Disclaimer: I do not own anything Criminal Minds related.
It was a chilly fall day. Jason Gideon sat in the park and watched people go by. Part of him wanted to follow those strangers and see the type of lives they lived, but he was beyond that now. All he can do is profile from afar and hope he isn't letting too many of the dangerous ones walk away. After a while he let his mind travel to a more positive place and he set his sights on the harmless looking ones. That is when he saw her, a pretty, petite black woman with a playfully serious look about her. He gave her a small nod when she sat next to him on the bench. The long silence prompted him to say something.
"Tough day?" he asked. He noticed her clothes were both professional and casual. An outline of a gun was visible through her blazer. The park was in D.C. so he pegged her as a government agent. Jason became a little nervous.
"This is what a tough day wants to be when it grows up," she replied with a tired voice. She had been working with the BAU for two days already and she was feeling the stress of being an outsider.
"I know the feeling," Jason said. He offered a reassuring smile.
"I wish you did, so then we could swap stories." She chuckled dryly.
"The horror stories I know would give you nightmares for weeks."
"I'm pretty sure I could come up with a good number of campfire tales myself."
It was nice to find some humor in the bad things. The guilt that went with it wasn't there when talking with a stranger.
"But believe me when I say that there are good moments," Jason told his bench mate.
"I do believe that. But I also hold on to the belief that the bad moments are more than the good… especially when it is the bad that starts it all off." She said the last part quietly. Jason just nodded.
The two of them sat on the bench and said nothing more until the woman stood up to leave. Jason caught a glimpse of her BAU identification card and rose to his feet. He held out his hand.
"Unsubs get extreme. Team members argue. The cases are always tough, but the happy endings really do help," Jason told her as he shook her hand.
"How did you know?" she asked. He gestured at where her badge was and she smiled. "Oh. Well, I will try to hold that advice close… It's difficult."
"I know."And Jason did know.
"I'm Jordan Todd."
"Oliver James," Jason answered. He knew she would tell someone about her meeting with a former BAU agent. He did not want to risk her finding out about his past. It was nice to have someone at the BAU who thought good of him.
"Ok, Mr. James. I am going to head home… Have a good day." And with that Jordan Todd walked away towards her apartment a few blocks away.
Jason sat back down on the bench and resumed his people watching.