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“Did you get this?” Morgan asked, confusion in his eyes.
“Yeah. I’ve already talked to JJ, Penelope, and Spencer and none of them know what the hell is going on,” Prentiss replied. They had all received a message from Hotch late last night telling them to get to the office a bit earlier than usual. He had something important to tell them.
“Something important to tell us? Could he be any more vague?” JJ huffed as they all met up to walk toward the round table. Derek just rolled his eyes and Penelope let out a huge sigh.
“I’m panicking. I don’t know what’s going on and this never seems good coming from Hotch. I wish he would just tell us, at the very least what it is going to be about, so we can stop panicking…”
“Baby girl, calm down. I’m sure it’s going to be okay,” Derek tried to comfort her before she finished her spiraling. When they entered the room, Rossi and Hotch were already waiting for them.
“Sit down,” Hotch commanded. They all exchanged a quick worried glance before following his order. It was Friday morning. They had just finished one of their tougher cases and today was a paperwork day. He almost never called them in early on a paperwork day. And he was never this ambiguous about it. “I can tell that you are all concerned,” giving a slight side-eye towards Penelope, “but this isn’t a matter to panic over. I only wanted to have you here a little bit early so I could let you know that we will be having a new member joining us on Monday.” Everyone looked around suspiciously. They had had quite a few new members come and go, but never that needed a few extra minutes to introduce. “Her name is Aundreya Chambers and she is coming to us with … a specific skill set that could benefit our investigations. I assure you she is good at what she does-” Hotch started. The unrest in everyones’ eyes was apparent. A specific skill set? Hotch hesitating on the words? What was with this new girl? The curiosity didn’t last long, because a tall, young brunette cut him off.
I liked meeting new people. I had been an extrovert all my life and having to talk to people was kind of a survival skill for me at this point. When my whole life burned down in front of me, I never thought I’d make it this far. In life and to the age of 24. But now the FBI had asked me to assist their top team in the bureau. The BAU. I was supposed to start work with them on Monday, but I figured I would stop by the office to just let them know that I would be joining them. I was going to ask Aaron about it, but I figured if they were already there to do paperwork, what was the harm in showing up? I walked into the bullpen just to notice that the section of desks where I knew the team members were supposed to sit were empty. I looked around and saw them all gathered around in a meeting room. Shit, I guess maybe they do have a case. But what the hell I might as well see if I can catch them quickly before they leave.
“Please, stay here,” I turned to my guard that was supposed to be with me 24/7. I hadn’t done a good job earning the trust of the government to say the least, so they wanted someone ‘escorting’ me everywhere. It felt like a sick version of babysitting.
“You know I can’t do that,” he replied.
“C’mon Dalton. You can watch me walk up those steps and then I will be in a room full of FBI agents. I think they can handle me from there,” I pleaded. I really didn’t want my first impression to be ‘that girl with the guard.’ He looked at me suspiciously, but nodded his head in agreement. I walked up the back steps and heard Aaron speaking. “She is coming to us with ... a specific skill set that could benefit our investigations.” Is he introducing me? Without me here? Whatever it was that he was about to tell them about me, I probably didn’t want them knowing. “I assure you she is good at what she does-”
“Bullshit,” I cut him off, entering the room. All eyes turned to me, filled with confusion and shock. I smirked at Aaron, “I’m great at what I do.” If there was one thing I loved, it was the element of surprise. And eliciting a reaction out of people.
“Aundreya. What are you doing here?” Aaron stared at me.
“I guess we both had the same brilliant idea. I figured if I’m going to be joining your team, I might as well meet them on a day that is hopefully less taxing,” I flashed him a smile. I directed my attention to the dark handsome man, leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was checking me out. “I hope he’s doing me some justice,” I joked, referencing what I hoped was what little Aaron had told them about me.
He let out a low whistle. “No. He. Is. Not. Derek Morgan,” He gave me a bright smile at that comment, and I couldn’t help but admire his pearly whites. The blond sitting next to him just rolled her eyes.
