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The Fulcrum	By : gaiajanvier Category: 1 through F > Criminal Minds Views: 7818 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any characters in it. I am making no money from this story.

Chapter List
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Title: The Fulcrum
Author: gaiajanvier
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: DR/PG/AH
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds; the recognizable characters are property of CBS. I am making no money from this little writing exercise; I am simply learning to improve my writing skills.

Chapter 1: The Beginning
Muse Music: Marguerite’s Dilemma (The Scarlet Pimpernel)

Son of a freaking heck!!

Garcia wiped the tears away as she tossed another shirt in the pile marked for the women’s shelter. She had been through ups and downs since her parents had died when she was in her teens, and this felt much the same. She felt betrayed and humiliated, and had ignored all the phone calls from her friends. Friends, hah! Yeah, right.

Two months ago she and Kevin had imploded, over a video game of all things. He had wanted to spend the weekend in a huge gaming marathon, and she had wanted him to keep his promise to go with her to dinner at JJ’s. It wasn’t that she thought he had to spend all his time with her; it was that he had promised, and then broken it. Again.   They had broken up, and Garcia hadn’t looked back. After two days of trying to win her back, Kevin changed tactics and began to tell lies about her to he entire tech department. Apparently, not everyone was amused, and he had taken the transfer to Boise instead of losing his job.

Then came the apartment nightmare. After ten years in her cozy apartment, the building had failed a routine code inspection. The owners decided that they could sell the building for more than what they could make from their (mostly rent controlled) tenants. She had been away with the team when the letters went out. Now she had exactly three days to vacate her home.

She closed a garbage bag, and put it by the door before moving on to the bathroom. She sighed as she saw the cluttered counters and sagging linen shelves. She pulled the trash can in and began to ruthlessly attack her makeup on the counter.

The final blow had come yesterday. She had been called into her supervisor’s office without warning. The entire Bureau knew of the drastic cutbacks that were coming, but Garcia had believed that she was safe-after all, she mostly worked under Hotch and he would surely protect her. She trusted him implicitly, after all.

Except, according to Mr. Simmons, he had refused to speak up for her. He had apparently told Simmons that he couldn’t afford to keep her when another tech analyst could do the same thing she did at a much lower salary. It didn’t sound like something that Hotch would say; after all, he had often thanked her for her hard work. But if it came down to losing a profiler or losing her, well, she could see him making that choice.

The worst part of the whole thing was that he had acted like nothing was wrong. He hadn’t mentioned anything about it at lunch, or at the briefing. He brought her a picture that Jack had drawn for her of a monkey he had seen at the zoo, and even stayed to talk for a few minutes. When she had gone to the elevator with all her treasures in a cardboard box, no one had even said anything. They had all just stared at her.

So now, she was unemployed and essentially homeless. Morgan had offered her one of his places at a ridiculously low rent, but it would be too awkward to live in his house with no job. She only had enough for about two months before she was totally broke, and she didn’t want to get to that point.   So she had made a plan: reduce her belongings to only what would fit in Esther and hit the road. She would have to make up the rest as she went along.

So, at this moment, besides her electronics, she had kept only one box of momentos (including Jack’s monkey picture), a large suitcase of clothes, a box full of linens and the essential pots and pans, and her professional make up case. Everything else was gone. Most of her fun clothes, her posters and scarves, the beaded curtain she had loved so much-they were all in boxes or garbage bags.

She carried the boxes and bags down, ignoring her ringing phone. She didn’t have time for false apologies or insincere inquiries into her plans. She had to look out for herself now. Esther was packed to the brim and she had to drive carefully to the women’s shelter. The volunteers there were thrilled at her donation, and one of them even hugged her in gratitude. She started to cry again, and had to leave abruptly.

She was back in her apartment scrubbing the tub when the banging on the door began. She ignored the first time, and kept scrubbing. She needed to get every penny of her deposit back; she didn’t want anyone to say the apartment wasn’t clean. She could hear JJ’s voice shouting at her, and then the banging started again. The person knocking seemed stronger, probably Morgan. She had a moment of panic when she remembered that he had a key when the lock rattled and the door was pushed open.

Paws were heard on the linoleum and she turned to see Clooney looking at her through the bathroom door. He whined, and she set down her scrubber sponger to hug him. She could hear JJ on her phone, but couldn’t hear whom she was talking to.

