Hey! This is my first time putting my fan fiction out there, so PLEASE let me know what you think. Anything will suffice.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR CRIMINAL MINDS, AND NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED.

"Who do you think she is?"

"Maybe she's new?"

"She doesn't look old enough to be here,though?"

"Maybe Hotch is meeting her for personal reasons?"

"No, wouldn't she of dressed more casual if she knew him?" The whispers surrounding me from all directions continued as I pretended not to hear, I pulled out a case file from my purse, and started to look it over.

"You may come in." The cool voice of Aaron Hotchner demanded loudly,and I dropped the file back into my purse and began to stride into his office.

The bright lights in the office waved at me as I uttered a single 'hello' and sat down.

"Miss Clifton, you know why you are here today."

"Yes I do, Agent Hotchner." I trailed off at the end,unsure on what to call him.

"Call me Hotch, we will be working together after all."

"When do I begin?" The question slipped out,with a sliver of hope inserted, and I cringed, expecting a reprimand.

"You can begin today to settle in, and meet the other members of the team." Hotchner looked amused at my apparent enthusiasm, and nodding toward the door, a clear dismissal.
I stepped out of the office staring directly at the bland wall in front of me, not making any eye contact with the whispering women that were now blatantly staring. I swung my purse onto my back and I walked down the stairs. Scanning the area, I located my desk. It was an average desk, nothing special, but this was going to be my home away from home, so I began to inspect it.
One of the women in the cluster broke away and approached me,her pumps click-clacking on the linoleum floor,and inquired,

"Who are you?I'm Brisham." She seemed very stuck-up, and I disliked her immediately.

"Annabelle Clifton. I'm the new member of the BAU."

"Oh really? But honey you don't look older than 22, maybe you've got it mixed up?" It was true, I didn't look older than 22, with my willowy frame and petite body, but who was this woman, undermining me without even knowing me?

"It was a special exception." I kept my voice cool and brisk, urging the woman to go away already.

"Oh, if you need anything at all honey, just call me over."

And with that she skittered back to her group, and animated whispering ensued the second she got back. Within the hour, the whole FBI would probably know about the freak girl who joined the BAU at such a young age, sighing I turned back at my desk, but this time pulling out a thick paperback. I settled into the uncomfortable chair, and let the worries fly away with every page.

"Are you the new girl?" A deep voice spoke right next to me, and I literally jumped up. I instantly carved my face into a neutral expression, and gazed up at the man.

"Sorry if I startled you. I'm Derek Morgan."

This Derek Morgan was what my mother would have called a 'looker', with his clear almond skin, shining hazel eyes, and muscle-toned body but I had stopped looking at men that way for a long time, so I gave a pathetic attempt at a smile.

"Annabelle Clifton. Nice to meet you."

"Me too. Want me to introduce you to the rest of the team?" This was a welcome statement, as I had no clue how to introduce myself to all of the others, so I accepted and followed him back up the stairs and into a large conference room.

"This was Rebecca Parker, found in a deserted alley, with multiple ligature marks and stab wounds s-" A blonde woman was pointing toward the screen, where a very mutilated body lay crumpled like a discarded tissue.

"Morgan. You know we're not allowed to bring anyone in here during a case. Hotch is going to kill me." The blonde hissed through clenched teeth.
Meanwhile, the others turned around and openly stared, while I awkwardly fidgeted with my nails.

"No, no J.J she 's -"

"No, Hotch is going to have my head when he finds out you brought in a kid in here." The blonde, who I now knew was JJ, replied.
The other members looked ready to get some popcorn, apparently something this scandalous didn't happen very often. In my awkward little corner, I straightened up, I couldn't stand it when someone called me a kid like that. I had just as much right to be there as they did.

"I'm the new member of the BAU."I spoke loudly and clearly for once, looking this JJ straight in the eyes.

"Oh you're the new member? I'm so sorry. I didn't recognize you.I'm sorry." This time ,JJ was the awkward one as she stuttered the we both knew that she wasn't just apologizing for not recognizing me.

"Miss Clifton its's nice to see you with the team. You guys can take a break from the case for an hour if you want." Hotch entered the room, and the BAU team was so flabbergasted you would have thought that he had turned into a dancing penguin.

"Wait, did you just say that we could take a break?" One of the members called out, her gawking at him comically.

