loyalty | s. scola

- SIX

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
KIDNAP AND RANSOM UNIT
OCTOBER 4TH, 2019
7:34AM

The stack of files and paperwork that she'd left on her desk was gone. Nothing else was touched. She laid her bag down in her chair before making her way up to Jason's office. Her office is tucked in a corner and up a landing out of the bullpen that her team worked out of and Jason's was down the hall.

Ava's team consisted of six people: her, Ronnie Driscoll, Buckley Reeves, Grace Morgan, Deacon Lauder, and D.J. Powers.

Deacon and Grace have been in K&R as long as Ava herself has. Buck transfered over from counter-terrorism five years ago. Ava and Jason managed to poach Ronnie from NCIS, and D.J. is the newbie, having only been here a year.

Grace and Deacon were at their desks when she left her office, both of them turning to look at her in surprise. Ronnie stopped short at the entrance, eyes on her as she gave a half hearted knock on Jason's office door before letting herself in. Ronnie looked from Jason's office to Deacon and Grace, pointing to the door with the hand clutching the strap of her bag, "When did she get here?"

"She was here when I got here." Grace shrugged. Deacon sat on the edge of her desk, "No idea when she actually got here, though."

"The real question is where she's been for the last three days." Deacon said. Ronnie laid her bag underneath her desk before sitting and swiveling to watch Jason's office intently.

Inside of Jason's office, Ava sat down in the chair in front of his desk. He removed his glasses, "please, come on in, Ava."

"You took my paperwork."

"I did." He nodded. "I know that you don't like people in your office- and I promise that nobody went in there without you there- but I needed these done.""You dispersed them to them."

She nods out the window to her team, raising an eyebrow. Jason leaned back in his chair. "I gave them to Deacon."

Ava nodded, humming. Deacon was a good agent. He was, if she's being honest, her front-runner for her replacement. She doesn't want an outsider coming in and disrupting the dynamics of her team, and Deacon's been kicking around the unit almost as long as she had been.

He's more than earned a promotion, he deserves one.

She rubbed her bottom lip, nail catching on the chapped skin.

"You've made up your mind." It's a statement, not a question. She focuses on the way he leans forward, smiling sadly.

"Yeah." She says.

Jason nods. "And it has nothing to do with Isobel Castille having a certain Agent Scola on her team?"

Ava groaned, leaning her head back. "Does everybody in this unit know about my failed relationship?"

"No, but I'm the closest thing you have to a best friend, so..."

"I hate you, you know that?"

"No, you don't." He smiles, and he's right. "When do we lose you?"

"Monday, maybe. Tuesday at the latest, I think."

"Are you going to tell them, or do you want me to?"She shakes her head, "I'll tell them. I just... don't know how they'll take it. Do you have any ideas on who's gonna replace me?"

"My first thought was Deacon." He says. Ava nods, "mine too." Jason taps on the top of his desk, "But honestly? I might take it. I'm sick of sitting behind a desk."

"Dissolve unit chief and section chief into one job?"

"If it gets too much, I'll have Deacon share the load, let him take your responsibilities."