"What?" Marjorie said quietly, somewhat in shock by the information.

"I know it's a lot to take in at once, but if you remember, during the last case we worked together, I told you you'd be my first pick. That's still true. Despite everything that's happened with Elle, this is one thing I do agree with her on." Hotch explained.

The woman's heart pulsed in her ears, she cleared her throat, "Agent Hotchner... while the BAU has been my dream for a while... I don't know how I feel about taking her spot. Especially considering the context."

Hotch sighed, "I know, I know. I assumed you would say that. Yes, the circumstances are less than desirable, but the fact remains that you are who this unit needs right now and in the long run. Of course, it's your decision. Take some time to think about it and get back to me."

Slowly, Marjorie nodded her head. "Thank you," she told him. Then she shook his hand and left his office, her mind spiraling.

Elle lied to her, told her she'd tell Hotch the truth. But she also advocated for her, got her the thing she'd wanted for so long. She had no idea what emotion she should be feeling. She needed as much time to think about it as possible, but she also knew this position would not be waiting for her forever.

—————

Later, she found herself in the break room chugging a canned Diet Coke. Laying her head on the table, she wanted to cry and celebrate at the same time. She felt like she was at her breaking point. Then her phone ran. Looking at the name, she exhaled. She'd never been so relieved to receive a call in her life.

Answering it, she held it up to her ear. "Marj!" The comforting voice called out.

"Hi big brother," she smiled tiredly as she spoke.

"Uh oh," Mark said.

"What?"

"You never call me big brother unless you're in need of the big brotherness."

Marjorie cringed, "Don't say 'big brotherness'."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... No, I'm not."

"Oh boy, what's up?"

Sighing, the blonde woman shook her head despite him not seeing her, "I don't wanna dump on you. What's up with you? What're you calling for?"

"I was just gonna ask your advice on something stupid that's not important anymore. I wanna talk about you now. What's wrong?"

"Um..." Marjorie hesitated, "You know how Elle and I have grown apart... ish?"

"Mhm."

"Well... she's gone. She left the bureau for good and didn't tell me. Her boss had to tell me. And not only that, I think she quit for a reason... Mark, I'm worried she did something bad."

"Bad? Like immoral bad or—"

"Like illegal bad, Mark. And I don't actually think, I know. I know what she did and now... I'm just so incredibly overwhelmed because it gets even bigger. Apparently, before she left, she recommended me to take her spot in the BAU." The young agent was pacing now, her hand massaging the back of her neck.

"Marjorie... I'm sorry you're feeling so distressed but... the BAU, that's been your dream since undergrad."

"I know."

"Elle obviously wants this for you as much as you do for yourself. Look you've always been the kindest, most selfless person I know. You've always put yourself last in order to help other people and while that's admirable, it's also ridiculous. Marjorie, you deserve to go after what you want. Stop overthinking and worrying about what you should do, and worry about what you want to do."

"Mark—"

"Do you want to be a part of the BAU?"

"Well yes, but—"

"Ah! No buts! That's it, end of answer. You still want it, so go get it. I love you sis, but you could do with a little less compassion sometimes."

"...You scare me sometimes."

"You know I'm the best."

Marjorie laughed gently. "I miss you, big brother."

"Aw shucks, me?"

"Shut up. Don't ruin it."

"Miss you too. Okay, go get 'em tiger!" The woman went to hang up with a smile before his voice called out again, "Oh! Wait, before you go, I have a question. If a girl calls you 'dude' or 'bro', could she still be into you?"

Rolling her eyes, she chuckled, "Goodbye, Mark."

"Wait, you didn't answer the ques—"

And she hung up.

Leaning back in her chair, Marjorie felt liberated. She could always count on her brother to whack some sense into her. Well...sometimes. Regardless, she felt like she could breathe. She knew what decision to make, and it was a freeing concept.

——————

2 weeks later

       Walking into the BAU bullpen with her box of supplies, Marjorie had a grin on her face. Heads turned to her, and they all kept up excited.

Morgan was elated, coming over to take the box from her and set it on the empty desk across from Reid. Behind them, a squeal was heard, and they all turned to see a giddy Penelope Garcia running towards them.

The tech analyst pulled Marjorie into a hug, catching the woman off guard, but she hugged back quickly. Garcia let go before speaking up.

