Verecund (Criminal Minds)

Chapter 9

"Hey, where's Reid?" Morgan asked his team around their cubicles on their next day back to work. "He's never late."

"He stayed in Richmond," Rossi looked from his newspaper at his desk to look at Derek, "He wanted to talk to one of the victims, Ash."

JJ, Emily, and Derek looked at Rossi, puzzled. "Why's that?" Emily asked.

"She's an orphan, right? Did he want to take her in?" JJ added.

"I think so," Rossi nodded. "I told Hotch about it, he's willing to talk to Reid about hopefully being able to watch over Ash while on cases."

"So, have her come with us?" Emily spoke again. "Can he let her do that? I mean, I don't have a problem with it, but how would he let her?"

"Apparently Ash has a pretty high IQ," Rossi told his teammates. "She's also a good artist, so possibly a future sketch artist for the FBI when she's older. With those, Strauss and Hotch might be able to apply her as a legal minor consultant for the team."

It was several days before Spencer was seen again in the Quantico FBI building, but when he came back, he had a little surprise. A small girl with a freshly-cut pixie cut that fell just near her eyes walked next to him. Her head just barely reached his shoulder as she stood at nearly five-foot-two, but she barely looked like the same girl who had been in the hospital. Her slightly shorter hair was more even and brushed neatly to one side, kept with hairspray to keep down her naturally fluffy strands. Black thin-rimmed glasses sat on her nose now, halfway hiding her bright green eyes. Her thin arms had already begun to get slightly stronger, and her body was hidden under a neatly-creased cream-coloured button down with a small women's straight black blazer jacket that matched the shade of her tight black slacks.

"Wow, someone cleans up nicely," Rossi commented with a small smile and nod at Ash once she had approached Spencer's desk with him. The girl only gave a silent smile at Rossi, keeping her head down.

"Uh, hey, Ash," Spencer said softly to the girl, "You see that door up there? Aaron Hotchner's office?"

The girl nodded, looking up at Spencer.

"Why don't you head up there, I'll be up there in a minute, I just need to talk to Rossi for a minute."

Ash nodded again, walking with her hands in her blazer pockets as she stepped up the small stairs. "So, how'd it go?" Rossi turned to Spencer.

"Uh, good," Spencer nodded, "Because of my FBI status, it's going to be easier to get through the adoption process. Until then, I'm not her legal guardian, but I'm allowed to take her in and enroll her in school."

"That's good," Rossi nodded with a smile at the young doctor, "I'm proud of you, kid. Just let me know if you need help taking care of her."

Spencer nodded. "I have to go talk to Hotch about her coming on cases with us as a consultant."

Rossi nodded at Spencer as he turned around, and the older agent felt a sense of pride for the younger man. He watched as Spencer walked up the stairs to stand next to Ash, walking into Hotch's office with her.

"Hey," Hotch greeted from his desk as the two walked in. "Welcome back."

"Thanks," Spencer gave a small smile at his boss as he led Ash into the office.

"Please, take a seat," Hotch invited warmly, mostly to Ash. "So, have you been told the plan, Ash?"

The girl nodded, barely looking at Hotch.

"So, you know that with being appointed a minor consultant would mean a lot of traveling and working with us, and that you would also have to work on any high school diplomas and college degrees with homeschooling?"

Ash nodded again. I am willing to do it,she signed.

"She said she's willing to do it," Spencer translated for Hotch.

Hotch nodded. "I've already filled out the paperwork. Ash, I just need you to read it over and sign it, then it will be sent to Agent Erin Strauss who kind of looks over this team," he explained, "Once she approves it, then the FBI director will have to approve it. It should be okay by them both, and should only take a few weeks."

Ash nodded giving a small smile to the man, who returned it to her. "Why don't you meet the rest of the team for now," Hotch suggested. "I'll let you two know when we need you for the application."