From the time Cooper was about six years old, his mother liked to say that he was going to be a police officer. The little boy had an affection for rules that surpassed all else. When he was 10, he became a hall monitor. Now, he was making sure that various federal offices were following procedure. He was an auditor and a police officer all rolled into one Internal Affairs. "I'd like to speak to SSA Montgomery," Cooper said. Beckett frowned, recognzing the credentials Cooper flashed. "He went home actually. You can speak to Agent Connelly though." Beckett knew full well that was like unleasing a pitbull on a chihuahua, but that was exactly the point. Cooper thanked him and went to find Agent Connelly.

Chancellor was sore from the day's earlier altercation and he had taken a moment to lay down on the sofa in the conference room. His jacket was off, hanging from the back of one of the chairs, and he had the sleeves of his sweatstained button down rolled up to his elbows. He was still wearing his vest but that was unbuttoned and hanging open as he reclined, his feet propped up on the edge of the sofa. When Cooper came in he folded shut his case file and sat up, then stood, feeling the need to let his height overwhelm the significantly shorter... child. That's what he was to Chance. A child. "What do you want?"

Cooper was not easily intimidated, but he had the tendency to look wide-eyed and fairly innocent. It was an easy world to live in, his black and white, wrong and right view of everything. It made him rather naive in a way, yet hardened by years of people instantly hating him without even getting to know him. The way he looked was the profound opposite of Chancellor at the moment. He was crisp from head to toe, but it was a cheap suit, thriftiness yet another value that Cooper held dear. He handed the man his credentials. "I'm Investigator Comfort. Cooper Comfort and I've been sent to look into your current case. It's come under speculation that a few things need to be reviewed to assure FBI standards."

"Unfortunately, Investigator Comfort, you are too late. The case was ordered to be closed this morning and we've begun the process of packing away the files." Chancellor was tired and he really had no desire to play with this little boy today. He hadn't begun to put away case files but he generally had no intention of allowing him to go through any of his things. "You've been misinformed." Sure, he knew IA went through old cases but the kid looked young and if he could throw him for a loop for a few hours that would be good enough for Chance.

Smiling with a brief bit of patience, Cooper shook his head. "I can assure you, I'm right on time, Agent Connelly, is it?" He'd been studying the BAU for awhile now, keeping tabs on them when the director brought the possibility of an investigation to his attention a few months ago. "Was retirement not treating you well? It's exceedingly rare for an agent to come back into the field once he leaves."

"Retirement is useless to me, agent." He didn't fold his arms over his chest or appear defensive. As someone who studied behavior he knew the things not to do when speaking to someone like this. "Inactivity makes the mind dull. What did you need from me, Comfort? I don't have a lot of time to waste with nitpicking every aspect of a completed investigation."

"It's not a waste of time," he said quickly. The BAU was certainly a difficult department to audit. Everyone there was far more trained in human behavior than Cooper was. His expertise was crossing the t's and dotting the i's and he never missed a damn thing when it was on paper for him. "I'm here for quality control. Reviewing cases after they are completed is my job and it is an important one. Your cooperation will be much appreciated." It was clear that Cooper had a great deal of passion for this kind of work and that he was not going to be shaken.

"Not a waste of your time but it is a waste of mine. When my time is wasted people get killed." Chancellor had no patience for the non-sense of IA when there was not a clear problem. "You are more than welcome to go through our files and I assume you can do it without having your hand held. If you need me I will be here or in Agent Montgomery's office."

"And when improper proceedure is followed, criminals get away and people also get killed. Agent Connelly, you are not above the rules. No one is. I'm here to ask some questions and after that I'll be observing for a few weeks. I'm going to be here whether you like it or not. I had no false hopes that you in particular wouldn't make this exceedingly difficult. I've read your file." He'd actually been following the man's work for awhile, but he wasn't going to tell him and risk fawning over him.

