Roll the Dice Vegas-
"Hello? Agent Gideon speaking." Grace spoke into her cell phone.
"Grace? It's Aaron Hotchner from the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico." Aaron sounded so young and so old at the same time. A small smile crept onto Grace's lips.
"Good morning Agent Hotchner. What can I do for you?" Grace calmly asked. She hoped that Aaron was calling in regards to her resume.
"Grace, the BAU needs a psychoanalysis agent like you. I'm reading over your resume right now. How soon can you be here for an interview?" Aaron prayed that she was already on her way. He had a case on hold for some one with her talents.
"I'm walking in the doors of the BAU right now." Grace answered her new boss as she hung up the phone. Walking down the stairs was Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. He smiled at Grace as she passed through a maze of desks to him. He embraced her as she smiled at him.
"It's been a long time Grace. Too long, my office is right up here. Let's go get your badge." Aaron smiled as he led her up the stairs.
"I thought this was just an interview." Grace looked confused. The one thing she hated most was getting jobs based on who she was not her skills.
"Unsubs don't wait for interviews. The BAU team has a briefing in two hours and we need you. Your interview is this case." Aaron nodded to Grace as she realized that she had been transferred. She smiled as the camera took the picture that would now make her a member of the FBI's most elite BAU team.
An hour later she found herself in the briefing room. Aaron stood beside her as the other members walked in and took their seats.
"Team, this is our newest agent, Dr. Grace Gideon. Dr. Gideon is our psychoanalyst. She has her masters in criminal psychology and her PhD in psychoanalyzing the criminal mind. Treat her well because we're not getting rid of her." Aaron looked seriously at JJ.
"Wait, you're agent Grace Gideon, as is the number psychoanalyst in the FBI, probably the best in the world? As in the number one agent in all of the FBI?" Agent Spencer Reid looked at Grace. Her face remained calm.
"That's what they tell me. I just do what I love. You must be Supervisory Special agent Dr. Spencer Reid." Grace extended her hand and Spencer smiled at her as he returned the gesture.
"I'm Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan." Grace broke her gaze with Spencer and looked at the man standing in front of her.
"It's always a joy to see your face this early in the morning, Morgan." Grace laughed as Derek pulled her into a quick embrace. Spencer looked at the pair with discontent in his eyes.
"Am I missing something here? I thought I was a part of this team… Gids?" Penelope Garcia walked into the room, folder in hand and stopped as she saw Grace standing in the middle of the briefing room.
"Penelope? Is that you?" Grace smiled as Penelope embraced her. A sharp cough broke their moment.
"Sorry to interrupt this little reunion of people who obviously adore you, but I have a serial killer here who cannot wait for you to reunite with old friends. I'm Special Agent Jennifer Jareau." Grace nodded and shook her hand.
"I'm Special Agent Elle Greenaway. It will be a pleasure working with you." Grace smiled at Elle as she extended her hand.
"Everyone sit down, this case isn't going to be easy." Jennifer briefed the team on their unsub.
"You all have a half hour to be on the plane. Garcia, pack your computers, you're coming too." Aaron looked at the room. In an instant, everyone scrambled to get out. Grace walked solemnly with her briefing in hand out the door. Most people would think that she was afraid to get on the plane, but in fact she was more afraid to find out what would happen if she didn't. Aaron caught up with Grace as she was shrugging her coat on.
"So, the BAU everything you had hoped it would be?" Aaron smiled lightly. "That Jareau is a piece of work huh? But she is important to the team. I've never seen her quite that catty as when I mentioned you would be joining our team." Grace smiled in response to Aaron.
"Let me explain two things to you Hotchner. One, I'm a woman, a blonde woman and I'll be invading on her territory because I am new. She doesn't see Greenaway or Garcia as a threat because she knows them better. Two, high school, she was in my graduating class. I was the only fifteen year-old in that class and I was valedictorian. I beat her out, I guess she's never forgiven me for that." Grace shrugged as she and Aaron stepped onto the pavement.
"Will you be telling your father you're here or should I?" Aaron met Grace's eyes. Grace looked quickly away.
"He's been going through a lot. Can't we just let sleeping dogs lie? He's been diagnosed with Post traumatic stress disorder, I don't want to freak him out anymore." Grace couldn't look Aaron in the eyes.
Disappointment and concern filled Aaron's words, "He's coming back you know."
