AN: This story was written for my creative writing class. Please read and review. Thank you :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked.
"Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 12
Day 1:
I followed my sister out of the elevator and into the bullpen, smoothing down my long blonde hair and nervously tugging at my white blouse, tucked into my grey pencil skirt. Jen is twelve years older than me; we look like twins, except for the height difference. I have always looked up to her. The reason I was going to work with Jen was because she had received special permission for me to accompany her team on their next case, as part of my masters' thesis on Linguistics. I did a double major in literature and languages. I was nervous not because I had never met the team before, but because this was the first time I had ever been allowed to, or even been considered for help on a case. It was actually Spencer who had suggested I help out and get extra credit in my classes for it. He knew how much I have always wanted to help out on a case. As much as I love baby-sitting my nephew Henry, when the team is away and Will is at work, what twenty-year-old wants to spend all her free time watching a baby?
I smiled at Spencer, who was sitting at his desk with his head buried in a book. Looking at him, it was easy to remember how terribly shy he was when we first met. I was visiting Jen, it was two weeks before my fourteenth birthday and I was researching the Jabberwocky poem from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There for my grade eleven final English exam. I was home-schooled year round until I started high school, so I was quite a bit further ahead than my peers. I also took my exams early in whatever classes I could. I wanted to go to university really badly. Jen managed to convince Spencer to stay while she went out grocery shopping. Even though I did not need a baby sitter, I didn't mind Spencer staying because I thought he was kind of cute in that awkward kind of way. He was so nervous around me; he had no idea what to do or say. So I ignored him for a bit and he calmed down enough to sit on the couch - still in the same room, but as far away as possible from where I was curled up on the window seat. I decided to see how much I could freak him out, so I sat down next to him on the couch and swung my legs up onto his lap. He was shocked and started sputtering, he insisted on knowing what I thought I was doing. I calmly explained that I just wanted to stretch out my legs and that he was kind of in the way, but he could move if he wanted too. Inside I was laughing really hard. Spencer didn't move and by the time Jen got back, we were talking about the Jabberwocky poem; Spencer could recite the entire poem. It was the beginning of a great friendship.
Jason Gideon was so driven to find serial killers and save the victims that he never had time for anything else. His hyper-vigilance reminds me a little bit of the way I react to people. Only I don't think that he was scared of everyone. Spencer was working with Gideon when I first met him in June of 2004. My sister, Jen, met Spencer at the shooting range soon after she joined the FBI's BAU a few months before. Spencer was horrible at shooting; he barely passed his sharpshooter qualifications. Jen ended up helping Spencer practice, and they started spending time together outside of work.
Spencer came by to 'babysit' me many times in the following years, when the team wasn't out on a case. When our parents died, four months before I turned fifteen, Spencer would come over and listen to me rant about how it wasn't fair, and that I hated the stupid truck driver who hit our car. When I would break down crying, he would hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay because I still had Jen. I think I spent more time with Spencer than anyone, even Jen, after our parents died. I was inconsolable; I even gave up hockey, which I loved more than anything. The only thing that made sense in my mixed up life was school. I threw myself into my studies with even more ferocity than usual. I ended up graduating high school in December 2005 and University in April 2009. The team helped Jen and I move everything out of our parents' home in Pennsylvania. I had to move near Quantico, so that I could live with Jen because that was what our parents would have wanted. After the accident, Jen would let me sleep in her bed when I couldn't sleep in mine. Even now, almost six years later, when Will is away Jen and I lie in bed with Henry and share stories about our parents. Spencer is still the same: he wears the same clothes, talks the same way and he still listens to me rant, only now, it's mostly about school. He still hugs me when I've had a bad day; he is the older brother I wish I had had growing up, with my parents.
I was so excited to see him sitting there I almost forgot my nerves. I probably would have run across the room and dropped myself into his lap to get his attention, if Jen hadn't grabbed my hand. Jen was nervous too; she had tried to shield me from death after our parents died, and right then she couldn't because I was going to help her team, my extended family. Spencer finally looked up, after what seemed like forever, and gave me one of his patented Spencer Reid smiles. He rose from his desk and walked slowly over to us. Spencer's actions caught Emily's attention while she was talking with Derek.
The first time I met Emily was when she joined the team after Elle left. Elle and I didn't really know each other very well. Elle used to come over to the house with the team for dinner sometimes, but that was really the only interaction we had. She wasn't really interested in hanging out with a teenager. I didn't meet Elle until after the accident and by then, the only people I would speak to were Jen, Spencer and occasionally Penelope. Emily and I usually have long conversations in French or German. The topics never really matter but she has promised to start teaching me Russian, as soon as summer vacation starts.
Derek noticed that Emily's attention was no longer on their conversation and he turned around to see what was so distracting.
"Salut Emily, hello Derek, hi Spence," I said with a small smile.
I received a smile and a "Salut Catherine" from Emily, and a "Hello" and grin from Derek.
Spencer approached me slowly and gave me a gentle hug, lifting me off the ground because of how much taller than me he is. Sometimes being five foot one really sucks, but not when you get awesome hugs.
I always think of Derek as cross between a big teddy bear and a knight; he used to give me piggyback rides and take me to amusement parks. I know he can be dangerous, but so is everyone on the team, and I know that he would never hurt me. One time when I was visiting Jen at the office, there was a shooter in the building; I was hiding under Spencer's desk, I was so scared. Derek was the one to find me. He made sure that I got to Penelope's office. Penelope and I barricaded the door and waited for Derek to come back. He came back after the guy had been caught, and brought me to Jen.
Penelope came into the bullpen just as everyone was crowding around Jen and me. She practically squealed with happiness and threw her arms around me. I flinched a bit and then returned the hug, with almost as much enthusiasm.
Penelope is Henry's godmother and has taught me everything important I know about computers. She comes over for Friday dinners when the team is in town; we also watch movies, just the four girls. During those first few months, after the death of our parents, Penelope spent a lot of time talking with Jen and myself about losing her own parents.
Penelope said that Aaron and Dave were waiting for us in the conference room. The six of us walked up the stairs and down the hall. Jen squeezed my hand once, right before we went into the room and whispered, "Good luck; I love you Kitty Cat." She released my hand and walked in ahead of me before I could respond in kind.
"Good evening Catherine," said Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi at the same time.
"Hi Aaron, hi Dave," I answered back quietly.
Erin Strauss was there; she gave me an appraising look and said, "Good evening Miss Jareau."
"Good evening Madam Strauss," I answered back politely.
I knew that she didn't really want me there, but from what I understood at the time, she had given in because everyone else was okay with me helping and because the team might have needed my linguistic skills.
Penelope presented the case. It turned out that we were going to be investigating a series of disappearances, as far as they could tell, the little boys and girls had gone missing. There were no bodies, so for now, it was just a series of disappearances and not a murder investigation. I gave a silent prayer that the children were still alive. We learned that all six of the children had gone missing from the Canadian side of the New York and Quebec border all in the past six months. The most recent child to go missing was the daughter of a visiting German Diplomat.
AN2: Edited 5th of June 2012
