Ghosts • Aaron Hotchner

Chapter Six

Fallon

Life had been crazy the past few months. Elle got shot, and then left the BAU. Caroline and Weston got married, she was now Caroline Shepherd-Grosier. Caroline had also announced that she was pregnant with a baby girl. On top of all of that, Fallon had moved into an apartment that was closer to the bureau.

Fallon groaned as she was rudely awoken by her phone ringing at six in the morning.

"Hello?" She answered.

"We need you in immediately. We have a possible terrorist threat," Gideon told her, instantly waking her up. Nothing better than a threat of a terrorist attack to wake a person up. It was more effective than coffee. 

"I'm on my way." Fallon said. She pulled on black dress pant, white shirt, and black blazer, grabbed her go bag, slipped on her heeled boots and was out the door within ten minutes. She checked to make sure her hair is okay in her car mirror, and applied a bit of mascara, before heading off.

"Good you're here," Hotch said as she set her go bag down on her desk. She glanced up through the conference room window, and raised an eyebrow when she spotted the back of a familiar head. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but her pace into the conference room quickened, to see if she was right She was practically stepping on Hotch's heels as they joined the rest of the team in the conference room, and a huge smile grew on Fallon's face when her suspicions were correct. 

"Everybody, meet Agent Prentiss," Hotch said, motioning to the dark haired woman. Emily locked eyes with Fallon and smiled, while Fallon just shook her head, laughing to herself. Who would have thought. 

"I've been filling her in on protocol," JJ informed them.

"Derek Morgan," Morgan introduces, and Emily reached out to shake his hand.

"Emily Prentiss," she countered.

"We can make nice later. What do we know?" Hotch asked, as they all took a seat.

"The DEA raided what they thought was a hardened meth lab right here, in Northern Virginia, but they found this instead," JJ started. She pulled up a picture of a bomb, and Fallon's eyes widened.

"That could be a dispersal device for a chemical weapon. Sophisticated," Morgan commented.

"Homeland security's thinking Al Qaeda," JJ informed the team, making everyone's hearts sink.

"They've developed devices that span the spectrum of sophistication, some as simple as soda bottles and paint cans," Spencer said.

"They're called Al Ikhteraa. Literally 'the invention'," Emily spoke up.

"They are," Spencer confirmed when the team is silent for a moment, waiting for someone to test the validity of the new girl's statement. Fallon of course knew she was right, but she didn't want a biased opinion to confirm Emily's skill and knowledge. 

Of course, it would only take thirty seconds of a conversation for someone to know that Emily Prentiss was a smart woman, and very good at what she did. She was an ex-Interpol agent, a master at going undercover, and she was fluent in several foreign languages. Even if Fallon had confirmed Emily's statement, the bias wouldn't have mattered, Emily would prove that she was a goof fit for the team within her first couple cases, Fallon was sure of it. 

"Do we know what the biological or chemical agent is yet?" Fallon asked.

"No, not yet," Morgan responded.

"The cell members bailed out through a tunnel. The DEA recovered a Nextel two-way and managed to intercept a message," JJ said, putting a slip of paper down. Fallon took it, and looked it over. "That's not the transcript, it's.."