Ch1: Agent To Be
A/N: Do not own the show. If I did, I would keep the people who write those amazing scripts employed for as long as the run goes. Cause a good police procedural drama is hard to write. Only own my OC (and background characters in relation)
'Ignore them. Don't let it get to you. Just act natural. Their just staring at the crutches.' thought Sam, as she hobbled down the hall. Some cadets looked at her curiously as they passed her. Sam wasn't normally self-conscious, but her forearm crutches made her somewhat insecure.
Sam was used to the crutches now. Six weeks was a lengthy enough period to endure the mediocre form of torture, so FBI training was now mostly sitting down. Today was another lecture, given by one of the profilers from the BAU- a field Sam aspired to join one day. "Yeah, one day; If I ever walk on my own two feet again."she mused.
.
Since her accident, Sam felt her progression wasn't fast enough. She wanted to graduate a fully able FBI Agent. And she had less than two crummy months to get herself on that stage without two grey, plastic and metal sticks to hold onto. Beforehand, she'd had passed all her physical fitness tests, and was exemplary in training. Ironically, she'd ended up in hospital 4 days after her fourteen-week fitness assessment. The looming knowledge of a recovery course, and more assessments weighed heavily on her mind. Sam made her way into the packed lecture hall- very slowly. She found an aisle seat and sat down, her crutches propped up, and got her notes ready; unaware of three particular people watching her with fascination.
.
Morgan spotted her first. Just more potentials, he thought, as he watched the numerous cadets file in. But there was one that stood out to him. He didn't know why, there was just something about her. He tapped Rossi on the arm.
'Hey Rossi, who's the kid with the crutches?' he pointed to the solitary girl on the end. Rossi examined her, trying not to profile.
She had neat, chocolate brown hair, only a few shades darker than her skin. Her face was too far away to see properly. Though, it was hard to miss the dark- framed glasses. She was dressed in all black, save a red undershirt. Rossi noticed how the girl's legs were bent awkwardly. It seemed Morgan had been studying her too.
'I don't her name, but I've seen her around. Another trainee. I've heard she's very bright too.'
'That kid is Samara Serpa-Fernandes. 23, Trainee. Strauss said she'd be a good candidate to help with the BAU.' Hotch said from behind them. Morgan and Rossi looked around, surprised.
'You said she was smart?' Morgan directed the question more at Rossi, but Hotch answered.
'Mm. High IQ for her age and everything. Finished high school early and everything. Quite the brilliant student apparently.'
'So, we could have another young genius in our midst?' asked Rossi.
'Nothing on Reid I'm sure.' Hotch replied to his curious colleagues. 'She's a few months out from graduating. For her sake, I'm hope she can do it fully able.' He added quietly, nodding at the crutches.
'What happened to her?' asked Morgan
'I'm not actually sure. Result of a car accident or something like that.'
'Something like that?' Rossi questioned sceptically.
'Her profile isn't too clear concerning the event. But she will walk again, given time of course.'
.
The three of them looked at the Fernandes, as she flicked through her notebook, looking up, only to have other eyes quickly turn away. More people staring- again, she thought, with a sigh. A thought kept nagging at her mind; what if some of them weren't staring because of the crutches? Any number of them could be from New York, it was a big enough place. "What if they recognise me?"she thought warily. Many times she had shaken the thought away. It was near impossible; she as a different person in NYC, there was no way a random could pick her. Very few knew how easily she could change. But those days were behind her. Her change was for the better, she wasn't going back.
Hotch looked at his watch.
'Rossi, you'd better get up there. Today preferably.' he joked, indicating the empty stage. Rossi chuckled.
'Well, they look like they're all here. I'll make a move, shall I?' he replied. And with that, he left his two colleagues, and made his way up onto the stage, where he was introduced by one of the staff. The trainees applauded politely. Hotch and Morgan sat at the very back of the room. There, they could study and observe everyone as Rossi began his talk.
...
Fifteen minutes later, Hotch and Morgan had made sufficient observations of most people in the room. A few cadets were zoning out, eyes unfocused; thoughts elsewhere. Others were paying rapid attention, cramming in as much information as possible, writing unhealthily fast. Some just sat and listened quietly. Morgan's eyes came back to the Fernandes girl. Her notebook was open, occasionally jotting down the odd sentence. As Morgan watched more intently, he was fascinated to see how the girl wrote; she was left-handed, but occasionally switched to her right hand, writing down points with apparent ease. "All envy the ambidextrous." he thought sarcastically, wondering what Garcia would make of the girl. She'd probably love her.
