The Boss' Niece (Spencer Reid)

33. Admitting the truth

For some members of the BAU, two weeks was not long enough for a break. For other members of the BAU, all they could think about was returning back to work. Cassidy was one of them. Everyone was right to go back to work. Spencer obviously had to do a physical and psychological exam, but he passed both, allowing him to go back to work. As for Cassidy, she wasn't so lucky.

She had spent the past week trying to convince Hotch to let her return for work. She explained that she was more than ready to get back in the field. He agreed, to some extent, mainly that she was physically ready. Her bruises had mostly gone and the doctors said that she wouldn't need to be cautious due to any existing injuries. She thought she had won her case, until he asked her how she was doing mentally and emotionally. She put on a fake smile and nodded, insisting that she was okay. Hotch could see right through her façade and rejected her.

This is how it went for a week. She even insisted that she be allowed back to work, but on desk duty, similar to Penelope, but once again, Hotch said no. But, after copious amounts of begging and pleading, Hotch agreed, but only if she passed her physical and psychological evaluation. If she passed one of them, she'd be allowed back to work, but she wouldn't be allowed to travel with the team - at least, not for a while. But, if she didn't pass either of them, she'd be forced to spend another 2 weeks on paid leave. Cassidy was excited for the challenge, especially when she found out that Morgan was going to be in charge of her physical exam, or so she thought.

Cassidy walked into the BAU bullpen and walked over to Morgan.

"Morning, Morgan. When are you planning to test me on my physical exam?" Cassidy asked as she sat next to Morgan, a confused look on her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Cassidy." Morgan shrugged his shoulders.

"I was told that you were in charge of monitoring the physical exam within the BAU." Cassidy furrowed her eyebrows, Morgan exhaling.

"Sorry pretty girl, but I stopped monitoring the physical exam within the BAU ages ago. Something about Strauss not liking the fact that our team can be bias when it comes to protocol." Morgan shook his head, watching as Cassidy's face dropped. Maybe passing the physical exam was going to be harder than she thought.

2 days later, Cassidy anxiously waited for the results of her physical exam. Everyone could see the anxiety on her face, and Spencer was careful enough to help her. He knew that once her anxiety got bad, she'd unintentionally bring herself back to that place, to that horrible place with Tobias Hankel. The last thing he knew she wanted was for the team to witness one of her anxiety attacks.

So, when an envelope with her name on it was handed to her within the BAU bullpen, Spencer sat with her, his hand on her leg as she shakily opened it up, her eyes gazing down the paper.

"Talk to me, Cassie. Did you pass?" Spencer asked, worried.

"I passed!" She jumped up and down with joy, each member of the team giving her big hugs as she tried not to cry with happiness. This meant that she was allowed to go back to work, but the psychological exam would determine whether or not she'd be allowed to return to the field or not.

"Can anyone tell me who exactly is in charge of monitoring the psychological exam?" Cassidy asked, a concerned look on her face.

"If you're planning on passing your psychological exam, especially when you've been experiencing nightmares and daydreams, you're not going to be happy when you find out who's in charge of monitoring it." Hotch exhaled as he walked out of his office.

"Strauss is in charge of monitoring all psychological exams within the BAU. It was Hotch's job once, but like Morgan being in charge of monitoring the physical exam, Strauss wasn't happy with the bias when it came to protocol within the team." JJ shook her head.