✓ | sick of losing soulmates [SPENCER REID]

9.1

9.1
( peter rhea. )

☆ ★ ☆

iris

"Please state your name and rank," Strauss says as she leans over the back of her chair to place the thick black file onto her desk, just beside the tape recorder that Iris eyes with unease and slight annoyance. God, this is so unnecessary. Stupid bureaucrats. "For the record."

She clears her throat. "Supervisory Special Agent Iris Remington, Behavioural Analysis Unit in Quantico Virginia."

Strauss' office is dimly lit by a lamp on her mahogany desk, the blinds pulled shut across the window on the wall behind Iris' head, but she can still see the ostentatious details of the room. The black leather chairs are luxurious, a far cry from the creaky things down in the bullpen, and her desk is a deep brown mahogany with curling designs carved into the sides, with intricately patterned brass handles. Even the frames picturing her family, perched on her desk, are designed for the rich, and probably cost twice as much as Iris' monthly rent.

This is what she wants. This luxury, this comfort, is what she wants.

But she simultaneously can't help but think that it's unfair.

Ha. Character development. Iris Remington, questioning authority? Three or so years ago, and it would have been almost unheard of.

"And how long have you been at the BAU?" Strauss asks.

She swallows. She's about to lose all respect from those listening to this tape in the future. "Fourteen months."

Strauss' beady blue eyes are peering at her through the thick lenses of her glasses. "And how many of those were working?"

Iris stares straight into the crow-like face of Strauss, long nose like a beak and mouth pointed and sharp, knifelike, as she says, "Ten. I lost my leg last year and took several months off to recover."

Nodding, as if satisfied by humiliating Iris, Strauss pulls out her chair as she asks, "And have you worked under Agent Hotchner the entire time?"

"No, ma'am, I currently report to acting unit chief Derek Morgan."

That much is true, but it takes her a moment to say it, just because how fresh and unusual it is. The announcement of Hotch stepping down, with Derek taking his place, only came a week earlier, and it hasn't changed much of their dynamic within the team, but merely saying it has taken some getting used to.

"Who took over the unit because Agent Hotchner's ability to lead the team had been compromised?" Strauss fills in.

"I don't believe that's the reason," Iris says, unintentionally quickly and intentionally sharply. She narrows her eyes, unashamed and not at all scared to glare; it's not like that those hearing the tape can hear her. Might as well look hostile. "And hypothetically, if it was — if you do truly believe that protocol trumps family — ma'am, you and I must certainly differ morally. S.S.A Hotchner voluntarily stepped down so we could continue to do our jobs unhindered."