Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal minds.
Penelope sat in an interrogation room, frowning at the glass. She had been picked up by the feds a few hours ago, and for what? Hacking a company that tested on animals. Well, those people deserved worse than what she did to them. Just because something was leagle didn't mean it was moral or ethical. She began tapping her black fingernails on the table in front of her. It was the first sign of agitation she had shown since she got here, and she knew that was the reason the 'men in black' finally showed up. One of them, an attractive man with sandy hair sat a file on the table in front of her. It had her name on it. She looked at it, unimpressed.
"I'm SSA Battle, this is SSA Dean." The blonde one said, gesturing to his dark haired partner. He took a seat across from her. "Do you know why we picked you up, Miss Garcia?" He asked.
"Because the government can't just leave people like me alone?" She ventured sarcastically.
"Because you hacked a pharmaceuticals company." The dark haired one spoke for the first time.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Agent." She said innocently. "But I'm sure that the company got what it deserved."
"Even if it was what they deserved," Battle said, playing nice cop. "It was still illegal." He sounded disgustingly sympathetic.
"Excuse me, but would you rather be referred to as Miss Garcia or The Black Queen?" Agent Dean asked.
"My, my, what a nickname that is." Was all she said. Not denying or confirming.
"Well, did you know that many people refer to you as that? Or that you are on a special list of people?" Battle asked. She knew all about the first. The second question peaked her curiosity.
"A list you say?" She asked.
"Oh, yes." Was all he said.
"What am I on said list for?" She asked.
"It is a list of hackers who pose a serious threat to national security. People to keep a close eye on." He looked up at her. Her eyebrows raised.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Yeah." Battle said.
"Which means we know a lot about you. And your past." Dean spoke. She ground her teeth at the mention of her past.
"So, where shall we start?" Battle wondered aloud.
"You were born to Mr. and Mrs. Garcia July 7, 1977-"
"Stop." She warned. He didn't.
"You lived as a happy family up until you were eighteen-"
"Stop it. Now."
"When both of your parents were killed in a drunk driving accident." The lights flickered slightly.
"Ya know, in the police report, it says that they were killed while driving around at one in the morning. And that you were dressed like you were going out for a night on the town when the police came to your door. I wonder why your parents were out so late on a-"
"I said stop!" She screamed as the lights blew out. Both men drew their weapons. In the dark, they all could see the purple electricity dancing along her skin. Like lightning. Everyone sat there, silent and tense for several minutes. The door opened, allowing light into the room.
"Out. Now." An angry voice came from the doorway, and both agents scrambled out of the dark room. A new agent, presumably the one who spoke, walked into the room. "Please, Miss Garcia, if you will come with me?" She was instantly suspicious.
"Why?" She asked warily. The man looked like he wanted to laugh.
"Would you rather sit in the dark?" He asked. She shrugged, and stood. He gestured for her to go first. He walked her to a new interrogation room, and shut the door behind him. This was the first time she had the chance to really look at him. He was older, and he didn't really look like an FBI agent. He sat down across from her, and didn't bother handcuffing her again, much to her surprise. He must have seen what she could do in the other room, right?
"My name is Jason Gideon, I'm with the BAU." He told her. "I noticed that you have… special abilities." Her eyebrows raised. "And I don't just mean your hacking skills."
"So?" She managed to make that single word a challenge.
"So, I've come to recruit you." He said it so simply, she thought he must be kidding.
"You're serious?" She asked.
"Oh, very. See, I'm starting a new unit. This unit will be made up of… a few special people. On paper it will be another section of the BAU, while really it is a unit for agents with supernatural abilities." She looked around for the first time, noticing that there were no cameras.
"And if I refuse?" She asked, head still spinning slightly from this new information. He shrugged.
"Then, I hope you like spending time in a prison cell." She simply looked at him for a moment. Trying to see if this was all some sort of joke. This seemed less like a joke, and more like a challenge to her. She looked at him with a defiant gleam in her eyes and said,
"Where do I sign?"
…
Aaron Hotchner sat across from his old friend, Jason Gideon. He knew him from a few cases they had worked together. Jason caught them, Hotch prosecuted them. They made a good team.
"So, Jason, why the sudden need to meet over lunch?" He asked.
"What, can't I just ask an old friend to lunch?" Jason asked rhetorically.
"You can't." Hotch laughed. "There's always something. We haven't talked for months, now out of the blue you want to have lunch. I don't think so."
"You caught me." Jason put his hands up in mock surrender. "We'll get to that eventually. First, how are you?" Jason knew about the messy divorce and attempted shooting.
"I'm fine, Jason." Hotch sighed. "Yes, I'm going through a bit of a rough patch, but I'm holding up."
"Hmmm." Jason hummed slightly. "You remember how you always used to tell me how you wanted to become an agent? Solve the cases before they ever came across your desk?" He asked.
