𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱

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𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟳, 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟬
𝟲:𝟱𝟱 𝗮𝗺
𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀
𝗔𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮

𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 almost unrecognisable. Staring into the mirror seemed foreign, but when she frowned, it frowned, when she scrunched her nose, it scrunched its nose, when she bared her teeth, it did the same. Exhaling heavily, she messed with her hair to try and get it to sit right, but there was no denying it.

It was still her.

"You're in the big leagues now, kid," Cady echoed her father's words to her from when she was attending baseball tryouts at the age of nine, eventually lasting less than a season. She pursed her lips, biting at the inside of her cheek. Her heart was pounding, her thoughts were racing, and her hands were sweating. She willed herself to turn away from the mirror and exit the bathroom, touching her fingertips to the framed photograph on her mantle as she passed it, one of the only things she had already unpacked since moving in less than a week ago.

In a total of 24 days, her life had flipped on its head. She wasn't entirely forced to take this on, but after the words of encouragement and a letter of recommendation from Pete, she had made the second major relocation of her life. New apartment, new city, new career; she had to leave everything and start fresh, including the house she had grown up in. She had lived by herself for almost three years, but now, in completely unfamiliar surroundings and almost enemy territory, she'd never felt more alone.

Scooping up her keys from the kitchen counter, she took one last surveying glance over her new apartment, inhaling deeply. "You got this, Cadence..." She heard the words as they left her lips, but it would take far more convincing to ease her anxieties today. She forced herself an encouraging nod as she closed the door behind her, locking it, and finally took her first venturing steps in her new direction.

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𝐀𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 cold and damp cement beneath her calloused hands, the blonde teen groaned, her eyes straining against the darkness. "Hello?" she croaked, barely able to lift her head from how heavy it felt. "Is anyone there?"

Met by silence broken only by a rhythmic metallic tapping in the distance, she sighed, her temple pressed to the floor again. Delirium clouded her mind, allowing her memory to only come back in fuzzy patches, itching like an old corduroy. She made an effort to sit up, clutching her hands to her head, but her wrists were bound together by a thick strip of beige fabric, her ankles shackled to a pillar in the middle of the room.

She stared at her hands. Beneath the bindings, her skin was bruised. Her knuckles were cracked and bloodied, and grime was caked under her fingernails. Her feet were bare and covered in dirt, no longer in her black runners she knew she was wearing the previous night. It was coming back to her.

She'd been at Riverview Park. She remembered the sun dancing on the ripples of the lake, the happy screams of laughter from the children playing in the splash pads. This dark and dreary basement wasn't Riverview Park.

"Hello?!" she called again. "Somebody help me!" Her eyes were adjusting to her surroundings, recognising a wooden chair and an empty workbench, lit only by the small, dusty window high to her right. Sunlight seemed to break through the bars outside of it, casting linear shadows on the cold floor. It couldn't have been far after sunrise, she deduced, but how long had she been here?

Panic began to creep in with the dawn, settling over her in the shadows. She hurried to pull at the chain attached to her ankles, grunting in frustration as it made no relief.

"Don't fight."

The voice was low, hidden in the darkness. The sudden addition made her jump before scampering back, away from the voice. "Who are you?" she managed.

"Your shepherd."

His answer made no sense and she frowned, her hands still wrapped around the chains that bound her. She noticed a glint of light from his direction; he was twisting something in his grip. "What do you want?"

"You need your strength, my deer."

"For what?" Her final question came cold, frightened, but she was met with no response. Instead, he swung and his heavy hammerhead hit, knocking her out cold.

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"𝐖𝐎𝐀𝐇, 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐒, big weekend?" Morgan chuckled at Emily, who was leaning forward in her seat with her head in her hands. She barely moved, simply flipping him off through a tangle of raven hair. They were joined in the BAU bullpen by Reid, tucked in his chair with a cryptic crossword spread across his knees.

The rushed clicking of stiletto heels on the sleek tiles by the elevators was soon dampened by the carpet of the bullpen as the glass doors swung open. Garcia was hurrying over, a bright orange pen clutched in her hand. "Have you guys heard?"

