Chapter Text
After Holden Ford had “lost it” in the California hospital, they called Bill Tench. His partner packed up and immediately went to California to get him and bring him home. Debbie stayed away, she wanted nothing to do with him. They were broken up and she had to convince herself it was for the better. When he got to the hospital Bill was honest to god scared that something had finally snapped inside of Holden’s head. He was afraid that the crazy had really gotten to him. He was so afraid that he marched down to Edmund Kemper’s room and threatened to have him killed if he didn’t say exactly what happened. Kemper told him the events in his drawn out eloquence and with his blood boiling he calmed himself down while he slowly paced outside of Holden’s room. The IVs they had in him were helping him stay hydrated and calm, but alert enough for him to talk to Bill. Tench sat next to Holden in a chair backwards with his jacket draped across the younger one’s feet.
Bill wanted to hear everything from Holden, even the smallest details. Even the ones he already knew. “Why did you come out here?” Bill asked in a pressuring yet soothing voice. “He-he put me as his emergency contact.” Holden said in a scared voice. “Who?” “Kemper. Ed Kemper. He tried to kill himself and he put me as his fu-fucking emergency contact. They-they called me and I got out here. And when I saw him-when I saw him-he-he-he fucking hugged me. He jumped right out of that fucking bed and fucking hugged me. Why did he hug me?” Holden said looking at Bill like he had the answers and working himself up, his breaths became panicked. “Holden, calm down. He’s across the hospital. It’s just you and me. I’m right here bud,” he said putting a hand on Holden’s chest. “What’s been on your mind lately?” He asked with concern. “Since Debbie and I br-broke up, I’ve been at home. By myself, and then work.” He said with his huge puppy dog eyes looking at Bill. “You and Debbie broke up?” He asked while he removed his hand. “Yes. She dumped me. She couldn’t keep up with me,” Holden said looking away.
“Well that sucks man, I’m sorry.” Bill said in actual sincerity. “And I guess work has just taken its toll, ya know?” He said trying to break a small smile. “Yeah, I know. I’m going to step out and make a phone call to Nancy, check in on the family. Let her know you’re okay. I’ll be right back,” Bill said walking out and going to find a payphone. When he did, he didn’t call Nancy. He called Quantico and after a long discussion, Shepherd came to the conclusion that they needed to hire and train a replacement, but as a secret in case this got worse for Holden. Even Wendy agreed with him, which she almost never did. He hung up after they said they’d start searching and went back to the room, Holden was nearly asleep but perked up, “How are they?” Bill nodded, “Good. She’s glad you’re okay. Said you need to stay with us for a bit, just to make sure you’re really good,” Bill said laughing. “No. I can’t do that,” Holden said with an embarrassed face. “Hey don’t worry about it, we have the space you can stay in for a week or so. Just to bounce back, that and Brian likes you.” Tench shrugged his shoulders and Holden decided not to fight. “When can I get my suit back?” He asked and Bill laughed. “When we go to leave. But that isn’t until tomorrow. So rest,” he said. “You’re going to a hotel for the night, right?” Holden asked. Bill sat down and got out his book, “Yeah something like that,” he had no intentions of going to a hotel. He wasn’t leaving Holden in California again.
Back at Quantico they were scouring the local universities and schools for anyone with any promise that could benefit the program. It came down to 10 people and they were all sent letters of application. They only received 7 back. To those they were able to weed out 2, and of the remaining 5 they began to interview them. By the time the interviews were coming around, Bill and Holden were back and working again. Bill thought Holden was doing great, better even. He didn’t want to think that they actually needed this replacement, the cover they had agreed on was that they were interviewing for an intern. They held the interviews and one stood out. Holden, Bill, Greg, Shepherd, and Wendy were all at the panel when she came in. She had a darker complexion, olive tan, black hair that flowed freely in the ponytail she had it in. She had bright blue eyes that offset her hair, she was curvy but not too thin. She was of average height maybe an inch taller than Holden, even in sensible shoes. She had high and sharp cheekbones with soft and cute dimples. She wasn’t wearing heavy makeup, rather some light foundation and mascara with the slightest hints of blush and blue eyeshadow.
She shook their hands and they looked over the application. “I’m Daphne Reynolds.” They all introduced themselves and began with questions. “What makes you qualified to work for the FBI?” Shepherd said. “I have a drive to make a difference. I want to be able to catch the craziest of the crazy with a certain formality that only the bureau can obtain. I want to study why people do what they do and place it into the context of helping people. I believe I’m qualified because I don’t take anyone’s shit and I’m willing to step up in this new behavioral department.” She said with a small smile. This threw Greg off, scared him more like. He cleared his throat and took the next question.
“Are there any religious or ethnic views that might inhibit you from completing a case?” He asked in a timid voice. “No sir,” she answered swiftly. Wendy took the next one, “You’re locked in a room with a notorious killer, he stands up and towers over you. He approaches you, what do you do?” She was curious as to how she would answer. “I would sit still. No need to overreact. If he was approaching me, I would treat him as any other person. No need to panic until something gives me reason to.” She answered after some thought. Holden was making observations and forgot that his question was next. “Ford? Agent Ford!” Shepherd said snapping him back to reality. “How many cats do you have? I can see the hair,” he said. She laughed, “None actually. I put it there to see if you were as good as your papers makes you out to be,” she said. Holden was taken aback by this, but continued with the questions. After quite a few more, they told her she was finished and that they would call within the week. They went home shortly after and while Bill and Holden were in the car, Bill could tell something was wrong. “Hey what’s up?” He asked, he wanted him to talk about his problems to prevent an attack. “She did that to test me. It’s bothering me.” He said looking out of the window. Bill laughed, “You need someone to keep you on your toes.”