"Yes." Hotch confirmed.
"Why didn't you?" He asked.
"It was too much traveling for Haley. She didn't want me in the line of fire." He said.
"Well, not to sound insensitive, but… Haley's not around anymore." He said carefully. Hotch seemed to think about this for a moment.
"You are right." He eventually said. Jason leaned forward.
"Then what's stopping you?" He asked. Hotch gave him a look.
"Are you trying to recruit me, Jason?" He asked, sounding slightly surprised.
"I am." He said.
"Why now?" He asked.
"Well, there are a few reasons."
"Such as?"
"There has been a change with you, right?" He asked.
"Obviously." Hotch said wryly. Jason shook his head at the sarcasm.
"I don't mean with Haley." Hotch looked confused, and then slightly nervous.
"I have no idea what you mean." He was shaken. No one could know. He couldn't explain it, and he was sure if people knew his life would be ruined, worse than it already was.
"Aaron, I'm not trying to out you or anything, but… I'm starting a new unit. For people with supernatural abilities." He lowered his voice.
"So… there are others?" He asked. Jason nodded. "Look, I don't want to be known as some freak with 'abilities'." He air quoted.
"My unit will just be another branch of the BAU." Jason said. "Only those with the highest clearance will know what the members of this team really are."
"What if I enjoy my work as a prosecutor?" He wasn't really planning on saying no, he was just curious.
"If you decide not to join my unit, I won't push you. But I will need you to remember that if you are discovered, I won't be able to help you." It wasn't said as a threat. He was just telling the facts. Hotch nodded, understanding what he meant.
"I'm in."
…
Emily walked down the street after a day of shopping. Her arms were full of bags of clothes when her phone went off. She cursed, slipping most of them on to one arm and grabbing her phone with the other. She pressed it to her ear, not bothering to check the contact name. This was her work phone, after all.
"Prentiss." She answered, holding the phone with her shoulder as she came upon her apartment building.
"Emily," It was her boss, Clyde. "I need you to come in." He said. She sighed, punching the code in for her apartment and pushing open the door.
"Okay, I'll be there in 45." She told him.
"Be quick." He said, hanging up. She rolled her eyes. Changing into work clothes, she left for the office. She arrived exactly 40 minutes later. He met her half way to his office.
"We're not meeting in there." He said, steering her to a normally empty conference room. They walked in together. There was already an older man sitting in one of the chairs. "Prentiss, this is SSA Jason Gideon with the FBI." He said. Gideon and Prentiss shook hands.
"The BAU, actually." Gideon said.
"It's nice to meet you." She said, throwing Clyde a questioning look.
"Give us a moment?" Gideon requested politely. Clyde looked slightly suspicious, but nodded. He left, and Gideon gestured for Prentiss to sit. They both did.
"I don't mean to be rude, but, what is this about?" She asked.
"I guess you could say that I'm here to recruit you."
"Recruit me? Why?"
"You don't think that you are someone the FBI would want to recruit?" He asked.
"Well, no, just… Why me? Why now?"
"I'm starting a new unit, and I think that you would be a perfect fit."
"I'm not a profiler." She remembered that he said he was from the BAU.
"That's not what I mean."
"What do you mean?" He couldn't possibly know about that.
"Something strange happened to you recently, right?" Her breath hitched.
"I don't understand." She said. He sighed, pulling out a laptop. He set it in front of her and pressed play. It was a shaky video feed, obviously taken with a phone camera. The camera pointed up until it showed a large window. Prentiss recognized it as her window. There was a large black panther standing at the window. It looked scared as it backed away from the glass. Then it closed its eyes. The video stopped there, and he turned to her.
"That was you." Was all he said. She was in shock, all she did was nod.
"Yes." She whispered. Her mouth and throat were suddenly dry. Why did she confirm that? Was he going to show her boss? What would happen to her?
"That is why I'm here to recruit you. I'm creating a unit for agents with supernatural abilities. I'm not going to try to force or blackmail you, but I would like you to consider. No one will know what you are." He placed a card in front of her. "I would appreciate you calling with an answer by next week." She nodded mutely. Maybe this would be a good change for her.
"I Will." She murmured. He nodded, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
…
JJ adjusted her ear piece, hiding it with her silky blonde hair.
"JJ, stop moving around so much!" Phoebe, her makeup artist, admonished.
"Sorry." She muttered, making phoebe smudge her lipstick.
"Stop!" She growled, or, tried to growl. Her voice was too high pitched to get very low and she sounded like how you would imagine an angry kitten would sound. JJ resisted the urge to smile, not really feeling like getting into it with her today. She honestly wished she had Phoebe's job sometimes.
