When The World Stops | Completed

Chapter 66: Panic

"Everyone, sit down!" I called into the massive teaching theatre.

Immediately, they fell quiet.

"Wow, we might actually get something done today." I joked. "My name is Agent (Y/N) (Y/L/N), and I'm going to be teaching you about staying calm in stressful situations. We'll be discussing everything from talking people down from rooftops to dealing with someone who is holding a gun to your head and has a bomb strapped to them."

There were some murmurs.

"I've done both, before you ask." I knew that was the next question. "And I will be discussing those situations, but before we do that, I want to understand why all of you are here. I'm going to go down the roll and call last names. Please answer with the first name you'd like to be called, even if it isn't your legal name. If you say something inappropriate, I will put you in the hallway. And don't even try to say something in another language."

There were a few students who said they used different names, and I made notes on the folder containing the class list.

"Before we begin, I'd like to tell you a little bit more about myself. I already told you my name, but before I began teaching at the academy, I was in the Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU. Our team focuses on creating psychological profiles for unsubs, or unknown subjects, and tracking them down that way. One thing you must understand is that a profile is always a guide, not a perfect template. We have been wrong before."

A student raised their hand. "Ma'am?"

"It's Agent." I corrected. "Or you can just use my name, but you will not call me ma'am or Mrs. anything. What's your question?"

"What's the scariest case you've been on?"

I thought for a second, "I dealt with the girlfriend of a previous unsub who wired herself into a bomb to get me alone, then brought me outside in front of my entire team and tried to execute me. She shot my neck." I pulled down the collar of my shirt slightly, revealing the silvery wound. "My team was speaking to me through my earpiece, but I couldn't respond. That was probably the scariest."

There were quiet murmurs, sounds of amazement.

"I fully thought I was going to die, and it's only because my team moved quickly and efficiently under pressure that I didn't. Part of being calm under pressure is trusting others. That's actually today's lesson."

***

A few students approached me after class, either with questions or to ask me more about the case (which we'd nicknamed the Wonderland case at the BAU). Once everyone filed out, I shuffled my papers, preparing for my next class, when I heard a shuffling sound. I looked up to see the person who'd asked me a question earlier, still sitting.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked.

They looked up, "Oh, sorry, I'm in your next class too. Do you need me to leave?"

I shook my head, "No, don't worry about it."

"Were you really in that situation? It's not something you made up to impress us?"

I shook my head. "True story. We were dealing with a kidnapper; we thought the unsub was male. We found the warehouse where the victims were being kept and tortured, found three girls and our undercover agent tied up. The agent and two of the girls got out, but the third was wired to a bomb. I told my team to evacuate and get a bomb squad. I managed to get the bomb, which was wired into her dress, off and exploded it safely away from us, but she stole my gun. She told me she was the girlfriend of someone I'd killed on a previous case after he shot me – that's my other major stress story. She brought me outside, made me get on my back, and almost killed me. She shot at the same time one of my team members shot her, she barely missed killing me. I was in a coma for two weeks; I was legally dead several times." Before I'd started teaching, I'd decided I'd be honest about this case; lying wouldn't do anyone any good.