I wanted to give a Criminal Minds fanfic a shot. Let me know if you like it/don't like it/have suggestions/questions/concerns/whatever.

There was a knock at the door. "I got it!" I yelled as I was the closest one there. I looked through the peephole and instantly recognized him from the countless pictures and stories JJ had told me. With a smile, I opened the door. "Ah, Dr. Reid," I said and watched the confused look on his face. "Welcome. Please, come in." I stepped aside so he could walk in. I knew he had been to JJ and Will's apartment before so he knew he was in the right place but that didn't help the confusion that was still plastered on him. "Oh, is that a gift for Henry?" I asked, noticing the colorful bag in his hand. "I'll take that. JJ has a table set up." I snatched it from him before he could say anything and went into the next room. There a table had been placed specifically for Henry's presents. Despite there not being too many guests, the little one-year-old had accumulated quite a haul.

JJ and Henry came out of the kitchen and stopped next to me. "Hey, who was that?" JJ asked, holding Henry in her arms. His face was splotchy and his eyes were watery like he had just been crying.

"Oh, it was Spencer." I gently ran my hand through Henry's hair. He turned away from me. "What's wrong birthday boy? Are you having your one year life crisis?"

JJ laughed, "No, he's just upset Mommy wouldn't let him have cake before dinner. Daddy should be back with real food soon but I bet seeing Uncle Spencer in the meantime will make you feel better, huh?" Henry just sniffled in response as JJ went into the living room to greet the newest guest while I followed.

"JJ!" Spencer said excitedly when he saw her. "And Henry! Happy birthday, buddy!" he said with a huge grin on his face. Henry just buried his face into JJ's shoulder, still upset about his lack of cake.

"Thanks for coming, Spence," JJ said, adjusting Henry so he could look see Spencer. "He's upset he can't have cake yet. By the way, since I'm sure she didn't introduce herself, this is my cousin, Lila O'Haul."

I stuck out my hand as my cousin introduced me. "Nice to officially meet you, Dr. Spencer Reid," I said with a smile. He politely waved his greetings. "What's the matter? Not a hand shaker?" I asked.

"No, not really," he said, "the number of pathogens passed during a handshake are staggering. It's actually safer to kiss." A split second passed before he realized what he said and I saw his face flush.

"I don't normally kiss people right off the bat, but for someone as attractive as you, I think I can make an exception," I said with a wink, earning a grown from JJ.

"Lila," JJ said with an eye roll. "Don't be weird." With an exasperated head shake, she and Henry left to talk to Emily who had arrived earlier with Arron.

"I, uh," he said, his face continuing to grow red, "I didn't mean- it's just that handshakes- what I meant was-" He was probably wishing JJ had stayed close by.

I couldn't help but laugh. He was so flustered. "Hey," I said kindly, "I get it. I was just messing with you. But if you do want to kiss me, I'm not opposed." I could tell that flirting with him was going to be very amusing.

"So," he said, his face still red, "how did you know my name?" Ah, changing the subject. Nice move.

"JJ has told me enough stories about you guys. And shown me plenty of pictures, especially the ones where you guys are with Henry. It's not that hard to figure out who you are."

"Lila! You're here!" I turned to see Penelope come running at me and engulf me into a huge hug. "JJ said you were gonna be in town for Henry's party and I'm so happy you are! I've missed you like crazy girl!"

"Aw! I've missed you too, Penny!" I said and hugged her back.

"Nice to see you again, Lila," Derek said from behind Penelope and I smiled.

"Am I the only one here who hasn't met her before?" I heard Spencer ask Derek.

"Garcia and I met her a couple months ago when she was last out here. We were going out to the movies and she wanted to drop some gifts off for Henry - you know how Garcia gets with shopping for that boy - and when we came up, Lila was here. She's pretty cool. Garcia and her hit if off right away. I think they got lunch a few times," Derek explained to Spencer as Penelope fussed over my clothes and hair and makeup and just about everything.

"We need to have another night out while you're still in town, you hear me? No excuses." Penelope looked me right in the eyes as she talked, making sure her point got across.

"Penny, when have I ever said no to a night out?"

"Touche, my little Blondie." Garcia and I continued to chat as we both needed to get caught up with each other's lives. Spencer had walked away and was talking to Derek and JJ.

David Rossi was next to arrive and I was beyond thrilled to meet him. I've read all his books and absolutely adored his work. On a whim I decided to go see him at my local book store after his first book was published and he was touring. I even got the book signed by him. I had no idea that that would change my life and inspire me to go into the criminal justice field of study and work. I guess it's a family trait as he inspired JJ into that line of work as well.

I was nervous about meeting him so I kind of hid in the kitchen, getting plates and silver wear together for when Will arrives. "Hey." JJ entered the kitchen and walked up to me. She leaned on the counter.

"Hey. Where's Henry?"

"Garcia hijacked him from me. Not that I mind the break. That boy gets heavy after a while." I couldn't help but laugh. Henry is a very solid baby. "Anyways, Rossi is here. I figured you'd want to meet him with a formal introduction."

