As they reach the meeting room Derek is finishing a story about his most recent prank on Reid.

Violet turns to look in the room and sees the team, save for Penelope, gathered. Then she sees several boards behind them covered in pictures of victims and dead bodies.

"I..." she murmurs, turning away," am going to your desk."

Emily runs a hand over her hair as she walks away.

Derek waits until she's out of earshot.

"Looked like she wasn't planning on getting outta that car," he says quietly.

Emily raises her brow quickly as she takes a breath.

"I'm not so sure she would have, if you hadn't been there," she replies. "A car backfired when we were leaving the mall. Wound her right up."

"Ah, jesus," he murmurs, glancing over as Violet sits in Emily's desk chair and opens a book. "At least you got her outta the house."

"Yes," Emily nods once in agreement. "That, I'm grateful for."

They turn and head into the room, where the team is still gathered and going over information.

"Hey stranger," Gideon smiles. "How've you been?"

"Good," Emily smiles, hugging the others. "Is it weird that I've actually missed work?"

"For anyone else but us, I'd say yes," JJ replies with a grin.

"So what's the case?" Emily asks, sliding her jacket off and draping it on a chair.

"Four white males killed over the past four weeks," Hotch informs her. "Dump sites have ritualistic aspects. We thought we had the unsub but he escaped. Wasn't home when we came for him, hasn't been home since. We found this in his apartment."

He hands Emily the battered moleskine notebook. She opens it to find meticulous Arabic scrawled on the pages.

"Whoa," she murmurs, flipping a few pages. "Doesn't waste any space, does he?"

"Not one line," Hotch replies. "Think you can go through it and find anything?"

"I'm all over it," Emily nods.

"How's Violet?" he asks, as she pulls out a chair at the table.

Emily juts her thumb towards the door.

"Nose in a book at my desk," she smiles. "First time I've gotten her out of the house."

"That's progress," Aaron replies, in his usual tone; but he's not unkind.

"Absolutely," Emily agrees. "She's a trooper. She'll get there."

"I wouldn't doubt her for a second," Aaron gives her a slight smile before turning back to the paperwork on the table.


"Nietzsche? For school or by choice?" Gideon asks as he approaches Emily's desk.

"A little bit of both?" Violet wrinkles her nose indecisively. "We had to choose between three."

"Good choice," he nods approvingly. "You have time for a break?"

"Are you interrupting my homework for chess?" Violet asks, giving him a sidelong glance.

"Absolutely," he replies.

Violet chuckles and sets the book on her mother's desk.

She gets up and walks with Gideon towards his office. They pass Strauss's office, where she's talking to a handsome man.

"New guy?" Violet asks as they step into Gideon's office.

"Yep," he replies. "Works in Intelligence. He's from the UK."

"Which part?" Violet asks suspiciously.

"Ireland, I think," Gideon chuckles. "Why?"

"I was hoping for Scottish. I love their brogues."

"Can barely understand them when there's a few of them together," Gideon says.

They sit at the chess board, which is all prepped and ready.

"Hey, wait for me," Reid says, hurrying into the room.

"Don't you have work to do?" Gideon asks teasingly.

"No," Reid replies, pulling up a chair. "Not until Emily gets through that journal."

"Fair enough," Gideon nods.


Half an hour later, Gideon makes his final move, winning the game.

Violet exhales, staring at the board.

"I can't even be bummed," she shakes her head. "That was the closest game we've had."

"Pretty soon you'll be better than me," he winks.

"Ha," Violet scoffs, moving her pieces back.

Reid hops into Gideon's chair when he stands up.

"Good game, sweetheart," Gideon grins, giving Violet's arm a squeeze. "We'll rematch in a bit."

He leaves as Spencer finishes setting up the board.

"So you heard about Gideon?" he asks.

"Yeah. That sucks."

"I know. I'm gonna miss him. He's one of few people that really seems to understand other people," Reid muses.

"Because he doesn't judge," Violet sighs. "He's too busy being curious to be a jerk."

"Astute," Spencer replies, nodding slowly.

"Hey, who's that new guy who was in Strauss's office?" Violet asks, as she makes her first move.

"He just started a week ago," Spencer replies, playing his turn. "His name's James Thomas."

"Two first names," Violet murmurs to herself. "Hmm."

"I have two first names," Spencer replies.

"Oh, yeah," Violet frowns, realizing. "So does Derek. And Gideon."

She focuses for a moment to play.

"He seems pretty cool, James," Spencer says. "I only spoke with him for a few minutes but he's from northern Ireland and he worked for Interpol and he speaks five languages."

"Go on," Violet says.

"Russian, French, Spanish, German, and Gaelic."

"Gaelic?" Violet repeats, surprised. "Seems about as rare as hearing Latin these days."

"Actually, there's approximately 130,000 people in Ireland who speak Ga-"

"Are you talking about me?" comes a smooth Irish accent.

Spencer and Violet look up to see James standing in the doorway. Violet thought he was handsome from far away but up close he's even more good-looking.

"Just your native tongue," Spencer replies. "Gaelic isn't exactly a common language."

"You got that right," James nods, his accent like music.

He steps into the room, towards them, and holds out his hand.

"James Thomas," he introduces himself. "I don't believe we've met. Are you a supergenius like this one?"

"Violet," Violet chuckles, shaking his hand. "And no."

"Technically, she is a genius," Spencer interrupts.

"Either kids these days are older than they look, or you don't actually work here," James muses.

"Second door," Violet nods. "My mom works here."

"Emily Prentiss?"

"Yeah," Violet replies, surprised and a little curious.

"She's the only one from the BAU I haven't met," James explains.

"Ah," Violet nods, chewing her lip. "That would be my fault. I've had her on house arrest."

"Punishment?" James tilts his head.

"I suppose to some people being locked in a house with me could be punishment," Violet shrugs.

James chuckles and, coincidentally, Emily walks into the room.

"I knew I'd find you here," she says to Violet, walking over.

She looks over and sees James, taking her a bit by surprise. He grins, showcasing a slight dimple hiding beneath his well-kempt beard.

"Emily Prentiss?" he guesses.

She smiles and he holds out his hand.

"James Thomas," he says.

"Oh, you're the new Intelligence agent," she recalls.

"That's me," he replies modestly. "I figured I'd come say hello, since I didn't recognize Violet here and took her for an intern."

"She could definitely manage the job," Emily replies. "But I think I'll make sure she graduates high school first."

James laughs.

"Well, it was lovely to meet you both," he nods slightly to Violet and Emily. "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

They smile and wave as he leaves. Violet watches as her mother cranes her neck slightly to watch him.

She laughs quietly to herself.

"What?" Emily asks, looking back at her.

"Giraffes have shorter necks," Violet replies with a sly grin.

"What?" Emily frowns.

"Don't worry, his blatant good-looks didn't escape anybody," Violet reassures her.

Emily tilts her head, giving Violet a look. Violet just gives her the same look back.

"Tell me I'm wrong," Violet challenges. "Tell me you didn't just check him out. Hard."

Emily rolls her eyes and bends down to kiss Violet's head before leaving the office.

Violet watches her, amused, and then turns back to Spencer, who is patiently waiting for Violet to play.

He looks up and meets her eyes.

"She definitely checked him out," he agrees.