The New Agent: Secrets

Chapter Four (Updated)

(Gideon)

Eyes haunted by a past she can never outrun stare up at me. I flick through her file. It's the same file I've been reading for the last week. There's something here. There has to be. Rebecca Hurtz doesn't exist. Or at least, she hadn't prior to highschool. There's no recond she ever existed prior to then. Her social security number draws a blank, only going back as far as her freshman year of highschool.

Witsec is always an option. But if she was ever involved in that program, there's no recond. She doesn't exist in the FBI database. It's as if her entire past was completely scrubbed. I frown. Surely I am not the first person to notice this. A person doesn't just appear from thin air.

Her psychological evaluation helps fill in the gaps. She's withdrawn, a loner. She's also exceptionally dedicated to the job. She's got a half dozen recommendations from previous employeers. She's never been married, no children, completely devoted to the job.

She's a lot like everyone else in the unit. Hotch is the only one of us married. His marriage is...tenuious to say the least. Late hours, having to drop everything with no notice to fly out of state or across the country for a case. It's no surprise there would be some issues there. Despite his objections on the matter, Hotch's first priority is this job.

Rebecca Hurtz is not someone I would've picked for the BAU...despite what her file might say. This job relies heavily on teamwork. I can't have someone on the team that is going to disrupt that. Unfortunately, it's also not something I have a say in. Section Chief Erin Strauss had made the decision to add the firey young woman to the team.

There's a knock on the door. I close the file. Hotch is already concerned by the way I'm focusing on Miss Hurtz. I don't need him seeing me pouring over her file once again. Before I can speak, the door opens. I knew it was Hotch before he even entered. Each of the agents have a particular way they knock. I've come to recognize them all.

My eyes flicker upwards. Hotch isn't happy with the decision I've made not to challenge Strauss's on Miss Hurtz. He's vocalized that on more than one occasion. Like me, she isn't someone he wouldn't picked to join the team.

"Gideon, we need to talk."

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. "About?"

I already know.

"Rebecca Hurtz. She is not the right fit for this unit."

I huff. He's right. We both know it. I offer him a shrug, "What can I say? Chief Strauss has made her decision. She isn't going to budge."

I've known Erin Strauss probably longer than anyone else on the team. She's not one to back down from her decisions for fear of seeming weak. She also has the team's best interest at heart. I doubt she'd assign someone to the BAU that would do any serious damage.

My gaze flickers to the window. Of course, that hasn't always been the case. She assigned Emily Prentiss to be her spy. But, that was this. She's a better person that she'd been back them. She's grown.

"She's not going to last, Gideon." Hotch announces with absolute certainty.

Hotch and Erin were alike in that way. They were both incredibly stubborn. Once their minds were made up about a particular subject, it was near impossible to sway them from that belief. Hotch has already decided that Miss Hurtz is going to be a problem. I'm willing to let her actions speak for themselves.

I shrug, "That'll be up to her."

He opens his mouth to object. Something on other side of the paned glass draws his attention. His frown deepens, "She's here."

I glance at my watch. She's late. By over an hour, according to my watch. Strike one. I rise from the chair, wandering across the office to stand at his side. Auburn hair platted over one shoulder in a brain, she looks every bit the FBI agent. She dawns a white button up shirt covered with a black jacket. I can't tell the material from here. Her face is bare of any makeup save for maybe the tiniest bit of concealer. It's hard to imagine she's over thirty. Her complexion does little to betray her age.