Chapter Text
Stupid tie. Tony stands before his mirror struggling to complete the knot to his tie. His fingers shake while he undoes his latest failed attempt. Tony has faced the press and stuffy boardrooms with ease for years but today his body decides to betray him. He can hear the echoes of his father, Howard, chiding him. Stark men are made of iron. With a shuddered breath he pushes those thoughts away. Those words came from a drunken version of his father. The last few years of Howard’s life he got cleaned up and Tony started to have a better relationship with the man especially after Howard apologized for the words he said. The memories of them are harder to escape. The two along with his mother celebrated when Howard got his two-year sobriety chip with a formal dinner. The first one in years that lasted without a single fight between father and son. His parents died the next day.
“Sir, you have 10 minutes to leave before you’ll be late,” Jarvis’s voice tells him.
Tony got Jarvis online a few months after his parent's death. It’s been 2 years and Tony doesn’t know how he functioned without the AI. Tony grabs his glasses and Howard’s chip off his night stand and makes his way to the kitchen. He never leaves the house without the chip and rarely without his glasses. It’s become a habit to grab the chip and place it safely in his pocket. He technically doesn’t need glasses since he has 20/20 vision, but it’s a handy subtle way to have Jarvis with him. The first thing he sees when he enters the kitchen is his PA, Pepper Potts, waiting for him.
“Pep, what can I do for you?” Tony finds the coffee pot and pours himself a cup making a small moan after the first sip.
“Well, you can sign the papers I gave you two days ago.” She slides over the papers to him.
“Come on Pep,” Tony whines, “Can’t you just sign them. You do my signature well enough.” Tony catches the eye roll she gives before he looks at the papers.
“Just because you have gotten a job at the FBI doesn’t mean you can ignore your responsibilities with your company.”
“Pep, we both know I have been ignoring my responsibilities long before I got this job.” That earns him a small chuckle. With that he signs the documents with hardly a glance and hands them back over to her. She walks around the counter and grabs his unmade tie around his neck.
“Nervous?” He watches her as she ties the knot for a few moments before he responds.
“Course not. I’m Tony Stark. I don’t get nervous.” They both hear the lie beneath the words.
“It’s normal to be nervous for your first day.”
“Were you nervous for your first day with me?” She gives Tony a pointed look.
“I was your fifth assistant in 3 months,” Pepper sees the small smirk Tony makes, “I was more shocked to see how a full-grown man could hardly function like a normal human being.” With that she finishes with his tie and takes a step back. He turns in a small circle, arms outstretched letting her see the entire look.
“Do I meet your standards?”
“I’m impressed you actually went full tie considering the last time I tried to have you wear one for a meeting you said, ‘I’d rather go in my birthday suit than wear one of those abominations'’”. Tony smiles at the memory.
“I don’t think the BAU would appreciate it if I showed up in my Black Sabbath t-shirt.”
“That's never stopped you before.” Tony shrugs and looks at his shoes.
Reluctantly he says, “I don’t want them to see me as the spoiled playboy the press calls me.”
It takes Tony a long time to open up to a person. Pepper started being his PA not long after he took over the reins to Stark Industry. He went through many because they couldn’t keep up with his late night calls, strange tasks or his skipping out on meetings. Pepper took every call, did every task, and dragged him to his meetings without batting an eye. When he told her his plan to apply to the FBI she paused and simply stated she won’t cover for him if he ignores SI. She and his best friend, Rhodey, are the only ones that didn’t laugh at him. Even Obadiah Stane, an old family friend, couldn’t stop the laugh of disbelief when he told him. They all asked why but Tony never gave the true reason. He gave many fake ones. Boredom and proving he could do it among the top ones. He never dared tell the real reason. Didn’t want the looks of pity or hear the words ‘It was an accident’. That’s how they ruled the incident that killed his parents. A car accident. They said that Howard was drunk and ran them both off the road, but Tony saw the both of them off. Howard was sober, and the chip Tony is running over with his fingers proves it. Howard and Marie Stark were murdered and Tony is going to prove it. Pepper lifts Tony’s head with a finger under his chin.
“You’re not what the press says you are. They only need to be around you for a day to realize that,” she tells him softly. His gaze softens when he looks into her eyes.
“Thanks.” Tony puts sincerity into the word.
“You are much more unbearable in real life.”
Tony releases a full belly laugh. He can always count on Pepper to cheer him up. Tony looks to the clock that is hanging on the wall just past Pepper’s shoulder.
“I gotta go, I'm about to be late.” He grabs his suit jacket off of the chair next to him and puts it on as he heads to the elevator. He enters and clicks the lobby button.
“Oh,” Pepper turns to look at him, “be careful in the future. You tend to make the Y in Tony a little swoopy.” Pepper gives Tony a warm smile.
“Good luck Tony.” He gives her a wink just as the elevator doors shut.
