[3.12]
"we will be having a talk about ethics once this case is finished"
Florence's first day at the BAU had been relatively nice — a lot nicer than jail would've been. At the end of the day when she left for her new apartment, which was only a ten-minute skateboard ride from the building she now worked in, she had a good idea of what the people she would be working with were like.
Of course, there was Garcia, who she would be sharing an office with each day. When Florence thought of an FBI agent, Garcia was the complete opposite. They shared a similar happy outlook on life and a love for computers. Her positive and flirty attitude was certainly something Florence was looking forward to each day.
Next was Morgan, who was just as flirty with the quirky tech analyst. He liked to joke around and poke fun at everyone else. At the end of the day, he had made her smile the most. His humor was promising, considering the types of things they saw out on their cases.
Prentiss and JJ had made a joint effort to visit Florence a few times during the day, whether to just say hello or to ask her a new question. Despite being the younger of the two, Florence felt that JJ had a more mothering personality than Prentiss. Both clearly liked to have fun though, so she hoped they could all become friends since she didn't know anyone in Virginia.
Reid seemed a little shy, but he lit up any time that Florence asked him things. She quickly found that it didn't matter what she asked him — Reid just loved to share information that he had collected. Even though she forgot 98% of the statistics and facts he threw at her, she knew it made him happy so it was worth it.
Perhaps it was a little early to deem them as such, but Florence got the vibe that Rossi was the fun mom of the group, and Hotch was the strict dad. Over lunch, Hotch had sighed heavily at just about everything that left Florence's mouth while Rossi basically encouraged some of her questionable behavior. Hotch had also declared that he was going to make her learn her social security number, which made her laugh. When they got back to their office, Garcia had admitted that Hotch may try to parent her a little bit as he got to know her better, which they both agreed would likely be hilarious.
Florence went home happy that they were nothing at all like Erin Strauss, and she was also pleased to learn the others weren't fond of the Section Chief either. It was a good, calm day, and no one had treated her horribly. What more could she ask for?
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Her second day at the BAU was not quite as calm — it wasn't calm at all actually. Her phone rang several hours before her alarm was supposed to go off. It was Garcia letting her know that there was a case and it couldn't wait for them to all get to work at a normal time.
Two young, teenage girls had been kidnapped. Apparently, one of the bodies had been recovered, but it was so mutilated that they couldn't ID whichever girl it was. The thought of the girl and those poor parents who didn't know if their daughter was dead or alive was enough to wake her up.
Florence had to meet Garcia in their office ASAP while the rest of the team got briefed on the plane to California. She was grateful that her apartment was so close to where she worked because even after a quick shower and throwing on a sweatshirt and leggings, she still beat Garcia to work. While waiting, she started a pot of coffee at Garcia's request — she had to watch a youtube video on how to do it because she herself didn't drink it.
It wasn't long before Morgan called to request some help. "Garcia."
"Hey, Angelfish," Garcia greeted, sounding very tired.
"Right back at ya. I got a cell phone number for you. 619-555-0199," Morgan said. Florence scribbled it on her arm since Garcia didn't have a notepad near. "Access the last message left. I need you to put it through a filter."
"So can do, but it will require all my faculties. I'll call you back in a sec."
Garcia typed in the phone number and handed Florence a set of headphones. The voicemail left started to run through the system, taking several minutes before it was clear enough to make out words. Garcia quickly transcribed it to text while Florence tried to listen for any telling background noise, which there was none. Both women did their best to not picture what was happening to the girls.
Florence sat back as Garcia called Morgan back through video chat. The team stood around a laptop and listened as the message was replayed.
"It lasts exactly fifty-three seconds, and then it goes dead," Garcia told them. "I think she was strangled."
Morgan was the first to speak up. "What do you want to do?"
"Do? There's nothing else to do," Rossi said. "The parents can I.D. the voice."
"Are you serious?" Prentiss asked.
"No, no, sir, they can never hear this," Garcia said.
"It's not like they have another choice," Florence mumbled, frowning. Despite not seeing her on the screen, the others could hear her fine.
"Kid's right," Rossi said, nodding. "It'll be the fastest way to figure out who we're looking for."
