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Maybe Will had gotten too used to morning silence because he completely slept through his alarm and only woke up to the incessant barking of his dogs and car tires crushing the gravel of his driveway. For a split second, he thought it might be Hannibal’s Bentley Arnage, but his brain snapped awake to realize that it was just Jack. Shit , he thought. He threw on some clean clothes and scrambled to brush his teeth, sacrificing breakfast for a good impression. Eh, I’ll have an early lunch.
Climbing into Jack’s Chevy, he leaned against the seat, “You know that I have a car, right?”
The other laughed, “Yeah, but you weren’t answering texts and I don’t know if being late to your first day of work would be a good impression on your section chief.”
“Oh, I don’t think he’d mind.”
He huffed, “Yeah, I guess he does have a soft spot for you.” His face grew serious, “Listen, I had to pull some serious strings to get you three in, especially you . The board was worried about your lack of file but I told them that I was the one that got rid of the shit in the first place.”
“Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is that you have to be on your best behavior when it comes to the higher-ups, Will. They won’t trust you, at least for the first few months,” he stressed.
Will sighed, “That’s fine, thanks for the heads up at least.”
Garcia was the one to see Jack’s car pull in from the window and corralled her friends in the conference room. “Guys! They are all official agents now and they came before us so we have to respect them and be nice ,” she glared pointedly at a few select agents. “Jack is pulling in and he texted me that he was driving Will in so prepare yourselves!”
In Rossi’s opinion, she was way too excited, especially at hell-o’clock in the morning. He was always nice…
“And nice does not mean just inviting them to dinner, you guys! Let’s go meet them at the elevator,” she said, smile evident in her peppy voice.
The team made it to the elevators just in time for the machines to ding, and the doors to slide open, revealing their boss and Will, who trailed behind him like a small child.
“Hey, guys! Garcia made us all come in early to greet you,” Reid stated, giving away Garcia’s secret gesture.
“Hey! Boy wonder,” she hit him playfully on the arm. “So, good morning to you guys, when will the others be coming in?”
“Jimmy’s usually on time but you shouldn’t expect Brain before noon,” Will mumbled.
They all chuckled, despite the surprise at Will talking to them freely.
Jack continued to rag on “I couldn't even tell you the number of times that he almost got fired for being late because he-”
“Hey, don’t lie to them! I was late like twice ,” the subject of their taunts cried from the elevator that they hadn’t noticed opening.
“Sure,” Jimmy said, stepping out behind him.
“ Wow , if I knew that this was how you were going to treat me I wouldn’t have picked you up from the metro station Mister ‘it’s cold’.”
Their banter continued all the way to the conference room where Garcia took the floor instead of JJ. “Our lovely Hotchner has granted us a paperwork day in order to allow or three new agents time to get used to us.”
“You guys obviously don’t have anything to work on so Jack has been elected to give you the tour,” Hotch stated, already leaving the room.
“Wait a minute why me?”
Hotch shot a sarcastic smile, “Why do you think? I have work.”
As Jack stormed out, expecting them to follow him, Brian turned to Will, “This is cool, right?”
“We… We’ve worked here before...” Will replied.
“I know but not with a team this big. Plus, back then everyone thought we were useless.”
“They still do,” JJ laughed, brushing past on the way to her office.
“You guys can pick any desk you want,” Brian went to sit down “ later .”
The day went by fairly quickly after Jack showed them around. The four sat in his office talking about what they did since they all saw each other. Will didn’t have much input besides how his dogs were doing and the fact that ever protective Winston was much happier that Hannibal was out of their lives.
As the group walked back to the elevators at the end of the day, the rest of the agents were, too. Rossi jogged up to them all, panting lightly. “How long has it been since we’ve had a family dinner? I think one might be in order,” he laughed.
Garcia was the first to respond, “Ooh, that sounds amazing!”
“I don’t know Rossi, what are you cooking? You know I just started that diet where I eat literally anything other than your pasta,” Emily joked.
“Haha Emily, laugh about my burnt pasta,” he turned to the new agents, “it was one time,” and back to Emily. “I was going to make my amazing Chicken Florentine.”
“I’m in,” JJ stated.
“Me too,” Reid smiled.
“Obviously, I’ll take any chance to have a meal from Chef Rossi,” Garcia laughed.
