The sun was setting over Quantico, Virginia. The quiet day that the BAU had just finished was about to change.

"We have a case" Penelope announced, leaving her office, "But no travelling required! It's right her at home" she followed up with after groans sounded throughout the group.

As the team met at the roundtable Penelope started flipping through photos.

"This is Kylie Monice. She was found dead 5 hours ago in an abandoned office building by some kids looking for an adventure. Upon further investigation the police found that 6 other rooms in the hallway in that building had similar dead bodies".

"6?" Hotch said, "Were any of them reported missing?"

Penelope continued, "Yes, all of them. The first victim was reported missing 8 weeks ago, so this guy is on a pretty tight schedule".

"What's that next to all of them?" Derek asked.

"Right", Penelope said, jumping into more details of the case. "The killer laid a shield with some sort of crest on it next to all the victims. All of them died from blunt force trauma to the back of the head but there are signs of sexual assault and prolonged torture on all 7 girls".

Rossi was quick to bring up the family crest, "If we have the family crest shouldn't we know who this guy is already?"

Penelope shut that down just as quickly, "I've looked. I can not find anything even similar to it online. I have however spoken to a lovely young lady who has a Ph D in history and her supervisors said if anyone would know, she would. She's on her way down here now to assist in this historical background this case might have".

"Alright. Morgan and Reid, you two head over to the crime scene. Rossi, you and Prentiss will go speak to the families - they should be gathering in the lobby area now. I'm going to wait for this historian to show up and get her started." Hotch stated as the team stood up, moving to get to their tasks.

Rossi and Prentiss walked into the lobby area where the families of the victims were gathered. The room was filled with a tense and somber atmosphere as they approached the first family. The first family they spoke with were the parents of the first victim, 23-year-old Samantha. The parents were visibly distraught and were holding onto each other for support.

"Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, we're here to ask you a few questions about your daughter. We're trying to find out as much as we can about her to help us catch the person responsible for her death," Rossi said, offering his condolences.

Mrs. Johnson wiped her tears and spoke softly, "Samantha was such a bright and kind soul. She was always so full of life and had a smile that could light up a room."

Rossi took out his notepad and began to take notes, "Can you tell us anything about her habits, friends, or any places she used to frequent?"

Mr. Johnson spoke up, "She was studying law at the university and spent most of her time studying or hanging out with her friends. She trusted too easily which often got her into trouble."

Rossi thanked them for their time and moved on to the next family. Prentiss approached the parents of the second victim, 21-year-old Lori. The parents were visibly angry and frustrated.

"Mr. and Mrs. Miller, I'm sorry for your loss. We're hoping to get some information from you about Lori," Prentiss said, trying to gauge their emotional state.

"She was my only daughter! How could this happen to her?" Mrs. Miller exclaimed, tears streaming down her face.

"We understand how difficult this is for you. Can you tell us anything about her relationships, friends, or places she frequented?" Prentiss spoke.

Mr. Miller spoke up, "Lori was a very independent young lady. She didn't talk much about her personal life, but she had a few close friends that we know of. She used to go to a coffee shop near her university quite often and I know she liked going to the frat parties on campus."

Prentiss thanked them. The parents of the third victim, 25-year-old Rachel, were quiet and reserved when they were spoken to next. "Mr. and Mrs. Carter, can you tell us anything about Rachel?" Prentiss asked, trying to get some information from them.

Mrs. Carter spoke up, "Rachel was very independent and private. She had a lot of friends and often went out to parties." Mr. Carter added, "She used to go to the park near our house to clear her mind. She loved nature and spent a lot of time outdoors."

Prentiss thanked them for their time and moved on to the next family. The parents of the fourth victim, 22-year-old Olivia, were still in shock. "Mr. and Mrs. Lopez, we're here to ask you about Olivia. Can you tell us anything about her habits, friends, or places she used to go to?" Prentiss asked, trying to get some information.

Mr. Lopez spoke up, "Olivia was very outgoing and had a lot of friends. She used to go to a club near her university quite often. It's called 'The Vault'."

