I do not own Criminal Minds.
This is a sequel to "Sayonara!", it is highly recommended to read that first.
Language warning, mentioning of alcohol, and few sexual references.
Former FBI Cadet Ashley Seaver opened the door to the bar and stepped inside. The bar looked similar to that of an old western saloon. There was a counter to the left, the usual round tables scattered about, A small open area where few people were dancing to the jukebox that was playing some country song. Other people sat at tables, but the counter looked fairly empty except for one man with graying hair who seemed to be staring off into space.
Seaver didn't feel like being near the crowd, so she went to the bar stools, taking a seat next to the aging man, who didn't seem to acknowledge her. After ordering a beer from the bartender, she sighed and stared at the counter top.
"Rough day?" The man asked calmly, not even turning his head.
Ashley exhaled, she intended to spend her evening in solitude, but she shouldn't let being fired from that damn Hotchner's team and the FBI get her down, and most of all, she shouldn't be rude and take it out on others.
"I suppose you could say that." Seaver replied glumly. The man nodded before taking another sip of his Scotch.
"I've had a few of those myself." The man said.
"What's you name?" The blonde asked. Since they seemingly were getting engaged in a conversation, and this man was way older than her, she might as well ask. It couldn't hurt. The man spoke after turning to face her for the first time. Realization hit the former cadet when she saw his face. She had seen him before in photos, heard stories about him, but never had met him in person.
"My name is Jason Gideon. Mind if I ask yours?"
"A-Ashley Se-Seaver." She stuttered before clearing her throat. "I've heard about you in the FBI and the BAU."
Gideon smiled fondly. Once in a great while, he missed those days.
"I believe I've heard of you too." Jason said. "You were a cadet, but you managed to become a part of Agent Hotchner's team."
Seaver wrinkled her face and scoffed. She didn't need anyone bringing up that asshole Aaron, or that immature Spencer Reid, or that-
"You've met Dr. Reid, correct?" Gideon asked.
Fuck. Ashley thought. "Yes... Yes, I have." She said through clenched teeth, trying to find a calm enough tone.
"How is he doing? And the team too?"
Seaver bit her lip and debated on what she should tell Gideon, and how she should word it. Maybe she could focus on anything negative, or exaggerate here and there to spice things up.
"Well, Dr. Reid has been suffering terrible headaches lately. He's gone to many doctors and they tell him they can't find anything wrong. Oh, and he attacked Chief Strauss in her office."
Jason raised an eyebrow. Inside he was mildly shocked at this, but he kept his outer expression mostly in check. Seaver noticed Gideon's silence and continued.
"JJ left to work at the Pentagon, Prentiss had been kidnapped and tortured, Rossi was almost shot, and Hotchner fired me for the most ridiculous reason." Ashley practically slapped a hand over her mouth. She went too far and hadn't been planning to tell Gideon about her being fired. But since he had been keeping tabs on her, he probably would have found out himself.
"You were fired?" Jason asked.
"For an invalid reason!" Seaver exclaimed.
"Define 'invalid'."
"Well, Dr. Reid had this cookie on his desk, and it sat there all morning, right? I figured that he wasn't going to eat it, so I did, and he started crying like a baby, and Hotchner fired me for that."
It took more willpower than Gideon had originally thought it would to keep from laughing out loud, especially at her use of "invalid". He had already known about Seaver's firing from the BAU, he knew that JJ had left, only to return months later, he knew about Prentiss, and that she was alright, he knew about Hotch's family and George Foyet, and he knew that Morgan, as well as the others were all still alive and well.
Most of all though, Dave was right. This Seaver lady is definitely a character.
"Anything I can do?" Jason asked kindly, even if Ashley said 'yes', he wouldn't really do anything at all.
"No, I- Just forget it." Seaver sighed again and played around with her beer mug before drinking it's contents down in seconds. She slammed the glass on the counter rather loudly, then rested her elbows on it, staring at all the bottles of alcoholic drinks on the shelves along the wall.
