"Wait, wait, wait, hold the door!"
Garcia's hand shot forward on instinct, forcing the elevator to open back up. It occurred to her immediately after that she probably didn't want to be stuck in an elevator with a federal agent, but there was no way she could hit the button to close the doors in time.
Besides, that would be rude. Garcia didn't do rude.
"Thanks." Panting, a disheveled young man clamored into the box and reached out to press a button. "Oh. Same floor."
"Yup." Garcia nodded, trying to remember the agent's name. "You, uh, you work for the same guy I work for, right?"
The guy nodded a few times. "Yeah. I, uh, I'm new. Newish. Not as new as you, but—yeah." He cleared his throat, picking at the fabric of his pants. "You're the Black Queen, right?"
Garcia tensed slightly. "Um… yes. Sort of. Not really—I mean, I was, but not anymore."
"Right, right." He nodded rapidly. "Oh! I forgot to—uh, I'm Dr. Spencer Reid."
"Penelope Garcia," she replied. "Doctor?"
He nodded rapidly. "Uh, I—I, uh, have two doctorates, an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and I can read 20,000 words per minute."
Garcia blinked and slowly nodded her head. "That's… wow. Impressive."
"Not as impressive as your technological achievements," Reid answered, and he seemed genuinely excited. "After Hotch arrested you, I did a lot of research on your track record. It was incredible!"
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, the two of them walking out together.
"Incredible." Garcia mumbled the term under her breath. It was hardly a word she heard in regards to herself; not often, at least. "Um, thanks."
"Your name is cool, too. I've met so many people with cool names. Hotchner is one of my favorites."
Garcia couldn't help but laugh at that. "What's wrong with your name?"
Reid shrugged and grabbed the door handle for her, letting her into the office space. "It seems so silly. 'Hi, I'm Reid. I can read fast and remember whatever I read.'"
Garcia smirked. "I dunno, maybe it's fate. I believe everything happens for a reason. Don't think of it as silly, think of all the ways it can be useful."
Reid frowned. "Useful?"
"Yeah. Maybe you'll be in a situation where you can use your name because it's a homophone. You know, like some sort of code."
Reid gave her a quirked brow and pursed his lips. "What are the chances of that?"
Garcia threw her hands up, stopping next to his desk as he sat down. "Well, I don't know, but it's never going to happen if you don't think about your name positively." She tapped her chin, glancing upward as she tried to think of another benefit. "Kids!"
Reid only frowned again, more confused than before.
"Well, the BAU deals with psychos, right? Kids might be hostages, or maybe they just lost a parent or sibling, or maybe they got kidnapped, or whatever else happens to kids when they meet psychopaths." Garcia gestured enthusiastically as she spoke, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You could use your name to lighten the mood a little bit. I bet they would really appreciate someone smiling and laughing with them. That's something really useful."
Reid pursed his lips and nodded slowly, silent calculations flying through his eyes. "Yeah…" He started to smile, nodding a little faster. "Yeah, I guess I could look at it that way." He looked up at her and smiled a little wider. "Thanks, Garcia."
"You're welcome, Dr. Reid." She gave a small, mock curtsy before realizing that was probably not the most appropriate thing to do in a federal building.
But Reid only smiled. "You're, uh, you're gonna be around, right? Like, you'll be working out of this building?"
Garcia nodded a few times. "Yeah, I have my own little… Batcave." She felt stupid as soon as she said it. I must sound like a little kid.
"Eh, I'm more of a Marvel fan myself."
Garcia blinked a few times and looked at him, unsure whether he was being genuine or making fun of her. "I—really?" Wow, that was smooth.
"Yeah." He smiled a bit, glancing down as if he were embarrassed. "Captain America… I can, uh, kind of identify. Scrawny guy who gets beat up on a regular basis suddenly gets muscles and becomes a hero. It's every brainiac's dream come true, right?"
Garcia smiled, leaning against the cubicle divider. "Your dream kind of came true. I mean, you don't have the muscles thing, but… you're a hero, right?"
Reid laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know…" He smiled down at his lap, picking at his fingernails idly. "I guess. I haven't really… solved any big cases yet."
Garcia nudged him on the shoulder. "Hey. You don't need to solve big cases to be a hero—and, from what I've seen, there will be lots of big cases to solve, so either way…" She let the words hang for a beat or two and smiled at him. "You were nice to me, and if you were nice to me, I bet you're nice to everyone. You have no idea how many people's days you've brightened just by being kind to them."
Reid looked up at her and blinked a few times, struck speechless, mouth moving in silent words. "I… uh… uh, I… wow… um… thanks, I…"
"Don't fry your motherboard, Dr. Smartypants."
Garcia smiled one last time and turned to leave, feeling a little lighter than she had when she walked in the door. That was a nice—
"Uh, Garcia?"
Garcia turned around just in time to have a post-it note shoved into her hand.
"That's my number. You should text me. You don't live around here, so I can show you all the best coffee shops and libraries and stuff." He gestured to the paper. "I also put the name of a show on there. You should really check it out. It's awesome. And then we'll have something to talk about."
Garcia blinked a few times and looked down at the paper. Oh no. What if he has a crush on me? Not that the kid wasn't sweet, but he was just that—a kid.
Garcia looked up from the note, mouth slightly open, not entirely sure how to proceed. She didn't have to worry, though, because as soon as she looked up, she knew what he actually wanted from her.
"You've, uh…" Garcia bit her lip and waved her hand around with the note between her fingers. "You've never had a friend before, have you?"
Reid laughed nervously and pushed his hands into his pockets. "That obvious?"
Garcia winced sympathetically, but a smile still pulled on her lips. "Yeah, just a little." She smiled a little wider. "But it's okay. I like being first."
Reid's lips turned into a lopsided grin, and he slowly started walking back toward his desk. "It was nice to meet you, Garcia."
Garcia offered a quick little wave and turned around, making her way back to her own station. She bounced into her swivel chair and let it roll, looking down at the note in her hands.
I made a friend.
Garcia flipped the note over.
Hmm… Doctor Who?