Connecting the Dots
AN: The last word 2x09
So I've decided to overhaul this story, I wasn't particularly happy with how certain bits were written seeing as I wrote some chapters nearly two years ago. So I will be editing the chapters and going for a more slow burn effect, hopefully, while also being somewhat realistic. I will try and go by episode. I am also taking down "Connected", as it doesn't actually feel all that connected and is quite poorly written, I wrote for the sake of writing rather than focusing on what I want the story to be like and how I want it to progress. It began to feel unoriginal to me and just a mash up of several fan fictions but poorly written. Please let me know your thoughts on this! Also thank you to those who informed me I had the wrong season, that's fixed and hopefully now the paragraphs are more spaced out as well!
Chapter 1:The newest addition to the team
"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." – Dale Carnegie
The smartly dressed woman sat on the hard plastic chair while trying to resist picking at the hangnail on her thumb. She had never been good at waiting, as a child she moved from place to place, always looking forward to the next thing. Every job she that she undertook was temporary, up until then, sitting in that hard plastic chair. For the first time she had a shot at permanency.
For someone unaccustomed to being idle the twenty minutes felt more like twenty hours. The ticking of the clock becoming a metronome inside her head, riling up her nerves as it slowly ticked on. She was focused intently on the steady beat of the ticks, so much so that she missed the arrival of the agent she had been awaiting. She watched him stride through the office as if on autopilot. Hastily she gathered her box and paperwork and followed behind him.
Faced with a closed door she hoped it wouldn't be a premonition of her attempt to ingratiate with the seemingly tight knit team. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to concentrate on steadying her breathing and effectively her nerves. It helped slightly, with a mix of nerves and excitement she plastered a bright smile on her face and knocked on the door.
"Hi", Emily said and she tried to navigate into the room with her cumbersome accessories.
"Hi", he mirrored her response.
"Agent Hotchner?" she enquired, despite knowing full well who he was. Despite having the upper hand in the conversation by already knowing with whom she was speaking her breath hitched in her throat with nerves.
"Yes", came the curt response.
"I'm Agent Emily Prentiss." He extended his hand,
"How do you do?" then recognition sparked in his eyes, "Oh you're Ambassador Prentiss' daughter, I did security clearances for your mother's staff; it was one of my first commands. I believe you were off to Brown at the time?"
"Actually it was Yale"
"Ah"
"I've been in the Bureau almost ten years now." A look of incredulity passed his face,
"Don't tell me it's been that long", he half- laughed, his face illuminated, the bags under his eyes suddenly not so visible, Emily couldn't help but notice the lack of smile lines however.
Emily was mesmerised by the transformation, from reserved to cordial before she realised she'd paused a bit too long to respond.
"Apparently sir, but I work mostly in the mid-west, St. Louis, Chicago", she blurted out still smiling a bit too bright, nerves jangling inside her.
"Good, your parents well?" She had not anticipated the conversation to go this way and an inkling of doubt wound itself around her stomach.
"Yeah, yeah they're great", she responded her smile fading a little.
"Excellent", he paused as if at a loss for words, "what can I do for you?"
She fervently hoped he was joking, the lack of laugh lines made her highly doubt this though. As the cord of doubt tightened around her she managed to say,
"Um, well I was hoping you could tell me where to put my stuff."
His brows furrowed as confusion clouded his face, "I'm sorry?"
The cord around her stomach disappeared, leaving her winded.
Once again she tried to get a grip on her breathing, to little effect,
"I-I'm supposed to start here today at the B.A.U.", she managed to stutter.
"There's been a mistake", any trace of the warmth that had been in his voice had completely vanished.
"I don't think so, sir", she replied boldly, hoping that this was all some big misunderstanding.
"There's definitely been a mistake", he replied instantaneously.
Emily bit the inside of her cheek as she felt tears threatening to overflow, a combination of frustration and disappointment, at whom she wasn't sure. Before she could place the blame on anyone her train of thought was interrupted by a soft knock on the ajar door.
"Oh, s'cuse me, uh we're getting started", an attractive young woman directed at Agent Hotchner. Her large, almost infant-like, eyes flicked between her supervisor and the guest in his office.
"Thank you, I'll be right there. I didn't approve this transfer Agent Prentiss, I'm sorry for the confusion but you've been misinformed, excuse me, it was very good to see you again", he said this all in one breath before striding out of his office without her.
"Uh", was all Emily could muster as she tried and failed to keep up with the man striding away from her as she wondered if he ever walked at a pace she could keep up without breaking into a light jog.
After being personally dismissed hearing herself being discussed by Agent Hotchner with another agent only added salt into the deep wound her ego took. The man was older but appeared to be of equal ranking. He at least tried to keep his voice down and the furtive looks to a minimum.
"Did you approve a new transfer?", Agent Hotchner joined the other profiler.
"No, I would've discussed it with you", the elder agent responded.
"She's got the paperwork to join the team".
The other agent's eyebrows rose at this as he offered, "Huh, you want me to make a call?"
"No", Hotchner replied curtly, "I'll look into it", and with one more disapproving look at Emily he disappeared from her view.