Gideon noticed when Ashley started to gaze at her empty mug, and occasionally glance at him. He may not work at the BAU anymore, but he still had his profiling skills. He half looked towards her direction.
"May I buy you another?" Seaver was startled by the broken silence, but once she gathered herself and comprehended what Gideon asked her, she turned to look at him straight in the eyes and smiled.
"Y-yes, please." She said softly. Jason felt his own lips' edges curl upward as he reached for his wallet from his back pocket and called out to the bartender.
"Hey, can we get another round here?"
(Spencer Reid!)
Gideon didn't care that he had already spent close to 50 dollars on Seaver's beers as he excused himself before making a beeline to the jukebox. Pardoning himself through the crowd, he stopped in front of the colorfully lit thing and flipped through the songs.
"Ah, here we go." He said to himself aloud. The bar was noisy enough that Ashley wouldn't hear him. He highlighted "Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo" by Tracy Byrd and started it before heading back to the bar stool where Seaver was just finishing her sixth beer.
This songs sucks. Ashley thought as she ran a finger through her empty glass and licked it. Just as Jason reappeared at his seat beside her's, the bartender sat another filled glass in front of her, which she hastily grabbed and started to guzzle down.
However, the former cadet didn't realize that the drink wasn't the same one she had had previously, or that Gideon intended for that to happen.
After one round with Jose Cuervo, I caught my boots tapping along with the beat, and after two rounds with Jose Cuervo, that band was sounding pretty darn good to me.
Jason watched with amusement as Seaver wobbled in her stool, but managed to stay off the floor. She called the bartender for another, only for him to "cut her off." Gideon jumped in and told him that he was driving her home and the bartender believed him before serving a drunken Ashley another glass.
Three rounds with Jose Cuervo, I let her lead me out on the floor, and after four rounds with Jose Cuervo, I was showing off moves never seen before.
"Ashley, what have you considered for a new job?" Gideon asked the disorderly young woman.
"Screw that Hotchner!" She spat with a huge smile on her face. "Hey, Jason, buddy, you got a binky for little Spencer?" Gideon only knew half of what she was talking about, but he allowed himself to laugh freely, she wouldn't remember being laughed at anyway.
"Say, what you suggest I do for work, Jason, old pal?" Seaver hiccuped.
"Prostitution?" Gideon snickered.
Well, round five or round six, I forgot what I came to forget.
"Gee, I don't know," Ashley's speech was beginning to noticeably slur. "Would I make money like I did at that damn FBI?"
"You're asking a wise man here, Ms. Seaver." Jason said slightly proud.
"Awesome!" Ashley grinned stupidly. "So, I could be one rich bitch?"
"I imagine." Gideon smirked.
"Damn, I need a ride to Vegas." Seaver slurred and wobbled. She fell face first on the counter top before sitting back upright on the stool. She turned around and looked upon the bar that was filling up.
"Hey! Any of you son of a bitches wanna drive a little lady to The Strip?" Ashley shouted, gaining a rather large amount of attention. She tried to stand on her feet, but she lost her footing and landed on her stool, her back hitting into the edge of the counter. She received blank stares as she sat upright again.
"I'll buy y'all a drink." She hiccuped.
And after round seven, or was it eight? I bought a round for the whole dang place.
Seaver practically handed her whole wallet to the bartender, who was looking beyond exhausted. Gideon was thinking to himself. Part of him couldn't believe he was doing this, but another part felt that it was some of the most fun he hac had in a long time. Cheers and the sounds of glass clinking filled the bar. A man, who was looking a little disorderly himself, approached Jason and Ashley. He had long, curly brown hair that reminded Gideon of Reid, only this man had visible facial hair. He was an all round hippie.
"Dude, I've got a bus full I'm driving straight to Vegas. This lady here need a ride too?"
"You're beautiful!" Seaver giggled at the man.
What luck. Jason thought. "Yes, she does." He smiled.
"Okay, like, do her parents or anybody know?" The man asked as he scratched himself.
