"Well, well, well if it isn't Ms. Penelope Garcia," I announced as I walked into my old friend's office. Her back was towards the door as she faced an abundance of computer screens on her desk and several mounted on the walls causing her to jump when she heard my voice. "You haven't changed a bit since I've been gone, have you?"

She spun around so fast that her chair almost wobbled over, her eyes as wide and her face bewildered.

"Mikayla? What are you doing here? I thought you didn't get back from Europe until next month?"

"I decided to come back early," I shrugged with a smirk. "I'm surprised you didn't know that working for the FBI. I thought you folks knew where we all were at all times?"

"That's the CIA," She informed me with a smile. "I can only access that information if I hack the system and I was recently informed that I'm 'on a list' so I'm trying to behave myself these days."

"Only you could end up on a CIA list while working for the FBI," I smiled, shaking my head at my old friend causing her to scoff and raise an eyebrow.

"Well little miss, if the stories I've heard are true then you're probably on quite a few lists yourself after your European escapades."

I rolled my eyes as I moved into the room to lean against her desk.

"I'm not on any lists," I assured her. "I didn't even get myself arrested, not even once."

"You've truly matured," Penelope told me, her words dripping with sarcasm, but I nodded my head.

"I have!" I insisted. "I went to Europe to find myself and I truly believe I'm a better person because of it."

"I'm glad to hear that," Penelope smiled, but it wasn't her usual bright, beaming smile. It was tight and reserved.

"I'm sensing a 'but'?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

Penelope opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again quickly as she avoided making eye contact with me. There was a tense moment of silence before she spoke.

"It's just...I'll believe it when I see it. That's all."

My heart sunk a bit at her words. Penelope and I had grown up together. She was four years older than me, but our mother's were best friends so we quickly became best friends as well. At least, until we got older that is. Penelope had more personality in her little finger than most people had in their whole body, but her love of computers and video games earned her the label of 'nerd' in our school where as my natural flirtatiousness and interest in boys earned me the label of prom queen.
I was popular and everyone wanted to be my friend, but at the end of the day the only opinion that I cared about was Penelope's. I'd let her down plenty over the years, but she was like a sister to me, I figured that came with the territory and that she'd always forgive me. I'd been right about that too until just before I left for my trip when I crossed a line that I did worry we'd never be able to come back from.

"That's fair," I said quietly, trying and failing to hide my disappointment. "But I won't let you down again, Penny. I promise."

Never one to want to see someone feeling down, Penelope bounced up from her chair forcing a more genuine smile onto her face as she pulled me into a hug.

"I believe you, Mickey," She assured me. "Even if I am curious about how you managed to get into such a secure building with no escort or identification on you."

I laughed and pushed her away, swatting her on the shoulder.

"Just by pure charm and my winning smile," I informed her. "The security guard on duty is far too easy to win over, you might want to talk to someone about that."

"I'll get right on it," Penelope smiled. "Anyway, what're your plans for tonight? When did you get back? Do you have somewhere to stay?"

"I just got back yesterday actually and I do have somewhere to stay. The magic of the internet made it easy to find somewhere before I left France," I explained earning a giggle from Penelope. "As for plans for tonight, I was hoping you'd maybe like to grab some dinner?"

"No can do, little miss," Penelope informed me. "The team just finished a big case and we're heading out for drinks as soon as they get back. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you tagged along though, they're really the best people."

"Oh, sure!" I smiled. "If you don't think they'd mind, I'd love to meet your team."

"They won't mind at all," Penelope assured me as she logged off her computer before turning to face me with a stern look on her face. "But I'm warning you now, keep your paws off Derek Morgan. I know he's your type, but he's not up for grabs."

I held my hands up in defense as the look in Penelope's eyes could probably kill someone.

"Alright, Penny, I won't go near the guy, I promise," I told her sincerely. "But you never told me you had a boyfriend."

"I don't," She said firmly. "But he's a really good friend and I know you'll like him and I just really don't want you to mess up what we have."

I gave her a suspicious look, but knowing my history I could understand her concerns.

"I won't do anything inappropriate," I assured her. "But I am intrigued to meet him now."

Almost as if we'd summoned them, a door opened and several voices filled the room outside Penelope's office.

"Baby girl! Where's my baby girl at?" A sultry voice shouted making Penelope's cheeks go a tad pink.

"Is that him?" I whispered to her, a grin on my face. "He calls you baby girl?"

"Shut up," She scolded. "You promised to behave!"

I giggled and nodded before following her out to meet her team.

As Penelope promised, her team were nothing short of wonderful. They were all very welcoming and happy to have me to tag along. As Penelope also promised Derek Morgan was absolutely my type or he would have been at least if we'd met three years ago. But over the last few years I'd started to realized it might be more interesting to go for someone who isn't a confident ladies man with a bit of a cocky attitude.

