Criminal Minds 1. Chapter 1

"Secrets"

Author's Note: Drabble! This is my first Criminal Minds fanfic! Please review! I need to know if I should continue! (:

Season: 5

Disclaimer: Just found out that I don't own Criminal Minds. ):

**Summary: When you are in the BAU, you can't have secrets, but Raina, a new FBI agent, does. She has a lot of them. Can she keep them from the people she will come to care about? **

_"Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret."  
- Jean de La Fontaine_

As Raina Moretti stood outside the doors of the Behavior Analysis Unit she wondered what this new job would be like. She was already aware of the fact that she would have higher pay, and that the team she would be working with was successful, but none of that concerned her. What made her anxious were the people of this successful team. She looked over their files carefully during her long ten hour flight from Rome.

_First, there was Aaron Hotchner, who was the Unit Chief. According to Raina's confidant in Italy, he was most often called "Hotch" or "Sir." "He rarely smiles," her confidant told her. "Listen to him, and you will be fine. You'll get used to him after a month or so." Raina only wished that she could believe him, her confidant, her link to the BAU._

Then, there was David Rossi. One of the members of the BAU describes him as a "fussy, anal-retentive neat-freak who never leaves anything out of place." He even color- codes his notes, (blue pen for evidentiary items, red pen for supposition and theory.) Raina's link describes him as "slightly abrasive, repetitively divorced, and wealthy. Very, very, wealthy." He's also of Italian heritage, she deduced. "We should get along just fine," Raina murmured, and tossed Rossi's file into the "Already Looked Over" pile in the seat opposite of her.

The third file Raina saw was a woman's. "Jennifer Jareau," she silently read. She remembered her friend talking about this woman… a lot. He obviously had a thing for her, even though it seemed as if Jennifer was already married and had a son. She was most commonly referred to as "J.J." and she handled the press and chose what case to work on.

Behind Jennifer's file was Emily Prentiss', the daughter of Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss. Raina didn't need to look at her file extensively. She knew all that she needed to know about Emily Prentiss, or so she thought at the time.

The next file was Penelope Garcia's, the technical analyst, and media liaison. Like the previous woman, she had been fully informed about them.

Raina restlessly picked up the last two files, which happened to be the files that she really needed to look at… a lot. Michael, who had informed her about most of the BAU agents, neglected to inform her about these two. But, Raina hadn't slept in days. She was about to take a look at them when she felt the strong urge to close her eyes, and this one time she let the urge take over and she slept, something she realled needed to do. She woke up with the unread files still on her lap, and never had a chance to read them.  


With her back to the BAU doors, Raina finally pushed them open. She slowly walked through a large room full of desks, with a huge box in her hands. She walked past a couple offices when she stopped at what she guessed to be her Unit Chief's. The door was wide open, so he quickly saw her. "Miss Moretti," a tall, brown haired man, greeted as he stood up from his desk and started walking towards her. "Agent Hotchner?" she guessed while shifting the box she was carrying to her thigh so she could shake his hand. But, instead of taking her hand, he took the box and set it on his desk, his very organized desk, she noticed.  
"I have heard so much about you," he started, finally reaching out to shake her hand. "How is your friend, Michael?"  
"Ughh," Raina silently groaned. The last thing that she wanted to do was talk about Michael, otherwise known as her "trusted friend." Yeah, Michael was nice, but he was also the reason she was forced to leave her job in Rome only to come to Virginia. "He's very well," she replied, brief and to the point.  
"Good. I did a lot of work with him when I was a prosecutor," Hotch continued, unaware that Michael's name made her irritated.  
"So I'm told," she managed to smile. "Would you mind showing me where to put all of my things?" she asked, changing the subject.  
"Oh, right," Hotch said, becoming himself again.

