AFTER TWO MONTHS OF SLOW RECOVERY, Katharine was finally allowed back on the field. Not that she didn't enjoy spending time behind a computer screen in Garcia's tech cave, but that wasn't really her thing. Running the backends and waiting patiently for the next status update had never been Katharine's strong suit.

Her birthday had come and gone and she spent that day with Spencer, Derek, and Nina. It was a small event, she didn't even think any of the other members of their team were aware that it was Katharine's birthday.

And then Nina had made the announcement that she was permanently relocating to New York in order to be closer to the Spider-Boy, as Katharine liked to poke fun at. At least Nina's job paid better than the tech company she had been employed at for the last couple of months. She'd be able to retire within the year based on what Stark was paying her, not that Nina ever would. She liked helping people more than she liked being able to just sit back and relax.

"All I'm saying is that I know your lease is running out and I have a perfectly good place where you would only need to pay utilities," Katharine argued with Spencer over the phone. "I have a spare bedroom and my place is considerably closer to work than yours is. Plus, you can save on the metro! We can just carpool in together every day!"

"I'll think about it," Spencer said. "But for now, you should think about what you want to watch tonight."

"The Princess Bride," Katharine said with no hesitation. She pulled into the parking lot, scanning her ID before driving off in search of a parking space.

Katharine could hear the train screeching to a stop in the background and the muffled announcement that the train had arrived at the station.

"Again?" Spencer asked, moving through the crowds of people. "What's this? The third time we'll be watching it?"

"The fourth, thank you very much," Katharine got out of her car and locked the doors. She saw Garcia exiting her own car on the other end of the lot and waved. The brightly dressed woman waved back and held up a finger, locking her own car doors before making her way over.

"I'm gonna go, Garia has spotted me," Katharine said, pulling her back up onto her shoulder. "Get to work safe, okay?"

"I will," Spencer said before hanging up the phone.

"Baby Morgan!" Garica greeted, linking Katharine's arm with her own. "You excited to be back out on the field?"

"Of course, Penny G," she said, falling into step with the blonde woman. "But you know I'll be missing the Batcave."

Garcia rolled her eyes goodnaturedly. She snorted. "The day you miss being behind a monitor is the day the world ends."

Katharine laughed, opening the building's door so that Garcia could get in before her. "Okay, fine. I might not miss being behind a screen, but I will miss the constant attention my work wife gave me."

"Gotta treat my girl right," Garcia winked, scanning both Katharine's and her own ID. The scanners beeped as the little lights turned green, allowing both of them easy entry into the building.

They made their way up to the floor that the BAU was housed at, stopping by Katharine's desk before making their way into Garcia's affectionately named Batcave. Katharine dropped a bunch of her own personal items into a box that she was provided with, freeing up her friend's workspace. She picked up a polaroid picture Garcia and she had taken, observing their wide smiles and infectious optimism.

She took up a mini clothespin and clipped the picture to a wire Garcia had above her desk. She took a step back to observe the photo, hanging between a capture of Derek and Garcia and a capture of Spencer and Garcia.

"That's the cutest picture I have," Garcia admitted, holding two mugs in her hands. She passed Katharine her's before walking passed her and settling into her chair. "I'll miss having you around, Junebug."

"I'll be thinking of you on the field, Chica," Katharine leaned over and kissed Garcia on the cheek. Her phone beeped in her pocket as she was taking up her box of belongings. "See you later, Pen."

"Don't forget about me!" Garcia called dramatically as Katharine left the Batcave.

She chuckled as she left the room, making her way back to her desk and settling down. Emily bumped her hip as she passed, asking what her plans for the weekend were.

"Movie night with Spence," Katharine replied, taking items out of the box and arranging them on the desktop as well as in the drawers.

"So are you guys like, together yet?" Emily asked, sitting on the edge of Katharine's desk.

Katharine pushed Emily's leg out of the way slightly so she could access another drawer. "Nothing is going on between Spencer and me."

Emily cocked an eyebrow as Katharine settled a photo of her and Boy Wonder onto her desk. In the photo, Spencer was kissing Katharine on the cheek with his arms wrapped around her. She was laughing, trying to get away as Spencer attempted to tickle her. It had been taken about a month ago by Garcia when they had gone over to hers for a team bonding night.

"Just get together before Christmas and we won't have any problems," Emily said, leaving Katharine to wonder, why Christmas?

