Based off of the descriptions Rolland had given, it was easy to spot the two young men the instant they came into the coffee shop. They were rather hard to miss. One of them, a muscular black man, was dressed kind of plain in blue jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket, with sunglasses resting over his eyes. According to Rolland, it was about how the man dressed all the time. He was a simple, basic man. A laborer. The information said the man had worked odd jobs in the construction business. Anything that he could take here and there to make ends meet. He would be a good person to have on the compound. Ashton could already picture the things the man could do to help the community.
It was the man with him that really stood out and who was the one that Ashton was most interested to meet with. He didn't look like much, yet Ashton knew well that looks could be deceiving. The young man was dressed in, well, a rather eclectic fashion. He wore a t-shirt with the batman logo on the front, a black short sleeved over shirt that was left unbuttoned, fingerless black gloves and black and white striped arm warmers. Then, to make the outfit even more unique, he wore red plaid pants that were held up on a tiny waist with a black belt, and a pair of converse shoes. Long brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail with bits of hair still trialing in his face. He looked like he'd simply rolled out of bed and grabbed whatever was available.
A very deceiving look indeed. Rolland's report said the young man was an absolute genius. They didn't know his IQ as they had no money to go get him tested, but Rolland had said that it was easy to see it was high. He'd graduated high school but hadn't attended college for lack of money. Yet he apparently could compute complex mathematical problems in his head and had an amazing memory when it came to topics of interest. Rolland also said the man was autistic. High functioning, but obviously autistic. It was part of the reason he'd approached the two. The man with him was his best friend and self-proclaimed advocate since the young one had turned eighteen and his parents had turned him out of the house. His friend had taken him in, gotten them an apartment together and worked hard to make sure that his friend was taken care of. Whether there was more to the relationship or not, Rolland said neither would admit to.
There were certain qualities that members of the family looked for when inviting others to come and join their family. One of the major ones was if the person or people were obviously ostracized where they were, left with no options because society wasn't approving of them, how they lived, or who they were. In the report it had said that these two fit that perfectly. The young one apparently had been assaulted repeatedly when he left the house, a victim of bullies who liked to pick on those smaller than them or those mentally ill. Because of that and because of his few quirks, which the report said were not detrimental to day to day life, the young man had a hard time keeping a job. In return, his partner was forced to shoulder the full set of bills and was left with little to no time to his friend or himself even.
Of course, they had to be cautious, even with two that looked perfect. Especially with two that looked perfect. Three times now the FBI had tried to get spies into the compound. The last thing that Ashton would allow was spies inside of his home. Those others, though, they had been easy to spot almost instantly. Nothing about these two suggested FBI. The bigger man, maybe, if he had come on his own. But the younger, smaller one? Oh, no. He looked more like a starving teen than FBI. Their backgrounds had checked out, too. Nothing in there that set off any warning bells.
As they made their way to a table to wait—they'd been told to seat themselves at the coffee shop and that Ashton would approach them—he took a moment to observe them. It was the best way to gauge how people were, watching them when they didn't know. Watching the two of them, Ashton learned a few things. One was that there was definitely a bond between the two. It was obvious in the way they moved together, talking as much with bodies and expressions as they did with words. The second was more a confirmation of information. The darker man definitely took care of the other; so much so that it seemed to happen instinctually.
Confident in his assessment, Ashton rose, gesturing to his right hand man Bernard to watch for him. Then Ashton made his way over alone, heading straight to the men's table. As he got close, he heard the younger one laugh as he said "Knock it off, Jace. It's a perfectly acceptable request, I'll have you know!"
The darker man—Jace Hawkins—shook his head and laughed as well. "Come on, Sebastian. You had to admit, it does make you look weird. No one orders every single topping to their burger on the side."
Sebastian Gallo—the younger one—made some sound before he said "They never assemble it properly. Can you expect me to eat an improperly assembled burger? Don't be preposterous."
Ashton wasn't able to keep the amusement from his face as he stepped right up to the table and smiled down at the two of them. "Hello." He put on his most friendly smile, looking from the slightly cautious expression that Jace wore to the pleasant expression on Sebastian's bruised face. The young man still sported the black eye and split lip that Rolland said came from the last and final assault that had prompted these two to finally leave town. Because of his report, he was prepared for the way Sebastian's eyes flickered to him and away again, never meeting his eyes. "I take it you two are Sebastian and Jace? My name's Ashton." This was going to be easy. He could tell already; the two were perfect.