Hotch led Raina to her desk, leaving her alone to "set up." Well, not her definition of set up, anyway. She wanted to personalize her small portion of the room, but she evidently didn't have time for that. They had a case to work on, and Raina needed to be introduced to the team. As Raina sharpened her last pencil, Hotch made his way back to her. She glanced around the empty room. "Where is everyone?" she curiously asked.  
"In the conference room," Hotch explained. "C'mon, we have a case." Hotch led her to the conference room and when they reached the door Raina took a deep breath. This was the start of her new life, and she was going to live it to the fullest. When Hotch pushed the door open and she entered the room the first thing Raina saw was six people sitting at a round table. She recognized four of them, Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, and David Rossi, but the other two were mysteries. She didn't even know their names. After Hotch announced who she was, one of the two men she didn't recognize was the first to greet her. "Derek Morgan," he introduced, reaching across the table to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you," she meekly smiled. _God, he's gorgeous_, Raina thought. About a minute later the only person who had not greeted her was the younger looking man in the cardigan. He looked angry. "Reid," Morgan glared, glancing back and forth at Raina, and then back to Reid. Reid swallowed and coldly introduced himself to Raina. "_Doctor_ Reid," he introduced, not bothering to shake her hand. "_Great,"_ she thought. _"One of them already hates me." _

"_Secrets are made to be found out with time."  
-_ _Charles Sanford_

**Author's Note: Review if you think that I should continue! I would really appreciate it!**


	2. The Wrong Hypothesis

Secrets

**Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews/ story alerts! I have a lot of ideas for this fic!**  
**I made a couple mistakes last chapter, and one of them was with the season. I want this story to take place around the 3rd / 4th season, NOT the 5th.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Criminal Minds. I'm trying, though. :D**

_If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends._

_-Patrick Branwell Bront  
_

* * *

"Heather Collins, shot outside a casino in Las Vegas," J.J. began.

The first one to say anything was Reid. "Was she a prostitute?" he questioned. After J.J. answered yes Morgan spoke up.

"J.J, this is the third prostitute case we've had this week."

"No, there's something different. He removed her ears… And then today, the police found another body… without ears."

Raina silently grimaced, but she had to keep listening. "And a gunshot wound was the cause of death?" Raina questioned.

J.J. only nodded. "Maybe it's about senses?" Raina suggested. "The Unsub is obviously spending more time on removing the ears."  
"Yeah, I think she's on to something," Prentiss piped in. "He shoots them to kill them, so that indicates he doesn't want to touch the body, and he wants them to die quickly. It's not about inflicting pain, because he removed the ear after she was dead. So, he's obviously not a sadist."

"We'll continue this is on the plane. We take off in thirty," Hotch interrupted, and quickly left the room. Everyone else followed.

* * *

"Rossi, Prentiss, and Morgan, I want you to go to the first crime scene, and then cover the second later." Hotch directed after they had discussed the case. "J.J, meet with the press and keep this out of the news. Reid and Raina, you're with me." Raina wanted to protest, but knew that it wasn't professional. All Reid did was sigh and turn his head to the window. "This is going to be a long case," Raina quietly mumbled to herself, and also turned her head to the window. Every now and then she could feel someone looking at her, scanning her, but when she turned around everyone was focused on something other than her, especially Dr. Reid.

As soon as Hotch, Reid, and Raina arrived at the Police Station, Hotch left them alone to work on the case. Rossi apparently needed help with the crime scenes. Everything was going fine up until the first hour. When Raina needed help with something, she accidently addressed Reid the "wrong" way.  
"Reid, can you please help me for a second?" she politely asked.

"It's _doctor_. D, o, c, t, o, r_. _Are you stupid, or can you just not listen?" he snapped.

Raina was taken back, and genuinely hurt, but refused to show it.

"Actually, _Doctor Reid,_" Raina began, taking a step closer to him. "I'm not stupid, or a bad listener. I happen to have an IQ of 170 and an eidetic memory. And even if I were stupid, at least I'm not rude to someone without having any reason to be." Raina then abruptly turned around and started walking towards the door, leaving Reid standing there, dumbfounded.

"Raina!" he called after her.

"It's _Doctor _Raina to you," she spat, not bothering to turn around and face him.

* * *

Raina was pissed. Who did he think he was? "Doctor Reid," she mumbled to herself. "More like Doctor Rude. Does he think that he's the only smart one here?" As Raina walked outside she noticed J.J trying to speak to the press, but they wouldn't listen. She was being hounded by their questions. They already named him "The Casino Killer." "When will he kill again?" a female reporter asked. Before J.J had a chance to answer she was distracted by another reporter asking if they had any leads. She could tell that J.J was stressed, so she decided to help her. "Excuse me!" Raina shouted. She now had the reporters' attention. She was slightly louder than Jennifer. "Miss Jareau will answer your questions only if you ask them _one at a time_." J.J looked at her in surprise, but smiled a wide smile at her. She really appreciated the help. "Maybe this place might not be as bad as I thought," Raina thought.

