Do We need an Intern
A story that has been bouncing around in my mind since Seasons 8 and 9 of Criminal Minds. Takes place roughly in the Season 9 era, Season 9 BAU characters, roughly canon compliant. Do have a few deviations and OCs of course. I DO NOT OWN any of the Criminal Minds stories, characters, plot. Will be mostly focused on my OCs and how they fit into the BAU. Might turn into romance if the characters head in that direction, will update tags as needed.
Chapter 1
"Every moment is a fresh beginning" T.S. Eliot
Aaron Hotchner POV
Pulling into the half-filled gym parking lot, I look for David Rossi's well-waxed Dodge Charger and park next to where he is leaning, one hip on his drivers door, waiting like always, for our Saturday morning training routine. He extensively and closely looks over my brand new 2014 Subaru Crosstrek and smirks, that one sided grin we all happily associate with the older agent and, truthfully, my best friend. I grab my well used and faded blue duffle bag and get out of the car, my breath visible on the crisp March morning. "You like her? I just bought her yesterday afternoon." I ask my best friend, stroking my hand along the shiny, black hood of my new SUV as we briskly walk into the gym.
Dave turns back briefly, looking the new SUV over again before answering with a succinct nod, "Sure. Looks like its safe for Jack but yet quick and fun on the open road. Would be good off road too if you ever decide to use those sniper skills for hunting grouse and pheasant. Take time away from the BAU and clear your head."
"I'll think about that offer this fall." I nod in agreement to his assessment before continuing to add, "Beth certainly thought it was quick enough last night after the play. Great handling on the curves too," and a quick smile escapes before we sign in at the front desk, the bored teenager waving us through to the locker rooms.
"Hers or the road?" Dave chuckles, brown eyes bright.
"A gentleman never tells."
"I knew you had it in you, dirty dog, you. Anyway, does it have nice horsepower? I don't know if I could get into the whole hip SUV trend if I had to carry around some kids. You know I like machines made for speed."
"Its certainly better than a minivan, I can tell you that much. Higher safety ratings too. Its got 148 horsepower in the 2.0 Liter 4 cylinder engine. And it really does handle well for a SUV. Higher off the road, sure, but a sturdy suspension. Better than the boat-ish ones we get stuck with from the bureau. I'm afraid those will roll over as we fly around corners chasing the UNSUB, and I'm surprised Derek hasn't managed it already."
"Maybe we need to tell Uncle Sam to invest in Japanese cars" Dave jokes, that lopsided smirk coming out again as we stow our belongings away and head out of the dark and perpetually damp locker room.
Dave and I head to the track for our warm up run. In one swift motion, I put my earbuds in and select the running playlist off my iPod, followed by a few static hamstring and quad stretches before setting off on the oval. I quickly leave the already breathless Dave behind, the old man tries hard but he isn't a runner. He sure looks like one with all the right gear, shiny new Adidas sneakers and perfect form, but running is not his strong suit. Never was. Boxing is his favorite form of fitness. One time he confided in me, he would have pursued a career in boxing if there was any real money in his weight-class.
While listening to my tried-and-true running songs, the up-tempo and thundering rock beats drowning out everything else, I let my mind wander over the last case in Wichita, Kansas. Those poor, helpless women never had a chance. I was starting to think we wouldn't catch him before more women would die tragically. I'm so glad Cruz gave us the last 2 days off, I definitely need the break after that horrible 10 day stretch and I'm sure the rest of the team did as well, especially JJ and Blake. Cases when women are brutalized are always rough for the female team members but this one was exquisite in its brutality. Sickening people are out there that need to be caught, and its my duty to catch them. That is the primary reason I left practicing law to join the bureau.
