The Profile Of A Djinn (SPNxCriminal Minds)

Chapter Two

"Gah!" Agent Spencer Reid gasped, quickly unraveling nearly the entire roll of paper towels in an attempt to wipe the burning coffee from his hand, cursing under his breath as it continued to spill onto the floor near his feet. He managed to set the now empty styrofoam cup in a more correct position on the counter and return the coffee pot back under the machine as the boiling liquid spread below him. "Help," he squeaked, looking towards the rest of his partners in the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. After a moment, Agent Emily Prentiss was kneeling beside him in an attempt to help mop up what had been spilled. When the floor was as clean as it was going to get (and they had run out of paper towels), Prentiss smiled and helped Reid back to his feet with a quiet chuckle.

"You know, the coffee actually goes into the cup. I thought you were some alleged genius?" she joked, lightly elbowing Reid's side as he tossed the cup into the trash and walked towards his desk, his head hung low in shame. "Hey!" Prentiss shouted, jogging to catch back up to the youngest agent; "I was just kidding." She watched as he placed his bag to the side of his desk and crossed one leg over the other, his pant leg sliding up and revealing a bright pink sock. Prentiss smiled as she watched him write something down in the notebook that never seemed to leave his side. "So..." she began, a feeling of triumph elevating her mood when Reid actually looked up at her; "what's up with the socks? I've wanted to ask about them for a while." Reid smiled at the opportunity to inform someone on something that they surely didn't know, clearing his throat before speaking.

"Well, actually--"

"Everyone! We've got a case!" Agent Jennifer Jareau unintentionally interrupted, holding a pile of manilla folders above her head and grinning. Prentiss gave an apologetic glance to Reid before retreating to her own desk, grabbing one of the folders from J.J.'s hand. J.J. then passed out the remaining folders to Reid and Agent Derek Morgan, walking back to the center of the room once everyone had the information in their hands. "So far there have been two victims of both a kidnapping and murder, both women with a similar appearance and the same cause of death, which was a lack of blood. Apparently the two of them had been reported missing for roughly a week when their bodies finally showed." Morgan nodded along as she spoke, reading all of the same information from the papers found in the folder. "There are no suspects or leads, so we've been invited to Kansas to speak with some authorities and assess a profile."

Agent Aaron Hotchner then appeared, leaving his own office to make an announcement to the team. "Everyone begin packing for Kansas." He paused as the agents collectively nodded, his face stern and emotionless as it typically was. "Wheel's up in thirty."

Profiling agents Reid, Prentiss, Jareau, and Morgan followed Hotch's order, packed and on the jet within thirty minutes. Once on the jet they were joined by Hotch himself and another profiler by the name of Jason Gideon, the eldest of the team. Everyone was occupied in the usual way: Morgan sitting back and listening to music; Reid metaphorically tearing through a book at an (always) impressive pace; J.J., Gideon, and Prentiss participating in a card game; all while Hotch wrote information down. Since the ride was relatively short, they began planning out everyone's jobs after only abut forty-five minutes of simply passing the time.

"Prentiss," the agent's eyes darted up to Hotch at her name, "you and Reid check out where the bodies were found; see if they were simply brought there or murdered there." Reid and Prentiss both nodded once to signify that the order was understood. Hotch turned to Gideon and smiled. "Gideon, Morgan, and I will all spread out and speak with the families of the women who were murdered. Since there is no definite crime scene, it is true that we will have to wait out for the unsub to strike once again. From what we've determined thus far, he holds his victims captive before they've been fully drained of blood, meaning we'll have a week, at the least, to gather as much information as we can and possibly even profile him. As of now, there isn't much to build off of besides the obvious: we are looking for a serial killer with no clear intention of sexual release," Hotch continued. He glanced at his watch momentarily before continuing. "But first we have to set up."

The police station was relatively small, at least to the profilers who were accustomed to a much larger setup. They were greeted by an officer who thanked them for coming, ushering everyone into a mostly vacant conference room. In the center of the end of the room sat a large, round table, chairs all pointing towards the back wall where two clean whiteboards stood. The table was cleared, making the room feel even moreso empty and lonely. Everyone circulated towards the back wall and began sticking pictures of the victims to one of the boards, attempting to make any connections about the two women as they could muster. "White with brown hair," Morgan mused, studying one of the photographs, "that sure does narrow it down." Reid stood beside him with his arms crossed, his mind racing to begin a profile of the unsub that they no important information about. "Someone has to get over to get a closer look at those bodies or we've got nothin'."

"Prentiss?" Reid questioned, holding one of the photographs closer to himself for better inspection; "Could we manage a visit to the coroner?" He turned to the other agent who nodded in reply, a short distance from the hoard of people around the whiteboard. "We should probably get to that right now." Reid brushed past Morgan and retrieved his satchel from the table, then following Prentiss out of the room. Morgan stood in place, hardly phased by Reid lightly bumping into him as he exited.

"What's the relation between the two women?" he asked J.J., who was standing off to the side with Hotch. She retrieved one of the folders and flipped to the page written about Karen Smith, one of the victims, then to the page about Alicia Kennedy. She furrowed her eyebrows once she realized that the two women were entirely unrelated: they didn't work together, go to school together, live in the same neighborhood, or even know of each other.

"Apparently nothing but appearance. Karen and Alicia were complete strangers," she responded with a bitter laugh.

"Get Garcia to search for any similar kidnappings in the area," Hotch ordered Morgan, then turning to thank J.J. Morgan nodded and began dialling Agent Penelope Garcia's number back at the Bureau, stepping away from the board to give Gideon more space. Gideon read through the file and began profiling the unsub in his head, occasionally looking back and forth between the pages and the photographs attached to the board. Everyone turned to Morgan as he thanked Garcia for her help and shook his head with disappointment.

"Nada." He sighed. "There's been kidnappings, but none where women were literally drained to death." He slid his phone back into his pocket and gnawed on his bottom lip, looking to his superior for guidance.

Hotch cleared his throat and pointed to the door. "Let's go talk to the families and try to make some progress."