Hello all! I couldn't help but post this ASAP seeing as I've been writing it for the past month and have had this idea in my head for easily over a year now. I hope you enjoy it and if this is your first story with me, please know that you can message me anytime! I love to answer any questions you have as well as meet new people so feel free to hit a girl up. For those of you reading This is How I Disappear, do not fret. I am (somewhat) capable of updating both at once and I've already got several chapters of that set up! Please enjoy and thank you for reading!

Chapter 1

Ava Thorne rolled over to her stomach at the sound of her alarm. Reaching over the other occupant in the bed who was still fast asleep, she turned it off and rose to a sitting position. She smiled down at the muscular back of her fiancée before pressing a gentle kiss to it and heading towards the shower. Today was a big day and even though she didn't need to be at her new job until nine, she purposely set an alarm for five. She wanted to be well put together and make a good first impression on her new team. The word was foreign to her, having always worked alone but the change was most certainly a welcomed one. Stepping under the cold water, Ava shivered as she quickly applied shampoo into the palm of her hand. Turning her back to the door, she failed to take notice as it opened and a slim, naked figure tip toed inside. Just as she finished rinsing the shampoo from her hair, Ava felt a warm hand slip around her waist. She jumped, spinning on her heel anticipating a threat, only to come face to face with her fiancée of three months.

"I don't know how many times I have to ask you not to sneak up on me." Ava couldn't help but smile as her fiancé pulled her in close. "I could've hurt you, Kate."

"Oh yes," the blonde murmured as she peppered the other woman with kisses along her collarbone, "my girlfriend, the secret agent, can't control her ninja assassin skills." Ava rolled her eyes, not at all annoyed at the attention Kate was giving her. She took hold of the woman's hips and tilted her head back slightly.

"Fiancée," she practically whispered as she felt Kate chuckle against her skin at the reminder.

"Yes, my fiancée." The shorter woman removed her lips from Ava's neck and offered her a beaming grin, water splashing into her face and causing her to blink rapidly. Ava sought to remedy her fiancée's discomfort and used her leverage to turn them around, pinning the blonde against the side of the shower. The two were still growing accustomed to the term and tried to use it as much as possible. Although only a handful of people knew about their relationship and how it had escalated recently, anyone who saw them could tell that they were in love. Ava smiled back, hands already massaging the sensitive flesh around Kate's hipbone. Without another word, she pressed her lips to the blonde's neck, nipping and sucking where she knew she would strike gold. Kate moaned almost immediately, legs instinctually parting slightly, as she racked her nails down Ava's back. The brunette grinned as she felt her fiancée squirm against her, longing to be touched. Before long, Ava wedged a thigh in between Kate's legs and the blonde dropped her head onto her shoulder, needing the extra support. While Ava was still concerned with getting to work on time, she saw this as a necessary addition to her morning ritual and praised herself for thinking to set such an early alarm.

"I'm just saying," Garcia huffed as she sat at the edge of a now empty desk, "whoever she is, I'm probably not going to like her." The rest of the team, minus Hotch, took in the woman's tone and expression before responding.

"Pen, just because she's not Emily doesn't mean you won't like her." Morgan insisted.

"It's not that she's not Emily." Garcia pressed. "It's that she's trying to replace Emily. No one, and I do mean no one, can measure up to my Emily Prentiss."

"She's never even met her, Garcia." JJ sighed. "She's just filling an empty spot, not after her place in your heart."

"Whoever she is, I'm sure she's more nervous to meet us than we are to meet her." Reid added, sipping his third coffee of the morning.

"Of course she is." Rossi chimed in. "Look at us, we've already decided that we're not going to like her as much as Emily." His sarcasm was duly noted and Garcia decided to drop the conversation. The five could see their Unit Chief pacing his office in anticipation of his new agent's arrival. Adding new agents to this team was always difficult. They were a family and introducing someone into the mix- into their lives- hadn't gone too well in the past. Hotch had selected this agent himself, which did make the situation a lot less stressful for everyone, but even he wasn't perfect.