He kept watching Fernandes. What intruiged him more was how she wrote- she rarely even looked at the page. It was like touch-typing with pen and paper. Not once did she look down to check for mistakes. The rate at which she wrote was startling as well, turning a new page every 5 to 10 minutes. She was hanging onto Rossi's every word, multi-tasking effortlessly Morgan glanced at Hotch; he was looking at her too.
'Hey.' Morgan muttered quietly 'You seen that Fernandes girl? Talk about talented.'
'I know,' he replied in the same low voice. 'I don't know how she does it. She's brilliant all right.'
Suddenly, Sam looked over her shoulder. She glanced at the two of them briefly, slightly puzzled, then turned back in her seat, and wrote something down. Hotch and Morgan stared at Fernandes, then at each other in disbelief. Surely she couldn't have heard them.
After the lecture, Sam took her time. In her condition, there was no way she'd be getting out soon. She waited for nearly everyone to go. Rossi was chatting with the staff member from before, until some students came to ask quesitons. Sam hid her disappointment; naturally, they would beat her to it. She'd wait. Morgan and Hotch made their way down. Sam slung her bag around her shoulder, reached for her crutches, adjusted them in her arms, and, leaning heavily on the chair, stood up unsteadily. Morgan quickly came to her assistance.
.
'Hey, do you need a hand there?' he asked considerately, offering his hand. Sam looked up at the sudden voice. She shook her head.
'Oh, no thanks.' she answered politely. Her voice had a vague trace of an accent which Morgan couldn't pick. Hispanic? European maybe? 'I get around well enough; it just takes a while sometimes.' Sam stood shakily and leaned on her crutches. She smiled at the two strangers, unsure what else to say. Socialising wasn't always her strong point. But she'd seen the two men before, she had to ask.
'Sorry, um, don't you work in the BAU?'
'Yes. Yes we do.' Morgan answered.
'Wow.' she breathed.
'I'm Agent Aaron Hotchner, BAU Unit Director.' Hotch introduced, offering his hand. Sam removed her's from the crutch, and shook it.
'Derek Morgan, Special Agent.' Morgan continued, also shaking Sam's hand.
'Sam Fernandes, Agent to be.' she replied similarly. Hotch and Morgan chuckled.
.
'So,' said Hotch. 'Did you enjoy the lecture?'
Sam nodded. 'Yes, I find profiling most interesting. I mean, criminology itself is fantastic, but going deeper than that in profiling seems so much more challenging.' She explained, as they all walked towards the front.
'You enjoy a challenge then?' asked Morgan.
'Well, I am here aren't I? And on crutches… so far, so good I guess.' was her response.
'I hear that you aspire to join the BAU when you're a full agent? You seem pretty passionate about it.' Hotch added, not accusingly. Even in the FBI, some secrets were not well kept.
'Uh, well- yes, if I can. That is, if they think I'm good enough, and only if there's any real need for me, I guess.' Sam said shyly. 'Otherwise, I guess I'd go back to Forensic Criminology Tech, or something like that.' she continued, surprising the older men.
'Impressive.' remarked Hotch.
'Thanks.'
.
They reached the door to meet Rossi. Everyone else was gone now.
'Well, glad that's over, now we can get back to work.' Rossi said, half-smiling. 'We got a case Hotch?'
'Not yet. There's a lot to get through if we're going to find one. We're going to be here for a while.'
'And to think I had my hopes up.' Rossi mused dryly. He noticed Sam with the other two agents. 'And they certainly have been shattered, due to your lack of formality. I don't believe we've met.' He said to Sam.
'Sam Fernandes, Agent Rossi. I really enjoyed the lecture.'
'Why thank you, I'm glad there's at least one. It seems my job is still secure.'
'Don't worry Rossi, we're not sick of you just yet.' teased Morgan.
'I appreciate the sentiment.'
'Yes, well, if want to find a case soon, we better get back and browsing those files. We've got to find something.' Hotch remarked.
'Well that shouldn't be too hard.' Sam added, not thinking. The three men all turned to her.
'How do you mean?' questioned Rossi, also fascinated by the girl.
'Well, I mean, one murder is reported every seventeen minutes, one rape every four, one robbery every thirty-eight seconds, and a burglary every seven. But that's from a few years back; over ten and a half million crimes were reported in 2009. Something's gotta pop up along the line.' she explained, all in one breath. She said all this as if discussing the weather. Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan just stared at her. Sam caught their looks.
