Chapter Fourteen
Kristina was fifteen minutes early to work on Monday morning, and collapsed into the chair at her desk with a sigh. Her evaluation with Agent Hotchner and Chief Strauss was scheduled for 9am.
The rest of the team showed up shortly after she did: first Jennifer with Penelope, both of them looking positively exhausted and toting to-go cups of coffee. Then came Derek, who immediately buried his head in paperwork to avoid eye contact. Emily, Spencer, and Dave were last into the bullpen, chatting amongst themselves.
Kristina glanced up to Agent Hotchner's office and saw Strauss with him, waiting for her. The young agent had faced some of the world's worst criminals in the past twelve-almost thirteen- years and didn't blink an eye, but the past six months had turned her life upside down. She felt sick, like she was dangling a hundred feet off the ground on a tightrope. Like she was seconds from falling into the abyss. She needed the Bureau. She was nothing without the Bureau.
Just before nine, Kristina scaled the steps to Hotch's office and took a deep breath. She could feel everyone's eyes on her.
"Hello Sir...Ma'am." she greeted them as she entered the room. Strauss offered her a weak smile, but the hardened team leader remained straight-faced as she slid into one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"Good morning, Agent Kent," Aaron finally responded, and Kristina paused.
"Is it?" she replied hopefully.
"You've done some great work this week, Agent."
A weight lifted from her chest.
"Thank you sir."
"I was hesitant, at first," he continued, "in allowing you to join this team. Normally Agents who have worked on their own for so long don't play well with others."
Kristina nodded. Strauss still had said nothing, though she was clearly studying the look on the brunette's face. Kristina had come way too far to break now.
"Chief Strauss had assured me that you were different. You came highly recommended by one of the greatest Agents the Bureau has ever had. I'm going to be honest- we might not have considered you at all if it weren't for SSA Washer. But he was right. You get 's why I'm willing to let you continue to be on this team."
Kristina paused.
"Seriously?"
The Unit Chief finally broke her silence.
"Seriously," she smiled, standing up. "Welcome to the BAU, Agent Kent. You're going to do great things here."
"Thank you, Ma'am. Sir."
Strauss's phone rang and she quickly left the office, leaving Kristina with her new boss.
"I do however, have one condition," Hotch broke the silence, bringing Kristina's attention back to him.
"I'm recommending that you see our psychologist once a week. Technically, it's not something that I can force you to do, but I think it would be wise."
Kristina's brow furrowed.
"I was already cleared for duty. I passed the psych eval."
Hotch nodded.
"Yes, you did. But those things can easily be manipulated. We're profilers. You may have fooled the folks in San Francisco, but you can't fool me."
Kristina should've known that there were no secrets in the small, close-knit unit. The look he was giving her told her that he knew everything about the incident in Philadelphia. She sighed.
"I'm not crazy, Hotch."
"You're not. You're human," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Is that all?"
He nodded.
"That's all."
"She's in."
Emily rolled her eyes playfully at Morgan, who leant against her desk to have a better view of Hotch's office-and the evaluation going on inside.
"You sound less than enthused."
"Yeah, well I'm not BFFs with her like you are, Princess," he shot back with a grin. The dark-haired agent resisted the urge to roll her eyes again.
"I'm sorry I bailed on you, Derek."
"What could you two have possibly talked about for four hours?" He remarked incredulously, folding his arms. Emily chuckled.
"Wouldn't you like to know..."
Derek shook his head in disbelief.
Spencer approached them with two coffees in hand and dutifully handed one to Morgan, then joined him in leaning against Emily's desk.
"What are we talking about, guys?"
"How sorry she is that she missed you dancing last night," Morgan replied with a grin. Emily gasped.
"No! Really?"
Despite Morgan's pointed looks telling him to play along, Spencer shook his head.
"No, I wasn't dancing..."
"Oh, I would pay to see that," JJ teased as she popped up behind them holding a handful of files for the day.
"Who wants 'em?"
"Not it," Emily quickly replied with both hands in the air. The blonde agent grinned and split the files in half before slapping them to Morgan and Reid's chests.
"Happy Monday, boys."
Jennifer paused briefly, then turned around and followed Morgan to his desk. He could feel her presence behind him.
"You stalking me now, Jareau?" he teased, dropping the stack of files on his desk and turning to face the smaller agent.
"Oh, I have so many better things to do with my time, Morgan," she shot back with a sly grin. He playfully mimed a slap across his cheek and JJ lowered her voice.
"Lunch later, we need to talk."
He paused, noting the change of tone in her voice.
"About what?"
The blonde's eyes flickered up to Hotch's office, where Kristina emerged a full-fledged member of the BAU. She deserved it, yes, but JJ knew that the addition would require some adjustment on their part. The team could not lose their cohesion; they would have to get along.
Derek saw where her line of eyesight ended, and nodded in understanding.
"Just let me finish these," he motioned toward the files.
JJ sighed and begrudgingly grabbed half of the stack, giving him a look to make sure he knew that this was a one-time favor. Derek was grinning, trying to hide his amusement.
"Thank you."
"Shut up," she chuckled, walking back to her desk.
As Derek sat across from JJ at a cafe ten minutes from the Quantico field office, he waited for her to bring up the reason for their lunch date. After the waiter brought their drinks- mango peach tea for her and a lemonade for him- the blonde agent took a quick sip and clasped her hands together on the table.