* * *

"Did you and Raina find anything about the Unsub?" Hotch questioned as he walked back into the police station.

"A couple things. Did you get anything from the crime scene?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, he was careless and left a couple prints. Garcia is running them through the system right now."

"Good," Reid simply replied, and started to focus on the autopsy report. He didn't notice that Hotch was curiously eyeing the room.

"Reid, Where's Raina?" Hotch frowned.

"Who?" Reid asked, still intently studying the autopsy report.

"Reid..."

"She got mad and left." He sighed.

"Left where?" Hotch asked.

"I don't know," Reid shrugged.

As if on cue Raina walked into the building with J.J, grabbed her purse, and J.J announced that they were going out for lunch, but that wasn't before J.J. sent a glare in Reid's direction.

"Hotch… why didn't you tell me that she was a genius?" Reid asked when they left the room.

"I didn't know that she was," Hotch replied.

"Well, she is."

Hotch furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"A genius' IQ is considered one hundred thirty or over. Her IQ is one hundred seventy, and she has an eidetic memory. She's considered a genius," Reid explained.

"Oh," Hotch replied. "Well, again, I didn't know, but even if I did know that she was a "genius," why would I have to tell you?" Hotch frowned.

"Well, I, uh, I don't know…" Reid replied. "Never mind."

* * *

"So Raina, what brings you to Quantico?" J.J. questioned before she took a bite of her pizza.

"My friend, Michael, knows Hotch, and Hotch told him about Straus and how she wants more agents in this unit. Michael, being Michael, wanted to help. I was working in Italy, until he asked me to transfer," Raina explained with a hint of sadness in her voice.

J.J. could tell that she really missed her old job.

"When I left Italy, I pretty much left my… everything. Here, I have pretty much no friends, no family, no... everything," Raina sighed. "I don't even have my dog with me. But, I do have my Katie, so I guess I'm okay."

"Katie?" J.J. asked, curiously.

"Yeah, she's my kid. Adopted kid, anyway," Raina said, pulling out her phone to show J.J. a picture of little blonde girl.

"She's pretty," J.J. sincerely said. "How did she get put up for adoption?"

"Her mom abandoned her at the F.B.I. building I was working at. Her dad ran out on them when she was just a baby. I was the one who found her, so I kind of felt responsible for her," Raina explained.

"Wow, not many people would do that. So you just took her in?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I gave her a good home, a place to sleep. I thought it was just temporary. I put her up for adoption, but no one got back to me. I honestly didn't intend to become her parental gaurdian, but when someone did finally contact me about adoption, I just couldn't let her go, so I adopted her. She's lived with me for almost four years now."

" That's really nice," J.J. smiled. "So, Raina? What kind of name is that anyway?" she asked.

"I honestly have no idea," she laughed. "My parents were… creative. My last name is Italian."

"You're Italian?"

"Born and raised." Raina replied.

J.J.'s phone suddenly began to ring. "Hotch, what is it?" she answered. Raina couldn't hear what Hotch replied, but she guessed that it was something good judging by J.J.'s look of relief. As soon as J.J. hung up she told Raina the good news: They caught the killer. Well, killers, anyway. It was two brothers who worked at two different casinos, both wanting to rid Vegas of prostitutes. Obviously, one was smarter than the other, because one left fingerprints. As for the ears, well, one of the brothers was deaf.

* * *

The whole plane ride home Raina wouldn't even look at Reid. She assumed that he was just an ass in general. Later she would realize that her hypothesis couldn't be more wrong. Reid didn't try to talk to her, but he did look at her… a lot. Every time she turned round, there he was; his intent gazes on her.

When Raina got into the bullpen she knew that Reid was following her, so she quickly got her stuff and left. Of course, Reid wasn't the only reason why she wanted to get home so fast.