“Hey, cool it hot stuff. If anyone should be ogling right now, it’s me. I mean, is it a requirement of your team to be super attractive or something? Damn,” I said, scanning the people sitting around the table. They were all smiling, some confidently and some shyly, but all smiling. Well, except for Aaron. “Plus, I barely know you.”
“Ah? What’s the big deal?” Those chocolate brown eyes peered right into me.
“The big deal is that I’m 24,” I raised my eyebrows at him. Despite his phenomenal features, I could tell he might be just a little outside my age range.
“Like that’s ever mattered to him,” the brunette sitting in front of me mumbled. Tall, dark, and handsome rolled his eyes.
“Twenty-four huh?” he asked me.
“Yeah. I guess the FBI doesn’t really like to hire any younger than that,” I sighed.
“They hired me at 22,” a new voice from the table stated way too casually. I looked over to identify the source, and saw it was a shaggy haired young man. I studied his features: his sharp jawline, defined cheekbones, wavy brown hair. Attractiveness is definitely a requirement, I thought. I couldn’t quite see his eyes, though. He was too busy looking down at his hands. I feigned betrayal as I looked over to Aaron. “Why is he more special than me?”
“Well, he is a genius,” Aaron replied, as if it was the most natural and obvious answer. I arched an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” genius said, detecting my skepticism. “I have an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and can read 20,000 words per minute.” My jaw hit the floor. I looked around at the rest of the team who were unfazed. I tilted the corners of my mouth down, as if I were in thought. “Yeah, no, I guess that is a pretty valid reason, yeah,” I spouted.
“Plus, he has three PhDs and three BAs,” the darked haired Italian man said. I recognized him. I thought his name was something-Rossi. Dan? Don?
“Not to mention he’s basically our expert in everything,” Derek said.
“Well, not everything,” the blonde in quite the extravagant, pink, flowery, outfit said. That must be Penelope Garcia. I’d heard of her. Well, not of Penelope Garcia, but I had heard plenty of things about the Black Queen.
“My bad, baby girl.”
I put my hands up in surrender. “Well, I guess that’s a wrap then. I don’t know what the hell you are hiring me for,” I teased. A slight blush was starting to spread over the genius’s face while the rest of the team laughed. “Is this how it always feels?”
“You’ll get used to it,” Rossi said.
I looked over and finally made eye contact with the genius in question, getting to admire his gorgeous eyes. I’d never seen brown eyes with so much gold in them before. They suited the rest of his majestic-looking features perfectly. “I wouldn’t say I’m an expert in everything, just knowledgeable in my fields,” he humbly added. Fields. As in more than one. Jesus.
“Hey! I’m an expert in my field,” I shot back at Aaron with wide eyes, still trying to accuse them of not hiring me earlier. He just raised his eyebrows at me. It’s like his face was set in stone, determined not to smile.
“Yeah, and what field is that, exactly?” Derek asked. Aaron looked at me expectantly. I shifted my gaze to meet the rest of the teams’.
“Investigative science,” I said without faltering.
“Oh, really?” genius asked. “That’s an uncommon and somewhat specific major. What university did you attend?”
I racked my brain for one that I had researched earlier in high school that might have an investigative science major. “Syracuse. You?” I asked, desperate to shift the attention off of me. He squinted his eyes at me. “CalTech and MIT. I don’t believe Syracuse has an investigative science major.”
“Wow. And you’re right. It doesn’t. It’s a certificate program paired with their forensic science major. I just say that because I feel like I got a lot out of it,” I quickly corrected. I was going to have to be a lot quicker on my feet if I wanted to slip anything by these people. Especially the smart one. “Huh. Yeah, I don’t think so,” he said to me, confidence building. “Syracuse doesn’t have a certificate program either.” Shit . I looked over to Aaron, whose lips were tugging at a smile. Great. The only time he’s enjoying himself is when I’m being exposed. I clicked my tongue and bit my bottom lip. “I’m not going to be able to lie with this one around, am I?” I asked, ignoring the slight shock coming from the rest of the team.
Aaron gave a small smirk and replied, “No. You’re not. That’s why I’m going to want him around you at all times.” I looked back to the rest of the team.
