David Rossi has an unconditional love for coffee so strong it could wake the dead. Whether he be recovering from a late night of poker, or a case had been active so long her had become easily agitated, coffee was his stimulant of choice. As a true Italian, he wouldn't drink the fancy coffee that he had seen Penelope order from Starbucks, no, David would only drink dark roast with a splash of milk. The way it was supposed to be.
That was why he was in the break room when Annabel's visitor badge was traded for an employee ID. To say he was surprised would have been a lie, David had seen the secret meetings between the newly reverted ginger and Erin Strauss, with the occasional addition of Aaron, but he hadn't expected it to happen this quickly. He had spent a great deal of time with Annabel over the past few months, particularly as she seemed to live in Aaron's office when they only had paperwork to complete, which meant that he knew that she still had a closet full of skeletons.
David watched carefully as the woman shook hands with Erin, the latter surprising him by encasing Annabel's hand in her own. David wondered if the two could possibly know each other, the mere fact that she was given visitation privilege so often being an indication in that direction. However, it wasn't until that moment that he came to believe his own hypothesis. Erin's smile seemed genuine - and almost proud - as she looked at the women, almost as though she were looking at her child.
There was a quick nod of Annabel's head that ended the conversation between the two women, Erin crossing the floor to her own office without hesitation. David couldn't tear his eyes from the ginger as she stood, seeming lost, outside the glass doors that lead to the bullpen. The newest Bureau employee let out a large breath, smoothing down her skirt with shaking hands, before finally walking through the door.
She saw David almost instantly, throwing him a quick smile as she crossed the bullpen to join him. He hoped that she hadn't caught him staring, though he also knew that she was understanding of the team's fixation on her and the mystery that surrounded her name. However, none of them had known her before the disappearance, and, while he hadn't been as familiar with the girl as Aaron, David had been an acquaintance of Annabel's back when she had been a young adult with big dreams.
Having pulled a second mug from the cupboard, David held up the coffee pot causing her to grin as she nodded. It wasn't until she was stood just a few paces away from him that the Italian could see the dark patches below her eyes. Aaron had told him about her restless nights during their many conversations over scotch once they had finished cases, but, from the way the girl laughed with the rest of the team, he never would have guessed the physical toll it had on her.
Annabel thanked him as she took the mug, her eyes scanning the rest of the floor as she said, "I don't know how to do this Dave."
"What do you mean?" He questioned, watching as she rested her hip against the counter, still ensuring her back was not to the door the way she had since late November.
"Strauss has brought me in as a victim communications and support officer," she explained, causing David's eyes to widen. As she mentioned it, he remembered how she had always dreamed of helping people recover from traumatic events. He always assumed that she had her share of darkness in her past, and now he realised that, by that point in her life, she must not have suffered the half of it.
Annabel has taken a breath, and a mouthful of the coffee her nose screwing up at the taste in a way that David was sure his had the first time he had drunk the Bureau's mixed blend. Shaking the sour look from her face she continued, "JJ just left you all, and I've not exactly done anything to earn your trust. I keep running different scenarios of how doing this job will go, none of them include it going well."
"The old first day nerves," David mused, a low hum leaving his chest as he withheld a laugh. "Let me tell you something, that team in there respect you more than any outsider. We've watched you pull yourself up from the ground over the last couple of months, and none of them wish they could go back to before they knew you."
"I just," she paused, shaking her head, "it's stupid really."
"I can assure you; I've heard stupid and I don't think you can say anything to match it." David chuckled, causing Annabel to smile in a way that lit up her entire face.
She looked at her feet, not matching David's gaze as she muttered, "I guess I'm just scared that they'll think I've gotten special treatment."
"How so?"
"Well, getting this job in the first place seems like a miracle to those I've just met," she explained, tilting her head. "Before all this I was an intern here."
"I remember," David declares, managing to hide the shock in his voice. "You were with child crimes for a while before moving to sex crimes."
"Crimes against women," she corrected. "Strauss said that my training was still valid, that was why she spoke to me around Christmas."
"Did you pass the psych eval?" The elder Bureau employee asked, watching as the woman nodded a sheepish look on her face. "In that case, the team shall have no problem with the logistics of your arrival."
"But-"
David shook his head, placing his hand on the small of her back and guiding her out of the break room and towards the clump of BAU employees, "No 'but's. Now let's introduce you to the team."
"I've already met the team," she argued, but the agent simply shook his head.
"Excuse me," he spoke, interrupting whatever joke Spencer was telling. Each of them turned to look at the duo, Annabel's face pulling to an awkward smile. "I want to introduce you to Annabel Bradey-"
"Rossi, we've met Annie before." Derek interrupted, causing Annabel to raise a brow at David as he reiterated her earlier point.
"Ah, if you would let me finish," Derek nodded, intrigued with where the conversation was going. "This is Annabel Bradey, the new Victim Communications and Support Officer for the BAU. She will be joining our team for the foreseeable future."
There was a silence, the three agents sharing looks of shock at the new status of the ginger before them. It was Derek who broke the silence, a grin forming on his face as he clapped his hands together, "Alright, alright. It'll be good to have you out there with us, Baby Doll."
"Calm down, Morgan," Emily declares, rolling her eyes at her colleague's flirtatious manner. Having reprimanded Derek with a slight slap to the arm, she turned to Annabel, a supportive smile on her face, and added, "Welcome to the family, as long as you don't snore on the plane, we'll be good."
"To snore you have to sleep," she laughed, her eyes growing wide as she became aware of the over sharing. "What I mean is-"
"It's okay," Emily interrupted, placing a hand on the woman's forearm. "You've been through a lot; we are under no delusion that you suddenly went back to regular life."
Annabel smiled at Emily, reassuring, "I'm okay though, really. I even passed the psych eval."
"No one doubts that," Derek explained, watching as the woman became visibly apprehensive before him. "There's really nothing to worry about."
"Thank you," she blurted, the words having escaped from her mouth before she could even consider them. "Honestly, I owe you all a lot."
David placed his arm around her, stating, "You don't owe us anything."
She smiled back at him, wanting nothing more than for her heart to stop racing. As if he could sense it, David suggested he show her where she would be based. Nodding her head, Annabel bid farewell to the rest of the team before following him across the bullpen to Jennifer's old office. She grit her teeth, not wanting to take the BAU veteran's old office, but David reassured her that she needed a space to talk confidently to victims and families who required her support.
As he left her, David noticed how she had already begun to organise the room. It had been spotless when they had walked in, but she was straightening every small detail of the room. She would check everything multiple times, which he noticed was similar to how she had acted that morning when she had straightened out her skirt. Before then, he hadn't picked up on the quirk, but he was sure, had he have spent more time with her over the past months, he would have noticed it in every aspect of her life.
He also noticed that she had tried everything she could to separate herself, aesthetically, from the woman who stood in Aaron's office in late November, barely able to string a sentence together without bursting into tears. She had cut her hair, stripped the red dye from it leaving her with - what he assumed was natural - ginger and dressed in a way that contrasted the simple, almost hippie, attire she had arrived in. It was as though she was reinventing herself, but for Annabel, she was reverting to the woman she had been before her life had been turned upside down.
A/N: Hiya everyone, I am lowkey in love with writing this as the moment, even if the first part isn't exactly what I wanted it to be. I really hope you all enjoy this, be sure to comment if you're enjoying this and most of all stay safe at this crazy time.
I love you all.
Katey. Xx