The Element of Surprise

About Face - End

It's just past midnight when we drag our feet into the bullpen back home. Not a single agent is in sight, no doubt at home sleeping or enjoying the last few minutes of the holiday at a club or bar. No one says a word as we approach our desks, setting down our bags to prepare for the endless paperwork that awaits us the next morning. I'm dying to go home and take a long, warm bath with the bath bombs Penelope got me. But the thought of going home while this case is still fresh in my mind keeps me from telling the team goodnight. There's a reason why the BAU's doors remain open 24/7, and I'd like to think it's for agents like myself who can't sleep after a case and need to occupy their thoughts with paperwork.

Rossi passes our desks on his way to Hotch's office - hopefully to resolve that tension between them. Before I could get caught in another staring trance, Emily and Derek says their goodnights and leaves the office together. JJ follows soon after them and I'm left with Spencer.

"Planning on going home tonight?" Spence asks after organizing his desk for the next day.

I huff a laugh, "Sure, I can't wait to go home and be left alone with my thoughts."

"I take that as a no then," reaching over the divider, he dumps the remains of the bag of candy on my desk. Lollipops, toffees, chocolate, gummy worms, and M&Ms now litter my workspace, "Something to boost you through the night. Just... stay away from the espresso shots."

"Aye-aye, captain," I salute him jokingly.

But even Spencer couldn't stay at the office forever and left after a few minutes of talking about random matters. With him gone, I'm the only one left in the bullpen and, if I'm being honest, it's quite peaceful. The silence allows me to pick up some of the words being exchanged between Hotch and Rossi.

"My private life is not the same as a case," I hear Hotch's voice all the way from his office.

"And I'm just saying," Rossi fires back, "sharing is a learned skill. When this all started, there were only a few of us. We'd go out on the road alone. We didn't groupthink."

"We don't groupthink," Hotch corrects him, saying the word as if it's offensive, "We think as individuals and we share our thoughts with the rest of the team. We don't write them down in a little notebook and keep them to ourselves."

Oh, so they're on the notebook topic. I was wondering when Hotch would address it. Even I have to admit, it was kind of frustrating to see Rossi scribble things down without sharing his thoughts with the rest of us. I unwrap a piece of chocolate, the crinkling foil making it hard to hear what else is being said in the Unit Chief's office. Popping the candy in my mouth, I do manage to catch the last part of their conversation.

"I don't see that you have anything to prove," Hotch's voice is low and even, a tone that means he's serious, "You don't have to come back."

"I know that," Rossi states.

"So why?"

"Maybe I have unfinished business."

His words make me stop chewing and send my thoughts racing. What does he mean by unfinished business? Is it possible that we have that in common?

The candy on my desk loose all meaning when I recall that one summer at the lake house - my mom's screams tearing through the walls, my father's body bleeding out on the floor, my brother being stabbed to death right before my eyes, and my sister clawing at the floor as she's being dragged out of the house. And then everything is blue and my lungs fill with icy water. Something is keeping me from swimming up and I knew then and there; I'm being drowned. The last image I see is a man's face, one brown eye and the other blue, and a tattoo of three dots on his temple.

"Agent Presley?"

My head jerks to the side, eyes focusing on Rossi standing at my desk as the disturbing memory of my family's murder fades, "Agent Rossi, sorry, I didn't see you there."

"You're not going home?" He ignores the part where I called him agent.

"Not yet, no," I fidget with the candy wrapper on my desk, "I'm still figuring out ways to cope with what I've seen after cases. So far, paperwork helps. And not going home alone helps too."

He nods in discernment, "You don't have to explain, I get it. I just came by to say goodnight and..." shoving his hands in his pockets, he looks me dead in the eye, "it's been good working with you."

"Did Hotch fire you?!" The words come out before I could process what he said. "I swear, if this is about your notebook -"

"Relax, Agent, you'll be stuck with me for a while" he does nothing to hide his amusement. I'm surprised to find he looks much younger when he smiles. "What I meant was, it's been strange coming back and working with people younger than myself - our own jet, computers, Communication and Media Liaisons, two-minute trap and trace, and don't even get me started on Doctor Reid..." I shrug, seeing his point. "But I'm dead serious when I say you have a fascinating approach towards both cases and the people involved in it. I'm looking forward of seeing more of you."

"Thank- thank you, sir," I blink in astonishment and accepts the hand he holds towards me. Another compliment, two in one day. Am I sure it's Halloween and not Christmas? The thought of Halloween reminds me of what happened with the ghost face mask and Strauss, nearly causing me to cringe visibly, "And I'm sorry for what happened with the mask and the growling, I thought it was Hotch and... never mind, it won't happen again."

"That's a shame. I thought it was rather entertaining."

And cue the heat rising to my cheeks. Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush.

"You sure I can't drive you home?"

"Positive, but thank you anyway, Rossi," I smile up at him.

"Well then, goodnight to you, Agent Presley."

"You too, Agent Rossi." 

A/N:

That's the first case for now. Let me know what you think and if this should continue. 

xoxo