Chapter Text
"You are not what happened to you.
You are so much more than that.
You are a multitude of stories and journeys that have shaped you to be you.
But they have done that.
And only that.
They shaped you.
They are not you.
You are more than what happened to you."
His calves hurt slightly as he reached the top of the stairs. His chest rose and fell slightly in rhythm with his heavy breathing.
He pushed the glass door open softly, catching the nearest agent.
"Excuse me, where can I find Agent Hotchner?" The agent turned around slightly, pointing to an office behind him. "Thank you," He said, before he walked towards the small set of stairs.
The door was slightly open, so he knocked softly on the doorway "Agent Hotchner?"
"Yes," He said, looking up from the papers on his desk.
"Hi, I'm Dr Ciro Marino." He introduced himself, taking a few steps into the office "It's about Agent Greenaway's psych evaluation."
Agent Hotchner leaned back in his chair, motioning for Ciro to sit in the chair opposite him "Why did you come here personally? You could've just sent the file over"
Ciro sat down in the chair, folding his hands in his lap "That's the problem, sir. Greenaway never showed up. I don't have anything on her. I've called three times, left voicemails, but she isn't answering back"
Hotchner sighed heavily. He then stood up, "Come with me," He said, walking towards the office door.
Ciro walked with him, following in his heels as they walked down to another office. Hotchner knocked on the door before he walked into the office.
"Gideon, this is Ciro Marino. He was supposed to do Elle's eval," He said as they both got into the office, closing the door behind him.
Agent Gideon sat up straighter, motioning to the two chairs in front of him.
As both Hothner and Ciro sat down, Ciro spoke up. "Greenaway didn't show up for the eval yesterday. I've tried calling and leaving messages, but she neither picked up nor called back," He explained.
Gideon sighed and leaned back in his chair "Doesn't look good."
"No, let's be honest. We know exactly what it looks like." Hotchner said.
Gideon looked into the desk, "Elle let her emotions get in her way." Ciro started fiddling with his hands, scratching his palm.
"And it goes against everything we stand for, " Hotchner said, looking up at Gideon, who was still looking into the desk.
Gideon finally looked up at Hotchner, "So don't you make the same mistake. She's innocent until proven guilty." He paused for a brief moment, "I'll go to Texas. You find Elle," Hotchner hummed and nodded softly, "Do you mind tagging along, Doc?" Gideon asked as he turned to Ciro.
"I don't have anything planned for the rest of the day, so… Sure," He nodded softly.
The silence was too loud as both Ciro and Hotchner sat in the car outside of Greenaway's apartment complex. "Tell me about the situation," Ciro said, sighing softly.
"Didn't you read her file?" He asked, not taking his eyes away from the entrance.
"I did," He nodded softly, "But it's always different when you explain things like this than when you read off of a piece of paper."
Hotchner sighed softly, "Elle went to the UnSub's apartment to confront him. He drew his gun, and she acted in self-defence," He explained.
"But neither you nor Agent Gideon believes that, do you?" Ciro asked softly, his arms placed over his chest.
Hotchner didn't say anything for a few seconds "We have no evidence to say it was anything but self-defence," He sighed softly after he explained.
There wasn't any talking after that, not until Hotchner spoke up again.
"That's her," He said, taking his phone and dialling a number. Greenaway picked up her phone, took one look at it and threw it in the nearby trash can before getting into her car. He put his phone back down before starting to follow her.
They followed her for a good while before finding her at a cemetery "Go there alone. She should talk to you alone, rather than with a shrink she doesn't know." Hotchner nodded softly, "Don't tell her to talk to me when we get back, but do suggest it."
The drive back was silent, not much talking- not that there had been anything through the day.
"Thank you. Thank you for helping," Hotchner said as they neared the building.
"Of course. It's not exactly what Quantico hired me for, but I get paid anyway," Ciro joked, trying to light the mood in the car. "Besides, it's nice to get out of the office once in a while," He hummed.
"She hasn't admitted to anything?" Ciro heard Gideon over the phone as he walked into Hotchner's office.
"No," Hotchner said as Ciro walked towards the desk, sitting down in the chair opposite Hotchner.
"Well, you're doing the right thing," Gideon said, a soft sigh in his voice. "What about her eval?"
Hotchner looked over at Ciro "To an extent, she's fine, but don't expect her to find a job in law enforcement anytime soon," He explained, leaning back into the chair.
"Okay, I'll see you in a few hours," Gideon said before he hung up.
"Gideon?" Both Hotchner and Ciro looked over at the office door where Agent Greenaway now stood.
"Yeah," Hotchner said, Ciro turning back to look at the desk.
"Tell him I said goodbye." She stood still for a second before she walked up to the desk. She placed her gun, holster and badge in front of Hotchner "This is not an admission of guilt."
"Right," Hotchner said, nodding slightly.
"You know, when I first started this job, the sound of my phone ringing, a call from the Bureau, I used to get so excited. The blood would race through my veins." Greenaway said as she walked over to the window of the office. "And now, the same sound, it paralyses me. I'm not the same person anymore. That night at Lee's, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing."
"Even though you killed someone?" Hotchner asked, Ciro keeping quiet from where he sat, scratching the palm of his hand.
Greenaway turned her head, looking out into the bullpen and sighed deeply. She looked out for a couple of seconds before she turned back to look at Hotchner. "I guess this is it, then." She walked over to the office door before she turned back, "You know, when I first joined the team, I couldn't figure out why you never, ever smile. Now I think I'm actually gonna miss that." She spoke her words and left the office.
Ciro sighed as he stood up "I guess this is it for me, too."
"Sit," Hotchner said before Ciro could walk out.
Ciro sat back down, a little confused "I've been thinking," Hotchner started, "Just a thought. I think… I think you would be a great asset to this team. Think all of us on the team could have great use for a therapist on hand"
Ciro didn't say anything; he was too stunned to speak. It took his brain a second to catch up "I don't have any of the courses it would take- I'm sure I would just be in the way."
"I don't want you to be an agent. I know what we do is getting into people's minds, but with a therapist-" "I'm a psychiatrist, not a therapist." Ciro interrupted, "… But with a psychiatrist on our team, we could maybe get angles on the case we would've never seen before. And generally, I think the team would trust to talk to you more if they get to know you."
"I can't do profiling," Ciro said. It's not that he didn't want to be on the team; he just didn't think he would fit in.
"Isn't that what you do? Profiling people, reading between the lines, your clients aren't telling you?" Hotchner asked, confused.
Ciro sighed.
"Profile me. I'll tell you how correct you are and give you a reason to transfer." They held eye contact for a moment before Ciro started speaking.
"The photo of your wife and your son on your desk means you prioritise your family over yourself, but the separate photo of your son means you prioritise him above your wife. If you don't have anything in your hands, you fiddle with your wedding band when you're thinking. There's dust on the shelves of your bookshelf, meaning you don't read your books, and they're only there for decoration. Either you or your wife can't sew, or you just like your pants a little too big."
"We have an empty office that we currently just use for storage. It has an okay view with a big window. We can get it cleaned out for Monday if you want to start already then."