Elysian [Book 1]

seven

"He's up in there." She said and I nodded. My boxes filled with all of my files from my old office at the station where in boxes in a hotel room since I haven't gotten an apartment yet.

I walked up the stairs to his office and knocked on the door, opening it. "Agent Hotch-" I said but then he was on the phone. He waved me in and I closed the door. He hung up the phone and looked at me. 

"Hadley, how is your leg?" He asked and I nodded. "Good. It's healed and It's good." I said and he nodded. He reached into his drawer and pulled out a gun and a badge, along with my new ID.

I grabbed it, and he ushered me out of his office. "You aren't a regular agent. You are in the BAU. You are also our only CSI who has the PhD, Your office will be completely different from all the other agents because you need the space." He said and I nodded as he lead me down the stairs. I felt eyes on me and I saw Agent Prentiss, Agent Jareau, Agent Morgan and Spencer, staring at me.

He opened the door to a room that was about a couple feet smaller than his. It had a Trace Evidence Analysis Machine in the corner along with the DNA machine and a fingerprint machine. I had an empty bookshelves, that I knew my files would go, and I had a clear dry erase board in the corner, with white, red, blue and yellow markers with it. There was a desk with a computer, and there was a corner where gloves, feather dusters in a glass container, underneath was cabinets that held rape kits and many more things.

He looked at me and his hands were firm at his sides. "Let's go meet the team." He said and I nodded, even though I met and knew them all already. 

"This is Hadley LaMontagne." He said and I looked at everyone, remembering them all except one new face and recognizing that another face wasn't here, Agent Gideon. A blonde, who had her hair in an updo came up to me, she smiled and extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Penelope Garcia." She said and I smiled, taking her hand.

"Hads, look at you coming to kick some ass." Morgan said coming up to me and embracing me in his hug, like we were old friends being united. I hugged him back and smiled. Agent Jareau walked up to me and smiled. "You can call me JJ." She said and I nodded, smiling.

Spencer smiled at me and  returned the gesture and Prentiss came up to me. "It's nice of you to be on our team." She said and I nodded. "Thanks." I said and Hotch called out to everyone. "Briefing in 5." He said and turned to leave.

Penelope came up to me, shining her pearly white teeth. "It's so nice to have someone new on our team." She said and I laughed. "Well I'm not so sure I'll be doing much. I'm a crime scene investigator." I said and she nodded vigorously. "Oh we'll need you." she said and I laughed.

Everyone started to leave and I followed Morgan into the round table. I sat down on the end, a bit away from everyone else.

"Okay, we have 4 victims in Orgeon. 2 male and 2 female." JJ said placing files down. She handed me a file that was much bigger than everyone else's and I opened it, and pictures were all in there, along with autopsy reports and much more.

"I know that we have all been wondering what this was all about. And Uh.. You know, I've known Jason for many years and I can tell you I have no idea. But what matters is that we're here, and we're going to continue." He said and I felt awkward feeling like this was a moment for the team, not for me.

"Portland field office uncovered a mass grave with three bodies, killed six months ago." Hotch said, pointing at the board, pictures of the site appeared on the screen.

"Nearby they found another body, causes of death range from being burned alive to asphyxiation." He said and I looked down at the pictures in front of me.

"No sexual assault." He said and I breathed out, looking down at some more pictures of people being burned alive.

"Well the torture is clearly sadistic." Morgan said and Spencer spoke. "The lack of sexual preferences make it hard to tell if the UnSub is a male of female." He said and I cut in.

"He's male." I said, and all eyes turned towards me. I swallowed and JJ looked at me. "How did you know?" She asked and I looked down at the pictures, one that was attached to a report.

"The report states that the victim was burned alive, and by looking at it, it seems like they weren't just there because they wanted to. They probably trusted whoever did this to them. A woman wouldn't be able to do this without fighting. These reports show that these victims were male." I said and Hotch looked at me. 

"It was just a guess. Don't listen to me." I said and shook my head looking down at the file. "No, you're right. Typically, female serial killers stick to the same MO. It looks like this guys all over the place." Prentiss said and I looked at her and she smiled at me.

"So...3 victims her buried in one grave, but Jenny Whittman in another...why?" Prentiss asked, pointing at the pictures. "You think it's a pattern?" Morgan asked and I shook my head. 

"No it's more complex than that. He's doing different things with each victim. 

"Wheel's up in 30." Hotch said and left the room, and I looked at the file.

For the first day on the job, things were already looking hectic.