delicate | criminal minds

Chapter 1

The fitness watch Antionette wore on her wrist buzzed three times to warn her that her morning workout was nearly finished. She could hear her father's voice in her head telling her how silly she was for running alone in the woods. I know how to handle myself, Dad. You taught me how, remember? She would respond, and he would smile and shake his head at her. He'd been gone for a few years now.

Toni came to a halt as her watch buzzed rapidly to tell her she'd finished her three mile run. Every morning since she started at the academy she'd go for a morning run as soon as the sun rose into the sky. It was safer than running when it was dark out, and it kept her in her best shape. The FBI fitness test only required a 1.5 mile run, but Toni always had to be better than the average. So, she doubled it the requirements for herself to be better than her counterparts when she retook the fitness exam.

While walking back to her car, the ringtone of her phone rang in her ears. She tapped the side of her headphones to answer it. "Hello?" she said, pulling the other headphone out in order to hear her surroundings. "Antionette Hartwell?" the other voice asked. The voice was familiar, and, even after all these years, she wasn't used to hearing the new last name she had taken on. "Toni," she corrected. "This is she."

"Sorry, dear. I forgot. This is Agent David Rossi. How are you?"

Toni paused. Her heart sank as she remembered the last time she had spoke to her Uncle Dave. He was calling to tell her her father had been murdered, and her mind quickly went back to that night. She was in Stafford, Virginia finishing her FBI training. It had been nearly a year since she'd seen him, but she did talk to him once a week when he would walk down to a little lake to get cell phone service. Her and her mother never quite got along so the loss of her father hit her much harder than she expected.

"Uncle Dave! I'm doing great. What's going on?" she answered, hoping her fake excitement hid her worry. He was a profiler, though. He could probably read her without even seeing her face.

Dave Rossi wasn't actually her uncle, obviously. Still, he had been there when she was a kid, and she'd started calling him that when she was three years old. The name stuck.

"Oh, nothing bad. I wanted to tell you we have an opening. At the BAU," Rossi spoke again.

Toni closed her eyes, sighing. Once upon a time, the BAU was her dream. She'd even majoring in psychology hoping to be just like her father one day. After losing her father two years ago, that idea slowly left her mind. Her line of work was dangerous as well, but she wasn't working her serial murderers the way her dad, Dave, and their team did. It was a different danger for them, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to do that every single day.

"Dave..." she sighed, not quite sure how she was supposed to respond. "I've told you. I don't know if I want to be part of the BAU. I like working with the sex crimes unit. I know how to do it. I just--I don't know. I'm already part of the FBI...I just--don't know."

"Why don't you come down to the unit and just do an interview? I threw your name in a hat so it could be worth a shot."

Sighing, Toni thought it over. It wouldn't hurt to at least give it a try.

"Alright, alright. I can come today anytime. They, uh," Toni paused as she thought about her words. "The don't know who I am, right?"

However, it would only take a simple background check to reveal the name change documents she had put it five years ago. 

"No. I don't think anyone in this room names Gideon even had a daughter. How does noon sound?"

That didn't surprise her. Her dad kept her away to avoid the risk of her getting tangled up with these criminals. She appreciated it.