Workaholic { A Criminal Minds Story }

chapter one

To say Gabrielle was stressed out would be an understatement. She had been anxious ever since she had gotten the news that she was accepted into the BAU service. Obviously, she felt proud about it and looked forward to working there, yet the fact that she would have to socialize and to learn how to work with a new bunch of people was not something she was eager to experience. Gaby hated feeling that way, but it was not something she could control… Luckily, no one should be able to read her files, and know about – some details she’d rather keep to herself.
Pulling her long blond hair up into a ponytail as usual, she swiftly brushed her trench coat to take some hair off it, looking up into the broken mirror hung onto the front door. Her emerald green eyes scanning her reflection to make sure she would look presentable. She was wearing what she usually wore for work, high waist pants and a chemise with a jumper on top. She slowly turned the light off, quietly not to wake up anyone, before taking in a deep shuddering breath. Grabbing her bag and car keys, she then headed outside, walking down the stairs of her apartment – because as usual the elevator was not functional. Those three floors done, she headed to her old 2000 Chevrolet Impala, sitting in, and checking if the gun was still in her car’s glove compartment. Then, she started the car, turning on the radio to listen to the news, never listening to music. She was a workaholic, only living for her job, nothing else really mattered, and she found content into succeeding her cases.
Around half an hour later, she parked at her usual spot near the facility, stopping by her car after she got out. She blocked any emotions from her mind, not wanting to appear stressed out – she needed to prove herself, and therefore to look confident. Before going inside, she took out her phone, a small smile making its way to her face as she saw Norman had sent her a good luck text. She quickly typed a thank you back, before putting her phone back into her bag, this time walking inside the facility, toward the elevator.
 
The day before she had checked the files already, assuming they were after an unsub already- which was not the case. It was not really reassuring her, because it meant she may have to do more chatting, and less acting. Just as she was getting side-tracked in her thoughts again, the elevator opened, and she walked out into the corridor. Hearing laughter, she did not pay much attention to it until she realized they were coming from the room she was supposed to go in – what could they possibly be laughing about? Their job was not exactly something you could joke about. She slowly went in, her green eyes scanning the room, and immediately she noticed smoke – a birthday party? Spotting a young man, probably a year or two younger than she was, with a birthday hat on, she understood she had assumed right. She would have never thought she would witness such a scene there – in her mind, the BAU section was filled with a bunch of serious agents.
 
“Gabrielle Aspen?” A voice came from the side, and she knew it came from Gideon, the unit chef.
Giving a nod as she went over to him, Gabrielle extended her hand, smiling faintly as he smiled at her. “Welcome in the team.”
“Thank you sir.” She replied firmly, knowing she needed to prove herself as worthy- there was not that many young female agents within this section – she knew about Elle, who was also a new recruit of the section, and the only other women she knew were the communication liaison and the technical analyst. Just as he was about to add more, a tall dark haired man called out.
“I hate to cut this out, but we got an unsub.”
And within five minutes, they were all sitting into a meeting room, studying documents. She was slightly glad they did not had the time for more introducing, as talking was definitely not her thing, blocking everything from her mind, she started scanning the information, making mental notes of those, writing down some possible leads into her notebook. She only looked up as she felt a hand onto her shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Morgan.” He said with a somewhat charming grin, but she could feel he most likely offered that grin to whoever he met, and therefore she chose not to acknowledge the charming side too much. “Aspen.” She replied simply, before getting up with them, following toward the plane. She went last into it on purpose, not wanting to sit into anyone’s seat in case they had their habits. Once inside, and once the plane took off, she mostly listened to what everyone was saying, taking a few, rapid notes into her notebook – only looking up to meet everyone’s faces as she was briefly introduced to the others, and as the others were as well. They had no time to do more than stating names, as the current case had to be the main focus.
When they arrived into the local police station, she went straight to the sort of panels onto which evidences were hung, as well as pictures of the victims, of the crime scene, printing of the quotes. Hearing whom she remembered as being named Reid mumble next to her, she looked over, her emerald orbs meeting his hazel one for a brief second until both looked back at the panels, both out of discomfort. Then, she overheard Gideon calling her, and she went over.
“You’re coming with us to the victim’s house.” He stated over while motioning for Morgan to come along.
 
