Chapter 10 – A Fresh Start
Well, this is the end of the road for this fic – but fear not, crimefighters, there's more Agent Pearce to come. I'm having a week off for Samhain, but I'll be back the Friday after with the next story.
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Thanks again for reading :) Watch this space!
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Essential Listening: Hope on the Horizon, Megan Henwood
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She stepped out onto the hot tarmac, a little disorientated. They had left New Orleans in the small hours of the morning and touched down in DC at 10AM.
The flight had been fast, making the vast continent that she was supposed to be calling 'home' seem much smaller – cosier, somehow.
She had been pleased to see Dr Reid fall asleep on the jet, his long legs pulled up to his chest on the seat at the back, as if he was trying to make himself smaller.
He seemed more tranquil now, at peace with his problems and the struggle he had ahead of him, and she was glad.
He didn't need the hand that he'd been dealt.
Most of the other agents had dozed on the 'plane, too, despite Morgan's assertion that it wasn't like 'real' sleep.
Grace couldn't settle, though. Flying still made her a little uneasy, and she was unused to travelling in such a small and vulnerable craft. The excitement she had felt on first taking off nearly a week previously had begun to return as they raced across the sleeping county and she was eager for whatever was waiting for her beyond the tarmac of the airstrip: a new job, a new home.
A new life, full of promise.
Agent Morgan patted her on the back as he passed her.
"Long night, huh?" he said, heading for the S.U.V.s waiting for them at the end of the strip. "Better get used to it."
Recalling many nights patrolling the streets of London she simply smiled after him, getting used to things was part of being a copper.
"Hey," said Reid, falling into step beside her.
"Hey," she yawned. "Sorry."
"I just wanted to say thank you, again," he said, in a low voice. "For…"
"No problem," she said, with a smile.
"I meant what I said," he continued, earnestly. "If you ever need someone…"
"I'll keep it in mind," she said, easily. "How are you at moving furniture?"
The laughter burst out of him like spring rain, and he sped up, trailing after Morgan and shaking his head.
It was certainly going to be interesting, working at the B.A.U..
Her old phone buzzed in her pocket; she checked the number and frowned.
The name 'Lightfoot' briefly flashed up on the screen and she hit ignore.
Turning her face into the wind she followed her new team down the airstrip.
A fresh start was exactly what she needed.