Warm-up for Paige's competition group was scheduled for slightly after 11:00 a.m.
"There are 17 girls in her group," Laurel was reading from the program as they sat in the bleachers waiting. "But none of them are from her home rink. Jade is in the group skating immediately after her so we'll be able to stay and see her skate too."
"When is Clarisse skating?" Rossi asked with a grimace.
"She's at the Intermediate Level," Laurel replied. "So, she won't be skating until this afternoon."
Rossi grunted as Hotch smirked at him. "Doing your best to avoid Dotty?" he questioned innocently.
"She cornered me at the hotel lobby last night," Rossi replied. "And it took me forever to get away from her."
"Joan wasn't there to protect you?" Laurel teased.
"You'll like Joan," she told the others. "She's a very common sense type person."
"And, here she comes now," Hotch announced looking down the bleachers. He noticed that today Joan was accompanied by a distinguished looking man wearing a heavy tweed jacket.
"Laurel!" Joan exclaimed as she climbed up to join the group. "And Aaron – And Dave, too. How are you?"
"Good to see you this morning," Laurel replied as she scooted over to make room for the woman. "And, Hello Michael. I haven't seen you in quite a while."
"Good to see you, too," Michael replied as he took a seat a level down from them. "I have been tied up with work and all. But, I got someone to proctor my classes today and here I am."
"You teach?" Blake asked curiously.
"University of Chicago Law School," was the response. "Mostly I teach Ethics, but I have been known to lecture on numerous philosophies dealing with the concepts of right and wrong."
"Agent Rossi," Michael turned his head to address him. "I want to thank you for the autographed copy of your latest book. I was really surprised to receive it."
"It is one of his prized possessions," Joan chimed in. "He has it on display in his office."
"My pleasure," Rossi assured him. "And, it's Dave."
"Michael," the professor smiled back.
"I will have you know," he continued. "I use several of your cases as examples in my classes. They generally lead to some very spirited discussions."
"Some of them do present interesting ethical dilemmas," Rossi agreed. "I can see where they would lend themselves to some downright nasty arguments."
"It is a hazard of our job," Morgan contributed. "We have to enforce the law whether we agree with it or not."
"You know," Michael said thoughtfully. "I would really like for you and/or some other members of your team to come in as guest lecturers for a couple of my classes. My students would get a chance to learn about the real world, not just the world as they imagine it to be."
"Get with me and I'll see about setting something up," Rossi suggested. "I'm sure I can get several of our agents to make the trip with me." He looked over at Hotch and smiled.
Paige's warm-up group was announced and, as everyone watched, the skaters began circling the rink and practicing their maneuvers.
Nervous?" Hotch looked over at Laurel who was sitting next to him.
"I don't think I was this nervous when we flew to Houston," she confided as she grasped his hand and held it tightly.
"It's out of our hands now," Rossi smiled over at her. "It's all up to the Kiddo."
"At least she has the best looking outfit out there," Garcia observed. "That should count for something."
"That would go under 'Artistic Content'," Reid told her authoritatively. "The remainder of each skater's score is based on the various elements of their program and how well they are executed. That includes – "
"Spence," JJ interrupted him. "Spence - We know you've studied the USFSA Rulebook and are now an expert on this. Why don't you wait until after everyone in the group has skated and then give us a run-down?"
Reid happily nodded his head in agreement and settled down to study the skaters.