A/N: Soo hello! I've been drafting this tiny series ever since Hirst had breakfast with Tasha and Reade, because she might have been the shadiest shade to ever shade (so far) but she's right in one thing: Who doesn't love a good Origin story?

So here's my attempt at giving our favorite characters a background story and how they ended up at the FBI, in this team. There are going to be 4 or 5 chapters, starting of with Kurt's journey to the NYO in this one.

I actually did research on this one, and it was extremely interesting to see what you gotta do to become a Special Agent. So, I hope I managed to put it into words in a way that it's fun for you to read.

Enjoy and tell me what you think :) x

Kurt Weller: "Fit Right In"

„Hey there, stranger", Sarah pulled her brother into a hug and grinned when he lifted her up for the tiniest of seconds. "Care to go out for a coffee?"

Kurt nodded and waited for her to grab her bag from the couch and shut the door behind her. He hadn't visited her in way too long even now that they were living in the same city again.

"How have you been?", he asked her once they were on the street, just casually walking alongside each other to one of her favorite coffee shops.

"I've been great", she beamed up at him, "College is going great, probably because the exams are still two months away. Oh and do you remember Mike?", she asked but didn't wait for his reply, "He asked me out two weeks ago and we're kind of seeing each other. He's a great guy, you would like him!"

He raised an eyebrow as his sister skeptically, "I sincerely doubt that."

"Yes, me too", she agreed lightly, pinching him in the side, "But only because you don't like anyone."

"Hey! I like plenty of people", he exclaimed in mock hurt and grinned when he saw her smile. "Seriously, I'm happy when you're happy. But just in case he turns out to be a douche bag you can tell him about your big brother."

She rolled her eyes at him. "He's going to be so scared. Did I tell you he used to be the team's quarterback?"

"If he had been any good, he'd still be playing", he replied with a shrug.

They had reached the coffee shop and he held the door open for her, letting her talk about her friends and college while he ordered and paid for their drinks and a brownie.

"So", Sarah leaned forward, her arms resting on the table, and looked up at him expectantly, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I can't visit my sister without an ulterior motive?", he asked, looking up from the coffee in his hands to meet her gaze. Of course he had something to talk to her about. She knew him too well for him to hide something from her even if he ever wanted to try. And he didn't. He had had too many people lie to him to ever start lying to his sister. He wanted to be a better man than his father had ever been.

Relenting he put the cup back down and instead rubbed the palms of his hands together. "I was thinking of applying as Special Agent with the FBI."

Sarah had just taken a sip from her beverage and almost choked on the liquid. "You what?", she asked rather unintelligible, "Where is this coming from?"

"Well", he looked down at his hands again, "I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. Something I could imagine doing for the rest of my life and that's where I wound up."

Biting her lip she looked him over quietly, "You're sure this has nothing to do with Taylor?"

"Of course not." He shook his head and as always when the conversation drifted to the topic of their missing friend, he tried to hide his discomfort by rubbing his neck with his hand. "Everything I do, my whole life, is in some way because of what happened back then", he told her, "It changed everything and I will never stop looking. But", he added after a moment, "I also think I can do a lot of good that way. I can prevent people from ever feeling the same way, I can save people and make amends."

"Oh Kurt", Sarah sighed, reaching out to his hand and squeezing it tightly, "It wasn't your fault, you were still a kid yourself. When will you ever see that?"

He kept quiet and his eyes stayed locked on their hands on the table. They had had this conversation for as long as he could remember and they would never agree but he didn't want to fight about it just then. He had been honest when he had said that he would never stop looking and that the job was a way to make amends for the biggest failure of his life but there was also something else – a tiny voice in his head telling him, that was where he belonged.

For so long he had focused on his anger, had almost been kicked out of the Academy several times, and it had gotten him nowhere. Now he wanted to go about it the right way. He wanted to save children in a good way, without his anger clouding his judgment and he simply knew that the FBI was the place to pursue that task.

Sarah's voice pulled him from his thoughts again, "You really want to do that?"

"Yeah, I do", he replied sincerely and shot her a small smile. "I'm going to apply for the New York Field Office so I can be close to you. But it takes time. I browsed the website already, and the application process is endless and only once you complete it, including tests for your physical fitness, mental health and background checks, you go to the Academy."

"Maybe I won't even make it, I mean I guess hundreds of people apply all the time", he added with a frown, "But I wanted to talk to you about it before I started the process… See if you thought it was a bad idea."

