Note: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF CRIMINAL MINDS CHARACTERS
"Wow, someone had a late night." Morgan said as Serena walked into the bullpen. Her hair was a mess, and she had bags under her eyes.
"Anyone would if they spent their first day of the BAU lying down on Times Square about to be shot by a L.D.S.K." She replied, getting more coffee.
Morgan scoffed and gave her a light punch before heading back to his own desk. Suddenly, Serena was feeling too well. She ran into the female's bathroom. Luckily, nobody was there at the moment. She splashed some cold water on her face and looked in the mirror.
God, Serena. Get it together. You can't let them know. If they did- no. Don't think about that. She straightened herself, redid her braid, and walked out.
"Whoa!" Shouts of excitement came from Garcia's office.
What the...
"Damn..Yale?" Prentiss' voice came.
Serena silently pushed the door open. Garcia, Prentiss, and Morgan were huddled around Garcia's computers. She had pulled up Serena's personnel file.
"She's from New York City…"
"Wow…"
"You know, when you want to know someone, you usually just ask them." Serena said cooly.
The three whipped around. Serena shrugged and walked away.
"Hey, Chen! I- we didn't-" Morgan protested and ran out of the room, but Serena was already gone. She almost ran into Hotch while rushing back to her desk.
"Sorry sir!" She exclaimed frantically. Her braid was messy again. Hotch gave her glare and straightened his tie.
"It's alright." He replied.
Serena sighed and sat down, opposite to Reid. He was reading a book, turning a page every 5 seconds. He looked up and noticed she looked distraught.
"You alright?"
"Huh? O-oh, yeah…" She said, opening up the L.D.S.K case file.
"That was a pretty easy case." Reid remarked, returning to his book.
"Yeah. Just gave the profile, boom. Got the guy."
"Not all our cases are that easy," He said, smirking.
"Haha, I know."
Serena got up to get more coffe, and she ran into Morgan. Dammit.
"Hey, Chen. Talk to me." He said. She turned around to face him.
"Look, I'm not mad. I just...you could have just asked me if you wanted to get to know me. You don't have to go snooping around my back. Unless that's your tradition to welcome a new team member, then," She replied, shrugging.
"Alright. Then I'll ask. Your first case was in New York City. Why didn't you go visit some family? I mean, whenever the team goes to Chicago I visit my mama. Reid visits his mom in Vegas. Why didn't you go visit?"
"Simple. It was my first case with you guys, I didn't want to go running off doing my thing."
"Hm." Morgan didn't seem to believe her, but left her alone anyways.
"Bye, JJ!" Serena waved the media liaison goodbye and got in her car. Suddenly, her phone rang. It was Alastair again.
"You're really starting to get off my nerves." She answered.
"That's what I'm here for." He replied. "Where are you right now?"
"I'm just about to leave work." Silence on the other end. "Come on, Alastair, I'm not going to let her win and just scare me into hiding. Not like last time."
"Fine. Well, I just arrived."
"What do you mean?"
"In DC. I wanted to check on you so-"
"I-"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry about our dad. I'm sorry for everything I did when we were kids. But, we really need to put that behind us. Besides, you're living alone with Merissa on your tail. Don't you want some company?"
"I have my team, and Nala." Serena tried to argue, but she eventually gave up. "Fine, meet at the Blue Lemon Cafe in thirty minutes."
Alastair was tall and handsome, with dirty blonde hair. He usually wore an army green denim jacket over a black shirt. He spent most of his childhood in Europe, so he was fluent in Italian and French. His excessive time in England brought out a slight British accent when he talked. Alastair also knew a bit of Chinese, thanks to Serena's teachings. He definitely had smarts, but he chose to use them for the streets. He smoked once in a while, and hung out with the gangsters of New York. Definitely the bad boy ladies' man.
"Hey, Serena!" He yelled at her as she stepped into the cafe.
"Did you have to yell…"She said, sitting down. Alastair just shrugged, and gave her a latte cappuccino. She smiled slightly.
"Still remembered my favorite drink?"
He took a sip from his cortado. "Of course." And he put a 20 dollar bill in the tip jar. All the baristas grinned at him, and he winked back.
"So, how are things up in New York?" She asked casually.
"The same." He replied, but something seemed off.
"Alastair, I'm a profiler now. Don't lie to me."
"Oh, what, you're gonna analyze my behavior? Alright, Rena, tell me. What'd you see?"
She shook her head. "Your jacket is less torn than usual, suggesting that you haven't been out in the streets as often. Your hair's been brushed. I think you're going to meet someone after this. Or maybe you did that all for me, given we haven't met in person in a while. Which means you want to impress or satisfy me. You've never tipped more than 10 dollars in your entire life. And you're wearing new earrings, so you've probably won something playing poker. You also blinked a lot when I said 'Don't lie to me.' Which means," Serena leaned in. "You just had an encounter with Merissa."
Alastair gulped. "Heh...you're pretty good." He said.
"So, what'd she say?"
"The usual." He suddenly changed his demeanor. "'Don't go lying, Ally! You know what I'll do if you tell! Oh, how's that dear Serena? Is she okay?'" He mocked his cousin's tone. He noticed Serena's solemn expression, and apologized. "Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood."
For a while the two were silent. They hadn't spoken in a few years, so it was a bit awkward.
"My colleagues looked at my personnel file today." Serena blurted out suddenly. Alastair raised his eyebrows.
"Did they find..?"
"No, I don't think so. I mean- only two people know. My boss and another guy at work."
"Okay. Just…"
"What?"
"Just be careful, alright Rena?"
"Okay."
Flashback
NYC
September 4th, 1993
It was a cool morning in New York City. Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi stepped into the NYPD station. A detective greeted them grimly.
"Hi, I'm Sergeant Bridges. Thanks for coming on such short notice."
"Of course." Hotch replied. "Where would you like us to set up?"
"We have a conference room down the hall."
"Thanks. Where's the girl?" The Italian man asked.
"She's right here." The sergeant showed the agents inside the room.
On the bench, sat a girl. She looked young, maybe 12 or 13. Her black hair hung like a dreary curtain over her shoulders. She looked distraught, and her eyes were wide, unblinking. Like she was afraid to close her eyes. A worried looking man stood over her, her father, patting her on the back.
"Hello. Are you Serena?" Hotch asked. The girl looked up.
Hotch was pretty tall, plus with his glare and suit, he looked intimidating to the young girl. But somehow this made her feel safer. She nodded feebly.
"My name is Agent Hotchner. I'm with the FBI, I'm here to help. This is Agent Rossi." He introduced his partner.
"Serena, we need you to tell us how you got that blood on your jacket." Rossi asked softly.
"It's his blood." She replied. The father looked up to the two agents.
"She's been saying that for the past hour now. Who's 'he'?"
"That's what we're here to find out." Hotch said calmly. "What did he do to you, Serena? Did he hurt you?"
The young girl's black eyes locked with Hotch's. For a second, he was frightened. This young girl, she was so innocent. She had done nothing wrong. And yet, something out in the world had hurt her. Why else were her eyes like dark pits? Suddenly, the girl regained her composure. She stared straight at Hotch and said, "I do not lie."
Author's note: woo another chapter! Sorry this one took a bit longer :/
But yay! The title's been said! (I-I have no idea what it means ._.)
But yeah, please please review and tell me how I did and thanks for reading! 3