Chapter Text
“You’ll be on the sixth floor. Go through the glass doors and ask for agent Hotchner, someone will show you where his office is.”
This was it. The moment I had been waiting for since I first decided where my career path would lead me. After all the paperwork, getting citizenship, getting through my undergrad and the FBI academy, Jason Gideon was finally making good on the promise that when I was ready I could join the BAU. And boy, was I ready as I’d ever been.
I walked into the elevator alongside a man that looked to be the same age as me. I say man very liberally, as I was only 23, much younger than any other FBI agents, and alongside his young age, the guy nervously tapping his fingers on the sides of his legs was also about half my body weight and had a face I could only describe as “cute”. He shifted nervously as the doors of the elevators closed, but he turned to me and smiled.
“What floor?” he asked, clearing his throat before he spoke. He had a charming voice, very clear and with a nice tone, but he didn’t seem too sure of himself like he wasn’t used to being listened to.
“Oh, sixth,” I answered, smiling back at him, “I’m starting at the BAU today, hence the boxes.”
“You must be agent y/l/n then! I’m Dr. Spencer Reid, but you can just call me Reid if you want. Gideon has told the team about you, Garcia is really excited, I think you might be greeted with cupcakes as soon as we get inside.”
I was a bit taken aback that the man beside me was an agent on top of apparently having a doctorate, but I’m not one to judge a book by its cover, so I just nodded my head to confirm my new teammate’s hunch.
“Yup, that’s me! I’m excited too, I’ve been working to get here for a pretty long time, I’m just glad Gideon could get me into the BAU. I hope I live up to the expectations.”
Spencer nodded, clearly he understood exactly how I felt. Given that we were both seemingly in our early 20s, it looked like Gideon had a lot of pull for getting young agents through into the coveted BAU team positions, and I was sure that that was no easy feat.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll fit right in. I joined the BAU at 22 and I’m still standing. They keep me around for my brain; IQ of 187, eidetic memory and the ability to read 20 000 words per minute.”
He said these things like they were just regular facts about a regular person. I suddenly felt a bit more nervous about my usefulness on the team given that the only other green agent was some kind of supergenius. Sure, I was smart, I graduated high school at 16 and double majored in child development and programming language theory at Princeton, but I for sure couldn’t read 20 000 words per minute or remember everything I’ve seen or read. That would have been a skill I sorely needed in my University education. I was about to respond to Reid when the doors of the elevator opened, ushering us both onto the sixth floor of the FBI’s offices at Quantico.
I readjusted my banker’s box and duffel bag and followed Reid into the hall and through the large glass doors that the receptionist downstairs had described to me. I was immediately greeted by the smell of coffee and the idle chatter of a half-full bullpen. If not for the emblem of the FBI plastered over the manilla envelopes, you might never guess this was anything other than an office. I was about to ask Reid where agent Hotchner was when I heard a voice call my name.
“Agent y/l/n, you’re a bit early! Welcome to the BAU.”
A tall and rather important-looking man was greeting me from the doorway of an office just up a small set of stairs to a walkway that wrapped around the bullpen area. He had on a well-tailored suit and a bright red tie, and he held himself very stiffly, although his presence was a mix of confidence and kindness. I didn’t even need to ask who he was, it was obvious just from looking at him that he was the unit chief.
“Agent Hotchner, it’s wonderful to finally meet you,” I responded.
“Why don’t you put your belongings down on the desk opposite to agent Reid over there,” he gestured towards Reid who waved from behind a stack of file folders on his cluttered desk, “and then you can come up to my office and we’ll get you all settled in.”
I was relieved that my desk was right near Reid’s. I didn’t know him better than anyone else on the team, but at least we had already been introduced briefly so I had a bit of solid ground to stand on in the midst of the complete strangers around me. I dropped off my things and headed towards the door of my new boss, excited and nervous to see what kind of an introduction I was in for.
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The walk up the small flight of steps up to agent Hotchner’s office felt like it took hours. I hadn’t realized how nervous I’d been until right now when all of the preparation was behind me and the real-world version of my long-awaited pipe dream was finally coming to fruition. I took a deep breath and stepped through the door into the office of my new unit chief. He nodded at me politely and gestured towards the chairs that were facing the front of his desk. I gratefully took one of them, situating myself in a way that I hoped displayed the least amount of nervous energy possible. I had half hoped that Gideon would have been in here, but knowing how busy the older agent was, I wasn’t too let down by the lack of his presence.
“I hope you found your way up here ok,” agent Hotchner said.
“Oh, yes sir, I did. I actually ended up in the elevator with agent Reid so it was no trouble at all.”
Agent Hotchner smiled at my mention of Reid. It was clear that the young agent was an appreciated member of the team, and I once again felt the pang of nervousness that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the only other agent that was anywhere near my age or experience. Agent Hotchner, however, was an excellent profiler, and it seemed he picked up on my nervousness and insecurity while I wrung my hands in his office chair.
“The team is very excited to meet you,” he said, “especially our technical analyst Penelope Garcia. It’s not every day that a profiler joins our team who will additionally be joining her in the world of computers.”
I smiled at his gesture of welcome,
“I’m excited to meet everyone too. Gideon speaks very highly of his team.”
The mention of Gideon seemed to shift the conversation over to the task at hand.
“Well he’s spoken highly of you as well, and I’m sure you know his word goes quite a long way given that you’ll be joining the BAU at 23.”
I nodded. Gideon had taken a big risk two times now; once with Reid and once with me. Two agents with little to no experience who were hand-picked by one of the BAU’s best to sit at the table with the big leagues. It was no small feat I’m sure, and I was determined to not make him regret his choice to bring me on.
Agent Hotchner continued, “I won’t sugar coat it, the job you’ve signed on to is difficult in many different ways. Profiling is no easy task, and the emotional toll that the job takes, as well as the time it takes up are, at times, hard to handle. However, given your skills, I’m sure you’ll be able to perform well. For your first few cases, you’ll be mostly shadowing as you learn the duties the job entails, but I do expect you to keep up. Do you have any questions?”
“When will my first case be?”
Agent Hotchner smiled at my obvious excitement and enthusiasm, “Our media liaison JJ brought a case file to me this morning. I’ve let the team know to head to the briefing room as soon as they arrive. I assume you have a go-bag ready?”
I nodded. I had been ready to go out on a case and prove my abilities since I was approved for this job. I just hoped I was as ready as I needed to be.
“Alright then. I have a few things to get ready before we take off. Head over there now and you can meet the rest of our team here at the BAU.”
“Thank you, sir.”
I stood up from my chair and began to make my way towards the door. Agent Hotchner smiled at me.
“Call me Hotch.”