Chapter Text
The Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI was getting a raise in funding and was being required to add another member by higher ups. This meant that Aaron Hotchner was going to have to sift through so many applications. A lot were going to be qualified for the position, so it was going to be in the small details of interviews that make or break these candidates. There were over 100 applications, and he only had time for a few interviews between cases.
Hotch was already overworked and tired, but he was going to have to spend some nights in the office to give each applicant a shot. So many were too young to have realistic hope of making it in the BAU, but he did have Spencer so he couldn’t just write them off because of age.
Finally, after a week and a couple cases, Hotchner had narrowed down to just a handful of people to interview. With that, he had to make some calls and emails to tell the lucky applicants when to come in for an interview.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Your phone goes off in your pocket. You pulled your phone out of your pocket and looked at the number calling, it was unknown but you answered regardless since you had been applying to jobs recently.
“Hello?”
“Hello, this is Agent Aaron Hotchner of the BAU, is this [Y/N]?”
“Yes, this is [Y/FN] [Y/LN]” You responded.
“I am calling to ask if Thursday morning would work for your interview.”
“Yes, that would be perfect, sir.” You said without even thinking of what you had already had planned for Thursday. You would cancel everything for the opportunity of working with the BAU.
“Alright, there will be an email containing all the details you need, I will see you Thursday. Goodbye.” Click. The shortest, yet most important phone call of your life. You felt the excitement bubbling in your chest. You almost forgot where you were, the middle of the sidewalk on your way home from the gym. You hurried home and got cleaned up from your sweaty gym clothes.
“Do I even own anything nice enough for this interview?” You asked yourself, opening your closet. You scanned your closet and yanked out your best white dress shirt and some slacks, but you had lost the suit jacket that matched.
“Shit, I want to look really good for this” You thought. So you started getting dressed in your normal casual clothes and quickly checked yourself out in the mirror. You were starting to grow a little stubble.
“Another victory for today,” you quickly thought before you moved over to your computer to look something up. You needed dress clothes for this interview so you looked up the nearest mall since you’re still new to the area you haven’t learned where everything is yet. You found a mall that was less than a 10 min drive away.
“Okay, go to the mall, get at least one suit, but if I get the job will I have time to get more clothes or should I get them now.” You were now arguing with yourself over clothes. “If I don’t get the job, I’ll just have too many dress clothes, which I guess isn’t too big of a deal..” You didn’t want to waste money on clothes you might not have the chance to wear, you didn’t want to get your hopes too high right now. You already felt too hopeful for the position.
You shook your head and decided to go to the mall tomorrow. For now, you were going to sort your closet into what is and isn’t appropriate for if you got the job. You found that you are really lacking nice clothing, since you had moved. You had moved to Quantico to hopefully get into the FBI again in some way since you had made your focus in college with your Masters in Criminology and Psychology and Bachelors in Law, Sociology and Forensics. You had a confusing employment record due to your previous jobs including being an undercover cop for a short stint and then an attorney for an even shorter amount of time, and for a while you worked with the FBI but had to take a leave for family business. You had been hoping so hard that your employment record that is a little confusing wouldn’t kill your chances at this, and thankfully you’ve gotten the chance at an interview so it didn’t ruin your chances as badly as you assumed.
You busied yourself with sorting the rest of your apartment even though you knew you could be doing something better with your time like practicing interview questions and explaining your strange employment records and your extreme education. You even thought about googling about the agents in the BAU to see if there’s anything you could profile from online. You’re a good profiler, at least in your own opinion, since that is essentially a huge part of your studies that you still are learning online. You looked around your home that was now freshly cleaned and organized. You took a deep breath and checked the time.
10:45 p.m.
You felt like you should probably rest now. It was late enough. You went ahead and went to bed but you stayed up tossing and turning in your bed from the excitement.
The next day at the mall, you headed straight to the menswear stores. You were looking for the cheapest, non-cheap looking options. You picked up a few options for a full 3-piece set, and a few nice dress shirts and trousers to try on. You went to the fitting room and narrowed down your options to be able to make some purchases and be on your way and reviewing things to help you with your interview. It is Tuesday now, and the interview is Thursday.
Aaron Hotchner just flew in from a case on Thursday morning. He barely walked into his office to lay his things down when he saw the first few of his interviews already lining up. He took a deep sigh and settled into his office before welcoming in his first applicant. They seemed to talk excitedly for too long and he already had a headache from being up for 36 hours only sustaining on coffee and adrenaline of the case they just got home from. He dismissed them after only 2 questions. The next few people felt like they dragged on. Finally he got to his last interview for the morning until his later afternoon ones.
You walked into the BAU 10 minutes early. You were guided to the chief's office by the easily marked signage in the building. You saw the line of 2 other people in front you standing by his door. You watched a man walk out and behind him came out Agent Hotchner. The man left the building, and Hotch walked over to go get more coffee.
“That’s his 4th coffee run since I got here.” The woman in the front of the little line said, turning to you and the other person in the line. Hotchner walked back into his office with a fresh cup of coffee and waved the lady in.