“But I got the rest of you, didn’t I?” I got blank stares, which was enough of an answer for me.
“So where did you go to school?” the genius was back at it. I whipped my head to look at Aaron again. “So I mostly got him. If only he didn’t know basically everything.” Now everyone was confused. “I didn’t go to college, hun.”
“Then what did you do?”
“Actually, I got an internship with a private investigative firm while I was in high school. I must have done a good job because they hired me right after graduation,” I got nods from the team, a few hesitant to believe me, so I decided to add a little bit more. This story was at least a bit closer to the truth. “I quickly started moving up the ranks, but I always knew that the FBI was my ultimate goal.”
“Guys,” Aaron said. We looked over at him. “She’s still lying to you.”
I let my hands fall to my thighs with a slap. “Really, Aaron? Is it absolutely necessary for you to ruin all my fun?” I asked, eyes bugging out of my head. Why couldn’t he just let them believe this?
“Fun? Lying to us is fun for you?” Derek asked, clearly as irritated as I was. Only difference was, he was irritated at me. “Seriously, Hotch, what the hell is going on? First, you send a weird message to all of us telling us to come in here early because you have something ‘important to tell us,’” quoting the air. “Then, you are introducing this new girl in a weird way, hesitating with vague wording, and then this chick shows up and starts lying to us? For fun? Who is she?” I looked over at Aaron, or I guess Hotch as Derek calls him, and he asked, “Do you want to tell them, or should I?”
“Why? When they first meet me they aren’t going to dump all their deepest, darkest secrets within the first five minutes.”
“No, but this is part of your credentials. They have to trust you.” The moment he said it, I could tell he regretted it.
“Trust me? Trust. Me? You do realize how ironic that statement is right?” I was beyond irritated. Yeah, telling them my ‘credentials’ is definitely going to make them trust me. I could tell by the look on his face that I had him on that one.
He sighed. “Do you want to be a part of this team or not?”
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Then tell them the truth.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, because you reacted so spectacularly when I told you.” We stared each other down for what felt like hours before I made up my mind. I wasn’t getting out of this, and at least if I told them, I might be able to give them the bare minimum and still check off Aaron’s box of ‘Truth Told.’
I sighed, then took a deep breath, ready for this to be over as soon as possible. “I lived on the streets for 7 years, joined a gang, quickly became a high ranking official, got appointed to lead the Investigative and Spy division, was better known as ‘The Figure’ which should be ringing bells with you,” I pointed to Derek, “and possibly you,” I gestured to the genius. Who knows what he might know? “I then started my own underground ring of elite criminals, got thrown into the number one rated, maximum security prison, escaped, at which point the FBI decided that they would rather stop wasting energy hunting me and would rather work with me.” I put my hands out, palms up, and dramatically tilted my head to look back at Aaron. “Did I miss anything?”
The room went dead silent. The blonde in more FBI-looking clothes gaped at me and turned to Aaron. “Is this for real? Tell me she’s still lying to us?” He slowly shook his head. That’s when the uproar started. The brunette was the first one that could get a full sentence out without anyone else interrupting.
“Are you kidding? You want us to work with potentially the most dangerous criminal in the nation?”
“I prefer the term ‘effective loop-hole finder,’” I said with a wink.
Aaron looked at me with daggers. “Aundreya. You’re not helping.”
“No. Of course not. I was the one who tried lying to them, remember?” which just caused another wave of outraged comments. Derek was the next to find enough air space.
“I am not going to work with someone like her!”
I erupted in laughter. I couldn’t help it. I drew all the attention to myself, which this time, I was glad to have. “Someone like me? I’d take a good look at your company before you say that. Last time I checked, your bestie over here hacked into the FBI and that’s how she landed herself the job. So what? It’s okay for her to work with you but not for me?” I questioned. That stopped everyone in their tracks. All gazes turned towards Garcia, who was looking at me like a hurt puppy.
“H-How did-how did you know that?” she asked me.
“I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect by that. I’m actually a big admirer of your work. I mean, you aren’t exactly what I had pictured when I’d heard the Black Queen went to work for the FBI, but hey, I’m still a fan,” I extended my arm out to her, dodging her question. The first person other than the genius that I fully respected. She also seemed the most willing to connect to me and at least pretend to be nice. She started to reach for my hand when Derek spoke up again.
