RUNAWAY
CHAPTER ONE...!

❝ FIRST DAY , SEASON NINE ❞

       JENNIE HOTCHNER stared at the building longer than she'd like to admit, it's overall facade intimidating her. It wasn't too tall, or too meticulously put together— yet it still made her just a bit uneasy.

The grand text of Briscoe County PD stared back at her. At her neatly brushed hair, her newly-bought black blazer, and the briefcase her Uncle Dave lent her. Her phone was pressed against her ear, as the person on the receiving end could hear her sigh.

"You ready?" Rachel asked the girl, on the other line. She herself was also in a similar situation, being nearly 2,500 kilo-meters from Jennie, back in New York. The curly-haired girl was standing outside her own formidable structure that also caused butterflies to swarm her stomach— the structure being the outside of the NYPD's 19th precinct.

Both the girls were starting their first day at work. Both the girls refused to hang up the call, and step foot in the buildings just yet.

"As I'll ever be." Jennie breathed out heavily in reply. There was a prolonged pause between the two, neither of them saying anything.

"We're gonna be okay at this, right?"

"Who? Us?" Jennie scoffed, trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince Rachel, "Psh. We're cool as a cucumber. Cooler even. Cucumbers can't even breathe. They don't even have a heartbeat. We do."

"Yeah. Psh. Cucumbers, such idiots that don't have heartbeats." Rachel nodded quickly, her phone still pressed strongly against her ear, "We have nice, normal heartbeats. I mean, we've practically mastered the art of Zen meditation."

Jennie voiced her agreement with a small "mhm", and the two went silent again.

The girl watched as the people of Briscoe County passed her. She just flew in about a week prior, moving into her new, temporary apartment.
She still hadn't gotten used to the new city.

"Let's run through the list of affirmations we wrote one more time?" Jennie suggested after taking a quick glance at her watch, seeing she had approximately three minutes to get into the building, and not constitute as late.

"Definitely." Rachel nodded, before closing her eyes, and recalling the affirmations, "We are strong, capable young women."

"We are intelligent. Brilliant."

"We embrace challenges as opportunities for growth. Failing is only leads to the expansion of knowledge."

"We will serve justice for dinner, and
Miranda Rights for dessert."

Rachel grimaced a bit at Jennie's choice of phrase, remembering how hesitant she was to put that on their 'list of affirmations' when Jennie first suggested it, "How do you feel about that affirmation, after having said it out loud?"

"I feel great. Don't even know what you were talking about when you said it was cringey." Jennie defended herself, causing the other girl to chuckle. Another long pause between the two ran silence through the call, before Jennie finally sighed, "Okay, Rach. Let's do this."

Rachel paused, before finally nodding.

"Let's do this."

—

JENNIE WALKED IN, and was immediately had the smell of freshly printed paper, and a strong whiff of pen ink. She finally made her way into the bullpen, seeing a deluge of beige uniformed officers.

"Excuse me?" She called out an officer walking past her, "Do you know where I could find Sheriff Coleman?"

Before the cop in front of her could answer, she heard a voice behind her.

"That would be me."

She turned around to see the man. A bit shorter than she expected, and he didn't have the mustache he had in his picture. The other cop walked back to his desk, leaving only Jennie and the Sheriff standing in front of each other.

"You must be Ms. Hotchner." Coleman offered her his hand, in which she took, shaking it politely, "It's good to have you. I've read for files, you've got dexterity, kid."

"Thank you, sir." Her own words caught her by a slight surprise. Sir. Sir? It was a feasible theory that, within Jennie's waking life, she had addressed a total of three people as sir. Maybe that's just who she was know. A very respectful person. It's a respectful title, so why was she surprised by it? Why is her mind racing with a thousand thoughts about such a word. God, she began to think, just be normal. Stop worrying. Am I sweating? Holy shit, I'm probably sweating so much. This is so embarrassing. I—

"Let's talk in my office." He motioned her to follow him, "Afterwards, I'll introduce you to your new team."

She exhaled.

"Yeah, okay. That sounds perfect."

—

THE TWO sat in Sheriff Coleman's office for what seemed like forever, the minutes feeling prolonged due to the staleness and tedious introduction process. It was all questions Jennie was asked before, just with different wording— tell me about yourself, do you have any prior law enforcement experience, are you willing to take the sacrifice and risk to be in this program, blah-blah-blah.