By the time Raina got to her car she was out of breath. She didn't think she had ever walked that fast. As she pulled out of the parking lot she started to laugh at herself. She couldn't understand why she was avoiding Reid to this extent. He tried to approach her many times, but she made it very clear to him that she didn't want to talk. Within minutes she was home, and was welcomed by her favorite sight: Katie. The little four year old was asleep on the couch with her babysitter.  
"Vicky, wake up," Raina said, wakening the babysitter. "You can go home now," she smiled. "Sorry for being so late."

"It's okay," Vicky replied while stretching. "It's not like I had anything better to do."

With that remark the babysitter walked out of the house, leaving Raina alone with Katie. She took a moment to remember that Katie was with her, so she would never be alone. Ever. Raina wondered if she should wake her. She doubted that Vicky fed her, noticing that there weren't any dishes in the sink.

"Katie-bug," she whispered. "Katie… I'm home." The little child's eyes fluttered open.

"Raina," she smiled, giving her a hug.

"Good morning, Katie-bug," Raina smiled.

"What do you mean morning? It looks like nighttime?" Katie replied while wiping the sleep out of her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess it does," Raina laughed. "Are you hungry? How 'bout I make you some pancakes?"

"Yes please," the little girl replied.

Katie followed Raina into their large kitchen and watched as she made the pancake batter. By the time the pancakes were done cooking Raina was a mess. She had batter all over her face. "Well, I guess this is what I get when I cook with a four year old," she thought, smiling to herself. Just then the doorbell rang, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. She guessed that it was Vicky picking up something that she had forgotten. "Vicky, you really need to stop leaving–" Raina began, as she was opening the front door. She stopped talking in the middle of her sentence when she looked at who was on her porch.

* * *

"_Doctor_Reid," she sighed. "What a pleasure. Why have you graced me with your presence? Forgive me for not kissing your feet," she sarcastically said.

Raina's hair was pulled back in a messy side bun, and she still had pancake batter all over her, but she didn't care. It's not like she had to impress _Doctor_Reid.

"Look, can we please talk… inside, maybe?" Reid asked.

"Why would we need to talk in… never mind," Raina replied, noticing that it was pouring down rain outside. And there Reid was, standing in the rain, soaked.  
"Ugh… You can come in," she groaned, opening the door wider.

"Thanks," he smiled. When Reid walked into Raina's house the first thing he noticed was the young blonde girl eating pancakes at the dinner tables. He looked at Raina in confusion, but didn't say anything. "They look alike, my except for the blonde hair… Their noses are similar…." Reid deduced. "Maybe… No. Hotch would have told us if she had a kid, wouldn't he?" he thought.

"You can sit down, ya' know," Raina told him, causing him to lose his train of thought.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Reid replied, still slightly baffled. He walked over to her leather couch and sat down. He continued to wonder about the little blonde girl.

"To answer your question, she's not mine." Raina said, rolling her eyes. She glanced over at Katie, then back to Reid. "Or, at least, genetically, anyway. She was abandonded, I adopted her."

"Oh..." Reid replied.

"You're not much for conversation, are you?" she smiled.

"Not really," Reid shrugged, with a small smile on his face.

"So, Doctor Reid, do you normally just stop by at agents' houses to have a chat at three in the morning?"

"No," he laughed. "By the way, it's 2: 54."

"Did you come here to correct me?" Raina questioned, slightly annoyed.

"No, no." Reid insisted. "I came here because I want to apologize. I don't usually act like that and I'm sorry for accusing you of being stupid."

"And…" Raina pried.

"And for calling you a bad listener. I just, I don't know. I didn't think that we really needed another agent in our unit. It wasn't anything to do with you, it was just why you were here. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, yeah I do. Apology accepted," Raina smiled. "Now, Doctor Reid, I have to get some sleep. Thanks for stopping by, though."

"Call me Spencer," Reid insisted.

Raina just looked at him, slightly confused. "Spencer?"

"It's my first name," he replied.

Raina was still confused.

"Look, the way I see it is that Doctor Reid was mean to you, not Spencer," he explained. "So, please, call me Spencer." What Reid had just said changed Raina's opinion about him completely. He actually sounded… sweet.

"Okay, Spencer. Thanks for apologizing," Raina smiled.