"I'll see you at the landing in fifteen minutes Agent Hotchner." Grace said as she closed her door. Driving off in silence Grace's mind jumped around. Images became plastered in her brain, her father's face, the growing image of her latest unsub, and his face. His face was the one image her mind continued to go back to. When she reached her home minutes after her conversation with Aaron, Grace grabbed her bag, guns and holsters. As she started to walk out the door she remembered that she had to bring her "ready" bag with her, that is, the duffel that contained clothes, money, overnight things.
Once she reached her car again, Grace finally remembered to breathe. While she was driving, she attempted to push everything but the unsub out of her mind. She was relatively successful, except that she still couldn't get his face out of her head. Five minutes after leaving her apartment, Grace was boarding the BAU plane and heading out West.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" A small voice asked Grace from behind.
"No, go ahead." Grace motioned to the seat next to her. Spencer smiled and sat down.
On the table in front of her, Grace had the profile folder laid out. She was studying the pictures of the crime scene, as well as trying to keep her mind off him. It was hard when he was so near.
"So, what's in the bag? Is you're heart in there?" Spencer asked. Seats in front of him, Derek shook his head, and rows behind him, Aaron placed his head in his head.
"Excuse me?" Grace suddenly looked up from her work.
"I'm sorry that didn't come out right, I meant to say, what's in your bag?" Spencer grimaced.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's not right to ask what's in a ladies purse?" Grace smiled out of the corner of her mouth, hoping for a good reaction from him.
"99 of women who carry purses on a regular basis carry in on or across the shoulder, and place it on the floor when they are seated. That bag doesn't resemble a purse I've ever seen, and you carry it more protectively than I know any woman to." Spencer smiled, praying that Grace would open up and tell him. It was an odd conversation starter, but at least something got done.
"I carry a binder full of profiles, a gift from my father, my notebook, a package of pens and a photo printer." Grace smiled at the last item. Derek made his way over to the two. Everyone else seemed to be sleeping, and Derek wanted to feel included in some conversation.
"Photo printer?" Spencer asked with a confused expression on his face.
"All the better to remember me with." Derek answered for Grace. Grace smiled at Derek, and then looked at Spencer from the corner of her eye.
"So how do you two know each other?" Spencer asked trying to be casual.
"She whopped my ass a few years back on the mat. She basically taught me what I know. She's pretty good with her hands… if you know what I mean." Grace shot Derek a look that rivaled Medusa. "I'm just kidding. Seriously though, she's pretty much the best hand to hand fighter in the bureau." Derek smiled at Grace, but it went unnoticed by her. She was preoccupied by the tall man sitting next to her.
"Where are you from Dr. Reid?" Grace asked Spencer kindly.
"You… you can call me Spencer. I'm from Las Vegas. You?" Spencer was nervous, she was so beautiful.
"A Vegas Boy huh? That's cool. I'm from Jersey, small town, up north." Grace's lips curled up into a smile that could melt a million hearts.
"I know." Spencer shot out, quickly, too quickly and regretted it immediately.
"You do?" Grace looked confused.
"Sorry, I hope that doesn't sound creepy… it's just that I've read everything written about you." Spencer spit out, and still as he said it, he kicked himself for being such a fool.
"Really, that's not creepy at all." Grace stated, and Spencer thought he was done for, until he saw Grace laugh a little. "I've read a lot about you too, just not in book form."
As Spencer began to open his mouth, Aaron stood to announce that they were landing.
"It's going to be simple; we're going straight to the crime scene. From there, JJ you'll go to the headquarters of the local police with Garcia, and the rest of you we'll divide up when we get there." Aaron gave his orders clearly as a true leader did. Inside though, he was nervous. This would be the first case he was leading on his own.
When the team finished at the crime scene, JJ and Garcia awaited directions to police head quarters. Aaron busied himself with getting people where they needed to be, along with trying to keep in mind that this was a serial killer and they did not have much time left.
"Morgan, you and Greenaway will go interview the parents. Chief Ray and I will go do rounds. Reid, you're in charge of Gideon, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." Aaron smiled as Grace bore holes into his skull. Reid motioned toward the black SUV that was their car. Annoyed she motioned for one more second. The digital camera she had removed from her coat pocket began to flash. Every aspect of the crime scene its surrounding areas where in Grace's camera now, Spencer looked on in confusion and in awe, and Aaron didn't quite know what to make of his newest addition.
