Please don't judge me too harshly, as this is my first attempt at a Criminal Minds fanfic. I really don't know how well this is going to turn out, but I'll be trying my best. Review, please?

"Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact." - James Truslow Adams

Unlike most girls at her age of six, Caroline Bane was sitting on the floor of her room reading. She was always a quiet girl, as nobody wanted to talk to her in school. She was an unusually intelligent girl, and was already in the fourth grade. Her mother agreed to her skipping the first, second, and third grades at her teacher's recommendation. But her teachers were starting to see a change in her, one that wasn't good. They wondered whether they should have let her be surrounded by other kids at least three years older than her.

Her father had told her that her mother had disappeared a few weeks ago. Caroline cried for days, but that made her father angry. Adam Bane been angry and irrational for quite a few months now, and when he got angry, he hit things. Caroline did not tell anyone, afraid that he would come for her. Besides, he always apologized afterwards. That made everything okay, right?

"What the hell?" A loud voice startled Caroline from her book.

She quickly stood up as her father came into her room, dropping the trash can in front of her. Trembling, she clutched her book in front of her chest, hoping it would protect her when no one else would. Her mom used to stop her father's angry outbursts. But there wasn't anyone to protect her anymore. The little girl tried not to cry as he towered over her.

"Did I not tell you to take out the trash?" he asked, a scarily calm tone to his voice.

"Y-yes, you told me take out the trash." Caroline yelped when her dad ripped the book from her hands.

"Then why the fuck is it still here?!" he exclaimed, the alcohol on his breath evident. "I told you not to read this stupid shit!"

"B-but Daddy," Caroline tried to start. "Miss Goldberg said it's good that I'm reading these books!"

"I don't give a damn about what your precious teacher says!" Caroline screamed when her dad slapped her across the face. "I need you to listen to what I say and do what I say you piece of trash!"

"O-okay Daddy," she hiccupped, a few tears escaping her eyes. "I'll take out the trash."

Adam Bane seemed to calm down, and was about to leave. He took a huge swig of whatever was in the big bottle he was carrying, and he turned around slowly with a big grin on his face. Caroline backed up until her back hit the wall, and she shivered in fear.

"You know," he smirked. "I need to teach you a lesson."

He came closer and closer to his small, frail daughter and the stench of alcohol filled her nostrils. He slowly reached for her leg and trailed up higher and higher.

"Daddy?" she asked, voice shaking. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just going to have a little fun, okay?"

The next hour was full of Adam's dark laughter as he took more and more gulps of alcohol, and Caroline's crying and screaming.

"D-Daddy." Caroline's yells were weaker than ever. "Please stop, Daddy. It hurts."

"Miss Bane!" an authoritative voice exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Professor Hall?" a twenty-six year old Caroline muttered, looking up from her classroom desk.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned about one of his top students.

She had been zoning out and paying less attention lately, and it worried him. Caroline Bane was a very dedicated cadet, and he saw her going places. The BAU's Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi had come in a few times to watch the cadets, and they had shown particular interest in Caroline.

"Yes." She shook her head, smiling. "I'm okay. Just distracted a bit."

After class, Caroline picked up her book bag to head outside for physical training. As she approached the door though, her favorite teacher stopped her.

"Go out later today," he suggested, smiling wistfully. "You're only twenty six; You want to have fun when you're young. Stay up late with friends, not studying and practicing 24/7. You drink too much coffee at your age for the wrong reason."

She laughed a little bit at that, but she shook her head. "You know the others don't like me here, Professor Hall." She smiled bitterly. "All I ever wanted was to fit in, you know. Guess no one ever wants to give me a chance."

She ran out without waiting for a response, as to not miss physical training. Arnold Hall put his hand on his head, unsure what to make of her. She came to train for becoming an FBI agent three years ago. Arnold had been unsure if she was ready though, especially since it took four years for her to recover after what had happened to her as a child. However, she spent it earning degrees quicker than anyone had ever seen. She proved that she was ready, and the academy had to accept her. Caroline Bane became known as one of the academy's hardest working students.

Unfortunately, she kept failing parts of her physical training, especially her hand-to-hand combat. Her marksmanship, agility, and intelligence were over the top and exceptional, but she just couldn't handle physically brawling with someone. She panicked and forgot her training every time she was tested. Arnold knew exactly why, and there wasn't much he could do about it. The thing was that she was perfectly physically capable of doing everything thrown at her by the academy. The only problem was the emotional trauma she'd gone through. Arnold wasn't sure whether she was fully recovered. He knew that her dream was to work at the BAU in Quantico. Helping people was always what she wanted to do, ever since she could remember. The other professors and trainers didn't agree though. Caroline went through years of suffering, and they didn't believe she was emotionally stable enough. But she worked harder than anyone, and she kept coming back year after year, determined to make the cut.

"Please sir," Caroline begged. "Let me try again."

"Fine," her superior muttered after pondering about it. "Mr. Caster, you pin Miss Bane down again. We'll see what she can do."