“Don’t shake this bitch’s hand,” he scolded. Penelope quickly retracted her hand. I looked down at mine.
“Damn. Okay then,” I said, moving towards the door. I stopped next to Aaron and placed a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened at my touch. “The truth. Just tell them the truth, Aundreya. It will help them trust you,” I mocked, in my best Aaron Hotchner impression. He looked at me with disappointment and I rolled my eyes. “Just remember this the next time I suggest we lie to someone.” I gave him two small pats on the shoulder before continuing my path to the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Hotch questioned.
“Out,” is all I offered.
“You know you can’t just leave without supervision.”
“I’m fully aware,” I spat, reaching for the door handle. Derek put his hand on the door keeping it shut, towering over me. I knew what he was trying to do, and it wasn’t going to work. He was definitely not the most intimidating person I’d ever gone to bat with. Not even the first agent. I looked up at him, leaning forward. “Do me a favor, would you? Remove your large-ass hand from my exit.”
“Not a chance,” his voice was a barely audible growl. “You heard Hotch.”
“Have you forgotten? I just told you I escaped a supermax prison. Trust me. If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t,” I dropped my voice to match his. Even though it was just above a whisper, the whole room could hear me. “Plus, it seems like you all have quite a bit to talk about. Without me here. So I might as well go wait over there, next to my escort.” The team looked out the widow to where Dalton was standing.
“One guard? The government really thinks that’s gonna do it?” Derek questioned. Aaron only shrugged.
“That’s what I’ve been saying, but as you can imagine, they don’t really want to hear my opinion.” There was odd tension going through the room as the team continued to learn more and more about me, using their skills to make unwanted assumptions. “Look. Right now my options are to run, landing me back on the streets, in prison, or worse, the chair. Or I could go sit out there and hope you all figure it out, landing me a job in the FBI. Which one do you think I’m hoping for, huh?” I directed my attention back to Derek. He slowly removed his hand from the door, his intense eye contact never wavering. “Thank you.” I tried to add as much salt to my voice as possible. I walked out, leaving the team staring after me. “Let me know what you decide,” I yelled behind me, not even bothering to turn back around to face them.
Derek shut the door. The room was filled with heat and tension.
“Hotch,” Derek started.
“I apologize. I did not know that she would be coming in today, and that is not how I wanted to handle her introduction,” Hotch said before Morgan could finish whatever it was he was going to say.
“Hotch, it’s not your fault. She just showed up unannounced,” Prentiss consoled.
“Yes, I know. I just wanted you to have a better first impression of her, because while she has been in a lot of trouble, she isn’t a terrible person,” Hotch said.
“She is right about one thing though. We do have a lot to talk about,” Rossi joined in. “Why don’t you tell us more about her specific skill set?”
“Well, like she told you all, she lived on the streets for 7 years, where she joined one of the highest profile gangs of all time. The-”
“The Cloaks,” Derek finished. “That was the biggest gang in Illinois when I was working for Chicago PD. They had been going strong for so long and no one could ever take them down. Then talk of someone known as The Figure started popping up all the time. Apparently, they knew everything about everything. Including the police and FBI. If we could catch The Figure, we would basically have an in to all of the knowledge on the streets. Or at least an expensive bargaining chip.”
“Yeah but no one was ever able to find this person. They evaded capture on six different occasions, and even turned an FBI trap into their own trap, which ended in the gang threatening the police department and the FBI to leave them alone or the next time wouldn’t end as peacefully,” Spencer recited.
“We even sent in an undercover officer, Christina, to join the gang and try to scope out The Figure. The gang was notorious for killing anyone undercover from the department or from another gang, yet for some reason when her cover was blown, she was let go without a scratch. She told me that she was drugged, brought into a basement room where, who she assumed was the leader and The Figure, stood wearing masks waiting for her to wake up. That’s when Christina realized that The Figure was a young girl, just based on her stature and diction. The Figure told the leader to let her go as some sort of statement, and the leader completely complied. It’s like she was the one in charge the whole time,” Derek informed the rest of the team. If they weren’t already uneasy, the thought of a young girl, one they were about to work with, having that much power over a dangerous gang leader definitely did it.
