Hey guys! I'm sorry that I haven't updated The Past is Never Forgotten recently, but I'm still stuck on it. I'm working my way through the suggestions made by some of my readers, and they are helping, so hopefully I'll have a chapter up soon.
As for this story, I would've had it up sooner, but Fanfiction was having a login problem that only now has just been resolved. I've had the idea in my head for a while, and I've been writing this for weeks. It's finally complete (obviously), so let me know what you think!
Everyone was gathered in the bullpen, expect for Hotch, Rossi, and Garcia, who were in their respective offices. Since they had gotten back from a long case the day before, it was just a day full of paperwork and strong coffee.
Every couple of minutes or so, Morgan would slip a file into Reid's pile on the corner of his desk. Kate stifled a laugh as she watched JJ slide the same file back onto Morgan's desk every time.
"Do your own work, buddy." JJ said, a grin tugging at her lips.
"Ah come on! Everyone knows he can do paperwork twice as fast, and we all aren't even close to done!" Morgan replied, sounding whiny and teasing at the same time.
"Actually" JJ said, "I'm done with mine." She rolled her chair back to show him her desk, only adorned with completed reports that had yet to be given to Hotch.
"What! How are you done already? I'm barely even halfway!" Morgan asked her, waving his pen at the stack in front of him that had yet to be completed.
It was then that Reid finally looked up from his desk. But when he sat up, Kate saw that he was actually doing a crossword puzzle.
"Looks like Reid's been done for a while." She said, a smirk on her face. Morgan just shook his head. "Okay, Pretty Boy I get, but how can JJ be done already? Unless you were giving Reid your files! It all makes sense now!" He exclaimed excitedly.
JJ outright laughed at that. "No, Morgan. I haven't been giving Spence my files. Unlike you." She emphasized the word.
Reid turned to Morgan. "You've been giving me your files?" He asked him innocently.
"Gee, thanks JJ." Morgan pouted.
Kate rolled her eyes. Reid still looked confused, but Morgan's question come to mind. "Well Morgan, since JJ was a media liaison, the amount of paperwork that she did during that time was exponentially greater than any of ours, so it would make sense that she could complete her designated reports in a smaller amount of allotted time." He stated matter-of-factly.
Before anyone could respond, Hotch came out of his office. "Meeting in the conference room in two minutes." He said before walking away.
"I wonder what that's about." JJ said, looking up to where Hotch had stood.
"I have no idea, but we better get up there." Morgan said. He got up, and everyone made their way to the conference room.
When they arrived, Hotch and Rossi were already in the room. Everyone sat down at the round table. Morgan was about to speak when Garcia came hobbling in on her heels. "Sorry I'm late, sir." She said to Hotch.
"It's okay, Garcia." Once everyone was seated, Hotch turned to address them.
"I've just gotten word from Cruz that there is to be a mandatory field training day this Friday." He said. "Obviously, Garcia, you don't have to participate as you don't go into the field. You may come to watch, if you'd like, though. As for everyone else, you're expected at the Academy at 8:00 a.m."
Everyone looked at each other. They were expecting bad news when Hotch called them up there, and they were glad that it was just a field day. One thing did struck Kate as odd, though.
"Um, Hotch? Why is the training day being held at the Academy?" She asked him.
"As well as this being a training day, you all will also act as active role models for the students who are training at the Academy themselves. So, I expect the best from all of you. You may be asked a lot of questions, as the trainees rarely get the chance to interact with active FBI agents." Hotch advised.
"This actually sounds like fun." Morgan grinned.
"Okay everyone, you can return to your paperwork." Hotch addressed them, leaving the room himself. The team did as they were told, and returned to their desks.
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Friday came quick and in no time, the team met up at the Academy fields at 8:00. Even Garcia showed up, sporting a fluffy whistle and a bucket of popcorn.
Everyone else was adorned in athletic gear, even Rossi, who looked like he'd still very much like to be sleeping. The students were just starting to trickle in, and as they gathered, an Academy official come over to the team.
"Hey, you guys must be the BAU, right?" He greeted them.
Hotch nodded and put out his hand. "I'm the Unit Chief, Aaron Hotchner." The man shook it heartily. "Thomas Bradbery, but you can call me Tom. If you all would follow me, I'd like to introduce you to the students." He said.
Everyone nodded and followed him to the top of the field. Tom got the attention of the students by tapping the microphone. "Hello, everyone, and welcome to Field Training Day. Today, you will demonstrate your physical stamina and strength, as well as your ability in the field. But this time, we have some special guests joining us today. Everyone, give a warm welcome to the BAU!"