***
Tony sits in his car outside the Bureau with the mirror down. He knows he is being vain but if he doesn’t do a final hair check it’ll bother him all day. He exists and makes his way into the lobby and greets the receptionist with his signature grin. When the receptionist sees him her eyes widen and her mouth drops slightly.
“You’re… You’re… You’re-” Tony interrupts her before she can continue.
“Yes I am. I was told in my welcome email that I could pick up my day pass here.” The receptionist quickly scans her desk for any sign of the pass. Tony looks around the lobby noticing that a few people have stopped to stare at him. He gives them a small nod and turns his attention back to the receptionist. Tony knows that people are going to be gawking since he has been handling that since childhood. Tony only hopes that when they see him every day the staring will dissipate. The receptionist shoots up from her chair.
“Found it!” A blush creeps upon her cheeks embarrassed by her behavior but Tony finds it adorable. He takes the ID from her and pins it to his suit jacket.
“Thank you, Miss …” Tony pauses waiting for a response.
“Cindy! Cindy Edwards,” Cindy’s blush starts to make its way down her neck.
“Miss Cindy Edwards. You have a wonderful day.” Tony walks away from the desk and hears Cindy collapse onto her chair behind him. He enters the elevator and clicks on the floor number leading to the BAU. Tony places his hand into his pocket taking hold of the chip as he does everytime he gets nervous. No Tony. You are not nervous. He watches as the elevator creeps up the different floors. Tony can feel his palms sweat and takes in a deep breath hoping that the stress leaves when he releases it. He quickly puts the chip away when he hears the ding indicating his floor. The confident Tony Stark facade he has perfected glides on with practice ease as he makes his way across the floor. He walks to the desk closest to him.
“Excuse me. Can you point me in the direction of Special Agent Hotchner’s office?” Tony asks the dark skinned man sitting at his desk.
“Yeah man he’s-” the man looks up from his computer and pauses when he sees it’s Tony. This is gonna get old real fast if it’s like this all day.
The man shakes off his shock, “He’s in that office up the stairs.”
Tony looks up in the direction he is pointing at and thanks the man politely. What he doesn’t notice as he walks up the steps is a small herd of people settle around the man's desk all asking why Tony Stark of all people would be looking for Aaron Hotchner. Tony softly knocks on Hotchner’s door and waits for a response. It’s not typically how Tony goes about things but he wants to show some respect for his future boss.
“Come in.” He hears from the other side of the door. Tony opens the door and makes his way into the office. Hotcher stands up from his seat and offers his hand for a handshake which Tony reciprocates.
“Pleasure to see you again, sir.” Tony says as he shakes his hand.
“Please, Hotch is fine.” Tony nods in acknowledgment. Tony met Agent Hotchner a few weeks prior during his interview process for the profiler position. Hotch asks for Tony to take a seat and they both sit down. For a while the two talked about basic administrative things like getting a proper badge and first day paperwork.
“So, Dr. Stark-” Tony politely interrupts saying Hotch doesn’t have to call him doctor. Despite Tony having four doctorates, people don’t refer to him as a doctor. In the boardroom Tony can see it’s a power play showing they don’t have much respect for him. Tony thinks that they are a bunch of old geezers who can get over the fact that a 24-year-old is running Stark Industries and stop being jealous of the fact that they aren’t the smartest person in the room.
“Tony,” Hotch begins again, “ I know I mentioned this in your interview, but I feel I must reiterate. I do not tolerate slacking off or political agendas. We are a team and that means we all have to do our work. I realize that being a CEO means that you will have other responsibilities, but the work we do here is important. The paperwork may be boring and unglamorous, but at the end of the day it is our job to save lives, and I need to know I can trust you to do the good and the bad that comes with this position.”
Tony softly curses the media in his head. Over the years he has garnered a reputation of being a rich playboy that’s only good for partying. Sure he attended parties when he attended MIT, but what fifteen year old wouldn’t. Girls all the time went to the press saying that they had ‘A wild night with the genius billionaire’ but none of them were true. The people he has slept with got slapped with an NDA from Pepper on the way out the door. Tony takes in a deep breath and looks Hotch in the eye.
“I promise I will dot every ‘I’ and cross every ‘T’. Stark Industries will not get in the way of me doing my job here.”
“Good. We are taking a risk hiring a high profile celebrity, so please see that your status doesn’t interfere.”
“I will.” Hotch pauses a moment looking at Tony’s face looking for a sign of deceit. He gives Tony a nod.
“You will be sitting across from Agent Reid. Make sure to have your picture taken for your permanent ID by the end of the week.” Hotch turns back to his paperwork and Tony gets up at the sign of dismissal.
“Thank you, Hotch.”
Tony exits the office and makes his way down to the bullpen.
“Wanna help me find Agent Reid, Jarvis?” Tony murmurs under his breath. Across his lenses he sees Jarvis pinpointing on various people as Tony looks around the room. Finally, it lands on a young man sitting at his desk looking at his computer.