Simple reasons, like being able to dress how she wanted. Today, her friend was wearing one of those white, flowy button up artist shirts and soft jeans. Her light, curly brown hair was pulled back into an impatient ponytail. Her hair was medium length, and whisps kept falling into her face. She brushed them back every once in a while. She had a naturally pretty face and was only wearing mascara today. JJ sighed, but it came out as more of a huff since her mouth was still closed.
"Impatient, impatient." Phoebe murmured. Ashley came running up to the pair as Phoebe was finishing up.
"There is someone here to see you, Miss Jareau." She said cheerily.
"I told you you don't have to call me that. It's just JJ." JJ said as Ashley led her to one of the empty conference rooms.
"He's in here." JJ's brow furrowed. Who was here to see her?
"Thank you, Ashley." She said, opening the door. Ashley nodded and walked away as JJ stepped in, shutting the door behind her. The man was older, wearing a red Polo shirt and khakis. She approached him and he stood. She reached out and shook his hand.
"Jennifer Jareau, good to meet you." She said.
"Jason Gideon, with the FBI." he said, giving her a smile. Her eyebrows rose.
"FBI?" She asked. He nodded.
"Yes." He said, sitting down. JJ followed suit.
"What can I do for you today, Agent Gideon?" she asked.
"Have you ever thought about joining the FBI?" He asked. She couldn't help it; she burst out laughing. This had to be a joke.
"You're kidding, right?" She asked. He shook his head.
"Not at all." He had expected this reaction, or something akin to it. She was speechless. Sure, she had joined the police academy years ago, but she dropped out a week before graduating.
"... Why?" She finally asked. "I'm a news reporter. I mean, I'm not even a field reporter anymore!" She was simply shocked.
"I know that you joined the police academy a few years back, and I was wondering why you dropped out? You were passing with flying colors, you had potential. It was just strange to me." He said. She managed to close her mouth, which had been gapping. He was really serious. She had dropped out when her sister was killed in the line of duty. Of course, she wasn't going to tell him that.
"Why are you asking now?" She asked. He leaned slightly closer.
"Strange things have been happening lately, right?" He asked. She froze.
"I-" She stopped. What was she supposed to say? He was right.
"I am creating a new unit, of people with supernatural abilities. I need a media liaison, and you are the perfect fit." He said. She thought about this for a moment. An FBI Agent? She would be helping people…
"I need time to think about this." She said. He nodded. He handed her a card and stood. She watched him walk away. FBI, huh? Agent Jareau? She could get used to that.
…
Spencer stood after the lecture on profiling he had just sat through. The lecturer's name was Jason Gideon, if he remembered correctly. The man was a legend. One of the very first profilers, helped make the unit from scratch. Reid was putting things back into his messenger bag, when someone stood next to him. He looked up to see Jason Gideon. He opened his mouth and then closed it.
"Jason Gideon." He said, reaching out his hand for him to shake. He did, albeit a little reluctantly. Since he was ready, it didn't hurt when their skin touched. He was jolted slightly though, and was quick to pull his hand back.
"L- Spencer Reid." He said.
"Spencer, I'm just going to cut to the chase. You seem to be a gifted profiler, and I want to recruit you." He said bluntly. Reid just stared in shock.
"Are you serious?" He asked. Gideon nodded, handing him a card.
"We can set up a meeting and discuss this in more depth."
"Okay." Was the only response his genius brain could come up with.
…
Morgan sat in on the bar stool, drinking a beer. He only got there about twenty minutes ago, and three women had already hit on him. Not that he minded. Someone sat on the stool next to him, and he turned, expecting to see another woman. What he was not expecting was an older man in a button down shirt.
"I'll take one of what he's having." The man said, and then turned to Morgan. "Jason Gideon." He nodded.
"Derek Morgan." He said, sounding a little suspicious. When his drink came, Gideon accepted it and turned to Morgan.
"You ever think about joining the FBI?" He asked casually. Morgan choked on his drink.
"What?" He managed.
"I'm starting a new unit of the FBI, and I need people with… abilities like yours." Morgan was instantly suspicious again.
"What do you mean by abilities?" He asked.
"Strange things have been happening to you lately, yeah? Things that you think should be impossible?" He took another drink. Morgan thought back to the times he had done things like almost rip the doors in his apartment off their hinges, go for a jog and run faster than he should have been able to, smash his alarm clock, etc.
"So what if they are?" Morgan asked, more sounding more defensive than he'd like. Gideon smiled.
"Then, I think I can help you with it."
...
Rossi looked at his old time friend and partner after listening to him ramble about a new team, trying to convince him to come out of retirement. He sipped his scotch, leaning back in his office chair.
"So, you're trying to make a BAU super team? How can I say no to that?"
A/N: As I'm sure you can tell, these happen over the course of a few weeks. But, now everyone is on board! As always, I appreciate reviews and I hope you enjoyed!