"She's by herself." Gideon replied. Honestly, he didn't know if she had any living family or not, he just knew that her father was a serial killer who had been captured by none other than Hotch and Rossi. Other than that, it seemed like she really was without anyone else.
"You know her?" The man asked Gideon.
I do now. "Yes, I do."
"Cool. Oh, name's Fillmore by the way."
"Jason. Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, whatever. I'm leaving in 15, so make sure she's ready." Fillmore walked away without another response, towards a table where many girls were at. Jason watched him for a minute before turning to Seaver, who was spinning around on her seat. The former profiler felt a tiny pang of guilt on what he was doing, but that went away when he remembered that she had told him she ate Reid's cookie. Big no-no...
After nine rounds with Jose Cuervo, they were counting me out and I was about to give in.
"Ugh, my head." Seaver groaned. Gideon's eyes widened a little. He wasn't expecting her to get sober that quick. Ashley stopped rubbing her face and started to look around the bar. Jason eyed a filled glass that was sitting in front of a vacant seat to his left. He had no idea what was in it or who's it was, but he had to get Seaver to drink it. After checking to see if the coast was clear, he reached over and pulled the drink towards him. He took one sniff before drawing back quickly. Yeah, this should definitely do the trick.
"How long have I been here?" Seaver spoke finally.
"Too damn long." The bartender muttered before walking away, Ashley hadn't heard him, but Gideon had.
"A short while." Jason lied. "Would you like another drink?" He showed her the glass.
"Thanks, but I probably shouldn't drink anymore."
"Don't worry. It's on the house."
"I really shouldn't." Seaver protested.
"Tastes good. I bought this one for you to try."
"I'll order it next time, maybe." Ashley chuckled. "But I should get going."
"Got somewhere to be?" Gideon asked.
"Well, no." She admitted.
"Then have one last drink."
Ashley was very skeptical, although she couldn't remember, she was sure she'd drank more than intended already. On the other hand, Gideon has been nice to her, even though she barely knew him in person, and who knows how much that drink cost? Surely, if it was expensive, Jason wouldn't have bought it just for her, but he said he did, and Seaver didn't want to be rude.
"Actually, I think I'll try a taste."
Then after ten rounds with Jose Cuervo... I lost count and started countin' again.
"Who wants some of this?" Ashley shouted from atop a table. She turned her back to a group of spectators, spanking herself in front of them. Cheers and wolf whistles emitted from the crowd. At the bar stools, Gideon was laughing his heart out. He still felt a little guilty, but it was all according to plan...
"Oh, there you are, miss. We should get going." Fillmore said as he reached out for her hand to help her off the table.
"Ooh, you're a fine specimen!" Seaver grinned, then hiccuped. "Where we goin'?"
"Uh, like, Vegas, remember?" He said as he led the former cadet to the exit.
"Oh yeah!" Ashley fell to the floor, Fillmore helped her back up. "Say, do I need a Master's Degree to be a... Oh, what was that word my friend Jason said? Oh! Prostitute! Yeah, that's it!"
"Like, uh, I don't think so." Fillmore said dumbly as he opened the door.
"Bye Jason, buddy!" Seaver waved towards the bar stools. Gideon couldn't help but wave back. He chuckled when they left the bar and headed to a bus parked nearby.
"Sayonara, Seaver." Gideon said as the bus engine started. Jason stared off into space, trying to configure what he just did. He just got some women he barely knew drunk and sent off to Vegas to become somebody's toy. He should be feeling more guilty than he was, but every time he did, Reid and his apparent cookie that Seaver ate popped in his head. Thus, his guilt was erased.
Jason reached for his cell phone, punching in numbers and sat the device to his ear, listening to it ring. He waited patiently until the ringing stopped and he heard a familiar voice on the other side.
"This is Special Agent David Rossi with the FBI, who is this?"
"Hello, Rossi."
"Gideon?"
"It is. Listen, I've got an announcement that you can tell the others. It involves Ashley." Jason said as he watched the bus disappear down the road.
"And what's that?" Dave asked reluctantly. What he heard Gideon say next made him smile with satisfaction.
"Mission accomplished."
The End!