AN: You may need to suspend a little reality in this fic but I'm hoping it's plausible by the time I finish the setup. Thanks in advance for reading, feedback/reviews/suggestions always welcome. It will be fairly Hotch/JJ centric, but team will also be involved and making appearances along with a case. This was started pre-Beth arc, so am just going to keep happily pretending she doesn't exist. And finally, I am not attempting to make any statements, political or otherwise, it's mostly imagination and setup to play with the characters in a slightly different realm.
Prologue:
Monday had hardly begun after a rare weekend off for the BAU team. They had successfully closed their latest serial killer case and returned home late on a Thursday which gave them time to rest and a Friday to finish paperwork with no calls coming in over the weekend if they were lucky. Every one of the tired agents were hopeful they might have a few days to tend to the paperwork stacks on their desk, yet no one really expected that to happen as they waited for the moment Hotch would summon them into the conference room for another active case.
"I used to think you guys had it easier with paperwork." JJ groaned as she moved one file off her desk and reached for another. One thing she had mistakenly assumed when she transitioned from media liaison to profiler was that it would greatly decrease the amount of paperwork she would have to deal with on a daily basis. Granted there was time away from the folders while in the field but the papers seemed to multiply like rabbits on her desk by the time she had returned.
"Missing the old days?" Morgan asked with a teasing smirk, in truth they enjoyed having her back with the team. She had been a valuable asset as a media liaison, but as a profiler she brought her own fresh perspective and insights to the team as they tackled the new cases. The team's energy was obviously renewed now that they had both JJ and Emily back. The resentments that had been caused by the deception over Emily's faked death were finally beginning to fade as their bonds of teamwork and friendship were rebuilt case after case.
JJ was getting ready to respond to Morgan's teasing when she saw Hotch come out of his office with a grim look on his face as he briskly exited the BAU without even a nod to his team, quickly punching the up button on the elevator indicating to the observant profilers that he had been summoned by the higher ups.
"We might as well get our go bags ready." Emily observed with a trace of despair as she watched the doors close behind their unit chief.
"I think we're jumping to conclusions," Morgan started as he tried to be the voice of optimism for the team but stopped as Rossi walked in to join the small group.
"I'm afraid not, he got a phone call from upstairs requesting his immediate presence." Rossi shared what he knew. The older profiler could often be quite the gossip though everyone knew he could be equally mysterious depending on the cards he was holding. "I've already put out my feelers and it has something to do with our help being officially requested by the domestic terrorism unit." He informed the gathered agents.
"That's interesting," Reid joined in to the conversation, "did you know that between 1980 and the year 2000 domestic terrorism consisted of 250 of the 335 incidents confirmed as or suspected to be terrorist attacks by the FBI. That's not even counting the events of more recent years like the Fort Hood shooting, attacks against abortion clinics, violence against muslims and…"
"Yes we know there are several domestic terrorist groups on the watch lists." Morgan interrupted Reid's sudden statistical outburst. His frustration already mounting over the perceived lack of a break between cases he had been hoping for.
"Fourteen groups to be exact, and that's not counting the potential lone wolf terrorists being watched" Reid responded as if he had never lost his stride.
"This is fascinating, but why don't we see what Hotch has to say before we get too involved in a potential case, it may just be for consultation." Prentiss sounded the voice of reason as she saw Hotch returning more slowly to the bullpen, the expression on his face still grim, erasing their hopes that this was going to be something light like providing case consultation from their desks.
"Everyone to the conference room, ask Garcia to come also," Hotch ordered as he walked by, carrying a folder that had not been with him when he left earlier.
"I'll get right to the point," Hotch said with an almost weary sigh as the team quickly gathered, concern evident on their faces as they could all tell this was something important.
Hotch watched as the team quickly assembled around the table before he began his presentation. "The domestic terrorism unit has requested our help in infiltrating a community of people that have settled in a remote area, creating their own town which they have named Independence, Montana. There is a population of just under 3,000 people and they have reportedly been vocal in their desire for separation from the government. From what intelligence has been gathered, the community seems to be predominately peaceful and simply trying to live with as little involvement from the government as possible along with a strong focus on traditional roles, where men work and women are the homemakers." Hotch continued without acknowledging some of the raised eyebrows that statement caused, especially from the three women in the room.
"They also have their own law enforcement and education system. It is currently done under government regulations but most of their children are homeschooled until high school age. For quite some time they have been watched from the outside as a potential domestic terrorism group and the FBI office in Montana decided to send in an undercover agent named Paul Bryce a little over a year ago to use his accounting degree to set up his own business in a small office. After 3 months into the investigation Agent Bryce was not reporting anything of any significance, but then suddenly used emergency contact protocol to say he needed to leave immediately and break his cover. Before the FBI could respond he disappeared, that was about 6 months ago. His body was discovered yesterday by some fisherman in a river south of the city with a gunshot wound to his abdomen." Hotch paused allowing the team to take a moment to absorb the information shared thus far and for their own moment of silence for the fallen agent.
