Shades of Red

Chapter 1

"There has to be one suit, just one suit in this closet," I thought to myself as I was throwing half of the clothes I owned onto my bed. My first day at the BAU, and I had absolutely nothing to wear, not a single suit. Why hadn't I thought about going shopping when I took the job as the Behavioral analysis unit's newest profiler. I had spent my career getting into the minds of serial killers, and now it was finally time to catch them.
I threw on a black pair of slacks, and a black button up shirt. My red curls fell in my face in a tangled mess. I tamed them, and finished getting ready. Go figure I would be running late on my first day. I practically sprinted down the hallway to the elevator. I took the 3 floors down to my car.
I didn't feel nervous. Somehow I felt like I should. Getting to the BAU was all anyone in the FBI talked about. It was the mother land. I had worked for the FBI for 7 years as a forensic psychologist. I have interviewed some of the most infamous serial killers from the last decade. I had recently consulted on a case with the BAU. Apparently agent Hotchner though I had some of the most impressive profiling skills he had seen since Jason Gideon. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
I arrived at quantico by 6:55 am. I ran through the front doors of the building, and dashed to the elevator; making my way to the fourth floor. The elevator doors opened and I stepped off. I made my way through the crystal clear glass double doors with  the words behavior analysis unit on them. "Excuse me," I said approaching a woman from behind. She turned around, flipping her dark hair along with her. "Can I help you?" Holy shit, she was beautiful. She had chocolate brown eyes, with the smallest pools of honey. Her almost black hair framed her face effortlessly. Her smile was big and bright. It lit up the whole room. "Umm, yeah I," I said snapping back. "I am looking for Agent Hotchner. It's my first day, and I," "oh my god, you're THE Meredith Wilson! Hotch has told us so much about you!" She pulled me in for a hug. The smell of her was intoxicating, like pine and cedar wood with a splash of vanilla. "All good things, I hope." She led me to Agent Hotchner office. "We're so excited to have you on the team," she said as she knocked on the wooden door in front of us. "Come in," said a deep voice from behind the door. Emily opened it to and there was Hotch. He was the one I worked with on the case that got me here. "Agent Wilson is here," Emily said as she invited me inside. "Of course, hello Meredith." He stood to shake my hand, and led us out of the door. "I'm sorry Agent Wilson, but our introductions with the rest of the team need to be brief, we have a case." He opened a glass door leading us to the briefing room. The rest of the team was already sitting around the round table in the middle of the room. "Guys, this is SSA Meredith Wilson. She was the forensic psychologist who helped us on the stone mill killer case." One by one the agents shook my hands introducing themselves. Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, David Rossi, Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia, and then there was her; the woman from earlier. "Emily Prentiss," she said taking my hand in hers. Her touch sent a chill down my spine. "I'm so happy to be here," I said flashing everyone a big smile. "It's  really an honor."
Hotch interrupted us, getting to the case. "We have 2 missing girls in Houston, Texas; Katie Meyers, and Katherine Hill. They were abducted on their way home from a spin class 4 hours ago. As we all know, in these cases; the victim usually on has 24 hours until a body turns up. Wheels up in 20."
"This is incredible," I said boarding the BAU's personal private jet. "Sometimes the pilots give us a go at flying the plane," said Rossi with a wink. "Seriously!" I said looking at JJ. JJ laughed and shook her head no. "Rossi likes to think he has a sense of humor," said JJ.
We arrived in Houston 2 hours later. As the plane was landing Hotch explained who needed to be doing what. "Emily, I want you to take Meredith to see where the girls were taken." I looked over at Emily and a small, shy smile found my lips. Emily smiled back, and I swear, I even saw a quick wink. "JJ and Spencer, I want you to talk to the families. See how well these two women knew each other. Dave, you and Morgan work on victimology." When we landed and got off of the plane, three black SUV's met us. I followed Emily to one and she hopped into the drivers seat. I slid in beside her on the passenger side. We rode quietly for just a few moments before Emily broke the silence. "So Meredith, Hotch says you're a pretty good profiler. Maybe the best he's seen since Gideon." She looked me up and down, checking me out. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe it's just that I've spent so much time getting into killers minds. I've dreamed of being with the BAU since the beginning of my career. This was always the goal. That's why I started with the FBI." I found that Emily's stares were lingering a little too long, but I didn't mind, and she didn't seem to care that I noticed.
We arrived at the scene where the girls we're taken
The only sign that something had even happened here was the deep black tires marks on the road from when the unsub fled the scene. I took a look at the area around us. Across the street was a small gym with bicycles just in sight through the windows. He watched them," I said pointing across to where the gym was. "He knew their routine, knew they'd be here. So he sat and waited for them to leave. When they walked past his vehicle he snatched them right off of the street." Emily looked impressed. "Wow, you are good."
We met the team at the local law enforcement agency. "Both of the families said the girls were inseparable. Both sophomores in college. They were roommates." "The girls were taken in broad daylight, the unsub is bold. He doesn't think we can catch him," Spencer chimed in. "We think he had been watching the girls, probably for a while. He would have had to know their routines to know when they would be at spin class," I followed. "It's been 9 hours," said Hotch. "We need to find these girls." Just then a local police officer ran into the room. "A young girl, 20, was just found wandering around downtown. Said she was abducted, and that her friend was still with the man. Sounds like one of our vics. She's at the hospital now being examined." Hotch quickly rose to his feet. Derek, you and I will go interview the girl. Meredith, you should come with us too. She might feel safer with a female presence." I nodded in agreement and followed the two men out to one of the SUVS.
We got the hospital, and a doctor led us to the girls room. "Which of the girls is it?" Asked Rossi. "It's kathrine Hill. She is disoriented, and appears to have been drugged. We stepped into Katherine's room. The door closed behind us, and Katherine's eyes opened. The doctor spoke to Katherine. "There's a couple agents from the FBI here wanting to ask you some questions; if you're up to it." She nodded her head yes. "Katherine, can you tell us anything about the man who took you?" Hotch started. Tears welled up in the girls eyes. It was hard to watch. "I, I never saw their face. It was covered with some kind of ski mask. A black one." Her voice was quivering. "They grabbed us by the hair when we were walking by the van. Shoved needles into necks. I woke up, and I was tied to a chair. I didn't know where Katie was. I managed to get my hands and legs free." Her voice broke off, and tears ran down her cheeks. "and I just ran." I put my hand on Katherine's. "You're safe now sweetie." She wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Please, you have to find Katie. I just left her there." "Is there anything you remember about where you were when you were tied to the chair?" Hotch asked. "When I went outside, there were train tracks. I'm sorry, but that's all I can remember."
We left Katherine to get some rest, with the promise that we would find her friend.