“I don’t know, guys. I’m not sure I like the idea of working with the same type of person that we are supposed to be catching and putting away,” Spencer said.
“I understand that. I am getting quite a bit of pressure from above to accept her into this team, but I told them that if we were at all uncomfortable with it, or things weren’t working out, I would push back,” Hotch responded.
“Guys,” Penelope’s soft voice squeaked. “She’s right though. How is it fair that you were okay letting me onto your team and not her? We were practically the same.”
“Don’t say that. That is not true. You two are way different,” Morgan insisted.
“How, though? We both came from the street working with bad people. Why should I get the chance to use my skills to be helpful if she can’t?”
“Well you didn’t land yourself in a supermax prison. The kinds of things you have to do to get yourself put in one of those…” Derek trailed off.
“Plus, you were already using your hacking skills for good while on the streets, trying to stop bad people from doing bad things. I doubt she’s been doing that so far,” JJ chimed in, trying to comfort Penelope who was clearly already starting to doubt herself.
“What do you think, Hotch?” Emily asked. “I mean, how much do you know about her? Do you even trust her?”
“I know her history. I’ve met her a few times prior to this. Gideon and I actually consulted her a few times in cases that were really tough. He was the one who introduced me to her,” Hotch replied.
“Wait, what? Gideon knew her? And introduced you to her?” The shock was evident in Spencer’s voice. There almost seemed to be a hint of betrayal.
“Yes, he did,” Hotch said.
“How did Gideon know her?” Spencer asked.
“I think that is a story for another time, and probably one she should choose to tell you.” Looks were thrown around in reaction to that statement. “But whenever we consulted her, she did always give us information that was helpful.”
“But do you trust her?” Emily probed. Hotch’s hesitation was all they really needed for an answer.
“No. To be honest with you, I don’t. But I do trust that she can help us advance our investigations,” Hotch answered. The room was silent as they all took in the information they had heard within the last half hour, trying to process how they would feel working with Aundreya Chambers.
“Okay,” Emily said.
“Okay?” Hotch questioned.
“Okay. If you and people above you think that this is the best option, and you really believe she can help us save lives … okay.” The rest of the team stared at her.
“If we agree to this, what does that mean? You said she needed someone with her at all times?” JJ asked.
“Yes. She would always be paired with one of you, which isn’t a new idea. For the first couple of cases, she would probably stay at the precinct working with plenty of people around. After that, as long as she continued to prove that she could be trusted not to bolt the minute we weren’t looking, the restrictions would be loosened,” Hotch answered.
“Sure,” is all JJ said with a nod.
“I am also okay with it as long as everybody else is,” Rossi said. Hotch turned to look at Garcia.
“You know I am in support of it, sir,” she said shyly, trying to avoid the two holes being burnt into the side of her skull by her best friend. That left Morgan and Reid.
Knowing that it was probably his turn to speak, Morgan said, “I still don’t know. I don’t like the idea of working with a criminal. And a really good one at that. It makes me uncomfortable to have to rely on someone like that.”
“You seemed pretty comfortable with her earlier,” Emily countered, with a sly smile, and a quick raise of the eyebrows. The team could always count on her to try to lighten the mood.
“Yes! That was before I knew she was a criminal!” Derek snapped back. Emily just shrugged. “So you really think she can help us?”
“Yes. I do think she can,” Hotch said.
“Alright. Fine,” Morgan said in defeat, skepticism still lingering in his voice.
“That leaves you, Reid,” Hotch said. They all turned their attention to him. He was back to looking at his hands, unresponsive.
“Hey, kid, you heard what Hotch said. We won’t do it if even one of us feels uncomfortable about it,” Derek said, putting a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “Are you okay with this?”
Spencer just nodded, barely glancing up to meet Derek’s eyes.
“Are you sure? What’s going through your mind?”
“Nothing,” Reid replied, swallowing. He started nodding again. “I’m good.”
