Disclaimer: We all know this, but I still have to say it….I don't own Criminal Minds!
A/N: So, this little oneshot is my first attempt at a Strauss centric fic. Let me know what you think!
She heard them whispering as she walked by, heard them mumble things as she left a room. Some were a bit more vocal while others kept it to themselves or between them and their colleagues, but either way she always heard them. She was well aware of what people called her. Wicked Witch, Mrs. Frost, Ice Queen, Stone Cold, Bitch of the BAU…
Those were just a few of her unofficial titles. Titles she'd earned! She worked like hell to earn that reputation. Stepped on so many toes and walked over so many heads that she didn't bother keeping track anymore. It was the only way, after all, to get where she was today…right?
Of course it was!
Erin Strauss did not second guess herself. Once her mind was made up that was it and very few people would be able to change it. If that made her an evil, blood sucking banshee then so be it. She didn't care, as long as the job was done. Preferably done her way.
They didn't need to know that she did indeed have a heart and that it pumped blood as red as every other human being instead of the machine like organ some people seemed to think she possessed. They also didn't need to know how occasionally she would stop, in a sentimental moment, and just stare at the photo of her and her husband Mark sailing on Lake George that sat on the corner of her pristine desk.
Mark…thinking of him often brought her train of thought to another man. Very few people knew this, but it was in fact David Rossi who had introduced her to her husband. The two men had been good friends at one time and Rossi had once invited him to a BAU after hours party which is where she and Mark first met all those years ago.
Rossi irritated the hell out of her most of the time. He always had and probably always will, with that cocky smirk and his talent for seeing right into a person's head. Most people seemed under the belief that the agent had some sort of blackmail over her.
That wasn't necessarily true. In fact it was the other way around. He may know a few of her darker secrets, but she had more dirt on him then Agent Garcia had hair colors. He knew it too! He just didn't care.
Not only didn't he care that she could embarrass him and maybe even have him kicked out of the FBI, he also didn't mind telling her exactly what he thought about a decision she made. And to top it off he would sit in her office as calmly as if it were his own and give her that look. The look that said he knew what she was thinking and knew, even if she was wearing an emotionless mask, exactly what she was feeling.
Sometimes she'd contemplate tearing out his eyes just to get him to stop giving her that look. Unfortunately, they'd probably fire her for that and she liked her job too much to risk it. There were times when it was almost worth it though.
Like now, for instance. As she slowly walked by the BAU glass doors she glanced into the bullpen. Agents Hotchner, Prentiss, Morgan, Jareau, Garcia, Dr. Reid, and of course David Rossi were all gathered under one of the flat screen television simply talking amicably. As she was walking by, Rossi glanced up, catching her eyes…and smirked.
This time she knew exactly what he was telling her. I told you so. She could practically hear him saying it in his arrogant sing-song voice. He knew what she'd done or more precisely what she hadn't done.
And now he would silently throw it in her face and act as if it were some sort of proof that she was a warm, caring human being. Hardly! Just because she ignored fraternization rules for certain members of the BAU didn't mean she cared about them personally.
It was a political move. There was no need to explain the exact policies involved to him though. He'd probably just read something else into it or completely disregard it…like he usually did with anything politic related. She'd have more luck trying to explain it to Hotchner. At least he respected her position and understood the finance of politics. Most of the time at least.
Walking into her office she sat down behind the neat and perfectly organized desk. Glancing at her calendar she noted the appointment she had with Senator Wildman in thirty minutes. Reaching for the budget report her eyes caught the picture of her and Mark on Lake George. She suddenly wanted to take a month long vacation to that old isolated cabin. Too bad her schedule was booked for the next three years.
Sitting back in her chair, staring at that familiar photo, her mind drifted to all the unofficial titles she'd earned over the years, all the mumbled nicknames she'd worked so hard for. Wicked Witch had always been one of her favorites, but she suddenly wondered something…
Had any of those people who designated her with that title ever seen Wicked? It was a play and the prequel to Wizard of Oz. It told the back story of Elphaba and Glinda. How it was in fact the great leader of Oz who had lied and twisted the truth until instead of being known as Elphaba, she was nicknamed the 'Wicked Witch'. It was ironic really, because in the end, the Wicked Witch wasn't quite so wicked after all.
A/N: Thanks for reading! So what did you think?