Okay so this is my very first published Fan Fiction and it is the first time I am writing a Criminal Minds FanFic, so I'm sure you can imagine that I'm extremely nervous about posting this. I hope you don't find it too boring at first but I like to set the scene properly. Also, bear in mind that I have had to research all the medical stuff so some of it may not be correct and as for the geographical information I've used Google Maps.

Reviews are welcome, as long as they are constructive.

Unfortunately, I do not own Criminal Minds; I am just a massive fan.

Chapter One

Chief Akton was leaning on the desk of one his Detectives when something caught his eye. He stood up and observed the group of people that walked through the door. The tall dark haired man who was at the front was obviously their leader. He oozed respect as he strode confidently forward. The older man who stood next to him was more at ease with himself, more self-assured and walked casually. His eye landed upon the only females in the group, one blonde and one brunette. Just with one cursory glance at the brunette told Akton one thing that he would surely keep in mind, do not get on the wrong side of her. The blonde haired women had more kindness to her but he guessed that if ruffled that look would soon disappear from her face. However, at this moment in time a small smile graced her lips as she shared a few comments with the dark skinned man. Akton assumed that this man was the muscle of the group and could obviously handle himself in almost any situation. The same couldn't be said for the last male of the group who trailed slightly behind at the back. He was gangly and looked as if he'd be extremely clumsy. He was the only one that had looked around the department, as he was doing now and appeared to be taking in as much information as he could. Akton strode forward to greet his guests.

"Agent Hotchner." He smiled as he held out his hand. Hotch took it and shook firmly. "Thank you for coming with such short notice."

"It's not a problem." Hotch replied. "Chief Akton this is SSA Rossi, SSA Prentiss, SSA Jureau, SSA Morgan and SSA Dr. Reid." Gesturing to each of his team in turn.

The chief shook Rossi's hand and nodded to each of the other members who nodded back to him apart from Dr. Reid who smiled and gave an awkward wave. "I've had our conference room set up with a couple of boards and the case files as you requested."

"Thank you. Reid why don't you go ahead and start setting up." Hotch spoke to the youngest agent who gave a quick nod of his head and made his way toward the back, where he saw that the meeting room door was already open for them. "Rossi, I want you and Morgan to go to each of the crime scenes and see if you can get any extra insight there. JJ, you and Prentiss go to the Coroner's office and try and gather as much information you can about how exactly the victims died. I'll stay here and help Reid get started with the geographical profile." He turned to Akton. "Chief I would be grateful if you could go to the crime scenes also. You're familiar with the land and its history so hopefully that will help us gain some extra insight."

"Of course." The Chief agreed; glad to be finally doing something. The hours he had spent since the initial discovery of the bodies had been completely fruitless.

Hotch watched them leave and then entered the room he had seen Reid go to. He wasn't surprised to see that all of the crime scene photos they had received on the plane were now perfectly ordered on one of the white boards. Each of the two victims had the names of the dump sites and the time they were located underneath. Two manila folders lay open on the desk.

"Whilst we were in the air they managed to get an I.D on the two victims." Reid informed Hotch, looking down at the folders before turning back to the board and writing down their names under their respective photos.

Hotch picked up one of the files and looked down at the image of the first victim, a man by the name of Steven Jones. He was well built man, in his late thirties, who had light brown hair and green eyes. The photo showed him smiling with his arm around someone, who Hotch guessed was his partner, at a garden party. The next folder held a photo of a man who had a balding grey head and equally grey eyes. It was a professional portrait that showed the man smiling jovially at the viewer. Hotch looked down at the man's name. Martin Bates. "They killed a vicar?" He asked disbelievingly, not expecting an answer.

"He was a Pastor to be exact." He corrected. "Unfortunately, religion doesn't grant one a safe passage through life." Reid mused.

For a split second Hotch looked at Reid and then decided to change the subject. "Have their families been informed?"

"I think Mr Jones' has." He looked at the board in thought and then turned to Hotch. "The Vicar didn't have any surviving family to inform. This is what I don't get. So far the victims have nothing in common. They have no similar features, one being well built whilst the other was a somewhat frail man. They have completely different jobs, a lawyer and a vicar. One has a family and one doesn't. I can't see any connecting tissue here." He threw up his hands in exasperation.

"There has to be something. There always is." Hotch replied, leaning on the table and punching an all too familiar number into the conference phone.

After only one ring it connected. "You've reached the master of all things technological." Garcia's chirpy voice came.

"Garcia, I want you to run the names of the victims and dig up as much information as you can on them." Hotch began.

