Spencer called and talked to Chelsea the next morning from work. He took a break and went downstairs into the courtyard of the FBI building. It was a chilly morning and there were very few people outside. She answered and told him she did not have any plans and that tonight would be lovely.

He told her about an Italian restaurant named Villa Sorriso in Springfield, Virginia and asked if she would like to meet him there at 7:00 pm. She agreed. Actually she was relieved that he had offered to meet her at the restaurant, she never felt comfortable giving her home address to a blind date. Even though her grandpa had recommended him and she was not afraid of her personal safety this time, she didn't like the awkward dance that happened when she was brought home from a date with a guy she had no interest in. She was glad she didn't have to suggest that they meet at the restaurant and he had enough sense to suggest it himself.

Chelsea walked into the small Italian restaurant 10 minutes before 7:00. She had arrived early and wandered around the area and found an antique store to spend some time in. She took a seat at the entrance facing the door. She knew Spencer had seen many photos of her at her grandpa's house and was sure he would have no problem recognizing her if he could see her when he walked in.

Around 5 minutes later, she saw a very tall thin man wearing a black trench coat with a purple scarf walking towards the door through the window. Under the coat, she could see a deep burgundy shirt with a matching tie with some type of colorful sweater. His hair was slicked back in a fashion that would not be appealing on many, but she thought it was perfect on the man's soft yet masculine face. His chiseled features and small clef chin made it difficult not to stare at him. She was almost disappointed that she had agreed to this blind date with the FBI agent, she would have liked to introduce herself to this man. As he walked into the restaurant, he looked straight at her with amazing hazel eyes and smiled. She started to look away because she felt it would be rude to be flirting with this man if her date arrived. As he entered the foyer, he had opened his coat and put his hands into his pockets. As she pulled her eyes away from his she noticed both a badge and weapon on his belt. Could this be her date? He did not look like any FBI agent she had seen before.

The man approached her, he pulled his right hand out of his pocket and held it out to her asking "Chelsea?"

She was almost too startled to respond. But she gained her composure, stood up shook his hand and said "Hi, you're Spencer?"

He had a small shy smile and nodded yes and said "Let's see if they have our table ready."

The hostess told them it would be just a minute and Chelsea mentioned that she had never been here before. "My team at work comes here sometimes after hours and the food has always been good. We have also come here for a meal if we are on a local case because they can sit us at a large table in the corner and with the acoustics in the main dining room, we can talk about the case without the background noise of other tables. Did you know the word acoustic is derived from the Greek word akoustikos, meaning of or for hearing, ready to hear?'" Spencer silently cursed at himself. He had promised himself he would try to act normal, whatever that was, and not recite random facts tonight.

She didn't act surprised at all at his ramblings. "I have heard that. There are so many English words we use in our daily life that are based on the Greek language. My mom has been teaching me the roots and origins of words since before I could talk."

Before Spencer could reply, the hostess came back and led them to their table. After they had been seated, she mentioned, "Grandpa said you work in the BAU."

Spencer was amazed. He knew Bob was going to tell her where he worked, but she sounded like she understood what the BAU was. "Yes, you've heard of it?"

She nodded, "You know that my dad was a cop and killed in the line of duty when I was 11, right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. That must have been difficult."

"Thank you. It was a long time ago. It was mostly hard because everyone was afraid to talk to me about it, except his partner and my friend John, who was a rookie at the time and admired my dad. My mom was too upset and retreated into her work and books for a long time." She continued "When I was 13, my grandpa was working on his recovery and he moved back to Virginia from New York. We started to become very close. When I turned 16 and was able to drive, I would go out to his house at least once a week and he would talk about his old cases and we would read true crime books together. We read a few from former detectives, DEA agents, and FBI agents including David Rossi. Grandpa told me you work with him."

"Yes, he came back to the BAU over a year ago. Another senior agent, ahh," pausing for a second, "…left, and he came in to fill the empty spot. I've enjoyed working with him and we've become friends. I read all of his books before I even met him. It is interesting to see how different the BAU has become. With the help of the internet and a lot more funding for our unit, the BAU teams can tackle many more cases all over the country."

"I've read two of his books. I did find them fascinating. I read so many crime books with my grandpa and after hearing all of the stories from his days as a New York Detective; I became interested in law enforcement myself. But my mom would have killed me if I had gone that direction." She smiled and continued, "My grandpa suggested I look into Forensic Accounting. I've always been very good with numbers and that way I could play detective without scaring my mom or carrying a gun."

Spencer smiled. They hadn't even looked at the menu yet, but he was enjoying the conversation. "I understand why your mom would not want you in danger after what happened to your dad." She nodded and he continued, "Did you decide to work as a Forensic Accountant?"

"Yes, I had a dual major in Business, with an emphasis in Accounting, and in Criminal Justice at Georgetown University. Did you know my mom is an English Professor there? She teaches Ancient Greek Literature, not my favorite reading material."

Spencer was surprised again, "My mom was an English Professor also; she was a 15th-century Literature professor."