“I’ve got nothing better to do,” Derek shrugged
“Well, I guess I’m required to go now, Dave.”
Jack was firm in his statement, “You guys are coming, too.”
Without giving them any chance to reply, Rossi continued. “Alright, see you all at seven o’clock sharp .”
Jack drove him home to change into something more appropriate and feed his dogs, then Will jumped back in and they were on the way. Jack turned to him as he sped down the highway, “Don’t be nervous, they definitely respect you.”
“Jack, I’m always nervous.”
The other gave a hearty laugh and said, “Listen, I’ve known most of these people for a few years and they are good agents and more importantly, good people . They won’t judge you.”
“Like you didn’t?”
“They aren’t like us, Will. They care . So much, and for everyone.”
“Jack, everyone judges people like me.”
“I feel that you will think differently after tonight,” he had a fond smile on his face.
“Okay.” He made no promises but vowed to keep his mind open.
They pulled into a driveway packed with cars in front of a fancy mansion. “Holy shit…”
“I know, that is exactly what I said the first time I was here.” He grasped the keys and stepped out into the night. Will took a deep breath before following, chilly air biting at his face.
Jack gave a hard pound on the door and it immediately opened. “How many times have I told you to just ring the god-damn doorbell? Whatever, get in here before the food burns.” He left to scurry back into the kitchen.
“Hello to you too,” Jack grumbled.
There was a voice behind him and Will nearly jumped out of his skin, moving closer to Jack on instinct. “Sorry,” JJ laughed, “didn’t mean to scare you.” She walked past, toward the kitchen.
Will hung his head, embarrassed by his reaction and Jack put a hand on his shoulder, “You’re fine,” and steered him into the kitchen as well.
He was hit by the stench of cooking meat and almost doubled over. He hadn’t eaten meat since Hannibal, disgusted by the very thought. A forced vegetarian , one could say. He didn’t think about it when Rossi announced what he would be cooking, so now he was paying the price. Refusing to say anything about it, he stood straight, shoving down the instinct to vomit on his shoes, and paid attention to the conversation going on in front of him.
“That man could not take a joke,” someone laughed loudly.
Rossi cut in, “Everyone shoo, shoo, dinner is almost ready.”
Will noticed that Brian and Jimmy, birth far more charismatic than he, were fully engaged in the conversation, laughing at the stories and jokes. It made him feel out of place, and like he was following Jack like a lost puppy.
They went out to Rossi’s backyard, sitting at a table that looked cramped with three extra chairs squeezed in to fit them all. Taking a seat, he tuned in.
“And so I said, ‘Mother? I hardly know her.”
“Morgan, no one thinks that joke is funny anymore…”
“Oh, you’re just jealous that all you have going for you is your little magic tricks.”
“No fighting over the Florentine,” Rossi cried, setting a few dishes out on the table. “Help yourselves.”
Will waited until everyone else had piled food onto their plates before grabbing a serving. He wasn’t paying close attention, only talking when he was asked a question until Jack elbowed him in the ribs, “ Eat Will.”
He huffed, cutting a piece of chicken and stabbing it with his fork. It felt like everyone was watching him as he slid the fork into his mouth, even though they were all paying attention to each other. The taste hit him like a freight train and he was out of his seat in no time, spitting it into a napkin.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, before fleeing into the house in search of a toilet. When Jack found him mere minutes later, he was emptying his stomach into the porcelain bowl, tears almost ready to fall. It would have been fine if it was just him, but the entire team was hot on his trails, now standing in the doorway.
Jack kneeled next to him, “What happened?”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I thought I could eat it…” he said, voice full of sorrow.
“And why couldn’t you?”
“God, it tasted like human,” he cried, leaning back up to retch into the toilet. The tears now fell freely onto his red cheeks, burning with humiliation.
At least Hotch noticed his discomfort, “Guys, let’s leave them alone.”
“Hey,” Jack started, “It happened to me, too. I couldn’t eat meat for almost a year.” He chuckled, but it didn’t make him feel any better.
“Me, too. I never went to his house, so I’ve never… the point is, it’s a pretty fucking normal response,” Brian joked.
Jimmy contributed, “I mean the guy was our friend and we find out that he’s been feeding us that ? No one would have a normal relationship with meat after that.”
“I feel stupid,” Will mumbled.
“You’re fine . You’ll see that this team has their share of 'strange' trauma responses, too.”