"Look, we barely know anything about her." JJ added. "All we know is that she's young, ex-CIA, and specifically requested our unit. That's not nearly enough to be judging her."

"Good thing I'm an open book then." A new, smoky voice caused the agents to turn around. As the BAU took in the woman before them, Hotch made his way to the bullpen and offered her a genuine smile.

"Agent Thorne," he reached out and shook her hand, "it's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise." The woman responded, noticing the five pairs of eyes that remained on her. As they each stood and introduced themselves, the BAU made observations about their new teammate. The first thing everyone noticed was that she was tall- easily over 5'9 even without her heeled boots. Her slightly curly, dark hair cascaded endlessly down her back and her jade eyes seemed to be able to take in everything with ease. There was no question- the woman was beautiful- but her youth seemed to come as a surprise to most of the BAU. They knew she was 25 but didn't anticipate that she would actually look it. Her skin was slightly tanned, although they couldn't tell if that was natural or because of recent exposure to the sun, and her face sported little to no make up. She wore a black pantsuit with an emerald blouse which only succeeding in enhancing the brightness of her eyes. A single diamond pendant hung around her neck, elegant and regal, as well as a pair of matching earrings. However, if they looked closer, the BAU could see that she had, at one point in her life, at least five or six other piercings around her ears. As they concluded their overly polite introductions and Hotch and Ava made their way to his office, the remaining five sat in silence.

"Is anyone else having Wonder Woman flashbacks?" Garcia was the first to speak when they knew they couldn't be heard. JJ raised her eyebrows as she nodded, slightly intimidated by the younger, taller woman.

"How are we ever going to get any work done?" Morgan remarked, nudging Reid's arm. The boy genius, surprisingly, nodded his head in agreement as he shrugged.

"Down, boy." JJ quipped. "Notice the ring on her finger?" Morgan's eyes narrowed as he offered the blonde a mischievous look.

"Soccer has a goalie," he smirked, "doesn't mean you can't score." JJ and Garcia both slapped a shoulder in response.

"You're vile." JJ admonished him as he laughed.

"I'm only kidding, Sunshine." The man said. "But still, she is definitely something."

"Yea," Rossi agreed, "like a magnet for trouble. Did you see the scars on her upper lip and wrists?"

"So we really did trade in one Emily for another, huh?" Morgan crossed his arms, eager to learn more about their new teammate's past.

"She did say she was an open book." JJ shrugged. "You could just ask her where they came from."

"No one's that open of a book." Morgan disagreed with a frown. "I'm sure she has some skeletons she's not exactly keen to share with us."

"Can you blame her?" Reid asked. "We literally just met. Besides, I'm sure there's things we aren't exactly forthcoming with about our pasts."

"Yea," Morgan added, "but we could be putting our lives in her hands in the next hour for all we know so personally, I'd like to learn a little more about her."

"Well here's your chance, Choco-licious." Garcia mumbled under her breath as Thorne shut the door to Hotch's office and began to approach them.

"So," the newest member of the BAU drew their attention, "Agent Hotchner said there was a desk I could use?"

"Oh right," Reid immediately hopped off Emily's old desk and ushered Garcia to do the same. "Here you go." He then proceeded to hold the chair out for her. Thorne sat with a smile and placed the small box of possessions she had brought on the floor.

"So, Ava," Morgan rolled his chair over to her, "can I call you Ava?"

"Only if I can call you 'choco-licious'." She joked, catching the man off guard. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice Garcia's face. "Just kidding."

"Right." Morgan chuckled awkwardly. As Ava began organizing her things, Morgan glanced at the others for help. JJ almost groaned aloud as she decided to come to his rescue.

"So you used to work for the CIA?" The blonde tried to initiate conversation. "How was that?"

"Oh you know," Ava didn't look up as she continued to unpack, "just a bunch of suits with noodles for brains and trigger-happy fingers."

"We had a friend who worked for them for a while." Rossi added. "She felt pretty much the same way."

"You mean Emily Prentiss." Ava stated more than asked. When Rossi nodded, she continued. "I know of her. We all do."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked, his curiosity getting the best of him again.