"Oh, before I go, you're a genius?"

"I guess you could say that," she smirked, "Mr. IQ of 187, and 20,000 words per minute. If anyone's the genius, it's you."

"I don't really believe in geniuses, and I don't believe that the IQ test is enough to base anything off of, but that's not the way the public sees it. So to the public, we're geniuses."

Raina was fascinated by Reid. He was so different from other men she had known. "Hey, um, would you maybe like to go out for coffee sometime? I know about a little café about a block from here. They're open 24/7." Raina suggested.

"Uh, sure," Reid replied.

"Okay… Here's my number. Call me anytime," Raina smiled, and handed Reid a business card with her number and address on it.

"Yeah, thanks. I will."

Then, Reid was gone. And when he left, Raina got a weird feeling, but it was a nice weird feeling. She actually could hardly wait to see him again. "Spencer Reid," she murmured to herself. She liked the way his name rolled off her tongue.

* * *

_The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than think  
- Anonymous _

_**Thank you for reading. I hope that you liked it. Please correct me if I have made any errors! Please review! It is really appreciated.  
**_


	3. Chapter 3

Secrets

Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews, story alerts, author alerts, and favorite story alerts! They really make me happy and very motivated to write. Thank you SO much! I really hope that you like this chapter! _**Please review! I'd love to have at least ten reviews by the 5**__**th **__**chapter!**_

**I am very sorry for taking longer with this chapter than the others. There was so much that I want to fit into it and I didn't have a lot of time to write. I am going to London this Sunday to visit my grandparents, so I will try to post chapter four before I leave. I will be there for two weeks and most likely won't have internet access. But, that doesn't mean that I am going to stop writing. I am going to pack my journal and I plan to write up to three 3,000/ 4,000 worded chapters while I am there. (:**

_**This story has been going kind of slow, but wait a couple more chapters. I want to take my time with this fanfic. Things between Raina and Reid are really going to heat up, and facts about Raina's past are going to arise. I might even do a couple flashbacks, if you want me to. REVIEW and tell me, please! :DD**_

Thank you so much for reading this whole Author's Note! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the Story of Elizabeth Bathory. (The Blood Countess/ Countess Dracula)

* * *

_Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next.  
-Henry Ward Beecher_

"Raina! Raina! Wake up! Raina! Your clock is beeping! Raina! Turn it off. It won't stop beeping!"

Raina woke up to Katie's yelling and the irritating and repetitive beeps of her alarm clock. "Katie, what time is it?" she asked, her voice groggy.  
"Huh?" Katie questioned, and wrinkled her little nose in confusion.

"What does the clock say?" Raina simplified.

"Oh. The clock thingy says eight, dot, dot, five, two."

"It's 8:52? Fuck! Katie, you did _not_ just hear me say that," Raina exclaimed, now completely awake. She quickly jumped out of bed and started to get dressed.

"Sure I didn't…" Katie smirked.

"I'm late, I'm late. I'm dead. Hotch is going to _kill_ me. I can't believe I slept in. I am so, so dead." Raina murmured, now fully dressed.

She was having a small break down. "Dammit. I still need to take you to Vicky's," she told Katie. Now Raina was digging in her purse for her cell phone. In her purse she found receipts, her wallet, pepper spray, and even a pack of gum, but _no_ cell phone. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! It has to be in here!" she panicked, and ran her fingers thru her long brown hair.

"Raina, I found it!" Katie exclaimed.

"What? You found my cell phone?" Raina smiled.

"No, silly. I found my Barbie doll!" she announced as she held up her find. "It was under the couch."

Raina sighed and smiled at Katie, when she suddenly heard the familiar ring of her cell phone.

"Thank you, Lord," she praised.

Raina quickly got up and walked in the direction of the phone's ring. It turned out to be just where she left it: On the kitchen table. By the time she had gotten to her iPhone it had stopped ringing. She was about to dial the BAU Headquarters, when she suddenly heard a car honk.

"Ugh!" she groaned, not realizing that I car was honking right outside her house. "Why do people have to honk?" she spat. A couple seconds later, someone knocked on her door. "This better be good," she mumbled as she walked towards her door. When she opened it she couldn't have been more surprised at the face she saw.