The whole ride there, she barely listened to the policeman speaking, as he was just repeating facts she had heard previously, and instead, she was rereading her notes, sorting them out to have a slightly more precise profile.
“So you write everything?” Morgan asked, brown eyes looking directly at her, then at her notes. “Worried you’d forget something?” He teased faintly, surely in an attempt to break the ice and to get Gabrielle to speak more – or so she assumed.
“I just like to make sure I have everything safe there.” she murmured, eyes not leaving her paper. “If I get a cerebral commotion, or amnesia, then I am still able to follow my lead.”
“Sounds like this kind of thing happened before.” He stated, or else she would have never started doing it.
Gabrielle could feel he was trying to profile her- which made her glance up faintly. “I’m just being cautious.” she said, before looking outside, since they were stopping.
The second they stepped out of the car, the phone rang – another attack from the “Tommy Killer” had been reported.
“We need those clues here to stop him as well, we will still investigate here.” Gideon spoke to the police officer, as both then exchanged a few more words.
“… He came in from the back right?” she glanced at Morgan. She knew he did, but she knew cohesion had to be made within the team, and as long as their conversation was job-oriented, she would manage it.
“He did. I’ll go from there.” He replied, while making his way there, as Gabrielle followed Gideon inside of the house. The crime scene was surprisingly clean- almost too clean.
“He cleaned this whole room.” She murmured, scanning around, the mirror covered by the quote instantly catching her attention. The letters were all the same, written into a neat handwriting, not a trembling one, leading her to assume the man was a skilled manual worker, she then knelt over to watch the broken china, eyes squinting faintly. It had been thrown out of hatred, after the death of the victim – if he had done it to scare her, he could have been spotted, and from how meticulous he was, it was clear he did not want to risk failing. As she stood back up, she looked over at Gideon, as if to check he was ready to hear what she had gathered from this. “He is a manual worker, skilled, from the way he wrote onto that mirror. The fact he used this mirror shows an obsession with his own person –  reinforced by the fact that he wants the victim to see him, hence the glue to keep their eyes open. To me, this suggests his will to be recognized – to have people know who he is. He probably belongs to the middle class, hence why he broke this china, most likely out of hatred-”
“ and that would explain the reference within the poem.” Gideon added with a nod.
“He must also be athletic, to manage to go through the window, believe me I tried.” Morgan spoke as he walked into the room. “He broke everything once the victim was dead, not before, or else she would have heard him downstairs.”
Gabrielle nodded, before thinking, reading her notes briefly. “The victims all represent a dominant female who he feels is controlling, and by raping and killing, he is acquiring a sense of control- they were all mothers, and had a similar appearance.”
“Alright, let’s meet the others and see what they found on their side.”
 
The unsub’s profile was soon established, and upon noticing how compulsive and how much he wanted attention, the FBI decided to ruin his reputation, knowing that he would most likely phone the police. And it did work – but not exactly as planned. Despite him calling, they were unable to track down the call – for it led them to 25 different calling sites. The only thing they knew was that he would act the very next day.
 
As she went outside that evening, to take the air a little, she checked around that no one was there, before taking her phone out. She dialed the number she knew by heart, and pressed call. A smile went up to her lips as she heard the person pick up.
“How’s my little agent in training?” She hummed, before laughing faintly as she heard a happy gasp.
“I was worried! You weren’t home when I came back from school. Didn’t you say you only had to go to meet your new team?”
“That’s what was planned yea- but something happened and now I’m in San Diego.” She hummed softly, hearing the boy over gasp again.
“San Diego? Really? What are you after? Is it a seri-” The enthusiastic boy was cut off by Gabrielle, who shushed him.
“You know I can’t say it sweetie. Besides it’s late, you got school tomorrow, go to sleep now alright?” She smiled to herself.
“Pffft… Okay… Stay safe, love you!” He beamed.
“I love you too kiddo, I’ll be back before you know it.” She promised him, before hanging up, sighing faintly to herself. She then took a deep breath, running a hand through her hair, before walking back inside.
 
At seven, they all split into teams – Morgan and Reid, Gideon and Elle, and Hotchner along with Aspen – and in all honesty she was glad. She knew he was not much of a talker as well. The more they waited, the more she started to realize there was something so obvious right in front of them – she knew there was a link with the fact Garcia had been unable to track his call, but she couldn’t wrap her finger around what it was. It only clicked all together as Gideon told them who the suspect  was – of course. It made sense now, a phone technician. Within a few minutes, they were parked in front of the building Gideon had told them about. As she got out, following Hotcher, Elle joined them, and the three of them stepped into the building.
Immediately, what struck her right away were the cries coming from a little toddler, sobbing for his mother while being in his high chair. She pulled her gun back, glancing at Hotch who nodded at her. She quickly picked him up, cradling his little head while shushing him soothingly, taking him outside of the house in case something happened. “Shhh, your mommy’s fine sweetheart.” she cooed, bouncing him faintly while looking at the house, praying his mother would be safe. Glancing around, she sighed – hoping the police would soon show up so she could let the baby go with them to go inside. But lucky for her, his mother soon ran out, in a clear panic state, reaching for her baby, thanking Gabrielle over and over, crying.
 
The “Teddy killer” was arrested and thrown to jail for a long time, hopefully.
They were on the way home, into the plane, when what Gabrielle feared happened.
“So you’re the new agent ?” Jennifer asked her, smiling.
“Mmh.” she nodded faintly – before remembering Norman’s words, she had to speak more. “Yes – I’ve been an agent for a few years, and finally got in.” she smiled faintly back.
“You were with agent Jayden right ?” Hotchner asked her, looking over.
“Yes, he formed me and then we became coworkers, til he retired.” she explained, her hand going to fidget with her necklace – before she stopped herself from doing it, tugging at her ponytail to make it more proper. Fidgetting meant anxiety in most cases, and the last thing she wanted was them to notice it. She had to make her proves.
“Well welcome among us- you can call me JJ.” the blonde woman smiled widely, before looking as Reid sat onto the seat next to hers, his hazel eyes once again briefly meeting Gabrielle’s, before he spoke to JJ.

The young woman looked by the window, focusing onto her own thoughts. It would take her time to open up, and to trust people – but she could do it. She would do it.

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Words : 2330
based of : Plain sight (1x04)