Buck Wilmington sighed happily as he stretched and entered the elevator.

It was going to be a great day, he could tell. JD Dunne, his young roommate, had had to go in a little early and they didn't have to be in at the usual time.

It was a Monday and even their undercover agent, Ezra Standish, would probably be in before his usual time around eleven. They always had a meeting on any Monday that there was no outstanding cases that needed their immediate attention or when all were at the office and not at court.

As the elevator opened to let him out on the eleventh floor, Buck was actually looking forward to seeing the guys. Whistling, he headed down the hall and rounded the corner to see a brunette seated at the desk just outside the office door. "Mornin', Darlin'," he grinned as bespectacled grey eyes turned upward to stare at him.

"Er, hello…?"

It wasn't until Buck was waiting for his computer to start and sipping on some coffee that he registered the anomaly. He turned wide blue eyes to the door and was about to stand when Chris Larabee finally stuck his head out to call a meeting.

"But -" he protested as Nathan Jackson towed him into the conference room. "Nathan, who -?"

"We aren't sure what the deal is," the medic told him. "Chris is going to explain."

"I thought we weren't going to have a secretary," JD told them. Chris had once told them that they didn't need to have one, even though all the other teams did.

As they settled into their respective seats, the aforementioned secretary slipped into an extra seat before Chris closed the door and surveyed them.

Josiah Sanchez had a stack of files in front of him and was curiously studying the girl while trying not to.

Nathan was picking apart a muffin and kept glancing at her as Ezra did the same on her right.

JD was frowning at her as Vin Tanner twirled a pencil around, seemingly uninterested though Chris knew better.

"Alright, fellas," Chris ran a hand through his short blond hair. "Here's the deal. This," he waved at her, "is AJ Johnson. She'll be working with us for the Secretary Swap."

The annual Swap was conducted between the FBI and the ATF offices of Denver. It was morale for the secretaries and, at the beginning of the year, a raffle was held to determine fifty participants that would set up shop at the other office for one month. It was also designed to cultivate a stronger relationship with the other office.

"But wait," Nathan held up a finger. "All of the fifty secretaries take their counterparts' places and there's no reason why we should have one."

"Well, that's what's supposed to happen. Evidently, someone screwed up and her name was drawn out by mistake. So, they had to put her somewhere that wasn't already taken. The one thing that makes this even the most remotely tolerable is that she's already experienced with a team."

"AJ, right?" JD was feeling sympathetic now that it was all explained. "I'm JD," he reached over to shake her hand. "Welcome to the team."

She smiled shyly as they shook. "Thanks," she ducked her head. "I hope I'm not being too much of a bother to you guys… I didn't know about the Swap cause I joined the Bureau around this time last year."

"Didn't you know about it when they did the raffle at the beginning of the year?" he wanted to know.

"I… I wasn't present when they did the raffle," she hesitantly admitted. "I had been hit with the flu and was still recovering at home. I found out about it a month ago."

"Typical of them," Buck rolled his eyes. "No relevant warning before springing a surprise on a body."

"Well, Ms. Johnson," Ezra's Southern tones took on a soothing quality as understanding lit green eyes. "Allow me to join Mr. Dunne in welcoming you to our band of renegades."

"Temporarily," Nathan smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Johnson. I know we didn't want one, but I'm sure we can work with you."

Her smile dimmed. "I'm sure I can work with you, too," she told him. "I really am sorry to be a bother."

"Don't worry about it," Buck waved her apology away. "Not like you planned it."

Vin nodded, having felt like a bother when he was still in the foster system. He didn't want anyone else to feel unwanted, even if it was a result of a screw-up. Especially if it was the result of a screw-up. "Vin," he told her. "JD's our tech guy and Ezra's our undercover agent. Buck, over there, is one of our explosives experts. Chris is the leader, Nathan's the medic and Josiah's our profiler. I'm translator, one of the other explosives experts, and sniper."

"Yeah, and watch your back around this one," Buck sniped. "He's a prankster."

"And don't drink his coffee," JD wrinkled his nose. "Or Josiah's. Well, unless you like battery acid…"

"And Chris is really just a kitten," Buck added. "So don't be scared of him. He just likes growling a lot."

"And you may want to stock up on headache medicine," JD advised. "Ezra has a habit of playing dictionary and sometimes Josiah doesn't understand him either."

Said Southerner just tapped a figure to his temple in his trademark salute.

"And don't take anything they tell you with a grain of salt," Chris glared. "Troublemakers, all of them."

"Aw, shucks, Hoss," Buck laughed. "You sure know how to make a guy feel special."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"So, Johnson," Nathan waited until grey eyes latched onto him. "Are there any allergies that we need to know about? Food allergies or medicine?"

"Well, oranges sort of upset my stomach so I don't eat them," she shrugged. "If I do, I'm pretty much useless for the rest of the day. I haven't yet encountered a medication that I couldn't handle, but that's about it. Uh, if you don't mind, I'd like to know about your own food allergies so I know what not to eat."

"You can eat it, but make sure we know what it is," Chris told her. "I'm not really into persimmons, but I'm not allergic to it."

JD lifted a shoulder. "I'll eat anything."

"Me, too," Vin nodded.

"Strawberries," Josiah piped up.

"Clams," Buck added.

Nathan thought for a minute. "Nothing I'll be coming into contact with unless someone wants to go out of their way."

Ezra smiled slightly. "No food, but bees make me wary."

"Okay," she nodded. "I'll remember it."

"Why?" Buck grinned. "Don't like us already?"

"I've got enough problems without being accused of attempted murder," she shrugged. "Especially since we belong to different agencies and I can tell you don't like it."

"Well, Darlin'," Buck smoothed his mustache. "That ain't it, per se…"

"At least you don't seem to be judgmental," JD told her. "Ez used to be a Fed, too."

"In Atlanta, I heard," she nodded. Seeing the surprise, she explained, "When we found out where I would be placed, the team I worked with made me research your histories. So that I know who I'm dealing with, they told me."

"I can see that," Chris expected nothing less from Agent Roland Lowe. "It's good to see Lowe taking initiative in prepping his team for unknown territory."

"Lowe?" Vin straightened. Blue eyes studied AJ. "You work with Lowe? He's pretty good in Civil Rights."

"One of the best," Nathan grinned.

"Really?" JD had heard of Agent Lowe. Lowe was one of his idols. "What's he like?"

Grey eyes turned downward. "He works us all hard… and it sometimes feels like he does it intentionally, but he's a good guy who knows how to motivate us."

Chris nodded. "Sounds like him."

"As much as I'm entertained by this tête-à-tête," Ezra suddenly interrupted. "Lady, Gentlemen, I believe my time is limited."

"Oh, right," Buck scratched his head. "You have court this afternoon, don't you?"

"Johnson," Chris nodded. "Welcome to the team for however long you'll be here for and I hope we'll work well together."

"Thanks, sir."