CHAPTER 50

WE STAND RIGHT BEHIND HER, ALWAYS!

Angie didn't need an alarm clock to wake her up on Friday. Her eyes popped open at 5 am and she was ready for the day.

Making sure she wouldn't wake Bryan up, she snuck out of bed and put her active wear on before she went for a quick relaxing morning run.

It was really cold that morning, temperatures were dropping at night, but she didn't feel a thing. If something – she felt hot, like a fire was burning inside of her. She also felt refreshed. She felt like she was in control, like she could breathe, like she could do anything she set her mind on.

At 6 am she rolled up to the main building, pressing the 4th floor button on the elevator.

"Who the Hell are you?" Fowler asked angrily once Angie walked past her office, putting on a white apron.

"Hola. Mi nombre es Anjela." She said in Spanish before she continued speaking broken English, in thick Latina accent. "I here for clean office today. Okay?"

She had figured Fowler would be in the office from twilight, if she hadn't even slept there, planning her revenge. When Angie saw her, the woman had her headphones on and was listening intently to some recording, making notes.

"Oh, cleaning staff. Finally!" Fowler waved her hand dismissively, as if Angela was no longer a human being to her.

Angie figured out where to get some cleaning products and she started to wipe dust while her eyes snooped around mercilessly, as she waited for the right moment to make her move.

She spilled some water on the floor, but the only reaction she got from the woman was verbal abuse. And that was not enough.

Then she moved to her desk, casually knocking her coffee over. Fowler stood up, screaming like a jungle woman, her pants now soaked in the hot beverage. Angela got called very colorful names, most of which were culturally offensive for the whole Latino population. But that wasn't enough.

She groaned when Fowler left the office and went to the bathroom to clean herself up. And then she had a different idea. Clearly Angie was going all wrong about it so far. Fowler couldn't be pushed over the edge by a clumsy cleaner.

Angie thought for a second. What could be the reason why Fowler hated Emily Prentiss so much? She remembered the fact that her husband had, clearly, left her. She also remembered the lack of emotional attachment on Fowler's side and how she had only kept his jewelry and expensive things. Yet, she could tell that him leaving was what had ticked this woman off.

Coming to that conclusion, Angie now had about two minutes left to create the perfect profile of this woman, in her head, then come up with a new game plan and give it a go.

While her brain was at work, so were her fingers. She stuck a USB drive in Fowler's computer and transferred something. It was Fowler's own fault that she had left her computer unattended, probably thinking this Latina girl had no idea how to even work the keyboard. And yet, Angie had a few tricks up her sleeve. Through the years, she had met some very smart people who had taught her some very cool cyber tricks. She wasn't a genius, but she was a quick learner. Technology was not her forte. Manipulation was. Mind games, being her specialty.

When she also came up with a profile on Fowler, it allowed her to answer the most important question she currently had – What could tick this woman off?

Despite the yelling, she clearly didn't care about Angela, the cleaner, enough to allow herself to get really mad, at the workplace. But what would she do if she had to deal with Angela, the thief?

Her profile pointed to a very possessive and vindictive woman, one who wouldn't be able to resist the temptation when she felt like something was being taken from her. One who would potentially lose it completely, if she wasn't in charge, if she wasn't the owner of what she believed lawfully belonged to her.

"God, I'm good at this." Angela muttered to herself, because if nobody was there to give her a pat on the shoulder, she'd do that herself.

When the woman walked back in her office, she found Angie on her knees, on the other side of her desk, searching through her handbag and sneaking a 50 dollar bill into her sports bra, underneath the white apron, right before she got caught.

"You, stupid immigrant!" As predicted, the woman was ticked off.

"Why don't you go back to your own country and steal money there, huh? You think you are all entitled to come to our America and steal our things, huh? You dumb little bitch! You can barely speak our language. You suck at your job. You, useless human creature. God, I hate you and all of your damned look-alikes!" The woman started off, verbally, as before.

But then Angie looked at her, very innocently, her eyes threatening to burst in tears.

"Please, my husband no work. I need money. Not tell no people, please." Angie said, still using her Latina accent.

"And my husband no home. Comprendes!?" The woman then exploded. She took a few steps towards Angie, grabbing her by the apron and forcing her to stand up.

"But I don't go stealing people's husbands!" She added and Angie gathered all of her strength and discipline, just to stay calm and not give her all the crap that she deserved to hear, when it came to stealing things from people.

"Give me my money back!" The woman put her hand out, but Angie faked dumb so well.

She closed her apron, placing her hands in front of her chest.

"My money! Now!" The woman yelled.

"I no have it." Angie shrugged innocently.

"I saw you put them in your bra, you stupid little idiot!" The woman started tugging on the apron and Angie pulled back as far as she could.

In attempts to get away from her, she tackled over the desk chair, making herself fall flat on her ass, backwards, causing the chair to roll sideways, making quite the loud scene. Angie had noticed the elevator doors open just seconds before that, so she now needed her witnesses. She stood up quickly and kept walking backwards until her back hit the wall behind her.

