She stares at herself in the mirror. Will she or won't she. The team is here, they might hear, but she can be quick, she's learnt to be quick. She ducks into the stall, locks the door, places some toilet paper in the bowl, and empties the contents of her stomach.
It's been months since she's let the need get the best of her. Months since she hasn't been able to control it, months of resisting stress and temptation. She's even had her hands half raised towards her mouth in the shower, and ended up hugging herself instead under the warm cleansing water. But not today. It has been building, the oily food just tipped the bucket, just seeing it pool there at the bottom of her stirfry, the fat on the meat... She can't have that sitting in her stomach, she has to get it out. Then her world will be cleansed and she can continue.
"Prentiss?"
She hears Hotch's voice call out from the bull-pen, guessing the briefing is about the start. She rinses her face, and washes her creased hands. With her game face on, back out into the main room she walks.
The team is investigating the abduction of 5 brunette women from local universities. So far no-one has been able to establish a signature on the creep, which is why the BAU was brought in.
"Prentiss, there you are, can you take lead on the briefing?" Hotch asks in passing as he continues to skim through a file.
"Sure, no problem." She replies.
Great, nothing better than public speaking. She has worked hard to hide her anxiety, that people are judging her, thinking she lacks confidence, maybe that's why she doesn't let them get to know the real her. She keeps a lot of herself caged, away from the team. But hesitation equals weakness, so she launches right in.
