A/N: Alright, so I recently watched "Lessons Learned" for like the thousandth time and wondered exactly how Emily felt when she first met the team and how it changed… I like the beginning episodes with Prentiss and Rossi a lot because they show the team from a different perspective…
I also realized this: I've focused a lot of Reid (always will), plenty on Morgan (sigh… he's amazing), some on JJ (SHE'S AMAZING AND I WILL ALWAYS LOVE HER!) and some on Hotch… That means one thing to me: I've got to do at least one story with Prentiss as a focus (this one), one with Rossi (trying to think of something…) and one with Garcia (that one will likely be all happy and funny 'cause I can't bear to do anything evil and cruel to Garcia!)
Anyways… I now present to you: Emily Prentiss's first impressions of the BAU (mostly Reid and Gideon, but I'll talk about the entire team as well!)
WARNING: spoilers for "Lessons Learned"
PLEASE REVIEW!
"I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong." ~ Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning
Emily pressed her lips together, feeling somewhat nervous. She was used to the feeling, having always been 'the new kid' at her school, trying harder than the other students to make friends and fit in… The feeling wasn't new, but everything else was. She desperately wanted to be included, to be part of the team. And the best way to be part of the team was to understand how it worked.
She'd met Agent Hotchner a few years earlier when he was working with her mother. He seemed like a hard man to get to know, but she remembered a few smiles and laughs and if he could do that around her mother, maybe there was a softer side to him somewhere underneath the concrete exterior.
She brushed her hair out of her face as she placed her box of belongings at the desk that she'd been given. She realized that it was the desk that once belonged to Elle Greenaway, the agent she was 'replacing'. She hoped that the rest of the team wouldn't think of her as trying to replace Agent Greenaway, because she wasn't. She was there to do a job and hopefully become her own person within the BAU.
She glanced back up at the conference room, the round table room, Agent Hotchner had said they called it, that she had just exited and saw the blond technical analyst - Penelope - heading toward her office.
She was a bright, bubbly sort of woman. Very open and friendly, though maybe a little psychotic. Prentiss smiled watching her walk down the hall. If anyone would accept her, she was sure it would be Penelope Garcia. The woman didn't seem to have a contentious bone in her body. The other blond, JJ was her name, was also leaving, heading to her office.
She seemed nice, though sort of quiet and she wasn't a profiler… Neither was Garcia, of course. She wondered if JJ had a family… she hadn't noticed a ring so that meant no husband, likely no children. Prentiss pressed her lips together as Derek Morgan, the well built, almost stereo-typical FBI agent, walked over to his desk and smiled at her.
He was the obvious alpha male… Prentiss wondered if he and Agent Hotchner clashed much, considering both seemed to be born leaders. Though, Agent Morgan was much more the flirtatious, lady's man than Agent Hotchner. She had to admit, Morgan definitely was easy to look at, but he seemed… cocky. Arrogant. She'd dealt with enough arrogant FBI agents before to know the type. He'd probably only joined the bureau for the fame and the glory.
Most likely a jock in high school, maybe a star basketball or football player. He carried himself with confidence, she noted. He wasn't used to failure, she figured. Probably had never had a steady relationship, or at least not a meaningful one and definitely wasn't married. He wasn't the marrying type…
Dr. Reid came next, smiling tentatively at her as he grabbed a coffee mug from his desk and hurried toward the break room, passing Hotchner on his way to Agent Gideon's office. That was Dr. Reid's fourth cup of coffee in less than two hours, she noted. She wondered why he wasn't jittery by now, then figured his immune system must have been used to the massive caffeine intake.
He seemed too young to be in the BAU and very inexperienced. He was probably the newest member of the team - not counting herself - and hadn't been on too many cases yet. She'd only talked to him for a few minutes, but there was definitely something … different about the young man. He talked fast - likely an effect of the caffeine - and gestured wildly with his hands at times - another side-effect. There was an eager light in his eyes and a childlike curiosity around him. She wondered if he'd even been on a case before. He wasn't married and probably didn't have a girlfriend, that assessment based solely on the way he seemed oblivious or nervous around women - namely, herself. He'd stuttered a lot when introducing himself and his hand had been sweaty when she shook it.
And then there was Agent Gideon. She could see Hotchner standing with him at his office, talking to him and glancing over at her, which could only mean that they were talking about her. Discreetly, she lifted her go-bag and sat it on top her desk, folding her hands neatly in front of herself as she stood there.
