A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading. I just wanted to let you know that this chapter, as well as the next one will focus on the case. After that, it will go deeper into JJ and Street's personal life. Of course I do mainly stick to the things that happen in their home life, but I feel like writing about cases is essential to this story given the jobs they do. This chapter does have a description of violence, given the case they're dealing with, but it doesn't go into extremely graphic detail. I will let you know if that ever changes. Anyways, thanks again!

"… she just confirmed that Lawrence had a partner."

Hondo motioned for Street and Chris to follow him out of the locker room. "The victim is Sherri Stevens. She said she was grabbed off of the street yesterday afternoon while she was out for a jog."

Chris matched Hondo's pace as they headed for the Eagle's Nest. "Why weren't locals aware of the abduction?"

"Because there wasn't anyone to report her missing. She lives alone, no family in the area, and had two days off of work. No one was expecting to hear from her."

"And if there wasn't a report, that means no one in the neighborhood witnessed the abduction… unless they didn't come forward." Street dodged a couple of other officers before taking a place next to Tan at the monitors.

"Unies are going to canvass the area at first light, but Sherri said her neighborhood is usually pretty empty that time of day." He put a picture of Sherri on one screen, and a picture of Lawrence on another.

"So now there's a partner in the mix." It was more of a statement than a question, and Street knew they would be handling the rest of the investigation. "What do we know about the partner so far?"

"Not much. Sherri never saw his face, and he wasn't in the basement the whole time, but he was definitely involved. We've been asked to aid in finding this man, so I'm going to need you all back in uniform. Shift's starting early."

Everyone nodded, understanding that the hope for more sleep was now nonexistence.

"Street and Luca, I want you to go to the hospital and talk to Sherri. An officer was already sent over, but maybe something else will come to her. Chris and Tan, you two stay here and pull every possible record on Lawrence. Dig into his entire life, try and find anything that could suggest who he was working with. Check with other departments or agencies if you have to. Deac, you're with me. We're going back to the house. ERT is there now, but I want to walk through that place again myself. Everyone clear?"

The team confirmed that they were good to go, then quickly changed back into uniform. Chris and Street were finishing lacing their boots when Chris spoke up. "How's JJ?"

Street smiled at the thoughts of her. "She's good… probably not thrilled at being woke up at three in the morning, but she'll be getting ready for her shift soon."

"Started wedding planning yet?"

"Nah, not yet. I mean, we both know we don't want to wait too long, but we're just enjoying each other without putting a time table on everything."

Chris gave him a small smile. "That's good. I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you." He had always had a unique relationship with Chris. There had been feelings there before, and at one time, all of his focus was on her… but it didn't take long to see that they weren't supposed to be together. Street had accepted that. Now, he had met the love of his life, and he still had the privilege of calling Chris his best friend.

He couldn't wait to tell her about the baby. Fortunately, they were rapidly approaching that point, because he and JJ decided on sharing the news when she hit her second trimester. It had been hard keeping that information a secret because of how close both of the teams were… but Street didn't have to wait much longer and he was really excited.

He smiled at his partner, then they made their way out to the motor pool where the rest of the team was waiting to roll out. Light was starting to break, as they all gathered by the Chargers.

"Alright, you all know your assignments. Let's get moving, people."

Street had started over towards Luca when he caught sight of a familiar face. He smiled at her, and the action immediately caught the attention of his teammates. "JJ, what are you doing here?"

The agent returned the smile and joined the group. "I heard about your case. The police chief called me after your raid. The details match a case my team worked here in D.C. three years ago… the suspect was never caught."

Hondo moved closer to the blonde. "You thinking Lawrence was your guy?"

"It seems that way so far. I was brought up to speed about the partner."

Street smiled again. "Does that mean we get to work with you?"

"If Hondo agrees to it, I'll be working with 20-Squad here at HQ. The rest of my team won't be called in yet." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and locked eyes with the sergeant beside of her. She had on a charcoal gray pantsuit, her service weapon holstered to her side, and Street wondered how she could look so professional this early in the morning.

Hondo nodded. "That's fine, we'll be glad for you to join us." He informed her of where he was sending his officers, and what the plan was so far. "You're welcome to go with any of us… whatever you think is best. Right now, you probably know more about the case than we do, so we'll all meet back here in ninety minutes, and you can tell us about the original case."

"Sounds good. If they don't mind, I think I'll ride with Street and Luca. Like I said, I was updated by the chief, but I'd like to hear the victim's statement personally."

Hondo looked at his two officers and chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think they'll mind at all."

Luca enthusiastically pulled out his keys. "Hell no. C'mon, JJ, you can ride shotgun."

She let out a soft laugh, following him to the Charger. She shared a smile with Street, who was more than happy that she was going along with them. The trio piled in the Charger, Street in the back, and headed towards the hospital.

Street reached up and rubbed JJ's shoulder. "Always good to work with you, babe."

She covered his hand with her own for a brief moment. "You too. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Luca made a turn onto the highway, then glanced over at his passenger. "So you really think this is your unsub… or unsubs?"

Her expression turned grim. "The M.O. and victimology are too similar for me to think otherwise. I'm not the type to believe in coincidence, but I need to be completely sure."

Street leaned forward in his seat to more easily continue the conversation. "How many victims were there previously?"

"The lady found earlier this week, and Sherri Stevens, would make four and five. Our unsub would stalk his victims, waiting until he could get them alone. He would hold them for two days, before dumping them somewhere, shooting them, and leaving them to bleed out. He would always dump them at night, less chance of witnesses. We think he stayed close by for a while to make sure they died before anyone found them. When they were found, it was clear they had been beaten and sexually assaulted." Her voice trailed off, as she was obviously thinking about what those women went through.

Street could tell the horrors of this case were getting to her, and he couldn't blame her after what he just heard.

"We worked that case for as long as we could, but the trail went cold, There was nothing to go on, and other cases kept coming in. After a while, there wasn't anything else we could do. I hated abandoning that case." She went quiet for a minute, and the guilt written on her features was clear to Street.

He desperately wanted to reassure her that it wasn't her fault, but Luca was already speaking up.

"And everything matches here?"

"No, not everything. Sherri, and Natalie, the victim found in Rock Creek Park, weren't sexually assaulted… and it's the first time two victims were found within the span of two weeks."

Street was a little puzzled. "If Lawrence killed the ones three years ago, why did he change up his M.O.? I mean, I'm glad he didn't rape the last two, but isn't it odd that he didn't if that's what he did before? And why stop for three years?"

JJ turned around as best she could in order to face Street as she replied. "It's not completely common for an unsub to change their M.O., but it does happen… as well as them going dormant for a number of reasons. That being said, it is rare for them to stop sexual assault on their victims. In this case, it would all make sense. If Lawrence was the unsub back then, the dormancy can already be explained. He was in jail for nearly three years on unrelated charges… just got released two months ago. My guess is that when he started killing again, he didn't rape Sherri and Natalie because he couldn't risk the chance of his DNA being found and linked to any database. He's smart and calculating, but he would have to be getting his release somewhere else. A man like him wouldn't be able to just stop that, the urges would be too strong."

Street and Luca both nodded, absorbing what the blonde was saying. "And there were no signs of a partner before?"

"No. Nothing indicating he was working with anyone. I need to go back over the profile, add in the partner, and see what does or doesn't change. What scares me is the escalation, the shortened cooling off period between abductions." Her voice was grave, and her blue eyes darkened. "Even though Lawrence is dead, his partner may continue without him."