“Agent Spencer Reid. Twenty-four years old, graduated from Caltech at 16 and has an IQ of 187,” Jarvis rattles off for only Tony to hear.
“Thanks bud.” With that Jarvis goes back to stand by mode.
Tony sees why Hotch would sit Tony by Reid considering Tony himself has an IQ of 270. Tony feels hopeful at the prospect of finding stimulating conversation. He makes his way over to Reid.
“Are you Agent Reid?” The man looks up and gives a small confirmation, a startled look crosses his face, and Tony offers him a signature smile.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Tony.” He sits down at the empty desk across from Reid and takes a look at his set up ignoring the look Reid is giving to someone Tony can’t see. The computer is prehistoric by Tony’s standards and he wonders if he’d be allowed to upgrade his set up. He hears Reid open and close his mouth trying to find words to say. Tony patiently waits for Reid to find it as he logs into the computer and makes his way around the system. It looks straight out of the 90’s and it makes Tony want to cry. Hotch makes his way out of the office.
“Team meeting room. We have a case.” Hotch catches Tony’s eye and gives him a nod telling him to come as well. A small group gets up and scurry up to the conference room where Hotch and another gentleman are already seated. Tony looks around the table and decides to take the empty seat besides Hotch. Maybe sitting next to someone he has talked to before will help calm his growing nerves. Stark men are made of iron.
Once everyone makes it to the conference and takes their seats Hotch lightly taps Tony’s elbow and they both stand.
“Everyone this is-” The attention is drawn from Hotch and to the blonde women that just walked in. Tony has never seen a woman dressed in so many bright colors. She contradicts the more subdued colors of the rest of the team. On her way into the conference room she noticed Tony and immediately dropped the stack of files she had been holding. Seeing the attention on her she quickly goes down and picks up the files, a soft pink crossing her cheeks.
“As I was saying,” Hotch begins again, “Everyone this is our new agent Tony Stark. He will be working with us as a profiler from now on so please make him feel welcome.” Hotch turns his attention to Tony and begins to introduce the people around the table.
“You’ve met Reid. Next to him is Agent Derek Morgan,” Tony sees that he’s the dark skinned man from earlier, “next is Agent Elle Greenaway and Agent Jennifer Jareau-”
“You can call me JJ. I’m the media liaison.” A job Tony would never wish for.
“After her is Agent Jason Gideon and then the woman who just walked in is Penelope Garcia. She is our Technical Analyst.”
As Hotch introduced them they all gave Tony a nod and a small wave except Gideon. Tony can feel his scrutinizing gaze and Tony resists the urge to grab his chip.
“Thank you for the introduction Hotch,” Tony looks around the room to his new coworkers, “I look forward to working with you all.”
At that both Hotch and Tony both take their seats and Tony tries his best to subtly wipe the sweat from his palms. He can see the group still have questions but Hotch stops them saying they need to focus on the case and places photos on the table. Tony along with Morgan immediately see that they are pipe bombs.
Mercury activated, Tony notices looking at the bomb’s switch.
“They come packed in cardboard boxes,” Morgan informs the group.
“Package bombs Sent through the mail?” Gideon asks. They are not.
Tony pipes up, “Were they both mercury activated or just this one?” He points to the photo in front of him. The group's attention is directed to him. Mostly likely they were expecting him to be quiet.
“I’m familiar with how to make things explode.” They all nod their heads. Stark Industries is mainly known for their work supplying weapons to the military. Bombs being the most popular. Tony started helping Howard make weapons at twelve.
“Both of them,” Morgan tells him.
“What does mercury activated mean exactly?” Elle asks the group. Reid begins to open his mouth to explain but Tony beats him to it.
“There are contacts to a detonator on either end of a bent tube full of mercury. What it means is all you have to do is to tilt the package to detonate it.” Tony takes a quick glance at Reid and sees a soft frown cross his lips. Tony makes a mental note to sit back once and a while and let Reid explain. Tony knows how frustrating it can be having people interrupt you.
“So they couldn’t have sent it through the mail,” Elle concluded, “they had to deliver the package themselves.”
”Strange way to commit an act of terrorism. Why go through all this trouble only to kill a few people?” Hotch asked.
”We shouldn’t raise the terror alert for now. No reason to spread panic,” Gideon stated. JJ got an alert on her phone. Her eyes widened in shock. She grabbed the tv remote and turned on a news channel. On it was a news anchor woman telling the public about the explosions.
So much for not causing panic. Tony thought.
“This is just the local channel but it seems all major news stations are covering it as well,” JJ informed. Tony watched the screen. The anchor woman continued telling her story when a bomb detonated behind her. Panic issued on screen. People started to run in every direction. Firefighters heading towards the flames while the police went to deal with the pedestrians.
Hotch looked at everyone around the table, “Let’s meet at the airstrip in 20.”
Everyone started to grab the files about the case and headed out the door. Tony went back down to his desk. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. His first case with BAU has just begun.