A/N: This is my first serious Criminal Minds fanfic and so characters may be ooc. The time period is roughly around Season 7 and the year is 2012 but I've changed some things around. The OC has extreme social anxiety which will be portrayed by my own experiences.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and this is solely a work for fun. I'm also winging the profiling as well, so I'm making up 'facts' so don't take it too seriously.

Unbeta'd

This story is on Archiveofourown and I suggest you read it over there as the site allows tag listings and sexual / violent content (which this story will have in future chapters). It's here: /works/8149216/chapters/18676174.

xxx

Chapter 1: A New Face

The sun rose in early morning; the sky in it's dark shade of blue kissing lazy, fluffy clouds. There was a soft, nice breeze that felt relaxing on skin and the wind swept fallen leaves to dance in loops. It was mid-October and children couldn't wait for Halloween while their older siblings were eager to wear warm sweaters in chilly weather that only happened this time of the year.

Luckily, the BAU team did not have a case and one by one they began arriving to work through the glass doors of the bullpen. As expected, Aaron Hotchner, the BAU chief, had been the first to arrive early in the morning before dawn. The team had commented that this was humanly impossible to do daily, and wondered how Hotchner had kept up the routine for the past seven years. Next came in Spencer Reid, the youngest on the team, who was wearing one of his favorite sweater vests and carrying a cup of coffee with a little too much sugar in it to help keep him awake. Next arrived Emily Prentiss and one by one the rest of the team walked in in random order. The team members headed towards their stations and started up their computers, beginning a boring but relaxing day in the bullpen; a rare occasion not spent stress-fully chasing UnSubs. They asked each other how their weekends were and tried not to talk too much in case Erin Strauss decided to spend a surprise visit.

Around lunchtime, everyone began getting ready for break and Reid was halfway writing reports when a young brunette woman walked through the doors of the bullpen, carrying a box. She stopped and hesitated for a moment as the profilers in the room looked at her, curiously. Her most noticeable features were her youthfulness and purple glasses, revealing her big, brown eyes. Her thick hair reached her shoulders and glowed a red shine when light fell in the right angles; her right fringe covering most of her right eyebrow. She was wearing a white buttoned-down shirt loosely tucked into the front of a dark-purple cotton skirt that stopped above her knees; brown flats each held by a small belt wrapped around the ankle so they wouldn't fall off her feet; and over her small chest was a brown strap attached to a satchel hanging from her right.

The woman looked down and tucked her hair behind her ear, her bangs escaping to the front of her face. She continued walking in a faster pace, up the stairs to Hotch's office, and pass Penelope who was heading towards her team members for lunch break. As the unnamed woman passed, Penelope gaped at her and even turned around to stare at her retreating back. She hurried down the stairs.

"Did you guys just see that?" she asked excitedly, stopping in front of Derek's desk.

"Yeah baby girl. I don't remember any announcement from Strauss that we were going to be seeing a new face around here." Derek answered, standing up to cross his arms and lean against his desk.

Emily leaned against her swivel chair fiddling with a pencil, "That's because we didn't have one. She looks young and guessing from how she hesitated when she walked in this must be her first serious job. Strauss wouldn't hire a young, inexperienced profiler."

Reid faked offense, "Hey, what about me? I joined the BAU at twenty-two; young and inexperienced."

"Ok, Strauss wouldn't hire another young profiler," Emily corrected herself, "she would think it would be detrimental to the team. And you're different Reid. You have an eidetic memory and like, what, three PhDs and a BA?"

The sound of heels clicking stopped in front of Reid's desk, revealing a smiling JJ. She laid a hand on the back of Reid's chair, "Actually three PhDs and 2 BAs." She and Reid shared a smile in greeting. "Hey Spence. So what did I miss? You guys seem uncharacteristically excited for a Monday morning."

"A new member of the team just walked in." Derek explained, "Seeing her legs I honestly don't mind." His flirtatious side seeped through and Garcia playfully slapped Derek's shoulder, "Hey, hey, I was just kidding. She ain't my type, Garcia."

Emily held up her hands and looked at everyone, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We don't know if this woman is a new member of the team or is just starting to work here as a regular agent."

"Oh, I hope she ends up becoming my tech assistant and I can finally have another girl to talk to when you guys are away on cases!" Penelope sighed and placed her hand on her chest, "Goodbye reruns of Once Upon A Time and Josh Dallas." JJ opened her mouth to respond when everyone heard a familiar, authoritative voice:

"I expect everyone to be working on their reports of the last case. If I'm not mistaken it is not lunch time yet and five minutes till does not mean start conversating with one another." Hotchner commanded in his no-nonsense tone. Everyone immediately fell silent and looked at their boss who was standing on the upper floor in front of his office and staring down at the team with his famous Hotchner glare. A chorus of 'sorry Hotch' echoed from below and everyone dispersed; sitting back in their assigned desks and Garcia and JJ walking off.

The Unit Chief turned around to head back into his office where the newcomer resided. Reid, Morgan, and Emily were pretending to work on their reports as they watched their Unit Chief through the window of his office. Hotch and the woman introduced themselves, the women nodding her head and giving a small bow instead of the traditional handshake. They sat in their respective seats and Hotch began talking while the female barely nodded every so often. As usual, Hotchner's expression was stern and professional while the brunette's was slightly nervous but blank, but she did crack a small smile right before Hotchner turned to open the door. At that moment, the agents turned to their computers and realized it was a couple minutes passed their break. The brunette followed behind Hotch, box in hand and skirt billowing behind her as she struggled to keep up with Hotch's fast strides to the team's circle of desks. Hotch stopped near Reid's desk, and the brunette quickly caught herself from running into Hotch's back.

