CHAPTER 6

F.B.I. - FAMILY, BELIEF, INFALLIBILITY

Emily looked around the auditorium after delivering her first line. Introducing herself was easy, she had done it so many times by now that the line, however long it was, always slipped off her tongue, like butter. But then came the hard part.

She licked her lips, looking from left to right. There were only unfamiliar faces of people of different ages and backgrounds, all of whom oozed determination to learn, perfect themselves and thrive in the FBI. It pained Emily to think how the majority of those people would be cut after the first couple of weeks. There were no funds to keep them all there, that was what she had been told. The learning process consisted of lots and lots of practice and training, both of which required materials that were expensive.

Emily heard Dan clear his voice, as if to urge her to continue.

Dan Hamlin was the FBI Academy class coordinator, a.k.a. the annoying loudspeaker voice, as everyone called him. He was in his 50's, bald, mid-height, he occasionally wore glasses, just to have a more authoritarian look, especially when he had to scold one of the trainees.

"Right…" Emily mumbled, wondering why she hadn't made the time this morning to prepare a speech. Any speech. Even the shortest, most uninformative and uninspiring one. Oh yes. That was why. Because she never did anything that was half-assed. Except when it came to relationships, then she was most definitely not as invested as she should be.

Last night she had taken the drunk decision to be the inspiration of the new class. Summer had just finished and everyone had seemed so chill and relaxed at the bar, having the time of their lives, dancing on the bar and getting offered free shots by people they did not even know. They seemed young, fun, vibrant, which was okay, but not a good start at the FBI. Trainees had to have a good head on their shoulders. Emily wanted to help them get in the right mindset, even if the rough reality was that, for most of them, it wouldn't really make a difference.

The first few weeks were always crucial. That was the time when most people would drop out on their own will, anyway. Everything would be hard, everyone would be immersed into a new reality, one that was completely different than anything they had been used to. The only somewhat privileged ones were the trainees with prior military training. Although, they usually found it hard to adjust to this new pace and, consulting the official Academy statistics, a lot of them dropped out by week five.

Emily took a deep breath, her eyes now piercing through just one person in the whole auditorium.

"Welcome to the FBI Academy!" She said with a forced smile before her gaze shifted to the last rows. Fixating one person was just weird and made her feel uncomfortable.

"I look at you, all, and I see so much potential. Drive. Charisma. Intelligence. Determination. And while all those qualities will, without a doubt, help you through your training, the true drive has to come from here…" Her hand rose from the side of her thigh, where she had just swiped the sweat off against her pants, and pressed against the left side of her chest. "This has to be full, this has to be your drive."

"Oh, yours is full, alright." Bryan bit his lips, checking out Emily's décolleté, as she had just pat it slightly, to give her words a deeper meaning.

He earned himself a very loud slap against the shoulder. Again.

"You are disgusting. Stop!" Angie said quietly. "She meant the heart."

"Yeah. Heart. That's what I meant, too." He added, lamely.

"I'm sure you did." Angie pulled out her tablet, wondering if this was going to be an actual lecture, or just a sappy speech.

"I won't bother you, explaining what is to come. I just want to make sure you all are willing to work hard in order to experience it all, until the end. I won't lie, this is going to be hard. You are going to sweat. All life, outside the Academy, will be put on hold. Cell phones are not allowed during training and in the classrooms and laboratories. None of you can visit home and relatives for the first five weeks. We need you focused and present. Forget about weekends. Here you are busy 7 days a week. I know this sounds impossible, but trust me, you will find your own time to go enjoy some leisure activities." Emily met a lot of disapproval and it startled her, since all the information she just gave them was public knowledge.

"I invite you to read your trainee handbooks again, before you call me a bitch." She let out a small laugh, shaking off the tension that she had created with her previous statement.

