"Did Hotch find a new team member yet?" Clara asks as she and her dad walk to school, her hand held in Spencer's.
"Mm. No, not yet." Spencer says.
"He's gonna pick somebody nice, right? Not a jerk?" Clara asks.
"Hotch is a good judge of character, he's not gonna pick a jerk. He's gonna fit somebody who fits in well with them team." Spencer assures. "You're not even in the team. How would it matter?"
"I spend a fair amount of time at your work." Clara reasons. "Plus, I don't want anybody being mean to you. Or Aunt Penny or Uncle Aaron or Uncle Dave. Or Uncle Derek, Aunt JJ. It's already bad enough you have to fight mean people, I don't want you working with mean people."
"I'm not working with anybody mean. None of us are." Spencer assures as they reach the school. He crouches in front of her and rubs her arms. "You good?"
"Mm-hmm." She nods. "If you do work with somebody mean, do you get to tell Uncle Aaron or another boss that they're being mean and they get fired? Like how I get suspended if I'm mean."
"You're not mean, you're protective and confident." Spencer states. "And Hotch would have the ability to kick whoever he doesn't find fit out of the team."
"Good." Clara smiles. Spencer gives her a small smile.
"Okay. You all right? Feel okay?" Spencer asks.
"Uh-huh." Clara nods. "I have my friends. I'll be fine."
"Okay." Spencer nods. "Be good." He tells her and she nods. "I love you."
"I love you, too." She smiles. Spencer kisses her on the forehead before standing up. He stays on the sidewalk, watching Clara go into the building.
+++
Spencer and Kate are at the crash site. Kate uses a glove to pick up a small toy truck.
"The plane broke up in 5 main sections. The two wings, the aft hull and tail, the forward hull and cockpit, which we have here." The guy leads them over to it.
"How large is the spread?" Spencer asks.
"About a half a mile."
"That means the plan broke up before impact." Spencer says. "Have you found the digital flight data recorder yet?"
"We're still searching. It might have been driven deep into the ground after impact." The guy says. "The good news is the DFDR and the cockpit voice recorder are in a single unit, so we're only looking for one black box."
"Where was the copilot found?" Spencer asks.
"About 20 yards that way." The guy points. "Excuse me." He walks off.
"You've been quiet." Spencer notes.
"Sorry." Kate says.
"You know, a disaster of this magnitude is really hard to wrap your mind around, let alone your feelings." Spencer says.
"You don't need to worry about me." Kate says. "What, are you gonna profile me now?"
"It's hard to turn it off sometimes." Spencer says.
"I guess I should just tell you this." Kate says. "Hotch and Rossi already know. My sister and brother-in-law died in 9/11. They were working at the Pentagon."
"So sorry." Spencer says. "I can imagine this must obviously bring back a lot of painful memories."
"Yeah." Kate says. She sniffs. "Anyway, I don't want to do that weepy agent with the tragic past, so you don't have to walk on eggshells around me." She starts to walk off.
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never grow up, criminal minds
Fanfic[ criminal minds -- seasons 1-15 ] Clara Reid Stand Alone: Never Grow Up I DO NOT own Criminal Minds, any of the show's characters or storylines. I ONLY own my OCs and their storylines.