Prentiss thanked them for their time before moving on to the final family who had arrived to the BAU office. The parents of the fifth victim, 24-year-old Isabella, were still in shock and struggling to speak. "Mr. and Mrs. Davis, can you tell us anything about Isabella? Any habits, friends, or places she used to frequent?" Prentiss asked, trying to get some information from them.

Mrs. Davis wiped her tears and spoke "She was outgoing, loved clubbing, I really don't know what to say".

Prentiss and Rossi figured out from all these interviews that the only connection these girls all had was how outgoing they were. At least that was a start.

Meanwhile Morgan and Reid arrived at the abandoned office building in no time. The building was old and the outside looked like it had been abandoned for years. There was an eerie feeling as they entered the building.

As the duo walked down the hallway, they saw the doors to the rooms that had been used as the killing grounds. The doors were all wide open, and the rooms were empty except for the shield with the crest beside each victim. Morgan took a closer look at the crest and could see that it was made up of different symbols that he couldn't quite place.

Reid was busy taking photos of the rooms and the shield when he noticed something that Morgan had missed. "Morgan, come here. Look at this." Reid pointed to the floor in one of the rooms.

Morgan bent down to take a closer look. The floorboards had been removed, and underneath there was a hidden compartment. Inside the compartment, they found a notebook.

As they continued to search the rooms, Morgan found a clothing tag on the floor in one of the rooms. He picked it up and examined it. It was a small piece of lace, and it looked like it had been torn from a piece of clothing.

"We need to get this to Garcia," Morgan said to Reid as they left the building. "Maybe she can find something on this."

Back at the BAU headquarters, Garcia was waiting for them. "What did you find?" she asked as they handed her the diary and the clothing tag.

Morgan explained what they had found, and Garcia immediately started working on the evidence. The clothing tag was from a boutique in Georgetown, which is wear one of the victims was born so it checked out.

On the other hand, as Reid flipped through the diary once more, he found that only once page near the back had writing on it. "The page mentions a 'muse' several times. He talks about how he wouldn't do it without her."

"That's interesting," Hotch said as he walked into the room. "We need to find out who this muse is."

***

"This symbol isn't like anything I've ever seen before. It looks like some symbols from pre-existing familial crests all mashed up together". Dr. Lilith Brooks told Aaron. "I'm going to revisit some notes and do some digging to piece some of the parts together. Do you have somewhere I can set my laptop and notes up?"

"Sir, the team is on their way back and.. OH! You must be Dr. Brooks!" Penelope exclaimed.

"Just Lilith is fine" she said as she reached out for a handshake. Penelope Garcia was quick to dismiss her hand and go in for a hug, stating she much preferred them. 

It wasn't long before Rossi and Prentiss came back into the room, stating that their wasn't much the victims families were able to offer, them all attending their local university was the only connection that still remained.

"Hi sir, I love your books. Personal biographies are so interesting", Lilith said to Rossi, reaching out her hand. "I'm Lilith Brooks, I'm the historian helping with the case."

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you" Rossi said, giving her back a firm handshake. Emily, as she instructed Lilith to call her, did the same.

The team didn't spend time with pleasantries, Lilith jumped right back into her research on this family crest.

Dr. Brooks took a seat at the table that had been set up for her, pulling out her laptop and notebook. She began to pour over her notes, searching for any clues that could help her piece together the strange symbol they had discovered.

It quickly became apparent that the symbol was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Lilith was able to identify some elements that resembled symbols from pre-existing familial crests, but the combination of these symbols was entirely unique.

She stumbled upon an old manuscript that caught her eye. It was a book of ancient myths and legends, and as she flicked through the pages, one particular story caught her attention.

The story spoke of a powerful family who had ruled over a vast empire centuries ago. They were said to have been blessed with pure bodies, minds and souls, and were revered by their subjects for such purity. However, their reign came to an abrupt end when a rival kingdom launched a brutal attack on their lands, destroying everything in their path.

Despite the destruction of their empire, the family managed to survive, going into hiding and plotting their revenge against their enemies. They adopted a new symbol, a combination of their old familial crest and several other symbols that represented their newfound strength and determination.

As Lilith read through the story, she began to realize that the strange symbol they had discovered bore a striking resemblance to the one used by this ancient family. There were some differences, but not enough to consider it entirely unique from this piece.