"I have not yet begun to make things difficult, agent. If you have questions then ask, if you are unprepared for this then i suggest you leave this office, regroup, and come back when you are ready. I do not have time to wait while you figure out what you want to know."

Cooper drew himself up, stepping rather close to Chancellor as if to show him he wasn't afraid and brushed past him to sit down at the little table. He straightened his tie and got out his files. Spreading them meticulously out on the table, he drew a pen from his leather file case and clicked it open with a sharp little gesture. "Please explain how you became inolved with this case."

"I became involved with the case when Reagan Montgomery was kidnapped over a month ago. I came out of retirement, though it was a matter of time before I came back. Retirement was not for me." His mind was too active to be sitting around. "If not with this case then the next or the case after that."

"You came back after a personal request lobbied by Agent Liam Montgomery?" None of this was the specific problem, but all of it together was putting up red flags. Cooper wasn't here to punish, just gather information.

"Yes. Because I am the best at what I do. Agent Montgomery thought I would be an invaluable asset to the investigation." He moved to sit down across from Cooper and he drew a file folder up to continue his own work.

Cooper jotted down notes. "I'm well aware of your aptitude," he said a little shortly, finding Chancellor's confidence a little frustrating. He'd dealt with people like that a thousand times, talented people who thought that granted them exceptions. But Chancellor might be the only person Cooper had met who might, might, have a point. "What was his state of mind when you arrived?"

"Stressed but functional." Chancellor answered without hesitation. "There was never a moment during the investigation where Agent Montgomery's state of mind became a problem. Had it, he would have been the first to say so, and he would have stepped down."

Cooper nodded. "It's generally frowned upon for agents to continue working on such a personal case. How is your shoulder by the way?" He'd been in the office that morning, was heading upstairs when he'd seen Chancellor's back thrust against the window and heard the crash. He'd left shortly after, to return at a less stressful time.

"Generally, yes. However there are agents with the emotional control necessary to continue on. Agent Montgomery was very helpful throughout the investigation and keeping busy did him well. And my shoulder is fine. Thank you for your concern, Comfort."

"This case has taken a good deal out of him, it seems. According to our records, other higher priority cases were sent to your communications director, Beckett Meridian. Were you all informed of these other cases?" Beckett had shuffled them aside, so neither Chancellor or Liam would be bothered by them. He thought of himself as the gatekeeper and he was able to file them to other teams, other departments without anyone on this team knowing about the fact that other cases were piling up.

"Officer Meridian delegated cases as necessary. Five lives were dependent on this case. There are times when cases are judged higher priority where we are to make judgement calls. The agents on this team are trained specifically to make those calls."

"Are you saying that if Agent Montgomery's husband hadn't been one of those five lives that protocol case selection would have been ignored? The average time spent on a case is two weeks. Up to one month is alotted for special cases." Cooper felt his heart catch in his throat. "What about the lives lost in other cases? Please answer my question. Were you informed of the pending queue of higher priority cases?"

"I was not personally informed of other cases because I was not brought back to this task force to work on other cases, I was brought back to work on this case." He emphasized the this in the last sentence to ensure Comfort understood him. "Tell, Comfort, when have you ever made a decision about which lives are won and lost in your life? Because Internal Affairs are paper pushers. You make sure everything is signed, every t is crossed. When you've had the weight of life in your hands then you may come here and tell me that I was wrong for putting a case before another. You have to look at every angle of every case. How many lives will be lost, how much time before the unsub finds someone else, how much time before another task force can pick them up. Does it specifically need federal acknowledgement or beyond that BAU acknowledgement. So no, other cases were not brought to my attention because they did not need my attention."

"Agent Meridian's job is to follow guidelines. Those guidelines help fairness prevail. My job is to make your job go more smoothly. To be sure favoritism isn't shown at very critical times." He pursed his lips. It was obvious that Chancellor thought he was better, smarter, morally upright. "Don't preach at me, please. Our jobs are different but equally important. I'm not here to judge. I'm here to gather information.

