SSA Aaron Hotchner is stepping down from his Unit Chief position for a 6-month period due to an assignment in overseas. To his temporary replacement comes SSA Alexandra Barnes, Chief of the Child Abductions Unit. Both Hotchner and Barnes have their...
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It's been a little over a month that I've been running the BAU and things aren't easy. Aaron has been doing more things than he's supposed to in order to keep the team focused on their job and not the paperwork after that, so he does some of it for them.
So I always have a ton of work to do knowing that more is waiting for me the following day, Morgan is still mad and I also have Strauss over my head everytime we're back to Quantico.
The only time of peace I get is when he calls. Obviously, we can't talk every day, but we do 2-3 times a week for a few minutes.
I miss him. I didn't know I would ever miss someone this much. I haven't realized how much I've fallen for him within 2 weeks. How is that even possible? I guess I'll have 5 more months to figure it out. But judging by this past month, the following 5 won't go by quickly.
Like today. It is one of the worst days!
"What the hell did you just do?" I yell as Morgan enters the conference room
"I told JJ to call for a press conference and I spoke" he answers completely unapologetic
"Exactly. When did WE decide that? And when did WE agreed on what it should be said?" I ask
"We gave the profile and I made the decision" he answers
"A decision to go public! A decision that didn't go through me and that I didn't approve of!" I remind him
"I know my job" he argues
"Yes, you do. But your job is also to run things through me. I make the final calls!"
"Oh come on, I know what I'm doing, I've been doing this job for far more years than you"
"All victims are under 14 years old, and with all due respect, when I started working on Child Abductions, you were still a cop at Chicago. Are you really that petty that you'll go out of your way to get me?" I ask
"I made a call and JJ agreed" he answers
"Of course she did. You two have been glued to each other since Hotch left. I've been wondering, was it you or her that told Strauss about us?"
"I reported what I thought was a protocol violation" he admits
"Right. Well, if one more of the missing children comes up dead tonight because the unsub saw the press conference and got scared, get ready for a far more important protocol violation. I'm not going to take the fall for this if it goes south" I warn him and I walk away.
Fortunately for him, there was no reaction to the press conference; no dead kid but also no new leads. So the following day, we went with the plan we had all agreed on before Morgan and JJ did their thing.
And when we solved the case, we had to have a talk. I called in for a meeting at the end of that day in Quantico.
"This better be quick" I hear Morgan as I enter the room, but he hasn't seen me yet