"You're lucky!" her smile shone all the way through to her eyes, "you must have had MUCH better bed time stories than me! Ancient Greek Literature mostly is inappropriate for a young girl. There are the Dramas – very depressing! The Comedies – mostly sexual overtures. Or the Mythology – pretty frightening for a 5 year old. But my mom loved it so much and was so excited to read it to me I never said anything. Every night when my dad was not working late, he would come in the room after her and read a nice story from Dr. Seuss or Richard Scary. He would try to balance out the heavy material, without telling my mom why he picked the stories he did. She thought that ALL literature should be shared with all ages. I agree with her in theory, but some of those stories would have been better left until I was at least 12."

"My mom did read a lot to me also, starting very young. I'm not surprised that it is a common trait with literature lovers. I did love her reading to me, but looking back some of her choices were unconventional for a young child. She read a huge variety of books, including Proust, medieval poetry, and even Geoffrey Chaucer's poem The Parlement of Foules. It's widely considered as the first Valentine's poem."

"I know that poem." She was laughing out loud, he wasn't sure if she was laughing at him or not. "I didn't read that until I was in 10th grade. Wow, you had some interesting bed time stories also." still laughing, "Maybe we should start a support group for children of literature professors, to help them deal with the flashbacks of story time."

Spencer relaxed, he didn't quite understand why she thought that was funny, but her laugh was infectious and he was glad she wasn't laughing at him. He had been the butt of many jokes about the novels he had read or had read to him as a child. He realized she was laughing at their shared experience, not the actual reading material.

"Your grandpa never mentioned what you or your mom did for a living. He talks proudly of you frequently, talking about you graduating from Georgetown and worried about you living alone, but not about your work."

"Most people think numbers, accounting, and paperwork are boring so I think he is just used to not mentioning it a lot," she answered.

"I love following a paper trail especially when it leads to an unsub. Oh, an unsub is…"

She finished his sentence "Unknown Subject. I remember that from the books. I liked that term, very compact and succinct."

When the waitress arrived, Spencer ordered for both of them. He had asked what she was having and if she would like a glass of wine with her meal. He saw Chelsea's eyes flash with concern when he had ordered both of them a glass of Merlot to accompany their dinner. He understood her concern and wished he had explained before he placed the order. He waited until the waitress had left and told her he had never had an issue with alcohol. Since he was old enough to drink he would only have one or two classes of wine or beer as a beverage with a meal and only on occasion. When he did go have a drink with friends at a bar, he never had more than two.

He explained that he did not touch any narcotic or any alcohol for the first four months when he had stopped using. One night he had gone out to dinner with the team and a few local Denver police after they had closed the case and it had been too late to head back to Quantico. It had been a particularly hard day because although they caught the unsubs that were killing families during home invasions, they had also uncovered a foster home that they suspected was abusing children. They had contacted social services, but it was out of the control of the BAU and the local cops.

Everyone was handed a beer and Spencer took it when offered. He hadn't planned to drink it, but while talking and eating he had drunk half of it. It didn't give him any high or escape like the narcotic and he realized that it didn't make him crave anything else. He had done some research and found that for neurobiological reasons an addition to drugs generally shared the same traits as with alcohol, but not always. He knew it was rare, but there were not enough studies to get true statistics.

He had met her grandpa after he had been clean for 10 months and had already discovered that he could have a drink. Her grandpa had also seen instances when someone was able to have a drink without any repercussions, but that Spencer should keep it to a minimum and continue to monitor his reactions. After he had been clean for seven months, he had told each member of the team about his addition, both as part of the recovery and for them to help keep his back if he were to fall of the wagon. He thought he could do everything himself, without a structured program. When he had a few difficult months and had an overwhelming urge to escape, he had sought a program for help and met her grandpa.

The conversation after that was kept light. During dinner she told him after she graduated, she went to work for a large accounting firm for two years to get the experience needed to become a CPA. During that time she had taken night courses at Georgetown to get a certificate in Forensic Accounting. She had passed both the CPA exam and the FA exam to become a Certified Forensic Accountant two years ago when she was 24. Since then she had worked as an Independent Contractor for several banks, Merrill Lynch Securities, the Metro DC Police and the Virginia State Police. She had even helped another Forensic Accountant on a few white-collar cases for the FBI and was an expert witness in two trials.

After they finished dinner Chelsea suggested they share a dessert. She was too full to eat an entire one but when she looked at the menu everything looked good. They decided to share a tiramisu and each had a cup of espresso, which they decided was appropriate in an Italian restaurant. "You like sugar." It was more of a statement than a question. Spencer had just poured three sugar packets in his small espresso and looked up to see her smiling. "Yeah," smiling back, "I get teased about it at work a lot. I like espresso really sweet, but usually I use two packets in my coffee. A few years ago I was not sleeping a lot and for a couple weeks I was using four or five packets to help keep awake. They haven't really let me forget it." Now she was laughing, but he could tell it was good-natured, not mean spirited.