Applause roared to life. They knew all about the BAU, one of the most elite groups of the FBI. Tom held up his hand to silence them after a couple of moments. "I'd like to introduce them." He pointed to Hotch. "This is their Unit Chief, SSA Aaron Hotchner." Applause sounded after each name was called. "Next, we have SSA Derek Morgan. This is SSA Jennifer Jareau." JJ got quite a few catcalls as well, to which she rolled her eyes. "SSA Kate Callahan, SSA David Rossi, and Dr. Spencer Reid. And last but certainly not least, we have their technical analyst, Miss Penelope Garcia." A final round of applause sounded as he finished introducing them.
"Now, these Agents will be training alongside you today, so make sure you do your best. Feel free to ask them any questions you have regarding your field, if you desire."
Murmurs could be heard through the otherwise silent crowd. Tom continued. "You will be split up into your designated groups and await your turn to complete each exercise. The BAU team will be their own group. The rest of you will count off to ten to split up. Everyone, go!"
Once everyone was in their groups, Tom spoke again. "We will begin with your first exercise. Running. You all will run this track for as long as you can. The last one running is the winner, and your success will be noted. Group A, ready, set, go!"
The first set of students took off, and began running. There was a machine counting the laps, and the first person to stop running dropped at lap 34. The last student to keep running was a fit young man. He stopped at 42 laps.
One by one, each group completed the exercise until it was the BAU's turn. So far, the highest amount of laps ran was 51.
Everyone lined up at the start line of the oval track. "Ready, set, go!" Tom yelled. The team took off at a jogging pace. The first one to go was Rossi, as he was much older than everyone else. He still went out with an impressive 32 laps. The next was Reid, who dropped at 39 laps. Although he was thin and had long legs, he wasn't used to running.
Just then, Hotch joined Rossi and Reid, putting down an impressive 43 laps. The only ones who were still going were Morgan, JJ, and Kate.
The field was silent as the students all watched the remaining BAU run. Finally, at lap 57, Kate slowed to a walk, gasping for air. She joined everyone else at the water table. "Who do you think is going to win? My money's on Morgan." She asked them. Reid agreed, while Hotch and Rossi both said JJ would outrun Morgan. The only one left to vote was Garcia. "I'd say my blonde bombshell is going to win. My chocolate thunder may be big and strong, but he's got nothing on JJ."
On the track, JJ and Morgan were still running. "Ready to give up?" Morgan said, breathing heavily. "Not a chance." JJ shot back, smirking. All of a sudden, a thought struck her. "You want to race?" She asked him. "You're on." Derek gave a devilish grin. "Okay. On your mark, get set, go!" JJ yelled, and they both took off, running even faster than before.
The students began to talk amongst themselves, betting on who would give up first. The team just shook their heads. Leave it up to JJ and Morgan to race each other.
Morgan was sprinting so fast that he could barely stay upright. It took all he had just to math JJ's pace. And he thought he was fast. Damn. That girl could run. He watched helplessly as she easily overtook him, her strong legs carrying her farther and farther away from him with each step she took.
He pushed himself as hard as he could, but it was no use. He just couldn't catch up. Finally, at lap 86, Morgan, defeated, came to a stop, gasping for air.
"And we have a winner! Everyone, put your hands together for SSA Jennifer Jareau!" The crowd roared to life, and the applause was deafening. JJ slowed to a jog and made her way over to the team.
"Nice job, JJ." Morgan said, clapping her on the back. Everyone else took turns congratulating her as well.
JJ bent over and put her hands on her knees, trying to get better air flow into her lungs. Her legs burned, but in a good way. It felt great to be engaged in some vigorous exercise. Sure, she worked out daily, but rarely did she get the chance to compete with someone like this.
Morgan handed her a bottle of water. She cracked it open and drank greedily, wiping the sweat off of her forehead that was threatening to drip into her eye.
Since everyone was done with the first exercise, Tom stepped up to the microphone. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, that shall complete the first part of training day. Our next exercise will be hand to hand combat. If you all would follow me, please."
The students did as they were told, and followed Tom out onto the field. Mats had been pushed together to provide softer cushioning.
Tom jogged up to the mat. "Okay, guys. This is how this is going to work. You all will draw a number out of this bucket." He said, holding up a large plastic container full of little pieces of paper. "In here, there are two copies of each number. I will call each number in order, and the two people with those matching numbers will come up here to fight each other. Now, this is hand to hand combat, so yes, you are allowed to hit each other. However, we're not looking for maximum damage. Your job is to get your opponent to the ground as quick as possible. The winner will step aside, and when everyone has fought once, the winners from the first round will pick another number, and will fight the person with the corresponding number. This process will continue until the last two remain. Those two will fight each other for the ultimate win. Remember, your success in each round will be noted, so fight hard. All right, everyone come and get a number."
