Chapter 1
April, 2006
Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner sat in his office, waiting. He was waiting for the newest arrival to the BAU. It had only been a month since Elle's departure and plenty of applications had come across his desk. The application of the latest member hadn't come from her. It had come from an old friend who would consider it a "personal favor" if Hotch gave this girl a chance.
From what he gathered from his old friend; she had just turned twenty-seven, was divorced, and had four children-three sons and one daughter. Hotch checked his wrist watch-a Rolex which had been a present from his wife Haley when he had announced to her that he would be the Unit Chief of the BAU from now on. It was seven-thirty and she still hadn't arrived. She was supposed to be there at seven so that Hotch could give her some quick training on what the job was about, what she would do until she was cleared for the field and so on.
Finally a knock came on his door.
"Agent Hotchner?"
He looked up from the file on his desk (he had figured he might as well do some paper work while he waited) to see the young and fresh face of an incredibly short woman. She could've been no taller then five feet. Her hair was a deep red, and her eyes were covered by glasses. He was surprised by her casual attire; skinny jeans, a gray ribbed tank top, a black button cardigan and flat sandals that wrapped around her ankles.
"I take it your Dakotah?"
"Yes sir. Sorry I'm so late, my daughter was running a fever this morning and I had to bribe my brother to stay home and watch her."
"You live with your brother?"
"My brother lives with me. He's a mooch and a bum...but I love him I guess." She shrugged.
"Well either way, your here now, lets get started shall we?"
She smiled brightly, revealing a noticeable gap between her two front teeth, "Absolutely."
"Everyone, this is our newest addition to the unit" Hotch stood before the round table with the young red head. "This is Agent Dakotah Fujikaze."
She smiled, "You can all call me Fujikaze."
"Derek Morgan." A tall, mocha skinned man with a shaved head stood and shook her hand, smiling flirtatiously.
"Lets save the introductions for later. JJ?" Hotch sat down, signaling that it was time to begin. Everyone sat down and turned to their attention to the screen.
"Their requesting our help in Boise. There have been a series of abductions. The victims" The medium height blond woman stood, a remote in hand, pictures came up on the screen of the victims. "Are all female collegians between the ages of eighteen to twenty. Every Saturday night a new victim is taken, and the following Sunday the pervious victim is found dead in their dorm rooms."
"Fujikaze?" she turned her head toward the eldest agent at the table. She had met him that morning-Agent Gideon.
"Sir?"
"What do you think?"
"Whattaya mean?"
"What do you think of the case?"
"What do I think a the Un-Sub, or what do I think a the choice a victims?" Her accent was far from southern, but she did shorten and replace certain words. She sounded Mid-Western.
Gideon shrugged, "Either."
"Well the choice a victims says he's lookin' for a replacement, cause they all look pretty similar. So if we go by age, then maybe it's a sibling, or a girlfriend, or a fiancée even. And considering their all so young the Un-Subs probably around the same age twenty-five at the oldest, but definitely old enough to buy the girls alcohol."
"Why do you say that?" Gideon asked.
"Well when I was that age that's all I wanted. Every minor wants someone older to buy'em booze. So I would go around to the local liquor stores and see who's been comin' in a lot lately."
Gideon nodded, pursing his lips. "Morgan, get Garcia on that."
"Yes sir." Morgan stood and left the room.
"Everyone wheels up in thirty. Fujikaze come with me, I'd like to finish up our discussion from earlier." Hotch stood gathering up the case files in front of him. The small mother stood and followed.
"So Reid?" Morgan began, looking to the young genius.
"Hm?" He sounded filling his satchel with files.
"What do you make of the new girl?"
"She gave good insights at the briefing. She's a solid profiler."
"How old do you think she is? She looks younger then you."
Reid looked at Morgan confused. "Why do you care how old she is?"
"Cause one a you is bad enough." Morgan smirked, grabbed his duffle bag and walked out of the office.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Reid squawked, following Morgan as quickly as he could just as Fujikaze and Hotch exited his office.
"So that's it then?" She asked looking at the files in her hand.
"Pretty much. Have those finished by the time we come back."
"And from what I've heard about how good you all are that should be like what? Tomorrow?"
Hotch scoffed. "Funny. Your step-father just loves to exaggerate doesn't he?"
"That's the old man for ya. And for the record, I am sorry that he asked you to do this. I told him I'd get in by myself, but I guess he doesn't have that much confidence in me."
"Don't be sorry. I'm giving you a chance because I believe in your abilities, not because of what your step-father asked."
"Thanks Hotch. That means a lot comin' from you." She smiled sweetly. Hotch suddenly felt un-sure, like Fujikaze was hiding something behind that smile. She was stirring up some kind of feeling in him and he wasn't sure what it was.
"Uh... You're welcome. I'll see you when we get back."
She just smiled again and said 'Goodbye', heading to her own desk to begin filling out consultation reports.