Finally, half way through the run, I give in to Pat Benatar, turn the music up a few notches, and push harder, running my fastest to cleanse the case from my mind once and for all. Perfectly worn in lightweight Ascics hitting the rubberized indoor track in rhythm clears all my stress and allows my mind to be free, my breath remains deep and even. Running is part of my own type of therapy, my way to deal with the horrors I deal with on this job. Being a special agent has unquestionably changed my life and given me more challenges than I was looking for, but there is no greater satisfaction than catching the UNSUB, than locking up a bad person and saving peoples lives. Nonetheless, no matter how satisfying it is to successfully close a case, it is still a traumatic job and running after hard cases is the best way to get the case out of my head and get me ready to face the next horror and keeps me quick enough to catch them. Being a field agent has such physical and mental demands I have to try very hard to stay as fit as I was when I joined the BAU 16 years ago. I don't know how Dave does it or how Gideon could keep up with the physical demands for so long. Maybe that is why they seem to retire so early and hardly any field agents are as old as Dave, or even myself. Sometimes I wonder if Gideon had the right idea and it is time to retire, get out of the BAU for good before it is too late for my family.
Before I know it the 45 minute run is over and Dave flags me off the track, offering me a wax-paper cup of water. I gratefully accept the drink, towel the sweat from my brow and the back of my neck and toss the damp towel into the laundry bin before we head to the weight room to begin our workout in earnest. Dave pauses at the cooler and refills his cup a second and third time, still struggling to catch his breath and regain composure before following me. His olive skin is still flushed and beading sweat even after he wipes down a second time. We claim our usual weight bench in the corner, the room half-full of mostly college-aged men and three women, all focusing on their own fitness and conversations. We were easily the oldest participants today, not like I mind, but my mind always notices the people around me, cataloging important details.
Dave sets up our bench for inclined bicep curls while I gather the dumbbells we will be using. As I do the first set of bicep curls, Dave does push-ups beside me on the mat, and we continue to casually chat about various things, all inconsequential. We switch positions and I groan as I stretch out into push-up position, Dave chuckles "I guess we are both old guys now."
"Hey, at least I don't groan standing up from a comfortable chair, you can't group me with you quite yet." I jest, smiling as I place my hands shoulder width apart and plant my toes on the mat.
"Fair enough, lets focus." Dave starts his reps, counting aloud to make his point.
We move on, doing dumbbell flys, chin ups, overhead cable extensions and cable cross-overs while we manage to keep a light conversation going. I tell Dave more about Beth, our date last night, the new car, how excited Jack is for the new soccer season to start in a few weeks. Dave talks about his cigars, poker tournaments and some new 12 year Scotch. How he is planning to tune up his baby, the 2013 Maserati, later today, to get it ready for the warm weather and returning to the road. He never drives that luxury car when there is even a remote chance for snow. In the last 6 months Dave never once mentions Erin Strauss, but I can tell he is still lonely sometimes, they genuinely had a real bond. He hasn't even mentioned a new date to me in the 6 months either, and it has been almost an entire year since John Curtis murdered her. Everyone grieves differently, but I hope he can find someone as special as Beth is to me. As humans, psychologically, we all need someone to care for us and connect with us. Somebody to love.
As we reset the bench for traditional bench presses, my mind wanders and I start to think about the stack of papers on my desk at home, there has to be at least 2 dozen resumes in that stack. All the pressure from Cruz and the higher ups and paper-pushers at the Bureau to look into a new Media and Communication Liaison or at absolute least hiring an Intern and I keep putting it off. I guess it is finally getting to me if its popping into my thoughts while I'm enjoying myself at the gym. Cruz keeps mentioning that he's noticed how many extra hours Penelope and I both pour into this job and he says he doesn't want to see us "burnt out" and overworked.
The team has been functioning so well and when Ashley Seaver didn't work out, it hasn't ever felt right to change the team or upset the mechanics of our well-oiled and time-tested machine. Part of the BAU Bravo teams' success is our dynamic, our connections and the way we can read each other. We are more of a single unit, nearly a hive mind than a team of individuals at this point. I don't really want to bring another person on, add a new liability. Don't try to fix what isn't broken, right? Changing the dynamic could spell disaster as we learn everything about the new person and begin fitting them in, could lead to someone getting hurt or unnecessary death. Risks I am not willing to take for the sake of pleasing the higher ups.
