-MAD WOMAN-
one!

and to a place i come where nothing shines
- dante

then - 5x01!

Making her way into the hospital, Wren looked around the lobby unsure of who she was really looking for. Of course, she had his name, but no other information. Nothing about what he looked like or what room he was in. The case was assigned to her rather abruptly and she had little to no time to rest between this case and her most recent one.

The hospital was filled to the brim with security personnel, officers, and fellow FBI agents. She knew this case was high profile but she was slightly taken aback by the number of people actually here.

"Ma'am, can I help you?" A nurse at the receptionist's desk asked her, gaining Wren's attention.

"Um, possibly, I'm looking for an Agent Aaron Hotchner. He was admitted this morning," Wren approached the desk, pulling her badge out of her pocket to let the nurse examine it.

Before the nurse could point her in the direction of where she needed to go, someone else was calling the agent's name.

"Wren?" A familiar feminine voice asked from behind her and the agent with long brown hair turned around to see a woman she hadn't seen in six years.

After muttering a quick 'thank you anyways' to the nurse, Wren went to approach her old friend with furrowed brows. Her dark hair and side-swept bangs were recognizable to Wren just about anywhere, even if the last time Wren saw her, her hair was a few shades lighter than it is now. Her friend looked around the lobby and down the hall, making sure that it was safe to openly speak with Wren.

"Emily, what are you doing here?" Wren asked in a hushed tone when they were close enough to each other to talk quietly.

"I could ask you the same," Emily replied, still looking around. "My boss got attacked so I'm here for him. Why are you here?"

"Well, if your boss is Aaron Hotchner, then I'm here for the same reason." She pushed some of her hair out of her face as she pulled the case file out of her bag. Looking up at the confused expression of the woman in front of her, Wren continued to explain. "Strauss assigned me his case about an hour ago."

"You work for Strauss?"

"Working for her for two years now," she told her with a nod.

"What happened to the NSA?" Emily kept asking her questions and Wren sighed.

"I got transferred. Can we talk about this later?"

"I mean, it makes sense that you were assigned this case, you have a knack for obsessional crimes," the profiler continued to think aloud as the interrogations specialist let out another loud puff of air.

"Emily," Wren nudged her vocally and the woman looked up from the file and at her again. "I really need to talk to your boss."

After a sigh passed Emily's lips, she nodded and turned to walk the way she came from. "Alright, but don't let the others know that we know each other."

"I know the job, Em," she reminded her as she followed closely behind. "I was there, too."

Emily didn't have time to respond since they turned a corner to see a group of three standing there, all of which seemed to know Emily. This had to be the team or at least some of it.

"He's right through the door on the left," Emily pointed Wren towards Agent Hotchner's room.  "He's awake but weak. He's already seen his family and they've left with the Marshal's service."

"Uh, Prentiss, who is this?" The bald black man in a skin-tight t-shirt asked, stepping in front of Wren to block her from going where she needed to.

Feeling the apprehensiveness radiate off of the man, Wren gave him a tight-lipped smile and stretched out her hand for him to shake. "My name is Agent Wren Spader. I specialize in obsessional crimes and stalking cases in which families are involved. I was assigned to Agent Hotchner's case by Erin Strauss earlier today and I need to speak to the victim in order to gather further information about what I'm dealing with."

"But we're working the Foyet case. No one else," the older man with a goatee interjected, brows furrowed. Lowering her hand since the man in front of her never took it, Wren looked over to the one that spoke with a look that simply said 'really?'

"I understand that the BAU is investigating George Foyet and I will not be getting in your way whatsoever. However, Chief Strauss instructed me to join the investigation with an outsider's point of view since, according to her, your team has a tendency to get a little emotional when it comes to cases involving any of you."

"Excuse me?" The man blocking her way asked, almost in shock by what Wren said.

"I simply quoted what Chief Strauss told me, I meant no offense by the statement," Wren informed him, not at all phased by the way the team was reacting to her presence. "Now, I understand your loyalty to your boss but I am simply here to help. I am specially trained for this type of case and I would like to be briefed by the man who knows the most about the person who attacked him so I can decide what the next best steps are."

The man didn't move. He only watched her intently, like he was trying to read her mind. Wren wasn't sure what he was trying to get from giving her the stare-down. She wasn't hiding anything.

"Strauss likes to think that she can tear this team apart from the inside if she sends in someone of her choosing," the blonde woman stated. It wasn't a jab at anyone here, but at Strauss. However, the air around them quickly became uncomfortable.

"Well, if it didn't work in the past, I doubt it'll work now," the young agent retorted. She wanted nothing more than to move past this little stand-off that she and these members of the BAU had found themselves in. Yet, with her confrontational personality and habit to say the first thing that came to mind, Wren could tell that these three members she had just met didn't like her all too much. Which was fine, in her opinion. She wasn't there for them.

"Morgan, get out of her way. She's not a threat or anything," Emily added in, which seemed to help the man in front of Wren relax a bit.

"In the simplest words I can use, I'm legit," Wren said to them, holding her badge up. "Just let me through so I can help."

Morgan, as Emily called him, sighed before moving slightly out of her way and as soon as he did, Wren Spader pushed past him and towards the room.

She approached the entrance slowly and waited until the injured agent acknowledged her presence before entering the room. She didn't want to cause him any panic.

"I've seen you before," Agent Hotchner spoke lowly, attempting to not exert any more energy than necessary.