With a heavy heart she drove to her new apartment, which had yet to feel like a home, not that she'd know what that felt like exactly. As ever she had a contingency plan in place, she hadn't unpacked many of her boxes and could be back to St. Louis or Interpol by the next day. She resisted the urge to slam the door of her apartment, settling instead for flinging her keys across the room. A strangled scream escaped from her throat, followed by a few dry sobs. She refused to shed a single tear, it was only a job after all, a job she had coveted since being in the academy.
She longed for a drink, a strong one. Her barren apartment offered no such relief. Emily didn't want to face people particularly either and settled for comfort food and trash reality TV, which served as a good distraction to her train-wreck of a day until the title sequence for the next show flashed up on the screen. "16 and Pregnant", was emblazoned on the screen, her stomach twisted uncomfortable a combination of the junk food and guilt. These teens were able to go through with something she had not and she both admired and envied them. Before the programme could begin she dulled the screen and resolved not to be a coward. With a plan beginning to form in her mind she got up from her couch and left the junk food behind her.
Yet again Emily found herself on the opposite side of an office door. There would be no calming breaths this time instead she knocked and waited till she heard a woman reply,
"Enter." At the summons Emily purposefully entered the office and addressed the woman, "Section Chief Strauss", she said politely as she shook the older woman's hand.
"Agent Prentiss, what can I do for you? Are you settling in alright?", Strauss asked. Emily braced herself, "Well ma'am, there appears to be a problem with my paperwork, my supervisor didn't receive it before my arrival and it's caused a bit of uh a hiccup over authenticity."
"How could this have happened? Typical Hotchner so unwilling to accept change", she grumbled on like this for a while until she said, "Don't worry about it, I'll do the paperwork myself this time and make sure it gets to him."
Emily nearly collapsed in relief but there was just one more thing she had to get out of the way first. It had been in the back of her mind since she got the job. "I have one more question to ask, if I may, ma'am." Strauss inclined her head and said, "Go on."
"Did my mother have any hand in my procuring of this position ma'am?"
Strauss smiled, "I was wondering when you were going to ask that, but no she didn't have any hand in it, I received an excellent recommendation from one of your former colleagues and thought you'd be the best person to fill the void in the B.A.U. after the departure of Agent Greenaway." Emily was stunned and managed to get out, "Thank you ma'am, I won't let you down."
"I feel you'll be an excellent addition to the unit, they need to learn to adapt", Strauss replied. "Thank you ma'am", Emily repeated before she left the room with a mild sense of foreboding.
By the time she'd gotten home, however, she was ecstatic it was just a miscommunication with administration and her mother hadn't used her influence to get it. It was solely because of her hard work, she didn't have to feel burdened by her surname and the connotations attached to it. All that was left to do was convince S.S.A. Aaron Hotchner.
So for the third time that week she found herself at the B.A.U. offices. She was feeling optimistic again after her meeting with Strauss and some much needed retail therapy. He wasn't back from their latest case yet but she didn't mind waiting. The new paperwork had been dropped off along with a new case file about a serial killer in Indiana. She had already constructed a profile by the time Agent Hotchner arrived back at his office.
"Well this is it", she thought, "Time to prove myself." As the Agent walked into his office he detected her presence and his shoulders sagged when he saw her.
"Please tell me you haven't been here for the last four days", he said wearily. She tried to take his grouchiness as tiredness rather than a personal affront.
"I heard you were flying back tonight", she replied.
He said guardedly, "How could you have heard a thing like that?"
She handed him her new paperwork in response and said, "This was dropped off today." He appraised the file in his hand, and she could already sense his dismissal,
"I appreciate your interest agent but profiling is a speciality we can't just let anyone in who wants to give it a whirl," he said rather harshly.
Irritated by his presumption that she wasn't suited, Emily decided to show off a little,
"The I-80 killer? Co-eds in Indiana?" she questioned.
"Yes I read it on the plane", he answered unaware of where she was going with this. Without skipping a beat she started reciting the profile she'd put together.
"They aren't blitz attacks, this guy's organised, white male early thirties and a smooth talker too because even after eleven victims he can still convince educated women to get into his car."
She knew she'd sparked his interest when he challenged,
"How would you advise the police?" She was prepared for this as she replied without hesitation. "I would stake out The Ranch House, a popular night club in Geary they have a very popular ladies night on Thursday's."
She paused, took a deep breath and said imploringly, "This isn't a whirl Agent Hotchner. I don't know how the paperwork got screwed up. Or maybe you believe my parents pulled some strings, which they didn't by the way", she hastily added. She continued every nuance sincere, "I belong in this unit and all I'm asking you for is the chance to show that."
"I still need to look into this, I'm not promising anything", he said brusquely. At least he hadn't rejected her again so she replied instantaneously, "Understood", trying to remain composed.
"We brief new cases every morning at ten am, you can see facilities management about a desk", he said back to his business like tone. With that she knew she was dismissed.
"You won't be sorry", she added on her way out biting her lip in an attempt to hold back what would have been a heart stopping smile.