The woman smirked, happy that she finally got Angie backed up against the wall. Literally. She walked over to her, kicking the fallen chair out of her way, before she grabbed Angie's apron and tore it open, letting it fall down her shoulders while she reached for the money that were now visibly sticking out of the side of her sports bra strap.

"No. No. No! Please! Don't!" Angie went in full on panic mode, confusing the woman with that sudden outburst.

And then tears flooded her cheeks. Angela Hunter never cried, but it was okay when the tears were fake, when they served her for the greater good. She deserved an Oscar herself.

"Please! It hurts. Let me go!" Angie whimpered, this time with her normal accent, but the woman did not even catch that change.

She hit Angie across the face, so hard that she could feel it resonate, seconds after the hit even occurred.

"This is what pathetic immigrant bitches who rob people deserve!" Fowler hissed at Angie.

Angie stood there, holding her cheek, feeling her side lip cut in two, tasting the fresh blood that was now forming into a drop, ready to fall on her clothes.

She stood immobile for a long moment, as if she was waiting for something. And then, without another word, she just left.


"My God, what happened to your lip?" Bryan commented when he saw Angie fifteen minutes later, in PFT.

"Had a little accident after my morning run." She shrugged, ignoring the fact that her lip was now swollen, bruised and purple.

It didn't prevent her from training, though. If anything – it made her even more determined. That morning, Angela pushed hard and whenever she felt like her body wasn't strong enough to continue with an exercise, she pushed even harder, pushing her limits and reaching new highs in her training. The guy who was supervising them noticed all that, he had seen her improve day after day and she was one of the few motivated people in the early morning. However, as instructed by Dan, he did not give her any praise. He did not say anything mean either.

A few of the Trainees, however, kept on torturing her, calling her 'Purple' all through the training.

When class was over, she made it a point to go over to the group of bullies and give them a piece of her mind.

"For your information, purple is a beautiful color that looks banging hot on me! Also, purple combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red. The color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence and magic. So, yeah, I just want to thank you all for acknowledging how damn special I am and for giving me that beautiful nickname! Now, have a good day, guys!" She just poured it all out and walked away after blowing them all an air kiss.

Dan was just coming to the training field, to let them know that, if they wanted to, they could keep training under his supervision, since they now had two hours until their 12 am theory class.

Nearly 80% of the Trainees expressed desire to go have breakfast instead.

She looked at the time and it was currently 9:49. It was almost show time. She waved at a few of the guys who would be participating in the prank, as they chose to skip on the extra training, so they could go back to the dorms and grab their prank costumes.

Angie stayed and ignored the feeling of sweat against her busted lip, as it gave her a very unpleasant pinching feeling of discomfort.

She went to the pull-up station with Bryan, asking him to supervise her technique and then taking in all of the criticism he had for her.

Dan walked over to a group of guys who were doing an abs workout and he just sat there, watching them remind him of the days when he had been young and in the Academy.

Time flied and some Trainees left to go shower before class, but Angie and a group of seven other people stayed.


The clock hit 10 o'clock sharp and the doors of a huge hall opened, letting a whole bunch of people in.

The first ones to enter were the stern looking ones, those who sat behind the main desk, now facing the empty chairs in front of them.

Then, Fowler and a bunch of people she had blackmailed, walked in, sitting on the left side of what seemed to look like a court room, with how the chairs and tables were arranged.

Emily walked in next. She entered on her own, walking all the way to the front and taking the hot seat, the one for the accused, if it were a court.

After that, the whole BAU walked in. But, instead of taking the empty seats near Emily's - seats that have been assigned to her team, they opted for standing on their feet, all the way at the back of the hall – as far away from Emily as possible.

Garcia walked in limping and Fowler was quick to notice that, along with the fact that she was sporting a huge scarf around her neck and that, basically half of her face was now covered by a very extravagant hairstyle. Was that a cover up for the bruise Emily had left her with, just a day ago?

Emily gulped, feeling too much free space around her. It was weird, especially since Fowler was now surrounded by people, some of whom surprised Emily. She would have never guessed that some of them had taken part in her takedown and it actually kind of hurt to see that now.

Unit Chief Jessica Meyers was not among them. That made Emily feel a tiny bit better.

"Silence, please!" The man who was going to overview this hearing, spoke up on the microphone.

He read from a piece of paper, letting everyone know why they were being gathered there. Section Chief Fowler had requested a thorough investigation on the BAU team and immediate suspension for everyone, had something been discovered, following that investigation.

Emily looked really ill-at-ease, surrounded by emptiness, which is how she almost felt on the inside, too.

She dared utter no word.

"An investigation has been conducted, including unsealing old case files of the BAU and reviewing their work ethic, tactics and methods used during their cases. Moreover, a complete search of the BAU offices has been conducted, too. And we have also consulted the psychologist that follows the team on a professional level." The man in charge let everyone know.

"All of those resulted in absolutely no sign of foul play and indecent behavior at work, which is what the Section Chief had suggested as the reasoning behind her request for investigation." The man seemed upset that he had been asked to waste his time, basically.

"This cannot be true!" Fowler protested. "What about her drug issues?" She pointed at Emily, who was quietly sitting in her seat, now looking a little less stressed for some odd reason.

