Vero Amore (a Spencer Reid love story)

I

My goodness. My plane was already delayed by a day, I barely had the chance to review the case, and now this taxi driver couldn't even find the Salem Police Department. It's Oregon's capital. Was this guy new or something?

He made a few turns and in no time I was finally entering the police station. I was assigned to work with this BAU team; apparently, they hadn't had any leads for a while and needed fresh eyes for this case. To be honest, I didn't mind, my job was to be transferred to assist different cases and teams. It wasn't my first rodeo after all. 

I introduced myself to a female officer at the front of the desk and she quickly  showed me to the room where the BAU team was located. I ignored all the annoyed glances from the passing cops and made my way to the investigation room. I took a deep breath before entering the room and held my head high as I took a step forward the agents. 

All six members instantly turned to look at me, the majority of them furrowing their eyebrows in confusion and stopping in place. An older looking man with dark hair and a stern face was the first to stand up. 

"SSA Aaron Hotchner," the man started as he shook my hand, "It's a pleasure to have you." He instantly turned to his team and continued speaking, "This is SSA Natalia Mancini, she's a traveling BAU agent who's going to be assisting us on this case."

The fit, muscular agent who's head was slightly tilted instantly spoke up, "We need help on a case? When was the last time we needed other BAU members coming into our case?" 

Here we go again. It seemed like every team had an egotistical man who couldn't appreciate the help of a female agent. I opened my mouth to speak and justify my actions, but instantly the vested, skinnier man beat me to it:

"Actually, the last time we had the chance of working with extra BAU members was four years, five months, and fifteen days ago."

My eyes instantly widened in confusion. "Did you look that up?" I asked him, noticing his laid back posture. 

"He's just like that, you'll get used to him," a woman with dark hair said. She rose her hand to shake and smiled at me. "Emily Prentiss." I shook her hand and introduced myself to her and the team. 

"Derek Morgan," the fit man introduced as he stood up and shook my hand. He flashed a smile which made me feel a little more welcomed. "I didn't mean to snap at your appearance, it's just been stressful without any recent leads." 

"Oh definitely," a blond woman began. "I've even thought about requesting extra cases to finish up while we're still here."  She grinned over at me and reached her hand out. "I'm Jennifer Jareau, by the way. You can call me J.J if you'd like, they all do."

"Agent Rossi," the oldest man introduced. "Mancini, you're Italian, yes?" he asked as I quickly nodded and greeted him in Italian. He grinned at me before sitting back down at his seat. 

There was only one left and that was the skinnier man. I held my hand out for him to shake, but he just looked at it and smiled.

"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid," he said as he twiddled with his fingers, turning his chair to face the board, leaving my hand dandling alone in the air. I tried to ignore the rudeness he showed but all the other agents were laughing at our cheap exchange. 

Aaron Hotcher sat down in his chair and flipped the case file open. "I presume you've caught yourself up with the case, Agent Mancini?" he asked without looking up from the file. I nodded, but then mentally scowled myself for giving him an empty response. 

"Only a part of it, sir," I responded, taking an empty seat to the strange, young doctor. Was he really a doctor? He seemed a little young to be one. I turned back to the rest of the team as I opened up my files. "They only gave me the beginning aspects of this case, they hadn't informed me or given me any of the new evidence that you've collected," I informed them, having my pen ready for the notes that were to come my way. 

Agent Morgan shrugged his shoulders, "I don't see why we couldn't go over it again. Maybe there's something we're missing." 

J.J nodded and stood up, walking over to the board that was filled with photographs, evidence, and potential unsub descriptions. Dr. Reid slid his case file to be in between us, allowing us both to review all the aspects of the case together. I breathed a 'thanks' to him as his smile brightened up his face. His eyes were like staring into a forest on a windy Spring day, and his face was sculptured in such a way that not even artist could create something so beautiful. Our eyes connected in sync, sparkling quick spots of intimacy until we both jerked our heads over to J.J. 

"On September eighteen, three woman were found on a rainy, Oregon day in the woods near the interstate. Becky Simpson, a junior and a member of the varsity basketball team. Chelsea Smith, a senior and almost top of her class. And finally, Riley Adams, junior who usually was under the radar, usually described as a wallflower. All were college students from Willamette University. Two out of the three victims were murdered in similar ways: they bled out after their skin had been repeatedly sliced open all over there bodies. The third victim, Riley Adams, was stabbed multiple times."

"There were also traces of heroin found in the first two girls, but not even a trace on Adams," Morgan chipped in, reviewing his case files.

So the Unsub is drugging them... That wasn't on my case file. But why wasn't the third girl found with any? Why was she killed differently?

"They were murdered on different days?" I inquired as my eyes widened at all of Dr. Reid's detailed, sloppy notes. His notes trailed on and on about different facts and unsub possibilities. 

"Yes," J.J replied. "The first was two days before the others. The other two were murdered the same day but approximately two hours apart. They were all already missing for a week."

"So they were kidnapped for five days before the unsub decided to finish them off? What were they doing in the meantime? Just warming until the day came?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows as I looked over the board. 

Dr. Reid cleared his throat. "Well, besides heroin, naloxone hydrochloride, Narcan, was also found in their system. Overdosing on drugs has actually tripled since 1990 and has risen 140 percent since 2000 to 2008. Overdoses happen one to three hours after injecting the heroin-"

"Okay, stop showing off, pretty boy," Morgan cut off, making me chuckle a little at the strange doctor. Reid held his hands up in defense but continued off.

"Since overdosing can be so fatal, it seem likely that Adams and the unsub were giving them medical attention. The coronary report states that although they were killed on different days, they were repeatedly sliced a few times a day. Diseases and-"

"Wait- So the unsub is drugging their victims so that they'll feel no pain?" I asked.

Prentiss nodded. "It looks that way, and by the way the victims are cut, it seems like it's by the work of a man. The slices are so particular and clean, it seems likely that this is a male student, probably in the medical program."

"There's no trace of sexual abuse. Sexual Sadist is obviously off the list, and if you look more closely at the wounds, especially where they're located around the chest and face, it looks like it could be the work of a jealous woman," I noted.

Everyone instantly stopped and became silent. Staring a little further onto the photographs.

"I think you may be right."

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8-30-15

yay! First chapter finally uploaded! I hope you guys enjoyed and look forward to the next chapter! :)

- Vivacamila