This one's AU. I borrowed the 'CSA' from Jane Doe films but I am merely using the initials, nothing else.
Disclaimer: I don't own CM.
Chapter 1:
It was early, still dark out, and the only light in the room came from the orange glow of the street lamp next to the small window and the many computer screens lining the desks. A blonde, 30-something woman in colourful clothes sat hunched over one of the screens. Her red lacquered nails typing furiously as her eyes, rimmed by red glasses, followed the seeming gibberish on the screen. But it wasn't gibberish, it was the world's most sophisticated code, computer code that is. It was anything but gibberish. Those endless streams of numbers, letters and symbols creating the most advanced security system know to exist. And even then only a very select few even knew of its existence: Her and her parents, and her parents had died with the secret still unshed from their lips.
She'd been developing it since she had first taught herself code, and now, finally, it was complete, finally it could be of use.
The shrill ringing of the telephone interrupted her concentration. Cursing under her breath she connected the call to her wireless headset, knowing who it was going to be.
"Garcia." She said into the headset, waiting to hear the familiar voice of Robert Howard, the man of the minute CSA agent who was always the one to call her with their boss' requests.
"Agent Garcia." He greeted in his deep voice that sounded a lot younger than he actually was. "You're needed to look into some secure files. Order comes from the Big Man." He said, alluding to her boss, Jim Branagan, who was more commonly known as 'Big Man' due to his large stature and his even larger ego.
"Names." Was all she said in reply, rolling her eyes; who else was going to be telling her to research people, not Postman Pat anyways. Her hands were poised over the keyboard ready when the names sounded in her ear.
"Aaron Hotchner, Jennifer Jareau, Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, David Rossi, Spencer Reid and Alicia Baxter, all of the B.A.U." He said, pausing for a second between the names, not that Garcia needed it; she was a furious typer.
"As in FBI?" She asked, curious, her expertly shaped eyebrow rising as she did so.
"The very same." He replied and she could hear the smile in his voice as he asked: "Can you do it?"
"Can I do it?!" She parroted. "Did Michael Jackson have plastic surgery?! Of course I can do it." She said before disconnecting leaving Howard smiling into the telephone thinking: if only I was ten years younger.
After typing all of the names into every search engine she possessed she sat back and watched as her screen filled up with countless newspaper articles and even book references. She was surprised, these people were either really good or really bad, and she suspected it was the former.
As she watched the number of files on the group grow her mind wandered to yesterday at about this time. She had been sitting in the coffee shop a block from her apartment, already halfway through her first cup of the day when she saw the familiar figure jogging towards the café. Every morning she sat in the same seat, and every morning he ran this way, either stopping in for a quick breather or continuing on, smiling at the occupants of the window booths, and she was always sitting at the window. He was beautiful. That was the only word truly able to describe him, he was gorgeous, a hunk o' burning love, he looked like someone straight out of one of those chick books she liked to read, she could go on all day. He had well defined muscles, chocolate skin that looked good enough to taste; soft brown eyes that contradicted his tough guy look from the shaved head. He worked it though, very well. Yesterday he'd come in to get some water, sweat clinging to his body, and she'd wanted to talk to him, to hear the tones of his voice, to know him. She was drawn to him, she'd laughed at the thought, realising that she had herself a little bit of a crush on the Chocolate God.
He had bought a bottle of water, and as he gulped from it hungrily she watched, transfixed, as his tongue snaked out and reclaimed a droplet that had escaped from his lips. She tore her eyes from his almost irresistible form and focused on the sudoku in front of her, trying not to watch his retreating form as he left. She failed miserably, but she was glad she did when he seemed to sense someone watching him and turned around, meeting her eyes with a smile. My God he had a great smile. It was one of those smiles that made you feel great about yourself, as if he had every confidence in you, and he hadn't even said two words to her.
She had watched his running form get smaller and smaller as he headed onwards, while in her mind telling herself she was going to talk to him the next day.
And here it was, the next day, and she was stuck in her study (or lair as Howard had dubbed it) while he was probably on his way to the coffee shop. She wasn't going to get to talk to him today it seemed, and she felt her stomach fall at the thought. Then she smiled, realising that this search was going to take a lot longer than expected, so she might as well leave it and go and get her morning cuppa joe.
She was nearing the coffee shop when she began to doubt whether she would be able to talk to him. She could hack into any network, at any time and here she was worrying about saying 'hello' to a cute guy. She shouldn't even be nervous, or at least that's what she tried to convince herself of. But computers and men are completely different things; and computers were her forte, me were – unfortunately –not.
Just as she was reaching for the door handle she heard steady footfalls behind her and she smiled when the very man she'd been thinking about seeing opened the door for her with a smile and a greeting of hello. She thanked him before heading inside and joining the queue, and when he joined behind her she thought she had her perfect chance to talk to him, but she'd have to talk soon as the queue wasn't that long.
"Do you go by here every morning or is it just since I started coming?" She turned to him and asked, her voice full of tease and a smile gracing her red painted lips. He chuckled slightly at her question.
"Every morning," He replied. "Well every morning since the beginning of this month." He added, essentially suggesting that he'd come every day since she had been here as she only moved into her new place about a month ago.
"Well, you do know the right words to say to a lady." She said with a laugh, before turning to the cashier who had just asked what she wanted.
"Large one of you're 'Special Blend' please Daisy." She said with a smile to the familiar cashier.
"I was going to ask if I could buy you a cup of coffee but…" He said to her and she turned back to see him scratching the back of his neck as if nervous.
"Well, since I now have mine." She said, taking her cup from Daisy and handing her the money. "You can grace me with your company instead." She smiled as he nodded his head in agreement and smiled.
"That sounds like a fair deal." He said before ordering a cup of black coffee and a bottle of water for himself.
She took a seat at her usual booth, smiling as he walked over and joined her. This was her new lucky day, she thought to herself; screw that horoscope that said it was a bad time for taking chances.
His name was Derek, he liked football, running, old comedy shows and he was an amateur property developer around his day job was in law enforcement. And he was really fun: easy to talk to, had great comebacks to her teasing comments and was really funny. This added to the fact that he was gorgeous made him one delectable package.
She was telling him an anecdote about her boss and his huge ego, her face lighting up as he laughed a deep laugh that seemed to cause the air to vibrate around her. 'Even his laugh is sexy.' She thought to herself, counting her lucky stars that a man as amazing as this had even spoken to her. Her horoscope had been wrong.
Unfortunately his phone began to ring and he picked it up, excusing himself to take it. When he came back to the table with a apologetic smile she knew he had to go.
"I had a really good time, but...you know…duty calls." He said, smiling at her.
"No problem." She said, hesitating to say anything else.
"Same time tomorrow?" He asked as he walked away from the table, looking back at her.
"Sure." She said with a smile as he waved goodbye and sped of the way he had came.
Sitting alone at the table she drained the last of the coffee from her cup and headed back to her apartment, ready to finish what she had started earlier.
What'd you think?
Note: As said in previous stories...I am going on holiday from the 16th till the 23rd so updates for this may not be for a while...