* * *

_About 30 minutes prior at the BAU  
_

"She's not answering her cell phone," Hotch worried.

"That doesn't mean anything happened to her," J.J. reasoned.

"I never said anything did," he Hotch protested.

"You're right, you never said it, but you're thinking it."

Hotch and J.J. were in his office discussing Raina. Hotch had already phoned Michael and asked if Raina was normally late. Michael replied "no," and then for some reason he started to worry, which caused Hotch to worry.

"Hotch, there are tons of other reasons why she could be late. I– wait. I think I know. She has a kid. Maybe something happened to Katie," J.J. suggested.

Now she was worried.

Hotch raised his eyebrows. "She looks a little young, doesn't she?" he questioned.

"Adopted," J.J. explained.

Hotch nodded and went back to worrying. He suddenly got up and walked to the bullpen area. "Does anyone know where Agent Moretti lives?" Everyone but Reid stayed silent.

"I do," Spencer volunteered.

"Go pick her up. We'll wait for you to come back before we brief everyone about the case. Go," Hotch ordered.

Reid quickly walked out of the building to his 1965 horizon blue Volvo Amazon. Odd enough, he was just as worried about Raina as everyone else, maybe even more.

* * *

Present Time  
Raina's house

"Spencer?" Raina said, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"Hotch wanted me to pick you up," he replied, relieved that she was okay.

"Doesn't he know that I have a car?" Raina sighed. "Well, Can you give me a couple more minutes? I still have to dress Katie and brush my teeth and my hair…" Raina told him, now a bit self-conscious. She realized how bad she must look.

"Do you need any help?" Reid asked.

"Not with brushing my hair or brushing my teeth," Raina laughed, glancing towards Katie's room. Katie suddenly walked into the living room, fully clothed. "When did you get dressed?" Raina smiled.

"While you were talkin'," Katie replied while she rocked back and forth on her heels. "Raina, who's he?" she asked, pointing her little finger at Reid.

"This," Raina began, "Is Dr. Spencer Reid."

"Hello," he greeted. He was suddenly more awkward than before.

"Your hair looks funny," Katie replied, her hands on her hips and her little nose scrunched.

"Katelyn," Raina scolded.

"What?"

Raina sighed and turned her attention back to Reid. "Where are we going? Is the case local?"

"I have no idea. Hotch wanted to wait until you got there," he replied.

"Ughh. Okay. I'll brush my teeth in the plane. I need to make one quick phone call and then we can go."

Raina quickly turned around and walked towards her phone. Reid watched her walk away and dial a couple numbers until he felt something tug on his pants. He abruptly turned around and saw that it was Katie. He nearly jumped out of his skin, but Katie was completely calm.

"Dr. Spencer Reid, doesn't all that blood scare you? I couldn't ever be a doctor, because I don't like blood. It makes my tummy hurt. Does it makes your tummy hurt?"

"Sometimes," Reid smiled halfheartedly.

"Okay, Katie, Vicky is just a street away. She'll be here any second," Raina announced as she walked back into the living room. She suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"And there she is. Be good! Love you," Raina said, kneeling down to give Katie a kiss.

"Love you too," Katie replied as she wiped the kiss off of her cheek.

The first half of the car ride Spencer and Raina didn't really talk, and when Reid finally broke the silence, he asked about Katie.

"How old is she?" he inquired.

"Four," Raina replied.

"Wow. She has a large vocabulary for a child her age. Normally, a four year olds vocabulary only averages to about 1,500 words."

"I know," Raina laughed.

"Oh, sorry. I'm not used to…"

"Talking to someone almost as smart as you?" Raina finished. Reid smiled in response. "So, where'd you get the Volvo?" Raina asked.

"It was the family vehicle. It became mine when I was eighteen," he explained. His voice was a bit softer now. He sounded… sad. Raina didn't say anything, but she made a mental note to not forget his tone.

"So your family just handed it over to you?" Raina questioned.

"Something like that," Reid replied as he made a left turn. "You're from Italy, right?" he said, changing the subject.

"How could you tell? Was it the last name?" she smiled.

"Well, I know that Moretti is the 20th most common name in Italy, and well, no offense, you look Italian."

"I 'look Italian'?"