"Sorry, I know we don't know each other super well, but in the few times we've spoken, you've been an absolute gem. Plus, I'm just relieved to finally be getting another woman back in the team. Two weeks is too long for that much testosterone," she whispered the last part.

Marjorie's eyes widened as she chuckled, "Well, I'm excited to join you guys permanently, and I'm glad you're excited too."

"So excited. Oh! I got you a gift too!" Garcia reached into her pocket, pulling out a somewhat large keychain and handing it to the women in front of her.

Taking it and examining the object, Marjorie couldn't help but laugh. It was in the shape of the Statue of Liberty, the only catch being it was purple. "I, um, thank you..." she smiled at the women slightly confused.

"I was trying to think of something you liked but we didn't have much time for small talk the previous times we've met. Then, I remembered you saying you grew up in New York City, and I already had this little fella sitting on my desk, so voila! Welcome to the team!"

Her words made Marjorie's grin grow brighter. She knew she would get along with the team, but it was a relief to see everyone genuinely excited to have her. "Thank you, Garcia," She said again.

Agent Jareau entered the bullpen with a frantic look, speed walking towards Hotch's office. When Morgan saw her, he sighed. "Sorry, Sloan. Looks like you're not gonna have much time to settle in."

Marjorie nodded, watching Hotch step out of his office and wave everyone into the conference room.

———————

Sitting at the table and skimming the file in front of her, Marjorie listened to JJ explain the situation. Hotch sighed, shaking his head.

"As much as we'd all like to take this case, we have to be invited in by local authorities. I'm sure that this friend of your aunt's very concerned, but it just doesn't work that way," he explained.

JJ nodded, "Yeah, I contacted the local police chief. He faxed over a request for our assistance." She handed Hotch the fax as she spoke. Marjorie smirked into her hand. Then, JJ moved to fully debrief the case.

Marjorie listened closely, taking mental notes of the key factors. Three girls—Polly Homefeldt, Kelly Seymour, and Brooke Chambers—missing for the last 5 days from a small town in rural Pennsylvania. Two out of the three leaving identical—word for word—phone calls to their parents about "going away on an adventure."

For a minute, Morgan almost believes them—the phone calls. But JJ shuts him down, explaining that these types of girls, full-ride athletic scholarship girls, they don't jeopardize that over some on-a-whim vacation.

"We hear you JJ. It has been 5 days. There's a chance these girls..." Marjorie trails off, knowing the team understood her.

"A chance we may not find them," Derek finished for her.

"I don't think so," Gideon chimed in.

"The phone calls said I'll see you next Friday. Not a week, not two weeks, Friday. Why be that specific," Reid added.

"My guess is we have until Friday to find them," Gideon concluded.

"So are we taking this case?" JJ asked.

After a glance between Gideon and Hotch, the latter nodded before saying, "Wheels up in 30 minutes."

—————

Arriving at the police station, JJ, Hotch, and Marjorie got out of the car and approached the police officer waiting for them.

"Chief Yates?" JJ shook his hand, "I'm Jennifer Jareau. We spoke on the phone." She turned to introduce her teammates, "This is Agent Sloan and Agent Hotchner."

Hotch shook the man's hand before speaking up, "Chief Yates, there's not much of a case file yet."

The man sighed, "Listen, I can't get anyone to agree that these girls are actually missing."

"Mrs. Homefeldt certainly believes it," JJ told him, referring to Polly's mother.

"Well, I wouldn't put too much stock in what Judy Homefeldt thinks."

"Why's that?" Marjorie asked.

"She's got a history of mental problems."

"What kind of history?" Hotch asked.

"Depression. Just heard she's even on medication."

Marjorie fought the urge to roll her eyes. Like being in medication makes her even more mentally ill? Instead of serving their actual purpose?

"Didn't she raise Polly all by herself after her husband left her, what, 12 years ago?" JJ asked.

"That's right, yeah." The chief confirmed.

"If you were in her place, don't you think you'd be a little depressed?"

Marjorie fully smirked at her colleague's retort.

"Point Taken."

"Chief, if you're not sure the girls are missing, why would you request our help?" Hotch questioned.

"Listen, I know something happened. I don't know what, but if it's bad, I'll use all the help I can get. Plus, you're Agent Jareau can be pretty convincing."

"Are the parents inside?" Hotch inquired.

