchi was usually performed on the torso, not the arms, did the toxicology report show any opiates?" the words stumbled out of his mouth quickly, before turning to JJ, eyes wide and waiting.

"Uh, no, there wasn't," JJ replied, flipping through the chart. "The toxicology report came back negative for everything."

"Victims were generally given opium before their execution, not to keep them from feeling it, but to keep them awake during the torture. Perhaps the unsub doesn't actually want the victim to die from the lingchi, it has been used in torture as a means of getting information…" Reid suggested an intrigued look on his face. "Were there other victims?"

"Yes," JJ flipped to another photo, "This is Arun Jobb, twenty two, he bears nearly the exact same wounds as the second victim, the slices to the arm, gunshot wound to the head and multiple stab wounds."

"Interesting victimology," Morgan commented, "they don't have any apparent commonalities. One's Middle Eastern, the other Latino, one's in his early twenties, the other mid thirties. No sexual assault," it was a question directed at JJ, he continued on with a nod, "the lingchi is probably what gets this unsub off. It's his signature."

The room went silent, all pondering about the possible implications. "These are too controlled to be his first two kills, there were probably others, most likely with different M.O.s," Rossi suggested, "This appears to be a skilled, practiced killer, are you sure we're looking at pleasure killers and not a hired hit? The bullet wound, the cause of death indicates that the actual death isn't what he's after. Reid mentioned information seeking. That could be the motifs behind this…" Rossi trailed off.

Emily just continued to stare at the images on the screen, her face completely blanched, and silent horror in her eyes. Her mouth was clamped shut, too stunned to pry it open and speak. Nobody noticed, not at first, but Reid turned to her, and it was a room full of profilers.

"Are you alright, Emily?" Reid had asked, concern evident in his voice. Emily had always been the compartmentalized one, she didn't show emotion, certainly not the disgust and horror evident on her face. "It's nothing worse than we've seen before."

"I-I know," she replied finally, cursing silently at the stutter in her voice. "It's just… the lingchi, it's so..." she groped for the word, wondering where her composure had gone. Reid reached over, placing a reassuring hand on her forearm.

"Disturbing?" He supplied sympathetically. She nodded in response, her mouth shut once again. Everyone had turned to look at her, all concerned. Emily didn't do emotion... it was, startling, for everyone.

"We're heading over to the DC police department now, we'll set up there to work with them, instead of here," Hotch cut in, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Reid, I'd like you to work on a geographic profile, be as precise as you can, we know the area so that will be to our advantage, Morgan and Rossi head over to the morgue, Prentiss and I will visit the families, JJ I'd like you to coordinate a press release, if this is something more organized than a serial killer, we don't want them getting wind of our investigation."

Everyone nodded and dispersed, and Reid caught Emily's arm before she could walk off with the others. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, reaching out. She had always been there for him, a shoulder to lean on, and he wanted to return the favor.

"Yeah there's just that one, you know? That hits close to home," she replied simply, her eyes still wide with the evident shock. Reid nodded, he understood, he had been there before too. "I should," she gestured towards Hotch, tearing her gaze from his warm, hazel eyes. He nodded again, and Emily could tell that he was rocking slightly on the balls of his feet. "See ya," she left with a pathetic little wave, and he just raised his hand to her back, his eyes dropping immediately.

XXX

Emily's phone vibrated against her thigh and she fished it out of her pocket, flipping it open to check the text message. She cursed inwardly as she read the message, and glanced over to Hotch, who was driving the SUV they were in. There was no way she could get back to the house without him noticing, she only had to pray that Reid would go straight to the police station, instead of going home. Biting her lip, she glanced at the phone again.

"Hey Hotch," she questioned, "do you know if Reid was planning on going straight to the station?" she asked, knowing that her mission was more important than her lie.

"Uh, yeah," he nodded, "why?" The experienced profiler asked, turning to look at Emily, a suspicious look on his face.

"Just curious," she shrugged. He wasn't buying any of it though, and she knew it.