NCAVC - The FBI Files

[garnet]

NCAVC - National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime

NCAVC is a significantly large division of the FBI located in Quantico, Virginia. Within NCAVC lies three underlying divisions:

• The BAU - The Behaviour Analysis Unit
  The BAU helps to provide psychological profiles of offenders/terrorists in order to aid with the arrest of said offenders. They usually travel around the country helping police departments build profiles and hold press conferences. When the agents show up on the crime scene, they officially take over the investigation and handle all aspects will semi-disclosure to the police at first. Only when a solid lead is found, then the FBI offers full disclosure.
  
  
• CASMIRC - Child Abduction Serial Murder Investigative Resources Center
  When a child goes missing, the FBI is called within the first hour of the disappearance being reported to the police. After that, Agents must work fast in order to help find the missing child. Normally, children that are abducted die within the first 24 hours of the disappearance; so it's a race against the clock to find the child and return them home to their family.
  
  
• ViCAP - Violent Criminal Apprehension Prevention
  ViCAP handles mostly solved and unsolved cases that go through the FBI. The more common ones are unidentified remains, sexual assault cases, homicide attempts and missing persons files. When there are no working case files, Agents are sent to aid ViCAP in helping close those cases or finish any paperwork on that that.
  

Our FBI agents do all of these things, and so much more.

The entire Quantico headquarters is under pressure with the notorious serial killer Chainsaw Jack on the loose. To this day he remains untraceable, leaving nothing but a trail of mutilated bodies and his typical MO (Modus Operandi) behind him

With our agents within the FBI, we must find a way to put a stop to these murders, and any other murders that may come about.

- UPDATE-

If you're writing a post as a NPC, please write your post in yellow.

If you're writing a post as an unsub (unsub = unknown subject = bad guy), please write your post in red.

[garnet]

Evan Carson leaned back in his chair, raising his arms above his head to stretch out his sore, stiff muscles. His blue eyes trailed to the off white ceiling of his empty, yet cozy office. Although he spends so much time in it, Evan didn't feel the need to really decorate or spruce this place up.

Unlike his fellow SSA, Jayden, Evan was never married. He took his work far too seriously and never really made time to settle down and start a family; but that hardly meant that he never indulged every once and a while. Relaxing once more, Evan returned to slouching over his desk, his hands moving swiftly against his keyboard as he continued to write up the latest report. Every now and then, he'd pause, allowing his blue eyes to trail out the glass panes of his office into the lower area where the field agents had their desks.

Evan actually liked the way this building was set up. The two SSA offices and conference/briefing room were on the second level, while everyone else resided on the first. The liaison and tech analyst were down another corridor on the first floor, in their own offices aside from everyone else. Both the SSA offices had two solid walls, and two bulletproof glass walls, one side being the window while the other provided a view of the working agents.

Pressing the print button, Evan rose and calmly walked over to his printer, taking the warm freshly inked pages into his hands before filing them away in folders. Hopefully the head director will approve. Running his long fingers through his hair, Evan smoothed his suit out before walking out the door of his office, being careful to shut and lock the door behind him.

All he'd have to do now is hand over this file to the liaison, it was their job to file away the paperwork once and for all anyways.

[Eric Easy E Pelka]

11:52 PM
Montclair, Virginia
The night is young; the sounds of traffic reverberating through the city streets, heavy rain crashing against the asphalt, a lone man’s footsteps bouncing of the brick walls of a dark alley. Statistics show that the number of serious violent crimes peaks at 11 P.M. This city is no different; whether it is Montclair, Virginia or New York City, bad people do bad things when the lights go out.

The man’s footsteps are muffled by the splash of puddles. His trench coat is drenched and fedora crumpled beneath the ponds of water forming in its bends. Yet he looks ahead, wading through the storm, his hands shaking profusely. His mind wanders; memories that should have been long archived, file through his mind like unsolved cases. The faces of loved ones meld with the victims of “closed” cases; cases that he was told “good job” when he really knew it was too late. The damage was done.

Countless innocent people, killed by wicked men; a system prided for deterring crime, for avenging the families of murdered mothers, daughter, sons, and fathers; Statistics; Downward trend slopes. But at the end of the graph, the column of numbers in the analytical report, there still exists a life lost, unaccounted for – un-avenged.

The man stops in front another figure leaning shadily on the right side of the wall, taking shelter underneath the overhang of the above roof. He lifts his face revealing his dry face, save for a patch of dampness underneath his red dilated eyes. The two men look at each other, don’t speak a word and shake hands, understanding what each one feels – brokenness. He walks away retracing his steps, heading back to the threshold of the alleyway and bustling street. He stops opens his cupped palm and looks at the strip of ten wrapped white tablets. He is ashamed. Yet it is not enough to stop him from tearing the lining from two of his pills. Once open he wastes no time and swiftly swallows them. His hands stop shaking; the memories freeze in time; the tears evaporate from his face. It is just another night in the land of degenerates and criminals. When day comes he will hunt them, but in his mind the real case still stirs.

Seven Hours Earlier, 4:52 PM,
Quantico, Virginia – FBI Headquarters
Wesley Jayden, Supervisory Special Agent and senior member of the team, sat in his office, the door closed and his window shades pulled shut. The office was literally void of activity today; no new cases and no new leads on the current ones. Instead, everyone was taking the time to catch up on case reports and paperwork. The job was thrilling enough, but the paperwork wasn’t in the job description more than 15 years ago.

Special Agent Jayden was a stickler for protocol however. He had no outstanding reports, his files were already organized, and since he had been at the office since the doors opened at seven, he had completed all the remaining tasks for his day. However, for Agent Jayden there still existed one open case.

His computer screen was illuminated, a series of pictures flashing on and off before his eyes. He sat hunched over his key board inspecting every detail of every picture; every word of each written report. Nothing was left unexplored. In his mind he went through the events of the case.

Wesley Jayden departed early in the morning just after 5:30. He was going to oversee the final trial of a Mexican Drug Lord found responsible for the deaths of thirty women. It seemed as though the bastard couldn’t get off without taking a fathers daughter away in the process. The case was an important step in the State Department’s war on Drugs.

Wesley Jayden was away till 10 o’clock that night. When he arrived home the door was locked, and all the lights were off. Wesley made his way down the hall, thinking his wife and kids had simply gone to bed. When he arrived in his room and quietly got into bed beside his wife, Agent Jayden found himself reaching into a puddle of liquid. She was dead, along with his two children.

The blood spatter analysis said that his wife was bound and gagged, before being cut open with a dull knife. She was then eviscerated and covered again by her clean blanket. The children went a little easier; swift cuts to the neck ensured they bled-out with much ease. They were then dragged from the room, most likely dead, and hung with chains in the master bedroom’s bathroom over the bath tub; a pool of their blood filling it up. The word revenge was written in Spanish on the mirror of the bathroom with two fingers drenched in the mixture of all three victim’s blood.

There were no traces of fingerprints, footprints, blood, semen, or saliva left at the scene of the crime. No leads for the Bureau to follow. It was decided the case was no more than a revenge murder orchestrated by Mexican Gang leaders. Wesley would hear none of it. He vowed himself to solve the crime the day the case was put on the back burner.

The memory of the case was too much for him to deal with, his hands were shaking profusely. No, not here; not now! Wesley thought to himself. He lowered his freehand into his pocket and fiddled with a pill bottle, fighting the urge to root through it to find his last Valium pill. His body was beginning to shake from with drawl. Just as he almost broke, the door flew open abruptly.

“Hey Boss!” Jeremy, the team’s entertainer interrupted the tense silence. “What are you doing cooped in this dreary little office of yours?”

“What the hell do you think you are doing!?” Wesley asked with a small grin across his face, the shaking had subsided.

“Hey, hey, hey is that anyway to greet a guy who brought you your favorite circular pastry desert?” Jeremy said as he revealed a large box of donuts that he had hid behind his back.

“You know I can’t enjoy a bear claw without a coffee son!” SSA Jayden joked as he stood from his desk, making sure the case files were exited off of his screen.

“Some people call me Psychic, what do you take me for?” Special Agent Paige questioned as he took the other hand out from behind his back and showed a tall Styrofoam cup. “Hot and Black; just like you like em’ sir.” Someone from behind Jeremy quickly answered with a “That’s what she said.”

The two of them chuckled at it before SSA Jayden did his duty and reproved the immature words, “Hey, this is a government office. I don’t care if you guys weren’t military men like me, I will make you drop and give me push-ups! Plus you will be doing all the team case reports for the next year!” Jayden smiled at Paige before he took the coffee from his hand an entered the briefing room, where it seemed the whole team had assembled. Shaking his head at the lack of professionalism, Jayden turned to the adjacent office and knocked on the door yelling through it, “Hey Carson, they got me out here slacking off; you might as well be yourself and join in this mockery of the justice system!” There was no answer. Jayden fiddled with the door and found it was locked. Good ol' Carson, can't deal to even sit one day in the office.

[garnet]

When Evan had reached the Liaison's office, he was slightly surprised to find that the lights were off, indicating that no one was in at the current time.

Thankfully, each SSA had access to each room within their department; it came in handy when agents weren't present but had extremely important files locked away in their drawers.

Swiping his card key, Carson strolled in and placed the completed file on the desk in the dimly lit Liaison’s room, the only source of light behind provided by the screen saver on the their desktop screen.

With a swift turn Evan left the room, making sure that he had shut the door behind him. One more swipe of his door key revealed a small flashing red light by the handle and after five seconds the light shut off, leaving nothing but a small click sound, which indicated that the door was finally locked.

Evan sighed, feeling a little upset that he'd have to end up working on another report once he returned to his office; and every knew just how much Evan hated writing reports. At least, he was certain there was one more case report, he couldn’t help but have noticed another brown folder.

But of course, that's what an SSA's gotta do.

Strolling back into the main area he passed by the Special Agent desks, eying his surroundings. It wasn't long before Evan's pale blue eyes fell upon the back of Special Agent Paige’s head and hunched over body as he passed by.

