Chapter Text
“Agent Hotchner?” Russell knocked lightly, poking his head past the already open door. Hotchner looked up, meeting his eyes. “I’m Agent Russell Scott, I-”
“Ah, yes.” Hotchner put down the paperwork he’d been reading and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “Come on in, I’ve been expecting you.” Russell nodded, putting his bag on the floor next to the chair as he sat down.
“I know you wanted to go over some things with me before I started today,” Russell said quickly, tugging at his sleeve. “And I’m fully aware of the conditions to me being part of your team - the director made sure I did before he agreed to it.”
“You don’t need to worry, Agent Scott.” Hotchner seemed amused, though he wasn’t smiling. “I read your file, and a good friend of mine performed your psychiatric evaluation. He’s on the team as well, though I’m sure you know that.”
“Agent Rossi.” Russell nodded.
“I just wanted to make sure you were alright with the conditions before we get too deep into a case,” Hotchner explained, this time offering a light smile. Russell nodded, though he was surprised.
“You… you aren’t worried about me? About… this?” he gestured vaguely up to his head, though it was really his brain he referred to. Hotchner shook his head.
“I don’t see much reason to be worried.” He explained. “We’ve come across dissociative identity order before, yes, but those were extreme cases.”
“That’s true, the vast majority of systems aren’t violent or a danger to others.” Russell agreed, feeling relief flood through him. “The cases where it does happen are stigmatized by the media, and only really occur when the trauma hasn’t been dealt with.”
“I think you’ll get along well with the team.” Hotchner chuckled, which was a surprise. Until that moment, he’d seemed almost robot-like. “So you are comfortable with everything about your position here?”
“Most of the conditions were suggested by myself,” Russell confessed, shrugging with one shoulder. “I prefer to be unarmed, stay profiling as much as possible. I’m… I’m certified to be a field agent, but I’d prefer to stay at the base of operations. It’s a safety measure that seems to be a given with the director, and my therapist. To prevent any overly traumatic triggers.”
“But you’ll be able to see the pictures, listen to details, and all that?”
“Yeah. The only time you’ll need to worry is if I tell you to be worried, or if something happens directly to me. It’s… I’d probably have joined the bureau earlier if I wasn’t working on all that.”
“Your skillset will be valuable,” Hotchner said. “A master’s degree in psychology, a focus on trauma studies… I’m interested to see how your perspective will help us.”
“I’m excited to put it to use,” Russell replied, smiling.
“One more thing,” Hotchner glanced out the window to his office, where the team had trickled in for the day. Russell could see a few of them looking curiously at the office. “So far, the only people on this team who know about your condition are myself and Rossi. It’s up to you if you tell the rest of the team.” Russell frowned at the use of the word ‘condition’, but he didn’t have any other way to describe it, either.
“It’s not a huge secret,” he shrugged. “I’m probably not going to open up my introduction with that, but if it becomes relevant or there’s a good time, I’ll let people know.”
“Alright.” Hotchner smiled and stood up. Russel followed suit, shaking his hand. “Let’s go get you introduced, then.”
“Thank you, Agent Hotchner.” Russell tried to show his mixture of emotions at being accepted so easily, and Hotchner just smiled thinly.
“My friends call me Hotch.”
“Shut up, here they come.” the team turned away when they stepped out of the office, badly pretending to be doing their work. Russell snorted.
“Your desk will be right over here,” Hotch said, rolling his eyes at the rest of the team. Russell followed the gesture, putting his bag in the chair as Hotch got the team’s attention.
“Guys, this is Agent Russell Scott. You already knew he was coming.”
“We knew the bare minimum.” one of them - Russell was pretty sure it was Agent Morgan - protested. “We’re a curious bunch, Hotch.”
“Scott, this is Agent Derek Morgan,” Hotch confirmed Russell’s initial thoughts, and Russell nodded. “Agent Emily Prentiss,” he gestured to the dark-haired woman. “Agent Jennifer Jareau,” the blonde. “And Dr. Spencer Reid.” Russell’s eyes widened. He’d forgotten Dr. Reid was on this team, too distracted by the change in job.
“Dr. Reid! I forgot you’d be here - it’s so good to be able to see you again, I-”
“What, the kid knows people outside of work?” Morgan laughed, nudging Reid’s shoulder.
