Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS.
Her door banged open, and Erin Strauss looked up to see the scrawny figure of Spencer Reid standing in her doorway. His tie was a little looser than usual, and she could see his Converse were untied, and he hadn't bothered to correct that.
None of that concerned her, because that was how Dr. Reid was all the time. What concerned her was 1) the fact that he had nearly kicked her door open, and 2) the look on his face.
Spencer Reid...was pissed.
"You made her leave!"
His voice sounded higher than usual, and she wondered briefly if he was a) on something or b) had had too much coffee-again.
"I am not going to defend my decision to you, Dr. Reid," Strauss said, sitting down at her desk and putting her glasses up on her nose. To be honest, she felt a little safer with the desk between them. She'd never seen him like this.
"She didn't want to go!" Reid said, taking a step forward. His posture was rigid, and Erin didn't need to be a profiler to tell that he was upset. "JJ liked her job here. She was good at her job here. You broke apart our team…you broke apart our family!" He slammed his hands down on the top of her desk, sending a picture frame flying., and sending her decaf mocha latte sloshing over the side of the cup. "But more importantly? She was my friend. Because of your bureaucratic…crap, I lost a friend! I don't know if you've noticed but those are kind of hard to come by-especially in the FBI."
"Irregardless, the decision has been made," Erin said, trying not to let the nerves show through in her voice. If anyone could get away with murder in their office, it'd be Reid. Nobody'd suspect the geeky agent who could barely pass his firearms qual. "The decision is final."
Reid contemplated that. Then he leaned over the desk, got right up in her face.
Erin Strauss was starting to sweat.
"You know what Strauss? You can take your decision and shove it!" With that, Dr. Spencer Reid stood up and strode out of her office. He slammed the door on his way out, sending Erin's nameplate clattering to the hallway floor.
It was about that time that Erin Strauss gave serious consideration to finding a new job.
On his way down the hall, Reid practically bowled Derek Morgan over. "Hey, kid…" Morgan said, grasping Reid by the arm. Reid looked up at him, and Morgan sized his colleague up in two seconds. He chuckled. "How did it go?"
Reid looked at him, and Morgan could see the spark in his eyes. "I feel pretty damn good," Reid replied.
Morgan grinned at him and ruffled his hair. "Good. Because now it's my turn." He didn't even bother knocking on Strauss's door...he just kicked it in.
Reid returned to the bullpen, where Rossi, Prentiss and Garcia were standing around Reid's desk. "Where's Morgan?" Prentiss asked.
"He's headed for Strauss's office," Reid replied, sitting down at his desk with a little more force than usual.
The three of them exchanged looks. "We'd better get down there," Rossi said, and casually got up from Reid's desk, before taking off at a run for Strauss's office.
"To keep Morgan from doing something he'll regret?" Emily asked.
Garcia was hot on Rossi's heels as she yelled back, "No, because if he's gonna do something he's gonna regret….then I want to help!"