a/N: So...welcome to my first 'Quantico' story. For those of you who follow my work in the 'Chicago Fire' archive, I have not completely abandoned 'Home is Where the Heart Is' I have merely taken a little break to catch up on episodes and reinvent some of the story. This story picks up in the second episode of 'Quantico' and just to keep in shape with the television series, there will be a few flash fowards to after the attack on Grand Central Station, but rather than being in the chapters, they will have their own chapter as an intermission of sorts with the time at the academy. Thanks for reading and let me know what you guys think!-A
Disclaimer: I do not own any familiar material, merely Agent Danvers and Analyst Santiago. As much as I love the sight of Jake McLaughlin in those henley's and underarmours it just wasn't meant to be...
Car doors slammed in the parking lot of the FBI Academy at Quantico, dark eyes skimming familiar surroundings as long fingers adjusted the fall of a dark blazer over a curvy frame. Plucking at the olive green slub tee shirt and the .38 holstered at rounded hips, Special Agent Rowan Danvers sighed as she once again wondered what she had done that warranted being banished back to the academy. Okay, so she could understand the frustrations of her superiors but it was not her fault that the last four temporary partners she had been assigned had requested to be reassigned. It was also not her fault that her partner, Agent Ryan Booth, had set her up with an unrealistic expectation of what a partner should be. And when he was suddenly reassigned to an undercover operation Rowan was the one left floundering as baby agent after baby agent was sent her way. Shouldering a backpack and double checking that her credentials were in her back pocket she spared a glance to the amused brunette who stood on the opposite side of a late model Toyota's hood.
"You find this amusing, don't you?" Rowan questioned Agent Beryl Santiago, her one time N.A.T roommate and current Quantico analyst. "Are you enjoying my suffering?"
Beryl, who was named for the hypnotic sea-green color of her eyes, cracked a dimple-bracketed smile. "Of course I am enjoying this, and we haven't even gone inside yet. You have been huffing, puffing, and pouting ever since your plane touched down."
"I'm telling you, Agent Hamden has it in for me! It is not my fault that the academy isn't putting out agents like they used to," she protested, trying to defend her actions as the pair began their trek up the front steps of the building. "All these new little twerps are nothing like the agents that graduated with me."
Beryl reached the doors first and yanked open the closest one, ushering her friend through. "Well, either that or Ryan has been spoiling you since you guys teamed up. Seriously, everyone I have contacts with up in the Windy City say you two are the dream team. If you are having so many issues with reassignment blame him…it is always the man's fault," Beryl added as an afterthought, glaring as a rather well built agent went walking past.
Following her friends gaze Rowan was temporarily distracted. "Do we need to talk over wine tonight?" the continued heat of Beryl's glare as they approached the security counter gave her the answer she needed. "Well, I still say shipping me down here for two weeks was overkill."
Placing her backpack, service weapon, and credentials into the tray to pass through the scanner Rowan stood on the platform that scanned her head to toe, growling at the security agent who threw her a lascivious grin as she gathered her belongings. Snapping her teeth in his direction when he had the audacity to wink at her she reholstered her weapon and pocketed her belongings with a snarl.
"And this is where we part," Beryl declared a moment later as Rowan gathered a visitors pass to the lectures, rocking heel to toe at the base of a large staircase. "Sorry that you had to come in so early with me."
Rowan gave a droll look that morphed into a chuckle. "It's okay B., it gives me the chance to look around and grab something to eat before the lectures. Kick ass today!"
With a 'you know it' shouted over her shoulder, Beryl took off two steps at a time towards where her office was situated three floors above the main lobby, her long braid streaming out behind her slim form as she disappeared around a corner. Harnessing her amusement in hopes that it would last her all day, Rowan began making her way towards the main cafeteria in hopes that even after all these years there was still somewhere to get a decent cup of coffee. Easing her phone out of her pocket and opening the email from her superior once more, she began memorizing the nine lectures that she was assigned to attend for the next two weeks. Nose buried in the screen, she relied on muscle memory to find her way.
Coffee finally in hand and the days docket mostly memorized, Rowan was so focused on finding the appropriate lecture hall that she failed to notice the group walking in her direction, let along the one member who seemed to think walking backwards in a crowded hallway was a smart move. With a string of curses dirty enough to make any sailor on the pier blush scarlet, she nearly jumped out of her boots as scalding hot coffee upended itself down the front of her tee shirt, her skin reddening immediately. Whoever had run into her was built like a brick wall- tall, broad and most certainly solid- she noted as she tried to separate saturated fabric from her person, her to-go cup abandoned and puddling on tiled flooring. Accepting a wad of tissues without glancing up she worked at drying what she could, only glancing up, a glare on her face and an admonishing diatribe on her lips, when she had managed to soak up the majority of her mess. Before she could say anything though the colorful speech died on her lips as her eyes met a pair of ocean blue eyes set into a tanned face, long golden tipped lashes casting shadows on high, stubble covered cheek bones. What the hell?
"I am so sorry Miss…" an all too familiar voice rushed, eyes silently pleading her to play along.
Confusion forgotten in favor of the excitement that now coursed through her veins Rowan rolled her eyes and curled a lip in faux disgust. "It's Agent… and why don't you watch where you're going?"
There was a mumbled 'I like her' from the petite blonde behind Ryan. And for anyone watching it would seem that his features had shuttered closed but Rowan instantly noticed the flicker of a smile at the corner of his lips.
"Agent?"
"Danvers." Oh he was enjoying this.
"Well Agent Danvers, can I buy you a new coffee?"
Oh she was going to get him. "You're a cocksure little newb aren't you?" she cooed, reaching out to chuck him under the chin. Her next words were painted with sarcasm. "This academy is going to chew you up and spit you out."
"You're rather blunt, aren't you?" Ryan smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"As blunt as a baseball bat to the temple," she returned, throwing words he had used in the past back at him. "I am now also going to be late if I don't change and get to where I'm supposed to be soon. But I will find you and take a rain check on that coffee before I head out."
"Well my cell phone number will make it easier for you to collect."
A predatory look crossed her face as she began to walk away, thanking a janitor as he appeared with a mop and broom. "The hunt makes things a little more…interesting. Maybe you'll learn that soon." She was only a few feet away and making a beeline for the women's restroom when she heard the next comment from an accented female voice.
"Do you think that is the Agent Danvers whose name is all over the boards?"
Wearing a now clean shirt that she had found in the depth of her backpack with her soiled once sealed in a spare evidence bag, Rowan found herself reluctantly slinking into the backrow of the lecture on 'Proper Scene Procedure When Dealing with a Live Victim.' Failing to suppress a groan as she opened a notebook and unwound a pen from the base of her ponytail she barely resisted dropping her head against the desk top. Why. Why was she taking a class on what was A) common sense, B) taught at the academy, and C) something she was actually good at? Beginning to doodle in the corner of the lined paper, the only thing running through her mind was how she was going to make Hamden's life a living hell when she returned to Chicago.
A/N: So let me know what you think. The first couple of chapters are already written and hopefully as the season picks up, the updates will be a little more frequent than some of my stories in the past. Like, comment, favorite, follow... go ahead and I hope everyone has a happy and safe (not to mention spooky) Halloween.- Alisabeth