However, Cruz does have a point and I do work too much. Being able to step back from the media and communication liaison duties would be a bit of a relief. I might be able to coach all of Jacks youth soccer league games this season. Or more than I did last year. Was it four games? Or only three? He really does love running around after that black and white ball. Maybe Cruz has the right idea after all. He certainly has seen me more than Erin had and stops by my office regularly for our little chats. He is more of a hands on supervisor than Erin had been, but I still can't figure the guy out and it really bothers me. Normally I can read a person like an open book, but something about Cruz just doesn't fit no matter what psychological lens I use to look at him. I wonder if the pressure to hire someone new is his way of taking charge and changing the BAU to his tastes, molding us to his ulterior motive, whatever it may be. Is hiring a new team member really going to be less work if they have no experience? Or at least no useful experience and I have to hold their hand for the first month. I need my own double, really. Someone I can trust and has the drive to never give up and go home before the job is done. Someone who can take charge and is dedicated to the team with their whole life.
"Aaron, are you even listening today?" Dave says, out of breath and a red-faced from the bench press as he struggles lifting the heavily loaded bar back to its rest, swiftly back in reality I spot him, lifting the bar the last few inches and shake my head, apologizing.
"Sorry Dave, I have been a bit distant today. I have so much on my mind. Cruz wants me to hire a new Media and Communications Liaison. As you know, I'm very apprehensive about that, about adding anyone new to the team that we don't know or trust implicitly, so I got Cruz and the rest of our bosses to agree to an internship position."
"What is an intern anyway? Would it be a part time gig for someone or is it basically free training?"
"Dave. Come on, you know what interns are. They will be with us for 4 months, and only as the liaison. Office duty and a good face to put on the television for us." I fetch the water this time, drinking a cup and refilling it before getting one for Dave and returning.
Nodding thanks, Dave gratefully accepts the water, "I would think you'd love that, cross off one of your infamous '386 job duties' as you call it when you are still burning the midnight oil long after I leave."
"Call me stubborn, Dave, but I am resistant to change and adding a new liability to our job. Watching someone inexperienced is a risk in this field. Even well experienced agents can become victims so easily."
"Well, how long do you have to decide?" Dave asks as we spray down the equipment and head back into the locker room.
"Cruz wanted an answer before we left for Wichita, but I hadn't brought myself to even looking at the resumes" I tell him, toweling off my arms and chest before putting on my street clothes, a long-sleeved navy polo shirt, blue jeans and a green windbreaker.
"Do you have many candidates?"
"I grabbed about 2 dozen folders off my desk before heading home after we landed Wednesday night. I'm about to sort through them when I get home. Hopefully they aren't all idle and irresponsible people just looking for some resume padding. Or people just applying on a lark."
"Would you like a hand looking them over?" Dave offers as we walk out the door, both drinking deeply from our bottled sports drinks.
"Sure, come on over. It can't hurt to have another set of eyes on the job. Jack always likes to see you too, Uncle Davy." I use the pet name Jack gave him when Dave first visited. Jack does seem to love Dave like an uncle and they get along splendidly well. Jack always enjoys Dave's mob stories and Italian food. Even if it is canned ravioli, Jack calls it "Uncle Davy's food" and Dave and I don't have the heart to correct my son. That boy is such a picky eater, I don't know where he gets it from, both Haley and I would eat just about anything in sight.
We sit in the study, drinking iced tea and sifting through the stack of resumes as the late morning sun shines in the window. I put the first 3 resumes I read directly in the trash, they weren't even qualified to be a doorman, a janitor or the person who scrapes the gum and rude phrases off the restroom walls, much less a communication liaison. What a waste of time. I hope the rest of these candidates can at least use 'Spell Check' correctly.
