Fitting In.

Profiling the Profilers.

Strauss may not have been the type of person to strut but she had a way to walk that showed how powerful she was.

"How many souls do you reckon she has absorbed today?" Emily tried to mask a smile but she was struggling to do so.

"How would she go about doing that then? Absorbing a soul seems difficult and painful." The rest of the team were working hard while both females stood close to one another, pretending to discuss a file.

"She thrives on the pain and she obviously absorbs it through osmosis." Elora began to smile as she too spoke and looked around the office, special attention being shown to the team.

"Osmosis? Surely she can't use osmosis to absorb souls." Emily had rested one hand on her hip as she kept the file open and her eyes glanced between the folder and the room.

"Yeah, I have a chemistry degree. This is basic science. You find a soul to absorb and through a little osmosis you can gain the poor unfortunate soul." Their laughter was stopped as Rossi approached and they smiled innocently at him.

"What has you so happy?" The file was put down and both women returned to their seats before they both began to work.

"Silence makes you look guilty." As Derek spoke, he passed them and headed to his office.

After a long period of talking both Strauss and Hotch left his office, his chin lifted and they followed into the meeting room.

Derek seemed to be told as well, he walked in not long after the rest of the team. His face was harder than the rest but his day had been considerably longer than theirs.

"Following the recent case in Chicago, we are having to deal with an investigation. Each of you will be questioned, not just about the case but about your work in general. This team has made too many mistakes and been called into question too many times. It is time that you started acting like FBI and not a loose band of social justice warriors." Eyes kept to her body and face but none of them had been kind eyes as she paced from one side of the room to the next.

"With all due respect, the case involved kids, we had to be quick and make mistakes. The public was freaking out and parents pulled kids from school. We had no choice. Fear is sometimes worse than the truth." Derek may as well have not spoken as Strauss ignored him and threw a folder down. JJ would be first it seemed as her name was written in bold on the front.

"We will use this room so the rest of you can carry on with your cases." They were all silent as they walked from the room and some had patted her shoulder on their way.

"What do you think they want to find out? Our files can be read or descriptions could be given. Strauss knows us all well enough. What does this do to help?" It was the team's time to struggle as they had to watch JJ sit at the table until the blinds were closed right in front of them.

The day was passing too quickly and slowly the team had moved into the room, JJ had furiously left the room and muttered something under her breath.

Elora had watched the painful day play out before standing and then making her own way to the room. Strauss watching from the door the whole time.

"I am thrilled to be here. The cases that I am supposed to be helping with can wait, killers are notorious for giving police a nice holiday for a day every now and then." Hotch smiled as she sat down and the interview began. He knew that she wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Special Agent Elora Burton. You joined the BAU a little over 2 years ago. For the 8 months before this, you were in protection and you had to take time to recover. Four months after joining the BAU you still had to go through therapy. It was stopped immediately and your therapist said that you were well recovered." One heavy breath left Elora's nostrils as she sat with crossed arms. Strauss seemingly waiting for something to be said.