***

Dr. Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan came rushing back into the room to report their findings, neither noticing the young woman working in the back of the room.

"Great work lets start developing a geographic profile Reid. Behind you is Dr. Lilith Brooks".

That caught Spencer's attention, his head snapping up towards the young woman's direction. It was a coincidence running into each other three times in one day, but getting separated and then meeting again less than 24 hours later working on a case no less? The odds of that were astronomical.

Derek was quick to introduce himself, turning on the charm for a pretty young woman. Spencer felt stuck. Lilith hadn't left his mind since he met her on the elevator.

As she turned his way while Morgan walked towards the board Spencer was quick to come to his senses and make an introduction again.

"Doctor huh? Cute and smart" He said regaining some confidence and deciding to quote her words from the day before.

That made her laugh. Spencer thought her laugh was beautiful.

Before Lilith got the chance to respond Hotch announced that there was another victim, Tatiana Graves, who they would be looking into as soon as Lilith gave them some information about the crest on the shields.

"Alright, Lilith what can you tell us about the crest?" Derek Morgan asked.

"There are some wild things about this. So the jagged marks on these shields tell me that this unsub did this himself and he was not super skilled. There are a few marking in here which indicate he drew this in sharpie before using what I can only assume to be an electric nail file or something similar to etch it in". Lilith started.

"Now the biggest thing are obviously these annulets, which are these ring shapes that symbolize of strength. It could also be the symbol of liberty in some Roman crests but there aren't any other Roman symbols here and this guy seems to have picked everything for a reason".

The team nodded, jotting down notes as the young woman spoke. Spencer couldn't help but focus on her intelligence the whole time she spoke. 23 years old with a Ph D? You don't come across that everyday, Spencer would know.

"Inside annulet one there is an arrow which is a symbol for readiness and an axe which is the symbol of military service and duty. This tells me that he either served in the military or comes from a military family and that had a deep influence on him. In annulet two there is also a bear which is the emblem of family protection and a crescent which is said to denote service in the Crusades."

Was it weird how attracted Spencer was to her brain right now? He was going to pretend it wasn't even if it was.

"Now this third annulet is slightly confusing, there are a few butterflies on here which is a symbol of peace. There is also a chough, which is a raven like bird, which tends to symbolize death".

Spencer glanced around at his fellow team members, all of them paying close attention to the young woman talk. He sure hoped Derek wasn't going to try and make a move on her because Spencer literally could not get this girl out of his mind. 

"Now what sticks out most the me is the motto. I have never seen a motto on a crest just be "familia". He also included it in the middle of the annulets and underneath the crest itself. The colour is also almost entirely blue, in a crest this usually signifies loyalty, chastity, truth, strength and faith. Whoever this guy is, he is SUPER committed to his family. That's like his driving force behind everything he does if your going off this family crest".

Lilith then shared the story she had found and what parts of the crest were similar and which were not. She paused for a moment as the team looked at her, "I'm going to keep digging but that's what I have for now."

"Thank you, Lilith, this is incredibly helpful," Hotch said. "Reid, what do you think?"

Spencer's mind, having drifted away from the case and he had to shake himself back into focus. "Sorry, what was the question?"

"What's your take on the crest?" Hotch repeated.

Spencer cleared his throat. "Based on the victimology and the crime scene, it seems like the unsub is a sexually sadistic killer but a guy like this wouldn't be able to stay in the military long if he had military ties. I had a thought, what if this is one guy killing on behalf of his family? Like a team operation. And what if he thinks he is a descendant of this family from that story"

Hotch answered that positively before handing out assignments. "Some items on the crest do suggest the deep commitment to family which might signify their involvement. Garcia I want you to look into men in their late 20's, early 30's who were discharged from the military. Prentiss, you and Rossi start combing through head to the ME's office to check out the most recent victim. Reid, you stay here and assist Dr. Brooks. Morgan and I are going to check out Tatiana's house and look for clues."

The team dispersed, each one with their own task to complete.

Spencer was still lost in thought about Lilith. He couldn't believe how captivated he was by her mind. Maybe they could discuss historical theories over coffee sometime...

***