"Do you really think you're fit for this stuff?" Ed Caster sneered quietly as he pinned her down. "You fail every time. Who cares if you're good with weapons? Chances are, you'll be without them and you can't even throw a good punch."

What none of the students were aware of was that Special Supervisory Agent Aaron Hotchner was watching the session with SSA Derek Morgan. They kept an eye on everyone, but everybody's focus, even theirs, was now trained on Ed and Caroline.

"Shut up," she whispered angrily, closing her eyes to calm herself. She opened her eyes only to see her father's face in place of Ed's and shrieked again. "Daddy!"

Regretting it as soon as she opened her mouth, Ed's face returned to its usual expression, a scowl on his face as he got off of her.

"Miss Bane," the instructor started, sighing.

"I'm sorry!" Caroline blurted out, her face red from embarrassment as the other cadets laughed quietly at her. "I – I didn't mean to –"

"Miss Bane," the instructor said, louder this time. "Go to the shooting range. Cool off there, and then go home."

"But –" Caroline was cut off by a hard look she received.

"Yes ma'am." She reluctantly made her way inside, her head down, ignoring the small whispers about her fourth freak out this week.

She walked down the empty halls, and quickly went into the nearest bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. She wanted to help people, but she was too pathetic to even do that. She probably could have done it if she had a normal life like most of the other cadets training here, but her father had taken that away from her. He had taken almost everything from her, but from the moment she first walked into this building, she told herself that he couldn't take this away from her. But that was proving to be untrue, and it looked as if he took not only her innocence, but her dreams as well.

"Damn it!" she exclaimed, hitting the wall.

After a few moments, Caroline had regained her composure; acting always having been something she was good at. The tears were gone, and her face was now empty of anger. She calmly walked out of the bathroom, posture straight and her head held high.

She had started shooting at the range, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You alright?" a familiar voice asked gently.

Caroline whipped around to see Agent Hotchner, unit chief of the BAU in front of her. She relaxed as she saw who he was, a reaction different from other people.

"I'm fine," she muttered, putting on a brave face.

"Really?" the agent asked. He did know her all too well.

"Yes."

"Are you still having nightmares?" he asked Caroline.

"Of course I do," Caroline replied, laughing bitterly. "That bastard never fails to leave me alone, even in my sleep."

"Do you need any help?" He was genuinely concerned. "If there's anything I can do, I'm glad to –"

"Look Agent Hotchner," she cut him off, her tiredness showing in her voice. "I know you still feel bad about me almost dying, but it wasn't your fault. You don't owe me anything, if anything, I owe you. All I want is to make it to the status of an SSA agent for the BAU, but we both know none of the teachers approve of my emotional well-being. I have worked hard for this for six years, and I'm not going to let anything stop me, even if I stay here for the rest of my life."

He looked a bit shocked at her outburst, but he opened his mouth to continue. "Where do you get the determination to keep going on?" He sounded pained, and Caroline immediately felt terrible.

The one year anniversary of his wife's murder had recently passed, and all he had done over the years was help Caroline over and over. She was pretty sure he felt as if she were his own daughter.

"I'm sorry, sir." Caroline rubbed her temples, shaking her head. "I've just had a bad day."

With that, she turned around to face the targets again. Caroline rapidly fired three consecutive shots, hitting the stomach, head, and heart. None of her bullets missed their mark.

She heard a whistle behind her, a new man coming into the room. "You've got very impressive aim, young lady," SSA Derek Morgan complimented.

"Thank you," Caroline said quietly.

"How old are you?" he asked, taking her off guard.

"Twenty-six," she replied, not expecting anyone to take interest in her, of all people in the academy.

"You know, Miss Bane," Agent Hotchner said, peaking her interest. "Your professors have told me you are exceptional in your studies, and that your agility and handling of weapons is exceptional."

"Thank you, sir." Caroline felt nervous about why the two agents confronted her alone.

"I've come to tell you that my superior, BAU's section chief Strauss, has taken a keen interest in you." He gave her one of his rare smiles, and Caroline nearly dropped her gun in shock.

"Wh-what?" she stuttered.

"She's requested that my team take you in as a probationary special agent in the BAU."

Caroline couldn't do anything but stare at the two agents in shock. She put her gear away, and slowly sat down on the nearest chair. "Oh my God," she murmured.

"Agent Morgan here will be helping you train in hand-to-hand combat, where I know you've been having trouble," Agent Hotchner informed her. "Strauss has been watching you, and thinks you're ready for this."

"Thank you so much," Caroline was still thoroughly surprised. "When do I start?"

"Tomorrow," he informed her. "I will text you the information."

"Wait, Agent Hotchner!" she called before the two agents walked out. "You want to know where I get my strength and determination from?" Hotch nodded.

"That bastard has already taken almost everything else away from me." Caroline clenched her fists, but relaxed them again as she finished. "I'm not going to let him take away one of the few things I love."