Ryan pulled open the glass door and made his way through the lobby to the elevator. When he got in, he pushed the button taking him to the seventh floor. When the doors opened for him, he moved out into the hallway, passing several people. They nodding in greeting, not exchanging any words.

It wasn't that his employees didn't like him. They were grateful to have Ryan as a co-worker, but after years of only doing solo cases, his co-workers figured Ryan wasn't much of a social person. Ryan appreciated his fellow workers for their awareness of his anti-social status.

He has had to answer an array of questions from new workers when they realized that they were working with the Ryan Ross. He couldn't blame them necessarily. He was one of the best FBI agents in the country, he just didn't like the attention he got for it. In time, they would leave him to his work, admiring from a distance.

He stepped into the busy office and headed to his private office at the other end. He would give small nods at a few more greetings as he walked. Before he made it to his door, a sweet voice stopped him.

"Hey, Ryan." He turned to see Brendon Urie smiling at him from behind the wall of his cubicle. Brendon was in a white dress shirt with a dark grey vest over the top. His hair looked it had been finger combed in a lame attempt to be tamed.

"Urie," Ryan replied with a nod and small smile.

"You know you can just call me Brendon, right." Ryan hummed in response. He never really liked calling people by their first names in the office. It was more natural to go by their last in his line of work. "Anyway, I picked you up a black coffee on my way in." The man disappeared behind the wall before reappearing with a medium cup in his hand. Ryan gave an appreciative smile as he took the cup from Brendon's extended hand.

"Thanks." He took a small sip, letting the bitter liquid slide down his throat and warm his chest. He let out a content sigh.

"It's no problem," Brendon responded. Ryan took another drink as Brendon start to fidget with his sleeve. "So, I was wondering if I don't know maybe you'd possibly like to-,"

"Ross." Brendon cut off as the two turned their head to see their chief, Andy Hurley, standing at the doorway of his own office looking in their direction. He was dressed casually; grey slacks and a long sleeved shirt rolled to his elbows exposing the tattoos he had over his arms. Ryan turned back to Brendon.

"I'd better go. See what Hurley wants." Brendon nodded quickly.

"Oh yeah. Totally." He let out a nervous laugh as he ran his hand through his hair. "I'll catch you some other time." Ryan nodded. He raised his cup slightly.

"Thanks again for the coffee."

"No problem." With that, Ryan went to Andy's office. When he got in, he shut the door behind him and took a seat in front of the desk. Andy was leaning back in his own chair, eyes down to a few files opened on his desk. One hand was stroking his bread in thought.

He let out a sigh and looked up at Ryan. When he saw the sad look behind his eyes, Ryan's stomach tightened. He didn't like that look on Andy. He motioned for the files which Andy pushed to him before staring at the wall on the other side of the room. Skimming through them, Ryan let out his own sigh.

All three teenage female victims, their profile too alike to be coincidence, their murders and body recovery locations indicating a pattern. He briefly flipped through the photos paper clipped to each folder before closing them and setting them in a stack in front of him.

"I'll work on them when I get to my desk." Andy nodded with an expressionless face. Ryan waited for Andy to say what he was thinking. He'd work with the chief long enough to understand how he functioned. Sure enough, Andy turned back to Ryan.

"Meredith's pregnant. It's a baby girl." Ryan gave a small and 'congrats'. He knew Andy and his wife had been trying to have a kid for some time now. A quick smile appeared and vanished from Andy's face. "It's getting me to think differently about these cases. Some people are sick." Ryan watched Andy's free hand curl into a fist and he stared off into the distance again.

"I haven't even met my daughter yet and I can't help to think about the ugly world I'm bringing her into. I can't imagine what if," he trailed off. The corners of his mouth turned down in a frown. His voice was lined with aggression as he continued thinking out loud. "I swear if anyone tries to hurt her or touch her, I'm gonna-"

"Chief," Ryan cut him off. Andy's face softened as he turned back to Ryan. "Nothing will happen to your baby girl. Anyone who knows her father is will run for the hills. You don't necessarily radiate hugs and kisses at first glance, sir." Andy gave a small laugh. "As for these," Ryan stood up and picked up the files, "I'll make sure who ever did this doesn't have a chance to do it again."

Andy gave an appreciative nod as Ryan left to his own office. When he took a seat behind his desk he opened the files and looked over the victim's photos. His eyes moved slowly over each of their features. He couldn't help to notice how familiar they looked; the hazel eyes, shy smile, light brown hair passed their shoulders.

Ryan took a deep breath before moving to the photos taken at the recovery locations. All shallow creeks on a deserted section of some forest. He sat back in his chair, eyes moving each case file. The murderer was sloppy he gathered from the evidence between the three.

This case shouldn't be too hard to solve. Ryan would be able to bring peace to the victim's families. They could get their closure and move forward with their lives. That's all they needed to move on. Closure and then they can start to heal. Closure and he could move on.

Right?

God, he hopes so.

___

A/N:

New Ryden story! Let me know what you think of it so far. I plan to update pretty frequently cause I have some more free time. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for reading.