"Agent Hotchner, my name is Agent Wren Spader. I work as an interrogations specialist for the FBI but I have fieldwork that has given me expertise in crimes of obsession," she introduced herself as calmly as she could but she was still cut off by the man.

"Why are you giving me your résumé?" he asked and she chuckled, stepping into the room fully.

"I'm not trying to, I'm just letting you know who I am," Wren replied with a small smile. "Chief Strauss has assigned me your case."

"My case?"

"Yes, sir. After your most recent encounter with George Foyet and your family being placed into protective custody, Strauss gave me this assignment."

"And what is your job?" He continued to question her, which is what she was expecting.

"Starting now, I report to both you and Strauss in terms of things I find on Foyet," she explained to him. "I will be devoting all of my energy to finding him so that you don't have to. I know you will still work on this case with me and I'm expecting you to, but you have a job as unit chief of the BAU. I hope to relieve some of the pressure you might be facing since you and your family are the current targets of Foyet."

Agent Hotchner sighed before nodding. He was tired and she could tell. She didn't want to put him through any more stress so she just sat down in a chair near him and they talked.

✦✧✦

now - 6x02!

She chuckled as she entered the bullpen of the BAU. The sight of four of her teammates circled around Emily's desk watching for movement from Hotch's office was entertaining. For profilers, they weren't the best at hiding their curiosity.

"Could you guys try to be less suspicious?" Wren questioned her co-workers as she approached them. Each of the four turned slightly her way when she spoke but then refocused on the window to the office.

"Do you know why JJ's in there with Strauss and Hotch?" Penelope asked her after Wren placed her go-bag on her desk and stood next to the technical analyst. Wren's brows raised in surprise at her question, not knowing that that was what they were waiting for; someone to exit first.

"No, but I'm sure she won't like you all being nosy," she reminded the group in a tone that was light and teasing. None of them pay any mind to her and continue watching the room. "Besides, I'm sure she'll tell us when she's ready if it's super important."

"But he never closes the blinds. Why would he close the blinds this time?" Garcia continued to ask questions, her worried tone evident.

"What, you think they're having a threesome or something in there?" Wren joked, which caused Spencer to choke on whatever he was eating and Derek to hit her arm. Penelope looked over at her jaw slack, almost in shock by what she said.

"Spader!" Derek scolded, attempting to push down the laugh that was threatening to leave him.

"Nah, you can clearly see their shadows all separated, I don't think it's a threesome," Emily joined in and Derek hit her arm in protest.

"Prentiss!"

"Hey! She started it," the woman turned to point at Wren who was almost in a fit of giggles at the chain reaction she had caused.

"Spades, you're going to get us all in trouble one of these days," Penelope muttered as Derek walked off to his office. 

"I don't think one joke about some of our coworkers and bosses having sex is going to get us in trouble," Wren replied with a shrug as she moved to sit on top of Spencer's desk and face them. "This team has done a whole lot worse."

"Yes, but you're willing to test how far we can cross the line before we get noticed!" Spencer retorted as Hotch's door opened and Chief Strauss left the office. She gave the group a polite nod and was on her way, though the four still lurking there were having a hard time holding back laughter. 

The group remained quiet as they waited for JJ or Hotch to leave the office and once they did, each of them started to move or attempt to act like they weren't waiting for them. Wren got off of the desk and adjusted her dress pants before walking to her desk and grabbing her go-bag once again. 

The team all followed behind Hotch as he walked towards the elevator. Wren found herself wedged between Emily and Spencer as she usually was, trying to hear as much of the conversation as possible.

"How long have they been in custody?" Morgan asked Hotch as they walked.

"60 hours," their boss told the group. "We have twelve hours to get a confession or find the body."

"Find the girl," Wren muttered to herself. She always did her best to believe that the victims were alive unless there was proof that said otherwise.

"Syd Pearson has a lot of money and connections. If we let him go, we may never see him again," Spencer added to the main conversation, lightly nudging Wren with his elbow since he heard what she said.

"And Barrett?" Emily asked, looking towards him.

"He doesn't have the same resources, but that doesn't mean that Pearson won't help him out if they're as close as we think they are," Wren said.

"Do you think these guys did it?" Penelope inquired as she trailed behind the group, sorting the papers she had in her hands.

"The locals do," Hotch replied, opening one of the glass doors while Morgan went to hold the other one open for Penelope and Wren. 

"They tried to get them to turn against one another, but that didn't work," Rossi brought up, having now caught up with the team.

"It seems they have a bond that dates back to childhood," Spencer explained. 

"Well, we only have a thirty-minute flight. That's not enough time to delve into their histories," Morgan pointed out as Hotch pressed the button to summon the elevator. Garcia started to hand out the papers she was holding while they waited.

"Bullet points on the missing woman," she explained as each of the team members took the papers from her. "Second and third pages are all about the suspects."

"Thanks, doll," Wren placed a hand on Garcia's shoulder as she passed her, giving the woman a small smile which was returned quickly.

"Garcia, we're gonna need phone records, credit card receipts, anything you can find," the team's leader instructed the tech analyst. The elevator door opened and the group began to pile in, with Emily holding the door open for the rest.

"Yes, you'll have them when you get there," Penelope said as Wren leaned against the back wall of the elevator. Adjusting the packet of paper in her hands, the brunette began to take in the information on Kate Joyce.

Once JJ was in the elevator, the field team was off after waving goodbye to Garcia, only some of them hopeful that this case would have a somewhat positive outcome.