Gideon was far harder to read. She'd noticed a ring on his finger, but unlike Agent Hotchner, he hadn't mentioned a wife - maybe she was dead… maybe they'd divorced, she didn't know. She couldn't figure out if he had kids or not either. She had admittedly not known him long, but there were moments when it seemed like a fatherly instinct would take over for him, and moments where it was gone. If he was a father, his children were likely grown by now.
He had been in the FBI nearly thirty years… He was practically a legend, but there wasn't much known about him. She remembered hearing about the Adrian Bale case, but thought it was probably not a good idea to mention that too him. People typically don't like to be reminded of the hard times in their lives.
She held back her grin for as long as she could when Agent Gideon walked past her briskly and told her to be ready when the jet took off for Guantanamo Bay… But her insides were tingling with excitement and happiness.
The plane ride with Dr. Reid and Gideon had been interesting to say the least. Gideon was a very blunt man sometimes, but he seemed … close to Reid. She'd been very surprised when they'd pulled out the chess set and started playing. They were going to interrogate a terrorist, and they were playing chess? Well… Gideon was interrogating him. They were going to observe, apparently.
Dr. Reid was smart, far smarter than average, she realized while watching him play against Gideon. But he thought too much, over thinking was his downfall. Odd for someone his age to think as intensely as he seemed to.
She smiled slightly when the plane turned on its side, surprising the young man, who pushed his long hair out of his face muttering, "I was winning," as he sat back up.
She couldn't help but add, "Actually he would've had you in three," and smiled again at the look of shock that passed Dr. Reid's features, and the look of… something she couldn't quite pin down, on Gideon's.
Prentiss frowned when Gideon walked out of the small office muttering "I hope so," He hoped so? What sort of answer was that? They were talking about a massive terrorist threat to the country and he hoped he was right?
She was surprised to find out that Reid had known Gideon for years. Had been on the team for that long. He was far more experienced than she originally thought.
During the breaks between interrogation time, if they weren't talking about the case, he would talk to her about the team. He definitely loved to talk. His babble was interesting though. She realized it wasn't only the coffee that made him talk as fast as he did. It was also the speed that his mind processed things. He was just trying to keep up with it all by talking at ten times the rate of a normal person.
She had blinked in surprise when he told her how close he and Morgan were. Morgan seemed like the arrogant jock type, Reid the shy nerdy type… the two were a pair of mismatched friends, that's for sure. But it was something to think about. Maybe Agent Morgan wasn't as arrogant as he seemed. He was definitely very dedicated to his job, that was for sure.
Garcia appeared to be just as bubbly and friendly as she had predicated, though it wasn't all that hard to figure that.
The only one she wasn't sure about was Gideon. He seemed to know what he was doing at times, but he was vague in his answers and she found that incredibly frustrating. Reid had said he'd been with him long enough to trust him, but she didn't understand how a person could earn that much trust. He'd hardly given them anything at all yet… what were they supposed to do if they ran out of time interrogating Jind Allah?
The plane ride home was a quiet one. Prentiss watched Gideon and Reid pull out the chess board again and realized it must be a ritual for them. She smiled, content to watch for the moment.
Gideon's plan had been brilliant, she had to admit. Brilliant but incredibly risky. It had worked in the end though, saving thousands, if not millions, of lives. She was starting to see what Reid meant about being with him and trusting him. After spending the case with him, she was beginning to form a small ounce of trust for the man.
Though, it was incredibly frustrating to not be able to really figure him out. She knew it would take time to really understand the other members of the team, but Gideon…? He was completely different. There didn't seem to be any open opportunity to understand the man. Not really…
She almost laughed aloud when Reid threw up his hands in utter defeat, "I quit." he announced, muttering synonyms for the words under his breath before telling them he was going to take a nap while waiting to get home. She noticed Gideon smiling and realized that maybe she did know something about the man. He was certainly very close to Dr. Reid. Almost like a father to him…
He pulled her out of her thoughts with his quiet voice, "Prentiss, do you play?"
She smiled at him, nodding. Thrilled to be included in anything that wasn't work. Thrilled to feel - at least a little - like she was actually part of the team. Moving to Reid's abandoned seat, she nodded, "Yes, sir, I play."
E/N: So… what do you guys think? It's the first story I've really written where Reid's not the main focus… I mean, there a lot about him in here, but this is about Prentiss seeing the rest of the team…
Reviews are greatly appreciated!