"Vegas, you ready?" Grace said as she called to Spencer. He nodded and climbed into the driver's seat of the car.
"Where are we headed?" Spencer looked at Grace as she pulled her long blonde hair up into a sweeping ponytail. Two tendrils fell out and framed her face perfectly. For a second Reid lost his focus and almost forgot to put the car in reverse. He quickly fixed his mistake and they began to drive.
"The nearest Staples or any office supply store." Spencer looked at Grace but followed her wishes anyway.
"Who are you? You're nothing like the agent I read about." Spencer asked Grace who was putting on a pair of black sunglasses.
"I'm the same person you are Vegas, I'm from a broken home, except my mom left my dad moved me out to Jersey, stuck me in an intense education program. You have nightmares, they recently started no? I've had them for a while now. You look up to one man on this team as though he were your father. He teaches you. And he's proud of you. The thing is though, after this last ordeal, you don't know if he's coming back. Well, he is. He can't stay away from the BAU for too long. You're afraid to get close to people because you have zero self confidence, but what you don't realize is that there are people out there that would give anything for a guy like you. You went to college at 13 and have three PhDs. Vegas; you are the picture of this team." Grace knew that she avoided the question and made almost zero sense, but that didn't matter anymore. The last thing she was going to do was reveal her soul to him.
"Where do you get your information from?" Spencer said as they pulled into a parking lot. Grace jumped out of the car. As they walked into the building together, not a word was said. But as Spencer followed Grace to the photo aisle, he grabbed her wrist. She spun around and looked him the eyes. There she found possible love, compassion and trust.
"My father is agent Jason Gideon." Grace looked away from Spencer's gaze. Spencer hooked his finger under her chin and gently guided her face back to him.
"So you're THE daughter?" Spencer asked Grace. She could feel her eyes welling slightly.
"In the flesh, look, Spence, Vegas, I've known who you were for a while now and I… I'm not the person that they write about. Aaron, Hotchner, Hotch, he knows that my father thinks we should… you know… and that's why you're stuck with me." Grace broke away and began looking at packets of photo paper.
"I don't mind being here. Really Grace, you kind… well you kind of amaze me." Spencer looked away.
"Your turn to roll the dice Vegas; you're going to be seeing something completely different than you think." As Grace headed towards the check out, Spencer grabbed her hand. A bolder move than either one expected him to perform. "Your turn to roll the dice Vegas, your turn." Grace muttered under her breath.
After paying for Grace's purchases they headed out. When they reached the car door, Spencer opened the door for Grace and she climbed in smiling. Maybe she wouldn't have to get his image out of her mind after all.
"Okay. As to the answer your previous question, Spence. I'm Annabelle Grace Gideon. I changed my name four years ago when I was nineteen obviously I changed it to Grace Gideon, no middle name. I graduated high school at thirteen, went to college until I was fifteen, yea, I took enough credits my first two years. Then when I was sixteen I earned my masters and my PhD in criminal psychology at the same time. By twenty, I entered the FBI and quickly became a serial killer's worst nightmare. I was twelve when my parents split. My parents were just like Hotch and Haley. They always fought over the time he spent at work and all the traveling he did. My father loved my mother greatly henceforth the reason he still wears his wedding ring, despite the fact that they divorced. My father wrote to me everyday for the next ten years. He told me everything about his cases. He told me all about his team, more details than I ever needed to know mind you.
"Oh hey turn here; we're going to the hotel. Anyway he told me a lot about you… for obvious reasons. My mother kept those letters hidden from until a few months ago. I was already in the FBI and there wasn't much she could do about that. She came to see me one day at work, as I was analyzing an unsub and handed me 3,650 letters. I read them all and transferred here. The whole time though, my brother remained in contact with him. I always just thought he hated me and wanted nothing to do with me." Grace breathed and looked at Spencer. He smiled and squeezed her hand. Grace got out of the car and started for the front of the hotel. Spencer caught up with her and on a little leftover confidence from before; he draped his arm over her shoulder. "Being a little forward are we Dr. Reid?" Grace asked. Spence immediately dropped his arm.
"Sorry… uh." Spencer was confused and apologetic.
"I'm just kidding Spence. I actually don't mind." Grace smiled at Spencer and he moved his arm back to her shoulders.
