A/N: This is my first story and I can't seem to get this character out of my head. Enjoy and please review!
The team sat in the conference room, waiting for Bridget Carmichael, the last member of their team, to arrive. She had texted Morgan saying that she was on her way about 20 minutes ago, but with the winter storm they'd received last night, there was bound to be traffic.
"Let's get started," Hotch finally said. "We can brief her on the jet."
"Ok, this is Richard Martin, 88," JJ started her presentation. "His body was found in the Arlington National Cemetery two months ago. He was brutally beaten and murdered." She pulled up pictures of the crime scene on the projection screen.
"Leaving him in the middle of a national cemetery? That's quite a statement," Rossi interrupted. The others nodded in agreement as JJ continued.
"Four weeks later, Thomas Drew, 89," she bought up more pictures. "Then two weeks ago, Markus Jackson, 88, found the same way. All three died of blunt force trauma to the head and were dumped in the Arlington Cemetery."
"All three were also veterans of World War II," Hotch stated, reading the file. "They were all serving in the same year and were stationed in the same base in Germany."
"So they knew each other?" Morgan asked. But before anyone could answer, the door to the BAU room opened, and a very flustered and cold-looking FBI agent entered.
Bridget Carmichael had joined the BAU three years ago and the team had taken to her very quickly. There was a warmth about her that seemed to put everyone around her in a better mood.
You can see she's a beautiful girl, she's a beautiful girl
Everything around her is a silver pool of light
The people who surround her feel the benefit of it
It makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm
Hotch had been reluctant when she'd first been placed on the team, especially after her not-so-clean past, but she'd proven herself as a very important member of the team.
"Sorry, traffic," Bridget said by way of a greeting and explanation. There were still droplets of water from melted snowflakes in her long chestnut-colored hair. She shook her hair out as she took a seat between Hotch and Morgan. Morgan couldn't help but stare at her cheeks and nose, both of which were tinged with pink from the cold weather.
"Nice of you to join us," Morgan teased.
Bridget's emerald eyes remained on the file she'd taken from JJ as she replied. "I hate winter."
A quiet laugh rippled through all the team, except Hotch, whose expression remained stern.
"Come on, you've lived here for three years," Morgan said. "You've got to be used to it by now."
"And what about when you lived here before? And St. Louis? You grew up there! It gets pretty cold there in winter too," Emily added.
"I never liked it!" Bridget playfully defended herself. "You want to know how warm it is in Miami? Seventy-six degrees. It's not even twenty-six degrees here!" It was no secret to the team that she missed living in Miami, but had given up the gorgeous weather to take the job in the BAU. She always made it clear that she'd even take St. Louis' bipolar weather over the frost that hit Virginia each winter.
"The temperatures have actually been at a record low for Florida this year," Reid through in.
"Back to the case, please," Hotch said, setting them all back on track.
As they went over the details of the murders, Hotch let his mind wander, taking him back to Bridget's first day at the BAU.
She'd walked in accompanied by the director of the Bureau herself, but Hotch knew that she was an old friend of David Carmichael, Bridget's father. Even if she hadn't been new, all the eyes would've been drawn to her anyway.
Soft waves in her chocolatey hair cascaded over her shoulders and she wore a brown pencil skirt that matched the color of her hair. The earthy tone was complemented by a chartreuse button-down shirt. The outfit accentuated her curves and showed off her toned lean muscle.
When he'd introduced her to the team, Rossi looked pleased, Derek looked excited and Reid looked fairly intimidated. Hotch was surprised at Prentiss' reaction.
"Bridget?" Bridget's head whipped around to look at Prentiss.
"Emily Prentiss? No way!" The two women hugged. Seeing the looks they'd gotten from the team, Prentiss quickly began to explain.
"Our parents were friends, always going to the same galas and events. While all the other kids were sitting quietly, we were the girls who were sneaking out to meet boys or for a cigarette." The team laughed, picturing the two getting into all sorts of trouble.
"It only got worse when you went off to college and left me to wreak havoc on my own," Bridget said laughing. Emily was almost seven years older than Bridget and had always thought of her as a younger sister. Seven years was quite an age gap, but, as the two misfits in the political world, the girls found comfort in each other.
Upon meeting Garcia, Hotch found that they quickly bonded over a love of clothes and fashion. She'd also quickly become friends with JJ.
When Reid started spurting out facts at the briefing for Bridget's first case with the team, she stared at him in fascination. In the three years that she'd been with the team, Bridget had never mocked Reid for his profuse knowledge of random facts and never asked him to stop talking, like Hotch and the others constantly did.
It was very clear that she really cared about the members of her team and her loyalty to them had shone through on many occasions. Bridget was easy to talk to and easy to trust and, to their knowledge, she'd never broken that trust. However, she wasn't one to spill private, personal information about her own past. Hotch was fairly certain that there were secrets about her that the others on the team would be very surprised to find out.
The realization that the others were waiting for his order brought Hotch back to the present. "Alright, JJ, let the Arlington PD know that we're on our way. It's a 45 minute drive, so let's leave in an hour. I want everyone to brush up on the details of the case before we leave."
The song used is "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall.
Please review! It's my first fanfic so please be nice!! Thanks!!