[Criminal Minds fanfiction] One step ahead
This is the sixth chapter of my oneshot series "Moments in Time".
Title: One step ahead
Rating: G
Genre: Character study
Series: Moments in Time
Characters: Dave Rossi
Spoilers: 3x09 Penelope
Warnings: None beyond what's in the episode
Summary: Sometimes it paid off to be the new guy.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of CBS, Jeff Davis, Edward Allen Bernero and sadly not mine. I just take them along for the ride. Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah for all her help and encouragement and being a great beta. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed one of my others stories.
“Now come on. Think. Anything. Go back.” Rossi looked from Morgan, who had just spoken, to Garcia. The blonde analyst was sitting on the far end of the couch with JJ to her left and Derek sitting in a chair that was positioned at an angle to her other side.
Watching as she turned her head toward the black agent, David wasn’t sure why, but he had a feeling that she was hiding something from them. Granted, he didn’t know her that long or well yet, but over the years he had learned to trust his instincts.
Garcia was staring off into space now, trying to remember and after a moment she said in a slightly lower voice, “His seatbelt was buckled behind his back.” Standing behind her, Prentiss glanced over at both the senior agent and Hotch next to him.
This detail made Rossi look up in surprise. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Reid, who was sitting in a chair to his left, reacting as well by first raising his gaze up to them as well, then back across the coffee table at Penelope when she asked alarmed but also confused, “Why does that matter?”
She got her answer from Morgan. “It wasn’t a rental. It was for surveillance.”
Stepping around the couch and walking over to Hotch, Emily explained, “Agents don’t wear seat belts. They need to get out in a hurry.”
This was getting ridiculous and seemingly not leading anywhere, so Dave walked over to the computer whiz while he said, “All right, let’s cut the crap. You need to be straight with us, right now.” He knew that this would probably make him the bad guy here, but they needed to get some answers and they surely wouldn’t get any if they’d continue like that.
This time it paid off not being on the team that long. Since he wasn’t attached to her like his fellow agents were, he felt he was the only one who could do it.
So he sat down on the coffee table directly in front of Garcia who looked up at Hotch and Prentiss in confusion, and leaning forward he told her in a strong voice, “Look at me, not them.”
“I’m not hiding anything,” Garcia stated in a slightly unsteady voice.
“You got shot,” Rossi replied. “Most people get shot for a reason.”
When Penelope started to turn her head toward Morgan for help, Dave’s voice grew louder as he ordered, “Eyes here!”, while indicating his face with his right index finger.
“Hey, ease up, Rossi!” Morgan protested.
The senior profiler had seen that one coming. Even in the relatively short time he was back at the BAU he had noticed that the black agent had more than just purely friendship-like feelings for the lively young woman.
Simply holding his left hand up in the other man’s direction to stop any further outbursts, his intense gaze, coupled with lightly knitted eyebrows, was on Garcia when he pointed out, “You’ve got a room full of people here willing to believe that an FBI agent is trying to kill you. We need to know everything you do on company time that we don’t know about.”
When she just lowered her gaze without answering he prompted, “What?”
“Come on, man,” Morgan tried again, this time in a calm tone, making it sound somewhat half-hearted. And Dave was pretty certain that no one else would interrupt, not because they didn’t care, but because they understood that it had to be this way.
After a moment Garcia said softly, “It’s nothing bad.”
Knowing that all that was needed now was a little more prodding, Dave’s voice grew louder again and even though he regretted to have to do this, he demanded, “Spit it out!”
“It’s nothing bad,” she repeated, louder this time, and continued, “It’s just… I counsel victim’s families. And they know where I work, so sometimes they ask me to look into cases for them.”
The senior agent’s eyebrows knitted even more. “What does that mean?”
“It means that the cases, the unsolved ones, I tag them so whoever’s investigating them knows that the FBI considers them a priority,” Penelope explained while Rossi sat upright again.
When he got up and walked over to where he had been standing before, Hotch said, “You’re not authorized to do that.”
Clearly upset now the analyst defended herself, “I know, I was just trying to help.”
Dave believed her.
And he was glad that they finally had something solid to work with, cause he wanted to catch the man that had attacked a member of his team as fast as possible.
