AN: I really wish I could write a four-way crossover, and have it actually be tagged under every fandom I need... *sigh* I had the hardest time deciding which fandoms out of Criminal Minds, Stargate SG-1, Psych, and Supernatural to tag this story with.
Informant and Reference 'verses! (See my author page for details, if you don't know what's going on!)
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies—I own nothing! Except for Barlow... Oh, and of course the names of the government-run group that is about to be proposed. ;)
Hotch sat down at Reid's abandoned desk with a sigh.
Morgan turned in his chair. "What the hell is going on, Hotch?" It wasn't anger in his voice, but anxiety and confusion. "Did you hear Reid on the phone a few minutes ago, talking about taking over some new government group?"
Hotch nodded. "I heard."
"Well what are we going to do about it? We can't lose our boy to some random group that no one knows about yet."
He sighed. "It's not our decision. This is up to Reid."
"Dr. Reid, I'm sorry to cause you any worry by coming to your workplace here," President Hayes began, soothingly. "I would have given you more warning, but as you can imagine, I was rather shocked by the discovery of a national threat that I had never encountered until now."
Reid nodded. "Shawn said that he had done a hunt for a military base somewhere, and that you heard about it."
The President's eyes narrowed. "Did he tell you much about the work he did for us?"
"No, sir. He just said he had done a salt n' burn on a military base. He didn't say anything else."
One corner of Hayes's mouth tipped in a weary smile. "Well at least he can keep quiet about some things..." He shook his head. "I met with Mr. Spencer, and after talking to him, discovered that there are more men across the country, and even the world, who were familiar with the, um, less familiar threats to our national security. And it became apparent to me that we are in need of some organization."
Reid pursed his lips for a moment, before daring to speak. "Hunters, by nature, are loners. They do this job because they have lost someone to a supernatural force. People can't become hunters just because they think it sounds like a cool job. It doesn't work that way."
President Hayes nodded. "Except in Mr. Spencer's case, that's what I hear."
"Shawn isn't a hunter."
"But he knew how to fix the problems we were having at our base..."
Reid shook his head, trying to explain it. "Shawn may know how to hunt, but he's not a hunter. He doesn't see the job like anyone else. I'm just trying to explain to you what every real hunter is like. They work alone, and they live and die for the job. For the hunt. I'm not sure that they will ever consider working for the government. In fact, most would probably laugh in your face if you asked them."
He suddenly realized how emphatic he was being, and blushed as he slouched in his seat. Maybe he shouldn't talk so boldly to the man who basically ran the country...?
President Hayes didn't seem perturbed though. He only nodded as if contemplating Reid's words. "I see. Well, what about a governmental group to help hunters? Shawn explained that hunters are often carted away to prisons and jails for assumed crimes."
Reid studied him doubtfully. "Did he tell you what types of crimes they usually get put in jail for?"
The President nodded. "We spent some time discussing it, yes."
"How would you prove that the crimes they supposedly didn't commit were actually caused by the supernatural?"
"That's where the SSIA would come in."
"SSIA?"
"Supernatural Security and Intelligence Agency."
Reid paused. "Seriously?"
"Completely. If there are men out there protecting every man woman and child from threats they have never and will never believe or see, then I want our government to protect them. Agents would keep an eye out for arrests of hunters made. If hunters were willing, we could put their fingerprints on file and organize the office to be ready when they begin a hunt that may lead to their arrest. Agents would be able to provide documentation to hospitals for injured hunters needing insurance. Housing on the road could be paid for, with safe-houses posted throughout the country, left open and useable for any hunter in need."
Reid sat back in his chair, somewhat in shock. "Seriously?" he had to ask again.
President Hayes nodded. "Hunters are protecting my country from threats I couldn't ever hope to save them from. I need to protect those hunters."
Reid's eyes were wide as he considered the idea. He couldn't help but realize that Sam and Dean would maybe never be arrested for good... They would be able to get help when they needed a hospital and couldn't afford or risk going to one... They could do their jobs without fear of police or a lack of funds...
Reid took a deep breath. "So you're here today to ask about some hunters who would be interested in running this program? The SSIA?"
"Yes. Mr. Spencer sent me to you, but looking at your team's case records, I realized you might not want to take full responsibility for it. If you have someone else in mind...?"
"Let me call a friend," Reid said, hand already reaching for his pocket. But he remembered too late that his cell was back at his desk. "Um, is it okay if I call someone? I'll be right back."
"Of course."
"Great."
Reid stood and had to curb the urge to run to his desk. This might the greatest thing to happen for hunters since...since forever. They might finally get the help they needed and deserved!