"If I had to give you one piece of advice, it would be to choose your friends wisely. Some of the people you meet in the Academy are going to be in your life for a very, very long time. They might even be the reason why your lifeline would be so long. So, treat everyone with respect. This is not high-school and no bullying or cattiness will be tolerated. We are all grown-ups. Let's just put it that way – imagine yourselves in a very shitty situation, a few years from now. Guns blazing, you have no back-up on the field. What would happen if the only person available to help you out was someone you kept on bullying in the Academy, to the point where they have nearly zero wish to help your ass? Huh?" She smirked, seeing a few people give her cheeky looks of approval.

Emily has always had her way with words. She was an excellent motivator and she knew it. That was part of the reason why she decided to give the welcome speech that year.

"When times are hard, don't give up. There is always going to be someone to help you out. We have a team of amazing psychologists who are available 24/7. There is no shame in asking for help, physical, emotional or spiritual. Nobody is going to judge you. If anything, we are proud when trainees seek help and support from their mentors. Admitting weakness is not a sign of weakness itself. On the contrary." For a moment she trailed off.

Her mind was suddenly invaded by thoughts. Was she an egoist to say those words to the trainees when she, herself, had been hearing and ignoring those words for the past two weeks? What if her team had been trying to get through to her, just as she was trying to get through to the trainees? She made a mental note to herself to go talk to someone, sooner or later.

Dan nodded in her direction and she knew it was time to break the bad news.

"This year we have fewer open positions for hiring. This does not mean that you can get lazy. We are no more looking for the best trainees. We are looking to form the best agents possible. By the end of this journey the remaining of you would be assigned a personal mentor. Some of you are going to get an internship with the department of their choice, if available. Also, the internship is no longer going to be at the end of the twenty-one weeks of training. Nope. It is going to be integrated into the training. It is up to you to keep it up or quit. Like I said, this year is going to be hard. And, if you end up getting that badge at the end, it is going to get even harder. But I can guarantee you, it is going be the best thing that ever happened in your life." Dan sent her another stern look. She was supposed to be talking business, yet there she was, getting all mallow and sentimental. But she couldn't help it.

"Being part of a team…" Emily stopped for a second, realizing that out there, on the very last row, there were a bunch of faces that she recognized. It made her smile. "Uh, being part of a team is the biggest reward in life. It's like having a second family, always knowing you can count on someone, always having someone to scold you when you're on the wrong path." She shot a glance at a specific person – a blond-haired girl, holding two cups of coffee. "And there will always be that one person who would stand by your side in both tears and joy; the one that would bring you coffee when you don't even know you're craving for it; the one who would drop their life to be there for you when your own life is a mess; the one who would love you deeply and unconditionally; the one you have that special bond with; the one who'd give you a shoulder to cry on and then make it her life's mission to never let that same thing make you cry, ever again; the one…" Emily trailed off. No matter how many more words she'd use, they would never be enough to express how she felt about that person. "Ahh, you guys. Just, the one, okay?"

"JJ, I think she's talking about you." Rossi, sitting by her side, pointed out with pride.

It made JJ laugh.

"Then, you'll always have that other someone who would be your best friend and your biggest competition. Someone so incredibly smart and experienced that your knees get weak when you have to be their Boss, knowing that this person is at least a million times better than you, yet, so humble, so open-minded, so willing to help you gain your success without wanting a single thing in return." Emily continued, her gaze now shifting to Rossi, making him blush.

"Then you will have a special person - there is always that one person who represents all the colors of the spectrum. Black, when things get rough; white, when the front is clear; blue, in case you're pregnant and you see that clear blue line on the thing…" She laughed. There was nothing else that came to her mind when it came to the color blue. "Red when you are in love and that person keeps nagging you about all the intimate details of your new relationship; and, the best of all – pink, because the brightest color that could ever shine around that person is, indeed, pink. The typical baby girl color. The color of her cheeks when you go over the PG 13 limit in your rants. Her color of choice when it comes to stationary or simply just life, in general. The color of her lipstick, and oh God, one of the many colors you could find on any item of clothing she owns."

"Oh, sweet unicorn heavens, I love that woman, she makes me squeal more than I usually do!" Garcia swiped a tear from her chin and felt like her cheeks were burning. She knew they were probably pink by now. After what Emily had just said about her, it was to be expected.