"Drug issues were never mentioned to us, so we did not investigate on that. However, no illegal substances were found in or around the BAU offices." The main in charge replied.

"Well, if they are so innocent, I'm sure she wouldn't mind a quick alcohol and drugs test. Right here, right now." Fowler stood up, holding a drug test kit in her hand. Oh, she had planned this quite well.

"SSA Prentiss, do you authorize?" The man asked.

"I have absolutely nothing to hide, Sir!" Emily said, with her chin held high, as she stood up and walked to the middle of the grounds, between her desk and Fowler's.

"Also, I believe it would only be fair to test everyone, not just me." Emily added, pointing at the back of the room.

Five minutes later an Agent came back with just enough instant drug tests for everyone on team BAU.

Everyone took it willingly, also because they were required to, even if they did not want to.

There was a weird silence, both from Emily's side and also from every member of her team.

"I believe SSA Prentiss mentioned everyone…" The man said with a smirk, looking directly at Fowler.

His assistant stood up and, despite Fowler's refusal, he still did an alcohol and drugs test on her. As a government operative, one was forced to take such tests, whenever asked to do so. No objections.

The tests had to now be left for five minutes, until the results would show up.

Emily sat back down on her chair, crossing her legs properly, like a lady, and having absolutely no sign of worry on her face.

"Alright, we have the results." The man's assistant finally spoke up.

"And we have zero drugs and zero alcohol result, for every single member of the BAU." He stated, reading the screens of the tests.

"What? But that's impossible! The crazy one said Emily had been on drugs again recently. She has some problem with drugs, she failed to inform the Bureau of it years ago when she left for a trip to rehab before she joined back, pretending to be alright." Fowler couldn't help herself.

"Do you have any actual evidence to back that accusation up with, Mrs. Fowler?" The man in charge asked, narrowing his eyes on Fowler.

"Yes, I heard them with my own ears. The weird looking one was yelling at SSA Prentiss yesterday afternoon. Then Prentiss got mad and she hit her employee and then she threw something at her and hurt her leg, as well."

"But, I was right next to you yesterday, from lunch until 8pm when we both got in our cars to go home after work." Someone from Fowler's posse dared to speak up, disproving the validity of her words.

"I listened to it this morning, you idiot!" Fowler said rudely.

"Wait!" The authority man put his hand up in the air. "You heard it today, but it happened yesterday?"

"Yes, that's right. I have the recording to prove it!" Fowler was oblivious to the harm she had just done to herself.

"Mrs. Fowler, you do realize it is absolutely illegal to record anything, inside the government building? Let alone if it happened inside of someone else's office. And even if you could register, you could not use the audio against the people who own the office. It's just not how things work around here." The man rolled his eyes, now visibly pissed off.

"But, it was physical abuse on an employee! Was I supposed to turn a blind eye?" Fowler tried to get out of it, once she realized how dumb she had been.

"First of all, you cannot record them. What happens in their office is their business only. If there are grounds for filing a physical abuse claim, everyone is old enough to come to us and file it themselves. And secondly, would you, please, stop insulting people?" The man had never liked Fowler.

The only reason why this woman had made it to Section Chief was because she had more years of experience than her competitor for the place. Also, because her competitor suddenly pulled out, which now seemed like it might have been arranged by her and her scheming ways. And then there was the fact that the Bureau had to choose someone, anyone, in under 24 hours, so the time pressure really gave them no time to go over each candidate's files and psychological evaluations properly.

"I can't do this anymore." Someone from Fowler's posse stood up. "I don't have anything against SSA Prentiss. Neither of us here do. Fowler blackmailed us to sit here and back her up, but this is bullshit. Like you said, Sir, we are all old enough to stand up for what we believe in. And I believe that this whole claim that the BAU is in the wrong, is completely bogus."

That person switched sides, literally, walking over to Emily's side of the room, sitting on a chair right behind the first row, where Emily was now in the middle of, alone.

He was then followed by a woman, who stood near Emily before she spoke up. "I don't believe it for a second that this woman here is capable of mistreating her employees like that. If anything, they are one of the Units with the strongest bond here. And you…" She pointed at Fowler then. "How dare you speak of physical abuse after what you did to that poor girl this morning?"

"Do I even want to know what happened this morning?" The judge-looking man raised an eyebrow curiously.

"I walked out of the elevator at 6:07 this morning and found her hitting some girl who was there to clean our office, since none of our cleaning staff could stand her constant verbal abuse and threats and they all left us last week!" The woman explained.

"Oh, and can someone corroborate this statement?" The man was starting to enjoy this.

"Yes, Sir. I walked out of the elevator with my colleague when it happened. However, I did not make any recording of the scene, for the legal and ethical reasons you stated just a minute ago, Sir." A younger guy stood up and also walked over to Emily's side of the room.

"This is ridiculous! Are you going to believe what some dumb illegal immigrant says, over the words of your Section Chief?" Fowler was so beyond pissed off that her revenge against Emily was now turning against her, that she stopped thinking about the words she was using.

"I have kindly asked you to stop insulting people!" The judge hissed at her.