David Rossi POV
Sitting across the hand-carved oak desk from Aaron and reading resumes as the sunlight plays across the study isn't my ideal Saturday morning activity, not even in the top 10, but I can tell my best friend needs a hand. He works too hard and is going to give himself an aneurysm if he doesn't step back at least a little bit. Sometimes, I forget he is more than a full decade younger than myself. I was partly joking earlier when I said he has 386 job duties, but in the last year the doorman at the Bureau said Aaron has been staying until midnight or later more and more often and never leaves before 6. If a new liaison will help him spend more time with his boy, I'll do what I can to help out.
After putting the latest resume in the 'why did they bother when they couldn't even spell the name of their university or the word 'liaison' correctly' pile on Aaron's left, I look out the study window. Aaron swiftly transfers it straight in the trash after noticing the three spelling mistakes. Jack was playing in the backyard, using the big yellow dump truck I got him for Christmas to move the sand from one side of the rectangular sandbox to the other. That boy has gone through so much in his early life but yet is still so innocent. Seeing him gives me hope that the children I've saved over the years are all doing okay as well. I am actually doing some good again, saving peoples lives and making a difference, not just retelling the stories for a quite-nice profit. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all my toys and luxuries being a best-selling author has afforded me, but actually living the stories, being the hero, will always be better.
Smiling, I pull the next resume toward me and look at the name: Jade Bennett. Something about the name rings a bell in my mind, but for the life of me, I cannot place it. Thinking about the name for a minute more, I still come up empty. Shrugging, I look at the rest of her resume and I am impressed. All the right degrees, great GPA, doing very well in her graduate program at George Washington University, part of her high school and college newspapers and weekly TV spot on the campus channel, she had it all. I still can't figure out why Bennett sticks out to me. Its not that rare of a last name, even if it isn't super common. I know a handful of people named Bennett over my various careers and travels but something is still sticking in the back of my mind over this name. It means something. If it were a case it would get penned in my notepad to research when I get the chance or swiftly called in to Garcia. But this is not a case, this is a resume so I just move on.
I directly hand Aaron the resume of Jade Bennett. After he looks it over, he murmurs "looks really good" and puts it in the "to interview" pile. We both grab new resumes and continue looking through the candidates. By the time we finish, there are only four resumes in that right side pile for Aaron to interview next week. Should be a quick ordeal. Jack rushes into the study, covered in sand and leaving a trail of it through the entire house. Aaron sighs, clearly not looking forward to cleaning that mess up, but smiles at his adorable son.
"Uncle Davy, did you come over for chicken tenders and applesauce?" The young boy enthusiastically asks, waving at me as I smile at him and more sand tumbles to the floor.
I give Aaron a quick look and Aaron fills in, "Jack's new favorite foods are chicken tenders and applesauce. He would eat them 3 meals a day if I let him", now looking defeated. It sure is hard raising picky eaters from what Aaron has been telling me lately.
"Oh, no buddy. I'm here to help your dad look at paperwork to see who he wants to hire in order to join our team. I don't think we planned on lunch."
"My tummy has been growling. I hope you stay for lunch and help daddy with the work. Your team is very important. You get all the bad guys, Uncle Davy."
"We sure do, kiddo. How about we work on my favorite lunch-" I look at Aaron for what healthy food he wants me to suggest. I see him mouth 'ravioli and string beans' with a big thumbs up and a wink. "-my favorite lunch, an Italian classic meal of beef ravioli and string beans" in a very thick and exaggerated Italian accent. I even throw in the gestures to make young Jack go wild.
Jack giggles, "Sure Uncle Davy. I'll try your fancy Italian lunch."
Aaron sighs, smiling at his son. He is such a proud father and he really does try his best to raise the young boy.
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come." Joseph Campbell