"I do, but I'm nervous," I confessed softly so no one else would hear me.

"I promise you, there's nothing to be nervous about. Rossi's a really great guy. He might look a bit intimidating but his bark is worse than his bite." JJ lightly touched my arm and that made me feel better.

"I'm back!" I head the door open and Will holler as he walked in. Perfect timing.

"I'll go help Will!" I quickly went to Will and helped in carry the bags of food in. We both set the bags down on the kitchen counter and started to unload them. JJ had left and I was kind of grateful for that.

Once all the food (they got some of the best chicken in the DC area) had been set out I went to the bathroom to go wash my hands. Spencer was already in there, drying his off. I should have known he'd be the first one to wash away hand germs.

"Hey, Spencer," I said sweetly.

"Oh, uh, hi, Lila." He still seemed nervous around me. I figured it was because of our very forward exchange earlier. I felt a bit bad about it. I didn't want to traumatize the poor guy. JJ has told me more than once that he's not the most social person and tends to be a bit awkward. Especially around females.

We made eye contact from a few seconds before I noticed the color start to change on his face again. With a light cough, he quickly looked down and started to exit the bathroom at a faster than average pace. "Hey, Spence," I called after him and he stopped. "I am sorry for making you uncomfortable earlier. I like to tease but I don't mean any malice by it."

"I, uh- thanks." He met my eyes again and gave me a swift smile before heading back. I smiled too as I proceeded to wash my hands.

When I got back to the group, they all had their plates of food and were getting settled in. I got myself some food as well and looked for a place to sit. I noticed that JJ made sure to leave a seat next to Rossi open for me. Guess now is the time to actually go and talk to him.

"Hi," I said pretty meekly as I sat down. "I'm Lila O'Haul."

"You're JJ's cousin right? She was telling me about you. I'm David Rossi but from how JJ talks you already know that."

I blushed. "Yeah. I'm a bit of a fan of your work."

"JJ says I signed a book for you on one of my tours. Forgive me for not recalling that." The way he talked was so gentle and sincere. Even though I've known him for about sixty seconds, the way he speaks makes it seem like we're two long lost friends.

"Oh, that's quite alright," I said, picking at my chicken. "That was a long time ago and I'm sure you've signed millions more books since then."

"I wouldn't say millions, but my signature has shortened over the years," he said with a smile. "So are you from the area?"

"No, actually, I'm from Seattle. I moved there with my mom when I was in high school. But I like to come and see JJ and Henry whenever I have a vacation from work," I said with a pleasant smile.

"Where do you work?" he asked.

"I work with the Seattle law enforcement. Seeing what JJ does and after reading all of your books, it really inspired me to go into some kind of police work."

"Really? Well that's very nice to hear," he said and smiled at me. "I'm glad I could be that inspiration for you."

I couldn't help but blush a little. One of my work idols is happy he inspired me. That's just amazing. "So, uh, I kinda do what JJ does. I work with the media and HR trying to keep things from getting out of control. I've also taken the data that the SPD have on local killers and compiled some profiles one them. I'm hoping that this can help with future catching killers. By comparing them to things we already know and what signs to look for, we can hopefully build better profiles and catch the bad guys quicker. At least, that's my goal for this project. It's still in the early phases though." I know he didn't ask me what I do but it felt like the right thing to say.

"That's really impressive," he said and I felt my chest swell with pride. "If you ever need help with it, or just want someone to look over your work, feel free to send it to me. I'd love to see it."

"I will, thank you, sir."

"Call me David. Or Rossi. Whichever." I was probably going to stick with calling him 'sir'.

After dinner, Henry was pleased when we were finally able to have cake. JJ got him his own smash cake. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first and only suck his fingers gently in it. With some encouragement from his mom and dad, he started to grab big chucks of cake and shove them into his mouth. Most of it ended up on his face, however.

I mingled more with the team as we ate cake. They all were very friendly towards me and I got along with all of them. Spencer even seemed a little more at ease now that I wasn't flirting with him.

"Tomorrow is our day off," Penelope said, finishing off her cake, "we are going out, ok? All of us. Lila, this includes you."

"Wouldn't miss it," I said with a smile.

"Excellent! We're gonna go to this bar and we're gonna have a great time and Reid-" I noticed Spencer had opened his mouth, "don't you dare argue because you're going. Derek and I will pick you up," she said, shooting a glare at Reid.

"But you know I'm not good at dancing," he protested.

"Hey," I said, "neither am I. Just get drunk. Drunk Lila is a hell of a lot better at dancing than Sober Lila."

"Actually, alcohol lowers your inhibition making you not as concerned about what other people think of you so you're less self-conscience giving you a false sense that you're a better dancer when in reality you're probably a lot worse because alcohol also lowers motor function." He seemed to not even think twice about rattling off this fact about alcohol. I was aware about what he was saying, but I wasn't expecting him to say it.

"Don't worry, sweetie, you get used to him," Penelope said with a smile. "He's our resident boy genius. And he's going out with us tomorrow night."

Here's the first chapter. If its well received I'll be posting the next chapter by next Monday. The next chapter will be from Spencer's point of view.