Don't get me wrong, Derek was a lovely guy, but it became instantly clear that he was just as flirty as me and my gut told me he wouldn't be the wonderful, committed boyfriend type of guy I was ready to find.

There was however, someone else on her team that caught my attention. Dr. Spencer Reid. There was something about his awkward way and his inability to look me in the eye without blushing that intrigued me. He was absolutely adorable and I found myself struggling to take my eyes off him. But Penelope had asked me to behave so I was trying to reign myself in.

"So do you guys celebrate after every case with a few drinks?" I asked as we all stood around a tall table at a bar close to their offices, sipping our second drinks of the night.

"Not all of them," The blonde woman I remembered being introduced as JJ answered me. "Just ones that are particularly tough to handle and if we're not flying in from somewhere and exhausted."

"So today was particularly tough?" I asked. "What happened?"

"We're not really supposed to give out details about federal investigations," The leader of the team informed me. I felt like an idiot because of course they wouldn't be allowed to talk about it with just anyone, but he gave me a reassuring smile. "But it was connected to child sex trafficking. Anything with children makes it hard, but sex crimes add a whole new element to it."

I cringed at his explanation, wishing I hadn't asked in the first place.

"That must be tough," I sympathized. "No wonder you need a drink, I'm surprised you guys didn't go straight for the tequila."

"We try not to medicate too much with alcohol," Penelope said sending me a pointed glance. "It's a slippery slope if you use it to cope with trauma and I personally have seen how it can bring out the worst in people."

I flinched slightly, knowing exactly who her words were aimed at, suddenly feeling less interested in finishing my drink. But her annoyance was well deserved so I bit my tongue.

"Of course, that's very sensible," I smiled. "You all must be very strong people to cope with what you do."

"It helps having such a sturdy team," Derek said, raising his glass for everyone to cheers.

I joined in, clinking my glass against everyone elses to toast their success, but then everyone fell into their own conversations. Penelope, Derek and a woman named Elle were chatting and so were Hotch, Gideon and JJ. That only left Spencer and I so I decided to take advantage of the situation and get to know him. Without drawing any attention from the rest of his team, I slipped to the other side of the table and leaned in next to him.

"I hope I don't sound rude," I started to draw his attention. His face snapped in my direction, but he quickly averted his gaze once again. "But you look awfully young to be a doctor."

"I'm twenty-five," He confessed. "But I have three PhDs hence the doctor qualification."

"Holy crap," I blurted out before I could stop myself. "Uh, I mean, wow. That's seriously impressive. You must be some kind of genius to do that and land a job for the FBI by twenty five."

"I actually did all that by the time I was twenty two," He corrected, still avoiding eye contact at all costs causing me to smile at his awkwardness. "But I don't really like to use the genius label even if that's what most people call me. I do however have an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory."

"Is that like a photographic memory?"

"Kinda," He nodded, sipping his drink.

"Well that's very impressive, Dr. Reid."

"Oh, uh, you can call me Spencer or even just Reid, whichever you'd prefer, but you don't need to include the doctor part."

"Alright, Spencer, I can do that," I smiled, catching his eye for the first time since we'd started chatting. "You can call me Mickey if you'd like."

"Mickey? I would've thought the more common nickname for Mikayla is Kayla?"

"Probably," I shrugged with a smirk. "But I'm not one for doing things the common way."

"I've gotten that impression," He smiled. "But neither is your friend Penelope so I'm not surprised. How long have you two known each other?"

I glanced in her direction and caught her staring at me suspiciously. Knowing that I wasn't doing anything wrong or going against any promise I'd made her, I simply chose to ignore her looks and turned my attention back to Spencer.

"Since I was born," I informed him. "She's a few years older than me so she's been there since I was a few hours old."

"Wow, that's a long friendship," Reid raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Is there any particular reason why there seems to be so much tension between you two tonight?"

I frowned slightly at the fact that he'd noticed, but quickly replaced it with one of my perfected flirtatious smiles.

"Don't you go profiling me, Dr. Reid," I teased. "But let's just say, I've not always been the best friend. I just spent a few years travelling though and, I know it sounds cheesy, but I feel like I've found myself and worked through some things. So I'm back and hoping to show Penny that I've changed."

Spencer nodded before quirking his head in a questioning way that made him look like a puppy.

"Penny?"

I laughed at how adorable he was, silently thanking him for not pressing any further on how I'd upset his obviously close friend.

"Yeah, that's what I've always called Penelope," I explained. "What do you guys call her? Penelope is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?"

"Uh, we usually go with Garcia," Spencer said as he finished the last of his drink. "So where abouts were you travelling?"

