A moment of peace in the elevator is all you want after a difficult few days at the office. It's been a week of paperwork, on which you've been working extra hard: Hotch and Gideon both gave you separate talks about 'reckless behaviour' on cases after you returned to Quantico. Hotch's talk almost felt like fatherly disappointment; reminding you how you could have been seriously injured while also reprimanding you on broken protocol. Hotch, while overly serious, was a good boss. Gideon's talk, however, left you with a bad taste in your mouth. He focused on Spencer this, Spencer that, and all you wanted was to punch his precious little Spencer in the face. Perhaps your violent tendancies should worry you. He was less concerned about protocol being broken and more concerned that Baby Genius could have been injured, being less adept in the field than the rest of us and how more concern should be taken around him.
You had sat there and taken these talks with a stony face, neglecting to mention that Spencer was not totally uninvolved in your plan to enter the UNSUB's house, or tried to fight the fact that he'd left you to deal with the consequences while getting off scott free. Spencer Reid was the darling of the BAU and you were the new girl, now with the added label of being totally reckless.
And so, you plan to take a moment in the elevator ride down to the parking lot to breathe and reset after a shit week at the office. Of course, the world seems to have it out for you. Just when you start to think you might have the entire elevator ride to yourself, the one and only Spencer Reid awkwardly slides in, ruining your planned three minutes of peace.
He goes to speak and you find yourself snapping, "Don't speak to me, Reid. Unless you're going to apologise for the massive amount of shit you got me into with Hotch and Gideon, don't speak."
"Why would I apologise for informing Hotch of your reckless behaviour, Y/L/N? I only assisted you in taking down the UNSUB because if I hadn't have stepped in, you'd have only gone and gotten yourself killed. The rest of the team should know that you're dangerous to work with." He stated self-righteously and your urge to slap him returned full-force. You had to get out of the elevator.
The next stop was luckily on the same floor as Garcia's office, giving you a reason to bolt out the doors as soon as they opened. While you didn't know the blonde tech whiz all that well, she was perhaps the nicest member of the BAU team and always seems happy to see you.
You get to her office and knock cautiously on the door before going in to her tech lair, taken aback by the burst of colourful and cute objects that always seem out of place to you, contrasting deeply with the serious nature of the work that takes place in there. While cute creations might take Garcia's mind off the nasty details of the cases you work, you prefer to simply compartmentalise away the horrors of your job and avoid thinking about them when possible.
"Hello, hello my lovely angel of joy! How are you doing, I know this week hasn't been the best for you, but I'm so happy you stopped by to see me! I'm just about to leave, let's go out for drinks and you can tell me all about what's going on with you, my lovely. Maybe we can convince my Chocolate Thunder to come too, or at least to pick us up after we've had a few too many mojitos." Garcia's enthusiasm never ceased to amaze you, not that you'd complain: her joy for life gave you hope that you too could do this job and not completely lose your sparkle.
"Hey Penelope, that sounds good. I think I need a few drinks after all the lectures and looks I've received from Hotch this week," you smile wanly, glad that at least Penelope seemed to be in your corner.
The two of you make your way out of the office - without running into Reid again - and to Garcia's favourite bar a short walk away. The music is loud and the drinks are good and for a moment you could forget about Spencer fucking Reid.
Or at least until Garcia asks, "So, Y/N, what happened between you and Boy Wonder? I know he kind of dropped you in it with Hotch this week, Emily told me, but you two have been very much with the not friendly attitudes practically since you started with the BAU. What is it with you two?"
You sigh, really hoping to have an evening free of Reid. Really, you should've known it to be impossible. Reid and his annoying words or habits or behaviours seemed to be on your mind more often than not. You just couldn't stand him or his stupid floppy hair.
"Honestly Pen? My problem with him is just that he's so annoying with his little I'm-smarter-than-everyone-else act. Like we get it, you're a genius, move on with your life. If he wasn't so obnoxious towards me I probably wouldn't even care. I don't know what I did to him, but since our first week of working together we just haven't been able to get on." You complain and take a long sip of your drink, pulling a face at how strong it is.
"You know what, sugar cakes? When I met you I felt for sure that you and Reid would get along; you're both into books and obscure film, you're both incredibly smart, and you two - just like me and Derek - would make beautiful babies. It's almost funny how the two of you act almost the exact opposite of what I predicted for you, and you know I have a sixth sense about these kinds of things!"
You can't help it; you burst out laughing. The idea of you and Reid being friends, let alone having babies, seems outrageous to you. Both of you can barely stand to be in a car together, let alone be in close enough proximity to make a baby. Just thinking about it unsettles your stomach.
"What? You know I'm right! On paper the two of you are perfect together. I just need to figure out why you two hate each other and then I can use my relationship guru ways to fix the problem and then voila! BAU babies!" Penelope exclaims and you can't do anything but take another long drink. If this is what ladies nights with the BAU are like, then you're going to need to be very drunk to get through them.
You wake up at 6 am with your head spinning. However many mojitos you drank last night, it was one too many. Looking around, you realise you must be at Penelope's apartment, the amount of colour and glitter and abundance of cute cluing you in. You aren't exactly sure when or how you got there, but all you want is your own warm bed. Writing Penelope a note - on pink sparkly paper - you call a cab and take the ride back to your own, depressingly empty apartment.
You'd moved into that building when you'd started the BAU, three months ago. The short amount of time and the multiple cross country trips you'd been on meant that you'd never had the chance to meet any of your neighbours. As you stumble through the entrance of the building and towards the elevator you saw the doors closing and someone inside for the first time.
"Could you hold the elevator?" you croak, and an arm reaches out to hold the doors. As you slide in, you turn to the tall man next to you, ready to thank him. Instead, your jaw drops.
"Are you stalking me?" The words fall out your mouth before you can stop them.
"Y/N, don't be ridiculous. I live here. You moved in three months ago and you live in the apartment above mine. Don't you pay attention to anything outside of yourself?" Reid states, looking at you as if you were stupid.
To be fair, it was rather embarrassing that you hadn't noticed he lived in your building.
"Jesus Christ, can't I ever escape you? What would it take for you to move out and get out of my life completely?" You grumble, still slightly too drunk to have any sort of filter.
Looking up at Reid, he almost looks hurt by your perhaps slightly too harsh words. You go to apologise, but he spits out, "I could ask the same of you, Y/L/N. Stay away from me."
He storms out the elevator, and you realise you hadn't even notice it stop. Resolving to text Penelope about your encounter - and to find out if you were the only person unaware that yourself and Reid shared an apartment building - you stumble into your apartment, into your bed, and pass out for the night.