"About Em's wild weekend?" Morgan cocked a brow. "She was just about to tell us."

"No," Garcia leaned in, "JJ said that Rossi told her that Hotch met with Strauss last week. There's a new agent transfer."

"To the BAU?" Reid frowned, looking up from the puzzle he had almost completed, close to beating his previous record time of four minutes and eight seconds.

Garcia nodded.

"When?" Morgan asked.

"Today." She glanced at the baby pink watch disguised within the flurry of rainbow bracelets around her wrist. "Like, now."

"Do we know who?" Reid's curiosity was easily piqued, and his timer continued counting. This solve would be an outlier in his statistics.

The woman shrugged, begrudgingly. "Surprisingly, this is the extent of my knowledge. I came straight here as soon as JJ told me. I didn't have time to dig into files."

"Can we please," Emily groaned, lifting a hand to then close it, pinching her thumb to her other fingers, "shush."

Morgan grinned "Sorry, Em," he sang, his level not any less than before.

The elevator chimed in the foyer, and Cady's heart was in her throat. Level 6; it was where she needed to be.

Was it where she belonged?

She drew a breath, pacing her exhale. Her hands were bunched into fists by her sides as she stepped out. She recognised the group of agents from behind the glass doors and took another breath as she entered the room.

Agent Morgan was the first to look up, standing beside a woman that Cady didn't recognise. "Guys," he muttered, and the remaining agents she did remember, Dr Reid and Emily Prentiss, lifted their sights to her as she approached.

"Detective Wilkinson?" Dr Reid frowned, his head cocked to one side. "What are you doing here?" The team hadn't seen the woman since they assisted in solving the case she led, close to two months ago, nor did they expect to ever cross paths again.

Cady fixed her bangs, giving in to her nervous habit. "Uh, it's Agent now, apparently." She bit at the corner of her mouth, giving a one-shouldered shrug. "I guess I really must've impressed someone."

"Finally," Garcia laughed, "someone to even out the odds. It was starting to reek of testosterone in here." She extended her hand with a wide grin. "Penelope Garcia. It's so nice to actually meet you in person."

Cady's lips broke into a smile, shaking her hand. "Cady," she obliged. "And I don't know," she smirked, "I'm not afraid of a little male competition."

"Hey, woah," Morgan joked, his hands up in defence, "we're all friends here."

Emily groaned, her head hung once more.

Cady looked to Penelope, unsure if Emily's demeanour was on account of the new presence or not. But Penelope simply gave an empathetic smile. "Hangover," she whispered.

"Oh!" Cady dug into her bag. "Actually, I have..." She retrieve a foil blister-packet, handing it to Emily. "Here, these are amazing."

The brunette lifted her head as she exhaled gratefully, pushing two pills from the crinkling packet to chase with a mouthful of coffee from her bright red mug. "I think I love you, Agent Wilkinson."

Hesitantly, Cady smiled. It was the first time she had heard her new title, and she was sure she would've ever get used to it. She didn't even believe she deserved it.

"Cadence."

She turned, recognising the voice that now called her name. Pinstriped suit, pressed collar, and an almost perfectly positioned tie; he'd actually made an effort in his appearance. She smiled politely, offering her hand as he descended the stairs and headed towards the group. "Agent Hotchner," she greeted.

He shook it. "Please, you're part of the team now. It's Hotch."

"Hotch," she solidified with a minor bob of her head.

"Are you ready?"

She took in a deep breath with a nervous grimace before nodding, her brows furrowed. "I hope so."

The blonde that Cady recognised as the communications liaison approached, only following a few steps behind Hotch as she too exited what Cady assumed was his office, armed with a stack of folders cradled in her arms. "Five women have been killed in Arizona, and a sixth has just been taken," she explained, rushed as she distributed her folders to the team. "We gotta go, now."

"JJ," Morgan began.

"I'm sorry, we really don't have time," JJ was shaking her head, already making her way to the other set of stairs that led to the office next to Hotch's. "We need to debrief on the jet."

She disappeared into the open doorway and a confused and surprised frown found its way to Cady's brows as she lifted her gaze from her folder to Hotch. "You guys have a jet?"