May 28, 2005

The nightmares of the blast in Boston were occurring less often. Unlike the entire month afterward. The section Chief ordered Jason Gideon to take that month off. Since then, he was beginning to feel normal again, though he was still dealing with the loss of his wife, Rachel, a year-and-a-half before.

Not that his grief in any way attributed to his decisions on the job. He had analyzed every decision he'd made in that warehouse in Boston, even his choice of words he used with Bale. And he truly believed his grief played no part in the outcome that caused the death of six agents. Yes, he had thrown himself back into the deep end at work, after Rachel died. The twice-monthly mandated sessions with Dr. Merrill uncovered the pain and guilt he had harbored due to his wife's death. Adding to that the fact his son Stephen moved away to attend college in California, leaving both feeling untethered to the other.

By the time the doctor gave him a clean bill of mental health six months later, his friend and colleague at the Academy, Phillip Spencer, died in a freak accident, throwing Jason for a loop. He had recruited Phillip nearly twenty years before and was close (as close as Jason allowed himself to get) to his family.

Jason, having no other living relatives, was welcomed by Phillip's family, having him over for Sunday dinners and the occasional game nights. Jason needed that sense of normalcy to balance his life. His fondness for birds could only do so much, but that was merely a hobby. Phillip's family helped provide some of that balance.

Edward, Phillip's father-in-law, was a cousin of David Rossi, Jason's former partner, who had retired from the BAU several years before and was currently crisscrossing the country on his third book tour. The few times Dave came by for a visit, Jason would be away on a case. Maybe next time, one or the other would say to Emily, Phillip's wife.

His latest protégé, Dr. Spencer Reid, graduated from the FBI Academy the year before, just a couple of weeks after Phillip died. When Jason accompanied BAU-1—the unit that dealt with bombing matters—to Boston, Spencer had been nearly finished with his required 520 hours of Behavioral Profile training, for which Jason was thankful. Agents Morgan and Hotchner had been working with Spencer on another assignment in D.C. at the time. He didn't want to think what he would have done if those three—especially young Spencer—had gone with him to Massachusetts, only to perish in the blast.

Because of that incident, the director ordered another 20 hours added to the training, for the newest group of Agents. And after his month off, Gideon stepped down as Unit Chief of the BAU. Officially, it was BAU-4, which mainly dealt with crimes against adults. BAU-5 dealt only with research, strategy, and instruction. After Phillip's death, SSA Bernardi, from the Academy, became the new Unit Chief. BAU-2 dealt mostly with cyber crimes and public corruption and rarely overlapped with, or covered for, Units 1, 3 and 4. Agent Hotchner stepped up as Acting Unit Chief during Gideon's mandated leave.

He settled into his daily routine, teaching the Profiler training and providing consultations. Spencer was still learning from him, splitting his time between the BAU and the Academy, after finishing his Profiler training, his case rotation and getting his certification on weapons training at the shooting range. The FBI had procedures for everything, leaving very little to chance.

Gideon walked into the classroom, smiling at the agents in the seats. "Good morning. Let's get started…"

A/N

Thank you, Scoofuls, for giving me the idea for this chapter. I racked my brain for a couple of hours for a way to write this. Then inspiration struck, and this chapter is the result. I hope everyone enjoys reading it. Please let me know if you do. If you didn't like it, you can also let me know. I promise not to get angry (or block you). Writers understand not everyone will like their work. ANY constructive criticism is welcome. I strive to become a better writer.