"Right." Chancellor smirked. "Then let me make this very easy for you. I was brought on for this case and since I've been here that is what I have been working on. No favoritism, no stepping outside of the guidelines. Do you need anything else?" Chancellor's temper was starting to flare but he stayed calm.

"Yes," Cooper said. "And you could have made my job a lot easier if you hadn't implied that my entire existence is so much less than yours." It had rubbed him the wrong way. Chancellor was rapidly living up to the warnings he'd received. "The case is closed. Will you be staying on at the bau?"

"I did not imply that your entire existence was so much less than mine. I flat out said your job was less important than mine. If you consider your job to be your entire existence then I suggest you find a hobby." Chancellor could tell he had hit a sore spot and now he just planned to pick at it until Comfort left him alone. "And yes. I will be staying indefinitely."

"What's your hobby? It wasn't enough to keep you from coming back, I see." He was getting more and more tense, his hands fumbling a little as he shuffled his files. Getting reemed by someone like Chancellor was hard to deal with. "The director wants me to observe you specifically. I'll be tagging along with you."

"My hobby is model cars. It is expensive and time consuming." And tedious. "My experience and expertise is more well suited to being here." He didn't not like the sound of having this child following him around. "Perhaps that's a good idea. Someone as young and inexperienced as you would do well to learn a thing or two about what it is actually like to work in a department like the BAU. Though I like to work in quiet so I will expect you to keep your mouth shut and observe and not bother me. Are we done?"

"I'm required to ask questions." He stated simply. "And I trained at West point. I'm not inexperienced." He was, however, the director's lap dog. "But I'm sure I can learn from you." Exactly what, he didn't expound upon. "And I'm not young. I'm ." It was almost laughable.

"You look like a child. A bit of advice, you may think you are being thrifty by buying cheap suits on sale, but you look like a little boy wearing his daddy's suit. Spare no expense, the money you save won't do you any good when you are dead, but a tailored suit will make you look like an adult, and perhaps then people will take you more seriously." He filed away his file into his satchel and stood up. "I am going to lunch. Will you be required to follow me there too?"

Cooper glanced down at his suit. "I don't plan on dying anytime soon." He adjusted his cheap tie. "I used to deal with bullies all of the time, Chancellor. You're not going to put me off." He stood up, closing his folder. "I need to use the restroom, but I could eat and i'd like to go to lunch with you."

"A bully, no. Honest, yes." Chancellor pushed in his chair and pulled on his jacket. "I will be in the office, when you are finished find me there." He pulled out his blackberry and started sending a mass text to all the members of the bau, alerting them to Comfort's presence.

Cooper went to the bathroom and locked himself in a stall. He'd had extensive training, military leadership, all of that, but Chancellor wasn't impressed and it was making him insecure. He rubbed his hands over his face and composed himself. When he went to find Chancellor, he could tell that everyone had been warned. "Texted all of them? Did they need a heads up to get their stories straight? I'm telling you, I'm just here to get info."

By the time Comfort got back he was chatting with Clark by Ally's desk. He pushed away from the desk and he just smiled pleasantly at Comfort. "Wouldn't that just make your whole day, wouldn't it?" He patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go. You are driving. And paying." He got his phone back out and started to send another text to Liam, though mostly just to aggravate the other agent.

The pat on his shoulder made him flinch a little at first, but the idea that maybe Chancellor was loosening up relieved him. He nodded and led the way out to his car. It was sensible, like everything in his life was. "Where are we going?"

"I don't care. As long as it is edible. Preferably not fast food." Chancellor had mastered the ability to walk and text at the same time, and he kept up with Comfort easily. At the car he let himself into the passenger seat and he started to look around, taking in everything there was to take in about the other agent. "Clark and Aldous would like us to bring them back lunch."