Katharine settled into her desk, opening a folder she had been left and reading over the contents. Field reinstatement forms and additionals that her doctor would need to sign off on. She made a mental note to take a trip to the second floor later.

"Hey Spence," she heard JJ greet as the man tore into the bullpen, looking more disheveled than normal.

"JJ, who's your contact at the DC Police?" he asked, not even looking up from his journal.

"Uh, Victor Barnes. Why? You need me to call him?" JJ asked, following him to his desk.

Katharine watched as Spencer shook his head and picked up his desk phone, dialing the DC police's number from memory. What could have happened in the ten minutes after she hung up?

"Hi. Detective Barnes, please," Spencer said into the telephone.

"What's wrong?" JJ tried again.

Katharine got up from her desk and walked closer to the situation.

Spencer pushed his journal toward JJ, "Need to get that to everyone as soon as possible."

Katharine looked over JJ's shoulder to see a sketch of what looked like a teenaged boy on the open page of his journal.

"Uh, hi, Detective Barnes," Spencer greeted. "This is Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid at the Behavioral Analysis Unit at Quantico. Have you had any recent murders involving prostitutes, maybe just Jane Does? They would have been stabbed to death, and their hair would've been cut off by the killer."

Katharine frowned as she listened to Spencer. Sounded intense, which made Spencer's disheveled state make a little more sense.

"When was the most recent victim?" he asked Detective Barnes. Katharine observed as he finished the conversation. "I'll explain when I see you. I'll meet you in a half-hour."

Katharine reached out to grab onto Spencer's arm, causing him to slow his movement. "Spencer, what's going on?"

He looked her in the eye, looking as if he just killed someone. "DC may have a serial killer," he revealed, swallowing harshly. "And I think I just let him get away."

KATHARINE REMEMBERED WHY SHE DIDN'T LIKE DEAD PEOPLE THE SECOND SHE SAW THE BODY. Was she being insensitive? Extremely. Did she feel bad about it? Terrible.

They had been people once, Katharine thought. Maybe it wasn't the dead bodies that got to her, but the fact that someone actually had the gall to kill a living human being for the pleasure it gave them. Sure, Katharine had killed before, but she never gained any pleasure from that.

"We found her four days ago in an alley off K Street," Detective Barnes told them. "Still no ID."

Katharine tied her hair back before sliding on a pair of blue latex-free gloves so she could examine the body. She gagged slightly, choking back a sound of disgust. No matter how squeamish she got, she still had a job to do.

"Hey," Hotch said, walking through the door. "Just got your message."

Katharine picked up their victim's arm gently. Without looking up, she introduced her boss to the lead detective on this case. "Hotch, this is Vic Barnes. Vic, Aaron Hotchner."

"Hi," Hotch greeted, coming to a stop on the opposite side of the table. "What have we got?"

"This is the second victim," Spencer explained, stepping up next to Katharine. "The first one was killed three months ago, both in the early morning."

"Both had their hair chopped?"

Barnes shook his head. "Uniform didn't make the connection, because he was fixated on this."

The detective pulled back the sheet covering the woman to reveal multiple stab wounds surrounding the word, help, that was carved into the body's stomach.

Katharine turned her head slightly. She frowned at the thought of having anything carved into her skin, ante, or postmortem. "The first victim didn't have anything carved on her?"

"Just a routine Jane Doe."

A blue gloved hand came into Katharine's field of vision, pointing at the stab wounds that littered the body.

"Take a look," Spencer said. "A lot of these are shallow. They're hesitation marks. He's not certain he wants to be killing."

Katharine took a step back away from the examination table and took off her gloves, balling them up in each other before tossing them away. She reached out to use the ME's hand sanitizer. "It makes you think the message he carved is sincere. He's asking the police to help him stop which fits the kid that sought you out, Spence. I think a part of him actually wants to get caught."

"And I let him go. I'm sorry," Spencer apologized to Hotch.

"We'll find him," Hotch assured. "If both murders took place in the morning, how come there were no witnesses?"

"The motels and alleys around the capitol are notorious,' Barnes explained to them. "People go out of their way not to look."

Katharine sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Her first day back out on the field and she's gifted a serial killer right in their own backyard. An amazing 'Welcome Back' present if she did say so herself.

AFTER A LITTLE HELP FROM GARCIA, Spencer found out exactly who the kid that approached him was. Hotch had then decided to send Katharine, Spencer, and Derek to the boy's house as the welcoming crew.

