I sighed and flipped though the file in my hands, wondering how the hell we were going to solve this case. We were an agent down, still not being able to find a replacement for Emily. She had been gone for nearly five months and I just couldn't find anyone qualified enough to fill her shoes. Maybe I was being overly fastidious, already deciding that no one was good enough to take her place on my team. There had been many hopefuls, the academy sending me numerous applicants and even Strauss herself recommending a few to apply for the job. None of them impressed me. I could have used the help, however, especially on cases like this one. We all knew it was going to be hard, we would have to get lucky to catch this killer and not having a full team just added to the stress of the case.
I was headed back to my office when I heard Dave come up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I think I've got something."
"For the case?" I asked over my shoulder as we walked up the stairs. "What have you got?"
"Now, I haven't gotten Strauss' approval but I may have someone to come in right away." He followed me into my office and watched me shuffle around the mess on my desk.
"And what's their story?"
"An old student of mine, was in one of the classes that I lectured. Reputation is...rocky at best." He raised that eyebrow and put his hands on his hips. "Might cause you to do more paperwork than you'll want to do."
"I can deal with paper work," I gestured to the piles and piles on my desk, "Are they any good?"
"The best I've seen in a long time."
"Good. Are they here and ready?"
"Yeah, they work on another floor but –"
"Can they be ready in the next half hour?"
"I'll have to check in with them but. I'm sure we can make it work."
"Okay," I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, wondering what the hell I had to lose. "Give Strauss a heads up and have them meet us in the round room as soon as possible. I don't have to remind you of the rush that we're in."
"You got it." Dave turned with raised brows towards the door then stopped, "I do have to warn you, Evan is the most unconventional agent that you'll ever meet but will get the job done, every time."
"That doesn't matter right now. We've got a rampant serial killer who shows no sign of slowing down. Unconventional might be just what we need to catch this guy." I grabbed the other files that had been sent in with this case and my shoulders dropped, knowing how much work was ahead of us.
"Okay," he mumbled and headed back out.
"Wait, Dave!" I called to him before he turned the corner for this own office, "Are you talking about Evan James? I know I've heard that name..." I tried to recall where and when I had heard that name before and if I knew anything about him.
"I'd honestly be more surprised if you hadn't."
"Well, tell him to hurry and get here so we can go over this case and get going. Have Garcia get him an iPad with the case on it."
He laughed out as he left the room. "Whatever you say, Boss."
I only wondered what he was laughing about for a moment before I shook it off and headed to the round room. I passed by the bull pen and called for everyone to meet at the table as soon as they could, everyone nodding and finishing up what they were working on.
Garcia was already in the room, setting everyone's iPads and files around the table.
"Garcia, did you talk to Dave?" I asked when I got into the room and sat at my usual spot.
"Yes, Sir," she nodded and handed me my things, "I've got an extra iPad and file for Agent James, I just need..." she pulled the extra chair from the corner of the room and pulled it up next to me. "There."
"Thanks. He should be here with Dave soon. Apparently, he's just on a different floor," I started to look though the file and unlock the iPad,
"Actually, Hotch, um, there's something –"
"Rossi said there's another agent coming in?" Reid came in the room, interrupting Garcia.
"Are you telling me that you've actually approved of someone?" Morgan followed close behind with a raised brow and smile.
"I didn't officially approve of anything," I reminded him as I watched JJ take her seat next to them. "We need all the help we can get right now."
"Who are they?" Reid opened his paper file and started skimming.
"I'm not quite sure," I admitted to the room, "one of Dave's previous students."
"You mean like the last 'previous student' that took one look at the pictures of the victim and passed out?" Morgan laughed and nudged Reid's arm in a chuckle.
"I sure hope not." I quickly checked my watch and noted the time, every second seeming like it was being wasted waiting on this 'amazing' profiler that was going to swoop in and save us. "Let's just get started, they can catch up when they get here."
"Sir," Garcia gestured over my shoulder and we all turned towards the door, Dave standing there with a young woman on his arm.
"Don't say anything," she said, immediately. "I want to guess." She looked around the room at all of our puzzled faces. "Okay, Pennsylvania Petite is JJ. Gorgeous blondie with the amazing shoes is Garcia. Dark and handsome is Morgan. Pretty boy is Reid...so you must be Hard-Ass Hotch."
"I didn't tell her that!" Dave cut in, defending himself with a smile.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" JJ asked from her chair, just as confused as the rest of the room.
"Dave, you've got shitty manners," the woman playfully slapped Dave's arm.
"Apologies," he rolled his eyes, "Everyone, this is Evan James. She's been called in to help with this case."
"You're Evan?" I questioned, completely baffled. First thing, I was expecting a young man somewhat resembling Reid to walk in the room, based off of the things that I had heard around the name 'Evan James'. I had heard rumors and stories and, even in itself, the name 'Evan James' doesn't sound like it would belong to a young woman in ripped skinny jeans and a black flannel.