"Although, I suppose this must be the drugs and alcohol talking…" He added, holding Fowler's test results in one hand.

His assistant had only said that the whole BAU team was clean, but it was now the judge to break the news that Fowler had tested positive on both.

"Mrs. Fowler, I shall be asking you to do a full toxicology exam for us, right after this meeting. However, something is telling me that might not be necessary…" He kept on speaking. He surely had something in mind, but he needed more proof and more reasons to declare it officially.

"Do you have any way of contacting that girl?" He then asked the female Agent who had told him about the abuse.

On the one hand, he had Fowler and her alleged abuse reporting, with no evidence other than an illegally obtained audio after unethical surveillance of the BAU offices, and nobody to corroborate her statements.

On the other hand, he had various people, from different Units, who were now slowly ganging up on their gang leader. Truth was coming out and truth was where evidence and eye witnesses were.

"Yes, Sir. She must have dropped her badge when she fell on the floor." The woman walked to the man and handed him a piece of plastic.

"FBI Academy, Trainee Angela Hunter…" The man read out loud, suppressing a chuckle. Oh, this was going to be good and he knew it.

"I know her, she's really nice!" Reid whispered to Rossi.

"Yeah, apparently really smart, too." Rossi replied shortly.

Emily's face was blank. No particular expression sat on it. Everything she thought and felt about what was happening during this hearing, was burning up inside of her. But she wouldn't let anyone read her thoughts on her face. She was too good at this, after years as a Spy.


A phone call was placed to the Academy Mentor immediately and he received an odd request.

"Hunter?" Dan called out, watching Angie now stretching after the extra pull ups work out she had done.

"Yes, Sir!" She said innocently, walking over to where he was sitting.

"I don't even want to ask why, but you and I now have to go to a hearing." He rolled his eyes, taking a few steps towards the main building.

Angie did a little happy dance behind his shoulders. This was about to be one Hell of a masterplan.

She checked the time and it was now 10:16. She sighed with relief, remembering how she had changed the timing of the prank. Initially she had told the guys 10 am sharp, but then she had figured it would be better served and received it if happened in mid-process.

When Dan walked in the hall, with a very sweaty Angela by his side, the judge asked to see both Angela and Garcia in front of him.

"God, I love your shoes!" Angie whispered to Garcia, who was now standing by her side nervously.

"Oh, thank you, beautiful young girl." Garcia said politely.

Anyone who complimented Garcia's shoes or accessories was automatically on her Nice List.

The man cringed when he saw Angie's lip. He asked her to come closer and to show him better, but she refused. He could tell that this young Trainee was pooping in her pants to be there, in front of everyone.

Dan held Angie's hand and accompanied her two steps forward. She leaned over the main desk, where the important people were, and since she didn't touch her mouth, to show exactly how deep the cut was, Dan did it for her. With his pointy finger he carefully let her lips part, allowing the main bunch to see the cut that still had fresh blood on it, and also giving them a good look of the purple color of her lips on the outside, too.

Angie winced from the pain this was causing her. It was uncomfortable and she was clearly not happy about that little display. Or at least that was what her facial expressions communicated.

"Is this the girl from this morning?" The judge asked the woman who had made the accusation claim against Fowler.

"Yes, Sir. I'm positive it was her. She had the same workout bra underneath her cleaning apron, too. There is no doubt she's the same person." The woman replied, once again fully backed up by her male colleague's testimony.

The man then asked Garcia to get closer and to get rid of the scarf and to push her hair back away from her face. She did as instructed and her face was as soft and smooth as a newborn. No bruising, no swelling, no cuts.

"Is this the person you so eagerly insulted earlier, Mrs. Fowler?" He asked, still not over the fact that Fowler had the nerve to talk about people in such a mean and diminishing way.

She nodded.

"Miss Garcia, could you, please, make a lap around the hall?" The man asked and Garcia gasped.

"But, but…Sir, I don't like physical activity. I like Unicorns and tea and I also really love the color pink, too." She started mumbling, but stopped as soon as she saw the stern look the man was giving her. "Oh, right. You weren't asking. Okay. Uhm, let me just take my shoes off first…" She sat on an empty chair, taking those high heels off and feeling the liberty of stepping on the floor, barefoot.

"Do you have any idea how many germs-…" Reid started to whisper to JJ, who was standing next to him, but she shushed him quickly.

Garcia then sighed dramatically before she started running around the hall. Why would she be the one getting punished? Wasn't she being painted as the victim?

"Two things, Miss Garcia." The judge said in conclusion, after the lap was done. "One, you need to work on your physical strength, as an Agent." He made her chuckle. She knew she was slacking in the fitness field. She was now short of breath, her face was red and she looked like she wanted to cry. Maybe this would give her the inspiration to go work out, one day.

"And two, you most definitely don't look like someone who had been slapped and, I quote: 'hit hard with something'. Your legs look just fine to me, no limp, no pain. So I'm going to have to call you out on that false report, Mrs. Fowler, and I'm going to ask you, Miss Garcia, to go join your team now."

"Can someone explain all of this to me? Is this a joke?" He asked, looking around and feeling like he was having a weird dream.

