Hotch's Niece | Criminal Minds

Arrival

Flashback:

I sighed, deeming studying useless. It was midway through the second semester of my senior year of college, although I'm only 18, and I was having a hard time focusing on studying for my trigonometry test tomorrow. Just as I was plopping my textbook back on the shelf, my phone rang. I smiled at the contact picture, although something in the back of my brain said something was wrong, because the last time he called me, Aunt Haley had died. That was like eight months ago. Regardless, I answered with a smile.

"Hi Uncle Hotch!" I exclaimed.

Heavy breathing is all that greets me on the other end. "Uncle Hotch? Are you okay?"

"Avery, oh my god," Uncle Hotch's voice is all choked up, and I could hardly understand a word he said. He mumbled what sounded like several sentences before could I build the courage to intervene.

"U-Uncle Hotch, slow down. Speak clearly. Are you alright?" I asked, trying to make my voice as calming and gentle as possible."

"I-I'm alright." his voice had calmed considerably, but he still was a little shaky, so he took a deep breath before continuing."But Avery, your parents... they've been murdered." At those words, my throat closed.

I'd been known to simply go "cold" whenever something bad happened, as in I would just allow myself to become void of all emotion, my voice stony and face impassive, until I was safe or alone. Uncle Hotch had always been slightly proud of that, saying it was the one thing that reminded him of himself. This was exactly what I did, as I regained control of my breathing and speaking, and cleared my throat.

"Uncle Hotch, I-I'd like that job, if you don't mind. I'll be at headquarters the day after tomorrow."

As soon as I hung up the phone, my composure slipped and my breathing became fast and heavy. I crawled into bed just as the tears started, and once they did, they didn't stop.

Present Day:

I shook off the memory of two nights ago as the elevator doors slid open. Here I was. The BAU. I'd already dropped my bags off at Uncle Hotch's using my spare key. He'd said I should stay there with him and Jack until I found a place of my own, and refusing that would leave me homeless, so I obviously accepted.

Walking out in the bullpen, I almost smiled as I recognized two people in the room, which was one more than I thought I would. The first was, of course, my uncle Hotch, and the second was David Rossi. I'd met Rossi when I was very little, only three or four, back when he and my uncle had first started the team. Uncle Hotch was down in the bullpen itself instead of in his office, and he was talking to a woman a bit older than I was, with brown hair and bangs. He looked up and caught my eyes. Without excusing himself from the conversation with the woman, he broke into an almost jog, up the stairs and before I could say hi, he hit me like a truck, arms wrapped tight around me.

I'm a tiny human. This was what I told myself, my reasoning for the fact that Uncle Hotch was pretty much squeezing my head with his arms, as he'd have to bend down to actually hug me.

The entire bullpen went quiet the second he hugged me, and when I looked down at them after he released me, I could read their faces well enough to realize they didn't know about my parents, aka Hotch's brother and sister in law. Which also meant they probably had no idea who I am.

"Hi, Avery," Hotch said softly.

"How are you, Uncle Hotch?" I ask, voice full of fake emotion. I'd gone cold the second the elevator doors slid open, and if I revealed my real emotions I'd be a crying mess on the floor. Which I really didn't want to be on my first day of being an FBI agent.

I hugged Uncle Hotch once more, before making my way down to the bullpen. If Hotch wasn't going to tell his team, I certainly was going to, as I also didn't need to be keeping secrets from my new team.

"Hello, I'm JJ," a pretty woman with gorgeous blue eyes and blonde hair said.

"Hello. I'm um, I'm the new member for your team. I'm... I'm Hotch's niece, Avery Hotchner." I clarified at JJ's confusion. "It's a long story," I added as well.

"I... can't say that I have time, because when do we ever, but I'll gather the team, minus Garcia." I frowned - who was Garcia? "She's our technical analyst, you'll like her,"

Within seconds JJ had rounded up Rossi, the woman Uncle Hotch was talking to earlier, a darker-skinned man, and a skinny, brunette, cute beanpole of a guy. JJ had called down Uncle Hotch, but he'd simply waved her off and stumbled into his office brokenly.

All of them stared at me expectantly. I took a deep breath. Let's do this.

Shortish chapter to kick things off bc I need some sort of platform to build off of. Ok. Hi. Yeah, welcome to my Criminal Minds fic! Leave a comment, vote, and follow me, and I will give you free virtual cookies. Ok, bye!

-Leah