"Yes I did. Now get out before I change my mind." With that ,the entire team nearly stampeded to the door, with Derek Morgan grabbing my elbow. I swallowed down the bile creeping up my throat and followed in tow.
Once outside, the whole team turned around and faced me. I shuffled uncomfortably, waiting for someone to begin talking.

"I'm Penelope Garcia, the tech analyst for the FBI. Wait, is that the new Prada purse? It's adorable!" Garcia seemed to be very nice, and I knew that she would be one of the harder ones to dupe. I had to watch out for her.

"Annabelle Clifton. Yes, it's the limited edition one."

"But it isn't even out in stores yet! How did you get it?"Ah, this would be uncomfortable to answer.

"Ladies, lets not get carried away. Let the men have a chance here. I'm David Rossi, but just call me Rossi." A late middle-aged man drawled, and I recognized him immediately.

"David Rossi as in the author? I've read all of your books, and I think that your theory on spontaneous profiling is accurate, despite contrary belief, and th-"

"Wow, she's going to get along with pretty boy, once he finally shows up." Morgan chuckled, and the rest of the team snickered along. I just didn't get what they were saying.

"Who is pretty boy?"

"Oh he's just our resident genius. He had the same reaction when he met Rossi."

"He 's probably around your age. How old are you?"Rossi blurted out,and all the women gave him dirty looks.

"It's fine,I'm 25 years old."

"Really? Pretty boy is too."The topic of my age brought a series of pangs to my chest. It was just a reminder of how long I had endured living in this hellhole that was life. I shoved the thought into a dark corner of my mind, and tuned back into the conversation. I didn't need my personal issues interfering with my new job.

"Hi. I'm JJ. I wanted to apologize for before. I'm just really prissy when it comes to case conferences."

"It's nice to meet you." This time it actually was, I could tell that she actually did feel bad. I decided to give her a break, and gave her a half-smile.
This was very odd. I had been expecting a formalities only, professional group, but instead I was handed a close-knit group. But more surprisingly, they were including me, trying to make me feel comfortable, usually people tended to realize that I was bad news and just kept away from me, but the BAU hadn't figured it out yet, however they would, and then it would be over, but for now I just decided to feel the high while it lasted.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late I just needed to get some coffee." A chipper voice voice exclaimed. That voice was bringing back so many memories, so many memories of endless pain, sleepless nights, and so much pain. It couldn't be. My life was not some Lifetime movie. I swiveled around and froze like a bird trapped in a snake's eyes. It was...but it couldn't be...he couldn't be here...not now . Through the blurry haze I put my face back into the mask of cool indifference,and glared.

I glared right through his soulful, beautiful brown eyes, I glared through the utter surprise in them, the pleading n them. I ignored it all, he couldn't fix it, not now he'd had so many chances, so many years to make it it right. But had been all my fault. So I spoke.

"Reid." The word revibrated through the entire room like an omen. He was so shocked he didn't even reply.

"Anna?" He mumbled it, like he had the right .The rage built up inside, he had no right to call me that, after all this time, after all he had done.

"It's Annabelle Clifton." The snub hung in the air, and I was surprised at how steady my voice sounded.

"Hey you two know each other?" The dark-haired woman who had come in with him asked.

"Unfortunately."

"What's the issue with you and pretty boy?"

Still too shocked to answer, he kept silent, so I answered,

"Nothing." That was the truth to some extent, we had nothing now.

"Well it looks like there is to me." Rossi injected unhelpfully.

"She is my best friend." The dimwit finally spoke, and now the urge to strangle him emerged once again.

"I am no such thing, Agent Reid."

"It's doctor Reid." The brunette supplied. So he had been off becoming a doctor when he left me.

"Fine."

"You should all get back to your case, the one hour Hotch gave you all is over." I motioned toward the conference door hastily, urging them to leave me in peace.
At this very moment, Hotchner showed up in front of us, and said grimly,

"Clifton, we're going to need you for the case, it's family orientated."

And so my job at the BAU began.


Hi!Thanks a lot for story is going to focus on Reid and Annabelle's story,as well as little snippets from the other characters,This will be a case fic. For anyone wondering why kickass Annabelle is so weepy and emotional,this will change,I just need it to play out like this for the plot.

BTW, FF is cutting off parts of my Learning To Live for some reason,and this is whether I copy and paste it or just upload using a file.I'm sorry for the anyone knows how to fix this,please review and let me will greatly improve my writing and uploading speed.

Please R&R

Thanks,

Bibliobibuli1