That guy wouldn’t be one step ahead of them for much longer anymore.
Title: One step ahead
Rating: G
Genre: Character study
Series: Moments in Time
Characters: Dave Rossi
Spoilers: 3x09 Penelope
Warnings: None beyond what's in the episode
Summary: Sometimes it paid off to be the new guy.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of CBS, Jeff Davis, Edward Allen Bernero and sadly not mine. I just take them along for the ride. Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah for all her help and encouragement and being a great beta. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed one of my others stories.
“Now come on. Think. Anything. Go back.” Rossi looked from Morgan, who had just spoken, to Garcia. The blonde analyst was sitting on the far end of the couch with JJ to her left and Derek sitting in a chair that was positioned at an angle to her other side.
Watching as she turned her head toward the black agent, David wasn’t sure why, but he had a feeling that she was hiding something from them. Granted, he didn’t know her that long or well yet, but over the years he had learned to trust his instincts.
Garcia was staring off into space now, trying to remember and after a moment she said in a slightly lower voice, “His seatbelt was buckled behind his back.” Standing behind her, Prentiss glanced over at both the senior agent and Hotch next to him.
This detail made Rossi look up in surprise. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Reid, who was sitting in a chair to his left, reacting as well by first raising his gaze up to them as well, then back across the coffee table at Penelope when she asked alarmed but also confused, “Why does that matter?”
She got her answer from Morgan. “It wasn’t a rental. It was for surveillance.”
Stepping around the couch and walking over to Hotch, Emily explained, “Agents don’t wear seat belts. They need to get out in a hurry.”
This was getting ridiculous and seemingly not leading anywhere, so Dave walked over to the computer whiz while he said, “All right, let’s cut the crap. You need to be straight with us, right now.” He knew that this would probably make him the bad guy here, but they needed to get some answers and they surely wouldn’t get any if they’d continue like that.
This time it paid off not being on the team that long. Since he wasn’t attached to her like his fellow agents were, he felt he was the only one who could do it.
So he sat down on the coffee table directly in front of Garcia who looked up at Hotch and Prentiss in confusion, and leaning forward he told her in a strong voice, “Look at me, not them.”
“I’m not hiding anything,” Garcia stated in a slightly unsteady voice.
“You got shot,” Rossi replied. “Most people get shot for a reason.”
When Penelope started to turn her head toward Morgan for help, Dave’s voice grew louder as he ordered, “Eyes here!”, while indicating his face with his right index finger.
“Hey, ease up, Rossi!” Morgan protested.
The senior profiler had seen that one coming. Even in the relatively short time he was back at the BAU he had noticed that the black agent had more than just purely friendship-like feelings for the lively young woman.
Simply holding his left hand up in the other man’s direction to stop any further outbursts, his intense gaze, coupled with lightly knitted eyebrows, was on Garcia when he pointed out, “You’ve got a room full of people here willing to believe that an FBI agent is trying to kill you. We need to know everything you do on company time that we don’t know about.”
When she just lowered her gaze without answering he prompted, “What?”
“Come on, man,” Morgan tried again, this time in a calm tone, making it sound somewhat half-hearted. And Dave was pretty certain that no one else would interrupt, not because they didn’t care, but because they understood that it had to be this way.
After a moment Garcia said softly, “It’s nothing bad.”
Knowing that all that was needed now was a little more prodding, Dave’s voice grew louder again and even though he regretted to have to do this, he demanded, “Spit it out!”
“It’s nothing bad,” she repeated, louder this time, and continued, “It’s just… I counsel victim’s families. And they know where I work, so sometimes they ask me to look into cases for them.”
The senior agent’s eyebrows knitted even more. “What does that mean?”
“It means that the cases, the unsolved ones, I tag them so whoever’s investigating them knows that the FBI considers them a priority,” Penelope explained while Rossi sat upright again.
When he got up and walked over to where he had been standing before, Hotch said, “You’re not authorized to do that.”
Clearly upset now the analyst defended herself, “I know, I was just trying to help.”
Dave believed her.
And he was glad that they finally had something solid to work with, cause he wanted to catch the man that had attacked a member of his team as fast as possible.
That guy wouldn’t be one step ahead of them for much longer anymore.