“Garcia, what the hell is going on?”

She looked up to see Morgan staring at her, his shocked expression causing her eyes to well up again. Then she remembered that she was mad, and she felt the fury rise inside her. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring her aching back and the feeling of desperation deep inside her.

“I’m moving. As you well know, I am being evicted from my apartment. As I have to move anyway, I simply decided to downsize and get rid of anything that prevents my mobility. I have donated it to the local women’s shelter.” She thought she had managed to sound the proper mix of self righteous and assertive.

“But you have no bed now. Where are you going to sleep Garcia?” Reid asked from behind Morgan. The buff profiler stepped back from the bathroom and looked into the bedroom. He looked back at her, angry now.

“So you just decided to cut out on us, leave without telling us? Christ, Garcia. I thought we were friends. Simmons told Rossi that you had quit, and you left without a word to us. Not a single syllable.”

“I didn’t quit, I was laid off. Budget cuts, I’m told. Apparently Hotch thought I was too expensive for your budget.” She heard shuffling in her office, and heard Rossi and the man himself in her empty living room. Her ire rising, she pushed past Morgan and stormed into her living room. Sure enough, Rossi and Hotch were there. Apparently, Hotch (the traitor) had been called away from home, as he was wearing cargo shorts and a T-shirt. Not exactly Hotch like attire.

“Simmons lied to you.” Hotch’s voice was definite. “I spoke with the assistant director myself about the issue. Now, I would very much like to discuss this with you, but as you have an empty apartment, there is nowhere to sit. I suggest you take the opportunity to get ready and meet us all at the restaurant on the corner in an hour. Rossi and I still have some loose ends to tie up, and I’m sure the rest of you can find something to do.”

“We’ll take these boxes to your new apartment.” Morgan’s voice was definite, and after a brief fight to get suitable clothes out of the suitcase, Garcia was off to her shower. She could hear Rossi on the phone again on his way out the door, and JJ seemed to be talking to someone as well. Reid was doing something to her suitcase, she couldn’t really tell what.

When she came out of the shower wrapped in her last good towel, she saw that Reid had removed all her clothes from the suitcase and was repacking “more efficiently”. JJ was watching with evident amusement. She grabbed for the pile of clothes she had set aside.

“Reid, what are you doing?”

“I’m fixing your suitcase. You aren’t making effective use of the cubic inch space in this suitcase. You could probably have fit a lot more in here.” He reached into the mesh part of the case and pulled out her underclothes. “Garcia, so you really wear these old panties? And this bra would in no way provide adequate support.” He eyed her chest, and then looked down at the bra again. “You are far too busty for this.”

She snatched her bra out of his hands, Okay, yes, it was pretty ratty and the elastic was on it’s last legs. Still, who was King of all that is Nerdy to criticize her underwear.

“So, so you wear underwear that allows proper circulation around your balls, or do you wear a thong? And could you show us so we can check the support?” she snapped. Dropping the towel, she began to dress right in front of him and JJ. JJ looked amused.

Reid looked surprised. “I wear boxers, which actually allow the testicles to maintain a proper temperature for sperm production. I find that briefs tend to feel too tight. If you’d like to see, I can show you.” He unbuckled his belt and started to unbutton his trousers. JJ burst out laughing.

“Spence, she was making the comment because you were criticizing her. I don’t think she really wants to see your boxers. No one wants to be told their underclothes aren’t sexy.”

“But they aren’t sexy. They are barely functional. I don’t see what the big deal is. She just needs to buy new underwear.” Reid looked again at her panties and began folding them neatly, lining the suitcase with them.

“Reid, how many women have you slept with? I can’t imagine women would want you to criticize them. They’d be forced to criticize your performance, and I’m sure that you wouldn’t like that. It’s the same thing.” Garcia was practically snarling as she stepped into her capris.

“I’ve had sex with eleven women and four men. None have criticized my performance; in fact many have wanted to have sex with me again. JJ, did you find my sexual performance lacking?” Reid kept folding and packing, not paying attention to Garcia’s open mouth and JJ’s blush.

“You and JJ have…?” She looked at the now red in the face blonde woman. How had she never heard of this before? Her friend finally managed to find her voice.