Raising his left hand, he allowed his eyes to trail to the platinum watch on his slender wrist. To his surprise, it was almost 5PM. On days like these, Paige would normally come bearing gifts of fresh pastries and coffee. Evan couldn't help but wonder where the hell was his!

"Where are my donuts, Paige?" Carson bellowed playfully as he continued to swiftly walk past the area and up the stairs to the SSA offices. Passing by Agent Jayden’s office, he couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t in there. Odd, Jayden’s not usually one to leave unless all the work was completed. Glancing forward, Evan spotted his colleague in the briefing room, sifting through some files that had been posted up on the boards.

Strolling forwards, his shoved his long, pale hands into his pockets. "Why don't we close up for the night? Anything that could be done now would be probably done better once we've all gotten some rest." Taking a few more steps, Evan released his left hand from his pocket and patted his colleague’s shoulder before throwing both his hands up into the air, much like a criminal wound when surrendering. "Hey man, if you're not gonna leave, at least I will!" Winking lowered his hands and walked out the door of the briefing room, leaving his friend alone once more.

It wouldn’t hurt to take an early night anyways; God knew that these agents needed it. It was very rare for an agent to get much sleep at all. This job was strenuous, stressful and tiring. It required around the clock work, especially when there was a working case in the hot seat. So any change an agent would find it hard to pass up any good opportunity to get some rest.

Agent Carson wasted no time heading back to his office and gathering his things, the faster he could get out of here the better! “I’m beginning to get a little sick of this god forsaken place.” He muttered softly to himself as he began to back away some of his things in his “go-bag”.

All agents carried their go-bag with them to work, just in case they had to leave immediately for a case in another part of the country. Besides, it was always nice to know that you’d have a change of clothes and toiletries, should you ever need them. “See ya Jayden!” he shouted as he descended down the stairs. Carson slung his black duffle bag over his shoulder before turning his pale blue eyes to the agent sitting by his desk. “Paige!” Carson roared before raising a free hand to give the agent a carefree salute. “Go home kid! That’s an order!”

Shaking his head, he quickly wiped the smirk off his face and continued to exit the building in hopes that no one would try to stop him and keep him here longer.

The drive home to Waldorf, VA took maybe a little less than an hour; but to Evan, it seemed like days. Even taking the elevator to the 6th floor seemed like the most strenuous journey he has ever had to endure.

Once inside his condo, Evan detached his gun from the holster at his belt and placed it on the coffee table in front of him while his body sunk into the living room couch. In almost an instant, he was out like a light.

The Next Morning. [DAY 1: 7:30AM] [/i][/color]

Carson was up bright and early, making it to the NCAVC headquarters at around 7AM dressed in an expensive black suit, his blond hair done in the usual faux hawk that he always had. He didn’t really even have the time to check if Jayden had made it in; the odds were that he had.

It seemed that Evan was a bit preoccupied at the moment.

In his hands lay a brown folder with the FBI emblem on it that Evan had forgot to go through and finish yesterday. But neither the folder nor the uncompleted work was the issue; it was the pink sheets inside it that were. Evan knew that pink sheets normally indicate the recruitment of a new Special Agent, and it’s not that having a new agent is a problem! Having a new agent just meant that there was going to be a bit of an imbalance for a short while.

The issue was that new recruits don’t last long anyways. The sheer horror that this job brings normally scares people away. It almost hurt Evan to know that he’d have to put yet one more person through that. He skimmed through the details, making short work of having to read it all.

All that was required were a few signatures from him and SSA Jayden before he sent the work in. Everything seemed to check out with this one, this new Agent seemed ready for the task at hand. Sighing, he did the last of the paperwork before he stood from his desk and made his way over to Wesley’s office.

He knew that a folder filled with pages upon pages of pink paper wouldn’t be the best thing to start your day off with; but Carson figured Jayden had a knack for this sort of thing anyways. Knocking on the door, Evan turned the handle and allowed himself in.

“Morning, Jayden” Evan’s voice held no trace of happiness in it, showing that he was truly upset about what was going to be happening. Tossing the file onto his fellow SSA’s desk, he gave a small whisper. “I can’t believe we’re going to put someone through this.” Before leaving he exchanged a small glace with Wesley before evacuating the office.

Meanwhile, downstairs Olivia Marston was making her way towards her new desk. Wanting to make a good first impression, Olivia wore a black dress jacket, only accented by the folded collars of the white dress shirt she wore beneath it. Below, she had a pair of form fitting dress pants and a pair of simple, yet suitable heels to give her a bit of added height. She chose to wear her hair a little on the dressy side for her first day on the job, the bangs hovering just above her eyebrows while the rest of her hair flowed in long, loose curls.

She held a medium sized brown box filled with some simple office supplies in her hand as she made her way towards her new desk. Olivia was filled with a mix of emotions; excitement, nervousness, worry, happiness, it rendered her with having nothing more than a blank stare as she placed her box on her new desk.

To her surprise and comfort, there happened to be another person sitting across from her. It was what looked to be like a young man, maybe only a couple years older than she was. Taking a breath, Olivia took a moment to get into the proper mindset before turning towards her future co-worker

But of course, before any words could be exchanged, an older man, maybe in his late thirties came barreling down the stairs and towards her.

Deep down, Carson felt his stomach drop. It was bad enough that they were sending a new recruit, but that the new recruit was a young and innocent woman. It’s a shame that the very innocence she had would be taken from her from this day forward. After coming to a stop about an arm’s length away from the newcomer, Evan extended a long, muscular hand towards her.

“I’m Supervisory Special Agent Evan Carson. You must be our newest member, Olivia.” His tone was stone cold, hiding any trace of him being upset. This job taught you to do that; to hide your emotions so well that you almost begin to forget that you ever had them.

Smiling, Olivia returned a strong, eager handshake. “Special Agent Olivia Marston reporting for duty, sir. “ Her voice was as strong and confident as her grip.

This caught Evan slightly off guard. A handshake could tell a lot about a person, their behaviour, their mental state, and so much more. The fact that this girl had such a strong hand shake meant that she had determination. But the true test will be taking her to her first crime scene. Lowering his hand to his side, Evan motioned towards Olivia’s desk and pulled the chair out for her, allowing her to take a seat.

“It’s great to have you on the team. SSA Jayden will introduce himself to you soon, and I’m sure you’ll become well acquainted with Agent Paige and your other colleagues.” His pale blue eyes trailed momentarily to Jeremy before returning to the young woman in front of him.

Sitting down, Olivia grinned and gave a small nod of her head before turning towards Agent Paige. “I hope to give my best contribution to the team.”

[Eric Easy E Pelka]

Jeremy had not slept well the night before. Being the slacker that he was, he decided to procrastinate and wait to finish his reports when he got home after yesterdays slow day at work. He found it more intriguing to bother the lab techs with a game he called, who is sleeping with who. Being FBI agents, no one had much time for social lives, and thus found themselves intertwined in seedy affairs with colleagues. Jeremy couldn’t care less; the regulations on dating within the Unit were useless and had no feasible function. He’d rather figure it out himself, which was extremely easy for him to do, so he could help them conceal their relationships. Though Agent Paige was often described as unprofessional, meddlesome, and even often irksome by clients and his superiors, the majority of the team enjoyed his fun loving attitude and cheeky antics.

Having stayed up all night to finish his reports, Jeremy now was wired with coffee and other combination of sweets and caffeine. He was sure he was headed toward a day of reprimands and complaints. Bored with sitting calmly at his desk, Agent Paige decided it was time to do his daily rounds and interrupt everyone with some kind of profound and unexplained revelation. He liked to let everyone know he didn’t need personality and psyche evaluations and files to see behind their emotional and psychological masks. He was a student of human behavior and psychology.

As he stood and turned to examine the series of cubicles that lined the room, his eyes caught an unfamiliar face. She was interesting; obviously young, her cheeks full and ears lined with studded earrings that shouted “I am trying to look professional, but damn do these look cute.” Her hair however was very well put together, not to complex, but able to compliment her dark determined eyes. She held her self tall, yet shuffled uneasily, a subtle sign of her nervousness. Jeremy smiled to himself excited for the new person to analyze. Routine was Jeremy’s biggest pet peeve; the new addition to the team would be proper interruption to rejuvenate his drive.

Beginning his slow walk over to the new member, Jeremy watched her sit down and confidently tell SSA Carson she would give her best to the team. Jeremy studied her demeanor, her voice, her appearance. In his mind he analyzed them, put together a personal psych profile, and readied himself for the encounter. Without a word he put his hands on her shoulder as a sign of trust, she jumped and swiveled around quickly, her mouth about to open. Jeremy put his finger to her lip and then slowly lifted it to his.

Jeremy proceeded to kneel down and get eye level with the new recruit. He was calm, serious, and intuitive, staring directly into her eyes. She tried not to break her gaze but her eyes began to scan the strange man that had approached her. Jeremy moved on grabbing her right hand. The palms were dry, yet her pulse was slightly elevated.

“Pleased to meet you Agent Marston,” Jeremy said as he caught sight of her ID card pinned on the front of her blazer.”Before you answer let me speak. My name is Jeremy Paige, I have a certain set of skills, I won’t go into details but some call me a psychic.” Her face looked confused, “No, no, no please don’t be alarmed, I only use my skills for good, or to entertain us while we trudge through boring case report after case report.”

She grinned, “Good a smile. Now you are letting me into whom you really are. Let me take a stab at this. Hmm, you are a child at heart, love a good time and a good joke. This makes you a warm person; probably volunteered at hospitals when you were younger. But you stand too tall to stay as a volunteer in a hospital somewhere…that’s why you’re here. Your determined to prove yourself, grew up in a world that was dominantly male oriented. Yet you’re nervous. Not sure what you are getting into.”

