Chapter Text
Every time the sky fell, rippling thunder and drenches of rain, wind ready to sweep up the whole city, you knew that Olivia Tate was angry. Her fury was the worst kind too; it wasn't rioting and childish, it was quiet. It was the moment that you could see all thought of compassion leave her eyes, draining her face of it's usually light. The moment you knew Liv was really mad was like looking down a far stretching hallway, door after door slamming shut like dominos until every last one was sealed, and the woman before you was merely stone. No, she wasn't foolish in her anger at all. She was calculated. Precise. Determined. She had tunnel vision in any means of vengeance, of justice.
While to some it seemed like a character flaw, there was one thing Liv knew. Sure, that side of her could suck the life right out of every sea, but more importantly, it made her really good at her job.
But it had been awhile since the FBI had seen Liv's face, let alone heard the whisper of her name. She hadn't worked in over a year and a half. "I'm just worried about you sweetie, that's it." Her mom said through the phone, voice laced with it's usual concern. "This is your first time going back since the incident-"
"Mom, please, stop calling it an incident." Liv sighed, sitting in the living room of her home. She had spent so much time there in the past year and a half, secluded and isolated, she didn't mind the thought of going back into the field that would keep her away most nights. Those walls felt more haunting than homely.
"You know what I mean, honey. How do you know your ready to go back?"
"Considering the fact I'm paying my therapist a lot of money per hour, I would hope I can trust her when she says she thinks I've processed enough to go back to work. I just want things to be normal again." Liv explained, ignoring the way she may have been stretching the truth a little bit.
"What happened has numbed you, Liv. And this job, it's gonna numb you too. You used to be so happy, and now you're so serious and-"
"Serious is what they need in the field, Mom." She said quickly, before closing her eyes and letting out a breath. She couldn't blame her, she was right to worry. "Look, I miss work. You know I love what I do. Don't you think that maybe going back to the only aspect of my life that feels normal might help make me happy again?"
"I suppose so..." Her mother trailed off. Liv could try all she wanted too, but she knew there was no amount of explaining that could crush a mothers anxiety for her child.
Liv had tried so hard to reassure her mother that she was completely certain about returning to work, but the day she arrived back, she felt like she had no one to tell that, secretly, being back in this place felt like a whole new universe. It was familiar, which felt good, but also, felt empty. Because things were different now, and walking in to this place, and going home from here would forever feel different. And now, she was on a different team. That would be good for her too, but it didn't help the nerves. Her fingers swirled around the small chain around her neck as she walked to the Chiefs office.
"Chief Strauss." She greeted once she arrived, shaking the woman's hand. She moved to sit until she realized the woman was already walking, talking as she did so.
"Your new team just got a case in, so I think it's best we move quickly." Liv moved in a hurry behind her, picking up the pace while also trying to lug her things along. "I hope that over your hiatus you've been keeping up a little, I'm glad to have your seriousness and discipline back at the BAU." Strauss turned corner after corner, passing people who seemed to subconsciously step aside in her presence. "That's exactly what this team needs."
She stopped suddenly before two tall glass doors, making Liv fall still in her tracks. "There is something I need you to understand before you become a part of this team. I chose you for this team because I know you're a very no-nonsense girl. I need you to take this job very seriously, and protocol very seriously. This team has suffered many instances in the past of reckless behavior and undermining the rules. I don't want to have to investigate them again, so I need you to understand the role that you have."
Liv followed along, finally nodding. "You can count on me." She said without missing a beat. If there was anything Liv could be, it was serious, and in her mind, this job was all about precision and strategic moves. Recklessness was what happens when you involve emotion, and that was not something Liv slipped up on.
"Excellent. Follow me this way, to your unit chief." She said, now navigating her through the bull pen and up to the office. She didn't have much time to get eyes on her team, but she had a feeling the whole journey to her unit chief that they had eyes on her. She was new meat, stepping into territory they had all already marked. "Aaron Hotchner."
Aaron Hotchner looked up from his desk full of paperwork, standing at the entrance of the two women. "Chief Strauss." He greeted as they shook hands. The energy between the two, Liv could tell was indicating said rocky past Strauss had with Agent Hotchners team. "Your new recruit." She said, motioning to Liv.
Liv extended her hand out, shaking his firmly. "Olivia Tate."
