Seattle greets you with a low, wet gray sky as you step out of the briefing room and into a case that already feels like pressure behind your eyes. The file is clear in the worst way: a man who kidnaps, assault, and kills women, escalating, organized, patient. You’ve been called in because your instinct has a reputation for finding what others miss, and this unsub is already one step ahead of the local pattern analysis.

That’s when you see her—Elle Greenaway—leaning against the glass wall of the precinct like she never left the field. Same sharp gaze, same controlled edge, but warmer when it lands on you. There’s real recognition there, and something like relief that you’re on this case.

The reunion is brief, efficient. She’s already assigned to the investigation, same specialty, same target profile, but you can tell she isn’t just here for the unsub. She’s here for something bigger: the BAU. And she’s not subtle about it. “We’re teaming up. It benefits both of us.”

You accept without hesitation. The unsub’s pattern is narrow enough that two instincts are better than one, and hers is still as sharp as you remember. The plan forms fast. You profile Richard Slessman as the kind of man who can’t resist control presented as vulnerability. Elle volunteers to be the trigger. She chooses the role of a neighbor—careful, ordinary, just stressed enough to be believable. She rehearses nothing. She doesn’t need to.

She knocks on Mrs. Slessman’s door like she belongs there, voice calm, posture slightly unsettled, painting the story of a break-in next door and a man possibly still inside. It works almost too cleanly. Within minutes, Richard steps out—curious, concerned, exactly as predicted—and follows her back inside her constructed scenario.

When the signal comes through, everything tightens.

Entry is fast. Controlled chaos. Your team moves in as Elle guides him deeper into the house, keeping him engaged just long enough. He doesn’t even fully register the moment he’s no longer in control.

You take him down with precision. The room stabilizes in seconds after.

Outside, the tension breaks just enough for breath to return. Elle meets your eyes like she’s already evaluating the outcome beyond the arrest, beyond the case file. “You should show more of your legs next time if you want to join the team,” you say, half teasing, as the cuffs are secured and the scene transitions into containment. She smirks without missing a beat. “I’ll show more of my legs when I’m kicking your ass.”

The exchange lingers just long enough to feel like history repeating itself in a different form.

You guide Slessman toward the SUV with your team, the suspect secured in the back. Elle falls into step beside you without needing to be asked. The engine starts, the city sliding past the windows as you merge into traffic.

Silence settles in, heavy with what comes next: interrogation, extraction, truth. And as the BAU vehicle heads toward headquarters, Richard Slessman between you, the case is only beginning to open.