She was only in there for 5 minutes before the next person was called in. His time was even shorter, maybe only 3 minutes before Hotch came out obviously tired and ready for another coffee. He swiftly got another small cup of black coffee before letting you into his office.
On his desk, there were 2 major stacks of manilla folders. You could assume that at least one of those stacks was applications but the other looked more like casework that’s building up quicker than it can be taken care of.
“So, [Y/N], you have multiple degrees and continuation of education in Criminology, Psychology, Sociology, Law, and Forensics. You’re still in school and currently unemployed, correct?”
“Yes, sir. I, uh, just moved to the area and had the cushion to take my time to apply.”
“There is a lot of traveling with the job, can you handle that and quick working? We usually keep a to-go bag ready because we may need to leave 20 minutes after even walking in and may not be back for days at a time.”
“That is perfectly fine with me. I looked into the job thoroughly, I don’t apply to things I am not 110% passionate about.”
“We see death often. How well can you handle that? We can’t have a nervous breakdown constantly slowing us down.”
“Sir, with all due respect, I have taken every class possible and have been to many speeches and seen the graphic images. I may get shaken a little the very first time, but it won’t be enough to slow me down.”
The interview continues for a while. You got so much more time in Hotch’s office than the 2 people before you. He seemed so tired and he ran out of questions.
“Alright, well, I have no further questions for you, do you have any for me?”
“I hate to continue keeping you up, since you’re already tired and overworked I can tell, but I have to ask, do you ever go home?”
“Yes, sometimes.” He almost grumbled. “Anything else?”
“No, I’ll only have more questions if I make it and get on the field, and I promise it still won’t get in the way.” You finished your interview. He nodded, shook your hand and walked you out of the building and said goodbye.
Hotchner thought about canceling all his afternoon interviews after interviewing you, he had his pick. He was interested. He decided to let the others have a chance just in case. [Y/N] was shockingly good with his responses and respect, and his resume showed extreme passion for his education in all things relating to working not only just with the FBI but the BAU especially. He was clearly extremely intelligent and would be a workaholic for something he has passion in. Either way, Hotch had many more interviews to sit through today.
Each interview was increasingly more boring than the last and the lack of sleep really was hitting him hard. The interviews dragged on until around 7pm, to which JJ brought Hotch a few case files for him to look over and sign off on for documentation. More work that couldn’t wait in Hotch’s mind. So he stayed and worked. It was 10pm before Hotch looked up and decided he had to go home. It’s the earliest night for Hotch in a while.
You got home from your interview and kept thinking about whether or not you got the job. You felt confident but the more you thought about it the more you beat your confidence down. By 10pm you felt like you absolutely had no shot in the BAU.
You decided to turn on your TV and watch whatever was on because there was no way you were going to manage going to sleep while still ruminating on the job. It was going to be a big change for you if you do get it. A big change is exactly what you wanted.
Eventually you fell asleep at the TV with some sitcom playing. It wasn’t until 10am the next day you woke up to your phone going off.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
“Hello”
“Hello this is Agent Hotchner of the BAU, I am calling to inform you that you have been selected for the position of field agent. Are you still interested?”
“Yes, of course! Thank you sir.”
“Would you be ready to start by next week on Monday, I know it is soon. If you need another week, we can accommodate that.”
“Monday sounds good, I will be in at…?”
“8am sharp. I would suggest packing a to-go bag, our cases take us anywhere at any time. Be prepared, your first day will not be easy.” He sternly ordered.
“Yes, sir. I will see you then.”
“See you Monday, Agent [Y/LN}” Click.
Just like that, you got the job. You were smiling ear to ear. Now that the stress of the what-if being gone, you realized Agent Hotchner has a very serious and yet handsome voice. You’ve been so blurred in the rush of applying to your dream job you haven’t taken note of anything else.
You sat and thought about what you had seen in the office. How each person's desk was organized in a way that reflected their personality and their work ethic. Everyone in the team was obviously dedicated to their work, but none matched Hotchner. That man would marry his job if he could, and it wasn’t necessarily that he loved it like a person, that was clear from the pictures of his son that he’d remind himself to look at every once in a while. He was dedicated though. He tends to overwork himself because he knows his job is so important, more important than him as a person, that he gives everything to do it right.
You decided to let your mind wander and Hotch’s face danced throughout it for the rest of the day. You realized how handsome he was. Maybe you felt that way about your new boss just because he gave you your dream job, just after a day too. He seemed to have had his mind set pretty quickly. Was he decided by just a resume? Surely not.
Oh well, it doesn’t concern you why exactly he chose so quickly. He knows what he is doing. He was a very intelligent man. You didn’t know much about Hotchner, but you felt confident you were going to like him and you were determined to learn as much about him as you could.