"Everyone at Langley knows Emily Prentiss. She's kind of a superstar." The BAU had never known this and their faces communicated as much. "You guys are pretty lucky to have had her on your team."

"More than lucky." Garcia added, somewhat tensely. Ava offered her a grin instead of responding in kind. As the new agent finished arranging her things, she sat up straight and placed her hands on her thighs.

"So, I assume there are some questions you'd all like to ask me." Her statement, once again, caught the group off guard. "Agent Hotchner told me you guys are more like a family than a team. I wasn't kidding when I said I was an open book. I know that earning your trust won't be as simple as retelling the oh-so-riveting stories of my past but I figured it's a start."

"Right well," Morgan cleared his throat, "now that you mention it, that might not be such a bad idea." Ava nodded once.

"Ok well," she crossed her legs gracefully, "what do you want to know?"

Over an hour later the BAU had learned nearly everything there was to know about Agent Ava Thorne. For starters, she was an orphan and had been for several years. Her parents worked at an international consulting firm and had died in a car accident two days before Ava's twenty-first birthday. She had been recruited by the CIA when she was still in college and joined a few months later. For the past four years, she had been working on human trafficking cases as an infiltrator- meaning her job was to pose as a victim and purposely get kidnapped. Because of her, four trafficking rings had been shut down in just as many years- a record for any agency. Only when Rossi had asked why she left the CIA did Ava become even remotely uncomfortable. She stated that it was complicated and involved issues during her last assignment. Understanding that this was a part of her life that she would not divulge so easily, Rossi retracted the question. JJ's question, however, was answered immediately. The blonde was genuinely curious as to how she had managed to convince four human trafficking rings that she was a target- not an agent. Ava almost chuckled.

"I'm a chameleon." She stated plainly. "I blend in when need be and stand out when necessary. Whatever or whoever I need to be, I become it. It's always been rather easy for me actually."

"Pretending to be someone else?" Morgan questioned, equally intrigued but wary.

"Pretty much." Ava shrugged. "I speak five languages and have no problem changing my appearance for whatever purpose we needed to fulfill. After that, it's all just understanding body language and social cues."

"How is it that simple?" Garcia asked, interested in her story despite her apprehensions towards the woman.

"Take a typical human trafficking victim." She began to explain.

"But there isn't one." Rossi interrupted. "Traffickers take everyone. They don't discriminate."

"They do, they just don't know that they do." Ava corrected. "The four rings I infiltrated all had types, whether it was intentional or not. One would prefer their victims to be social butterflies. It made them easier to track down and catch. Another unknowingly targeted extremely introverted people knowing that the chances of someone reporting them missing was significantly lower. It's all about knowing your enemy, really. If you know what they're looking for, what their type is, then you can become it in no time."

"But how?" Garcia pressed. "How can you just…erase who you are and force yourself to be someone else for months?" Ava shrugged nonchalantly once more.

"I'm not the profiler but, if I had to guess, I'd say that it has something to do with my borderline crippling need to please everyone in addition to my abhorrently long history of low self-esteem that makes it so easy to shed one skin and put another on." The group was silent, taken aback by her blunt and honest self-evaluation. "Basically, I always wanted to be someone else and found a job that paid me to do it."

"Well," Rossi swallowed hard, "you certainly sound like a profiler to me." Ava smiled, seemingly unfazed by the reaction the team had to her assessment. When she told them she was willing to share, she meant it. Even Morgan was pleased with the amount they had learned about their new teammate.

"Everyone," Hotch's voice echoed in the almost empty bullpen. When the six looked up at their boss, he added, "we have a case. Conference room in five."

"Is this the part where we assemble?" Ava's comic book joke was not ignored as Reid beamed a toothy grin at her.

"Yea, pretty much." Morgan patted her on the back as they rose from their seats. Ava couldn't help but smile, already liking her new team and glad she had gotten most of the awkward stuff out of the way. She almost winced as she remembered the handful of the things she hadn't shared, dreading the moment when she wouldn't have a choice.