There was nothing to take in, which spoke volumes on its own. He tried to be as faceless as possible, a blank slate on the job. "Who were you texting? You know I don't work by ambush. I tried to make myself known, but Agent Montgomery was too busy throwing you against walls." He started to drive to a sub shop in the area.

"Yes, well, you've spent ten minutes with me and I am already grating on your nerves. Liam has spent almost a decade with me. Throwing me into walls is deserved."

"You're not grating on my nerves," he said stiffly. "I just thought maybe I could win you over because I've read so much about you." But clearly it hadn't given him an edge. "Agent montgomery doesn't make a habit of beating up his underlings. He must be stressed."

"well then that was your first mistake." Chancellor put his phone away and regarded him carefully. "I am not so easily won over and I am not so friendly, either. As for Agent Montgomery, yes, he is stressed. And no, he isn't so badly stressed that he can't function in his role as Supervisory Sppecial Agent in the BAU. I just know him like no one else does and I am very good at pushing his buttons."

"Friendly people are overrated. Actually I'm glad because it will make my job easier. God forbid I get attached to you." He pulled into the sub shop and wrote down his order to get it straight before he was at the counter.

"I said nothing about you not getting attached to me, I simply said I am not friendly." Chancellor had a way of infuriating people into liking him, even when he wasn't trying to. Chancellor followed him to the counter and he ordered completely at random, throwing this and that onto his sandwich as he saw fit. And the sandwiches he ordered for Ally and Clark were very much the same way.

Cooper stared at him as he ordered. "It's a wonder you're not a serial killer. Disorganized of course." He ordered his sandwich, meticulously and straight off his list. "I won't get attached. It's my job not to and I'm as good at my job as you are."

"That would be too boring. And you may assume there was no method to my madness but there was." He wanted to tell the man to add something to Comfort's sandwich to throw him off but he behaved. "and I will believe it when I see it."

"Your overconfidence is unattractive." He said flatly and leaned over the counter to make sure they were constructing his sandwich correctly. It was very important to him.

"Your attention to detail is unattractive." He went to the edge of the counter. "Throw some olives and peppers on there." Chancellor knew it was going to ruin the sandwich. "Mix it up a little."

The clerk just did it, because Chancellor was the type of person you listened to. Cooper tried to get them to stop, but it was too late. "You ruined my sandwich," he stared at Chancellor as if he couldn't possibly have just done that. "Why?"

"Ruined? No. Made better, yes." Chancellor looked at the sandwich. "Put ranch dressing on it too.' He told the guy. Chancellor knew that a lot about flavor combinations and he knew that what he had done to Comfort's sandwich would make it taste better. "You can't live so rigidly, Comfort. Or you will die miserably one day."

"I'm not miserable!" He said, voice raised a little. His cheeks flushed with frustration going a bright pink. "Your way isn't always better!" He glared at the clerk and took his sandwich, paying for everyone's and going back to the car. On the hood, he opened his wrapper and tried to doctor it.

"Don't mess it up." Chancellor told him as they got to the car. "Just take a bite of it. Taste it and see if it is really all that bad." He put the other two sandwiches into the front seat and then he opened his as he leaned against the door to start to eat while Comfort had a fit.

Chancellor was really bringing up some bad memories from high school. "Maybe I'm allergic to olives." He said shortly, trying to regain some composure. Or maybe he'd just been looking forward to this sandwich, his way. He continued to scrape off the disgusting mix.

Rolling his eyes, Chancellor went back into the subshop. He reordered Comfort's sandwich exactly the way he had originally ordered it from memory and then he came back out after paying for it. He put it on the hood of the car and then tugged the half mutilated sandwich across the hood to his side so he could eat that sandwich too.

"I didn't ask you to do that," Cooper said with a sigh. He reached over and took his original sandwich back. He was going to eat that one because it was the one he'd paid for and that kept everything on the up and up. He practically pulled it out of Chancellor's mouth, he was so damned determined to do everything properly.