If there was anybody who looked like a unit chief, it was Aaron Hotchner. The dark hair, serious expression, consistently furrowed brow. His eyes looked like they never stop analyzing whatever they landed on, like he never quite stopped doing his job. She could feel that as she met his stare, and she felt pretty certain he was already sizing her up to the rest of the team, wondering just exactly how good Liv actually was. "Welcome to the team." He said simply. "Our liaison just got in a new case, we're meeting in the briefing room in ten minutes. That should give you a moment to get settled at your desk." He turned to walk away before turning back, “and Agent Tate, you won’t need a go bag. Unfortunately this case is local."
Liv caught Strauss' naturally critical stare hanging on Agent Hotchner a little too long, like she was waiting for him to crack. The only issue was, from what Liv could tell, it seemed liked he never would. She was having a difficult time understanding how someone so serious, seemingly so professional, would be leading a team that Strauss called "reckless".
So they were jumping straight into it, she thought to herself. No better way to get back into the game than to dive in head first. She had just reached her desk and set her stuff down before she could already feel a presence beside her, looking at her from his swivel chair merely a desk away. "So you must be the newbie, huh." He said with a playful, laid back expression. He had dark, smooth skin and a kind of smile you just knew got him a lot of attention. Something about the way he smirked a little bit too told her that he was very much okay with it. "Derek Morgan."
"Olivia Tate, pleasure."
Derek introduced her to the rest of the team as well, and it didn't take long for it to become apparent the natural chemistry between each of the team members. If Liv were any less of a force of nature, she would surely shrink back in intimidation of how closely knit they were. She was an outsider in a group that felt alarmingly exclusive. To her luck however, the rest of the team members were certainly a lot more loose and laid back than Agent Hotchner was, making the new introductions smooth and simple.
She was particularly intrigued by a man named doctor Reid, who seemed a little too young and a little too smart to be at the BAU. He had a fidgety, awkward way of shifting his weight from one leg to the next and tucking his hair behind his ears. While he may have been the youngest there, he was definitely the brains of the group. It intimidated her slightly. Back in her old team, everyone seemed to be on the same level, filling in the gaps for each other that the others didn't know. Not only was she coming back from hiatus, but she was coming back to a team with a baby genius.
Liv sat back and listened to the continuous banter between Morgan and Prentiss until Agent Hotchner walked in, followed by Agent Jareau, whom Strauss had introduced her to not long before. Agent Rossi, a so far quiet man, looking amused at the way Prentiss and Morgan quickly let their banter die the moment Hotchner was settled in his seat. JJ wasted no time before being to present, because as they all soon found out, time was really of the essence.
"Aimee Lynch, eight-years-old was taken an hour ago from a winter festival in Ashburn." JJ began, flipping to a picture of a sweet looking little blonde girl.
"Any witnesses?" Prentiss asked.
"Her mom Barbara was right next to here when she vanished."
"There mustve been hundreds of people there. no one saw anything?" Prentiss questioned in disbelief. The winter festival was a carnival setting, people flooding in and out unmonitored and as they pleased.
"Its a temporary gathering." Liv pointed out, and all eyes fell on her. She knew she hadn't talked much, but she was here to contribute, and it seemed like everyone was still watching as if to figure her out. The time that had passed since she last did field work didn't make her question her abilities, but sitting in that environment again, it made her feel like a martian.
"That's true, it would have little to no security." Reid agreed with a nod, giving her a soft smile that she returned.
"Reid and Morgan, head to the family's house. Prentiss and JJ, I want you working with Garcia. We need to be looking at every local abduction or every attempted one in the past year." Hotchner instructed before turning his gaze to Liv. "Tate, stick with Agent Rossi and I, we're gonna run point from the local department."
Ah yes, Liv knew exactly what he was doing. Keeping her close on her first case as to assess her capabilities and contemplate her value to the team. She nodded in agreement. Trust had to be earned.
"Good news is that we're barely into the second hour." JJ said, earning a wave of nods around the table.
"Yeah well, odds are we've only got 22 hours to find Aimee alive, so lets do this." Morgan said. Pairs split off towards their designated directions, and Liv quickly gathered her things before following along the two superiors of the group. While Rossi was her teammate as much as anyone else was, his amount of experience in the field commanded a certain reverence from everyone he worked with. Following behind the two men, Liv felt a little bit like a child being carefully watched over, as to make sure she didn't break anything.
With that unpleasant feeling in mind, she was even more dedicated to sitting down and giving everything she had to this case.