"What do they want from us?" Rossi finally asked the question weighing on everyone's minds as they tried to figure out what the BAU was being asked to do in this scenario.
Hotch watched his team closely as he carefully delivered his next words in a measured tone. "They want us to go undercover and use our profiling skills as well as our knowledge about the dynamics of various cults and hate groups, to find out if there are any legitimate terror threats or weapons. If so they want us to see if we can find out who is at the heart of the threat as they feel Agent Bryce must have stumbled upon a terrorism plot which caused his sudden death. I repeat that what they've been able to gather so far the community for the most part seems to desire peacefulness and at worst appear to be simply misguided, but there may be some very dangerous people hiding within this group that have a plan and possibly the means to carry out a domestic attack."
The disbelief on his team's faces likely mirrored the expression he had given when first approached about the assignment.
"But we don't do undercover." Morgan was the first to speak, surprise still evident in his face. "They have plenty of people specially trained for that. I don't see how they think we'll do any better." He objected, obviously not in favor of the idea.
"I agree," Hotch admitted, seeing that the rest of the team seemed equally as unhappy with the request. "Though unfortunately we aren't being given the option to turn it down," he added. The undercover unit has promised to give us their full support and help us however necessary to establish ourselves." He tried weakly to assure his team, though he could tell they weren't buying it.
"Hotch, undercover work isn't something you just take a crash course in and do," Emily responded strongly, obviously distressed, it takes a lot of training and preparation." She clearly spoke with the voice of experience from her own past.
"What about time?" JJ added on the heels of her friend, "how long is this assignment, what about Henry?"
Hotch listened patiently as the murmurings grew, letting the team voice their discontent even though he already knew it was fruitless. Finally the voices began to subside as the team shifted their gaze back to look at him in now rebellious silence. "I tried to tell the director this was a bad idea and that we were not equipped for this type of assignment, but this comes all the way from the top. They are convinced that our skills at profiling and ability to measure the risk associated with the group and leaders in the town will compensate for any deficiencies in our undercover work as they need more than simple information gathering at this point. We have been assured that the risk is minimal." Hotch sighed slightly as he continued to sell the decision that had already largely been made to his resistant team.
"Tell that to Agent Bryce," Prentiss quickly countered getting obvious nods of agreement from her colleagues.
"They can't force us to do this," Hotch tried to help the team see their options, "however we need to be prepared for repercussions if we don't," he said softly, letting his words hang in the air for the team to consider.
"I know how that goes," JJ added quietly, "the FBI is good at making it seem like you have a choice when you really don't."
"If we don't go through with it we'll be seen as unpatriotic and unconcerned with national security." Rossi said darkly, "we'll probably get screwed in the next round of budget cuts also."
"Likely," Hotch acknowledged as the room fell silent again. Each agent was obviously weighing their choices and reaching the same conclusions as they realized that more budget cuts could mean an elimination of a team member, which no one wanted after they had finally their team back together again.
"So what do we do next?" Reid finally spoke for the first time since the meeting began, having calmly observed the proceedings, letting his analytical mind run through the various scenarios and quickly reaching a point of acceptance.
"We meet with Agent Harding from the domestic terrorism task force for further briefing, then we will later meet with agents from the undercover section of the department to work with us individually on the roles that they will assign us." The Unit Chief said matter-of-factly silently proud of his team for their ability to rise above their obvious displeasure and focus on the task at hand.
"When is this meeting?" Prentiss finally asked, her expression of resignation matching the rest of the teams.
"In about 30 minutes." Hotch answered quickly, having already looked at the clock as he anticipated the question. "They just gave me some time to present it to make sure you all were on board before they came down."
"Awfully sure of themselves weren't they," Rossi grunted as he leaned back from the table.
"Why don't they come down here and we'll just teach them how to do profiling." Morgan couldn't help but make a smart remark at the still unbelievable scenario.
"We actually discussed that," Hotch replied, validating the question, but apparently it would take a lot longer for agents to get the training and experience in profiling than it will for us to learn to learn how to work undercover.
"Well nice to know they don't think our jobs are easy." Morgan mumbled before letting point go and settling back.
The group of agents used their half hour to continue venting their frustrations, murmuring among themselves as they processed this turn of events while waiting for the Domestic Terrorism Unit Chief's arrival.