Her smile faded as a solemn serious look came across her face, “Oh don’t worry, I don’t buy that male dominance bull shit. Stick with me and you will make it…just don’t ask SSA Jayden if that’s a good idea.” Her face again looked puzzled,” Never mind that, so your psychology right? You examined me like you were looking for some kind of disorder. No wait, you dabbled in it but you are way too much of a people person, Sociology. Got your degree somewhere in New York probably, you got that girl in a big city trying to make it look to you.”

[garnet]

[DAY 1: 7:40AM]

Olivia felt very welcomed by the team, or at least what she saw of them. There was still SSA Jayden she had to encounter, and the mere thought of that was almost worrisome. Turning to Agent Paige, Olivia was met with a slight shock.

As the more experienced agent stared into her eyes, Olivia felt her mind go slightly numb for a moment, as if someone had wrapped their hands around her cerebral cortex and squeezed.

She listened intently to Jeremy's speech, her head cocking to the side as she tried to understand just how in the world he was able to gather all this information about her without having read her case file or having a conversation with her first. Her brows furrowed slightly from confusion and a slight bit of frustration.

And here she thought that she would end up leaving her personal life out of it.. but this guy almost had half of it revealed already. Turning to her superior, Olivia gave a bit of an exasperated sigh. "Is this normal?!"

Agent Carson watched this display, a small smirk tugging at the right end of his pale lips. "Yup, it totally is." Oh, this poor girl was going to get into some trouble with Jayden if she planned to buddy up with Paige. Glancing up towards the other SSA's office, he watched as Jayden continued to work away.

Smiling, Olivia turned back to Agent Paige and gently pried her hand away from him. "You have some amazing talents Agent Paige; but as cool as what you did just was, it was still pretty creepy."

"Alright you two," Carson muttered while his eyes glanced towards his platinum watch. "It's time to go over the Chainsaw Jack case. Looks like our Rookie is gonna get in on the action on the first day of the job." Smiling, he turned and began to make his way up the steps to the second floor briefing room.

Carson soared past Jayden's office, rapping his knuckles lightly against the window of his office as he walked by, indicating that he should be heading to the briefing room as soon as possible.

Olivia grinned, obviously happy with the news Carson had just delivered. The Chainsaw Jack case was something she had been dying to work on since she joined the academy. Her heart beat raced as she exchanged an excited glance with Jeremy.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down and followed Agent Carson up to the briefing room to join the two SSA's.

Entering the room, Carson turned on the lights and grabbed the laptop attached to a bunch of cords that led to the projector. Evan then pulled up all the files he had on Chainsaw Jack onto the laptop's desktop screen. Raising his gaze, he watched as Marston and Paige entered, soon to be followed by Jayden.

"Alright guys. We took a break yesterday, but now it's time to get into gear once more. We can't put this off any longer." Clicking a button on his small hand held remote, Carson brought twelve mugshots onto the screen, each picture of different shapes and sizes.

These were his victims.

"Our victims in this case, all twelve of them." Carson's blue eyes rose to watch Olivia, observing the changes in her behaviour. He kept his eyes on her, even when he switched from the mugshots to actual crime scene photos.

In each photo, the amount of decay and gore would make the average person cringe and possibly vomit.

But not Olivia.

Carson was shocked to see that the young woman didn't even blink. Not once.

Soon, the young Agent perked up. "This guy's smart. He's choosing areas with lots of animal activity to help the body decay at a fast rate. This way, it leaves less of a trace behind."

Smiling, Carson was beginning to feel impressed. "You're right Agent Marston, you may be on to something."

[Eric Easy E Pelka]

Jayden stood silently in the back of the room as Carson reviewed the Chainsaw Jack case. He had heard the details a thousand times before, every mutilated body part, every missing trophy, every word of the letter they had received. For now he would remain silent, allow the agents to throw ideas around, muster some workable theory. Especially with the new member, fresh eyes would be welcome. He however would supervise closely. New recruits tended to think a little too highly of their ability; got them into a lot of trouble. Under his watch it wouldn’t be fatal.

"This guy's smart. He's choosing areas with lots of animal activity to help the body decay at a fast rate. This way, it leaves less of a trace behind," The punctual new agent chimed in with confidence.

Carson was a supportive man, encouraging the unit whenever he could. That wasn’t Jayden’s style. Though the young girl was correct, she was not brilliant. She was looking at the case too broadly, naming the obvious. He was not the best agent in the world; he admitted that to himself, but he was a damn good SSA and would make sure his agents rose to be the best the bureau had to offer.

“Your right Carson she is on to something…But so is everyone else in this god damn room. Hell the local Georgia PD can figure that out.” Jayden was strict and spoke with a detached and cold tone. “Welcome to the unit Agent Marston,” Jayden walked past and looked down at the now agitated girl. “Before you speak, really look at this case. Please don’t waste our time with trivial…”

Jayden’s rant was cut short by a concerned Jeremy, who had stood up and now stood very near the projection screen, “Why would a man who obviously wants us to find these bodies try to accelerate the rate of decomposition? Anyone? ”Jeremy looked around the room gave a short smile and wink to the relieved Agent Marston.

“How are you so sure he wants us to find his victims?” Jayden asked knowing full well the answer.

“I see you are being shy boss, fine I will tell you.” Jeremy could tell that Jayden already knew what he was going to say. “Look at the body in case five, arranged like a piece of art. Why go through the trouble if he wants no one to find his work. Plus a murderer who leaves a note loves the attention. SO I ask again why increase the rate of decomposition?”

The room was silent. Jeremy’s question stumped everyone, even the two SSA’s. It wasn’t a logical course of action for a man trying to showcase his work. Most killers would find ways to preserve the body not make it disappear quicker. Chainsaw Jack was different.

“Of course I am not an expert in forensics or science or all of that mumbo jumbo, but I can assure you I know the Human Psyche. We all want a reward for our hard work.” Jeremy pointed to Carson, “Carson here likes the women; his constant buzzing telephone tells me he either has a nagging wife or a slew of girls chasing him. Since there is no ring I am gonna bet it is women. Not very good with them either I suppose. Maybe you and I should talk about your issues later?” Jeremy mocked Carson with a concerned glance and moved on. “Our sweet new recruit here, well not so sweet I guess,” Jeremy followed her eyes which remained transfixed on the grotesque images on the projection screen. “Miss Marston here enjoys the grotesque, seeing that I can tell she is a free easy going spirit I would guess horror movies; after a hard day of work nothing better than a good monster marathon, huh, sweet cheeks?”

Jeremy turned to the stern SSA Jayden, and looked into his eyes, studied his still calm hands, his unwavering cold stare. It was unnatural. For a man as old as he, who has gone through such hard times, the stillness was unhealthy. Jeremy’s smile almost faded. He suspected fowl play in Jayden’s routine pure life, but respected him enough to look the other way. Instead Jeremy pranced toward the towering figure and patted him on the stomach.

“And we can all see the Boss has been getting into a few too many of my donut gifts.” The room chuckled uneasily as Jayden’s face remained stolid.

“What’s your point Agent Paige, or is your sole purpose in life to offend people and agitate me?” The SSA had had enough of Paige’s off-topic antics.

“No. Well yes, but I do have a point – Rewards. We all want to reward ourselves every once in awhile. Take home a little trophy to say, ‘you dun well kid.’” Jeremy faked a hillbilly accent before continuing. “Chainsaw Jack here, or whatever we are calling him now. Is taking home gifts, the only issue is we can’t figure out what he is taking because the animals are contaminating the crime scene before we get there.” Jeremy finished and went back to sit near Agent Marston, giving her a glance that all too obviously said “Aren’t you impressed?”

[garnet]

[DAY 1: 8:10AM]

When SSA Jayden began to berate the new agent, Olivia could feel her jaw clench, her teeth pressing together in a manner that with enough pressure, her well taken care of teeth would most likely chip. Her body tensed as her muscles tightened from anger, disappointment and even a little bit of shame. Her eyes immediately lowered, showing that she felt inferior to the supervisory agent. Olivia knew that there was a reason to feel worried about meeting this man, and her thoughts were more than definitely confirmed.

Carson, however frowned immensely. That was one thing he couldn't stand about Jayden, always being such a hard ass all the time. The poor girl was only making an observation, and yet Wesley managed to make her feel absolutely awful by the end of it.

Before either Olivia or Carson could make a rebuttal to anything Jayden had just rudely pointed out; and even before Jayden could even finish his rant, Jeremy piped up.

Olivia felt her body slowly relax, almost mentally thanking the other Agent for taking the attention off of her for the time being.

Of course, Carson shifted uneasily when Jeremy had mentioned his tendency for sloppy affairs as he discreetly moved to shut off his buzzing blackberry in his pocket.

Damn Paige, he thought to himself, doesn't know when to keep his god damn mouth shut.

But next was Olivia's turn to feel uncomfortable. Her jaw physically dropped when Paige had mentioned her affinity to horror movies. Folding her arms over her chest, Olivia sat back more into her chair, obviously uncomfortable about the amount of information that had been shared about her in the past thirty minutes or so.

Carson, and even Olivia, chuckled at Jeremy's little poke at Jayden. It was brilliant, they would both admit.

When Paige sat down, the only response Marston would give him was the arching of one of her carved eyebrows as she learned forward and allowed the palm of her right hand to cup her chin, her elbow supporting her weight on the table.

Carson cleared his throat and straightened his suit. "We'll have to do a bit more research. As for now, we'll be heading to Charlton County Sheriff's Office in Folkston, Georgia." He paused, making sure that he exchanged glanced with everyone in the room. "We'll head to the airport in thirty minutes. Make any calls you have to."

Turning to the new recruit, he placed his hands in his pockets and leveled the young woman with stern, yet welcoming gaze. "You do have a go-bag ready, right?"

Nodding, Olivia exchanged her glances between the two SSA's. "Yeah, in my car. I'll get that." She gave one last cold stare to SSA Jayden before tuning and exiting the conference room, nothing but the sound of her heels clicking fading into the silence of the building.

Just before Jeremy exited, Carson reached out and grabbed the Agent by the shoulder, pulling him in a little closer so that a few hushed words could be exchanged.

