Chapter 1

The morning was bitter and cold, as mornings often are. Dr. Spencer Reid kept his frail hands buried deep within the pockets of his pea coat, his purple scarf nearly choking him. He reluctantly pulled a hand out to open the frozen handle of the coffee shop door. The scent of coffee beans filled him with a slight rush as he anticipated getting this morning's caffeine and carbohydrate fix. He entered the space, painted with lush hues of browns and greens, the hanging light fixtures gave a soft glow and pot lights illuminated the prints on the wall. A jazz song began on the radio as Reid approached the counter.

The early morning barista was exactly the picture of an art student working her way through college. She was complete with dyed hair, a nose ring and a few tattoos. "How can I help you" She asked with a smile. "She looks like a teenage delinquent but she might actually be a nice person. Regardless..She looks ridiculous" Spencer thought "Yeah. I'll have a large black coffee and an everything bagel with crème cheese" he said to her. "Sure. That will be six dollars." She smiled at him again, accepting a five and a one from the young doctor, who continued to stand at the counter waiting for his breakfast. "When did I become so judgmental?" he thought "I've got to quit that" The teenage delinquent girl returned with Reid's bagel and coffee. He walked out to the parking lot down the street and into his car. Placing the coffee in the cup holder after tossing yesterday's coffee onto the floor of the passenger's side and placing his bagel on the seat next to him Reid started the car.

A memory of having his neighbor teaching him to drive flashed through his head. His dad was gone by the time Spencer was old enough to drive, and his mother refused to drive. It was too much for her. It made her too nervous. She was just plain too tired.

He picked up his bagel and took a bite at the next red light. It was about a half an hour drive to the BAU on a good day. Today was not a good day. A wreck had held up traffic that morning. "What ever." Reid thought "More time to enjoy my bagel." Reid went between long periods of eating almost nothing and surviving solely on caffeine and mints (to spare everyone around from his coffee breath) and eating everything he could get his hands on. Traffic began to move steadily as Spencer took a final swig on his coffee and crumpled up the bagel wrapper. He still wouldn't be late; he always left way too early. When the flow of traffic eased up and Spencer made it to the BAU he parked his old car and re-secured his scarf. Again burying his hands in his pockets, he walked from the parking lot toward the main building. He slid his ID through the scanner on the door, which clocked him in and unlocked the main entrance and entered the warm building. He was undoubtedly cranky this morning and he was prepared to scream if they had to go out of town for another two week long case.

Hotch called everyone into the meeting room. "Shit…Here we go again. More bodies more unsubs more sharing hotel rooms with Gideon who makes a point of snoring and farting as loudly as he can in his sleep" Reid thought as he sat down in the fancy ergonomic desk chairs. Hotch entered the room along with Morgan and Gideon. Each was carrying a large box. "Well everyone, I have good news and bad news." Hotch began "The good news is we get to take this week off from catching bad guys however, we also get to spend this week doing paper work." Ah paper work, sweet, sweet paper work" thought Reid " I can live with that" Reid took a stack of case files and positioned himself at his desk to bury himself in files. He was organizing and filling in blank spaces in the cases.

Several hours past and Spencer had worked through his lunch break. "Reid, time to go home, unless you feel like going out with me and everyone else" Morgan suggested. "nah I'll head home" Spencer replied, picking up his messenger bag and exiting the building with the rest of the crowd. He split off from them to head to his car.

When he arrived home, the place was dead silent. Reid couldn't be bothered with dinner and sat down at his desk to write his mother a letter. Nothing came to mind. Everything was the same as it had always been with him. Leaving on cases and coming home to do nothing of great importance, going to the same coffee shop all of the time, never trying anything new. He sighed and set his pen down. "Alright, alright, I'll go to sleep" he told his brain. He knew he wouldn't be sleeping that well , all of the caffeine would doubtless keep him awake or at the very least interrupt his sleep. Before lying in his bed for the night, he glanced over at the mirror. His hair was disheveled and he was once again getting stubble. Reid decided to ignore this and peeled back the covers of his bed. It was always so cold he would think as he turned on his electric blanket.

The alarm was the worst sound ever. On the rare nights when he actually got more than a few hours sleep, Spencer appreciated the wakeup call less than usual. He began to drag himself out of bed and into the shower, wishing that it woke him up instead of making him want to fall asleep again. Reid sighed as he got out of the shower and approached the sink where he could get rid of that facial hair he wished he didn't grow so often.

SSA Aaron Hotchner was sipping his morning coffee, black, just how he liked it, when he was called into Strauss's office. "Good morning Aaron." She said. Her voice was especially infuriating this early in the morning. "Good morning Erin." He sighed. He hated her. "In what way has she decided to try and ruin my career today?" He thought. "Well I've called you in here because we have a new member for your team." She said, setting down a file in front of Hotch. He picked up the file and looked at the photograph it contained. "When does he start?" He asked. "In a few hours, I called you in early to tell you." "How long have you known?" "Since about a week ago. "And you're calling me in now to tell me about it?" Hotch sighed, his dark eyes rolling. "Yes Hotchner, now go do your job. Everyone else should be arriving at about nine. You're dismissed, Aaron" She said. "Something about her….it just ruins my day whatever it is." Hotch thought, heading over to his office. Situating himself in his comfortable leather chair, Hotch opened the employee file and tried to enjoy the rest of his coffee while he waited for this person to show up. A fairly spotless record, a little hint of juvenile delinquency here and there, a high IQ, though not quite as high as Reid's. Very few people could be that smart. No spouse or children, a degree in psychology and sociology all on top of a head of flaming red hair.

He arrived at eight forty-five. "SSA Hotchner?" He asked. He was young, probably not much older than Reid, tall with Hazel eyes and a happy, but slightly cocky smile. "Dr. Ryan Stanson?" Hotch asked. "Yes, sir." Ryan replied, flashing Hotch a smile that Hotch couldn't trust, it was the smile of an arrogant bastard, and if there was one thing in this world Aaron hated more than Strauss it was arrogant bastards. "I'll show you to your desk" Hotch said, walking out his office door and down into the general workspace "Everyone else should be arriving any minute now" He lead Ryan to the desk next to Reid's , "You'll be working closely with the whole team, always have a bag packed in case we have to leave for a case, More than likely you'll be spending a lot of time around Dr. Reid. Now let me take you over to Garcia's office." Hotch lead Ryan away again. "Garcia? I really hope she isn't as bad as Strauss…that woman was the devil." Ryan thought as they approached a door labeled "Penelope Garcia, Tech Specialist" The room inside was dark except for the glowing lights coming from computer screens. Once is eyes adjusted he noticed the frills, the little cutesy things scattered about, the pink pens with plumes of feathers sitting on the top, and seated in the center of all this was a blonde girl, clad in all pink who somewhat resembled a cupcake, her flouncy pink blouse being the frosting and the many jeweled clips in her hair resembling rainbow sprinkles. "Penelope, I'd like you to meet Dr. Ryan Stanson, the newest member of our team" "Oh I know everything about you already. I heard we were getting a new guy. Strauss let me do the background check, because she knew I'd go looking anyways… Anyways, My name is Penelope, or you can call me goddess of everything technological and adorable…or penny" "Garcia" Hotch interrupted. "I'm always here if you need anything. Have an awesome first day" Garcia giggled as they left her office .

Hotch lead Ryan back to his desk, where Ryan set down his messenger bag.