"Your team will be nothing without a genius, a person who would magically whip out information on literally any topic. Someone who is shy, who seems to keep to themselves, but when you really get to know him, he would be the most wonderful person inside. Someone who would put aside his germaphobia, in order to hug you when you are sad. Someone who would sacrifice his own life, in order to save yours. Repeatedly." Emily smiled at Reid, both of them thinking about that one case where they had entered a cult undercover and things had gone bad, so Reid had blown his cover, making sure Emily would be okay.

After the lack of initial reaction, JJ nudged Reid.

"That would be you." She whispered to him.

"Oh!" He said after the big revelation hit him. "She's riveting!" He added, dreamily.

"Okay, Thesaurus." Luke jumped at the chance to point out Reid's odd choice of an adjective. Again.

Emily stopped for a moment, assessing the situation. Even in her state of deep emotional downpour, she knew that she must be boring the Hell out of the trainees. However, she was pleasantly surprised to notice how everyone's eyes were glued to her. Apparently, people liked hearing about the positive things that came with the job, so she continued.

"Then there is the one who works out all the time. The dude that gets all the ladies." She continued.

"That would be you." Angie smirked and Bryan looked at her approvingly. He had always been kind of a macho player.

"That guy would be by your side and would be happy to ditch a date for you, any day, any time…but preferably before midnight." Emily laughed at her own statement, referencing an instance in which she had been upset and Luke had told her that she would always come first and that he would even ditch a hot date for her, unless it was after midnight, when it would possibly be too late for him to prioritize that way.

"One of your team members is going to be the epitome of a modern family. You are going to admire how they manage to juggle a family with four kids with a job like ours. Other than the fact that he'd know everything about baby products, he would also be the one to go to for any motorbike advice." This time she looked at Matt who was grinning back at her. He loved getting praise for being a good father and a husband.

"If you are extremely lucky, more members of your team would be your idols when it comes to family goals." Emily acknowledged both JJ and Rossi for a moment, although Rossi being considered as family goals was a bit questionable. But lately, he had been doing just fine.

"Last, but not least…" Tara was on the edge of her seat, listening to Emily's words about her. "The unpredictable one - the one who would seem extremely professional, until she decides to flip the switch and drag you dancing. This one would hold the bottle against your mouth and then hold your hair in the bathroom." It was now Emily's time to blush, as she referenced a moment from a couple of months ago where Tara had texted her to go clubbing since nobody else was available that night. They had hit a few bars before ending up at a striptease bar. To their dismay, they found out it was a gentleman's bar only after they had paid solid cash to get in. Tara had promised Emily to bring her to see male strippers, but it had not gone as planned. So, the only smart thing to do, in their opinion, had been to get hammered and to enjoy whatever they had paid for. It had worked…until Emily ended up on the cold bathroom floor, facing the toilet seat, with Tara holding her hair up and considering if it was a good idea to make a video of that moment, for further bribing, in case Emily got cocky as a Unit Chief. She had then decided against it. Up to that day, Tara regretted that decision.

"Woman, what are you doing?" Dan hissed at Emily, standing in the sidelines.

"I wish you all to, one day, have a family like that. Because, apart from all the disgusting things, the crime, the violence, the horror that you are going to see on a daily basis, there would also be people like those, right there by your side, every single day. And that is what the FBI is for me. Federal Bureau of Investigation is what the initials stand for. Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity is what they will teach you to stand for, in the Academy. But Family, Belief, Infallibility is what it means to me. Thank you very much. Once again, I'm SSA Emily Prentiss from the BAU and I wish every single one of you to get to where they want to be, within the Bureau." Without even knowing it, she found a small tear on her right cheek. Emily would usually be able to keep her feelings in check, but not this time.

To her surprise, literally every single person in the auditorium got up on their feet and started applauding her. It felt good. Emily rarely ever liked to bask in the glory of appraisal, but she would gladly make an exception at that specific moment.