Disclaimer; I do not own Supernatural or Criminal Minds
A/N: This is part five of the Huntress stories. It takes place post "The Usual Suspects" for SPN and post "The Last Word" for CM. Thus, Emily Prentiss is now part of the BAU. Since I worked and rewrote the finale of Supernatural this season, I opted to gloss over the Criminal Minds season finale by claiming that Anna had been unreachable during the whole debacle. Also, if you go over to youtube and look up dragonheartink or "As The Children Suffer" you can see a vid I made for this story, but also note that until the third/fourth chapter goes up, it can be considered EXCEPTIONALLY SPOILERISH. As always, thanks "A Leanne Vast" for the Beta!
When Derek entered the BAU on a rainy Monday morning, he noticed four things. The first was that Elle Greenaway was still gone, had left the FBI entirely. The second was that Emily Prentiss was sitting at Elle's desk, reading a file. Third, there was a stranger standing in the middle of the bullpen. Lastly, Anna Campbell was facing down the stranger, hot pink and lime green umbrella dripping water into the garbage can beside her, and looking as if she'd never left the office.
"I know you're Laura Winchester," the stranger was saying in a threatening tone as he leaned towards Anna.
Never one to back away from a fight, Anna crossed her arms and tilted her head, "And I know that I don't know the first thing about what you are talking about."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," the stranger snapped, stepping back, "You parade around here, acting like you don't have a criminal history."
"You're saying I shouldn't be here because I have that jaywalking charge from when I was sixteen?" Anna asked mockingly, "Or maybe you're talking about that speeding ticket I got when I was seventeen. I'm a real law breaker, are you going to arrest me for leaving home when I was eighteen and changing my name?"
The man stepped back again, "I know exactly who you are, and I know what your record should look like. It isn't that much different from your brothers, trespassing, assault, grave desecration."
"Considering that my official record is mostly clean," Anna said, "you really are stretching things a bit."
Derek fought to keep his face still, because this was Anna all over. Anna didn't toe the line, or cross the line, she obliterated it at will.
"Why do you insist on continuing with this deception?" The stranger demanded.
"Considering that we have yet to establish just what deception you claim I'm continuing," Anna said dryly, "I don't have an answer for that."
The stranger stared at the ceiling for a long moment, as if pleading to a distant god, "Those two you call your brothers aren't heroes, no matter what you've been told. They're murderers. They belong behind bars for the rest of their life, if they aren't given the death penalty. If you aren't actively helping them commit their crimes, then you're at least covering up for them. Which, in case you've forgotten, is against the law. It's called it being an accessory."
"I love your imagination," Anna said, "I really do. You could write a book, make a fortune, be the next JKR."
"You think this is a big joke?" The stranger demanded, "It's not going to be so funny when I get the warrants to unseal those records and prove you're helping them."
Anna stiffened, "Agent, may we speak in private."
Derek blinked, he'd never seen Anna go from sneering disrespect to a chilly politeness that quickly before. He'd suspected she could, given her military background and other lightning fast mood swings, but once Anna got the bit between her teeth, she tended to stick to blatant insolence for better or for worse.
"I think your team deserves the truth," the agent replied in a nasty tone of voice.
Derek stepped forward, opening his mouth to object. The movement behind the agent was Reid, jerking to his feet while Emily also started to stand, abandoning her folder.
Anna held up her hand without looking around, a clear signal for them to back off. Derek closed his mouth, but didn't step back. "You'd best rethink your attitude, Agent," she said flatly. "Not if you expect someone around here to give you a decent profile on the Winchesters."
"You think you can influence that?" The agent asked.
"I wouldn't dream of trying," Anna said. "However, the emotional response to seeing a friend and teammate being treated in the manner you have apparently decided is professional might dictate a less than ideal response to any request from you." She tossed her head a little, "You know, I'd love to know how you put together my record and came up with 'She's Laura Winchester'."
"So would I."
