A/N: I'm more focused on Bear Witness to Strength so I may not update this one as quickly. I have written more chapters for this but they are on paper and I wrote them a couple years back so I want to clean them up a bit, fix the terrible writing and plot points that I don't really want to follow. If you want to see this go somewhere specific or have any suggestions I am super willing to hear them! I do want to warn you guys that, in the future (not in this chapter) there are some scenes of abuse, extreme violence, etc so TRIGGER WARNING! I will try my best to remember posting that before any of those scenes so you can read the rest of the story and skip those parts. -boots

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, but it is always on my mind. Hehe

…

It was only a few days after the last day of Thanksgiving break that Hotch got to meet the infamous new girl. He was always busy, and the only reason he knew of her was because she was the latest hot topic at lunch. Garcia couldn't stop gabbing about her- everyone had met her but him.

The bubbly blonde said she wore too many dark clothes and desperately needed a shopping spree. JJ said she was nice but talked extremely little- and that was saying something considering that soccer fanatic could get even him talking. Morgan said she had a good taste in books, but all that boy read was comics and Vonnegut. Reid said she was super nice, always smiling at him when she passed him in the hallway, and she was supposedly the daughter of an ambassador.

When he finally met her, she was standing in front of him in the lunch line. Ebony hair fell slightly below her shoulders and the scent of vanilla custard wavered near. He watched her place skim milk on her tray and then finger the chicken nuggets before taking the pizza.

"You'll need a strong stomach for that." Way to go, Hotchner. Nice intro, you dumb butt.

The brunette girl turned halfway, not enough for her features to show from beneath her black Castro cap. "Why?"

"The cheese is always pretty old." He leaned his voice down to meet her whisper.

She nodded, the hint of a smile peeking out from behind dark locks. "Thanks." Paying the cashier, she began to walk to one of the empty, back tables. Hotch's gut twisted; his conscience kicking at him to not let her sit alone.

He sighed and reached out for her arm, feeling her tense up between his fingers. "Would you like to sit with me and my friends? It's not just guys."

"Sure." She already looked to be regretting it.

The senior quickly paid for his food and let her follow him to their lunch table. Penelope was already squealing and smiling as they approached the group.

"Hey guys." Aaron sat down across from Emily.

"Introduce us, Hotch." JJ smiled politely at the girl.

"Sure. This is…uh…" Stupid Aaron; he forgot to ask her name!

Her eyes twinkled at him. "Emily Prentiss."

"Tech-Goddess Penelope Garcia! Nice to meet you!" The colorful sophomore grinned and offered Emily a brightly wrapped chocolate. "They're German; want one?

Emily nodded. "I love chocolate."

"Who doesn't?" JJ exclaimed, throwing a handful of Reese's Pieces into her mouth.

"That's JJ," Garcia sighed dramatically, gathering wrappers from around her friend's arms, "she eats a lot of sugar."

A buff guy wearing a muscle shirt turned to Emily. "The name's Derek Morgan. People usually call me Morgan, but you," he leaned in suggestively with a smirk on his face, "can call me Derek."

He reminded Emily of Ben Cooley, John's younger brother. The swift memory of scruffy hair and playful flirtation brought a gentle smile to her face. "Well, I suppose I'll have to take that into consideration." JJ nudged her bestfriend, making Penelope lift her head in time to see Emily answer with a soft, flirty smile.

"Dude!" JJ whispered into the other blonde's ear. "She's flirting back!"

Garcia grinned but didn't say anything.

"I suppose that's all I can ask for. Wouldn't want the lady to get the wrong idea." Morgan replied.

"And what idea would that be?"

Morgan leaned back and gave her his most innocent grin. "That I let every pretty girl call me Derek."

"Oh my," Emily held her hand to her chest, "don't I feel special."

"I aim to please, Princess."

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Let me have my appetite, Morgan."

"Yeah, you're making everything taste so cheesy now- you know JJ's lactose intolerant."

Morgan narrowed his eyes and gave the scrawny boy beside him a light smack on the head. "I can't help it if I've got a way with words, Pretty Boy. God has gifted me a gift and I intend to use it."

Emily let out a small laugh. "God, huh?"

"Yup. As a child, I made even the soon-to-be-nuns swoon. That's why we had to change churches."

"False." Reid closed his book and set it down on the pile next to him. "That was because you broke the baptismal fountain for the third time."