His assistant stood there, next to him, as usual, silent and with his eyes fixated on Angie, who, in turn, looked like a very scared, very doll-like innocent young girl. Her face showed no other emotion, it was constant, blank, other than the fear her eyes were oozing. She'd gulp sometimes, probably from feeling uncomfortable in a room, full of Agents and Superiors. She looked like a kid who had been sent to the principal's office and now held hostage there, which was exactly what was happening to her.

"It's not a joke, Sir." Jessica Meyers stood up once again. "I will personally testify against that woman. I'm happy to tell you exactly how she bribed me into signing that petition for the investigation of the BAU. Also, the two Agents who witnessed her physical abuse on that poor kid, are two of my best and brightest Agents, people whom I have never had problems with and who, unlike others, work with the FBI's unofficial motto, tattooed in their hearts and dictating their every move…" She took a deep breath before continuing, but then got surprised at how everyone in the hall chanted along with that motto.

"Fidelity! Bravery! Integrity!" People said, along with Jessica Meyers.

Emily Prentiss, too, joined in, pronouncing those words proudly. And so did every single member of her team.

"Trainee Hunter, would you like to make an accusation claim against Section Chief Fowler?" The man asked Angela formally.

"Section Chief!?" She repeated with a loud gasp of surprise, as if she was just realizing the importance this woman had in the Bureau.

"Not for much longer, if we can do anything about it!" Jessica commented from the sidelines.

"I need your answer, Trainee Hunter." The man urged her.

"Uhm, I don't want any trouble. Like, I'm just a nobody here. I'm only a Trainee, it's like, my third week of Academy. I don't care about complaints if that might get me expelled from the training program, Sir! I've worked too hard, I can't…no, I can't ruin my chances at getting what I want in life!" Angie was an innocent little angel. Her face, full of fear, her lips quivering and also – very purple and swollen.

"I can assure you that your help in bringing justice back, would in no way be preventing you from having a normal experience in the Academy." The judge said calmly.

"Ah, well then yeah. I want to make a complaint." She felt empowered by his promise and it was obvious to everyone that the only thing stopping her from speaking up seconds ago had been her fear of this woman's superiority. The same thing could be said about the rest of Fowler's posse, all of whom had by now abandoned her side.

Emily did not feel so alone after all, even if nobody was sitting on those chairs around her. People were on her side of the room, though.

"Hey, what the Hell is going on!?" Fowler acted nervously. She inserted her USB drive in the computer that was placed there, in case someone had to make a presentation.

"Mrs. Fowler, please be quiet." The judge's assistant pleaded.

"No! And how come you didn't find anything? There was a gun. An illegal gun. You should test it and see what those freaks have used it for. It was just laying around in their office, that blonde one over there, Prentiss' side-kick bitch." Fowler pointed at JJ in the back of the hall, as she spat out more incriminating information.

"And how would you know there was a used gun in SSA Jareau's office? Did you break in there and see it or did you install surveillance cameras, too, other than the microphones you put all around their floor?" The judge raised an eyebrow.

"Or better yet – did you pant the damn gun yourself, huh?" Ben suggested, being the only one who was at liberty to interrupt the jude and to speak whenever he wanted. He was, after all, his right hand at the Bureau.

Emily shot Ben a glance of approval. Her Poker Face wouldn't show it, but he knew what she was thinking, the second he laid eyes on her.

It was like everyone was fighting for Prentiss and she really did not need to even speak. It was wonderful – a complete mess, chaos and disorder in their improvised Bureau-like courtroom.

Emily was absolutely chill and relaxed, looking like someone who did not give a damn about false allegations, like someone who had nothing to hide. They wanted to bring her down? Alright, they could speak up. But 'they' quickly turned into just 'her', Fowler, after everyone abandoned her and took Emily's side instead.

Emily did not have to speak. The night before, with her team, at Rossi's place, she had a very nice dinner, accompanied by a long conversation, during which her colleagues forced her to realize how awesome and worthy she was. That, plus the fact that Morgan had forcefully held Emily still while Garcia, Reid and JJ had threatened to tickle her into a coma, if she didn't admit that she knew how awesome and deserving she was. Loved. Powerful. A kick ass woman.

As far as Garcia was concerned, she had always called Emily 'Wonder Woman'. That was exactly how she saw her and her smooth, catlike movements. She was a Superhero and Garcia would not have it any other way.

And Superheroes do not always fight with their hands, like they do not always fight with their words.

No, the team knew that Emily Prentiss did not need to fight this war with words. She did not need to fight at all. She had already won, years ago, by joining the Bureau and by working her ass off to be the amazing Unit Chief that she was, the amazing human being to everyone, on her team or outside of it.

Emily Prentiss had won, by having made people like her, through the years. Trust her. She had won by telling a lot of those people that were now in the court room, that they were amazing at their job, in times when they had doubted themselves. She had been there for many of them, even on a personal level.

She had sent sweet treats to Jessica Meyers when she had been announced Unit Chief. Emily had been more than genuinely ecstatic to have another female on the top step of the Bureau ladder, alongside her, even if they handled different Units.