Those in California debated for a while on if they should show the recording to the parents. Of course, it had to be done, and dread settled in Florence's stomach as they played the message one more time. She couldn't imagine being a parent and having to listen as your child dies over a voicemail.
The voice ended up belonging to Katie, and Florence looked away from the screen, not wanting to watch her parents break down before leaving the room.
"Those poor parents," Garcia whispered as the video call ended.
"So, what do we do from here?" Florence asked, not sure what standard things Garcia looked for in cases like this.
"We look into everyone involved, including law enforcement and anyone helping with the search. We can split the list halfway."
That's what they did, and everyone in town turned up squeaky clean. The only helpful piece of information was from Katie, who posted video diaries online. Garcia and Florence sat back and watched as many as they could, trying to learn about anyone in Katie's life that could have done this.
"She's finally talking about how she met Lindsey," Garcia noted.
As Katie went on about Lindsey's father, Florence got an idea. She rolled her chair away from Garcia's screen and to her own station.
"What are you doing?" Garcia asked, pausing the video to glance at Florence, who was typing very quickly.
"I'll let you know if I find anything. Keep watching Katie."
Garcia held herself back from peeking at Florence's screen and focused back on the videos of the now-deceased girl. Just as Garcia was beginning to realize that Lindsey had lied to Katie about her life, Florence was figuring out why. Perhaps if she'd of checked in with Garcia, she could've put the puzzle pieces together faster.
"What's Hotch's number?" Florence asked, suddenly rolling over to Garcia.
"What? What did you find?" Garcia asked while pointing at a sheet with each of the team's phone numbers.
Instead of answering, Florence went back to her station, too focused to communicate — Garcia would definitely have to work with her on that. Garcia stared at the younger girl for a moment before looking back at what she was working on and wondered if she should call Reid.
Hotch answered his phone on the first ring, simply stating his last name as a greeting.
"Yo, Hotch. I found something kind of sketchy," she said, staring at her screen. "Or rather a lack of something that is sketchy."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Jack and Lindsey Vaughn don't exist," she said. "Not in a "they have very little online tracks" don't exist. They aren't real people."
Hotch paused for a moment, not sure if he could take Florence's word for what it was — she was new after all. "Are you sure you didn't overlook something?"
"I'm sure. There's not even birth certificates. But there is a birth certificate for Patrick Mannan, who does exist," she told him. "Tell me, did Mr. Mannan disclose the information that he's a U.S. Marshal?"
This time Hotch paused because he was surprised. "No, he did not."
"Well, he totally is. And after some digging around, I found out that he is currently assigned to protect two individuals in the Witness Protection Program — a father and a daughter. Their names are redacted, but I'll give you three guesses as to who they likely are. And if we weren't on a time crunch, I could probably dig up the unredacted copy."
"He could already know who took Lindsey," Hotch muttered, annoyed because if Jack Vaughn really was in Witness Protection, then he should've disclosed that to them. "Wait, how'd you find that information? It wouldn't be in any accessible database."
"I thought I was hired to access the inaccessible information?" she mumbled, sipping on a cherry-flavored Capri Sun.
"We will be having a talk about ethics once this case is finished," Hotch said in a firm voice. Then after a second, he added, "Good work, Florence."
Once she was off the phone, Florence turned to Garcia to finally explain what she had done but found her talking to Reid on the phone. She was explaining that Lindsey had lied to Katie about her family history, stealing it from some book. It was likely that the team would've soon figured out what Jack and Lindsey were hiding without Florence breaking into the U.S. Marshal database.
After Garcia hung up, she checked on Florence. "Did you hear everything I told Reid or want me to fill you in?"
"I heard, and I also found the explanation as to why she was lying," she replied. Florence nodded her head towards her computer, and Garcia rolled over to her. Like Hotch, Garcia also made a comment about how she wasn't supposed to see who was under Witness Protection for their protection, but instead of scolding her, she asked her to show her how she did it for future reference.
