Unknown- A Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 3- Fresh Out of College

Seven o'clock that night and we hadn't gotten much farther on the case.  We were all gathered in the conference room, trying to work on the preliminary profile.  All we had was a young attractive male in his twenties, confident and probably with his own vehicle, which described a quarter of the college students in the area. 

Needless to say, it wasn't much to go on, and we all sat around the conference table littered with crime scene photos and fast food wrappers with little idea as to what we were missing or what to do to find what we were missing so we could catch this guy.  And we were running out of time.  There had been months between the first two victims, weeks between the second and third, which meant we had days to catch this guy before he killed again.

Hotch and Rossi came in, and Hotch announced, "McDowell and Reid, you two are going to go undercover as college students."

Just like that, plain and matter-of-fact, and I demanded shocked, "What?"

Reid voiced the same opinion as me, though perhaps a little more politely since he said at the same time as me, "I'm sorry?" like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

"The best way to get more information on this unsub and his motives is to have agents in the nightclub where the other victims were last known to be.  You and Reid will fit in the best as college students, so you two are doing it," Hotch explained in a voice that meant his decision was final. 

I still couldn't resist arguing.

"Why can't JJ and Morgan do it or something?" I protested, partly because I didn't want to give Garcia another chance to prove her theory and partly because when I had been in college,  I hadn't exactly been the 'party at the club' type girl.

"If you haven't noticed, JJ's a mom, not fresh out of college," Morgan pointed out with a smirk.

"I may be right out of college, but that doesn't mean I'm all too thrilled at the opportunity to go back," I answered sulkily.

I had been pushed ahead a year in grade school so I graduated high school a month after I'd turned 17, which means I was done with college only a month after I had legally been allowed to drink, and after a brief stint with Virginia PD--which I got fired from because I had a code of ethics and my commanding officer didn't--I had joined the BAU.  I really was fresh out of college, but I wasn't what you could call a normal student even when I was in college, much less now.

Hotch's glare was enough to make me accept it, though, and he commanded, "Both of you, go get ready.  We're running short on time if we want to catch this guy."

With a sigh I obliged, turning to Garcia, JJ, and Prentiss and remarking sullenly, "I might need to borrow some clubbing clothes."  I'm sure one of them was bound to have them, but not me since the punk style I was still into wasn't exactly of the slutty variety common in college girls.

Which is how fifteen minutes later the three of them had laid out three different outfits in one of the unused offices that was being transformed into my dressing room.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to give you a fashion makeover," Garcia exclaimed, and somehow only she could make it not sound like the insult it could quite easily be taken as.

I still took it as an insult though and protested, "I've only been here a month!"

"Exactly," JJ insinuated, scrutinizing the outfit I was wearing today.  Dark skinny jeans, my combat boots, and a deep red cap-sleeved V-neck tee since I had to look somewhat professional for this job, as I had learned.

"I don't need a fashion makeover," I made a lame attempt to argue, because the sparkly, clingy outfits had caught my attention and I already felt too exposed even though I wasn't even wearing them yet.