"Normally, I don't mind your antics." He whispered, glancing at the door to make sure that Jayden had definitely left. "But one more crack at my non-FBI life and I swear I'll hang you up on the rafters by your ankles."

Giving the agent a playful punch in the shoulder, Carson made his way towards his office to grab his go-bag.

[Eric Easy E Pelka]

Jayden, though annoyed by Jeremy, was used to his antics and found no need to pursue reprimands. Right now he had greater concerns. Having been in the bureau for many years, Wesley had watched many new recruits come and go; all carrying that same confident hopeful poise that Special Agent Marston displayed during briefing. The difference is usually agents were slowly introduced to the action – Chainsaw Jack was not an easy case.

SSA Jayden waited patiently outside the briefing room, watching the Agents scramble to collect their things, a subtle excitement in their hurried strides. After they all left Wesley walked over to Carson’s office and barged in, not concerned with knocking. Carson looked up from his things with a blank look upon his face; he was used to Jayden’s brash methods. SSA Jayden slapped his signed papers down on Carson’s desk and stood up tall his hands solidly on his hips.

“She isn’t ready,” Jayden wasted no time in sharing his concerns. “Remember the last agent we had. Quit after a day of field work, and that case was far less gruesome.” Carson stood up a concerned glance on his face. “I think we should let her stay behind, get used to the work slowly.” Jayden recalled a searing glare that the young woman had given him, “Plus her attitude is too erratic. She needs some discipline first.”

Meanwhile downstairs Jeremy rushed to catch up with the young Miss Marston. She was hurrying, not willing to let down her superiors again. Jeremy came up beside her and matched her pace, glancing over toward her. She was angry, he could tell. Jumping in front of her quickly, he reached his hand secretly backward and picked up a flower from a desk.

“Wait a second there sweet cake, I don’t know if its SSA Jayden or my words that offended you but I want to make it up to you.” Agent Paige smiled trying to turn her serious face around. She remained stolid. “Oh come on cheer up! Wait, there is something stuck in your hair, you mind?”

Her face contorted again with confusion, as Jeremy slowly reached to push her bangs out of her face, the flower concealed in his sleeve. As he finished his inspection he quickly slid the gift out of his sleeve and showed it to Agent Marston. “There it is. Of course a beautiful flower for a beautiful girl, why don’t you take it?”

She fought a smile off, but it was enough to let Jeremy know he had gotten through. “You don’t like to open up to people do you? So reserved. Plain suit, modest high heels, you usually straighten your hair, little burn marks here,” he pointed his finger into her natural curls, “and here. Do yourself a favor Miss Marston, pack something nice. Splurge a little, open up. You’re too beautiful to hide behind such a serious facade.” Jeremy began to back up not breaking eye contact. “See you at the airport?” Jeremy knelt down and picked up his go-bag and left the office, a pleased smile across his face.

[garnet]

[DAY 1: 8:15AM]

Carson had spent sometime going over his things in order to prepare them for the trip at hand. His pale hands swiftly moved through his black duffel bag, making sure his hands touched everything that he had packed; it was his own way of reassuring himself that it was all there. After zipping the bag up Evan headed toward his desk and opened the top drawer, pulling out four folders, each containing identical data on the Chainsaw Jack case.

He took a couple moments to flip through them, making sure all the necessary information was present. If anything were missing, the outcome would be nothing short of horrible.

Before he could move to grab is bag, SSA Jayden had barged into his office (as always) and slammed Marston's paperwork on his desk.

Upon hearing that the new recruit wasn't ready, Carson felt his stomach twist in knots. Jayden did have a point, Olivia probably wouldn't be ready. The mere shock of the utter gruesomeness of his case was enough to give the girl symptoms of post traumatic stress if they were not too careful.

Carson stopped for a moment, his eyes veering off to the side and out the window, before returning to Jayden's face. Evan kept his blue eyes on the older man, his jaw clenching momentarily in thought before relaxing once more.

"There's a reason why she was sent straight to our division, Wesley." Carson sighed, slowly walking over towards his bag and placing the case files over them. "She must have been damn good while training in the academy. We shouldn't just debunk her abilities right away just because she is new. I saw her face when I showed the case photos. She didn't blink once. Not once." Sighing, Evan moved to grab his laptop bag, his face holding nothing but confusion at this point.

Holding his duffel bag in his right hand, his laptop bag slung over his left shoulder as the case files remained clutched tightly in Carson's left hand. "How about this. I'll ask her if she's truly ready for this. If she can give me one good reason why she should be on this case, she'll be accompanying us."

With that, Carson turned to leave immediately, as if he refused to hear if Jayden had any other reason to argue the matter. Carson believed that everyone deserved a chance to showcase their abilities; and for Olivia, now seemed like a better time more than ever.

Olivia had almost had enough of Jeremy's antics, as fun or heartwarming as they may be. "I swear," she muttered "if he gives me another nickname, I'm going to sock him in his pretty face." Though, she had to admit that he had a way of making her smile and feel.. quite warm inside. Marston couldn't help but feel a little bothered by just how much Agent Paige was able to tell about her, it was driving her crazy. Hopefully she'd be able to find something odd about Paige so that she could at least take part in the conversation.

Gently clutching the flower in her hand, Olivia headed out to her car, all she'd have to do now is head to the airport and she'd be starting her first case.
Carson didn't waste time as he headed out past Jeremy and into the main lobby, his shoes thumping against the newly buffered floors as he hurried to catch up with the new Agent.

Thankfully, he had caught up and was able to intercept Olivia before she entered her car. The young woman seemed a bit flustered, obviously from her little issue with SSA Jayden. Carson didn't blame her, Jayden had an uncanny knack for making the new recruits feel a little awful on their first couple of days, but Evan knew that Jayden just did that because he cared.

"Agent Marston" he called out as he approached Olivia at her shiny black Lincoln MKS. Carson could tell just by this car that Olivia was most likely a spoiled child with over generous parents, there was even the possibility that she was an only child.

Olivia stopped, obviously a little contused. "SSA Carson," she greeted formally as she shut the driver's side door of her car before turning to face her superior.

"Don't be upset," Evan began, taking a moment to breathe as he braced himself for her reaction. "SSA Jayden has expressed some concerns as to whether or not you are ready for the case at hand." Olivia opened her mouth to protest, but Carson interrupted her. "Just let me finish, Olivia." He said softly, leveling her with a stern gaze. "He'd not doing this because he hates you, I know it may seem like that. But you have to trust me, he's doing this because he worried about whether or not you can handle this specific case as your first one. It's not a normal case."

Carson kept his blue eyes locked onto the pretty woman in front of him. He was worried about her as well, it would be an utter lie to say that he wasn't.

"I told him that if I could get one good reason from you to allow your presence with us in Georgia, I'll let you go with no further questions." Carson stopped, allowing his body to gently rest against the body of Olivia's car. "Well, I'm waiting."

Olivia took a moment to take this all in, a look of shock and disappointment stayed plastered on her face. She had to think of a reason fast, and it had to be the truth, that last thing she wanted to do was lie her way into a case.

"SSA Carson," Olivia paused, taking a deep breath and allowed herself to collect her thoughts in a proper, poised manner. "To work on this case would be a privilege, it truly would be. I feel that I could give you guys not only a fresh pair of eyes to look over this case, but a view from someone who knows about deviance in society. Maybe I can make it easier for you all to spot the odd behaviour in specific areas."

Stopping, Olivia seemed to lower her gaze for a moment, giving off a soft sigh. "I just really think I can be more of an asset than a liability."

Carson was silent, simply observing the woman in front of him. Well, she was being sincere, that was for sure. But Carson was just worried whether or not she would be able to handle the overall chaos that this case was currently in.

"Will you be able to handle the things you are about to witness?" Carson stood completely still, the tone of his voice didn't waiver at all.

Olivia took a moment to think, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Yes." She said sternly, knowing just well what she got herself into. "I can handle it."

Carson smiled as he straightened. "Good, I'll see you at the airport then Agent Marston."

Marston gave off a smile, her stomach churning with excitement. "Thank you SSA Carson, I won't let you down." Her own response was a small wave as Olivia turned and opened her car door, soon entering and starting the ignition.

Georgia, here I come.

[Eric Easy E Pelka]

Jeremy stopped as he was about to leave the office, his wandering eyes catching a glimpse of a familiar face in the lab. Robert Pendragon was a young man, a little immature for his age, finding enjoyment in the power his skills gave him. Jeremy found himself relating his own curse of talent to the younger computer hacker, and made an effort to befriend the MIT graduate. So far his advances were met with mixed responses. Still, Jeremy Paige enjoyed his prods at the light hearted young gentleman, and always found a high entertainment factor in their banter. Unable to resist the allure of using his skills, Jeremy diverted paths and headed into the lab, where Robert sat predictably at his computer, his fingers tapping spastically all over the keyboard.

Jeremy leaned in and took a quick and awkward whiff of his colleague’s mixed odors, “Hmm, slight sent of Cheetos, hint of sweat, and is that perfume? Didn’t get to stop home for a shower this morning after you left your lovers house? That or someone is just trying to cover up their lack of hygiene?” Robert kept wrapping away at his keys ignoring Jeremy.

Annoyed Jeremy circled around his desk and inspected his friend more closely. His hair was ruffled, a little bit of grease causing his hair to shine in the room’s bright man made light. His green eyes pierced through the slight darkness that shadowed his tired and strained eyes. His face was covered in a pathetic layer of scattered peach fuzz. He was definitely running late this morning, that was no doubt. Chances were Robert’s carefree attitude allowed him to not be too concerned about his haggard appearance. Jeremy also found the source of why Robert was ignoring him, a small set of black wire running into a set of ear buds stuffed within his ears.

Jeremy began to mouth words, having a silent conversation, hoping to trick Robert into believing he was sharing some kind of meaningful and deep insight with him. He kept direct eye contact and changed his face to match the somber and serious tone of his silent message. His hands moved with his speech further animating the inaudible conversation he was having with his younger def friend.

