Past and Present

Chapter 1

I could probably go without him. I mean, my entire life I had been focused on one thing: work. Work had been my goal since I was 17 and while it may sound ridiculous, I think I may have been born a workaholic. Ever since I was 17 years old I've wanted to work at the BAU. A dream that now had become my reality and I was finally ready to make a difference and become the hero my dad always told me I'd grow up to be.

But now this. It had been almost a month since I'd joined the team and everyone had been extremely friendly right from the start. Right away, Emily Prentiss, (goddess of literally existing), and I became super close. We were so similar that I literally thought she could be my sister. Our only difference is my blonde hair and inability to talk to men.

That was a huge thing for me. Talking to guys was never my strong suit, in fact, I had only had one true boyfriend in my life and even then, I don't even know if I could say I loved him. But as I said, joining the BAU was my dream and I wasn't going to let any men, or lack of, get in the way. However, once I met Dr. Spencer Reid, everything changed.

"Guys, this is our new Agent, Dr. Josephine Mills." JJ said, introducing me to the team initially.

"Please, call me Jo", I said quickly, I hated being called Josephine.

"Dr?" Spencer twirled around in his chair, surprised, yet enthusiastic at the same time.

"Yeah, I got my PHD at MIT", I answered quickly, attempting to avoid eye contact because of how attractive I found him.

"No way! I actually got my PHD there too! What did you major in? I got 3 PHDs actually in-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner rushed through the his office,

"We have a case." Hotch stated, a tired and cold tone in his voice.

After that we all made our way to the meeting room, Reid and I looking at each other, making eye contact, and then quickly pulling away as fast as possible the entire time. As we were about to enter the room, Emily took my arm and said slyly,

"I think someone likes you.."

That was the start of my amazing friendship with Emily. While what she said made me roll my eyes, somewhere in the back of my mind I questioned what she said. I mean, I hadn't found someone I had so much in common with in a long time, and it had only been what, five minutes since I'd met him and everyone?

As the team sat down at the round table, I sat down next to David Rossi, an older man who seemed like he could probably cook me the most amazing homemade meal, (which I later found out was more than true). Next to him was Derek Morgan, a muscular, darker toned man with a bald head and minimal facial hair. He gave me a slight nod and flashed me a warm smile, whispering from across the table,

"Sorry about Reid, he does that sometimes. You get used to him."

"Sorry about what?" I asked.

"The rambling", Reid interjected, sitting down on the other side of me. "I tend to do it a lot, and while most people find it annoying there is actually a research that shows that one who rambles simply has so much on their brain that they get overly excited and try to spit it all out at one time. So I guess you can say that basically I am smarter than Morgan", Reid said with a slight, tight-lipped grin.

That grin, for some odd reason, had made my stomach turn in knots. What was happening to me? I had just met Spencer Reid and he was already making me feel emotions that I had always been able to suppress.

"Watch it pretty boy", Morgan said sarcastically.

After that, Penelope Garcia, a larger than life, beautiful woman began to discuss our new case. Her outfit was probably five different colors and while most people may find it chaotic, I actually found it refreshing. I, like most FBI agents, was wearing plain black slacks, with a red shirt tucked into my pants along with short tan heels that were comfortable to walk in. Garcia's look brought a shed of light to a rather dark work field, causing me to take a breath of relief.

"Last night in Las Vegas, Nevada, seventeen year old Andrey Moore was murdered in her home in the middle of the day while her parents were out at work. The local police connected this murder to a string of similar murders throughout the past two years, six in total."

When Garcia mentioned Las Vegas, everyone turned to Reid. Although he didn't seem to really notice everyone looking his way, he seemed as little uncomfortable at the statement. I wondered why and took note to ask him later.

"Cause of death?" Rossi questioned.

"Strangulation, the unsub seemed to come behind the women, strangle them, bring them to their bedroom, and then continue to strangle them by putting a bag over their head, suffocating them."

"Were there any signs of rape?" JJ added.

"No, well, not while she was alive at least. The M.E. said that there were traces of semen in the bodies but they were placed after the death of each woman."

"So we are dealing with a sexual sadist who gets off at not only the strangulation and suffocation, but having sex with the dead bodies", Morgan stated, a disgusted tone in his voice.

"The correct term for that is called a Necrophiliac." Reid stated confidently. "For example, infamous killer Ted Bundy; while he got off at the initial killings of his victims he also had sex with them after they died, which was his true attraction to killing the 30 plus women in the late 70s and early 80s."

"So, why haven't they caught this guy yet? And why hasn't the BAU been called in yet if it's been 2 years?" I said, not sure if I should add to the conversation.

"That is a very good question, newbie. Basically the local PD didnt connect the murders until the latest murder because of victomolgy. Each girl had no connections with each other or weren't similar in their physical appearances, so after this one was killed they figured they were connected and called us up to help find their unsub."

"Thank god they did", Emily added, "clearly they need us."

"That they do, with a killer like this on the loose, they are going to need all the help they can get", Hotch began, "This guy is well-organized and doesn't seem to have a physical type, making him a lot harder to find. Wheels up in 30."