“Ah, ignore him,” Reid said with an awkward smile. “If it’s any consolation, Russell, I didn’t know it was you joining the team until this morning.”
“Any friend of Spence is a friend of mine,” Jareau said, holding out a hand. “Call me JJ.”
“Nice to meet you all,” Russell smiled, nodding to Morgan and Prentiss. The group slowly dispersed back to their own desks, though Dr. Reid stayed behind a bit.
“How have you been doing?” he asked lowly, once the others seemed immersed in their work. “I know you wanted to join the bureau, but I never thought…”
“There were some exceptions made, in my case.” Russell chuckled. “And some conditions were agreed upon. I’m doing really well, though.”
“I’m glad to hear it, you know, I read your most recent paper, and it really helped put different trauma responses into perspective, I can see how useful that will be in victimology.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Russell wasn’t surprised. He’d first met Dr. Reid when he worked at a local college. Reid had been doing a deep dive into researching dissociative disorders for some reason. Russell hadn’t asked why, as it had seemed personal to him. “That, and a lot of unsubs have survived trauma as well.”
“It’s a weird dichotomy, isn’t it?” Reid mused. “The differences survivors can have?”
“I think it all goes down to the situation.” Russell shrugged. “Psychology is such a fluid thing, especially when it comes to trauma.”
“Well, at least you being a nerd makes it easier to believe you already knew Reid,” Morgan called, laughing from his desk.
“You psychologically profile people for a living.” Russell shot back. “I think that makes you a nerd, too.”
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” Prentiss laughed, while Morgan just opened and closed his mouth a few times.
“W- okay, that’s fair. But not every nerd can kick in doors every day, too.”
“Actually, if you know where the doorknob or deadbolt is on the door, it’s pretty easy to kick in a door if you have average leg strength.” Reid piped up, making his way back to his own desk. “If the brunt of the hit is on the deadbolt, it’s easier to break it through the doorframe.”
“Or just take the hinges off,” Russell added.
“I did not come here today to get made fun of,” Morgan announced, turning back to his desk and dramatically ignoring them.
Russell winced, suddenly worried he’d actually hurt Morgan’s feelings. But Prentiss caught his eye and smiled, shaking her head. They seemed to know each other well, and he trusted that she’d know what lines not to cross.
The next few hours passed easily, Russell unpacked his few things into the desk and started reading through a case - one that several other team members would also chime in on since he was new. That, and he was a trauma specialist. His focus was on the interviews with surviving victims or witnesses who found the bodies, etc.
He glanced up once, spotting a blonde woman in a brightly colored dress speedwalking to Hotch’s office, stepping inside and closing the door with a snap. Weird. Nobody else seemed to find this surprising, though, so he just looked back at the file. Hotch was the unit chief, a lot of people would need to talk to him.
“Wh- Garcia, what’s wrong?” Aaron frowned when Penelope stormed in, closing the door. “What’s going on?”
“Okay, I know you kept the guy’s name from me before now because you didn’t want me to dig into his life, but let me just say that if a suspect did that you’d find it super suspicious.” She said, waving her hands around and pacing. “But… Hotch, do you… do you know this guy? Do you know anything about-”
“He has a dissociative disorder.” Hotch sighed, rubbing his forehead. Of course. “I thought I told you to stop-”
“You’re my family, Hotch!” Garcia sounded offended. “I have to make sure you’re in good hands at all times!”
“Agent Scott isn’t dangerous,” Hotch said sternly. “Sit.”
“But-”
“Now.” He narrowed his gaze into a stern glare, and Garcia sat. “He’s gone through several psychiatric evaluations, including one by Rossi. He was recruited by the FBI on purpose, due to his study and expertise of traumatized individuals. He himself set conditions that he would remain unarmed, and that he’d not be a full field agent. Do you have any specific concerns, or are you assuming he’s dangerous based on his diagnosis?”
“I…” Garcia gaped at him. “Don’t… Hotch, you know I don’t assume bad things just because of mental illness! But… does the team know? What happens if he has… has a thing in the middle of a case? What about Reid? He was-”
“Reid was the person to suggest Agent Scott be recruited,” Hotch said, smiling slightly. “Agent Scott isn’t dangerous, Garcia. Please do not confront him about this. That’s an order.”