.
'Sorry, I do that. Bad habit.'
Morgan laughed as he thought of a certain Doctor.
'Bad habit? You should see Reid, he does that non-stop!'
'Who?' asked Sam inquisitively. Hotch answered.
'Dr. Spencer Reid, one of our profilers. He's a genius; constantly giving us random information whether we need it or not. You two would probably get along- he's only a few years older than you.' he added thoughtfully. Rossi and Morgan smirked. Sam looked thoughtful.
'Dr. Reid? I might've seen him around before. Can't be sure.'
'Tall, skinny, hides a big brain underneath brown hair.' Morgan explained, holding back his "pipe-cleaner
with eyes" gag.
'Right. Well, small comfort I guess, thanks.'
.
'No problem. Well, we should probably get going. We need everyone we can to get through those files.' said Hotch.
'We can't wait Hotch, can't wait.' replied Rossi dryly, as exited the hall, allowing Sam through first. As Sam went to head in the opposite direction, the agents stopped her.
'Hey! It was nice meeting you Fernandes. Maybe we'll see you around.' said Morgan cheerfully.
'Pleasure meeting you too, all of you.'
'We'll keep our eyes open for you Fernandes; who knows, we may see you in the BAU one day?' Hotch remarked. Sam considered.
'Maybe. If I'm walking soon. I'll keep my hopes up.' she smiled at them. 'See you around then.'
They all bid her goodbye, and watched her hobble around the corner..
'She seems like an interesting girl.' Rossi though aloud as they walked back to the bullpen.
'Are you kidding? More like candidate for the next human encyclopaedia!' Morgan exclaimed.
'Aside from Reid of course.'
'True, but even watching her during your lecture, her multi-tasking skills were amazing.' added Hotch. 'I'm telling you, when she graduates, I hope someone gives her good word for the BAU, we could sure use someone like her.'
'Well, good words can be anonymous, can't they?' said Morgan slyly.
'What are you suggesting?'
'Nothing. Just a thought.' he answered innocently. After a few minutes of silence, he started laughing.
.
'And just what's so funny?' inquired Rossi.
'It's just, I mean come on, if you notice the similarities… and he still can't get…..huh- it might just work out….'
'What are you talking about?'
'Reid still can't get a date, right? I swear if I didn't know any better, I reckon Fernandes could be his match for sure.'
'Seriously Morgan?'
'Yeah. I mean, look at the two of them. It's a match made in heaven!'
'We'll see Morgan, you never know, it could work. We'll let fate decide that.'
'Agreed.' said Rossi. After another short silence, Morgan thought of another question.
'She introduced herself as Sam Fernandes. Why not her full name I wonder?'
'Maybe it's just her preferral. Plenty of people prefer to go by other names.'
'Maybe she's not what she seems.'
'Well, it seems we know enough for one day.'
And with that, the three of them made their way to the bullpen in silence, but all with similar thoughts.
...
When they got back, Prentiss was chatting with Garcia.
'Hey, how did the lecture go?' Prentiss greeted.
'Good, it wasn't a total diaster, just another day's work.' sighed Rossi, sitting down, taking in the large pile of files before him.
'Hey hot stuff! So, it all went well?' Garcia asked brightly, walking in stride with Morgan towards his desk.
'Yeah, good Baby Girl. And guess what? I think I just found Reid's perfect match.'
'What?' exclaimed Garcia and Emily together, sounding stunned.
'Who is she? Tell me everything, I gotta know!' Garcia burst excitedly.
'Speaking of Reid, where is he?' asked Hotch, looking at the vacant desk.
'He went to get lunch. He should be back in a few minutes.' confirmed Emily. Secretly, she wished Reid would take as long as possible, so she could hear all about the mystery girl. 'Well,' said Morgan sitting down on his chair, Penelope on his desk. 'She's a trainee.'
'She smart?' Garcia asked.
'Very.' confirmed Morgan.
'She pretty?'
'Uh-huh; not like supermodel pretty, but just nice, pretty, y'know?
'Tell me more.' Prentiss demanded, just as enthusiastically as Garcia. Morgan spared little detail as he explained everything to the girls, who were enjoying the gossip immensely. None of them, however realised the massive dose of foreshadowing Morgan was dishing out...
A/N: Okay, if you've already read this, you're probably thinking wth? I'm splitting up the chapters more now, cause 5,000 words is a lt of reading for one chap, I don't like straining my eyes for so long, and neither to you I'm sure. Keep reading amigos!
G. :)