And while it wasn't uncommon for the team to see the three hanging around each other often, it was an odd sight to see on the streets. People who didn't know the agents would see three above-average-height human beings walking out of a black SUV, two of which were wearing formal work attire and the third who was dressed a little more scholarly than serious.

In short, she thought it looked like herself and Derek were Spencer's bodyguards.

When they got to the Harris' front door, Katharine knocked before taking a step back to wait.

They could hear loud rock music playing through the divider, which made Katharine a little nervous. What if Nathan's mother wasn't home? They couldn't very well just take him to the BAU without his mother's consent.

Nathan wasn't even being formally charged with anything, so most of this would have to be voluntary.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, the door swung open. Katharine put on her best customer service smile.

"Hi, I'm Katharine Morgan with the FBI. This is Dr. Reid and Agent Morgan," she motioned to the men on either side of her. "We're looking for your son, Nathan."

Nathan's mother, Dr. Sarah Harris, leaned up against her door slightly. "Why?"

Katharine kept her smile on her face, trying to show her understanding through her features. "We just wanna ask him some questions, that's all."

Dr. Harris crossed her arms. "Well, not until you explain what's going on."

Katharine opened her mouth to respond when Spencer took a half-step forward. "Uh, your son came to talk to me this morning about a murder case."

"Why would Nathan know anything about a murder?"

Katharine looked over Dr. Harris's shoulder to see a door opening. Nathan peeked his head out of the door before coming out fully.

"No, mom, it's true," Nathan confessed. "I-I did talk to him. Do you mind if I speak to him alone?"

Katharine nodded, gently making her way into the home.

"We'll stay out here, Dr. Harris," she said, guiding the mother over to the kitchen table that was off to the right. She looked behind her shoulder as Derek and Spencer disappeared into Nathan's room.

"Can-can I get you anything, Agent?" Dr. Harris asked, moving into her kitchen.

Katharine shook her head. "No thank you, Dr. Harris. And Katharine is fine."

"Then please, call me Sarah."

THEY ENDED UP BRINGING BOTH NATHAN AND SARAH BACK TO THE BAU, which meant Derek allowed Katharine to drive them back so that he could sit in the back with the mother and son.

While Spencer and Derek continued to handle the interrogation, Katharine made sure to keep Sarah company in addition to doing a soft questioning on the mother.

"Thinking dark thoughts is a far cry from being a danger," Sarah argued, linking her hands together and settling them on the table that divided the two women.

Katharine nodded in understanding. "I know that."

"I don't think anyone's personal demons would hold up to scrutiny. Mine wouldn't. Would yours?"

Katharine grimaced slightly before responding, "No, they wouldn't."

"He's a good boy," Sarah reasoned. "He's exceptionally bright. He just lives in his head more than other kids."

"So, it's just the two of you?" Katharine asked, wanting to learn more about their home life if possible.

"His father died when he was nine," Sarah shared. Her shoulders slouched a bit.

"How'd he handle that?"

"Well, emotionally it was grueling, but we got through it together."

"And you're close," Katharine observed.

She didn't have a pen or paper on her so she would have to memorize most of their conversation. She was sure it wouldn't be too hard considering remembering was a big part of her job.

Sarah made a noise of agreement. "I'd say very. Don't go misinterpreting that."

Katharine smiled kindly, recalling information she had been fed by Garcia earlier that day. "You teach at G.W. Medical School... and you're also on call at the hospital?"

"Two weeks a month."

Katharine tapped the table lightly. "So Nathan must have a lot of freedom."

"I treat him like a man," Sarah responded, "because he's always handled his responsibility."

Katharine nodded, taking mental notes of everything Sarah was telling her. She tapped the table twice before getting up, smoothing out her shirt.

"Can I get you anything? A water maybe?"

"A water would be great," Sarah said, tucking a piece of hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear.

Katharine patted the mother on her shoulder once before making her way over to the BAU's little kitchenette.

She reached up and grabbed a bottle from one of the cupboards when Garcia came up next to her, bumping her hip a little.

"How's talking to the mom going?" Garica asked, refilling her mug with the steaming pot of fresh coffee.

Katharine sighed. "It's going. All there's left to do now is see what Spence and Derek uncover with Nathan."

She closed the cupboard and left Garcia in the kitchenette with a little smile, making her way back to Sarah Harris. She passed the bottle over and received a quiet, Thank you, from the woman.