Everyone took their turns getting their number. The BAU glanced at each other's. None of theirs matched.
"Okay, let's start with number one!" Two students made their way to the mats. They were pretty evenly matched, both shorter, thinner guys. They fought well, though, and their training showed through. Finally, after a couple of minutes, the one guy had the other pinned to the mat.
"And the winner is, John Stewart!" Tom exclaimed. "Great job guys, both of you." The one guy helped the other up, and the winner went to stand in his designated spot.
Time passed, and Tom made his way steadily through the numbers. Everyone on the team had fought already, except for Morgan and JJ. Reid lost his round, since he was paired up with a heavily muscled guy. Rossi went easy on his opponent, and let him win. He didn't want to risk getting injured. Hotch beat his opponent, as well as Kate.
"Next up it number 72!" Tom yelled. Morgan looked down at his paper. He was 72. He made his way up to the mat, where his opponent was waiting. It was a frail looking guy who looked terrified.
Morgan took it easy on the kid and easily pinned him to the mat without hurting him too much. He was declared the winner, and stood in the group to wait for the next round.
Tom went through more numbers, and finally, JJ was called. Her opponent happened to be a girl, which was surprising. At the FBI Academy, the ratio of men heavily outweighed the women.
Unfortunately for JJ, her opponent was very fit, and a great fighter. They went back and forth, both taking hits equally. When another fist came her way, JJ dropped to the ground before it struck her and used her feet to swipe the other girl's legs out from under her.
With a thud, the girl fell to the ground. The second she hit the mat, JJ was on her, pinning her down. The girl kicked and squirmed, but no matter how hard she fought, JJ didn't budge from her position on top of her.
Finally, the girl tapped the mat, and JJ rolled off of her. She got to her feet and offered her hand to her opponent. The girl took it without hesitation, and JJ pulled her to her feet.
"Great job, kid. You have some serious skill." JJ told her sincerely.
The girl blushed. "Not as much as you." She said back.
JJ grinned. "You'll make a great agent. But for future reference, when someone drops to the ground near you, never be within reaching distance." She told the girl.
The cadet grinned. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." JJ nodded and grinned before making her way to where the rest of the winners were gathered. Morgan congratulated her, as did some of the students.
After a couple more fights, the first round was over, and the second began. The previous winners picked numbers again, and Tom started calling them.
Once again, Morgan won his fight. This round was more of a challenge, as his opponent was large and muscled, almost matching himself.
JJ also won her fight with her opponent, who was built similarly to Morgan's. She surprised everyone, and her opponent, with a few sly moves. She could tell that the kid was surprised that he had lost, and to a girl, no less.
Fight after fight had been completed, until there was only four winners left. One student was a tall, bulky guy, who almost looked like he could be on steroids while the other was a short, sinewy guy who was lean with muscle.
The other two were Morgan and JJ.
"Okay guys, this round will determine which two people will fight each other for the overall win. Now, in my hand, I have four pieces of paper, one for each of you. It's the same process as before. The numbers will match the other, and whoever has the same number as you will be your opponent. Please chose your paper." Tom said, motioning for them to come over to him.
The two students picked first, with Morgan and JJ following. "Okay!" Tom said. "The two people with number 23 will fight each other. Please step up to the mat."
It turned out to be the slim guy and Morgan. They fought, and although the guy was fast, Morgan had more skills and strength. He won the round easily, without taking any hits. And since he fought the smaller guy, that only meant one thing.
JJ's opponent was steroid-muscle man.
When they were called up to the mats, a hush fell over the ground. It definitely did not look good for JJ. This was the most unfair fight that they had seen all day.
Even the team was panicking a little. They all knew JJ could take care of herself, but come on, this guy was huge. He looked more like a body builder than an FBI trainee.
They stepped onto the mats, and JJ stood across from her opponent. He was huge, that much was clear. He had a mean expression on his face, like he didn't care at all that he would have to hit a woman in order to win.
"Okay, you two. You know what you have to do. Ready, set, go!" Tom said, his voice not carrying the excited tone that it usually did. Even to him, the fight was unfair. But he couldn't change the rules, so he had to go through with it.