"You thought I was a man, didn't you?" she grinned, my profiling eyes noticing a dimple in one cheek.
"Evan is actually a very androgynous name but it is more common with males, studies show. Only about twelve percent of people with the name are female."
She stared at Reid, blankly. "That was impressive...and slightly irritating for some reason."
"Welcome to the world of Dr. Reid," Dave grinned and took his seat, all of us smiling at Reid's bewilderment.
She smiled and walked around to the other side of me, my nose catching faint smell of her expensive perfume, coconut shampoo and cinnamon...gum?...as she plopped into the chair next to me. She put her foot on her knee and leaned back in her seat, the pen on the table immediately going into her mouth to be chewed on. I eyed her black boots and wondered how she got away with dressing the way she did. Completely unprofessional.
"So, what have we got?" she asked and pulled up the file on the iPad.
"Uh," Garcia looked at me the way the rest of the table was looking at me, confused and wondering how the hell this woman was going to help us. "This is the fourth victim in four days," she clicked the remote in her hand and the screen behind her lit up with crime scene photos. "David Green was found naked in the alleyway, obvious signs of sexual mutilation."
"Gnarly," I heard her mumble under her breath as she looked at the screen and flipped though the pictures on the iPad. My head snapped to Dave, astounded that he had the audacity to bring this woman into my team for any amount of time. What was he thinking? I was about to open my mouth and let my astonishment be heard but Dave held up his hand, telling me to calm down and listen before I exploded and told her to get the hell out.
"Um, the tox-screen shows your usual date-rape drugs. Nothing out of the ordinary." JJ chimed in to break the tension.
"Looks like he was sodomized with something unnatural," Reid followed suit and noted the gruesome detail in the next photo that Garcia pulled up on the screen. "Were there other signs of torture?"
"Other than this?" Garcia looked away from the screen and pulled up the next picture.
"Shit!" Evan shouted, zooming in on the iPad. "Damn, this fucker doesn't play around."
"Excuse me?" I couldn't bite my tongue any longer. "Is that language necessary? This UnSub is clearly–"
"Hey, I'm just saying, you have to be really pissed off or embarrassed or both to literally cut a man's dick off. That totally plays into some kind of psychosis. This UnSub is either harboring some serious hate or has some fucked up self-image issues that's fueling them to do this shit." Evan looked me straight in the eyes and I saw it. That pure, unfiltered ambition. I let my irritation slide and looked to Dave, who was mumbling proudly to himself. Her quick analyzation of a fresh case impressed the room and even Reid was looking down at his paper file in agreement.
"Okay." I rolled my eyes, trying to give her a chance. "Anyone have anything else to add to that?" Everyone was still in shock and slightly apprehensive. They all looked to me, "Okay, well. If that's all we have... wheels up in thirty."
"Ah! Hot damn!" Evan jumped up from her chair, "I've waited so long to hear that famous line. Thank you so much, Aaron Hotchner for making my day! I've totally got a bag ready to go, let me go get it!"
I watched her practically skip out of the room and head down the hall for the stairs.
"What the hell was that?" I sternly whispered to Dave as soon as she was out of earshot. I scowled at her seemingly delighted demeanor as she tried to talk Garcia into sliding down the handrail.
"Come on, Dave! Let's go see the alligators!" Evan called back to us as she slid and fell down the last few steps.
"That, Aaron Hotchner, is the most beautiful pain in the ass that you'll ever meet in your life." He patted my shoulder as we stood to head out.
"She may be crazy but beautiful is right," Morgan grinned and followed Dave out the door, Reid trying to keep up.
"She's definitely interesting," JJ raised a brow as she checked her phone for any news on her sick kid at home.
"Trust me Aaron," I heard Dave call out as he disappeared into his office to grab his bag.
I shook my head and tried to keep an open mind, still feeling my blood boil from a few minutes' prior. I tried to ignore her language and crude way of speaking, her casual and unprofessional way of dressing... her messy dark curls and dimply smile. I grabbed my things from the table and nearly tripped on my untied shoe lace. I sighed and out of the corner of my eye, saw something sitting in the, now, empty chair next to me. I read the label on the side of the lip balm tube and grinned.
"Hotch?" I jumped, at the sudden call of my name from the door. "Can I call you Hotch? Aaron?"
"Agent Hotchner, is fine for now." I turned to her big, brown eyes, the grin still on my face.
"Cool. Have you seen a – oh, thank God," Evan bounced over to me and snatched the tube out of my hand, her fingers barely touching my skin but the softness of her hand sent a shiver down my spine. "I thought I lost another one." She quickly winked at me with a grin, heading back out and down the stairs.
"You coming?" Dave came out of his office and noticed that I was still standing at the table, my mouth hanging open and the feeling of her fingers still lingering on my hand.
"Yeah," I called back, shaking my focus back to my untied shoe. "Shit."