She had sat in a hospital all night long, holding another Unit Chief's hand when one of his own had been shot, during a case. She had brought him coffee, she had spoken to him, with that soft voice of hers, telling him that everything would be alright. That Agent who had been shot, was now in the court room, standing behind his Unit Chief proudly, looking healthy and Emily could not be happier. He probably didn't even know the long hours Emily had stayed in the hospital for. She didn't care. She hadn't done it for recognition.

She never did anything for recognition…and that was why and how she had already won the Hearing – by being someone who knew the true meaning of fidelity, bravery and integrity and who did not feel the need to constantly remind people of her power. She'd rather show them, discretely.

"I have proof!" Fowler said frantically, opening the only file on the USB drive – the one she had stored all of her fake evidence, the things she planted against the BAU.

To her surprise, instead of her PowerPoint presentation, there was one single photo.

"What is that!?" The judge's eyes grew wide.

Everyone was now looking at a photo of a bunch of very suggestive, adult-themed costumes, sprawled on a floor, with a whip on top of them.

Angie looked shocked. "Eww, that is gross!" She commented, looking away, as if this was the first time she ever saw the photo.

"No, no. Not this. Oh God, not that!" Fowler tried to take the photo down, but it wouldn't move. It could not be closed, nor deleted.

The clock hit 10:30 and about thirty trainees entered the hall, thinking they were interrupting some sort of a business meeting, and only intending on making everyone laugh for a few seconds before leaving.

"What is this!?" Fowler nearly had a heart attack, seeing the gang of people.

"Take from the rich, give to the poor!" The guys, all wearing identical Robyn Hood costumes, kept repeating as they walked around the room, acting silly.

One of the boys walked over to Angie and tossed a costume at her. It was just a cape, to put over her normal clothes, so it took her two seconds to join in on the Trainee prank and to become Robyn Hood herself.

"What is going on?" Fowler was now fully panicked. Those were the exact words she had used last night, this much she remembered.

"I make good on my promises!" Angie walked closer to the woman and took advantage of the silliness around them, to plunge the last knife in.

"I promised that you would definitely be seeing me again!" She added with a content smirk, now looking a little less innocent and a whole lot more devilish.

There was something in her eyes, but if it wasn't determination, then what was it? It sure looked like she was possessed by an evil spirit, the way she eyed Fowler up and down, with those sparks in her eyes – eyes that up until seconds ago had fooled everyone about being so sweet and innocent.

Fowler's blood froze. This girl was creeping her out and it wasn't only because she was still drunk and high from the night before. There was something chilling about Angela's stare. And the damned girl would not take her eyes off of Fowler, not even for a second.

Fowler had been with the Bureau for some years and she had worked homicide for a while. She'd be damned if it were the drugs and alcohol speaking, but all she could see in Angela's eyes was a cold blooded killer. That was exactly what her stare felt like. Screw her sweet smile and her perfect pony tail. Screw the Trainee uniform. This girl was creepy as Hell and Fowler was about to pass out, just after the few seconds while they had their staring match.

She was not scared of Angela Hunter. No. She was terrified. And that would still be putting it lightly. She felt goosebumps all over her body and the nausea that suddenly hit her was surely not because of the alcohol.

"This is none of your business!" The woman protested, trying to regain some power and dominance, without realizing she had none for a while now.

"On the contrary - my job is to make people's lives miserable!" Angie once again threw Fowler's own words from last night, back in her face, letting her know just how busted she really was. Her eyes kept piercing Fowler with that icy cold stare. And that was when it hit her – those were the eyes she had seen behind the mask, the eyes of the girl who drugged her and her little bumper sticker loving companion, at her own party.

"It was you!? This is all your fault!" Fowler lost it one more time. She jumped up from her seat and tried to get a hold of Angie, no doubt intending to physically hurt her once again.

Angie pulled back, faking a scared expression on her face one more time. She could switch between emotions with ease.

"If that's what the FBI stands for…pfff, some fidelity…some integrity though!" Angie commented, her eyes stuck on the Section Chief, but her voice loud enough to get heard by the judge and everyone else on the table, next to him.

"Silence!" The judge called out, but then he had to shout it, in order to achieve it. "SILENCE!"

The Trainees calmed down a bit and stopped running around, pretending to be real life Robyn Hood action heroes, in their matching costumes and that silly line they had been repeating over and over again. They realized that this must have been a more serious meeting than what they thought they were crashing.

"Guys, this is no doubt a funny prank and yes, you can have your victory on that one. The laugh was much appreciated. But it has to stop now, okay?" The man said calmly, remembering how rude his own prank had been when he had been a Trainee, all these years ago. This was silly and harmless now, compared to what he had signed up for, so he couldn't bring himself to be rude about it.

"Please, leave now." He pointed at the door and the Trainees left.

"Trainee Hunter, you can leave now as well, if you wish." He said, turning his attention to Angie.

"No, Sir. I would actually like to stay, if that is okay with you. I am a huge advocate for justice being served, Sir. This is one of the reasons why I joined the Academy. So, may I, please, stay?" She asked politely and he could not deny her. Nobody could deny her.