JJ and the kid began to circle each other. Of course, him being the alpha male type, he had to strike first. He stepped forward quickly and swung his right fist. JJ ducked, dodging it by centimeters.
When he attempted to hit her again, this time she grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back. At the same time, she delivered a well-aimed kick to the back of his leg, effectively bringing him to his knees.
But before she could move, he swung his arm back hard, striking her in the ribs. It knocked the breath out of her and she fell back, momentarily stunned.
The guy wasted no time in getting to his feet, and approached her quickly. He kicked out, fully intending to hit her in the ribs again, but JJ rolled out of the way and quickly sprung to her feet.
They circled each other again, and this time JJ acted first. Moving so swiftly that Steroid guy could barely see her move, she stepped forward and punched him hard in the ribs. Her fist made a resounding "smack" as it struck his flesh.
He fell back and landed hard on the mat. His facial expression looked to be like he was in a lot of pain. It struck JJ as odd because she didn't think that she had hit him that hard.
Shaking her thoughts away as her maternal instinct kicked in, JJ stepped closer to him, worried that she had done some serious damage despite her doubts. She knelt down beside him.
"Hey, are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" She asked, her eyes skimming his body for any visual damage.
Her question was answered with a hand headed straight for her face.
JJ had no time to dodge his hit, as she wasn't expecting it at all. It struck her on the left side of her face, splitting her lip on contact.
He had slapped her so hard that the force of it knocked her off her knees. She fell back, stunned. The crowd erupted in crazy shouts and yells for Tom to stop the fight. Before he could do anything, JJ's opponent moved.
He quickly got to his feet, seemingly not hurt at all. He was faking it the whole time, just to catch JJ off guard.
It definitely had worked.
JJ got up sluggishly, a little dizzy from the force of the hit. As soon as she was standing, the guy punched her, not holding back at all.
JJ fell to the ground, unconscious. Blood poured out of the nose that was surely broken. Steroid guy kicked her in the ribs.
The guy would've kicked her again, if it wasn't for Tom pulling him back at the last second.
The whole team rushed to the mat while the other students crowded around nervously. Morgan knelt down next to JJ. He checked her pulse just to make sure.
It beat strongly under his fingers.
He let out a sigh of relief, and took inventory of her injures. Her nose was obviously broken, and her lip was spilt pretty badly. She also had a handprint on her cheek and a black eye forming, as well as ribs that were surely bruised if not broken.
"Come on, girl. Wake up for me." He said, gently shaking her. Everyone else hovered over him, looking on nervously.
Morgan got no response from her and tried again. "Come on, JJ." He said under his breath, shaking her again.
This time, JJ's eyelashes fluttered. She groaned, squinting against the light. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Morgan hovering over her, as well as the rest of the team.
"Oh my Angel! Are you okay?" Garcia shrieked, worried.
"Yeah, Penelope. I'm fine." JJ tried to smile at her, and gingerly sat up.
Morgan tried to stop her. "Whoa girl, you should stay down." JJ batted his hands away and sat up anyway. And before anyone could stop her, she got unsteadily to her feet. Reid and Hotch were the closest, so they grabbed her arms and helped her up.
Now standing, JJ wrapped an arm around her ribs, which felt like they were on fire. But for some reason, she couldn't remember why they hurt so much.
Her head swam as well, but once she steadied herself, it cleared. Wiping the blood off of her face, she walked up to Tom and Steroid Guy before anyone could protest.
Her opponent had a smug look on his face she wanted to wipe off with her fist. She took a deep breath before she did anything stupid.
"I want to finish this." She told Tom. Before he could respond, Morgan spoke up. "What? No? JJ, you were unconscious two minutes ago! You're in no condition to fight!" He said, incredulous.
JJ ignored Morgan and looked right at Tom. "Well?" She said. He sighed. "Well, I wouldn't recommend it, but ultimately, it's your choice." Tom said, waiting for the outburst that was sure to come.
And come it did. "What? You can't possibly let her fight like this, man. I mean, look at her! Does she look like she's in any condition to fight right now?" Morgan shouted.
Tom glanced over at JJ, would stood her ground firmly. His gaze slid back to Morgan and the rest of the team. "If I could stop her, I would." Tom stated simply.
The truth of his words hit Morgan like a freight train. His eyes slid over to JJ. She stood tall and proud, even though she had just taken a serious beating not five minutes ago. She had to be hurting like hell, but he knew she wouldn't let that stop her.
Finally, with a deep sigh, Morgan nodded and stepped back. But before JJ walked to the mat, he spoke to her.
"Hey JJ?"