A wide smile crept onto her lips as she squeezed his hand once more, repeating his own words back at him, "I'm happy when you're happy. I think this could be good for you and your helper syndrome."

He rolled his eyes but felt his heart beat lighter in his chest at her reply. "I don't have a helper syndrome."

"So, I've reread this a million times", Kurt sighed in frustration, dropping down on the couch in his sister's dorm, "And you still find things to criticize."

Sarah, who was sitting across from him in sweats and a comfy hoodie, a pen and the print out of his online application in her hand, laughed at her brother's dismay. "I've always been better with words, don't take it personal", she grinned and popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

The bowl was sitting between the two of them because the table was covered in pages of said application, leaving not enough space for even a glass of water to fit next to them.

"At least you submitted the scores to your self- Physical Fitness Test correctly", she noted lightly and continued to cross out some of the paragraphs and adding her own thoughts.

"Very funny", he groaned, leaning his head back against the arm rest. "I'm a lost cause. Why the hell do they have so many open ended questions?"

"To evaluate your views against the FBI's core competencies", she quipped without looking up.

Kurt frowned at her, "Well, someone has been reading about the process a lot."

"Yes", she agreed shooting him a smile, "Which is exactly what you should have done before you started writing. I know, I know", she cut him off by raising her hand when he wanted to disagree, "You read the requirements and what you gotta do and all that but have you ever read what they write themselves?"

When he shook his head, she looked up and put her pen down for a moment only to search for one of the print outs on the table.

"The Special Agent Selection System (SASS) is a mentally and physically challenging process designed to find only the most capable applicants. However, those who make it through the process become part of an elite team that keeps our country safe", she read out from the paper. "And they have stuff like 'contribute in a meaningful way' or 'confronting the evolving threats facing our nation'", she quoted and handed him the piece of paper.

"What are you saying?", he wanted to know, scanning over the page, "That they sound a little snooty while trying to sound poetic?"

"Yup", she nodded, continuing to scribble in his text, "They take themselves very seriously. Not that they aren't, I mean. But the way they write it? You'd think you are going to be facing terrorists trying to blow up New York every other day. Which I really hope won't be the case."

Kurt nodded slowly, "So you're saying my answers should have some of that snootiness?"

"Yes", Sarah agree leaning forward to show him her draft, "I mean you did good with the content but I think we could pep it up some more to make it deserving for this wonderful country you wanna save."

Sarah giggled and even Kurt had to chuckle, grabbing a handful of popcorn before reading over his sister's words. "Okay, then help pep me up a little."

He was still holding the letter in his shaking hands when he picked up the phone to dial Sarah's number and just as he had expected, she picked up after the second ring.

"Please tell me you passed!", she exclaimed and continued before he had the chance to open his mouth, "I mean it's not too bad if you haven't. You've got two opportunities to pass these tests, right? And they already accepted your initial application so you're already in their system and who cares if you pass the test after the first or second try, right? I mean it would be great if you had passed but sometimes these tests can be really confusing and in my opinion standardized tests are awful to assess someone's competencies but I mean they have to rate you some-"

"Sarah!", he stopped her after he had found his voice again, "Relax, I passed!"

"You did?", he could hear her relieved sigh at the other end of the line and had to grin. "That's good. That's great! Did they already sent you the appointment for your meet and greet with the local office?"

"Yes, yes they did", he replied and scanned over the letter for what felt like the hundredth time, "I should meet them the day after tomorrow at 9am in the lobby of the New York Office."

After that he had to remove the phone from his ear because the squeal his sister let out just then would've made him lose his earing. "Calm down, otherwise I'm not going to pass the medical exam if I should ever get to that."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry", his breathless sister replied, "But you'll pass it. You're doing great! I gotta run now, see you after your appointment? Dinner at your place?"

Once they had hung up, Kurt let himself drop on the couch and reread the letter yet again. He still couldn't believe he had passed the first Phase of testing and would actually set foot into the New York FBI building this very week.

His heart was beating incredibly fast and for the first time he actually felt as if he had a shot at this, at becoming a Special Agent. And he realized, once more, that that was exactly what he wanted to be. He wanted to fight for his country on the inside, wanted to keep the American citizens and their children safe. He wanted to do his part at making this country the place of liberty and safety everyone dreamed it out to be.

