A Father's Daughter

Chapter One

I walk into the bullpen and toss my go bag on the floor next to my desk before flopping into the chair. This is the worst part about the job, the fucking paperwork. Our Unit Chief, Aaron Hotchner, aka Hotch, always has us stay until we get it done so he can get the reports to Strauss within 24 hours of us closing the case. But, dude, we just spent five days working non-stop to catch our latest serial killer, had a 6 hour flight, and now it's almost midnight and we have to type up reports? I'm exhausted and all I want to do is go to my apartment and sleep. I look around the room and I know I'm not the only one feeling this way. Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, and Derek Morgan all look as tired as I am. David Rossi and Hotch are both already in their offices and Penelope Garcia went home for the day hours ago.

I let out a sigh and open up my laptop, pulling up my case report and begin the tedious process. I know better than to complain outloud to anyone, so I'm going to suffer in silence. I'm still the new kid on the team and I don't want to give anyone a reason to look into me any further than they need to.

I look over to my right and see Dr. Spencer Reid, eagerly scribbling away. I internally groan. He's the only person I know who doesn't hate the paperwork part of the job, I actually think a small part of him enjoys it. Also, the fact that he insists on doing it all by hand still baffles me. I get it, you don't like technology, but I'm one of the few people who can decipher your chicken scratch handwriting so I end up transcribing all of his files digitally later on anyway.

I roll my eyes but can't help but smile. I joined BAU six months ago and in that time I've built solid relationships with almost everyone on the team. But Spencer is the one person who I haven't spent time with outside of work. Don't get me wrong, we're definitely work friends and even that took a while for him. Hotch kept pairing us up in the field, I offered to start digitilizing his reports because it was driving Garcia mad when she had to find his handwritten copies, and I managed to charm him into being my friend.

I stare at my computer screen and type out the details of the profile along with how we tracked down our unsub, very mundane stuff if you ask me. I'm nearly done when Morgan's voice breaks my focus.

"Hey Ash," I look up from my laptop at Morgan, "we're going to go get food and finish up tomorrow, you in?"

I consider it for a minute, I am hungry and it would be a good opportunity to learn more about my co-workers. But then I let out an involuntary yawn and I know I won't be aware enough tonight to make it worth my while.

"Thanks, but I'm almost done here. I'm just going to finish up and go home to sleep. Plus, I don't really feel like coming in voluntarily on one of my few days off," I tell them with a half smile.

Morgan nods and Emily, JJ, and Rossi all say goodbye before they file into the elevator. I look to my right again to see Spencer is still writing in the files in front of him. Usually he's the first to finish and either rushes to catch the metro or gets a ride home with JJ. How is he not finished yet? One of the few things I know about the boy is that he can read 20,000 words per minute and writes pretty quickly too, so for fucks sake why is he still here?

I shake my head and try to not hyperfocus on the boy wonder tonight. I quickly finish the rest of my paperwork and send it to the printer near Hotch's office. I stretch as I stand up, feeling my back crack slightly at the motion, then walk over to the printer and collect the warm paper into a neat stack. I place them in a folder and make my way up the short staircase. I rap my knuckles against the door before opening it. Hotch looks up at me, probably surprised that I'm actually still here.

I hand him the file, "here's my case report. If you're not going to be much longer, I can wait and we can walk out together."

In the six months I've worked here, Hotch has never left before any of us. He sometimes leaves with us, but it's rare. I honestly think he sleeps here most nights just because it makes more sense. God, his kid must hate that, never seeing his dad.