Anyways, it was now 12pm. You had been ruminating after the call for so long. You were now hungry and decided to treat yourself to a nice lunch so you got up and got dressed for the day. You grabbed your keys and wallet and headed out the door to the best restaurant you had found since moving here. It was a small family owned restaurant whose desserts were to die for. You settled on a smaller meal since you were hungry but wanted a good sized dessert. Shortly after being seated and having your order taken, your food arrived.
You had ordered a fancy burger and a molten lava cake. You ate up your food slowly and savored every bite of it. You deserved it. You finished up your burger and dug into molten lava cake. The chocolate was melting in your mouth and was delicious. As you completed your whole meal and were paying, you noticed Aaron Hotchner walk in. You silently sipped on the last of your drink as you waited for your waiter to bring back your card and receipt. He made eye contact with you and you suddenly felt nervous. His eyes were stern as he looked at you. He looked to have looked you up and down, but you weren’t positive. He started walking over to you at the same time your waiter came back with your receipt. The waiter handed your receipt and card to you, you signed the receipt and thanked him. When you looked back up Aaron Hotchner was standing at the edge of your table.
“Hello, Agent [Y/LN]”
“Hello sir.”
“Do you frequent here often? I’m not sure what to get.”
“Um, oh, yeah. Almost everything is good, this is my favorite place since I’ve moved here.”
“You’re new to the area, correct? The team will have plenty of recommendations of what’s good around here. What did you have for lunch?”
“I love the bacon BBQ burger, but the dessert is what’s really the atar here. I just had the molten lava cake. I swear they do it perfectly every time.”
“I’ll have to take your suggestion then.”
You smiled at him and he gave a soft smile back. He was beautiful when he smiled, you hoped to see that smile more often.
“Well, it was nice seeing you sir. Thank you. I will see you on Monday.” You said as you stood up.
“Yes, See you then.” He shook your hand as you went to walk past him. You both nodded and you exited the restaurant and returned to your humble abode. The rest of the remained uneventful since nothing could really compare to getting your dream job and seeing your new boss.
It is now Monday. 4am. You could barely sleep. You were by 4am because of nerves. You took a long shower to try and make the time go by a little quicker. When you got out you checked yourself out in the mirror. You slightly outlined the small start of some muscle definition on your arms and trailed down your own chest and found yourself having some embarrassing thoughts. Hotch’s face was still on your mind and you found yourself getting flustered. You shook your head and tried to clear your own thoughts. You grabbed your towel and started to dry yourself off. You pulled your underwear on and walked out into your bedroom. You looked over your outfit that was neatly laid out on your bed. You pulled on your pants and then your button up, you tucked in it and then put on your belt. Before you put on your jacket or socks or shoes you went back into your bathroom and fixed your hair and brushed your teeth. Once you were done in the bathroom, you went back to your bedroom and put on your socks and shoes. You double and triple checked everything in your bags.
You had a to-go bag with clothes and other necessities for last minute stays away from home, and then a bag ready to be filled with paperwork and files and otherwise had some gum and an IPod and earbuds to take for the plane rides if you were to take one. You sat on your bed and checked the time. 6:20am. Still too early to head in. You checked for your phone charger and other little things you wanted to have on you just in case.
You were pacing now. 6:45am. You planned to start making your way over to the office at 7am sharp so you would be arriving at close to 7:30. You still had to waste 15 minutes. You hopped onto your computer and searched what you can on the rest of your team because you wanted to think about more than just Hotch. He stayed in your mind.
In your mind he was walking back and forth in front of you. He would look at you sternly and after a while he would onto a desk that would be fabricated just for this vision. When he leans, he completely towers over you. You felt more and more flustered everytime the action was repeated.
Eventually it was 7am. You slipped on your jacket and grabbed everything you needed. You slung your to-go bag over your shoulder and held the other bag in hand. You slid your phone in your pocket and grabbed your keys and left. You locked the door behind you and slid the keys in with your phone.
Outside your apartment building, you made your way to your car. You unlocked the car as you approached and then opened the front door and laid all your bags into the passenger seat, then followed into the car in the driver seat. Once you settled all your stuff, you turned on the car and messed with the radio until a station you liked came on. Your favorite song played as you began your way to work. You were pretty excited on your way but once you got stopped at a light and the song changed, you noticed your heart started to beat extra fast. You tried to take some calming breaths and relax but being stopped with your nerves was a lot. Looking up you saw the light change to green, and back to focus on driving your nerves eased again.
"I wouldn't have been hired if I wasn't able to do the job" You told yourself aloud. Soon enough that little attack of anxiety felt like the past and you were at the BAUs office.
You parked your car perfectly, as you always do, and gathered all your things as you exited the car. You shuffled your bag on your shoulder so as to not mess up your jacket, and then you made your way in, locking your car behind you.
You took a deep breath as the doors opened. You walked through and went into the elevator to go to the BAU's floor. When the elevator opened it was 7:40am. Everyone looked like they had just arrived a few minutes before you. You saw everyone organized and shuffling through their desks and up top you saw Aaron Hotchner walking back to his office with a cup of coffee.
You made it.