"You show the classic Italian physical appearance. Dark hair, heart shaped face. The only thing that's different is your eyes. Not many Italians have blue eyes," Reid replied.

"That's weird. Most people don't say anything about my eyes. Usually it's about my freakishly pale skin. Since Jersey Shore came out, everyone is expecting me to look orange," Raina laughed.

"What's Jersey Shore?"

Raina looked at him in disbelief. "Do you ever watch television?"

"Not much in English," he shrugged.

Raina rolled her eyes and looked out the window, realizing that they were pulling into the BAU parking lot. "That didn't feel like a ten minute car drive," she thought.

"Have you practiced your late speech?" Spencer asked, causing her to snap out of her thoughts.

"My what?"

"Your late speech! What are you going to tell Hotch?" Reid explained.

"The truth…" Raina replied, slightly puzzled.

"Which is…" Spencer pried.

"I slept in…" Raina continued as she unfastened her seat belt. She started to open the car door when Reid reached across her and pulled it closed again. "Can I help you?" Raina asked, annoyed.

"Sorry, but this is for your own good. Here's your first mistake: Telling him the truth."

"So you're saying that I should lie?" Raina laughed.

"I never said that," Reid smiled.

"It's called reading between the lines, Spencer Reid," she smiled.

"All I'm saying is that sleeping in isn't a good reason for being late," he continued.

"What is a good reason, Spencer? Should I tell him that Katie had an asthma attack or something?" Raina exclaimed.

"Yeah! That's exactly what you should tell him!"

"I didn't mean it literally!" Raina laughed, softly hitting him in the arm. That caused them both to go into a laughing fit. Raina felt suddenly felt butterflies and found herself getting lost in his smile.

"You should smile more," she said after she had stopped laughing.  
An awkward silence followed. For a moment they just stared at each other. His brown eyes were hypnotizing, as were her striking blue eyes.

"We should, uh, we should be going," Reid suddenly said, breaking their intense stare.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right," Raina replied, opening the car door once more.

But this time, Spencer didn't reach across to her pull it shut like she was silently wishing he would.

* * *

As Spencer and Raina walked into the bullpen area, Hotch and the rest of the team were walking out of the conference room with their suitcases in their hands.

"I thought you were going to wait until we got here?" Reid remarked.

"Sorry, plans change. Get your stuff, we're going to L.A." J.J. told them.

"I'll brief you two on the plane." Hotch said as he walked towards the BAU doors. Everyone but Morgan followed.

"What took ya' so long, pretty boy?" Derek smirked.

"Raina took forever to get ready," Reid told him, momentarily locking eyes with her.

"No, I don't think that was it," Morgan teased. "I think it was all that time you guys spent in your car."

After that remark, Morgan scurried off, leaving Raina and Reid standing there in surprise.

"That sneaky little bastard was spying on us," Raina laughed, as did Reid.

They both walked to their desks and got their luggage, but before they walked away Reid noticed everything on Raina's desk, and he couldn't believe how similar it was to Garcia's. Tons of… stuff. The only difference was that Raina didn't have any pictures of family on her desk. Not even a picture of Katie. He made a mental note to ask her about it before he spoke.

"You and our technical analyst will be the best of friends," he remarked.

"Really? And how did you deduce that?" she laughed.

"I just know," Reid smirked as he walked away from the bullpen.

Raina rolled her blue eyes. "So, pretty boy," she teased, "Why do you think we're going to Los Angeles?"

"I honestly have no idea." He frowned.

"So Spencer Reid doesn't know everything? I'm shocked!" Raina exclaimed as she opened the BAU doors.

Reid rolled his eyes as he followed her. "Ha, ha, ha," he said.

"Question: Is it bad that I want to treat this case like a mini vacation?"

Reid burst out laughing. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm serious," Raina laughed. "I've always wanted to go to Los Angeles, but, I am a happy mother of a three year old. I can't just take off. There's also the fact that I am one of the cheapest people on the planet, and I absolutely hate to fly. But, now I'm getting a free pass. I might as well enjoy myself."

* * *

When Raina and Reid got on the plane they were still laughing. At their arrival, Hotch narrowed his eyes and said, "I think I'm going to have to separate you two. When you are with each other, you're always late."