However, Jennie appreciated the fact that Coleman seemed genuinely interested in her answers. He would nod and occasionally let a small smile form on his lips.

"They weren't kidding when they said they'd be sending a kid down here." Coleman chuckled, looking through the girl's file, "20 years old, with a criminal justice degree, and completion of the police training academy. How'd you even manage that?"

"Oh well— I graduated both high school and college early. And during my last year at Columbia, I enrolled in the academy to gain my credentials—" Jennie stopped immediately when finally meeting his gaze, "Oh. That was rhetorical. Of course."

Coleman only chuckled softly, closing her file.

"I'm usually very good at reading social cues." Jennie blurted, with what she felt was a convincing nod, "Just not when I'm nervous, apparently."

"There's no need to be nervous, Ms. Hotchner." The sheriff assured her, "If we're being transparent here, this is my first year in this position. I still get nerves from time to time, but all I can do is do what I know is right. For my county, and for this country."

Jennie nodded, while she let an understanding smile form on her face. She pretended she hadn't used her self-taught, internet intelligence skills to look him up before she got this job, ultimately finding out that he was also new to the precinct, ( skills that she believes would make Penelope Garcia very proud ). She also found out he had a dog. That made her like him more.

"We're lucky to have you here." The man spoke once more, before beginning to stand from his desk chair, making his way to his office door, "How 'bout I introduce you to some of the people you'll be working with. I think you'll like them."

He held the door open for her. Jennie's nerves began to wash off. She grinned, and she got up from her seat.

Maybe she manifested the idea of being as cooler than a cucumber.

—

JENNIE followed the Sheriff across the bullpen, until they reached the precinct's kitchen, where she saw a group of cops making small talk near the coffee maker.

"Alright folks, gather around." The Sheriff eyed a certain trio, "Meet our newest recruit, Jennie Hotchner. Ms. Hotchner, this is Deputy Owen McGregor, Marty Bennet, and Vicky Lorenzana."

The brunette woman among the trip stepped forward, extended her hand with a polite smile, "You can call me Vick."

Jennie took the woman's hand into her own, shaking it, "Nice to meet you, Vick."

"Say, where are you from, Jennie?" One of the male deputies, Marty Bennett, questioned.

"Ain't from here, that's for sure." The other male deputy, Owen McGregory, added, nodding towards her outfit,  "Black blazer, black slacks— during this time a year? Kid's not accustomed to the humidity here yet."

Jennie let out a laugh, it was a bit of an awkward, forced one— but it was a laugh nonetheless.

"I was raised in Quantico, but I've spent the last couple years in New York. It's pretty humid there too." Jennie began, "I guess it's not as bad as here, though. The moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is brought to Texas by southern winds, and warm waters, ultimately making it so greatly hot."

The group went quiet.

She forgot what it was like to be around people who weren't already used to her rambles. It was weird. These people didn't know anything about her. About her hobbies, her likes, her dislikes. It was a new community that she would need to adapt to.

First impressions were never really her forte, anyway.

Sheriff Coleman eventually cleared his throat, placing a hand on the girl's back to lead her away from the group, "How about I go show you to your desk?"

She nodded, smiling politely to the trio as a goodbye, before following him the Sheriff.

As the two began walking, Jennie turned her head to the man, tilting her head questioningly.

"There's only one other woman working in this precinct?"

"Unfortunately so, yeah." Coleman spoke, a bit embarrassed. Jennie knew it wasn't his fault, so she didn't blame him for it. He was new to Briscoe PD, just as she was. If anything, it was most likely the previous Sheriff's judgement, "Look, we're really grateful you're here, Hotchner. I transferred here during, what I heard, was the precinct's toughest year — and ever since, I've been looking for ways to fix this place. It'll be good to have a new set of eyes with us."

They stopped at what appeared to be Jennie's new desk.

"Well, thank you for trusting me to be part of your team." Jennie nodded towards him, "I won't let you down."

He smiled, nodding back.

"I know you won't."

—

AUTHOR'S NOTE |

jennie's first day!! woohoo!! our girl is so grown up 🥲🥲

word count.
1649.