Chapter One

Dr. Spencer Reid walked into the crowded bull pen and made his way towards his desk. He was glad that he did his case report the night before and not that morning; he was definitely not up for writing for what seemed like forever. He could feel the dark circles underneath his eyes, and could hear his brain practically begging him for sleep.

Reid sat down in his comfortable chair, and then pulled his messenger bag up onto his lap. He rifled through the bag and found what he was looking for: a book on Mayan prophecies. Last night he pulled and checked out the book off one of the shelves from a library near his apartment; he didn't even look to see what it was about, as long as it took his minds of things.

He opened up the book to the first page and began reading at his incredible speed. His finger running down the page, and the flipping from one page to the next became a blur. None of the information sunk into the genius's brain. He turned back to the first page and tried to read again.

Derek Morgan glanced over at Reid's desk. He noticed Reid's blank eyes. Something seemed off.

"Kid, you alright?" Derek asked; his thick eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Reid responded with a slight snap intertwined in his words as he looked up at Derek.

"Well, for starters, you don't have your usual sugar with coffee. It's not like you to not have your caffeine."

"I'm just really interested in this book; that's all," Reid lied, looking down at his book. If he were to tell Derek the real reason, he'd probably get treated like a baby again, and that was something Reid absolutely hated.

"Ah," Derek finished, knowing that the younger agent was lying, but he didn't want to pry. He leaned back in his chair and intertwined his fingers behind his head. So much for getting an answer. Penelope Garcia, wearing a vibrant green dress, blue high heels, and very intricate and colorful jewelry, came down into the bull pen, carrying manila files.

"We've got a case, my G-men," she said, handing a file to Derek and Reid. Both of the men stood up and followed her into the conference room on the next floor. Already at the table were Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, and JJ. Derek and Reid took their seats while Garcia stood by the large flat screen. With the click of a button on her remote, Garcia pulled up pictures of 5 different people, all varying in age and gender. It looked like the only thing they had in common was their brown hair and brown eyes.

"Milwaukee, WI. 5 people in the past 2 days have been stabbed once in the head. On their palms are letters; one letter per palm," Garcia stated, and then clicked the remote again to bring up 10 pictures of palms.

"Do the letters spell anything? Or is it a name?" Emily asked.

"If the letters are scrambled up, then yes. Otherwise, no. It'll be impossible to decode what the message is, though, if it is indeed a scrambled message. We would have to wait until we were absolutely positive that the UnSub was done killing. Knowing his motives might also help with decoding the message," Reid explained as he scanned his eyes on the 10 letters: T, G, I, W, I, W, H, E, S, H. Emily simply nodded her head, and turned back to the screen.

"What did these people have in common, besides their hair and eye color?" Derek asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Garcia admitted, "I just got the case this morning from the Milwaukee Police Department. I will get into the gritty of their lives though; it's just going to take some time."

"Here's something," JJ started as she flipped through the evidence reports. "They were all killed between 8PM and 12AM, and everything in the house was turned off; lights, TVs, computers, you name it. I wonder what's up with that."

"Well, it's definitely part of his signature," Rossi stated, looking down on his file.

"But why does the UnSub do that?" Derek questioned.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out. Wheels up in 30," Hotchner said, standing up from his seat. The rest of the team followed suit and single filed out of the room. Everyone went to grab their go-away bags, except for Reid. He streamlined with a quickened stride to the nearest bathroom. He stood alone before the wide mirror and row of five sinks. He studied his eyes, empty and tired. The circles that shadowed his eyes were darker than they usually were. Much darker.

His hair was ruffled and looked rather untidy. With his cold fingers, he quickly combed through his gentle curls so they didn't look as unkempt. He also noticed his tie wasn't tied tightly. The sweater vest over his wrinkled, white dress shirt also was on partially crooked. He straightened it out, and then closed his eyes in exhaustion.

The team is going to wonder, and even worry about him. He'll push them away; assure them nothing is wrong, like he's done so many times in the past. I'll hold them off as long as I can, he thought to himself. I have to fight my own battles. I'm tired of them treating me as if I'm a child.

He turned on the cold water and splashed it on his face, attempting to wake himself up. Nothing. Sighing, he wiped the droplets of water from his skin with a paper towel. He shoved his hands in his pockets, left the bathroom, headed to grab his go away bag, and returned to the team before they got too suspicious.

He was the last agent to get into the jet, which didn't surprise Spencer, but did surprise the rest of the team; he was almost always the first person on. Spencer ignored their looks as he boarded on the jet. The first thing Reid did before actually sitting down was grab a cup of coffee. He had forgotten to put sugar and cream into his mug, but neglected his tastes. He carefully seated himself in the chair farthest from anyone else. He received a concerning look from Hotch, but he simply shook it off.

The entire team fastened their seatbelts for takeoff. Reid took a sip of the dark, bitter coffee, and damn near regretted it. It had certainly woke him up, but never again did he want to drink something so horrid tasting. He contemplated getting up and putting several packets of sugar into his cup, but decided against it.

His eyes shut for a moment, and then opened them, ready to review the crime reports, and prepared for the inevitably tiring days ahead.

AN: Hey guys! I know, I know, this wasn't all that exciting, but do remember this was only the first chapter! This is my first story on this website, well first fan fiction actually, so if it isn't a bother, there's that review button down below; it is your best friend, so go ahead and click on it! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll post the next chapter real soon :)