"So, Derek..."
He chuckled, leaning across the table.
"Am I in trouble?"
Jennifer resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the playful agent.
"She's not going anywhere," she pointed out, not needing to clarify who she was talking about for him to understand. They both knew why they were really there.
Derek let out a deep sigh, sitting back in his chair.
"I know."
"We can't keep acting like it's us versus her."
"It's not," he shot back, and Jennifer cocked her head to the side.
"Derek."
He held up both hands in surrender, knowing that he would probably never win an argument against Special Agent Jennifer Jareau.
"I can play nice," he decided, picking up the menu hoping for a change of subject.
"What's good here?"
She reached across the table and pulled down the menu with her index finger so she could see him, and let him know that their discussion wasn't over.
"Derek, I'm serious."
He frowned, studying her for a moment.
"Why do you care all of the sudden? What do you know?"
Jennifer could've told him. She could've explained how she knew what it was like to lose a sister, to be mad at the whole world, to turn all that anger into determination. She knew what it was like to question everything, to try your hardest to get back at the world by finding the answers for other people. She knew what it was like, feeling like none of it even mattered. Like there was no end to the bad things that happen. She knew what it felt like to get up every day and try your damnedest anyway.
And that's exactly why she wouldn't say anything. Why she couldn't say anything. She saw pieces of herself in Kristina, pieces that she never dared to let anyone else see. Suddenly, all of her actions made perfect sense to JJ.
"I know that work is going to be miserable if she feels like we're judging her every move," she muttered.
Derek frowned.
"I called her four times, Jayje. She ignored me. I tried."
JJ sighed.
"Then try harder. For me," she added, knowing he couldn't say no to her.
He nodded, disappearing behind him menu once more.
"Fine, I'll think of something...what's good here?"
Satisfied that he wasn't just blowing her off, she took another sip of her tea.
"Thank you. The B.A.L.T.s are great here."
"Sounds good... I do like my avacado." he remarked.
Her lips curled into a smile.
"I know you do."
Spencer practiced his French aloud after work while he scanned the files he requested from Garcia- he was determined to impress Kristina and his little project had taken up almost all of his free time. He even slept with the files next to his bed and read them as he fell asleep every night that week. Surely there was something that authorities missed, something that would help break the case wide open. Even in senseless violence, there is an order. Warped, sadistic order, but order nonetheless. He searched for similar modus operandi around the area, he searched for similar victims, and he read and double-checked every alibi for every known offender within a fifty mile radius. He examined teachers, neighbors, family members...but nothing was sticking.
He found himself staring at a picture from the file of a young Kristina linking arms with her sister, big smiles plastered on their faces. It was taken around Christmas time, only a few months before Bridget was murdered. He could see the similarities- they both had their mother's striking hazel eyes and thick, chestnut hair. They were near the same height, same weight, same build. Kristina had inherited their father's mind and with it, the weight of the world. Bridget, it seemed, inherited their mother's optimism. Only two years apart, Kristina and Bridget were obviously close. They shared quite a few friends in high school. Bridget was more popular, while Kristina aimed for more academic pursuits.
But if you squinted your eyes, you almost couldn't tell the difference between the girls.
Something clicked in Spencer's brain, and he quickly scrambled for the report from the officer first on the scene.
Kristina had arrived home for spring break and found Bridget in her bedroom, stabbed twenty-seven times in the chest with a small, dull knife. She bled out slowly, painfully, and this was Kristina's last image of her sister.
But what piqued his interest was the wording used on the report. Kristina found Bridget in her room. His heart sank as the possibility crossed his mind-what if the brutal attack was not meant for Bridget? A disorganized killer who spent no time planning, acted on impulse, and spent no time at the crime scene after the brutal act could have easily mistake the younger girl for her sister. What if they had been working the wrong angle for fourteen years?
Spencer whipped out his cell phone and dialed the San Francisco field office, thankful that there was a two-hour time difference and there would still be agents at work even though he had gone home several hours ago.
"Barker."
Spencer cleared his throat.
"Hello, Agent Barker, this is Agent Spencer Reid from the BAU..."
"Agent Reid, what can I do for you?"
"I was just looking at an old unsolved case," he looked down at the file, at the picture of Kristina and Bridget, "and I was wondering if you could help me out with some information."
"What case?" Agent Barker asked, and Reid squinted to read the case file number.
"306-SF-1509."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment as Agent Barker clicked away on his computer.
"Agent, this case is from almost fifteen years ago..."
"I know."
Spencer could smell the confusion all the way from DC.
"There aren't even any suspects listed, it was ruled a random act of violence. Why are you interested in this case?"
"I have my reasons," he shot back, "can you just send me all of the information you have on the victim's older sister; friends, co-workers, classmates, extra-curricular activities?"
Barker paused.
"There isn't any of that in the file, Agent Reid. Isn't Kristina Kent over there with you now? In the BAU."
"Yes she is. Can you give me the phone number for her closest relatives, then?"
"Her parents," Barker clarified, and Spencer frowned.
"That would be great, thanks."
Agent Barker chuckled as he pulled up the information Agent Reid was requesting.
"God help you, Agent Reid..."