He would do it. He had always been stubborn and for the first time he was going to use that trait to get something he really wanted.

Now he only had to make a good first impression and pass the evaluation and review by the internal hiring board.

For the next two days he spent every waking moment going through every possible scenario and question they could throw at him and trying to figure out what was expected of him and what to expect of that recruitment team.

Was a suit over the top? Or only if he wore it with a tie? Or simply jacket and a tie? Or leave the tie completely? He had always hated the confinement of that particular piece of clothing but maybe it was expected he wore one?

Then again he was supposed to be comfortable in his own skin, that's what all application advisors always said and he doubted having a sling around his neck that he felt could strangle him at any given moment, would help with that agenda.

"Mr. Kurt Weller."

He heard his name being called and suddenly wished he had left the first button of his shirt open because breathing seemed to be getting increasingly more difficult with every step he took towards the door and the woman who was waiting for him at the door step.

"Welcome, Mr. Weller", she greeted him and shook his hand before leading him into the room where a desk with three seats and two other persons occupying them, was facing a single empty chair. His chair, he guessed correctly as the woman motioned for him to sit down.

Once they were both seated, she looked up again and shot him a warm smile, introducing herself.

"My name is Bethany Mayfair, I'm the Assistant Director of the New York Office of the FBI and I'm in charge of today's oral interviews as part of Phase two of the Special Agent application process. Supporting me today are Special Agent Shipley as well as Special Agent Cooper", she explained.

The two men next to her, looked up from the file – his file – they were currently studying and gave him a curt nod that he reciprocated before Assistant Director Mayfair continued.

"I'm assuming you know about your assignments today?"

"Yes", he replied, trying to talk in spite of his scratchy throat. "The oral interview will take up between thirty to sixty minutes in which you will question me about everything I have already admitted in my application and evaluate my ability to become a Special Agent. After that I'm starting the writing exercise in which I will get a case and prepare a comprehensive report on it."

"Very good", Special Agent Shipley nodded in content, "You've done your homework, Mr. Weller. How about you tell us all about why you want to be a Special Agent in the first place."

Just as he had practiced a million times with Sarah prior to this day, he told them about his drive to become one of them and why he thought he was the best candidate for the job.

They asked him about problems that had occurred in his life and how he had overcome them, what he had learned from them and how he would try to prevent them from happening again in the future. They talked about his family shortly as well and about his time at the Military Academy. He answered all of the questions with ease, even the ones about his family, thankful for all the pestering Sarah had done while preparing him for this day.

When he was done he had an overall good feeling and when Assistant Director Mayfair bid him goodbye she smiled at him again and in his gut he knew that he could trust his instincts about this woman and that she seemed to be rather pleased by his performance as well.

He was hopeful when he went into the writing exercise and got the data he was supposed to be analyzing and after ninety minutes he was done. He tried to remember the tips he had read beforehand, tried to go through the facts logically and it went by faster than he had ever anticipated.

When he got back home, Sarah had already let herself in and was waiting for him on his couch, watching reality TV.

"How did it go?", she exclaimed once he had closed the door behind himself and then mustered him in great detail, "You should definitely wear a button down more often, it suits you. The blue brings out your eyes."

"Thanks", he grinned, dropping down next to her, "I bet that's what the guys in the interview room thought, too. It went good, I think. I think I told them everything there was to tell about me."

For a moment his sister frowned at him, appearing deep in thoughts. "You weren't too modest, were you? Didn't sell yourself short? Because I know you, Kurt Weller, and you hate saying anything positive about yourself."

"Yes sis", he rolled his eyes and put his feet on the table, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. "I think the Assistant Director liked me. She was really nice. So were the other two but she just had an aura… you know?"

"Tell me you're not falling for your future boss."

"Very funny." Kurt threw a pillow in her direction, his eyes still closed, "No, she's way too old for me but she's a black woman at the head of the NYO, I think she deserves immense respect."

Smiling slightly, Sarah leaned forward, resting her cheek on her brother's shoulder. "You're a really good person, you know that? And I'm so proud of you."

She didn't mention their parents. Didn't say how their dad would be proud as well or how happy their mother would be because she knew that he didn't want to hear it. When their mother had walked out on them, she had died in his eyes and he had repeatedly told her they didn't owe her anything, especially when she had been too young to fully grasp her leaving.

Their dad was a different matter.

