𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒚 ↝ 𝒔. 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒅

𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏

T H R E E  M O N T H S  L A T E R 

"I can't believe you're leaving but you're moving on the bigger and better things, I'm proud of you," Adam said, hugging Avery tightly. "You've gotten your big break and you're moving onto the FBI."

"It's just temporary." She chuckled

"You didn't even go through the academy."

"Well, technically, I don't have to right now because I'm just a media director, not an active agent," she chuckled, finishing packing her bag. "No kicking down doors for me."

"Not yet, until you become a profiler."

"Yeah, right."

She smiled at Adam one more time before heading out of the building and into her car. She headed right for the FBI building, heading inside. This job made her dress a little more professional that what she was used to. She was going for a new look all entirely. 

She beelined right into Hotch's office, not even bothering to look in the direction of the team. He gave her a badge and gun, which she both trained for.

"Welcome to the team, for now." Hotch said, standing up and shaking her head. "We're getting ready to introduce you officially to the team."

She followed him into the conference room, where everyone filed in, Reid's eyes trying to meet Avery's. When he gave her space, he hadn't expected it to be three months before he'd see her again. 

"I just wanted to gather everyone and formally introduce our new temporary media liaison as JJ is now a profiler," Hotch said. "You've all met her before, Avery Walsh."

Garcia was the first to hug her, grinning. "Yay! I get to spend lots of time with you!"

Everyone took their turns hugging her, even Reid, who gave her a one armed hug. Hotch's phone dinged and he pulled it from his pocket before heading back to his office.

"Looks like we have a case." Morgan said.

"First case in the field," JJ chuckled, nudging Avery. "You excited?"

"I guess you could say that."

She met Hotch in his office, going over the details before giving the case over to Avery to organize and present to the team. She printed off personal case files for every member of the team, calling the local PD on the case, letting them know they were coming.

Finally, she presented the file. 

"Three nights ago, outside of Reno, this car was hit by a tractor trailer." She said, sending the pictures onto the screen.

"Any survivors?" Morgan asked.

"The truck driver walked away unharmed. Johnathan and Rebecca Gallen, the passengers in the car, were DOA," Avery said. "When the local sheriff arrived on the scene, he noticed several things: no blood splatter inside the car, no seat belt burns, no lacerations from the air bags."

"They were dead before the accident." Hotch deduced for everyone.

"The autopsy confirmed that and the cause of death, blunt force trauma and evidence of rape and torture to the woman." Avery said.

"The UnSub wasn't very successful at hiding the fact that he murdered two people," JJ said. "There's a chance he has gotten away with it before."

"After I spoke to the Sheriff, I had Garcia look into any similar accidents near the California-Nevada border," Hotch said. "She found two with a similar MO in the past couple of weeks."

Avery clicked the remote in her hand, displaying the pictures. "Both were couples, in a car, hit by a tractor trailer. It'a always a man and a woman stopped right in the middle of the road. It's always at night on a remote highway."

"It can't be coincidence the victim type and this very specific MO are the same in all three cases," Rossi said. "Was Garcia able to find any connection between them?"

"One thing they have in common is that they all disappeared for forty-eight hours prior to the accidents." Avery answered.

"We just need to figure out where he finds them," Hotch said. "Wheels up in twenty."

Everyone disbanded, heading to grab their go-bags and heading right for the jet. Avery grabbed the bag she'd brought with her, following the team onto the jet.

"All three crashes were on highways outside of Carson city, Lake Tahoe and Reno, all cities with a large and diverse, transit population," Reid said, reading from the file. "Not to mention the thousands of locals mixing with seasonal workers. And endless pool of victims to chose from."

"Rebecca Gallen was beaten badly, ribs broken ante-mortem," JJ said to everyone. "He'd need time and privacy to do this. That would suggest the killer either lives or works in the area."

"He's going to such extremes to try and hide the murders, maybe he has a connection to the victims." Morgan suggested.

"What does the press know?" Hotch asked Avery.

"All media outlets are reporting an accident," Avery answered. "One thing going for us, the killer has no idea we know."

"Avery, when we land, would you explain to Sheriff Bruner and his deputies how important it is to keep this quiet?" Hotch asked.

Avery nodded. "Yes, sir."

"If the UnSub finds out we're here, all bets are off," Hotch said. "He could change his MO or just pick up and find his victims somewhere else."

Everyone nodded at their boss, directing their attention to something else.