The Usual Rules

Chapter 1

JJ sat on top of Emily's desk swinging her legs back and forth enjoying the look of sexual frustration she saw on her wife's face. A skirt had definitely been the right choice this morning.

"Emily?" Reid asked again. "Emily?"

JJ smiled and lightly kicked her wife to get her attention. "What was that for?" The brunette asked. JJ simply nodded towards Reid and turned her attention back to Garcia.

"Huh, Reid?" Emily asked the scrawny young profiler.

"What did you think of last episode of Doctor Who?"

"I loved it. Craig is awesome, it was great to see him back. If Amy and Rory quit, he would make a fantastic companion."

JJ and Garcia rolled their eyes at their friends enthusiasm. Emily had tried to get her to watch that show so many times JJ had lost count. The blonde looked up as Morgan sauntered into the bullpen with a grin on his face. Motioning for JJ to keep quiet, he snuck up behind Garcia and covered her eyes. JJ laughed as her friend squealed and smacked Morgan.

"What's the verdict?" She asked him, nodding towards Hotch's office.

"We've got a case." Morgan said with a sigh. "From Hotch's face, a real bad one."

"Poop." Garcia said with a pout.

"Where is it?" Reid asked.

"New York I think." Morgan answered him, sipping his coffee. "Hotch told me to come get you guys. Anyone know where Rossi is?"

"Right behind you." Rossi said as he passed everyone and continued walking up to the conference room. JJ and the others followed behind him somewhat begrudgingly. They had just gotten back from a rather unpleasant case at a young boys military school and everyone was still on edge. Morgan especially. JJ knew that he was aware of the reasons for Strauss' leave of absence, but she – and no one else – had pried him for any information. The team settled down in their seemingly designated seats. JJ slid in next to Emily and Garcia and began flipping through the file in front of her.

"We've got six murders so far that we know of..." Hotch began.

"That we know of?" Emily asked.

"Yes." Hotch answered. "Garcia, I need you to begin looking immediately for these connections with these parameters, I've got a feeling there are more. Check within the last ten years." Hotch said handing Garcia a file.

"Yes sir." Garcia said taking the files and heading straight down to her office. JJ looked to Hotch, this didn't sound good at all.

"He guts them?" Morgan asked looking up from his file.

"He changes his MO, he's removed intestines, stabbed, raped, and cut their throats."

"Why do we think this is the same unsub?" Emily asked.

"Because he has a signature."

"Which is?' JJ asked.

"He always cuts this symbol into a part of their bodies." Hotch explained as he showed the photographs of the symbol on the screen. JJ watched as Reid leaned forward and studied it intently. A frown grew on his face.

"Do you recognize it?" She asked him.

"No!" He stated, clearly annoyed at the fact.

"I'm having Garcia search it, but there have already been multiple tries by new york detectives, it appears to be of his own making." Hotch told the team.

"So what's with this guy? Why weren't we called in sooner? Six murders?" Rossi asked.

"The murders were all found in different boroughs of the city, one was in Long Island, one in the Upper East side, in Queens, one almost in Jersey, one near Times Square, and one in Harlem. They only made the connections a week ago, and then the most recent murder happened this morning. In an old nightclub in Harlem. Maria Walker, 32, she was apparently a frequent amateur singer there at open mike nights. She was raped, her throat was cut, his symbol carved into her arm and she was left out by a dumpster behind the club. No fingerprints have been found so far, the crime scene is still enact, wheels up in fifteen minutes."