So it was settled. The new girl would be joining their team.
It was agonizing waiting for them to make a decision. The introduction would have been a lot better if Aaron had just let me lie to the team. I wasn’t planning on lying to them for the entire time I was there, but just long enough so that I could earn their respect, that way there would be something to soften the blow. But he just couldn’t leave things alone.
As I dramatically exited the room, Dalton just smirked at me, knowing damn well by the look on my face that it didn’t go well. I gave him a look that portrayed the message ‘say one word and die’ because I really didn’t feel up for his pleasant commentary.
I needed to get up and do something, so I decided I would walk to the bathroom. I didn’t actually have to go, and though I would never admit it, it was just something I did when I got nervous. And when I wanted Dalton off my back for a few minutes. I needed a couple moments by myself to collect my thoughts. I guess that’s what four years in and out of solitary will do to a person. I had barely opened the bathroom door to make my return to the bullpen when I was shoved up against the wall. My instincts kicked into high gear and I grabbed the man’s arm twisting it behind him, slipping out from under his grasp and forcing him to the floor. By the time I realized I had just pinned Derek Morgan, Aaron already had a hand on me helping me off of him.
“Oh, uh, sorry,” I quickly said. I put my hand out offering to help him up, but as expected, he’d probably rather die than accept my help. Hotch asked if we were both okay and we both nodded, mumbling ‘I’m fine.’
“Ho-ly, shit,” the brunette laughed. “You have got to teach me how to do that. She put you flat on your ass in like three seconds!”
“Shut up,” Derek spat, obviously embarrassed.
“What just happened? Why was I being attacked?” I asked her.
“Well we came out to let you know that you were officially a part of our team, but then you weren’t there so we thought you had run off. I guess he didn’t get the memo from Hotch that we probably shouldn’t catch you off guard,” she laughed again. “I guess I now understand why.”
“Officially a part of your team?” I questioned. Had she really just said that?
“Smoothe, Emily,” the blonde said from behind her.
“Oops. Sorry. Well, now you know,” Emily said. It was nice to finally put a name to the face.
“That’s great news,” I said. Derek scoffed behind me. I added, “Well, for me anyway.”
Emily shot him a look. “Did you learn that move on the streets?”
“Yeah. One of the many fun things I learned during my years out there,” I said. I guess she could tell that I wasn’t going to elaborate further, so she helped change the subject.
“I’m Emily Prentiss,” she said, extending her hand. I shook it, grateful to finally get official introductions.
“Jennifer Jareau.”
“Penelope Garcia.”
“David Rossi.” David! That was his first name!
“You know who Derek Morgan is already...” Prentiss said.
I gave a single laugh. “Yeah. We’ve met.”
“...and that over there is Doctor Spencer Reid,” Emily finished. Doctor Spencer Reid. It had a nice ring to it. He shyly raised his hand in a small wave and I returned it.
“Germ thing?” I whispered. There was a hint of surprise in her eyes before she answered with a single nod.
“You’re quick,” she commented.
“I try,” I replied.
“Well, this has been fun, but I’ve got paperwork to do,” Derek said, excusing himself from the situation. I rolled my eyes at his back, but couldn’t completely hide the pleasure I got when I saw him lightly rub his arm.
“He’s right. We should all be getting back to work,” Hotch announced to his team members. They trailed back to their desks, just out of sight. I turned my attention towards Aaron.
“So … how much of that was a team vote and how much of that was a superior vote?” I asked.
“I’m not sure it matters all that much. You are on the team now. We will see you Monday?” he said, not actually answering my question.
“Absolutely,” I said. Aaron turned to leave but I stopped him. “Does this mean I can ditch Romeo over there?” I made sure I said it loud enough for Dalton to hear. He wasn’t amused.
“No. Not yet. When you are with us, there will be no need for him, but whenever we return home, he will be back to escort you,” Aaron replied.
“That is fantastic news,” I said, sounding bored. I walked toward the elevator and Dalton met me there. “I look forward to starting with your team on Monday.”
Hotch nodded at me and turned away as the elevator doors shut.