Florence's information about Jack's real identity had been correct, and apparently, Mannan was displeased that the team knew about it. In the end, it did not matter, and eventually, they ruled the mob kidnapping Lindsey out. When she heard they were looking for teenage boys now, she couldn't wrap her head around it. She was close to their age and never once had thought about doing what they had done to Katie. After several background checks, school photos, and learning about every boy in the area, they finally had the unsubs identities nailed down.
The problem was that Jack Vaughn had found them first. One boy got shot and the other he killed right in front of his daughter's eyes. When the team called them to fill them in on what happened, Reid had questioned whether Jack would be arrested for the murder. Based on the crime he had witnessed that Florence read about in his file, she figured he'd get to walk free.
It wasn't a particularly happy ending to her very first case, but Florence was so sleepy when Garcia told her she was good to go home that she still slept like a baby.
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The next day, Florence dragged her feet towards Hotch's office with a frown on her face and her laptop in hand. She paused to look at his door and groaned, which caught the attention of those in the bullpen.
"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," Morgan greeted, smirking.
"Did you sleep okay?" Prentiss asked. The question implied she might've been worrying but her amused tone said otherwise.
Florence pouted and looked down at her sneakers. "I have to take this stupid interactive online ethics class and it's three freaking hours long. Not only that, but I have to sit next to Hotch to make sure I don't cheat."
Prentiss smirked and took a sip of her coffee. "Good luck, Ren. Sounds like you'll need it. Hotch too, probably."
"They really think you'd cheat on an ethics course?" Reid asked, frowning from his desk.
"You don't think she'd cheat on an ethics course?" Morgan asked, shaking his head. "But all questionable moral decisions aside, you did really good for your first case."
"Yeah?" Florence asked, perking up a little.
"Yeah. I mean, we ended up spotting the Marshal's gun and he had to tell us, but if that hadn't happened then we never would've known about Jack being in Witness Protection," he pointed out.
Prentiss nodded in agreement. "And Hotch probably won't admit it, but he was impressed by you yesterday. He's just got to cover his back so that Strauss doesn't jump down his throat about you."
Florence chewed her lip nervously. "I didn't know Hotch could get in trouble just because I did something like that."
"It's sort of a gray area in this business," Morgan told her. "Each situation will be different and will call for different extremes. But Hotch being on thin ice with Strauss is nothing new. Don't let it worry you."
"Will do. Oh, hey. Can I ask a favor?"
"What kind?" Reid asked, sitting a bit straighter.
"Every now and then would you guys mind maybe trying to distract Hotch?"
"And why would they need to distract me?"
Florence froze and shut her eyes as she heard Hotch speak from behind. Clearly, she had missed the fact that he left his office and walked over to her.
"Oh, hey Hotchner," she greeted, turning on her heels and plastering on an innocent grin. "Hotch, my guy. How the heck are ya? Good to see you, Hodgepodge."
"Don't call me Hodgepodge," he said in a flat tone and ignored the snickers of the others. "You wouldn't be trying to enlist your fellow agents in trying to help you cheat during the ethics exam, now would you?"
Florence put her hand to her chest in mock hurt. "You wound me and my honor, Sir."
"Just get to my office. I cleared off a part of my desk for you to sit at."
"Have fun," Morgan teased as Hotch led her away.
Florence set her computer up and plugged it in while Hotch started to do some paperwork. She took a few moments to glance around his office, taking note of the framed pictures of a little boy.
"Is that your son?" she asked, pointing to the closest frame, which was on the desk.
A hint of what might've been a smile appeared on Hotch's lips. "Yes. His name is Jack."
"How old?"
"Three."
"I don't know much about babies. Can he like, walk, and talk at that age?"
Hotch chuckled. "He can do both, and three-year-olds aren't really considered babies."
Florence shrugged and pulled up the website she was meant to go to. "If it hasn't started school yet, it's a baby to me. Jack's a cute kid."
"Thank you." He didn't comment about how she probably should never refer to a child as "it."
"Hey, can I listen to music while I listen to this?"
Hotch gave her a look that basically said "no."
"C'mon, Hotch Rocket, it's not like I slipped Reid a mic and have him feeding me answers — wait! That's genius. Why didn't I think of that earlier?"
Hotch sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"This is gonna be a long three hours."