Chancellor had taken a moment to put everything back on the sandwich so it was right back to where it had been. "No, don't try to take it back now. You eat the boring straight laced sandwich that you wanted and let me have the good one. I don't want to have to go back in there to have them put more stuff on that one."

"Give me my sandwich back." He said, on the verge of totally losing it over lunch. He tugged really hard, trying to get it out of Chancellor's grasp and ripped it in half, olives and ranch and pickles splattering all down the front of his cheap suit. He just stood there with a shocked look on his face, mouth gaping, hands dripping ranch.

It took absolutely every last ounce of self control that he had not to start laughing at that. The look on his face, the ranch dressing and the pickles and olives. He cleared his throat and finished off the last bite of the sandwich that was in his hand before he reached into his jacket pocket to pull out his handkerchief, which he held out to Comfort.

"This was the only suit jacket I brought," he said honestly. "This is my lucky jacket." It was downright ridiculous, but Cooper wore the same suit jacket quite frequently, pairing it with different ties and shirts and pants. He was a little superstitious and this jacket brought him a lot of comfort. Looking down at himself, he felt ready to cry, but of course he did not do so. Taking the offered handkerchief, he dabbed with futility at the already staining oils from the dressing.

"I'll buy you a new jacket. There is no such thing as a lucky jacket." Chancellor wiped his hands off and then he passed the boring sandwich to him. "Eat that. Drive me back to HQ to give Aldous and Clark their sandwiches and then we'll go and get this taken care of."

Cooper clenched his jaw again. The muscles moved, tightened, and it was quickly becoming obvious that that was his tell, the way he showed when he was upset. "You can't buy me things! That's why I didn't want the sandwich. You're not supposed to buy me things. It's considered a bribe." He put the handkerchief back in Chancellor's hand, threw the sandwich in the nearest garbage, and got into the car, breathing heavy.

That was something he hadn't considered but he supposed that it made sense. "So you can buy me things but I can't return the favor?" Chancellor slid into the passenger seat and he looked over at Cooper. He was really trying not to laugh over the whole situation. "You know, you've been shadowing me for about an hour now, how are you liking it?"

He could see the line of humor threatening to break over Chancellor's face. Cooper was utterly miserable and hungry now too. "I've done two tours of duty in Iraq; I've been through worse," he said simply. But at the moment, he wasn't certain he wouldn't take another over spending more time with this man. "And I can buy you things because this was a business lunch. I was extending good will."

"Right, good will." Chancellor glanced over at him. "Two tours? Where were you stationed?" He wanted to find out more about Comfort, though really he knew that there were other ways. He had every intention of having Jude pull up all the information he could on this kid. "were you ever injured in combat?"

Cooper headed back to the office, driving like an old lady following every single rule of the road. "Tikrit, and Baghdad," he answered efficiently, not giving any more information than was required. "And I have a scar on my leg from a car bomb." It wasn't exactly combat since there was no one so solid to actually fight, but it had certainly been an attack.

Chancellor had a little bit more respect for the kid, but he still wasn't sure what to say to him about all of this. "I have a spare jacket in the office. Is it taking gifts if you wear it for the afternoon?" He had no idea. Chancellor didn't think about those things. Though he supposed he was going to have to start thinking along those lines.

"I'll go and buy one for myself. You're going to come with me and help me though because this was your fault and according to you I don't know how to pick out clothes for myself." Plus, he didn't want to give Chancellor time to congregate the team and orchaestrate some horrible way to make his life more miserable.

"All right, that's fair enough." he said with a nod. "Just let me take Aldous and Clark their food. If we don't feed the kid he gets grumpy and if you think I'm mean you haven't seen anything yet." Ally had a temper if he got cranky and being hungry made him cranky.