Morgan didn't jump, but he turned to find Marshal Andrew McCrae standing behind him. "Marshal," Morgan said quietly.
"Agent," McCrae replied with a nod, eyes focused on the agent.
"Agent Victor Henricksen," Anna said with glee, "meet Marshal Andrew McCrae."
"You can take this to my office," Gideon called. "I'm sure you need a bit more privacy than the middle of the bullpen." Morgan glanced up to find Gideon and Hotch had been watching from the balcony. It appeared that only J.J. and Garcia had missed the confrontation between Anna and Henricksen.
"Thank you, sir," McCrae said as he walked closer to Henricksen, "Agent Henricksen, I work with WitSec, and I have a few questions for you."
Henricksen was too dark skinned to actually go pale at McCrae's words, but he practically jumped to follow the Marshal up to Gideon's office. Anna watched them go without really moving.
Once the door was shut, Anna spun around and threw herself at Morgan, "My Goddess, but it's good to be back here. That one's been trying to contact me for the past week. I actually brought my panic button to work today because of him." She scowled, "I actually got a new one to carry because of him."
Morgan hugged her, "I'm glad you're back. Are you cleared for desk work or what?"
"Field work," Anna replied stepping back. "I'm one hundred percent healed. If it weren't for a few scars, you would never know I ever had that metal in me, much less that it nearly killed me."
"Really," Morgan said, impressed, "sounds like you were given a miracle."
Anna laughed bitterly, "I know exactly what happened, and that was no miracle." She turned, "Now then, before Agent Stick-Up-His-Butt interrupted, you were introducing yourself, I believe."
"I'm Emily Prentiss," Emily said. "I'm replacing Elle Greenaway on the team."
"Elle told me she had left," Anna said politely, "I've heard you were a good agent."
"Wait, she told you?" Morgan interrupted.
"Well, yeah," Anna said giving Morgan a whimsical smile, "We ran into each other in South Carolina a few weeks ago and she caught me up on all the gossip, especially the Fisher King debacle. This is why you shouldn't all go on vacation at the same time."
"Here's a question," Hotch said as he and Gideon walked over, "why didn't the Fisher King drag you into that mess."
"Because he couldn't find me," Anna replied. "Dean, Sam, and I were on the road as soon as the physical therapists cleared us to go. We weren't anywhere longer than a day or two." She glanced up at Gideon's office, with a pensive look on her face. "I'm going to go get some coffee before J.J. comes over to give us another case." She put her umbrella in the trashcan it had been dripping in and shed her overcoat.
Morgan watched her go for a moment, and then turned to Hotch, "Do you know what that was all about?"
Hotch regarded him for a moment, "Henricksen is assigned to track the Winchesters, a father and two sons who are suspected of being serial killers, amongst other things. I don't know who Laura Winchester is, or why Henricksen wants Anna to be this girl so badly."
"Guys," J.J. said, "we have a case."
"I'll go get Anna," Derek said, "I mean, she is cleared isn't she?"
"She is," Hotch said. He tilted his head a little, "I thought it would make a nice surprise."
"Yeah," Morgan agreed and headed for the break room.
Anna was standing by the coffee pot, coffee cup in hand and phone in the other, texting. "Hi Morgan," she said as he stood in the doorway.
"Anna," Morgan said, "we've got a case."
"Awesome," Anna said, and put her phone in her pocket. "Anything to get me away from that blowhard."
They headed up to the conference room where everyone was gathering. "Yesterday," J.J. said once Derek had closed the door, "A group of hikers down in Texas found a mass grave." She handed around the folders, "the bodies are in various stages of decomposition, indicating that they had been killed and dumped one at a time. They've asked for us to come down there and assist in finding the killer." J.J. pointed, "They believe the topmost victim died between four and six days ago, but they aren't sure yet."
"Where are we going then?" Anna asked.
"The bodies were found in the Sam Houston National Forest," J.J. replied, "the nearest town is Huntsville, Texas."