"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." -Anias Nin
Reid flinched slightly as a balled-up piece of loose-leaf paper tapped his forehead before landing on his desk. Glancing up, he saw Morgan and Prentiss failing to disguise a snicker.
"Morning, Kid." Morgan chuckled, flashing a grin. "How was your weekend?"
"Short," Reid quipped, his eyebrows crinkling as he sipped his coffee. "Yours?"
Morgan shrugged, "Same old, same old." He raised his own mug to his lips. "Hey, who's that?"
Looking up, Reid noticed whom Morgan was asking about. The pair noticed JJ leading a young girl through the BAU, gesturing to desks and keeping her close. The girl, not looking a day over nineteen, clutched a spotted black-and-white composition notebook to her chest, glancing wondrously around. As JJ led her closer to Morgan and Reid, the girl bit her lower lip nervously, her tan eyebrows rising as her gaze surveyed the room.
"She looks way too young to be a colleague," Reid mused.
"Really, Reid?" Morgan asked dryly. Reid looked over flatly. "They day you walked in here you didn't look old enough to cross the street." Prentiss smiled, quickly bringing a hand over her face to stifle her laughter. Reid opened his mouth to protest when Morgan continued, "Hotch made sure everyone called you Doctor so we wouldn't get laughed off the crime scene."
"Still," Reid said tersely, "she looks a little green."
"And if she were an agent she'd be with Hotch," Prentiss confirmed. "Maybe it's a new intern?"
"We don't usually get intern chicks in here," Morgan countered, leaning forward. "JJ!" he called. "Who's your friend?"
JJ smiled nervously at them, opening her mouth before she was sure of what to say. "I—I'll let Hotch explain it to you." Before any of them could reply, she swept the unknown girl away, flashing Morgan a second nervous grin.
The girl's watery blue eyes met Reid's. Her pale face lowered slightly, and the corners of her mouth turned up. She gripped her notebook tighter, and Reid heard himself gulp.
"Whoa," Morgan exclaimed after the pair was out of earshot, "down, boy."
Reid shot him a glare as Hotch appeared in his office doorway. "Guys—I've got some news for you."
"Here we go," said Prentiss, rising from her desk.