"I would love to be shown what the FBI motto stands for, Sir, because so far I feel like what I have seen from this vicious woman here, does not match the Bureau standards and is not code of conduct, at least not the one I kept reading about in those pamphlets that made me chose to dedicate my life and my every waking moment to fighting for a chance at a career with the Bureau, Sir, with you…all of you, beautiful people." Angie's sweet tone of voice and her bright green eyes filled the room, as her hand gestured to everyone that was now standing on Emily's side of the hall. She was a really good compliment giver, she always knew how to make someone feel good, how to put people at ease. And right at that moment, a lot of people felt flattered by her words.

"Damn it, man, she's good!" Ben leaned over and whispered to Dan, who had now joined the 'important ones' at the main desk.

"I know how to pick them." Dan smirked, finally hearing approval from his Superior, after all the crap he had taken from him at the beginning, for having chosen Angie as the Wild Card.

"Sure, Trainee Hunter…stay…why not…" The judge rolled his eyes, referring to her previous request. This circus was not over yet. "Take any empty seat you like and be quiet, so we can wrap this up before noon." He instructed her.

Angie then found herself in the middle. She was right in front of him, and between Fowler's desk and the side where Emily was sitting in the middle of a bunch of empty chairs. Her whole team had stayed silent, immobile, with their backs against the wall, the whole entire time, away from Emily.

Angie smiled politely and took the seat, on the right side of Emily's.

Emily smiled back instantly. Somehow Angela had managed to break Emily's Poker Face, even just for a second. And somehow, Emily felt a little less lonely, sitting in her hot seat, now that she could feel the warmth of another human body, sitting right next to her. Angie's bare and still sweaty after PFT hand brushed against Emily's smart suit and sent shivers down her spine.

"Those seats are for the accused…" The judge commented when he saw where Angie sat.

"Although, this brings me to the question that has been on my mind since we started – how come SSA Prentiss is sitting on her own through all of this? The whole BAU is under investigation. And yet, you couldn't seem more detached from your Unit Chief. Now, is there any truth to Fowler's claims against Emily Prentiss, as a Unit leader?" He raised his eyebrow suspiciously.

The BAU team then, as if on cue, started walking slowly, towards the front of the room. The seven of them, plus Morgan, looked like a slow motion scene from a Bad Boys movie – all dressed in black, well despite from Garcia, all strutting down slowly and calmly, with their heads held high and their chins up, a cool neutral look on their faces and a gun holstered to their side.

Once they were near Emily, still standing up, Rossi spoke.

"All due respect, Sir, but, not being a profiler yourself, I am afraid you are reading this all wrong." He started off calm and educated.

"We do not stand by her side." He pointed at a very quiet Emily Prentiss, a very calm woman, sure of herself. "We stand right behind her, always, backing her up 150%, with every decision she makes, whether it is on the field, in the office or in her personal life! We stand right behind her, so that we could be ready to catch her, if she even as much as gets misbalanced, Sir. Because, and I'm speaking on behalf of everyone here, this is what a Unit Chief deserves. And this is what SSA Emily Prentiss has worked so hard for, respecting that one motto – fidelity, bravery, integrity. She has not only built a team, but something so much bigger. We stand beside one another - through good, through bad - because we're family. And Sir, us standing in the back of that room was merely for our own egoistic purposes. Profilers like to take a step back, so they could look at the bigger picture. We do not focus on the small details first, before we see the bigger picture clearly. And also, Sir, we saw a picture, very different than the one we were being asked to come here and discuss today."

Everyone nodded, confirming his words, before they took turns in telling the judge exactly what they thought of Emily Prentiss, no holding their tongue back, just like Garcia had promised the day before. This was exactly what she had meant – she poured her colorful heart to the court, letting a few tears roll down her cheeks while she spoke about the wonderful person that her boss was. She shared that the job was too much for her to handle, on a daily basis – all those gruesome photos and discoveries, but even though her mind needed to change the job, to do something more normal, her heart could never allow her to turn her back on the team, on all of them, but mostly on her, on Emily Prentiss – the glue to the team. Garcia confided that she had been receiving job offers from top players, but she had turned them all down, because no job would ever give her the satisfaction and the family that this job gave her. She was, after all, a Superhero as well – fighting crime and making the world a better, safer place.

After her confession, the rest of the team was emboldened and on the verge of an emotional downpour as well.

Each one of them gave a very honest speech about some of their experiences with the Bureau and how it had been Emily Prentiss, to help them out, to make it all better, to make them stay and fight, to keep making a difference in the world.

All of them spoke about the job, but also about their family outside of the job, and the one overlapping thing was a constant – Emily Prentiss, the Unit Chief and the sisterly figure to everyone.

Emily bit her bottom lip so hard, trying to prevent herself from bawling her eyes out, hearing all those things. She already knew them, everyone had come to her privately, they had told her those things before, but they were all ganging up against her Poker Face now and making it hard for her to even breathe, or to fight that urge to cry. It was so bittersweet.

After pouring their hearts out, each member of the team - and that included Derek Morgan, active Agent or not; finally sat down, besides Emily now.