A floor above the mood was much heavier. In his dimly lit room Wesley finished the paper work he had to complete to procure funds for the trip to Georgia. His hands had begun to shake a little, the effects of his rainy venture slowly wearing off from the stress of his job. Wanting to calm his nerves, Wesley reached into the lowest drawer of his desk and foraged for a small flask of Jameson Whiskey. He took a swig and fought the burn that smoothly made its way down his esophagus warming his entire body. His hands still chattered, show he reached into his pocket and took out a single white tablet, wasting no time in throwing it down his throat with a whiskey chaser. At work he had no time to regret his drug abuse – at any moment that door could swing open and reveal his illicit action.

Returning the bottle to his drawer and grabbing his go bag, SSA Jayden exited the room carrying the forms his left hand. He would have to make a stop at the chief’s room to finalize the paper work, but directly afterward he would head to the airport and intercept hi unit members ensuring they were all prepared for the case. Especially the young new Recruit that he knew Carson would allow on the case no matter his warnings.

[lins123]

The dim light of the computer monitors illuminated the computer, revealing one figure whose attention was completely on that of the information that was appearing on the screen. Robert was sifting through the case files of chainsaw jack, the pictures of the victim did not fazing him at all. His eyes were strained but he kept them on the monitor, not missing a single bit of data.

He hadn't gone home last night, instead he had dropped by his sisters place for some tips on a new software he had gotten his hands on. His sister did not approve of his current job, showing disgust every time Robert would bring up the bureau in a conversation. "You could have rejected their offer and came to work at my company. I would have put in a recommendation," was what she would end the conversation with.

Robert shrugged off the comment and kept his gaze on his laptop. "I like the way things currently are," his gaze not leaving the screen once. "Got anything to eat? I'm starving."

"It's always computers and food with you. What am I, your personally chef?" She said as she headed toward the kitchen, hiding a small smile. Even though she did not approve of his job, she was happy that Robert had found something he enjoyed.

After that Robert had returned to the office, hoping to finish organizing the information for the other agents. While working he notices Jeremy Paige walking in. He always enjoyed the company of Jeremy, their light hearted banter would draw them away from the often dark matters that the case files would often provide.

Jeremy made a quick comment about the smell of lab as he observed the tech analyst working away at his computer. After a bit Jeremy had begun to mouth words, pretending to be in a conversation with Robert. He must have noticed my earphones, thought Robert. He held back a smile, the song he was listening to ended a while back and he had found a new form of entertainment in Jeremy's silent mime.

"Shouldn't you be heading out soon?" Robert finally said, turning in his chair to face his colleague.

"Oh, so you aren't deaf" was his reply, feigning surprise as if he discovered something new about Robert.

Robert smiled and spun around in his chair, "What was that you were doing? A new act for your show? I thought you were a magician not a mime." As he said that Robert stood up and did a couple stretches. He had not really gotten much rest, but he was almost finished with the case files. "So I heard we got a new recruit today, too bad I wasn't at the meeting. I would have liked to meet the new blood." He said halfheartedly. "I wonder if she'll last."

Jeremy responded with a shrug.

"Well I better get ready in case the guys in the field need anything from me." As he began to turn his attention back towards the monitor he couldn't help but have one last comment, "Oh and Jeremy, where are my donuts and coffee?"

[garnet]

[DAY 1: 8:35AM]

Olivia wasted no time getting to the airport, her hands nervously gripping the steering wheel of her car. Olivia couldn't help but dwell on some of the things that SSA's Jayden and Carson had said to her today, each thought causing her teeth to gently clench from behind her smooth lips. Agent Marston wondered whether or not she really was ready to handle this case. It was one thing to see a gory on television, or on a projection screen; but standing directly in front of the horrific remains of a murder victim was an entirely different story.

She even began to wonder if this job was really for her. After all, she had only been a working in the mental hospital for a short while, and going from being a psychiatrist to being an FBI special agent was a giant step alone; but now she was about to enter a nationally well known case. Was Olivia way in over her head here? Was this really something she was ready to do?

The fingers of her right hand tapped anxiously against the steering wheel as her eyes occasionally glanced towards the exquisite flower Jeremy had given her earlier on her dashboard. She had but the flower there so it wouldn't get crushed at all while in her car. A small smile came onto her lips as her jaw slackened a little.

Well, at least one person had faith in her, maybe it would be enough to help her get through this challenge. Olivia was slowly coming to terms with what needed to be done in order to secure her place within NCAVC.

Winning SSA Carson over would be easier, she just had to keep following the rules and be completely honest with him the entire time to please him. Olivia seemed to have already won Agent Paige over ,all she really had to do was learn to put up and slowly begin to enjoy his annoying, yet cheeky antics. Marston would agree though, that Jeremy would be one to help brighten the day, that was for sure. But in order to make herself feel better, she'd have to find something that would drive Jeremy up the wall, much like he seemed to have done to her already on more than one occasion. Her smile soon morphed into a giant smirk, oh... she had just a few ideas, and she couldn't wait to try them out on him as soon as possible.

But soon, her smug smirk faded completely as the thought of SSA Jayden crossed her mind. He would be liable for driving her to quit from the bureau if anything. However, no one said that this job would be easy at all. Olivia knew that she couldn't let a man like Jayden stop her from achieving her aspiration, as powerful as his position may be. A small sigh escaped her lips as she halted at a red light, her mind swimming with many, many thoughts as she sat there in her still car. Olivia had to find a way to impress Jayden, and in order to do that she'd have to tap into all of her knowledge about social deviance and abnormal psychology, plus use all of her brain power to make it all come together. Olivia would not hold back.

Stepping on the gas pedal, she sent her car moving forwards, allowing herself to get closer and closer to her destination.

Olivia swore to herself that she would meet every one of Jayden's challenges with gusto, that she'd push herself to go above and beyond what he expected of her. Olivia worked long and hard to get herself into the bureau, and she wouldn't let one person make her throw it all away.

Turning in to the Airport, she picked up a long-term parking pass and parked her car in the designated area before heading into the check in area with her average sized black suitcase trailing behind her on a pair of small wheels.

Carson slid into his 2009 SL-class Mercedes-Benz. Being single did have its perks, one of them being that he was able to afford a great car; well, it certainly did help that the pay a supervisory special agent got was more than generous. One could say that Carson was one to slightly abuse a little of his privileges when it came to driving. A special agent was never supposed to be buckled in with a seat belt mostly because they need to be able to get in and out of the car as fast as they could, and Special Agents were allowed to get away with speeding on public roads.

One wouldn't need to be guessing that Carson would definitely be breaking these rules. Evan was one to hold on to anything that made him feel young again, and it just so happened that rule breaking was one of those things. Nothing in moderation ever hurt, right? He may be a Special Agent working for the FBI, but he was still human.

Besides, this kind of rule breaking was considered legal to an FBI agent.

Within a matter of minutes, Carson had parked his car at the airport and joined SSA Jayden and Agent Marston. Of course, he wasn't the least surprised that Agent Paige was late. Shaking his head, he gave off a slight scoff, Jeremy was too much of a free spirit, they all knew that. "Heh, just like Jeremy to be late."

He, alongside with the other two agents, checked in their bags and did the usual routine before boarding the FBI's private jet. Agents were given their own jet for many reasons, one being that they couldn't have citizens overhearing certain case details that had been kept from the press and over all public, things like that could lead to utter disaster, and it wouldn't be long before the unsub himself got wind of what the FBI agents were thinking.

Once they were on the jet, Olivia exchanged a determined glance with SSA Jayden before collecting her case folder from SSA Carson. She needed some time to think, and in order to do that, she needed to be slightly secluded from constant conversation and any distractions. So instead, she sat a couple seats away from both SSA's, her back turned to them as she opened the folder and began reading over the information in an orderly fashion.

Agent Marston couldn't help but notice that Paige was later than she expected. But of course, now it was time for her to get a little bit of revenge on that cheeky monkey. Olivia only assumed that Agent Paige would sit across from her, just so that he could pester her during the duration of the flight.

However, if Paige were to sit anywhere near her, Olivia would begin to hum. And not just softly; Olivia planned to hum in a high-pitched, annoying voice. Her hum had no specific tune to it, just a long strain of high-pitched, child-like humming with a couple of "la la la"'s thrown in there as well.

Of course, she kept her voice down enough so that her humming would be faint to the two supervisory agents, but loud enough so Jeremy would have to hear and some how deal with it. All the while, Olivia kept her eyes on her case file in front of her, not once rising to meet Jeremy's gaze... although she kind of wished she did; it would've been utterly hilarious to see the bewildered look on Agent Paige's face as Marston continued her odd antics.

It's payback time Agent Paige.

[Eric Easy E Pelka]

Jeremy had almost forgotten the stop he had made on his way into the office today. He was hoping he could swindle the SSA’s into giving them another day off with an extra special breakfast bundle. The hustle and bustle of the briefing and his encounter with the new recruit made him forget all about it, Robert’s snide comment reminded him. Jeremy held both his hands out and lifted a single finger.

“Just wait here one second,” Jeremy said a small arrogant smile coming across his face.

Jeremy enjoyed nothing more than making people eat their words. He turned and hustled his way out of the lab and back to his desk, making sure to pick up his umbrella he had almost left at his desk and a large open box of five coffees, one for each unit member minus Olivia, and a large flat box of assorted donuts. Jeremy knew they wouldn’t be fresh by the time they got to the Airport, so what better way to show off his resourcefulness than baring gifts to Robert and his team of lab technicians.

Hurrying his way back into the Lab Jeremy smiled at Robert and bowed placing the goodies on his desk amongst the other clutter it was littered with. Jeremy couldn’t let the untidiness go unmentioned and shook his head as he stood back up gathering his go-bag once again.

