Hello, everyone. Here is another one of my Criminal Minds fan fiction.
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the original characters; at times I wish I did. I'm not going to lie, I'm über nervous about creating this story. I got the idea to do this story from ahowell1993. The story is set in an AU but will have characters from my two other Criminal Minds stories, Anastasia and (For)Ever After.
I'll try and get to my other stories when I can; along with school—I'll (hopefully) be graduating in a few months, part-time job, etc.
Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.
"SSA Aaron Hotchner," A petite woman said to him as he was sitting at a table; she was all dressed in a white designer poplin shirt, black designer wool straight pants, black designer double-breasted wool blazer; black designer two-inch laced-ups heels and she was also carrying both a large black briefcase and work-bag on her shoulder. She would soon extend her hand. "It is such a pleasure to meet you, especially in person."
"Pleasure to meet you, too, Ms. Bastien. And you can call me either Aaron or Hotch."
"And I prefer Élise; Ms. Bastien is my mother." Élise said as she sat down; waiting for a couple more people to show up for lunch, "I've followed your work as a federal prosecutor."
"I have been with you as well, and I have to say, I'm impressed. Within the past few years, you've made quite a reputation for yourself."
"Really?" Élise clammed up but also blushed at the same time. "You honestly think I made a reputation for myself? I don't seem too scary in person."
Hotch lets out a rare chuckle, "You don't."
"Anyway, I've heard about what happened to your agents; glad none of them were hurt or killed. I'm telling you if I had to deal with the pompous Attorney General…"
"I think I know what you would have done," Hotch smirked.
A red-haired, giraffelike waitress interrupted them, politely smiling. "Hello there. Can I get you anything?"
"I'll just have a cup of coffee for now and I think more people will be coming soon."
"Yes, sir. And you, ma'am?"
"I'll have the modern Caprese sandwich, a glass of water, and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookie. Oh! And I'll have the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake in a carry-out box, please."
"Right away."
"You have quite a sweet tooth, huh?"
"Yeah." She chuckled nervously.
"You remind me of one of my colleague agents, Dr. Spencer Reid."
"I do?" She asked.
"Yeah." He had an idea. "How would you feel if I set up you two up?"
"Set up," Élise felt her mouth clammed up. "You mean, like…on a date?"
"A blind date."
"I don't know," What else was she supposed to say? "I-I-I mean…I…"
"I can tell you're nervous; you're pick and bite down on your fingernails and lip; you even run your hands through your hair and looking down; more signs of nervous. You even have insecurity about your looks; my guess going back from bad experiences, your childhood."
He was right about that; despite being in her twenties, there were times where Élise felt like looked old, with or without her designer optical eyeglasses; or even worse: the ugliest person in the world. She had short ear-to-chin-length black-brown hair; sometimes she felt her hair was getting shorter and shorter whenever she weekly washed it. She had medium-to-dark brown skin tone; sometimes she could feel the greasy oil on her face throughout the day, would even occasionally have adult acne; she never wears makeup and whenever she looked in the mirror, she felt she would still see the acne scars. Sometimes she even felt fat.
Letting out a rare small smile, "Don't worry; Dr. Reid is someone who won't care about how the girl looks; looks are trivial to him."
"Oh." That made Élise feel a little bit better. A man who prefers a woman's mind and personality rather than physical beauty.
"And he is also someone who believes he'll never find a girl who won't care that he's a genius, despite his flaws."
"Well, I do like a guy with brains." She spoke up. "And we all have flaws. I think without them, we might as well be living in Stepford, Connecticut."
Their orders came. "So…are you convinced?"
"You make a convincing argument, counsel."
Reid, with his bag over his shoulder and his coffee in his hand, steps into Hotch's office and yet for some reason, he couldn't help but feel nervous. He sees Hotch doing some paperwork, but soon stops once he looked up and sees Reid take a seat.
"So…how are you feeling?"
"I got held hostage and assaulted in the abdomen twice with a rifle by a narcissistic and ephebophilic, statutory raping cult leader who attempted to murder myself, Prentiss, and others because he thought he was doing God's will. But I'm feeling alright; I'm starting to feel better."
"Well, that's good. And I know what Prentiss did for you."
"Yeah, I sent her flowers as a thank you and we even had a little talk on the plane after it was all over; she said she had no regrets over what Cyrus did to her and she would do it again."
"Really, Reid. I'm glad you and Prentiss are alright. And I'm glad I had you two take some time off to recoup from what happened. Honestly, I was afraid you two weren't going to make it out alive."
Reid nodded his head, "Same."
"And there's something else I want you to do, even though it has nothing to do with work."
"Okay. I'm listening."
"I set up a blind date for you with someone from the law firm I used to work for before the BAU."
"Really?"
"Yes. Her name is Élise Bastien. She was one of the firm's youngest and top prosecutors although she was asked to do a few defense cases; she recently took a job as a federal prosecutor for the US Attorneys. And she has built quite a reputation for herself."
"What kind of reputation?"
"She often referred to as the Silent Eliminator or the Silent Enforcer. Because she may be silent, but she can eliminate anyone who stands in her way to get justice and she sure knows how to enforce the law the right way. And I told her you were the kind of guy who won't care about looks since they are trivial to you. And she even has insecurities about her looks."
"Well, looks are trivial to me and I do have insecurities."
Hotch starts to reason with him, "Personally, I think setting you up on this blind date could be a good thing for you."
"What makes you say that?" Reid asked.
"I mean, you're what, 27 years old?"
"I will be in less than three weeks."
"You two are practically the same age.
"Still, Hotch…"
"You should start thinking about settling down with someone and start a family of your own; have a life outside the FBI. And besides, you don't want to be a workaholic like me, now would you?"
"No, I do not." Reid agreed, considering everything that has happened to Hotch in the previous year.
"And would you rather have Morgan or Garcia set you up on a blind date than me?"
Reid snickers a soft laugh. "I think I would pick you."
"Exactly. So…are you convinced?"
"I'm convinced."
Hotch lets out another rare smile. "Excellent. I'll call her and have everything set up."
"Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"Not at the moment, no."
"Okay. I need to have a talk with Prentiss anyway."
"And…can we keep this between us?"
"Of course, although there is a good chance, I might get profiled through my office window."
A/N: Sorry to leave you all hanging there, but until next time!