"I don't think you're mean. I just think you're used to everyone being afraid of you and cowing to your whims. Just because you're amazing doesn't mean you can treat people like they don't matter." Cooper kept saying that he wasn't there to judge, but he was judging Chancellor pretty hard. He pulled into the parking garage and got out of the car. Taking his jacket off, he folded it up and put it in the trunk even though it was ruined. His button down dress shirt revealed better what the jacket had been hiding. It was obvious that he took care of himself.

Chancellor gave him an appraising look and then he turned away from him so that he could head inside and back upstairs to the BAU's offices. Ally was waiting anxiously for him because he was starved, per usual, and he'd gotten to the point where he couldn't focus on his work, so he was just pestering Clark and waiting. He practically jumped Chancellor when he came through the door.

Cooper stood just outside, not wanting to go in with just his shirt and tie on. Besides, his tie had suffered some splatter as well. Clark glanced up and over at where Cooper was, then at Chancellor. "Already got him out of his jacket? Aiming to get him in a pair of jeans next? Don't bother, I've heard of that guy, not an easy nut to crack." He signed as well so Ally could keep up, of course.

"Jeans? I doubt it." He glanced over his shoulder at Cooper and he smirked before looking back at Clark. "I don't know about jeans but we'll see about a tie and jacket that fit him." He passed the sandwich over to him. "That's where we are going now." He gave him a smile and then turned to head back to the door. Chancellor was very fond of Clark, maybe one of the few people he really didn't give a hard time.

Cooper had found a pickle on his tie and he was just popping it in his mouth when Chancellor came back out. He crunched on it a little guiltily and turned on his heel to go back out to the car. Looking at his watch, he was going to be certain to log this time because it felt a little like personal business on the company dollar. But he needed a jacket to look professional and that was very important so he was allowing this deviation from the schedule. "Is there a place close by?"

"Yes, not that far from here." Chancellor followed after him and he loosened up his own tie because he was starting to reach the point where he was getting tired from all the running around and from the fact that he'd gotten maybe four real hours of sleep over the past two days. "We could probably even walk, we won't have to drive, it's just barely downtown."

"You just want me to walk in public with olives on my tie." But he agreed and fell into step with the other man. "Are you sure you'll be able to keep up?" There was a glint of challenge in his eye, but he kept his gaze focused straight ahead.

"Don't think just because I'm ancient doesn't mean I don't keep in shape, little boy." He was, in fact, in the best shape of his life. He had nothing but time to work out while he was retired and he really had toned up. "You know, if you had just eaten the sandwich the way I ordered it you would have seen that it was really good."

Cooper's face fell a little and he closed his eyes, laughing with the smallest amount of defeat. "How is always being right working out for you?" He wasn't going to mention that he was extremely lactose intolerant and the sandwich Chancellor's way would have had him in the bathroom for the rest of the day.

"I never claimed to be always right." He tucked his hands into his pockets as he walked along beside him and he just looked around, always trying to observe everything. It didn't help that he was really unsettled over the Adam thing. Chancellor was very careful not to bump into anyone they passed on the street, he practiaclly went out of his way not to touch anyone else.

Observant enough to pick up on that, Cooper watched him for awhile as they walked, fascinated by the elaborate dance Chancellor seemed to carry out. "Why do you do that? There's no way it's out of politeness."

"Are you profiling me?" Chancellor knew that this little habit of his was completely unreasonable but he couldn't help it. "When you spend as much time as I do watching people you pick up on things that stay with you. Any of these people could be serial killers. Any of them could be pedophiles or god only knows what. And on top of all of that do you know how many people in the world go to the bathroom without washing their hands? I just don't like people I don't know touching me. I don't want to run into some guy who might pull a gun on me for stepping on his loafer."

"You touched my shoulder back at the office before lunch. Does that mean I'm not a threat? Positive I'm not a serial killer?" Stranger things had happened, though he definitely always washed his hands, sometimes far too much. The funny thing was that he'd even remembered the touch.