“I am gonna have to take you shopping one of these days,” Agent Paige bent over and pulled on Robert’s obviously less than fresh clothes. “Maybe if I teach you the virtue of cleanliness you clean this damn desk up. Maybe catch a few more bad guys than?” Jeremy laughed and turned from Robert, “Enjoy my gifts, they better be worth it, Jayden is gonna rip me a new one when I get to the airport.”

Jeremy hurried out of the building, entered his Ford Pinto, and turned the ignition, wasting no time in getting onto the road. His fellow team members always ragged on him about his ride. It was small, old, and needed a lot of work. But to Jeremy it was a fine picture of American ingenuity and was an image of class and artistry in a world wrought with features and modern technical prowess. As he pulled out of the parking lot his gears grinded a bit, Jeremy noted he would need to get it checked when he returned.

It wasn’t a long trip, but he was already late and every minute he wasted would mean another five minutes of listening to drill sergeant Jayden’s long winded rants. The half hour trip would have to be shorted drastically. Pressing his pedal almost all the way down to the floor, Jayden increased his speed exponentially. Reaching under his passenger’s seat, he pulled out a single siren and reached his hand out the window to stick it to the roof of his Pinto. When he was sure it was fastened, he switched on the siren. This was a trick he played when he was late...one of the many pluses of being a federal agent. Local fuzz were reluctant to question a speeding government plated car in hot pursuit.

Annoyed by the loneliness of his car, Jeremy switched on his cassette player and began to listen to the immortal classic “King of the Road” as preformed by Roger Miller. Jeremy Paige was at heart a showman. This meant he practice in entertaining in any way he could. His list of talents also included singing. Deciding that Roger Miller needed a little more class, Jeremy turned the song into a duet posing as Dean Martin giving the tune that cool rat pack jive. His mind still wandered though, idleness was unbearable for Jeremy. He always wanted to stay occupied, it was the only thing that kept him from punishing himself for the horrible things he was forced to do in the Nebraska circus troupe when he was a child.

The first thing that came to his head was Olivia. She was a sweet girl, obviously brave, and definitely not lacking in the intelligence. He knew at this moment she was probably devising ways of countering his cheeky tricks and often offensive words. The thought brought a devious smile to the want-to-be Rat Packers face. No doubt she would try to retaliate on this plane ride, it was inevitable. However, she had compassionate eyes. Maybe he could play with those emotions, and turn them against her. The plan came together perfectly in his mind; he would board the plane, baring only a slightly nervous face. As it got closer to take off he would increase his nervous reactions; increased drink in take; pop a few Dramamines; profuse sweating; shifting eyes; inability to sit still; the works. Olivia being the compassionate person she is would be forced to abandon her dastardly plan. She would probably offer him solace, sit closer, talk; Jeremy loved to talk, he was sure she would stimulate his eccentric mind. But above all he was hoping for one thing – the hug. It was the complete sign of trust. If he could get her to hug him on the trip, then he would be 100% sure of his successful deceit. Score two for Agent Paige, Miss Marston still scoreless.

The song ended abruptly as he realized he was approaching the airport. Taking the siren off his roof, Jeremy took the turn and entered the parking lot, parking near Carson’s haughty vehicle. Jeremy laughed as he always did judging Carson as a teenager stuck in an adult’s body; the women, the money, the lavish lifestyle all pieces of a vanity complex. Jeremy shook his head thinking how useless vanity was. Exiting his vehicle he grabbed his go-bag, and looked at the gun that say holstered on his passenger seat. Jeremy hated guns. They were violent, loud, obnoxious, and most of all they thought they could negotiate a situation better than he could. It wasn’t true. Reaching to grab it he purposely knocked it off the chair and pushed it under the seat. Closing the door he locked it up and began his jog to the terminal.

He got through all the checkpoints without issue and began to approach Jayden who stood impatiently outside the entrance to the jet they were commandeering for their venture down to Georgia. As Jeremy came within his sight range (age was slowly creeping its way up on him) he shook his head and motioned for Jeremy to hurry. As Jeremy picked up his pace he gave that sorry-looking puppy dog glance to Jayden. He wouldn’t by it. Reaching his hand out, he stopped Jeremy abruptly.

“Where the hell have you been Special Agent!” he was infuriated, Jayden hated holes in his itinerary. “You were given orders to be here a half hour ago.” Jeremy picked his hand up and was about to answer. Jayden knew better, “Never mind that, do you got your go-bag.” Jeremy lifted it up. “Your credentials?” Jeremy lifted them out of his vest pocket. “How about your firearm Special Agent Paige?” Jeremy froze for a second and continued to lie shaking his head yes, starting to move in mid nod. “Not so fast Special Agent, I don’t see your holster on your side?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy thought to himself choosing his actions tactically. “I have it in the go-bag, didn’t want to alert any of the civilians in the terminal.”

“Is that so? Why don’t you put it on now then, Jeremy?” SSA Jayden was losing his patience rapidly, the veins in his forehead beginning to pulse.

“Oh, you want me to pull my gun[/b] out here?” Jeremy made sure he said the word gun loudly, ensuring it reverberated through the large terminal. “I just thought it would be best to keep my gun hidden until we were off the plane[/i]!” People around the pair began looking uneasily at the two agents, the words gun and plane weren’t safe to be mentioned in the same sentence in airport terminals.

“You and I will discuss this later, get your ass on the plane,” Jayden was onto his game but couldn’t do anything about it here.

“Thanks Boss, buy you a coffee when we get to Georgia.” Jeremy smiled and hurried on past his SSA.

Once on the airliner, Jeremy scoped out the group of people gathered together. He was looking for his target. Quickly preparing himself, Jeremy began to act a little nervous, looking back and forth for a place to sit, on the small, mostly empty private jet. His eye caught the wandering eye of his target, Special Agent Marston sitting in the back of the plane in collection of four seats. Jeremy dragged himself to the back of the seats, making sure he didn’t show that normal cheery attitude he usually had.

“Hello Agent…Marston was it?” Jeremy knew her name well. “Do you mind if I sit here,” Jeremy pointed to the seat across from her.

If Miss Marston was truly devising some ingenious plan to counter his rudeness, she would be expecting and wanting him to sit near her. It wasn't long before She nodded as he expected she would, strangely humming out of key the whole time. Jeremy was a little puzzled by the incessant and unnecessary humming. Is this her big counter attack? Jeremy thought to himself as he forced down a smile. He actually thought it was kinda cute, like a little girl first learning to sing "Ring Around the Rosy". If all else failed, he thought, he would simply thwart her plan by making harmonies with her persistent humming noises. That would drive her nuts; besides, he did always want to be a singer.

Jeremy took the invite and stuffed his bag in the storage compartment above the seats, and began to slowly unsurely sit into the chair across from Agent Marston. At first they were silent. He didn’t speak at all, simply looking anxiously out the window of the Jet. Jayden entered five minutes later, motioning for Carson to join him at the front of the plane, he wanted to discuss punishment for Special Agent Paige and Carson’s decision to allow Special Agent Marston to participate in the case.

Jeremy took this as his cue to elevate his level of apprehension. He turned and held his breath, concealing his face momentarily. It was a trick he learned back in the circus to feign the look of high blood pressure. His face would look flush and would actually sweat a little. He looked back fighting the urge to look into Miss Marston’s eyes. Nervous people tended to avoid eye contact. He then reached into his pocket for a small vile of pills. They were motion sickness pills, although in actuality they were sugar pills. A trickster like Jeremy had to be prepared at all times; not to mention his acting abilities were useful when it came down to undercover operations and negotiations. To finish the ruse, he reached back into the overhead compartment and pulled out a little flask. It was full of water, but as he sipped it he gave it the look of liquor cringing after every swig. For all intents and purposes, Jeremy looked like a terrified man about to take his first flight. Now he only hoped his bait would work.

[garnet]

[DAY 1: 9:40AM]

Carson gave Paige a wry look as he entered the plane in a tardy fashion (as always). As the late Agent passed by, Evan handed him a copy of the case folder, not really exchanging any words at this point, he was pretty sure drill Sargent Jayden had already done that on his behalf.

His mind was a haze at the moment, most of that haze being his worry for the young Agent Marston. The fact that she had immediately secluded herself from the team caused him a bit of worry; not to mention that look she shot Jayden before taking her seat at the back of the plane. Carson was almost thankful that Paige went to sit with her.

SSA Carson turned to SSA Jayden once being summoned, his right hand resting loosely in his pocket while his left hand tightly clutched the two remaining case files.

"I know, I know." Carson started, his body tensing immediately as he readied himself for the verbal thrashing he was about to receive from the senior Supervisory Agent. "I refuse to let an Agent's talent go to waste, Wesley, especially one as talented as Marston. I stand by everything I said earlier." Carson did his best to bury his doubt, shoving it deep down within him in order to conceal it from his colleague. "You may not like the idea, but I enforce it. Everyone deserves a chance." He kept his tone low and soft yet stern. Carson's pale blue eyes leveled with Jayden's gray ones, his gaze never wavering.

Olivia, however, continued to hum as she flipped through the pages of her case report, seemingly ignoring Agent Paige's behaviour for the time being. It had to all be an act, another one of Jeremy's ways to annoy her and drive her up the wall.

However, upon taking a quick glance up from the paperwork, Olivia felt her stomach twist for a moment. Jeremy truly looked ill.

Immediately, she thought that he had a fear of flying, but then it seemed to be more than that. Putting the file down on the table in front of her, Olivia leaned forward, her eyes locking onto the mess that is Jeremy.

"Are you alright Agent Paige?" She whispered, placing her hands on the table. Little did Olivia know that she was falling for Agent Paige's trap, but she couldn't help it. To her, she saw a person that was in some sort of mental and borderline physical distress, not some cheeky monkey who's actions were apart of some big ploy to anger her.

The more Marston watched Paige, the more concerned she began to feel. "...Paige.. Paige.." She began to stand up, soon making her way over to Jeremy's side. "Jeremy, what's wrong?"

Her voice remained soft as a worried look came over her face. Olivia knelt down beside the other agent, her hand gently resting over his own as her dark eyes scanned his red face. Olivia could only hope that Jeremy was alright, she didn't want to have to call one of the SSA's over.