"Yeah?" She called back.
"No matter what happens, you already won this fight." He said, and the team, as well as the majority of the crowd, cheered their approval of the statement.
JJ smiled softly at him before turning to meet her opponent.
Steroid Guy smiled evilly at her, cocky and full of himself. He was already on the mat, and she moved to stand across from him.
She regulated her breathing through her mouth, since she could hardly breathe through her broken nose.
Tom started the fight and once again, the two circled each other. Without warning he rushed her. Instead of dodging, when he was about to hit her with his massive body, she dropped to a crouch and grabbed his legs.
They got tangled with one another and he tripped, landing face first on the mat. Her move had had the desired effect.
Instead of trying to pin him, JJ remained standing, knowing that he would immediately throw her off if she tried it that way.
She waited until he got to his feet before rushing him. Ignoring the burning pain in her ribs and head, she ran at him. As expected, he put his arms up to block her body, and she used them as a step as she grabbed his neck and swung around so that she was hanging off of his back.
She put him in a choke hold, and lashed out with her foot to kick his legs in. It worked, and the two of them went tumbling to the ground.
He fell flat onto his back, and consequently, onto her, as she still had him in a chokehold. His weight crushed her body, and black was staring to creep in around the edges of her vision. She shook her head, trying to keep the unconsciousness at bay.
She tightened her grip on Steroid's meaty neck, and he tried to pry her arm off. Her grip held true, and after two minutes of struggling, he finally tapped out.
She released her hold on his neck, and he rolled off of her. She gasped as air filled her lungs. The pain in her ribs was excruciating, but she ignored it the best she could and got to her feet.
It took her a few seconds to register that the students had gone crazy, shouting and chanting her name. Tom raised her arm and declared her the winner.
She smiled widely, relishing the feeling. All of a sudden she was engulfed in the arms of her team members. They all congratulated her.
Morgan gave her a bear hug. "I'm so proud of you." He said, his eyes shining. JJ squeezed his arm, grinning at him.
Behind Tom, Steroid guy, whose name was actually Evan, fumed. He pushed past Tom and stood directly in front of JJ. Morgan stepped up, guarding her with his body.
"Back off, man. You had your chance." Morgan warned, glaring at him.
Evan's face twisted in fury. "What's the matter, bitch? Why don't you call of your dog and we can settle this." He grinned evilly.
Morgan was about to rip the guy a new one when JJ pulled him back. "Allow me." She said, before turning and throwing a right hook that would have John Cena impressed.
Evan's head snapped back from the force of the punch, and he was already unconscious before he hit the ground. No one tried to catch him.
Instead of yelling at her, Tom just smiled. "I think we'll have to leave that out of the report, now, won't we? I didn't see anything, did any of you?" He asked the surrounding students.
The students shook their heads. Tom turned back to JJ. "Well, it looks like no one saw anything. So, you're good to go. And I think we should give Agent Jareau one last round of applause, don't you?" He asked the crowd.
They cheered in response, and the applause was deafening. JJ grinned and shook her head before remembering that she probably had a concussion.
She pressed a hand to her temple. All at once, the pain in her body registered with her, and she sagged against Morgan. He caught her and held her up. "Whoa girl, I think we need to get you checked out."
JJ smiled wearily and let him lead her to the medical station, in too much pain to protest.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Fifteen minutes later, JJ's nose was set, her ribs were wrapped, and had multiple butterfly stiches on various parts of her face. She was given painkillers for her head as well.
The rest of training day had been postponed for two weeks later, and JJ was fine with that. There was no way she could've competed today in the rest of the activities.
The students had been sent back to the main building, but not before many of them personally met JJ. Some even got a picture with her. Evan had been carted back to the building on a stretcher, since he was still unconscious.
But now, it was just JJ, the team, and Tom left. JJ walked slowly to the group, her ribs burning in protest to the movement.
"Sorry about Evan." She said to Tom in an I'm-definitely-not-sorry kind of tone. Tom laughed it off. "Don't worry about it. We've been watching him for some time now. We knew he had some issues, but we couldn't prove anything. Now, I'd say we have more than enough evidence." He grinned at her.
"But you didn't get to finish the activities." She said, wondering why he wasn't more upset with the way things had turned out.
Tom just shook his head. "I think the kids learned more today with just two exercises than they ever have. I'd say this has been the most productive Training Day yet."
And after the day's events, everyone couldn't agree more.
Please leave a review and let me know if you liked this genre from me. It's my first non-angsty fic, so if you don't like it, let me know, and I'll stick to what I'm good at.