She was still meeting him every once in a while and called him every other week but Kurt had never quite gotten over the accusations against him. It hurt her, thinking that the few remaining members of her family would never be in the same room again. But she didn't want to take the happiness from him in this moment, so she kept quiet.

"Did you tell Emma already?", she asked instead, a smile on her lips, "I bet she'd be proud of you, too."

Emma Shaw. The only person he still looked up to sometimes. The mother of his dead childhood friend. Sarah liked her good enough but she had never been as obsessed with looking for Taylor. After a few years of fruitless searching, she had resigned to the idea that she would never see the wired girl again but that was something her brother had never been able to do. And Emma had never stopped him, either, had never discouraged him from having hope.

Sarah didn't know what to make of that. She didn't want her brother to lose one of the few attachment figures he still had but she was also worried for him and his never ending search that seemed to consume him completely and kept him from most social interactions.

"I haven't told her yet", he replied pulling her from her thoughts, "I want to tell her when… if I pass."

"You'll pass", she said in firm belief and threw an arm around him, hugging him close to her, "You're the best brother in the world and the FBI will be so lucky you work for them."

Within fourteen days of passing the Phase two testing, he had to go in once more and complete the Physical Fitness Test again, this time with an official FBI agent timing his runs and counting his push-ups but he had no problem passing this part of the process. He had always been rather fit, had never had let himself go too much because the exercising kept him away from his demons.

Of course he wouldn't ever tell anyone that he liked running until his lungs were about to burst and he could barely breathe anymore because it deflected from the constant pain in his heart. Taylor's face, which had always been ingrained into his brain, seemed to come to his mind a lot more often recently.

He suspected that was because he was, in essence, doing it because of her and because deep in his heart he was hoping to be able to take a look at the old case files once he actually graduated from the Academy. As much as he tried not to put too much hope into that thought, he couldn't deny that it occurred to him frequently.

The background investigation was a lot more draining than the fitness test had been and, for a week he spent what felt like every waking moment inside the FBI building while his past was being scrutinized, his experiences evaluated and he went through all kinds of personal security interviews, polygraph and drug tests, fingerprinting and the medical exam.

But he did it, always with his goal in mind, his stubborn thoughts focused on where he wanted to be rather than on where he was right now. And when he finally held the letter in his hands, ordering him to report to the FBI academy in Quantico within sixty days, he was as proud as he had ever been.

He did it.

He was now officially a New Agent Trainee and he would make the most out of it. He would give his everything to pass the academy and he would make sure he ended up in the NYO in Assistant Director Mayfair's team.

From the first day to graduating from the academy, Kurt spent 21 weeks in Quantico. The first twelve weeks were spent mostly intelligence-driven and operationally focused, after that only the Special Agent Trainees stayed and it got a lot more physically demanding.

It reminded him a lot of his days at the Military Academy. The long hours of working out and firearm training didn't bother him as much as they did some of his classmates and when the day of the graduation came, he finished on top of the class.

That had been his goal and he had even managed to get to know a few people but hadn't made any life-altering friendships. They knew him to be more of a hermit and he didn't try very hard to correct them because he was here to pass and become an Agent, not to make friends for life. And if being on his own more often than not was what it took to become good at this job? Then he would gladly do it.

"Welcome, Special Agent Weller."

It was the moment he had been waiting on for so long. Bethany Mayfair was standing in front of him once more, shaking his hand and smiling at him slightly.

"I'm honored, ma'am", he managed to get out without too much chocking, excepting the badge she handed him solemnly.

Flipping it open he stared at his picture, name and security clearance. The leather felt cold in his hand, it felt dignified and he was proud to wear it. Flipping it close he let his thumb move over the golden eagle on the front and the letters beneath him.

He was now officially a Special Agent with the FBI and, even though he had already taken the oath, he swore to himself in that moment that he would do everything in his power to be deserving of this badge and this honor. He would serve and fight for this country until his very last breath, giving it everything he had.

"Your 18 months probationary period starts today", the Assistant Director explained, mustering him in great detail, "You will work in different specialties in this office to gain your first hands-on experience and after that we will decide where you fit in best with our team."

"Thank you, ma'am", Kurt nodded, the badge still firmly held in his hands, "I will not disappoint you."

"I'm sure of that, Special Agent", she replied friendly, "You seem to be hard working and I have a feeling that you're going to fit right in with us."

Next up is Patterson: "Don't Underestimate Her"