"Reid, Prentiss, Morgan." Hotch began to get the agents' attention. They all looked up from their computer or folders to Hotch's face. "This is Agent Townshend from the FBI academy. She's a trainee who will be temporarily joining our team - this decision personally approved by Strauss. Show her around and introduce her to the others agents. Luckily we don't have a case right now so take all the time you need." Hotchner turned to leave but looked back, "Oh, and no physic tricks in the office, Reid."

Reid gave Hotch his best puppy-eyes and smiled awkwardly, "Yes sir."

The raven-haired man left the four of them, heading back to his office. The brunette woman, now known as Townshend, stared awkwardly and slightly wide-eyed at the three agents who she would now call teammates. Emily was the first to stand up and grab her hand for a shake, "Hello, my name is Emily Prentiss. Nice to meet you and congrats on joining the FBI." She introduced herself with a smile. Townshend shook back with as much enthusiasm as she could muster without making it seem like she was trying to be Alpha Dog and without dropping her box. She wouldn't normally shake hands as a greeting but Emily's lunge was too quick to politely decline.

"Sarah Townshend, as you've heard. And thank you. Also, do you know which desk is mine? This box is kinda a pain to carry around." Sarah smiled back shyly, quickly releasing Prentiss's hand.

"Oh, just pick a random empty desk. That's what we all did when we were new. Oh, but I don't recommend the one with the white stain on top." Emily laughed at Townshend's stunned face as she was about to set her box down on the exact desk with the stain. Sarah gave Emily a curious look, but Emily just shrugged, "You do not want to know."

Townshend nervously giggled and turned her head away, and went for the desk near Reid's. "Mind of I sit by you?" She said as she set her things down.

"Oh not at all. But statistically speaking, during the autumn and winter seasons, the chances of catching a cold is increased 85% as one theory suggests that as it gets colder outside, we tend to huddle closer together than normal inside to keep warm, but the close proximity allows for the easier transmission of germs. Another theory is that the cold weakens our immune system-"

"Okay, enough Pretty Boy." Morgan said as he got up to head to the break room, "We don't want to scare away our new teammate."

Sarah was paying attention to Reid, staring at him as he spouted information, and wondered why Morgan had stopped him, "It's fine. I was actually wondering why we are more susceptible to get sick in the winter." Emily and Morgan looked at each other in disbelief while Reid looked ready to burst with tears of joy.

"Well I hope you keep that curiosity of yours because Reid is going to tell you a whole lot of random facts while you're here with us." Prentiss gave a friendly smile, then motioned with her hand to follow her and Morgan to the break room where they eat their lunch. Reid quickly got up from his chair and continued where he was caught off. When they reached the small break room, they saw the two blondes chatting and already waiting for them at their usual round table. Townshend greeted them with her characteristic nod and small bow and introduced herself;

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sarah Townshend. I'm going to be working with you temporarily, covering for Agent Rossi."

Penelope beamed in excitement as JJ gave a friendly smile in greeting, "Welcome to the team. I'm Jennifer Jareau but people call me JJ. I mainly profile but I'm also the Communications Liason for the team-" JJ's stomach suddenly growled and she flushed and laughed in embarrassment, "I'm sorry, we can continue talking while we eat." Townshend nodded her head in understanding.

With that, everyone took their seats in this order: Reid, Emily, JJ, Garcia, and Morgan. Sarah waited, not wanting to make things awkward by accidentally taking someone's preferred seat. When everyone was seated, Sarah smoothed her skirt and sat down to the right of Reid, leaving two more empty seats.

"I'm Penelope Garcia, my chocolate thunder over there is Derek Morgan," Derek said 'hey' in reply, "Junior G-Man next to you is Spencer Reid," Reid waved in greeting, "You've already met Boss Man, who we call Hotch, and you already know David Rossi isn't here right now cause the poor man caught the flu." Sarah was about to comment but Penelope continued, "So how old are you, anyway?" she asked suspiciously, pointing her chopsticks from her box of Chinese food at her. Everyone around the table stared, waiting.

"Twenty-four." She forced a smile, playing with the purple rubber-band on her left wrist to distract herself and control anxiousness from showing on her face.

Reid gave her a sympathetic look, "Don't worry, I joined the team at twenty-two. There's nothing shameful about being young." Townshend smile appreciatively at the agent. The team began eating and chatting, mainly about their daily life outside of the FBI while explaining things to the new agent. Sarah looked around the table at everyone she would temporarily call her teammates and tried to quell the fear inside her, hoping that her curse would decide to give her this one chance at a normal life.

Please, she pleaded to herself. For once, I need you to leave me alone.

But pleading never really worked for her, no matter how many times she tried.

xxx

References:
•"Death Itself Was Undone" is from the song Blinding by Florence and the Machine.
•Sarah's last name "Townshend" is a reference to Henry Townshend, the main protagonist in Silent Hill 4: The Room, who is heavily hinted to have social anxiety.
•Josh Dallas plays Prince Charming/David Nolan from the show Once Upon A Time.