JJ sat on Emily's left side, now that the right side chair was occupied by the girl that JJ barely even remembered from the Academy's first night out at Devil Child Bar. JJ's hand then rested on Emily's knee, as a sign of trust, respect and well, love for her boss.

Soon, everyone followed her lead. Reid put his hand on JJ's knee, Garcia put her hand on Morgan's knee, since he had insisted on being part of it all, even if he wasn't an Agent anymore. Rossi put his hand on Angela's knee - even if he only knew her briefly that kid had shown bravery and integrity, so she deserved his little act of support.

Emily looked left and right and realized she was the only one not extending her support and gratitude. Her left hand then slipped to JJ's knee and her right hand, hesitantly, slipped to Angela's knee, as weird as that made her feel. It was all about team work and, at that moment, this girl was more than welcome to be on their side.

Angie's little heart was about to burst with joy. This - two hands, is all she wanted in return for what she had done.

"Alright, now, I would like to thank Section Chief Fowler for wasting time and valuable money and government resources, right at the moment when the Bureau is undergoing budget cuts. Thank you from deep down in my heart, for showing me your true colors. I take that as a lesson learned and, next time I'd have to assign a Section Chief, I promise all of you here at the Bureau, that I would take my damn sweet time in selecting one that would be suitable for the job, instead of assigning the only one available, so I can meet the Bureau's expectations quickly." The man was irritated, but he tried really hard to not be aggressive. He liked passive aggressive comments, instead. He was really good at being ironic, everyone knew that.

"Also, this was the very last time you would ever hear that title before your name." He stated calmly, extending his hand. "Your badge and gun, please?"

People gasped. He certainly had the authority to do what he was doing, but everyone kind of thought the process would be a bit longer than that.

"You are suspended from duty and can consider yourself persona non grata anywhere near Federal buildings, in all states. Effective immediately!" He said and Angela just wanted to stand up and make another one of her happy dances in the middle of the room.

"I officially declare the beginning of an investigation against Mrs. Fowler. If anyone has any incriminating information, you know where my office is." He stated.

Someone nudged the guy next to them and the shift made people look at them.

"Uhm, Sir. I may have something to add." A slim guy stood up and spoke in shaky voice. "I'm a tech analyst here and uh, this woman, she uh, she has asked me a few times to go to a party with her and uh, she showed me a photo once with her uh, well, wearing one of those costumes in the photo from earlier. Uh, and she's also, uh, with her hands, you know…" He trailed off, but then the person who nudged him urged him to speak up. "She was quite…straightforward. A few times. I uh, just didn't say anything, because she was the Section Chief, you know…"

"Oh, sexual abuse claims now too? This is brightening my day and opening up my appetite." The man smirked. This was making it so easy to get rid of a woman he despised anyway.

"Also, Sir, she mentioned a property and I was curious, so I checked her bank transactions. And I know this is not okay, I mean, I am okay with a punishment for that. But uh, she recently acquired a property just out of town, with uh…" The same guy kept on talking. He was so stressed out that he barely managed to speak clearly.

"It happened right when the budget cut was imposed. And a big part of the BAU budget, along with one other Unit, went straight to her personal bank account, allowing for the acquiring of that property. The proof is all online." He added and then shut up before he would pass out from his anxiety.

"Ok, embezzlement and fraud…check." The judge nearly laughed, at this point he was not even surprised anymore. "Please, direct everything else to me in written form and let me dismiss this sad circus, so we can all go back to our jobs. And having said that – BAU Unit, consider yourselves cleared from all charges. This would not be going on your file. And, please, accept my apologies for all the inconvenience caused. You may resume your ordinary work schedule and I will personally make sure your caseload gets back to normal."

Emily finally let an emotion show – she smiled.

"Unfortunately, though, the budget cuts are still very much a thing. And while I will make sure what we have cut from the selected Units goes into the Bureau's account, not someone's personal one, I can sadly not promise you when and if your budget would ever go back to what it was." The man spoke, his concluding words.

"Now, finally, SSA Prentiss, do you have anything to say?" He desperately wanted to get this done with, but it wouldn't be fair if the originally accused one did not get the chance to speak at trial.

So far, through it all, Emily Prentiss had not uttered a word. She had not let a single emotion show on her face. She was just sitting there, staring blankly at the scene that was unfolding in front of her eyes. It was all part of the plan.

"No, Sir." Emily smiled. "Actually, yes. Drinks on me tonight at Devil Child bar!" She smirked, looking around the hall. "And I would like to request your permission for this girl and her Academy trainee friends to come join us, if they want to. Their prank was quite funny this year." She added.

He nodded in agreement.

Fowler was by then a mess. She started yelling some incomprehensible insults to Emily and her team and to just about anyone she laid her eyes on. She continued calling Angela very colorful names and she had to be accompanied out of the hall, by two Agents, holding her on both sides, dragging her out of there like a mad woman, kicking and screaming.

"Now, please, everyone - get out of here!" He added, finally dismissing this Hell of a circus and also finally allowing himself to chuckle, because this was too much of a scene for him to handle, even in his position as Director of the FBI.