"Well, Kelly's are. We still haven't been able to track down Brooke's father, Pete. He's—well he travels a lot. Listen, these people, they're my friends, my neighbors. They're good people. I don't want anyone assuming they're involved."

"We just got here, we're not assuming anything." Marjorie told him.

—————

The case had gone by like a blur. With it only taking two days, Marjorie felt like she never fully absorbed everything that happened.

One second, they were delivering the profile, the next, two out of the three girls stood right outside the police station. The case was a chilling one. The girls had been locked up and forced to choose one of them to die. Just the thought caused Marjorie to feel nauseous.

They were on the jet again, headed back to Quantico. Marjorie sat at the table next to a window, staring at the grim night sky. She saw someone sit across from her out of the corner of her eye, realizing it was JJ when she turned her head to look. The women smiled at each other.

"Quite a first case, huh?" The communications liaison said.

Marjorie nodded, "It was memorable, for sure." She took the woman in, noticing her staring at a printed photo in her hands. "Can't sleep?" She asked.

JJ sighed, placing the picture on the table, "I grew up just one town over from those people. I lived that life—small, secluded, intimate. This tragedy... it's going to affect that entire community."

"Hmm," Marjorie thought to herself, "I can't even imagine."

"No?" JJ tilted her head to the side.

"I was born and raised in Manhattan, I don't think you get much further away from the 'small town' atmosphere than that," The profiler explained with a smile.

"Huh, I never would've pegged you as a New Yorker."

"Welp, I didn't choose it."

They both laughed, careful not to wake any of their sleeping teammates.

"You have no idea the pressure a small town creates. That's why I was so committed to soccer, I needed that scholarship. It was my only way outta there." There was a brief moment of silence as Marjorie nodded, then she turned to look out the window again.  "What about you?" JJ questioned. Looking back at the woman across from her, Marjorie had a look of confusion. "Why'd you leave the big apple?"

Exhaling, the profiler leaned her head against the headrest behind her, "You have no idea the pressure a big city creates." She teased the other woman, both of them laughing. "It's true, though. With so many people everywhere all the time, it made it impossible to be stand out... And I wanted to be memorable. Competing with millions of other people, it.... it just makes you feel so small. I had to get out." There was a pause as Marjorie exhaled before chuckling, "Of course, my brother never had that problem. He's killing it up there."

Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, JJ urged her to elaborate, "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Ohhh yeah. And he's exactly someone you'd peg as a New Yorker—successful, charismatic, sleeps around."

"Sounds about right," they laughed again at JJ's comment. "What does he do?" She inquired.

"He's a, uh, a doctor. A surgeon."

"A surgeon?! Damn, a FBI profiler and a surgeon, your parents must be proud."

"Well, you didn't let me finish. He is indeed a plastic surgeon, so how impressed should mommy and daddy really be?" Marjorie joked, ignoring the way her stomach dropped at the mention of her parents.

"Oh, well in that case," JJ played along, smiling.

Sighing, Marjorie leaned her head against the window. "Alright, it's gonna be hard but I'm gonna try to catch some Zs before we land."

JJ nodded, "Good luck with that." Then she stood up and walked to another empty seat to give the other woman some space to fall asleep.

Which she did, surprisingly quickly.

————

Opening the door to her apartment, Marjorie shivered at the abrupt drop in temperature. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, knowing she keeps her A/C off when she's away. And even if she left it on, she never cranks it too high.

She flicked on the lights and was startled to see her kitchen trashed with an open cereal box, dirty dishes in the sink, and a pan on the stove with what was left of a frozen pizza.

Marjorie dropped her bags where she stood, cautiously walking further into the apartment when she heard muffled voices from her bedroom—the TV was on. Hovering her hand over the gun on her hip, she burst into her room to find the last thing she expected.

The familiar man sat under her covers and was elbow deep in a bag of puffy Cheetos. He looked towards the door when he heard it open and smiled widely when he saw her. Orange dust fells from his lips as he grinned.

"Marji!" He shouted joyfully.

The blonde woman stared at him in disbelief and confusion.

"Mark?!"

————

(word count: 2514)

yeah so i need to stop making promises on when I will upload.

let's face it they're never kept.

anywho hope u enjoyed. I love writing mark and Marjorie's dynamic.

I hope it keeps u interested while we're waiting for the romance drama to start because I want to get through some plot points before starting that

(also I'm not making hotch a cheater so that's why not much as happened).

aight bye love ya

- chloe <3