The Musical Mind (Aro, Caius, Marcus x OC Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: Vacation!? What is This Nonsense?

Holding up my finger in an educating manner, I opened my mouth to retort, only to close it shut when I realized that he had actually made a valid point. Reaching back into the depths of my memory, I don't think I could ever recall taking an official vacation like he described since joining the FBI in general.

Seeming to sense my conclusion too, the corners of the man's lips stretched into a small smirk though he remained quite serious. "You see my point? Now it just so happens that I have a ticket here for an all paid expense, month-long vacation to Italy, and I want you to take it," he said, sliding the envelope containing said ticket and other such items—across the desk towards me.

My jaw dropped. "A month in Italy!"

"Yes, it's a pretty good deal, isn't it?" he agreed amicably, despite the slightly shrill tone I used. "You get to go to Rome, Volterra, Florence, et cetera. You should definitely take this."

Fingers shaking (in either excitement or shock, I don't know), I hesitantly picked up the envelope and leafed through the information. "What's the catch?" I asked suspiciously.

"No catch, but you get a real vacation and we at the FBI both get to pay you back for your generosity over the years for the Christmas cookies and presents as well as get a break from you."

I gave him a deadpanned expression. "That wasn't the point of me giving you gifts just so you could pay me back. And anyways, what about work? And my cats? And my editor?"

"Swan, you and I both know that you have saved up enough vacation and sick days to cover an entire year. And Jones, Ruiz, Ivanov, Lawton and Hawkins have already agreed to watch your pets until you get back with an added bonus to FaceTime them. And as for Mr. Barnes, he has readily agreed to this idea already."

Sighing as I rubbed my forehead a little, I chuckled dryly. "You all were in on this and had this planned for the start, didn't you?"

"Plus a few others," the director agreed mysteriously with a small smile. "All that's left for you to do is agree."

It was silent for a moment as I considered this, though it wasn't much of a struggle. Eventually, I exhaled and said, "Fine, you win. When do I leave?"

Triumph played across the man's features as he said, "Half a week from now. Now get out of here Swan. I've got other stuff to do."

"Yes, sir." I gave a mock salute before doing an about-face and exiting the office.

Walking out of the director's office, I took in the usual sight of several desks lined up in rows, some filled with more paperwork than others and several agents rushing about. It was something I had become familiar with for the past couple years.

Taking a deep breath, I then hollered to the room at large, "Alright, who else was in on this?" I made sure to wave the envelope in the air for emphasis though I knew it would not be needed.

Every hand in the room shot up. Several of them were looking at me expectantly, obviously curious to see if I had accepted.

I tried to fix them all with a glare but ended up just huffing a little and smiling as I said, "Thank you everyone."

Cheers went up and several people applauded. If it wasn't the expressions on the faces of the people I helped that made my hard work worthwhile, it was the people I worked alongside that made everything so much sweeter. Damn I love my job.

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Opening the door to my darkened home, I was assaulted immediately by the scents I associated with home as I reached out and flipped on the light switch with practiced ease.