"No problem," Katharine said as Derek exited interrogation with Spencer in tow.

Derek and Spencer came to a stop next to Katharine, resuming their triangular formation from earlier.

"Ma'am," Derek started, "we'd like to let the juvenile authorities hold him overnight so we can do a psychological evaluation."

Sarah gripped the water bottle a little tighter, the sound of crinkling plastic filling the air.. "I can't believe this is real."

"Well, right now it's just an evaluation," Katharine tried to comfort the woman. "I'd encourage Nathan to have a lawyer present during it."

"I don't know what he's going through, but the Nathan I know is a sweet boy," Sarah told them, desperation leaking into her voice.

Katharine frowned. She couldn't imagine what was going through the woman's mind at the moment.

"I believe you," Spencer said.

"Do we have your permission?" Katharine asked softly, not trying to upset the woman any more than they had.

Sarah nodded slightly and they took that as an affirmative. Spencer held out his arm and started walking in the direction of his desk. "I'll show you where to sign the paperwork."

Katharine crossed her arms in front of her chest slightly and turned to her cousin. She gave him a look that read in between, this is terrible, and can't we do anything for her?

Derek put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed a little. "I know, I wish there was something else we could too."

Emily approached the duo, painting behind her. Katharine watched as a few uniformed officers entered the bullpen.

"Juvenile Authorities are waiting for Nathan Harris," she said, closing off their little circle.

"He's in interrogation," Katharine said, pointing from where Derek and Spencer had just come out from.

"Is he our unsub?" she asked, lowering her voice ever-so-slightly.

Derek sighed. "I don't know. He says he didn't do it. He actually seems sincere. But he's a smart kid, and part of the sexual-sadist profile is the ability to mimic honesty and sincerity."

"I wonder who's gonna do his psych eval," Katharine voiced, biting down on her lip.

"Probably Rossi or Hotch," Emily answered. "I'm gonna go let JA know he's in interrogation."

Katharine offered her a thumbs up and a half-smile. She hoped Nathan wasn't their unsub but only time could tell.

KATHARINE FOUND HERSELF SITTING ON THE EDGE OF SPENCER'S DESK AS HE FINISHED UP A REPORT.

"Shouldn't you be working on something?" Spencer asked, looking up at the woman who insisted on bothering him.

She kicked the side of his seat slightly, a smile on her face.

"I figured if I put it off for a little longer, you'd take pity on me and do half of my work for me," Katharine admitted. She kicked the side of his seat, causing him to swat her leg away.

"Dr. Reid?"

Katharine fell silent and stopped her antics when Nathan Harris approached them, two uniformed officers from Juvenile Authorities standing behind him.

Spencer cleared his throat slightly, turning in his office chair and addressing the boy.

"I know I, um, don't deserve any favors, but whatever my psych eval says, you promise you'll tell me the truth?" Nathan asked. Spencer nodded, a close-lipped smile on his face.

"Um, my mom says a promise doesn't count unless you say it out loud."

Katharine smiled slightly at that. Everything Sarah had said about her son rang true, he was a good kid and she hated seeing something this unfortunate happen to him.

"I promise," Spencer said.

"Ok. Thank you," Nathan said before being taken away by the uniformed officers.

Garcia walked up to Spencer's desk next, handing Katharine her mug of coffee.

"You know, he might have killed two women," she said. "It's not your job to hold his hand through this."

"It's like with my mom," Spencer said. "I used to think that if I could just understand absolutely everything there is to know about schizophrenia, then I'd somehow be able to fix it."

"You can't. I'm sorry," Garcia apologized

Katharine ran her hand down Spencer's arm, attempting to comfort him. He put his hand on top of hers and squeezed slightly, letting her know that he would be okay.

Hotch breezed by them, going around the desks and climbing the stairs. "Guys. I need everybody in the conference room. If Nathan Harris isn't our unsub, we need a working profile."

Katharine sighed and slid off of Spencer's desk, grabbing onto the genius's arm to steady herself once she had both feet on the floor.

They made their way to the round table together and took their regular seats, Katharine in between Derek and Spencer with Spencer on her right and Derek on her left.

JJ stood in front of them, as usual, remote in hand and ready to deliver their case.

"DC Police sent us these photos of the first victim," she said, motioning to the screen and the paper folders in front of them.