"Straight to the point Agent Hotchner, I like it."

Reid smiled and Hotch did too, if only a little. "Okay, their names are Steven Jones and Martin Bates."

"Got it." She beamed. "I'll leave no rock unturned. Speak to you soon my doves."

…...

Approximately twenty minutes later Emily and JJ pulled up in front of the Coroner's office. Emily switched off the engine while JJ gave a bone cracking yawn. "Yawning already." She stated. "Not a good sign. I have a feeling today's going to be a long one."

"You never know JJ we could get back to the station and the unsub has decided to hand themselves in." Prentiss chuckled knowing that the likelihood of that suggestion was about as certain as pigs flying. Pigs have a higher chance of flying, she thought to herself.

"Yeah, right." JJ laughed and they both got out of the car.

Inside they were led to one of the autopsy rooms where both of the victims lay. The medical examiner stood before them, a large man in his early sixties. If it had not been for the almost freezing air of the room they women were sure this man would have been profusely sweating, in fact the yellowing patches of white cloth of his shirt told them as much. Prentiss didn't particularly like being the one to talk to the medical examiners. They always had the air of indifference about them, whether when dealing with the corpses themselves or agents like her. It worried her that she would come across the same, emotionless and hard faced but in a job like this it was hard not to be anything else. She shook off these thoughts and began the questioning.

"The victims were found at around 06:15 this morning." She said aloud, refreshing everyone's memory. "How long had they been dead before that?" She directed at the doctor.

"As exsanguination was the method of choice it was impossible to tell both of their livor mortis, which is the pooling of blood, usually underneath the body when it has rested it in one place." The man explained to them in a pompous manner.

JJ smirked at Emily. They had met countless men like this man who thought that just because they were women they didn't understand medical terminology. "Oh really?" She exclaimed feigning ignorance. This made the doctor smile and nod his head confidently at her. Just behind his back Emily's face split into a huge smile which she hid when the man turned back around a second later.

The man held out his hand and motioned toward one of the victims, a large man with light brown hair. "Putrefaction had begun on this cadaver, which indicated that he had been dead for two to three days. The abdomen has only just started to stain green. However, I would guess that the estimate of time of death was around four to five days ago." He moved over to the second victim. "Now this one was the most recent kill. He died about two days ago. His corneas have completely clouded over but have not started to bulge. Putrefaction has been significantly slowed down on the bodies, as it hasn't begun to show on this one at all, which suggests that they were kept in a cool place after death and hence the later time of death for victim number one. If they had been kept anywhere near the outside world or without proper cooling they would have putrefied a hell of a lot quicker with this heat wave we are having at the moment."

"So could they have been kept in a freezer until the unsub decided to dispose of them?" Prentiss asked whilst jotting down what the doctor had told her in a small notebook.

"No, no." The man shook his head as if the question was wholly uncalled for. "Freezing the body and then allowing it to thaw would have caused the blood cells to burst and I found no evidence of this. Also, it would have completely stopped the putrefaction process completely and it has shown itself in the first victim. No, these men were most likely kept in a space that was chilled using an air conditioning unit."

"What do the wounds tell us?" JJ asked tersely, quickly growing tired of this man's attitude. Emily has the patience of a saint, she thought quickly.

"Victim number two is the interesting one." He indicated the smaller of the two men. "He has small puncture wounds in various parts of the body. The slice to the neck is what finished them both off. Whoever they are severed both the exterior jugular vein and the exterior carotid artery. Both of them also had a non-significant laceration to the right forearm, horizontal just under the crease of the elbow."

"What's the significance of the other wounds?" JJ pressed. The doctor's voice suggested that there was more to be said about the injuries.

"The puncture wounds are hesitant. As though the attacker was searching for significant arteries and veins, and it appears as though he really dug around in there. The edges are rough and jagged compared to the wound on the neck which is completely smooth and done with one quick movement. It was done with a thin, non-serrated blade. The wounds on the neck are deep on the one side and taper off to quite a shallow depth on the opposite side."

Prentiss nodded her head, already adding information to the unsub knowledge pool. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"Yes." The man nodded clasping his hands behind his back. "Upon examining the contents of their stomachs it is clear that they both died within four to six hours of their last meal."

Emily and JJ gave their thanks and left. Once outside, they both discussed how odious they both found the medical examiner but once they were back on the road they discussed the outcome of their visit and the possibilities it unleashed.

Note: Any mistakes with spelling and grammar I have tried to wheedle out but a few may have gotten through the net.

I will try and update as often as I can. Well, that is if you like it.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS. I APPRECIATE THIS GREATLY.