A/N: Hi again! Just wanted to say a quick thank you to all who have reviewed/favorited/alerted this little story. I guess really it's more of a character study than a story. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy!
DRIVE
I hate politics. I've been surrounded by it my whole life. That was my mother's chosen profession. I swore I would never play those games. It developed a drive within me to be my own person. I was going to do things my way, on my own, without relying on being the daughter of Ambassador Prentiss. And I did. I worked my way up through the ranks. I worked harder than I ever had in my life. And I made it to my ultimate destination…the BAU.
I should have known something was off when I arrived that first day and Agent Hotchner had no idea I would be joining his unit. I chalked it up to simple lack of communication between superiors and subordinates. Finally he let his guard down ever so slightly and gave me a chance. And his team gave me a chance. So you can imagine how guilty, angry, upset, and twisted up inside I felt when I discovered I was a plant. A plant! As hard as I fought to stay away from the politics, there I was being used as Erin Strauss' political pawn to bring down arguably the best Unit Chief in the FBI. So I did the only thing I could think to do to show them that I wouldn't be anyone's pawn…I quit.
Luckily Hotch saw right through my lame excuse for resigning and pulled me back in. He knew exactly what Strauss was up to and he wasn't going to let her get away with it any more than I would. Whenever I feel myself starting to waver, or wear down after a difficult case, or think for even the slightest millisecond that maybe I shouldn't be doing this job anymore, I think back to that. And it drives me even more to keep going. It drives me to show them all that I deserve to be here. It drives me to prove to Strauss that she's not the only one who knows that game.
She tried to play that game with me…I won. I guess growing up around the politics wasn't such a bad thing after all.
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Supervisory Special Agent
Emily Prentiss