After dinner they walked towards Chelsea's car on the street. Out of habit Chelsea quickly went around to the driver's side door, As soon as she did it, she regretted it. Tonight before the dinner she had arrived early like she always did on a blind date. She always would look for street parking near the restaurant and then circle and wait until a spot became available. Then when her date walked her to her car, she would move around to the driver's side and open the door. Nothing says don't touch me like being separated by 3,000 lbs of metal and cars whizzing behind you.

Chelsea almost said, "Damn" out loud and thought about going back to the other side, but thought she might look even more insane that she already felt. She took a deep breath and calmly told Spencer she had a wonderful time. She asked if he would like to go to brunch with her at the Virginia Rifle Club if he was still in town on Sunday morning. He looked a bit confused and nodded, "Sure, if I'm in town." She smiled again and asked him to call her the next night if he thought he would be available. She would give him her address and the time of the reservation. She thanked him for dinner, again saying she had enjoyed herself, and told him she hoped to hear from him tomorrow night.

As Spencer walked to the subway station he was going over the events of the evening. She had smiled at him when he walked in, but she had looked a bit tense. Then he noticed that she caught a glimpse of his firearm and badge and she seemed to relax. In his experience most people have the opposite response. She had grown up with a dad and grandfather both cops and she had mentioned many of her friends were in law enforcement, so he was sure she was used to weapons, but relaxing was still an unusual response.

Overall she definitely was not what he expected. She was beautiful, but he had seen her photo and already knew that. She was actually prettier in real life than in photos. He guessed she was about 5'6" tall, but she looked taller wearing the 4" heels. She looked very athletic. Her grandfather had a photo of her jumping a hurdle in high school and he wondered if she still was a runner. Her hair was loose in a long and feminine style with soft waves. It was smoothly angled at her shoulders and framed her heart shaped face. She was obviously very intelligent and her job fascinated him. He liked going through paperwork to help find the answers to cases and she used numbers to locate fraud, embezzlers, and money laundering schemes, something most people would hate. Morgan was always annoyed while following a paper trail and loved giving Spencer a hard time when he enjoyed it.

He had been very nervous about meeting her and thought they would sit down; order right away and she would be ready to leave as she took the last bite. But she was in no hurry to look at the menu and they had talked for over 20 minutes before they even placed their order. Then she had suggested sharing a dessert. He was glad because he was enjoying spending time with her.

Chelsea knew a lot about him, mostly because he had asked Bob to tell her everything hoping she would refuse to go out with him. They talked a lot about her past and family and he found himself asking questions and curious about her. A few times he caught himself starting to rattle off facts and would stop mid-sentence, but she encouraged him to continue. She really seemed to be interested in what he was saying. He wondered if her mother did that also and she was used to learning abstract facts all her life.

He had learned a lot about her in one evening. She loved numbers, but didn't want to be cooped up in an office by herself all day. Working as an independent contractor with many different clients gave her the freedom to schedule her own work day while still using her number and detective skills to solve what she called financial mysteries. He was intrigued that she had worked on FBI cases and had a low level clearance because of it. Most of the FAs that the FBI uses are much older and have years of experience. She explained that she had been at the right place at the right time for that to occur.

Last January she had been working on an Insider Trading Case for Merrill Lynch. The SEC had been investigating one of the Vice Presidents and Merrill Lynch had hired her for their own internal investigation. The FBI White Collar division had sent one of their FAs to find out if it was a case that should be federally prosecuted. Frank White the FA they had sent had met with Chelsea to look over what she had discovered. He was impressed with her detailed work and even though this case was determined not to be a Federal case, Frank took her contact information in case he might need assistance in the future.

A month later he had called her to help with a case. It was an insurance fraud investigation that covered three states and the District of Columbia he had been working on it for over six months. Recently during the investigation, Frank had discovered a new defendant was a past client of his and needed to step down because of the conflict of interest. All of the other FBI FA agents were involved in cases and this trial was scheduled in Federal Court in two months. Frank had made arrangements with the FBI to transfer all of his notes to Chelsea and they had done a background check at that time. They had run a credit check, a criminal records check, contacted the accounting firm she had worked for, her family, friends, and several of her past professors. Everything had passed their inspection and she became the expert witness for the trial.

She had only actually testified in four cases since she became a FA. She had been in the courtroom 9 other times ready to testify, but at the last minute the case had settled and she was able to leave the courthouse without entering a courtroom. She was paid the same as an expert witness, if she testified or not, but it was always easier if the case settled. A trial attorney had once told her that if an attorney makes his case strong enough to win at trial, it will settle nine out of ten times without the time and cost of the trial. On the other hand, if his case is not meticulously put together and ready for trial, nine times out of ten it will go to trial. She had used that as her motto when doing her investigation. Every time she looked into an allegation, she compiled her information as if it were going to be used in a trial.

Spencer felt the evening had gone very fast, but they had been in the restaurant for over 2 hours. They had walked chatting towards her car and when she darted to the far side he was surprised for a minute, but then realized she was trying to get away fast. Then he was truly surprised when she asked him out for Sunday. He had enjoyed their conversation and wanted to see her again, but decided it was a bad idea. It would only end poorly and it would be better to pretend he was out on a case if he was still around the next night.