"Damn it, Reid!" Morgan huffed as Hotch high-fived the kid.

"So, where are you from?" JJ asked.

"Italy." At least that's where she'd been last.

"Cool."

"How come you came in the middle of the school year? Won't that adversely affect your studies?" Reid peeped from behind a new book. The Art of Pseudonyms and Modern Applications was written on the binding.

Emily nodded. "Mother had a new posting." She didn't refute the boy's concern for her grades. She would find a way to keep them steady; she always did.

"So, your mother really is an Ambassador?!"

"Yes."

"Which country?" Aaron asked.

"She does Middle Eastern or South European countries mostly. But she did do Russia, and her new post is South Africa."

"She's not here?" Spencer said quizzically. He had never been away from his mother.

"I'm living with my aunt and uncle for now. I want to complete high school here- in the States."

The others quieted. Unable to wrap their minds around parents being in completely different countries. Aaron tried to smother his envy, thinking that Emily probably didn't enjoy having her parents far away.

"What about your dad? Can't you stay with him?" Reid asked. He was young and didn't have much of a filter, so he asked the questions the others were unwilling to ask and said the things the others were unwilling to voice.

"He just got promoted so he has his hands full."

"Is he an ambassador too?"

"No."

JJ watched Emily gnaw at her lip. "So how do you like it here so far?"

"The weather is crappy but otherwise its nice."

"Yeah. It's been a pretty shitty December so far." Derek sighed looking out the dirty cafeteria window. There was a slight fog on the horizon, and an unholy chill that reached in and scrapped at the bones of anyone who dared step outside.

JJ rolled her eyes. "Morgan's upset because half the Upward football team got either a cold or pneumonia and now Mr. Buford banned any games until the virus putters out."

"I thought our football team was the Quantico Earthquakes?"

"Yeah but they're basically a gang and joining them is…" JJ looked Emily straight in the eyes. "Whatever you do, stay away from them. They're why we don't play here. We play at the Upward Youth Center on Green."

"What do you guys play?"

JJ grabbed a ball from between her knees and tossed it in the air. "Soccer- all day, every day!"

Morgan knocked the ball out of her reach, catching it before it hit the ground. "I play American football. The truest sport of the patriot!"

"I play chess." Spencer said.

"That's not a sport, kid."

"'Chess is a sport. A violent sport.'" Emily retorted.

Spencer's pushed back his comically large glasses, grinning from ear to ear. "Marcel Duchamp!"

"Yup."

"Do you play?"

"I can hold my own, but I won't be winning any tournaments anytime soon." More so because she'd been playing against the same butler for 12 years.

"I play online sports. I'm an excellent dueler." Penelope fake parried with her pen.

"In which century is this?" JJ teased.

"Hey, which century is the Middle Ages?" Garcia fake-whispered to Reid.

The young boy frowned at her. "We're in the Literature of the Middle Ages unit in Ms. Barnaby's class, Garcia."

"Oof, that old fart makes Romeo and Juliet sound like Mr. Shunt's Intro to Political Science." Garcia moaned. "I mean it's a romance! Why go out of your way to make office workers look like such interesting individuals?"

"I wish we read newer stuff." JJ said. "Like Perks of Being a Wallflower or The Way I Used To Be."

Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow, I didn't think The Way I Used To Be was well-known."

"I don't know about other people, but I definitely know it. I love that book!" JJ exclaimed, clenching her own shirt by the chest. "Amber Smith frickin ripped out my heart, Em!"

"I too would enjoy participating in the process of making contemporary works into supposed 'classics'. I haven't read nearly enough though." Spencer bemoaned.

JJ grinned devilishly, the school bell ringing ominously in the background. "You have given me a mission, Spencer Alan Reid!"

"What?!"

"I hereby claim the position of your reading…uh… person. No, guide! I am your reading guide."

Spencer looked afraid. "What does that mean?"

"I will give you books to read. I will integrate you into modern book-loving society, one cliched YA at a time!" She cackled, embracing her inner Penelope Garcia quite frighteningly.

Thankfully for Spencer, the bell allowed him to rush off to class and avoid JJ's newfound mission. The rest of the group also gathered their things and walked to class, grinning all the way. Emily couldn't wait until tomorrow. She finally had something to look forward to everyday: lunch.

…

See ya when I see ya, guys! -boots