Prologue


"Anyone recognize these faces?" Gideon questioned as he walked across the floor in front of

the projector where pictures of mutilated bodies flashed back and forth.

"Victims of the footpath killer" said one of his students but not the one he was hoping would answer.

"That is what Virginia newspapers are calling him. We refer to him as the unknown subject or what?" he questioned and looked around at the young faces, hoping his eyes would probe them towards the answer.

They stayed silent and he turned back to look at the pictures as they continued to flash letting the students sit in their moments of silence and confusion.

"Unsub" muttered a girl and Gideon smirked towards the pictures before turning to look at the British girl.

She looked up when she realised that all the attention had turned to her. Clearly she had not meant to say the answer so loudly. The blonde smiled sheepishly though and clarified herself. "More commonly known to the unit as the Unsub."

She looked to be in her late teens, she wasn't dressed like the cadets but casually and very put together for a girl that age attending college classes. Her hair was curled and she wore heels and perfectly applied makeup.

"Correct, Miss?" Gideon questioned her last name. He had seen her quite a bit in his classes, and she stood out from the usual types.

"Holmes sir, Persephone Holmes." The newly introduced Persephone smiled brightly.

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Anyway, I told Virginia PD; you're looking for a white male in his twenties, who owns an American made truck disrepair, works a menial job. I told them when you find him, don't be surprised to hear that he speaks with a severe stutter."

A girl raised her hand, "Not to sound sceptical but come on" she said with a look of shock "a stutter?"

Gideon looked at her, "Where'd the murders occur?"

The girl sat silent as she started to work the problem out in her mind only for her thoughts to be spoken by Persephone.

"The idea of the stutter isn't just a wild guess, it's extremely logical" she stated leaving all the class to look back at her.

"The Unsub committed all his murders in isolated areas, on the hiking paths, why? Because he wasn't comfortable speaking to other people. He needed to be alone, not only did it provide a more intimate kill allowing for a greater release of tension for said unsub, but it reduced the likelihood of having to speak to anyone other than his victims. Plus he had to use a great amount of force to even do what he was wanting to do, which in this case was the killing of his victims." Gideon nodded and was impressed by the correct deductions she produced.

"If I am a killer that has to use a great amount of force I lack confidence" He lectured "I can't charm them into my car like Ted Bundy did. I can't because I am ashamed of something."

"Stutters usually form based off of medical conditions and mental health problems" the blonde stated and her head bobbed towards the pictures "this man obviously had some mental health problems if it led him to do all this...hence the idea behind the stutter."

"Correct" Gideon muttered as the door to his lecture hall opened and his eyes fell on the young Agent that walked in.

He sent Gideon a small look before tapping his finger against the file in his hands.

Gideon let out a shaking breath before turning back to the hall.

"Excuse me."

-----

"I'll look the case file over and get some thoughts for you ASAP" Gideon stated as he and Reid stood in his office, the elder man looking over the sheets of paper.

"You're going to be with us in Seattle ASAP" Agent Aaron Hotchner stated while walking into the office making Gideon look up at him in shock.

Agent Derek Morgan held a large picture out towards him leaving the man to pull it into his hand. "Twenty three year old Heather Woodland. Before she left for lunch she downloaded an email with a time delayed email attached."

Hotch expanded,"The killer's virus wiped her hard drive and left this on the screen."

Another picture was passed over leaving the agent to look down at the words.

For heaven's sake catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself

Gideon walked over to the picture of the Lipstick Killer's crime scene hanging up on his wall to look at the site of a serial killer's victims only to look at the same words scrawled across the wall in blood.

"He only keeps them for more than seven days. Which means we have fewer than thirty six hours to find her" Hotchner informed as Derek shrugged his shoulders.

"They want you back in the saddle" He stated leaving Gideon to slowly let out a breath "You ready?"

"Looks like medical leave's over boss" Reid admitted.

"You sure they want me?" Gideon asked unsure. He was still traumatised and wasn't even sure if he wanted to be back yet.

"The order came from the director." Gideon nodded before thinking back to his class room and all the future agents that sat there.

"Okay" Gideon breathed "but I want someone to join us in the future." The other men looked at each other in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Morgan questioned making Gideon turn back to his desk and pull a file out of a cabinet. He sat down and tossed it over to Hotch. The man caught it with ease and flipped it open before looking up at Gideon in confusion.

"An intern?" he asked, "You want to create an intern position at the BAU?"

"Yes" Gideon stated and Reid slowly nodded.

"The F.B.I does have the Honors internship programs but that's for ten weeks during the summer." Reid stated as he tried to look over Morgan's shoulder in order to look at the file he now held in his hands. The man's eyes grew large as it fell over the name in the file

"Persephone Holmes." Morgan read out the name.

"How do you expect this to go through?" he asked and shrugged his shoulders "she has to be in school-undergraduate at least-have a GPA greater than a 3.0 and has to pass a FBI background check."

"She's getting a degree in Psychology at Georgetown and is taking classes here at Quantico." Gideon listed "has a GPA of 4.0 and Morgan is holding the FBI background check in his hands."

"Gideon-"

"She's incredibly intelligent." Gideon breathed before leaning back in his seat "the top of my class. She's got her licence to carry and has the ability to multitask."

"How does that qualify her for an internship?" Morgan questioned and Hotchner continued to look over at the elder Agent. Hotch knew that Gideon wouldn't back down. He was exactly the same with Reid.

"I'll talk to the director."

-------

Later that day, Persephone was sitting at a coffee shop, reading about Antisocial Personality Disorder. She was trying to replicate the behaviour of fellow students and for some reason they seemed to like going to cafes to read or do homework. The blonde didn't really understand the point of this action but did it to fit in anyways.

Her reading was interrupted by a phone call.

"Yes?" She answered without looking at the ID.

"You should be getting a job offer in a couple weeks. Keep up the barbie persona. Good work sister."

"Thank you brother."

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