“Yes, I’ve had sex with Spence a few times. This was before I met Will, of course, so it’s been a while. Prentiss would have more current opinions.”

“Prentiss?” Garcia sat on the floor rather heavily. Why had she never heard of this?

“Oh, yes.” Reid finished packing and zipped the bag. “Prentiss had sex with every man on the team before she left. She said she had worked with us all so closely, that she had been curious if we performed sexually the way we do in the field. She never got back to me about whether that was true. I think Hotch was the holdout, but he caved eventually.”

“What else have I missed? I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.” Garcia felt her eyes well up.

“I think she didn’t say anything because you were so happy with Kevin. She didn’t want you to think less of her.” JJ was trying to placate her.

“I mean, I find you sexually attractive. I’ve heard the others mention it too. Your breasts are amazing, and since I’ve just seen them, they’re even better than I’ve imagined. I think any guy on our team would want to have sex with you.”

“Reid, you’re embarrassing her! Stop!” JJ was half laughing, half horrified. Even Garcia cracked a smile.

“Thank you, Reid. I’ve never been given such an odd compliment. I don’t know why I was surprised you have so much experience.” She could feel her mood start to lift. Still, she was going to have a chat with Prentiss when this meeting was over.

“Most people think since I come across so meek at work, that I can’t get women. But, I’m almost 30, Garcia. Just because I’m a genius doesn’t mean I don’t have urges. I’m not ready to settle down, so why would I want to have sex with only one woman? Besides, there are very few mammals who are monogamous for a lifetime. The desire to mate with a variety of partners is hard wired in our DNA. It’s only the moral authorities who have a problem with it, and they are sometimes not even monogamous themselves.”

“So you think I should just have sex with anyone I want? No strings?” Garcia lined her eyes and pulled out her lipstick.

“When you were with Kevin in a monogamous relationship, did he meet all your sexual needs? Were you always sexually satisfied? Did he fulfill all your fantasies? Garcia, you deserve to be sexually satisfied. If Kevin wasn’t up to the job, then you should have found someone who could give you what you needed.” Reid sounded definite.

JJ laughed and grabbed Garcia’s sandals. “Let’s go, we’re going to be late for the meeting. Garcia, I texted Prentiss. Girls night at her place, tonight. She leaves for Paris tomorrow afternoon.”

Garcia was pretty sure that when she walked into the restaurant, she was still blushing.

The meeting took place in a back room of the restaurant. Reid had dropped the sex talk on the way over, much to her relief. She was now sitting at the table with her fork in the air, trying to register the job she had just been offered.

‘So, what you are offering me is a half time tech analyst job and a half time job to be a secretary?”

“Not a secretary, an assistant.” Rossi clarified. “Instead of being an analyst for three teams like you are now, you would work exclusively with us. Then, if I have any book signings or press events, you would go with me. If Hotch has any meetings that require an assistant to help plan or host, you would do that. If not, you would be salary, so you could do what you want. This would actually give you a bit of a raise, because you would get checks from my publisher and from the BAU.”

“The down side is that you would need to travel with the team a fair bit.” Hotch clarified. “The FBI has always been known as a bit of an old boy’s network, and with Prentiss’ position not being replaced, JJ would be the only woman on the team. You wouldn’t profile or go out in the field, but you would be a public face for the team. With these cuts, we are able to come in under budget and can keep the entire team. Since Dave and I found out about what Simmons did, we have been working diligently to try to come up with a solution. This compromise is the best we can hope for.”

“So, I make the same money, stay on the team and help out when needed? What’s the down side?” Garcia took a bit of her salmon, trying to see a problem with the new job. Of course, there would be more traveling, and she would be working more closely with Hotch and Rossi…. Oh, there was the downside. Two of the moodiest team members would be her supervisors.

Hotch seemed to read her mind. “Garcia, it won’t be that bad. Your tasks for Rossi and I would be fairly minimal. What we really want is you to work with our team exclusively. This is one way to accomplish that, Plus, it would get you out from under Simmons.”

“Can I try it? I mean, if I say yes now, can I back out later if we find it doesn’t work out for whatever reason?”

Dave nodded. “Absolutely. We just can’t say this is temporary because you would lose your seniority. You would essentially need to start over.”

“Okay, I’ll try it. What is there to lose?”

If she only knew what she would lose, and what she would gain.
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The Fulcrum