Morgan saw the door open to the conference room, and felt surprised at how fast that had been. Then he caught sight of Reid exiting alone, walking as quickly as he could without looking like he was running (though even from across the room, Morgan could tell he wanted to run...
Reid hurried down to his desk, ignoring Hotch in his seat, and barely returning Morgan's nod. He picked up his cell phone and dialed a number, waiting for only a second before the person on the other end picked up.
"Bobby? It's Spencer. Um, so a Shawn Spencer called me today?" He paused. "Oh he did? So you already knew the President was going to visit me?" (He sounded a little angry at that.) "You could have warned me when I called you this morning. Instead, I got the info from Shawn—whom I've never met before—when he called to let me know."
Morgan frowned as he listened in, not caring that he was eavesdropping. This was their wonder boy the President was trying to steal away. It concerned the whole team, not just Reid.
"No, Bobby, it sounds really serious. He's offering to set up a service group to aide everyone." Another pause. "Not just like that, but watching police arrest reports, keeping eyes on hospitals for men who can't fund their own visits, setting up safe-houses across the country, for goodness sake!"
Morgan shared a look with Hotch, but he seemed to be just as confused.
"Really?" Reid asked hopefully. "So you already have someone in mind? I thought Rufus was still in the game though. Oh, is that what happened? I didn't realize he was thinking of retiring though. Yeah, I can do that...so long as you're the one to warn Rufus—no way am I going to the store to buy more cases of that alcohol. Do you even know how many weird looks I got in the check-out aisle?" Reid laughed at whatever the response was. "And don't ever doubt it," he replied amiably. "So I should get contact information from them and you can tell Rufus to call? Okay. Yeah, I'll do that. But I have to go, because I left the President upstairs and he's waiting. Yeah, Bobby. Right. Oh, and just so you know, I don't think Shawn's forgiven you for whatever medical work you did on his arm. He sounded a bit miffed still..." Reid said with a grin. "Okay, Bobby. Yeah. I'll call you later."
He hung up, and took off for the conference room again, but Morgan stopped him. "Reid! Dude, what is going on? Seriously."
Reid glanced nervously from his phone to the conference room, before he came up with a cover story. (And Morgan was sure it was a cover story, because he saw the lying tell in the younger man's eyes before he even opened his mouth.) "I um, a few years ago, I was involved in a high-security operation. Not many people knew about it then, and fewer still remember all the details, but um, a man who was involved in a similar operation apparently told some other people about my involvement. Word got around, and now the President is trying to set up a group to handle similar...issues."
Reid swallowed, then darted off to escape any more questions.
"He's lying," Morgan commented quietly as he watched Reid make his way into the conference room again.
"I know," Hotch said.
"But why?"
Hotch shook his head. "That I can't tell you."
Morgan sighed, wondering what was going on with their boy.
"I think I've found someone to head the organization," Reid announced to the President when he entered.
"That's great. When can I meet him?"
"My friend agreed that we should contact him first," Reid said carefully. "So can I get a way to contact you, and let him reach you?"
President Hayes considered it, and nodded. "I suppose so."
Reid smiled. "Great. We will have him come to you as soon as possible."
"You think he will be up to running the SSIA, though?" President Hayes asked. "I'm prepared to give him a number of agents and soldiers who have been...brought in...on the situation. He will have men at his disposal, in other words, to help him get started and to help him keep the organization running."
"I'm sure he will put them to good use," Reid replied.
"Then there's really only one other thing we need to discuss."
Reid sat a little straighter in his seat. "Yes, sir?"
"In order for the SSIA to run at full capacity, ideally we want to train a number of agents and soldiers—including the ones I am already planning to assign to your friend—so that they can be fully equipped to understand the situations hunters may find themselves in. I want training for my agents."
"Training?"
"A hunter's training."
"Like how to deal with...ghosts? And stuff?"
"Yes," President Hayes smiled. "There will be a smaller organization—not even a full organization—which will train agents who go into the SSIA to assist the program. It's already been given a name: STEALTH Camp. Now it just needs someone to lead it."
"Stealth Camp?" Reid asked.
"It stands for Supernatural Threat Elimination and Alternative Logistics Training for Hunters."
Reid blinked at the name, but couldn't stop the smile from forming. "You've thought of everything, it seems."
"I've certainly tried my best," the President said. "But unfortunately, I must give credit where it is due, and tell you that it was Mr. Spencer who named the camp."
The President stood, signifying that the meeting was over. "Thank you for meeting me today, Dr. Reid. May I assume that you will consider a position as liaison between the FBI and SSIA?"
