Chapter 9
A knock rapped at the hospital door, surprising both Reid and Charles. "Do doctors usually knock?" Reid asked out loud.
"No, not usually. Come in!" Charles called to the door.
The knob twisted and in walked the leader of the Behavioral analysis unit Reid was a part of, "hello, Charles," he greeted and then saw Reid in the chair beside the hospitalized man, "oh, Reid. I didn't know you'd be here."
Reid turned a little bit red which turned dark as he realized his hand was still attached to Charles's. He quickly retracted his hand, "oh uh yes. I was the one responsible for protecting him. I wanted to make sure he was okay."
"How are you two doing?" Hotch inquired.
"Good thank you. Spencer has to keep the shot cleaned up and bandage it. I should be okay. My injuries are the same to the extent that I have to keep them clean and make sure I dress them often," the telepath answered for both of them. "What brings you to this part of the neighborhood?"
"Well. I talked to the section chief and it turns out that we do not have anyone in the department that understands human genetic mutations. No FBI agent has that training," Hotch sat down in a chair and pulled up to be on the other side of the bed.
"Oh really?" Charles asked surprised.
"Yeah. No one even knew mutants existed. So I had Garcia look up the world's leading expert on genetic mutations," Hotch continued.
"There's a world's leading expert on that?" Charles asked.
"One man has studied them quite a bit. Almost all of his research is what people use to learn about mutants."
"Oh really?" Charles glanced up, scratching his chin, trying to recall who he had learned everything from.
Hotch laughed at that, "It's you, Charles. Garcia found you to be the world's leading expert on human genetic mutation."
"M-me?" Charles asked, taken back.
"You've got quite a few published works on the subject and as far as we can tell, you even created the degree yourself. I think Garcia said that you were the only person to have your doctorate in that field."
Charles turned red learning this information, "R-Really? No one else? I would call myself an expert. There's still so much I myself don't understand about mutations."
"Maybe so, but you are extremely knowledgeable about the subject," Hotch praised. "You also have a bachelor's in psychology correct? And took some criminal justice classes?" He asked.
"Yes?" Charles crooked his eyebrow confused.
"Well. I've come to ask you if you would maybe like to intern for the FBI? We could use a man with your knowledge," Hotch smiled.
Charles turned a little pink, "r-really?" He asked. "An internship?"
"It would be a paid position of course," the leader added, "and it would be with our team."
"Really?" Charles smiled a bit looking over at Reid sitting beside him.
"I'll let you think about it, but I think you would be a perfect addition to our team," Hotch said. "Heal up," he patted his arm gently.
"Thank you, Sir," The telepath smiled.
With that, Hotch left his youngest agent and his hopefully new intern alone in the hospital together. "That was unexpected," Charles piped up.
"Yeah it was," Reid said.
"I just got a job offer," he laughed thinking about it. "I am confined to the hospital bed and I got an offer to be part of the FBI. That's just ridiculous."
"But it's pretty incredible."
"I would be working with you," Charles beamed, "that would be amazing to see you more often."
"That would be really nice," Reid nodded glancing down a bit.
"What's wrong?" Charles asked, taking Reid's hand again and giving it a small gentle squeeze.
"What? Oh nothing, nothing at all. How are you feeling?" The agent asked changing subjects quickly.
"I'm feeling a little bit better. The pain medication kicked in so I'm not in pain really. At least for now," he shrugged a bit, regretting his decision quickly as pain shot through him.
"He really did do a lot to you," he quietly said squeezing his hand gently.
"Yeah. He really despised me," Charles groaned a bit, "it's weird though... He's actually gone now..." He trailed off.
"Yeah. A lot has changed for you these past few weeks."
"Yeah. So what do you think about my joining the team?"
"What?"
"What would you think if I accepted the intern position? Would you be happy? Angry? Upset?"
"I think it would be a perfect match," he smiled softly. "Like Hotch said, you fit in with the team perfectly. You saw how well you got along with everyone."
"Think I should go for it?"
"I think you would be crazy to say no."
"Meet your new partner then," he beamed proudly.
"Welcome to the team," Reid teased as he stretched out his right hand to shake Charles's.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," he shook his hand with a laugh. "I think we will get along just swell," he teased.
"I think you might be right."