[Eric Easy E Pelka]

Jeremy was surprised his plan had come to fruition so quickly. He was slightly disappointed that Olivia had cracked so easily; after all the anticipation, and careful plotting, she had already broken before they even left the tarmac. Jeremy looked uneasily into her round concerned eyes. They were compassionate; her dark brown iris’s caressing Jeremy’s distraught heart. Jeremy suddenly felt guilty for what he had to do; after all the show must go on.

Jeremy rested his hand gently on Miss Marston’s, and bobbed his head up and down clumsily, “Yeah, I just have a little bit of flight nerves.” Her eyes pierced into him, well aware that his emotions were far more severe than normal flight nerves.

The plane began to shake from motion. Jayden stood from his perch next to Carson, and motioned for him to wait there a second. He turned toward the cockpit of the plane and knocked on the door that separated the passenger quarters from the flight deck. A man, the co-pilot, opened it with a slightly bewildered gaze. Jayden always felt it was best to greet the pilot and his crew before they got airborne. It developed good relations with resources his team could tap into at a later time.

“Don’t mind me sir, I just wanted to introduce myself before we got airborne. I am Supervisory Special Agent Wesley Jayden. As you know we are from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, so I wanted to let you and our pilot know that we are carrying firearms as a safety precaution.” Jeremy un-holstered his Sig Saucer p226 pistol and held it up to the co-pilot, before he checked the safety and placed it back in his holster. “Once again I would like to thank you for accompanying us on this trip to Georgia; you have the Bureau’s utmost gratitude. Carry on.”

The Pilot nodded his head and closed the door abruptly, as the plane began to lift off of the runway. Jayden turned and headed back to Carson, ready to continue their heated discussion they were having. It wasn’t that Jayden wasn’t willing to give new recruits a chance, it was quite the opposite. Molding new blood was his job, and was one thing he prided himself in. To this date he had never gotten a man on his unit killed. Preparation was the key. The issue was the gravity of the case she was being put on. Cases like this were always the hardest on new recruits. Jayden wanted to give more time for her to adjust. He knew he came off as stubborn and uncompromising at times, but it was all because he genuinely cared for the members of his team. Someone had to be the prick, or many agents would not survive the dangerous job.

“Carson, I swear, if she gets killed, if she gets hurt, if she gets a god damn hang nail on this mission, your ass is mine. You hear me.” Jayden bent over to get into his brief case, “You are a good agent Evan, but I swear, sometimes you are one stupid son of a bitch. Let’s review the case file before we include those two…” Jayden leaned into the aisle to inspect the situation at the back of the plane. He immediately shook his head, “Well looks like Agent Paige is trying to put the moves on you little Agent Marston back there. We will talk about this when we get closer to Georgia.”

Meanwhile Jeremy had just finished explaining to Olivia a sob story about how his college sweetheart had died in a fiery ball over the Pacific Ocean on a flight back from Spring Break in Hawaii. The entire tale was a complete fabrication, just another method at pulling at Olivia’s heart strings. She was completely enthralled by the gripping story, and moved to sit in the seat beside Jeremy. As she softly sat down, Jeremy nervously shifted, adding to the insecure role he was performing as.

“I’m sorry Miss…I mean Agent Marston, this is so embarrassing, I am happy for your concern though,” Jeremy took this as his window to go in for the kill, and without warning moved closely to Olivia and wrapped his strong arms around her.

He was gentle and sincere in his hug. It wasn’t often you found someone as genuine and empathetic as Miss Marston was. He hated that he had to reveal his deception just after he had made so many strides in gaining trust; though in the long term the experience would be helpful for her in her career as an Agent. Trust was something an FBI operative had to be careful with. Olivia was cut off guard by the abrupt and unprofessional attitude, although she expected no less from the charlatan she had come to know as Jeremy Paige. Holding her arms up, she sheepishly patted Jeremy’s back a few times before prying herself out of his grip. When his face became visible to her, she was met with a wide, pearly white, infectious smile; a complete transformation from the dejected man she had been embraced by. The kindness that had filled her eyes immediately melted away replaced by a mask of hate, anger, and disappointment.

“Oh come on Sweet…I mean Agent Marston, I was only kidding with you?!” Jeremy’s smile left his face as he pleaded with the aggravated woman, who had begun to shuffle her way furiously back to her seat. “It wasn’t meant to hurt you. I had to test you. Get a feel for your comfort levels. See who this angel in a black suit truly was. You passed?”

She huffed, ignoring his every word, sick of his childish antics, “I’ll make it up to you…I promise.”

There was an awkward silence that filled the fuselage. The tension was unbearable. Jeremy sat back in his chair, upset with the outcome of his cheeky charade. It wasn’t often he felt ashamed by his own actions. He was a proud man, often described as narcissistic, believing he was the smartest man in every room. He even fretted visiting the doctor because of their pompous know-everything attitudes. But now, in the face of a young girl he felt ashamed.

“I’m sorry. I promise I will make it up, why don’t you lay your head down and get a little shut eye, while I look over the case files.” She showed no signs of complying with his suggestion. “I’ll even sing for you.” He didn’t wait for an answer before he began to softly sing, “Sun is sinking in the west; the cattle go down to the stream,” he couldn’t help but resort to singing a little more Dean Martin, “The redwing settles in the nest; It's time for a cowboy to dream.” Though Olivia wasn’t buying his charade, there was no arguing his voice was dreamy; another forty five solid minutes of his beautiful voice.

[garnet]

[DAY 1: 10:20AM]

Olivia always thought that the fact that she wore her heart on her sleeve was a curse, she could be far too compassionate at times and it normally earned her a lot of heartache. This incident would be one of those examples of such a thing. She had listened to Agent Paige's words and gobbled them up like they were candy. She believed everything, every single word that passed through his lips. Everyone must think of her as so gullible right now, falling for his charming swagger and infectious smile.

Special Agent Marston chose to drown out Paige's words and singing. She was far too upset with him to even look in his general direction.Well, she played with the fire and got burnt, that was for sure.

But, maybe this was a good learning experience. In this line of work, Olivia had to learn to let go of that caring emotion, to harden her shell and thicken her skin. Being in the FBI was far different than being a psychologist, who worked with mentally ill patients. Patients needed sympathy, serial killers however, did not. Olivia had to learn to put away her compassionate self the minute she stepped through the bureau doors.

Carson never broke eye contact with Jayden, his gaze never once wavering or turning away. Evan was slowly stepping into his role as a supervisory agent; any carefree expression he had before faded away. It was time for him to be serious now. There were no jokes from now until the case had ended, Carson refused to let anything get out of hand, or to let any misfortune fall upon his team. His pale eyes watched Jayden as he continued about Agent Marston, Evan's face now void of any emotion other than seriousness.

"Understood." He spoke clearly, soon turning and walking towards the other two agents at the back of the plane with Jayden following behind him. His eyes fell upon Olivia's face as Jeremy seemed to be singing old movie tunes. She seemed upset, no doubt this was caused by Agent Paige's annoying games. Sometimes he just didn't know when it was time to be serious, but Carson knew that everyone had their flaws.

Olivia's arms were folded across her chest while her face was turned towards the window by her seat, giving off the message that she wanted to be closed off from interaction for the next little while, which was understandable. Jeremy's mind games weren't exactly the best way for her to start off her first day on the job. Of course, Carson would be sure to address that with Paige a little later on.

"Enough of your singing, Paige. You've put the poor girl through enough for one day." Evan's tone cold and deadpan as his now boreal eyes turned to Marston, who had shifted so that she would be facing him. "We'll be landing at Folkston Airport in about half an hour or so, from there we'll split into two groups and head towards the Charlton Sheriff's office from there." He paused, making sure to exchange glances between both agents to insure that they were following along.

"Marston, you're with Jayden. Paige, you're with me." Of course, Carson couldn't help but catch the slight twitch of Olivia's upper lip, obviously from the discomfort of being told that she'd be partnering up with Wesley for a short while. "Once we reach the station, we'll get settled in and go over the case with a fine-toothed comb. There will be no, I repeat, no margin for error. We will not leave Georgia until we have Chainsaw Jack in our custody."

Carson took a seat in the vacant chair beside Olivia, while Jayden sat beside Jeremy. "I trust that Robert will be standing by the computers as he always is." Turning to Olivia once more, he whispered "Robert's our tech analyst. You'll be acquainted with him soon enough."

Evan wasn't sure how event would turn out once they landed. An FBI agent never had a future set in stone, things could change within a blink of an eye, and this case was the most volatile thing in their lives at this very moment. Carson took a moment to gather his thoughts, him and Jayden had a hell of a lot riding on their shoulders from here on in. Both SSA's had to lead their team with care and fortitude, for the smallest mistake could lead to the death of another victim or, god forbid, an agent.

"As you may have noticed, our window of opportunity is shrinking. Chainsaw Jack is devolving fast and we need to keep any potential victims safe. Being here may require that our team splits up, meaning that either Jayden or I will end up taking one of you to Florida with us if need be. We must be prepared at all times."

Turning to Jayden, Carson allowed him to add any thing that he felt would be added. Normally, Jayden was the man behind the curtain, signing papers, dealing with the head detectives and with the chief directors. Carson was more the one to deal directly with the team and when needed, the press. His past job as a lawyer came in handy for that, Carson was always able to speak and get his point across better than most could ever dream to.

"Marston, I need you going over this case, looking for any clues that could help us figure out the mental state of Chainsaw Jack, he must be approaching his breaking point soon, and we need you to be able to tell us when that'll be.'

"I'm on it." Agent Marston responded sternly, her hands reaching for the case file she had left on the table before having to interact with Agent Cheeky Monkey.