There were some days that Aaron Hotchner would have willingly handed over the duties of Unit Chief to someone else and simply gone home to be with his son. Some days that he didn't want to be the one in charge; the one required to deliver bad news and to remain strong through it. Today was one of those days. When he watched what was left of his team file into the conference room, Garcia included, he wished he didn't have to stand here and that he didn't have to tell them what he was about to tell them. Yet the only other option would have been for Strauss to inform them and that was the last thing he was going to let happen.
There really was no easy way for him to tell them this. No way to phrase it that would 'soften the blow' at all. Because of that, Aaron didn't bother trying. He didn't sugarcoat what he said. When everyone was seated around him, he looked from face to face. Dave, Emily, Seaver, Garcia. The fact that this was happening so close to them losing JJ and gaining Ashley didn't really help matters any. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the blowout that was about to happen. "Seaver, would you close the door, please?" he asked her politely. She gave him a strange look before rising and shutting the door that had been behind her. Once it was shut, she took her seat once more and all eyes were on him. It was show time. "I just got done with a meeting with Strauss. This morning, when she called Reid into her office and then Morgan, it was because she was offering them an assignment. One that the Bureau believes them to be well suited for. Because of the nature of the assignment, I'm not allowed to tell you where exactly they're going or what they're doing, but I can tell you that they're going to be undercover. Deep undercover."
"What?" Garcia exclaimed loudly.
Shock was on the other faces. Ashley's was less than theirs but it was still present. "How long?" Their newest agent asked him.
Aaron shook his head a little at her. "We don't know. There's no definite time frame set; it could be months. On that note, we've been assigned a temporary agent, just until the two return to us. His name is Andrew Carlton. All he knows is that these two are out on assignment and that, starting this afternoon, he's going to be helping fill in the gap for as long as need be. He has no idea about them being undercover and that's the way we'd like to keep it. As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid have been transferred to another team and put on temporary desk duty, citing injuries that have been manufactured. But there will always be a place here for them whenever they come back."
Garcia looked devastated, Ashley looked resigned, Emily had pulled up a shield so that Aaron saw nothing but a quick furious flash in her eyes before she was closed off, and Dave looked both calm and understanding. He'd been around the business long enough to know that things like this happened. There was a slight amount of worry in his eye because he knew what these kinds of things could be like, but he was practical enough to know that nothing he said or did was going to change it.
"When do we meet this Andrew?" Dave asked him finally. At the surprised looks from the others, he shrugged. "I'm being practical here, guys. This new guy is going to be a part of the team, even if it is temporary. Don't you think we need to get to know the guy a little before a case comes up?"
"We shouldn't have to deal with anyone new at all." Emily stated in a neutral voice. Aaron had known that, out of the four of them that went into the field, Emily would have the hardest time with this. Not that she wasn't adaptable; she definitely was. But because being in the field like this required trusting those around you and she wasn't one who gave her trust easily. To lose two that she definitely did trust and gain one that she didn't even know was going to be a hard adjustment for her. She would work with him and she would be polite, he knew. She wouldn't raise a fuss beyond this meeting. But she wouldn't trust the man.
"No, we shouldn't." Ashley said softly to the woman. "But that doesn't change it. Until they're done, Reid and Morgan can't come back. Our jobs can't just stop because of that. We have to keep working until they get back."
That flash came and went in Emily's eyes once more and Aaron resisted wincing. If he'd been able to, he would've stopped Ashley from giving that little speech. She might have thought she was helping and with anyone else, she probably would have been. With Emily, a little speech like that was enough to get the woman's back up.
In an effort to stop this before it got going, Aaron rose from his chair. "Agent Carlton is out in the bullpen, waiting for my word to come up. I'm going to go and get him and I want all of us to work to make him comfortable on the team. And remember, what we've just discussed does not leave this room. Their safety could depend on that. Now, are you ready?"
Hope you guys like that! I'm trying to be a little creative with how I show the two of them there and remember, the way they act is just that, acting, m'kay? I don't believe they're really like that in those parts. The boys are playing a part. Okay, anyways, review and let me know what you think!