Reid rolled his eyes and sat down with J.J, while Raina sat with Morgan.

"Before we start, I need to know your reason for being late," Hotch told Raina.

"I uh… my daughter, Katie, had a small asthma attack," she lied. Reid felt a smile tugging at his lips, and he tried his best to keep a straight face, but when he and Raina locked eyes nothing could stop them from going into a laughing fit. Everyone else looked at them in confusion, and then looked at Hotch, who they expected the have a frown on his normally solemn face, but was actually laughing with them.

"I hope your daughter's okay," he smirked. Everyone else realized that it was all a joke and started laughing as well.

Raina suddenly stopped laughing when she saw the crime scene photos on the table. They sent chills up her spine. She quickly picked one up and passed it to Reid, along with the file. "You're a history buff, aren't you? What does this remind you of?" she questioned. Reid took a long look at the photo and replied by giving Raina a concerned stare.

"What is it?" Rossi asked.

"I think we have a copycat killer," Reid replied, setting the photo back on the desk for everyone to see.

* * *

"J.J, brief us," Raina instructed.

"Well, over the course of two months eleven women have been reported missing. This," she told them as she pointed to the picture, "was Jillian Kennedy, the first missing. Whoever did this dressed her up in 16th century clothing. As you can see, she's been… Well, you know."

"She's been drained of blood," Morgan finished.

"How?" Reid asked.

"He slit open every major artery, but before that, she was raped and tortured. Then, the unsub posed the body funeral style."

"Remorse?" Prentiss suggested.

"Maybe, but guys, we're not looking for just one Unsub. We're looking for two, at the least," Reid told them.

"You're saying this is a team?" Hotch asked.

"Reid told you this is a copycat killing," Raina said. "And they're not very good copycats if they're doing this solo," Raina said.

"Who is the Unsub copying then? I've never heard of a killing quite like this," Rossi said.

"Then I suggest we need to brush up on our history," she replied, as she pulled a book from her bag. "This book is basically about crazy royals and nobles, and one of them is Elizabeth Báthory, otherwise known as 'The Blood Countess or 'Countess Dracula,'" Raina said as she set the book on the table. "This chick made Marquis de Sade look like Mother Teresa."

Everyone but Reid looked at her with a confused look on their face.  
Raina then opened the book and started to read.

"In an age when her English counterparts were engaged in ladylike pursuits such as plying their needles or playing the virginals, miss Báthory was employing red hot pincers and bathing in virginal blood," she read.

"A lot of historians believe that the wicked queen in Snow White is actually based on this Elizabeth," Reid added.

"Bathing in virginal blood? I don't think that the queen and Snow White did that." Prentiss said.

"Like the fictional character, Elizabeth was obsessed with her appearance, and when she got older, she got desperate. The bathing in blood started when she hit a virgin servant girl so hard that her nose began to bleed. Elizabeth then claimed that her skin looked much younger when the girl's blood had splashed on her. Her so called witch caused her to believe that a virgin girl's blood could serve the same purpose of a fountain of youth," Reid told them.

"So, Elizabeth lured as many peasant girls as she could to her castle, and had her most trusted servants slaughter them. They then filled buckets of blood for the countess's baths. But, when she didn't look any younger, a different witch convinced her that her annual baths weren't working because she was using peasant blood, not noble blood. After close to ten noble girls went missing people finally tried to put a stop to Elizabeth's sadistic ways. Going after nobles was the mistake that caused her to eventually be caught and shut up in one room for the rest of her life," Raina explained.

"What makes you think someone is copying her work?" Morgan asked.

"I think it's a copycat because of the disfigurement and torture, and I can't help but notice the 16th century Hungarian clothing. And Elizabeth rarely worked alone. Her and her friends usually raped, tortured, and murdered the women. It is also speculated if her husband, who was also a sadist, was her occasional partner. We do know that they both shared a love of torture. Before she started to bathe in the blood of her victims she had already tortured and murdered close to fifty women. By the time she was caught she had killed over two hundred. If our Unsub is really copying Elizabeth's work, he or she will not stop until they are caught."

* * *

**_Thank you for reading! Please review! (: _**


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Criminal Minds, Mystery, Romance