Hello everyone! Welcome to the sequel to Que Sera Sera called 'The Sharpest Lives'. Granted, it's not really a 'sequel' but merely a continuation of the first story. I am very excited about this, especially because people have told me that they're interested to see my character Gia in action with the BAU. I am too! This first chapter will be Gia-centric so I hope y'all will bear with me. Also, this story won't make much sense unless you read QSS first. So please do that!
Sad news before we start...AJ Cook is being written off Criminal Minds and Paget Brewster's role is being scaled back significantly! It really makes me angry with CBS. JJ and Emily are just as important to the show as everyone else is (even though I love Reid most). As long as they don't kill JJ, I'll be content. Can you imagine just how awful that would be? I shudder to think of it.
Now that that's been said, I hope you'll enjoy this first chapter of 'The Sharpest Lives'.
Love,
Holly Sophia.
XXX
FBI agent Gia Rosenwood drove her little red Mercury Sable into the first parking spot she could see, putting it into park before she simply sat there. It was almost six o clock in the morning on the first day she officially started as an agent of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. She had utterly no idea what to expect. Honestly, she was amazed that she had been given the job at all. Her field expertise was lacking, though she had graduated at the top of her class at the FBI academy which she supposed gave her an edge. Still, there was another part to the equation. She had only taken a few weeks to deal with the after effects of being kidnapped and tortured in Koty Abbott's basement for those God awful six days and it hadn't helped much. In the hospital where there were always people around and Spencer Reid was recovering from his wounds just down the hall, she felt safe…almost normal even. But when she was released and went back to her apartment, to the place where she no longer felt safe, any sense of normalcy had vanished. She started having nightmares which were so horrible that she abstained from sleep for a long while and hoped to God they would stop. It had been three weeks since her captivity had ended and the dreams continued to plague her.
"This is all happening so fast." She murmured to herself, smoothing out her black and silver pinstripe slacks in an effort to keep calm. It was only a blind hope that she had recovered from her trauma which allowed her to inform Section Chief Erin Strauss about her decision to start working. A true spot of luck kept her from telling her older brother Gabriel about what she'd gone thru or she would have never been able to leave her apartment. He would have flown to Virginia without a thought and locked her in her house for weeks on end. For her own good as he would say.
Gia scoffed. For her own good she'd have been turned into freaking Paul Sheldon.
"Ow." Her head throbbed painfully so she pressed a hand to her forehead. She was terribly achy and tired; really tired if she were honest with herself. It was six in the morning after all but that wasn't the only reason why she felt this way. She had another nightmare last night. It started the same way they all did.
Gia would give Spencer a boost thru the basement window and when he was out; he turned around and reached down a hand to pull her up. The window suddenly vanished, as did her friend, and she screamed for him to help her. And then, HE walked into the room. Koty Abbott's red hair seemed to be on fire and his face was dark with an evil sort of malice. Her eyes widened as she saw the whip in his hand that seemed to grow with every passing second. She ran, ducking under his arm, terror growing as she hurried down the hallway and quickly wrenched a door open. All she could see was beautiful Summer Kivett lying dead on the ground with blood pouring from her gut. Summer opened her green eyes and crawled almost in slow motion on the floor towards Gia.
"Please, no!" Gia begged. "I can make it out of here! I still have a chance!"
Summer grinned maniacally, blood trickling down her face. "You never had a chance. You were dead the moment he brought you here. Just like me."
The raven-haired Summer grabbed Gia's ankle and started dragging her into the darkness of the room. Her body felt so heavy and she couldn't find the strength to fight.
"NO! Let me go!" Gia shrieked, utterly helpless.
Then Koty's voice whispered, "Here little girl. I want to play."
A gun fired and Gia jolted awake, just like she had for the past few weeks. The memory of Koty Abbott may rob her of sleep every night but she wouldn't let him take her career in the FBI from her. There were some things she simply wouldn't compromise over. Gia knocked back a few aspirin and slung her purse over her shoulder, headed for the front doors of the Quantico field office.
XXX
The security check was routine enough considering her time in Kansas City: a full body scan for her and an x-ray for her purse. It took a bit longer to prove to the security guard that she was allowed to carry a gun into the building but she showed him her permission, signed by Chief Strauss herself, and he grudgingly allowed her passage. The main floor wasn't too busy since it was so early in the morning and caused her less stress trying to find the main desk. A woman sat in front of a computer, tapping away on her keyboard as she talked on a headset. The small agent waited quietly until she could talk, staring down at her silver flats.
"Hello, can I help you?"
"Yes, my name's Gianna Rosenwood…Erin Strauss said she'd leave me a pass here?"
The desk lady went searching thru some files and produced a lanyard which had a laminated pass attached to it. Gia pulled it over her head, lifting her auburn hair out of the way. "Can you tell me what floor the Behavioral Analysis Unit is on?"
"Number eight. You can't miss it."
The desk lady had gone back to her phone before Gia could ask anything else. So she searched and found the elevator on the far side of the main floor, quickly getting inside. It stopped on floor number eight and dinged when the doors opened. Not much was happening around here this time of the morning. Beyond the glass doors, there was a janitor vacuuming the floor and a man walking by with a stack of case files in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She wondered—since she'd met them only once—if any of the BAU team would remember or even recognize her. There was only one way to find out.
