Author's Note/Obligatory Disclaimer: This is the second story in I guess a short series. My friends gave me the challenge to introduce them to any character. This one is for my friend Ashleigh, and yes, it's the same Dalton from the first story, though obviously, Dalton and Reid are not dating in this version.
Also, I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters.
The conference room was packed with tables full of food as conversations drifted over lunch. Ashleigh looked at her watch for what seemed like the hundredth time that hour. This time, however, the clock showed what she was looking for, 12:55. She took a deep breath and looked over at her research partner, Dalton. He nodded and they stood up, making their way to the side of the stage to grab their presentation boards.
"You ready?" Dalton asked Ashleigh as the tech team pinned lapel mics on their jackets.
Ashleigh shook her head, the breaths coming in ragged gasps as stage fright hit her. Dalton put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Breathe," he commanded lightly.
Ashleigh took a deep breath in and felt better. The tech guy who was helping them held a hand up to his ear. "They're telling me you're on," he said.
Dalton nodded and walked on stage carrying his presentation boards. "Hello, everyone, I hope you had a good lunch." The audience kind of laughed at him and clapped. "I'm Dr. Dalton Williams, and this is my research partner…"
Ashleigh opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. A good minute passed before one of the earlier presenters called her attention. "Hey, sweetheart. Breathe, okay?"
She nodded, looking into his chocolate brown eyes that matched his skin. She felt a calm take over, and the words suddenly came easy. In fact, all through their presentation, Ashleigh could feel his eyes watching her, and took comfort in the fact. When Dalton made a corny joke, the man's beautiful laugh was the only one Ashleigh could hear. All too soon, their portion of the day was over and the next group stepped forward.
As Ashleigh walked back to her seat, she looked back at her watch, knowing that she was going to be counting down till the break at 3. She wanted to meet this man properly, to thank him. Ashleigh sat thoughtfully and listened to the two presentations after hers, though her mind wasn't exactly focusing on what the presenters were saying. Hopefully Dalton was taking notes for them.
When the last performers finished, a tech manager walked on stage. "Alright, and with that we're going to take a 30 minute break, we'll pick up another presenter before dinner at 5:30, and then we have one final presenter after that."
Ashleigh sighed with relief and bolted from her seat, moving to the front of the room where the man had been sitting. She cursed silently when she found his seat empty. The dark haired woman that was sitting next to him looked at her. "Hi, I'm Emily, I really liked your presentation," she said, extending her hand.
"Thank you so much," Ashleigh said, pushing her feelings aside for the moment, "I'm Ashleigh, obviously." She laughed.
Emily shook her head. "He just went to the bathroom," she said with a knowing smile on her face.
"How did y-?" Ashleigh began.
Emily smiled at her and pointed, "Profiler, remember, it's my job to get into other people's heads." Ashleigh laughed. Emily seemed pretty cool. "While you're here," Emily continued, "His name is Derek Morgan and he's single. I suggest you tap that."
Ashleigh could feel the blush spreading through her cheeks and was relieved when someone stepped forward. "Prentiss, be nice to the poor girl," said another woman. This one was blonde. "I'm JJ, by the way," she said, hand extended.
"Nice to meet you," Ashleigh said, taking her hand.
JJ went around the group, pointing as she spoke, "You've already met Emily Prentiss, one of our two clowns of the group, that's Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi, our team leaders, that's Spencer Reid our resident nerd, and the bouncy blonde one is Penelope Garcia, our computer analysit. She's not a profiler, but we let her out of the cage occasionally."
"Not enough," Garcia piqued up, indeed bouncing in her seat.
Reid laughed. "I was sure you'd be over at the dessert table for the chocolate fountain, Garcia."
Garcia literally jumped from her chair, and the group laughed. "Who lit the fire under Garcia's chair," a velvety smooth voice said.
Ashleigh spun around as Prentiss answered. "Oh, she just found out about the chocolate fountain."
Morgan wasn't paying attention though. He was more preoccupied with the woman standing in front of him.
"Hi," Ashleigh breathed. She shook her head, she knew she must've sounded like a love struck teenager. Suddenly, she was acutely aware of the fact that she was standing in a group of profilers, who could probably tell everything she was thinking. The blush started spreading through her cheeks again.
"I see you've met our new friend, Ashleigh," Prentiss said, jumping into the poor girl's rescue.
"I see that I have," Morgan joked. "I liked your presentation."
"Thank you."
Behind Ashleigh's back, the rest of the group were mouthing various phrases along the lines of "ask her out," and "kiss her!" Morgan pulled her away from the group. "Let's go talk somewhere a little more private."
They walked to the side of the stage. Ashleigh took a deep breath and plowed through her sentence, "Thank you for helping me out. Also, you're cute and would you like to go get coffee sometime?" Finally, she realized all of what she said and clapped her hands over her mouth.
Morgan just laughed again, which only made Ashleigh want to melt into the floor that much more. "Sure," he said, pulling a napkin and a pen out of his pocket. He scribbled an address and a time on it. "It's a date." He placed the napkin in Ashleigh's hand and moved back to his seat.
Ashleigh looked at the napkin and recognized the restaurant name. She felt faint for a moment before noticing that most people were wandering back to their seats. She walked over to her table and sat down moments before Dalton did, a huge smile on her face.
She was had a date tonight.