"Paige," Carson turned to the pretty boy, leveling him with a stern, fatherly glare. "You will be dealing with witnesses and victim's families, there will be times where you're going to take Agent Marston with you, having been a psychologist she'll do well with dealing with grieving families. Jeremy, you will no longer continue your antics. On our time, it stops. Do I make myself clear? If I even catch wind that you ended up pissing anyone off, I'll have your gun and badge so fast it'll make your head spin." Of course, this was just Carson's way of setting the tone for the task ahead. In reality, he would never kick Paige off of the team unless he was forced to and there has never been that moment. Surprisingly, sometimes his cheeky antics proved to be beneficial.

Running his fingers through his hair, Evan gave off a soft sigh. "Jayden and I will handle the Sheriffs and Detectives for the time being. After, we'll be heading out into the field with the rest of you."

Carson continued on about protocol and certain issues that were going to be touched upon with the press once the reached there. He had specifically told Agent Marston that she was in no way to interact with the press at all, they were to be kept at bay for the time being until they had something concrete to go on.

Within moments after things had gone silent, the plane had touched down to the tarmac, causing the entire ship to vibrate as it slowed to a stop. Both SSA's ushered everyone off of the plane and made sure to shake hands with the pilots, expressing their thanks for the safe trip.

The four Agents hurried to make their way out of the Airport and into the two standard SUV's, the black Chevrolet Yukon, the bureau provided for their agents. The temperature in Georgia was awful, the heat was just stifling and humid.

Olivia shrugged of her jacket and held in the crook of her left elbow while her right hand gently tugged her bag behind her. She slipped on a pair of sunglasses that some would debate to be a bit glamourous for this line of work. But then again, she was a female agent and would have a different set of glasses than a typical male agent would anyways.

At this point, she was just hoping Jayden wouldn't say anything. It wouldn't hurt if he let her at least have this one small pleasure.

Carson did his best to keep his keys away from Paige, he knew that Jeremy would only want to drive the SUV and they all knew that it would be a very, very bad idea. As they walked towards the car, Evan slipped on a pair of dark rectangular sunshades across his blue eyes, allowing it to add even more to the whole "authentic FBI agent" look. Hopping into the driver's seat, he ignored any arguments or protests that his fellow agent had and started the ignition, pulling out of the parking spot and heading towards the highway. "You know Jeremy," Carson started, only turning once to catch a quick glimpse of the younger agent's face before turning his gaze back to the road. "Maybe you should back up off of Marston for a little while. She's probably overwhelmed at the moment, and having you constantly tugging at her strings isn't making it any easier for her." Well, this wasn't exactly the ideal conversation to have at this given point in time, but at least he was getting one issue addressed.


Meanwhile, Olivia followed Jayden to the car. After placing her go-bag in the trunk she climbed in, buckling herself into the passenger seat as she opened the case file on her lap once more. As they drove, nothing but the sound of the tires against the road filled the car.

Boy, was this ever awkward.

Olivia wasn't quite sure if making conversation with Jayden would even be a good idea. He just might bite her head off for talking in the first place. The mere though of that made a small frown tug at the corner of her lips for a brief moment.

Thankfully, the drive from the airport to the station wasn't long at all.

[Eric Easy E Pelka]

Jayden sat silently, a stolid mask over his face. The team was running late, Jeremy’s antics had foiled Wesley’s tight control over the schedule. Still, one thing bothered the SSA even more – Special Agent Olivia Marston. Jayden kept his eyes tightly transfixed upon the Yukon gliding through traffic in front of him, but he couldn’t help glance for just a moment over at the young agent.

Though her eyes were strong and determined, Wesley’s fatherly instinct could see the raw innocence still burning bright within her. This young lady was some father’s daughter. He could see himself sitting at home, a retired and wrinkled old man, waiting diligently by the telephone for a call from his daughter, a daughter who had graduated college and moved onto start her own life. Yet there was no call.

It was this elderly mans daughter that was now under his guidance. The thought brought back images of his child, his eyes drifting down to the picture he had set next to his speedometer before Olivia had joined him in the car. It was a picture of his family, his beautiful wife, son and daughter, and himself taken on their last vacation before the incident. He saw little Kaylie’s eyes beaming from behind the protected and stern glare Olivia held upon her face.

Worried his guard was beginning to disintegrate Wesley scampered for his cell phone and dialed the number of the police station they would be setting up at. He had to let them know about the delays, and ensure everything would be ready when they arrived. Busy work was a perfect mask for his genuine compassion.
“Hello, this is Supervisory Special Agent Wesley Jayden from the FBI, may I speak with the representative we sent down earlier,” Jayden paused to listen to the man on the other side of the phone, the voiced changed to a more feminine voice as the liaison answered promptly, “We had a slight delay but are on the road now, we will be arriving shortly. I want to make sure you have everything ready. Go ahead with the report.”

[lins123]

The sound of an alarm rang through the computer room, and a figure stirred into motion. "Shit... must have fell asleep" Robert muttered as he woke up from his little nap. He looked up at his monitor, a myriad of windows overflowed the screen. Pictures of many different locations were scattered across the screen, images of the bodies that chainsaw Jack had left for the bureau to find and a large map of the states of Georgia and Florida.

Robert had taken each case file that was given to him , and looked over it multiple times. On his computer screen was a map, earlier he had began to place each and every location a body was found on the map. No one had told him to do so, but he did it anyway. Sooner or later Jayden or Carson would have rang him up to do it, might as well have it done now was what he thought.

When did I doze off? he thought to himself. He reached towards the coffee that Jeremy had given him earlier and took a chug. Robert took a look around the lab, all the field agents had left and everyone else in the lab seemed engrossed with their work. The silence was calming, "Sure feels lonely here" he said to himself.

His carefree attitude allowed him to brush off the lack of a response and he turned back to his monitor. His workstation was a mess, the empty box of donuts was all that was left from what Jeremy had left him before leaving. "Might as well head home for a shower. Can't really do much more until I get more info from the guys in the field" he said to himself as he began to power down his computer. He packed up his things, cleaned up his table and began to leave.

As he was leaving he saw his reflection in the glass and saw his disheveled hair and 2 day old clothing. "Damn, I look good" he said with a light chuckle.

[nanuk]

Georgia's humidity was not Agent Anna Hanssen's favourite thing about the state. Heat wasn't an issue, heat she loved- nearly every time she got to go home she made a point of spending some time in Mojave, hiking or climbing in one of her favourite places in the world- but this sticky, muggy air, seeming almost everpresent regardless of the actual temperature, was irritating and inescapable. The dark grey summerweight pants suit she wore was light enough to be comfortable, but not enough to forego the gentle buzz of the fan in the corner, ticking quietly each time it switched direction in an effort to circulate air in the small room.

The Charlton County Sheriff's Office had been surprisingly accommodating- usually a pleasant indication that local law enforcement saw the case as a priority, but were more interested in getting it resolved than starting a pissing contest with 'The Feds'. They'd provided her with a small but well provisioned office from which to work, even hauling in one of the fax machines- unasked- after she spent a significant part of the first day crossing back and forth to reception. With cases this high profile, garnering this much media attention, it was easy for inter-agency relations to sour as pressure came down from the respective higher ups to produce results, so she was tentatively hopeful that this would prove to be one of those occasions of true cooperation. It would certainly make her job easier.

The laser printer hummed to life as she hit print and switched to another tab before she leaned back in the swivel chair, clasping her hands on top of her head as her eyes flicked down the bulleted check list displayed on the screen. One hand slipped down to lightly massage an ache out of her neck and she stretched a little, then stood and retrieved the still-warm paper sitting in the printer tray. She flicked quickly through the sheaf to make sure they were clear, then placed a copy in each of the manilla folders sitting neatly beside the machine, before going across to the large free-standing white board and pinning the remaining sheet under some stark crime scene photos.

The board, almost the size of the back wall of the room, was already almost entirely covered. On it was arrayed, in condensed form, all the most relevant and pertinent information gathered on the Chainsaw Jack case: victim pictures and their corresponding scene shots with missing parts highlighted for ease of reference ('before and after' pictures, she had heard them referred to. A little tasteless but still true), names, ages, addresses, family information, victim profile comparisons, descriptions of the remains, area and topographic maps for the recovery sites, a larger overlay show the positions of all the sites relative to one another, timelines, names of officers most closely involved with each case, printouts of weather patterns.Information all culled and collated from the huge volume of reports and files she had gathered together on the cases. There was nothing here that the team didn't have already, and that she had replicated in the obligatory manilla folders, but the board was a useful tool, good for brainstorming and group thinking: sometimes even just sitting back and seeing it all arranged instead of having to trawl through sheets and sheets of eye-achingly small print blocks of text could make things seem more clear- or at least more manageable.

Her eyes narrowed, and her lips tightened unconsciously as her eyes fell on the copy of the letter pinned near the top of the board. 'Chainsaw Jack'. How adorable. The name always seemed incongruous to her- almost anecdotal, and at odds with the Messianic, egotistical ramblings.

What a prince he sounds like

The phone rang, sudden and jarring in the quiet. A quick glance at her wrist watch and she picked up the receiver, moving around to the other side of the desk as the deputy put SSA Jayden through.

"I was expecting you down a little earlier, sir". Straightening the suit jacket that hung on the back of the chair before sitting she scooted the chair forward to sit flush with the table, running a hand over the blonde hair she had smoothed back into a simple ponytail, and fluffing her stylishly cut choppy bangs.

“We had a slight delay but are on the road now, we will be arriving shortly. I want to make sure you have everything ready. Go ahead with the report.”

Nodding unseen she began to fill SSA Jayden in on the arrangements that had been made. Local law enforcement had been made aware of the team's arrival, credentials had been forwarded to avoid delays, crime scene and coroner access had been secured and scheduled, families of the victims had been contacted and she had already done some prep work with them, and lists of persons of interest had been compiled.

"Rooms at the Western Motel- ranked number one of three hotels in cosmopolitan Folkston!- have been arranged sir, and they've confirmed that the team can check in whenever is convenient. I've set up in the County Sheriff's office- they've been nothing but cooperative and helpful so far, which is a pleasant change. You should be able to hit the ground running2.