Chapter 2 -The Jet
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." -Albert Einstein
Hotch's POV
The team, plus Gwen, and minus Garcia, walked on to the plane, and settled down for the seven hour long flight to Alaska. I sat next to Gwen on the aisle seat, Dave sat across from me, with Reid across from Gwen. Morgan was across the aisle, next to JJ. Blake was sitting diagonally from me. Garcia was up on the screens, and we had her on the computer to discuss the case.
"Okay, crime fighters, in Nome Alaska, three twelve year old girls have gone missing from one of the only local stores. The first one, Terri Smith, has been found dead in a park. She had been blinded, and there are signs of sexual assault. Jackie Wilson, and Paige Hall are still missing," Garcia briefed the team.
"Garcia, were the signs of sexual assault penetrative?" Gwen asked.
"No penetration," Garcia responded.
"So our unsub could be sexually inadequate," Gwen pointed out.
"Yes, he certainly could be. Garcia, check for anyone in the population of 3000 that has not been in to work in the past week," I informed our tech analyst. She nodded, and she hung up.
"So how do you guys know Guinevere?" Reid asked Rossi and I.
"When Gwen was eleven years old, she was one of the one percent that we found alive after 24 hours," I answered. Reid glazed at her. Gwen smiled at Reid.
"How did you escape?" Reid asked. Gwen just smirked.
"I first kicked him in the balls, and then I kneed him in the balls, and I ran to a phone. I dialed 911, and I told the operator the address, and Hotch and Rossi found me burned in the basement," She stated, almost no emotion in her voice, but slight hurt, but also humor in her eyes. Gwen pulled up her sleeve to reveal her scar on her arm. "For trying to escape, I got burned on my left thigh. My kidnapper burned my right thigh immediately after he grabbed me from the mall. My right arm got burned when I yelled at my kidnapper."
"That is an intense backstory," Reid commented. Gwen just smiled at him.
"How did you meet our resident genius?" I asked Gwen.
"I was in the elevator, and he asked me to hold the elevator. I recognized him immediately. In the academy, a majority of classes focused on the cases that the BAU has solved, but never my case, which I am fine with," she explained. Reid and Morgan looked very sympathetic. Both of them had dealt with cases close to home. Morgan dealing with Carl Beaufort, and Reid suspecting his father for murder.
"What is your favorite book series?" Reid asked Gwen. She smiled.
"I have really enjoyed the Harry Potter books since they came out. What about you, Dr. Reid?" She asked him.
"I love the Harry Potter series, but I also love the Sherlock Holmes series," Reid answered.
"What was your score in combat training?" Morgan asked.
Gwen grinned at Morgan, "I got a 1, top of my class." Morgan looked impressed.
"Hey Gwen when we get back, let's hit the gun range, Morgan, you game?" I asked. Morgan nodded.
"Can I come?" JJ asked.
"Yeah, team bonding session; Reid, you are coming," I ordered. Reid just nodded. "Get some rest, we will be in Alaska in six hours." I stayed at the table, Reid moved to the couch, Morgan went to the kitchenette, and prepped coffee for both himself and for Reid, and sat next to Reid. Blake went to the chairs at the other end of the plane, JJ sat on the chair next to Blake, with a bag of Cheetos, Rossi stayed, and so did Gwen.
Gwen, Rossi, and I caught up, played cards, and talked about the past eighteen years. "So, how did you end up in the Navy?" I asked Gwen. She grinned.
"When I was in high school, I took EMT classes and got certified, but I wanted to help more people. I enlisted, and asked if I could become a Navy doctor. My CO said yes, my medical school at Duke got paid for, and I got to save lives. The Navy offered me a job with NCIS, but I wanted to return to North Carolina, for at least a bit, before I found myself at the FBI academy," she revealed.
"So what degrees do you have?" Rossi asked, after he came back from getting coffee, one for me and one for himself. Rossi had also grabbed Gwen a bottle of the flavored sparkling water that she had asked if we had after we found her.
"I have a BSN, a BA in psychology, a Masters in Anatomy, and a MD, and Dave, you remembered the kind of water I drink, and that I don't drink caffeine?" Gwen asked, while smiling.
"Yeah, and you have almost as many degrees as Dr. Reid," Dave responded.
"Mine took longer to get," Gwen jokes.
"It is nice to have you here, Gwen," I told her, she smiled gently in return.
"It is nice to be with you guys, after my kidnapping, the letters every six months helped a lot," She responded.
"Thank you kiddo for writing back. It was almost like the BAU had a kid, even if the newer profilers didn't know," Dave stated.
"To me it was like an annoying little sister," I joked. Gwen lightly pushed me.
"So tell me Aaron, am I a better 'sibling' than Sean?" She asked. Gwen had met Sean once, when she had met with me about the hearing, Sean had been in trouble at school, so I pulled him into the office for the day to see if he could learn something. He was fifteen at the time.
"At least you have kept in touch," I replied.
"How is Jack?" she asked me, in changing the subject.
"He is great, you haven't met him have you?" I asked.
"No, I really want to meet him. From the letters you have written me, he seems like a really good kid," She mentioned.
"He is the best, Jack calls me Uncle Dave," David told Gwen. She smiled.
Morgan's POV
I stared at Hotch and Gwen. Hotch was smiling, and Rossi was laughing. "Do you think we can trust her?" I asked Spencer who was sitting next to me. Spence was doing an extreme math problem.
"I think so, in her backstory it didn't seem like she was lying, now you might want to ask Garcia to do a background check on her, but I think she was telling the truth," Spence responded, and he got up to refill his coffee. "Do you want another one?"
"Yeah, thanks pretty boy," I replied. Spencer picked up my mug and went to the coffee maker, and poured two cups of coffee. In mine he put a teaspoon of cream, just the way I liked it; in his he put an eighth of a cup of sugar, along with a teaspoon of cream, the way he loved it. Spence also grabbed a croissant, and a small bag of Oreo's. When he got back, he passed me my coffee, and my Oreo's.
Meanwhile I called Garcia. "Hey Baby Girl, what can you tell me about the new team member?"
"She was a crack shot in basic training, who chose to help people rather than kill, but she saw plenty of action. Once she was discharged, she went back home to North Carolina, where she worked at a hospital in the ER until six months ago, when she went to the academy. She has no criminal record, and she has a pistol expert badge that she won three years in a row," Garcia recited in a low voice.
"Thanks, Mama," I hung up. She sounded fine, but I am going to keep my eyes on her, if she hurts this team, she will not have a future in the FBI.