Chapter 1

Reid had been unusually quiet all morning, his head kept down working on paperwork, seemingly determined to avoid everyone in the bullpen that day. This certainly didn't escape Morgan's attention – although sometimes he would tire of the resident genius' ramblings, he had grown fond of them most of the time, and it was painfully obvious that something was off with Reid. Even when Morgan had walked in and said good morning to Reid, Reid didn't so much as glance up from his work and merely mumbled a greeting back.

Something is definitely up with him, Morgan thought right away. But he had decided not to push Reid just yet – there would be a better time for that later on. Now that he thought about it, it seemed to Morgan that Reid had been distant ever since Morgan returned to work. He felt that uncontrollable twinge in his chest as he flashed back to his recent abduction and torture. Morgan was still working through it, understandably, but what was going on with Reid? Morgan had returned to work, hadn't he? He was still here. Deep down, Morgan knew that Reid would have broken had Morgan not survived, and that broke Morgan's heart. Reid had lost enough people, been abandoned too many times. The poor kid. Reid has suffered more than enough.

No, he wasn't going to confront Reid yet; he didn't want to cause problems between the two just yet in case Reid got defensive and closed up like he usually did when something was bothering him. Morgan made a mental note that morning to keep an eye on Reid. It came naturally to Morgan to watch over him, his brotherly instincts kicking in automatically. He really had grown to care for Reid, and knew that Reid could use a brotherly figure in his life whether or not Reid knew it himself.

Something snapped Morgan out of his reverie. He looked up and what he saw caused him to do a full double take. This was the BAU – not too many new faces came into the bullpen that often, but when they did, the visitors were always painfully out of place. And this newcomer was certainly… Out of place.

She walked with purpose, although you could tell from the look in her eyes that there was some hint of uncertainty. She was nervous for sure, but she tried to hide that. And had it not been for Morgan being a profiler, that fear in her eyes may have gone unnoticed. But what really caught his attention was her undeniable beauty. Standing straight, this woman was regular height and wore black heels that told Morgan that in her everyday life, she had confidence. A light blue blouse was tucked into a black pencil skirt. She was clean cut. Lawyer, maybe? From the bottom up, her tanned legs were perfect, her body – she was a perfect ten all around. Completely and undeniably stunning. Long, straight brown hair that fell perfectly mid-torso accentuated her perfectly structured face. Sharp green eyes that were overly aware of every movement around her were emphasized by a lightly make-upped face. Morgan guessed her age to be around late thirties, but her radiating beauty led him to believe she was easily a hit with guys much younger than that. She seemed ageless, and Morgan then realized that he had been obviously, and embarrassingly so, staring at this visitor. He frantically fumbled around with files to try to look busy.

Who is this woman and why is she here? What could she possibly want with the BAU? Maybe he had been right – she was probably a lawyer. It would make sense.

It was then that Morgan realized that her eyes had locked onto a certain someone and she was quickly approaching his direction. Morgan looked around in an attempt to not stare at her but he was at a loss.

She stopped right then and there and suddenly Morgan noticed a shift in her demeanor. Her eyes softened and she was tentative when she reached down and put her hand down on an unsuspecting shoulder.

"Spencer. Can we talk?"