Reid nodded his assent. "As much as I am able, I will do what I can. There is another agent in the building I would trust to help me. He um, he is a hunter in his off-time."
President Hayes smiled. "Excellent. If either of you decide that you are not up to the task, or if you need another hand to keep everything organized, just let me know. Here is a number that you can reach me at."
Reid took the card that was held out to him, then shook the President's hand before walking him to the door of the conference room.
President Hayes nodded a goodbye to the younger man and was immediately swarmed by his Secret Service detail. They made their way to the elevators without stopping for anything.
Reid made his way much more slowly to his desk, wondering how he was going to explain this to his team...
Everyone had congregated by his desk. And Garcia jumped up off his desk when he reached them, throwing her arms around him. "You're not leaving us, are you!" she practically wailed.
He smiled. "Of course not, Garcia."
"But the President just offered you some snazzy job somewhere! How could you turn him down?"
He patted her arm comfortingly, but looked around at his whole team as he answered the question he knew had come from all of them. "The President did offer me a position as the head of a new organization. No, I can't tell you about it. My security clearance is only high enough because of some previous work I did for the government, which I cannot talk about. I turned the position down though."
Garcia gasped, and pulled him back into a hug.
Once he could breathe again, he finished his explanation. "I turned down his original offer. However, as much as I am able, I have been requested to be a liaison between the FBI and the new organization. So when I'm not working any pressing cases, I'm going to be lending them a hand, if I'm able."
Morgan crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. "Does this mean you'll have an office somewhere else, and be leaving town all the time for your new job?"
"No, I can work from my desk here. Mostly it'll just be phone calls or conference calls to help them with fact-checking and things like that."
"So we aren't losing you?" Garcia asked pitifully.
He rolled his eyes. "No. I'm not going anywhere. I'm just going to be lending a hand to the new group whenever I've got some free time."
Epilogue:
Within three weeks of Reid's meeting with President Hayes, the SSIA officially became a government organization. Very few people knew what the acronym stood for, but every government, state, and local department soon became familiar with the name.
Hunters soon began to catch on to the fact that the government was assisting them...
A young man named Caleb had been about to escape the hospital he knew he wouldn't be able to pay, until two men in dark suits approached him, explaining the situation briefly, and asking only that he sign on the dotted line before they assured him that everything was paid for.
Pastor Jim Murphy stumbled his way into a safe-house accidentally (though he would never call it less than an act of God) after escaping from a hunt gone wrong. There were two SSIA agents present, who were trained enough to patch the pastor back together, and nurse him back to health. It was almost three days later that the two agents realized the man was a hunter.
And if the release of Gordon Walker from Ohio State Penitentiary really was due to the SSIA, and not someone posing as an agent...? Well, Rufus told everyone that he had ordered for his agents to leave Gordon where he was. It took a little paperwork to convince his agents—and the President (who heard about it from one of the young SSIA underlings who had just transferred from Colorado)—that Gordon was better off left in jail. It wasn't his fault that someone forged an SSIA badge and broke the hunter out.
As you can see, there were both good and bad things about the SSIA's involvement. Hunters of both trustworthy and less-than-trustworthy nature used the name of the SSIA to help them achieve their goals. Rufus did his best to teach his agents how to distinguish between the two groups, but it was a difficult job to do that.
Within six months, many hunters were aware of the SSIA's involvement with the hunters. By that time, the STEALTH Camp was up and running smoothly as well.
As months passed, the SSIA and the Camp both grew in reputation. Hunters were still wary of trusting the government, but they could hardly fault the government for anything the SSIA had done. Whoever had organized it, or was running it, the group was helping hunters across the country.
Spencer Reid was the official liaison between the FBI and the SSIA, but Barlow helped him whenever he could. And other government groups from the alphabet soup found that they had agents who were informed enough to become liaisons as well.
That is not to say the SSIA was not without problems and issues though. It did not run perfectly right away—or ever, in fact. But Rufus did what he could to get the group on its feet and running properly. And Bobby did enjoy lending a hand around the STEALTH Camp when he was able, though he sometimes had more fun just watching Elkins working the sissy government agents and military members into a sweat...
AN: I hope you enjoyed it! I'm going to try to get the Psych/SG-1 fic up eventually. I've got a plan for how Shawn got involved with Cheyenne Mountain already, but I need to actually sit down and write it over the Christmas break... ;)
Sorry if this fic is a little messy. I wrote it in one sitting, and didn't edit it much-I was too excited! lol