I grinned, happy to fill Spencer in on my time away now he seemed less likely to pass out from the attention I was giving him. I told him how I moved to England three years ago when I was twenty three to distance myself from the group I'd been hanging out with. They weren't bad people really, but they were partying and drinking to excess every day and dragging me down a bad slope. Old habits die hard though and the Brits know how to drink better than anyone so at first it wasn't quite the detox I had planned, but after I'd been living there for just over a year I got tired of it. I found some hobbies that were much more satisfying and then moved to France where I worked on becoming a certified yoga instructor before setting up a small studio and teaching classes three times a week.
It was refreshing telling Spencer my tale. He hung on my every word, but was actually listening intently unlike the boys I usually spoke too who paid just enough attention to charm their way into my bed without actually caring about anything I was saying.

"So what made you want to move back?" He asked once I was done giving him a brief rundown on my life.

"I missed home," I shrugged. "And to be honest, I missed Penny. I've got some grovelling to do and it's hard to get your sincerity across from the other side of the world."

"That's understandable," Spencer nodded, but before he could speak again, Hotch interrupted.

"Well folks, I should get home to Haley and the baby," He announced. "And I would recommend you all follow suit soon, I know how things get once you get started and I expect you all present and bright eyed for the briefing at 9am."

There were a few playful groans amongst the group, but for the most part everyone looked tired and ready for bed anyway. I may not have had an emotionally draining day like the people surrounding me, but I was feeling the jetlag and pretty ready to get some sleep myself.

As people finished their drinks they began to slip away until it was just Spencer, Penelope, Derek and myself left at the table.

"Where abouts is your apartment, Mickey?" Penelope asked as she gathered her things.

"Not too far from here actually, just up by Dupont circle," I told her, grabbing my bag as well. "I was going to take the subway home, but I think I'll treat myself and take a taxi instead. This jetlags killing me all of a sudden."

Spencer perked up as I spoke and jumped in as soon as I'd finished.

"I'm heading up that way too!" He blurted out. "I live in Adams Morgan. We, uh, w-we could share a taxi if you'd like? Split the fare?"

A cackle fell from Derek's lips as he tossed his head back laughing, but Penelope's pursed lips were telling me she didn't find this funny at all. Unfortunately for her, I was too tired to turn down the offer.

"Slow down there, Romeo," Derek teased. "Don't wanna come off too eager now, do we?"

Spencer's cheeks instantly went deep red so, in an attempt to reassure him, I linked my arm with his and flashed him a smile.

"Eager is a good thing if you ask me," I told him. "Playing it cool is overrated and I would love to split a taxi with you."

Penelope went to say something, probably in protest, but Derek threw his arm around her, stopping her before she could speak.

"Don't worry, baby girl, I'll make sure you get home safely."

"That's not-"

"C'mon," Derek cut Penelope short as he led her away, but I knew there would be a conversation to be had in the morning.

We watched them walk away in silence, Spencer tucking his hair behind his ear nervously.

"I, uh, wasn't trying to come off as eager," He informed me after a few moments, just as Penelope and Derek disappeared from view. "I just thought it was the logical thing to offer."

I smiled at his endearing awkwardness and started walking towards the door, dragging him with me as our arms were still linked.

"It's fine really," I assured him. "It didn't seem eager to me, it was nice thing to suggest. Now. Shall you call the taxi or shall I?"

The taxi ride was fairly quiet, but not in a particularly awkward way. The tiredness had caught up to both of us and we were happy to sit in comfortable silence. I perked up a bit though as we turned onto my street.

"Just up there, the first corner on the left, thanks," I told the driver, alerting Spencer to the fact that we were close as I turned my attention towards him. "Can I give you my number? That way you can let me know how much the ride was and I can transfer you the money."

Spencer looked a little caught off guard, but nodded his head and pulled out his phone. I rattled off the number as his fingers quickly flitted across the screen to add it to his contacts.

"Got it," He smiled as the driver pulled to a stop outside my apartment building. "Well, Mickey, it was a pleasure meeting you."

"You too, Spence," I said, returning his smile and holding my out for him to shake. "You're a really cool guy."

His cheeks twinged pink at my compliment as he stared nervously at my hand.

"Uh, did you know a staggering number of pathogens are exchanged in a single handshake?" He informed me causing me to slowly lower my hand. "It's actually much safer to kiss."

I smiled at his words, an idea instantly popping into my head replacing the slight twinge of rejection I had felt moments before.

"Well then," I smirked. "I guess that's what we'll have to do."

Before Spencer could protest or even process my words, I leaned across the empty middle seat between us and pressed my lips against his. At first he was frozen, but as I pressed against him with just a little more insistence, he relaxed. His lips moved gently against mine in a very soft, caring way before I reluctantly pulled back.

He stared at me in a shock for a moment before a gentle smile slid onto his face. Happy that he had obviously enjoyed the kiss as much as I had, I moved back to my side of the car, quickly opening the door.

"Goodnight, Spence," I said, snapping him out of his daze. "Let me know when you get home."

Without waiting to hear his response, I slipped out of the car and closed the door before walking off to my apartment with a grin on my face that I just couldn't wipe away.