"Yes, well, you are internal affairs. There is something slightly sadistic about all of you down in that office." Chancellor glanced over at him. "But I figured if you had planned on shooting me you would have done it when I spilled ranch dressing all over you at the car. So now I just have to make sure that you aren't going to kidnap me when I'm walking back to the hotel and then I'll be fine."

"It's a safe job, not a sadistic one." That had been important to Cooper upon coming back from war. He'd had enough danger to last him a lifetime and this was a way that he could still contribute to what he thought was a very worthy cause in protecting people. Following procedure was statistically linked to safer and better outcomes. When they got to the store, he went inside and looked at one of the price tags. "Are you serious?"

"I am very serious. It's why I offered to pay but you can't take favors. But I do know that you make probably a fair amount of money and that you have been saving it and saving it and for what? What good is that money doing you sitting in a bank where you can't touch it? I mean, saving some, yeah. That's smart. Saving everything? Boring. This tie is perfect." he held one out.

All of that was true. Cooper was paid a decent salary and he lived like a pauper. The tie that Chancellor held out was, indeed, a very stylish tie. With a bit of a sigh, Cooper loosened his own tie in defeat. "All right, all right. What about a jacket?" He went to a section of sizes that was all wrong for him.

"No, that's not your size." Chancellor walked over with him and he guided Comfort to another section of the store with smaller sizes. "It's not supposed to hang off of you, it can be a little tighter than what you are used to. Try one of them on."

"These are too small," he said firmly. Taking one from the rack, he held it up, not quite wanting to admit that he was that slight. He wasn't tiny by any means, but he wasn't over muscled either much to his own dismay. He took it off the hanger and shrugged it on, buttoning one of the buttons.

"It looks perfect. Go and look at yourself in the mirror." Chancellor came along with him and he took the tie that he'd picked out so he could put it on Comfort. "Turn around, let me tie it for you. Your other tie was crookened."

Cooper turned. "This coming from a man who looks like he was mauled by a grizzly bear." He let Chancellor start to tie his tie, but halfway through, he reached his hands up to clench around the other man's. "You're not doing it right. Are you trying to choke me? They won't look fondly on your face if you murder me."

"I'll claim that it was self defense." Chancellor stopped trying to tie his tie and just let his hands stay still beneath Cooper's. "I am doing it right. Trust me, I've been tying ties since before you were born, child. Let go of my hands now and let me finish tying your tie for you."

"Stop calling me that." Child. He was far from a child and he had the scars to prove it. But the more he glared at Chancellor, the more he felt like one. The heat of his hands covering Chancellor's dropped away and he turned his head so he wouldn't have to look at him so closely. He'd gone a long time in his life looking at attractive men who were utterly out of reach and out of the question.

Chancellor finished tying the tie and he adjusted the knot before tucking it into his jacket. He took a moment to smooth down the lapels before he turned him around so that he could look in the mirror. "Don't tell me that doesn't look better than the oversized jacket and plain ugly walmart tie."

There was that jaw clench again. "Target," he said and as soon as it came out he noticed how petty it was. He'd bought the tie at Target though. But when he really focused on himself, he noticed that he did look much better. "It looks better than the pickles." Stubborn.

"Yes, that's true." Chancellor smoothed the jacket down across his shoulders and then brought his hand up to ruffle it through his perfectly combed hair. "There. Now you look good. Next thing though, the shoes. You need a nice pair of dress shoes." Said the man who was wearing nike dunks with his suit.

To no avail, Cooper tried ducking. He'd spent no less than an hour on his hair that morning. His hands came up, trying to block, but that didn't work either and he spun immediately around to try and fix the disaster Chancellor had made. "I'm not looking to be jazzed up for a date. This is work. I need to look professional."And messy hair just didn't cut it. But there was no going back. Focusing on the shoes now, he wondered what was wrong with his own. "There's nothing on my shoes."