"Here goes nothing." She murmured to herself.
Gia passed rows of cubicles and walked up a few stairs before coming to a stop in front of the door marked 'Aaron Hotchner'. After knocking several times, she assumed he hadn't come to work yet. However, one of the doors nearby was open and she walked over to it. She recognized the older, dark-haired man who was diligently slaving over some papers on his desk.
"Hello Agent Rossi."
He looked up with vague interest and then surprise. "Gia! Please, come in!"
Gia walked across his carpeted office and sat down in the leather chair opposite his. "How've you been?" He asked her politely.
"Just fine. How are you?"
"Good. Is there something I can help you with…?" He trailed off and Gia realized that Chief Strauss had failed to tell anyone that she started work today. Damn.
"Actually, I was trying to find Agent Hotchner. I'm supposed to meet with the supervisor since I start working here today."
Rossi looked surprised. "Oh?"
Gia nodded. "Yeah. Chief Strauss was supposed to tell Agent Hotchner about it but I guess she forgot."
"She probably did tell him but Hotch went on leave for a few weeks. So I've been put in charge in the meantime. I guess the information didn't make it all the way."
"It was kind of a last minute decision so that might be the reason." Gia explained, feeling silly.
Rossi stood to his feet. "Well, the important thing is that you start working here today. How about I give you a tour of the place?"
"That sounds great, Agent Rossi."
The older man stepped away from his desk, motioning towards the door with his hand. "Please, call me Dave."
XXX
They finished their tour right where they began; Dave's office. Gia was beginning to feel less like a fish out of water and it was only seven AM. "So now what?" She asked the older man.
He regarded her thoughtfully. "We have some case files you could start working on if you feel up to the job."
"What should I be doing exactly?"
"Looking over the evidence…trying to make heads or tails of who our Un-Sub could be."
She looked and also felt confused. "Un-Sub?"
"Unknown subject."
"Okay." She nodded. "I can do that."
Rossi went into his office, producing several case files. "I almost forgot the best part of the tour; follow me." He led her to an empty cubicle comprised of a desk, chair, and computer. "This is yours."
Gia touched the chair with awe, her auburn hair slipping over her eyes. This made it official somehow. Gianna Rosenwood, Kansas City's outcast, was really working at Quantico. A sense of pride filled her and she set the files down on the desk, marking her spot. Rossi tried to slip quietly away but she called out to him. "Dave!"
He turned around, curious about what she wanted. She smiled gratefully as she said, "Thank you." He smiled in return. "You're welcome."
It seemed like Gia had finally found a place in the FBI where she fit. Yet the day was young and the world had more to throw her way. Much more.
XXX
The night before Gia began her first day at the BAU, in the Midwest part of the United States—St. Louis, Missouri to be specific, someone else was awake. He was driving his rusty station wagon to the Chase Colton Public Park around midnight and there were very few people out on the road. The man was rather fidgety but tried to play it cool because he was slightly nervous. If he was caught, no one would understand why he'd done the things he had done. He did it for their own good…anyone could see that. These children were suffering and they had no way of escape. He merely provided them a way to never feel pain again. It was…merciful.
He drove the dirt road into the park as slowly as possible, scanning for anyone who might be hanging around. The only people who would be out here this late were probably gang bangers or lovesick teenagers but he didn't want to be discovered by either of them. His eyes gazed cautiously into the night and spotted the willow that he'd scoped out earlier that morning when his charge was asleep. He inched his car into the parking spot and silenced the engine. There was no noise which he could detect so he climbed out and opened up the trunk, revealing a small form wrapped up in a tarp. Poor little Markie; he felt pity for him. The boy was never meant to be awake when he took his life but he hadn't eaten the food provided for him. What seemed to his angel of mercy as a drug induced unconsciousness was actually natural slumber. He grabbed the tarp in both hands and slowly slid it onto the ground—the boy may have only been sixty or so pounds but he was simply too heavy. Especially when there was the man's bad leg to consider.
The willow tree was absolutely the perfect spot. He was convinced of it as he observed the boy, half exposed in the tarp with his arms folded over his chest. So peaceful, so painless. Mark no longer had to feel pain. But it gutted the man that he had to strangle the boy. 'No, no.' He told himself. 'You had to help him. It's alright. But he wasn't supposed to feel it. None of them are supposed to feel it. If I hadn't done it, he would have screamed and someone would have found out. I had to!'
He held his hands to his head, trying to silence the noise within. His guilt at Mark's death finally won out and he slipped the typed note under the boy's arms. It helped ease the remorse but the voices still lingered.
"Bye Mark." He whispered. "Hope you're happy, wherever you are."
He slid back into the driver's seat and started the car. It was almost one in the morning and he still had many more things to do. The car sputtered a few times before he drove away from Chase Colton Park, his mind set on the next person he was to help. He couldn't help the small smile that came to his face; this is what he was made to do. This was his destiny which he intended to continue until his heart stopped beating.
XXX
I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I was initially reluctant to upload this story because it's too similar to what's going on with the show's characters. Still, I felt that what I owe you is just as important as being respectful and tactful. Let me know what you think please—I always love to hear feedback!
P.S. Extra brownie points for you if you can figure out the reference Gia made in the beginning.