"This was the unsub's first kill," Hotch explained. "He held his urges in check for three months, and when he couldn't control them anymore, he sent this message to the cops. We know the 'help' and the hesitation marks mean he was ambivalent about the kill. What we don't know is why he chopped the hair."

"He didn't take it with him," Derek observed.

"We know it's not a trophy," Rossi said. "It's probably a way to minimize some of their power and robs them of their femininity."

"That fits with him killing during the early morning," Spencer pointed out. "It's the time when prostitutes have the least power sexually, as opposed to at night when he might see them as being on the prowl."

Emily tapped the table twice. "Hey, I know we're just spitballing this here, but this profile points to Nathan Harris."

Hotch shook his head once. "I don't wanna talk about Nathan Harris."

"Hotch, she is right," Derek defended. "He reached out for help. This is an adolescent kid. He's probably intimidated sexually. I don't care how many times he says he didn't do it. He knew about the last victim, and he admitted to getting off on seeing her dead."

"We've got Nathan Harris," Hotch said, an edge to his voice. "It doesn't do us any good to talk about him now. I just wanna make sure that if it's not him, we stay on top of it before it takes on a life of its own."

Katharine looked down at the page. Hotch was right. If this didn't turn out to be Nathan, they needed to have more options to look at.

She sighed, pulling the folder closer to her. "Well, we know our unsub is a sexual sadist."

"The symbolism of stabbing them probably means he's impotent," Rossi continued, using Katharine's comment to regain momentum.

"The only way he can get off is by killing," Derek said.

"Considering that cutting their hair and killing during the early morning both stem from feeling powerless," Spencer brought up. "There's a chance his pathology's more than sexual."

JJ turned slightly to face the doctor. "What do you mean?"

"This is DC," he said. "Power's the most important commodity. Maybe this guy feels impotent in his professional life as well."

Derek pointed at nothing in particular. "But why these particular women?"

Spencer shrugged. "The simplest answer is that he has access."

JJ clicked another button on her remote, bringing up a map of the DC area. "Well, Northwest DC has three major hubs of prostitution-near Florida Avenue; off Logan Circle; and McPherson Square, where the victims were found."

"He probably works in or around Capitol Hill then," Katharine said, mentally triangulating the three locations in her mind.

Emily nodded, shuffling through the case file. "Well, I'll go back out on the streets in the morning and see if any of these women know someone who fits that description."

Hotch nodded, satisfied with what they had given. "Good. It's late. Let's go home."

Katharine stood up and started to wrap her things while JJ started to shut down the technology.

"Um, shouldn't we get word out to the papers?" the blonde asked while putting the remote back on the table.

"Not yet."

"Well, it's not too late to make the morning edition," JJ tried.

"I said no," Hotch shot her down again. He grabbed his case file and furrowed his eyebrows, as if he were debating something to himself.

"Katharine, a word?" Hotch asked, already halfway to the door.

"Yes, sir," Katharine responded, closing up her own folder and tucking it into her arms. She pushed out her chair and bumped Spencer's hip slightly. "I'll meet you down in the car. Keys are on my desk."

Spencer laughed a little when she bumped his hip, taking her case file out of her arms.

"Do you want me to just grab your stuff too?" he asked, already taking her bag off her shoulders.

"You're a saint," Katharine praised before leaving the room, heading straight for Hotch's office.

She knocked twice, listening for a come in before entering the room.

"You wanted to see me?" Katharine asked, coming to a stop in front of Hotch's desk.

"I know you've just recently come off of desk duty and backends, but I want you to administer Nathan Harris' psych evaluation," Hotch said, not looking up from the folder he was writing in.

Kathrine blinked in confusion.

"What?" she asked. "Why me? Why not Rossi or even yourself?"

Hotch stopped writing and set his pen down. He reached into one of his drawers and took out a familiar manila folder with the SHIELD insignia printed in black on the front. "Since June, certain parts of your file were opened up to me. I think you'd be the best person for the job."

Katharine frowned. "You mean the psych evaluations I administered on hardened criminals or compromised UC agents. Hotch, I've never done a psych evaluation on a kid before."

Katharine looked her boss up and down before sighing and crossing her arms.

"Fine," she said uncrossing her arms. "But you owe me. A twenty-dollar gift card to any restaurant that sells nachos will do."

"Or I can just not fire you," Hotch cocked an eyebrow.

Katharine laughed before shooting two finger guns at her boss.

"Twenty dollars!" she called, already on her way out of the door. "Thanks, Boss!"