"They look inexpensive." which was a slightly less cruel way to say cheap. "I think that maybe my tie cost more than your shoes. And yes, you're trying to look professional but there is nothing wrong with looking stylish and professional at the same time. And yes, maybe I look like I was mauled by a grizzly bear but I slept the last four nights on the sofa in the conference room so when I showered this morning at my hotel I really didn't think about shaving or doing anything with my hair."

Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be led over to the shoes. He picked out a pair, unknowing that they were the least expensive pair in the store. He failed to notice the little sale tag on them. "These are kind of nice," he offered, looking up at Chancellor for approval. How easily he'd fallen into that trap.

"No those. These." He showed him a nicer pair. "What size shoe do you wear?" He looked down at Cooper's feet and then his brow furrowed slightly. "Ten? Eleven?" Chancellor had a serious addiction to shoes, particularly expensive ones. But he certainly could afford them.

When Chancellor looked down at his feet, Cooper returned the favor and looked at the other man's feet. "You're wearing sneakers!" he said, completely nonplussed by his audacity. "Shall we go to Footlocker next?"

"These are my dunks, they are very stylish kicks. Try these on." He handed a pair of shoes over to Comfort and then he went to take a seat in one of the chairs near the shoe station. He leaned back and crossed his feet at the ankles. "You really can't get these at a footlocker in this color."

"You are absolutely ridiculous." Cooper flopped himself down in a chair and tried the shoes on, just ready to leave the store at this point. Chancellor was infuriating but he was trying not to let it show because if he did, that would just prove the man right. Unfortunately, it was difficult to hide anything from a profiler.

"I am aware of this." Chancellor knew that he was frustrating. He watched as Comfort put the shoes on and he nodded his approval. "You know, if you just dressed well it would make you more confident, I think."

"I'm perfectly confident." Around most people. Around the people who let him be himself, or at least let him put on his tightly constricted airs. The way his cheeks went pink when he said that though proved that he wasn't confident right now.

"Oh yes, perfectly so." Chancellor nodded and he slouched a little lower and he looked around the store. After a moment he stood up and he walked over to look at some of the jackets. "You know, if you just put away a little money every month for clothing it wouldn't take you long to have a perfectly respectable wardrobe."

Pursing his lips, he gathered up the things they'd selected and headed to the cash register. "Yes, well I'll be sure to call you up as my personal fashion consultant once this is all over." His voice was dripping with tight sarcasm as he handed the man his Amex card.

"Excellent." Chancellor smiled at him and he looked back at a jacket that he sort of liked, but then he put it back and turned back to Cooper. "Do you have any questions after all of this? Is the rest of your day planned?"

"I'm going to be contacting Agent Montgomery for some questions as well as Agent Meridian today. I'll be looking through the reports filed concerning the Banks case as well." He had a very strict agenda that left very little room for fluctuation.

"Oh good, then you won't care if I leave for the rest of the afternoon." Because he was really exhausted and he was hitting a wall now that he wasn't actually focusing on the world. That and he had had a good majority of the case files sent to his hotel so he could keep working even if the case got closed down.

Cooper nodded in agreement. Yes, he'd be okay with Chancellor leaving for the rest of the day. To be honest, it was going to make his afternoon a lot simpler. After nearly choking on the bill, he gathered up his bags and started the walk back to the office.

Chancellor walked with him in silence. He had a lot on his mind now and he felt sluggish because he hadn't been working as hard and had let sleep catch up to him. When they got to quantico he stopped in the lobby to text message Liam to tell him he wasn't going to come back. "Well this is where I leave you, Comfort. Now that I knwo you have safely been returned to the FBI, more fashionable than when you left it."

"Less covered in ranch dressing is how I'll describe it to anyone who asks." He left his bagful of an empty shoebox in the trunk of his car and headed into the office. He only turned around once to watch Chancellor walk away from him.

Chancellor headed out of quantico and back in the direction of his hotel. He figured he'd sleep for a few hours and then shower so that he could get back to work. Though he'd be keeping tabs on Liam and on Comfort via text.