BEXLEY POV

David walked me over to the small group of people and I could hear my heart taking off. Eleanor walked over and gave the group a polite hello as she sat in one of the dining room chairs at the small table instead of the bar.

David cleared his throat as we walked and I felt a light blush as four pairs of eyes turned to me. "Guys, this is a very close friend of Eleanor's and she's also new in town." I gave a light smile in greeting and stuffed my hands in my pockets.

"This is Penelope Garcia, Derek Morgan, Aaron Hotchner, and Jennifer Jareau LaMontagne or JJ. This young lady is Bexley Kirrier." He gestured to each of them as he said their names and they all gave a kind smile as they were introduced.

"We're missing one." Rossi said and rolled his eyes. "These are the social members of the group."

I laughed at this and managed to get out. "Nice to meet all of you." Rossi pulled up another stool to the counter and I took a seat between JJ and Penelope.

I listened more than joined the conversation and I learned that JJ was married to a man in the FBI and had a kid with him that was four years old and that Aaron, or "Hotch" as the team seemed to prefer, had a little boy and had a little over a year ago lost his wife.

JJ laughed as a door closed louder than seemed to be intended and I turned to the noise. Relief filled me as I saw a familiar face and I felt a smile pull at my lips.

"Hey." I said and Spencer looked up. "Hey. Did you get moved in ok?" he asked and I turned around to face him in my chair. I nodded and crossed my legs in a sitting position.

"It wasn't much and thanks to you, I wound up not only not having to make more than one trip, but everything got there in one piece."

He laughed and gave me a light shrug. "Glad I could help."

A throat being cleared made me realize that we were the only one's talking. I looked down at the floor and heard my heart hammering in my ears.

"So you two know each other?" Rossi attempted to lighten the mood and I felt nervous as I realized now every eye in the room was on me.

Old habits are hard to break I guess.

"She's my new neighbor actually. We met the other day when she was moving in." he said casually and pulled out the stool on the other side of JJ.

"So how did the case go today?" Penelope asked as Rossi grabbed the plates and put spaghetti on them along with a piece of garlic bread.

"New York is great if you're not chasing down criminals." Rossi said as he sat down to join the rest of us at the table. I felt my stomach drop and also a bit of anger.

"He'll be put on trial soon and odds are he has twenty to life. That's one less criminal in New York." Aaron replied and his stern expression never changed.

JJ took a small sip from her glass of wine and said "I wish we could do more. There are several unsolved cases but they can't press for an investigation yet."

"That's the local PD's job. We can't interfere unless called on." Penelope said as she gave a sympathetic smile.

"There are several cases you don't know about yet. Crimes are leveled by the importance and the ones lower on the list, like child abuse for example, are focused more on the name of the kid, the extremeness of the abuse, or the age of the child. Most abuse cases are all but forgotten due to the high rate of crime in big cities."

I felt all eyes on me and wanted to take back the words that I hadn't thought through before I spoke them. I had curious eyes on me and knew that they were wondering if I was speaking from personal experience. I wanted to say no. I wanted to forget about everything that had happened to me throughout my life.I wanted that part of my life to stop haunting me every damn day.

But it didn't look like that was going to happen. So I said the first thing I could think of. "Sorry, I read a lot."

They looked back down at their plates and I was grateful. I felt one set of eyes on me that I wished would have dropped it, so I decided to change the subject quickly. I turned to Eleanor who just gave me a gentle smile before she resumed eating the piece of garlic bread in her hand.

"So what branch of the FBI do you guys work as?" I asked and was grateful when they all gave me a smile.

"Behavior Analysis Unit or the BAU." JJ replied and I decided to keep this topic of conversation of going.

I was officially interested and listened as they talked about their jobs the rest of the night and listened to their stories of how they'd come to be in the BAU and Quantico, Virginia. Thoughts of my father left my mind and I enjoyed my night with Eleanor as well as people that I thought I would never want to be around.

SPENCER POV

After the meal was over and we'd all said our goodbyes I quickly caught up to Bexley. Eleanor had gone home early to rest but Bexley had stayed behind to listen to us talk about our jobs. She listened intensely as we spoke about our jobs but when her own life came up; she'd turn to a different member of the team and ask anything from how they joined to what made them chose this job.

"Hey." She said as I walked next to her. "Everyone seems really nice. Does Aaron ever smile though?"

I laughed and shook my head. "It's rare but he's not as bad as he seems." She nodded at the statement and shrugged.

I couldn't help but stare at her. She looked guarded and something about her smile now and at dinner seemed… off. She looked ahead watching every shadow and catching every movement. Paranoia wasn't likely considering that she'd said she was from a big city, though she never said which. She'd kept the same blank expression on her face and had avoided any questions about her past.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked and she had a thoughtful look come across her face before she answered "Yes."

I tried to think of how to bring up the subject of her life. A subject she avoided so cleverly or simply ignored. I decided to be straightforward with the question. "Why do you avoid questions about your past? Most people avoid them because they are ashamed, act as if it didn't happen, or some lie and make their past seem better or worse than the reality of it."

She took a deep breath before answering, contemplating what to say. "I'd rather leave my past where it is. I can't change it and it holds no significance for the future I have in mind." she smiled trying to brush off the conversation.

I couldn't drop it and I knew she wouldn't like what I'd say next. "I noticed you got really defensive over the child abuse cases and—"

"Don't profile me." her voice was filled with anger but she didn't deny the question that I'd left open.

Regret filled me as I saw the pain in her eyes and then it disappeared to be filled with anger, but as her nails dug into the skin on her palm, I realized that it wasn't just me that she was angry with.

We didn't say anything as the apartment complex came into view or even as we made our way up the stairs to our apartments. She pulled the key from her pocket and put it in the door but didn't turn the key.

Instead she laid her head on the door and stayed like that for a moment. Her eyes clenched tightly for a few moments before relaxed.

"Damn." She said as she let soft, humorless laugh escape her. She opened her eyes and an emotionless expression came across her face as she turned the key and walked into her apartment, closing the door behind her.

I knew that my profiling skills had once again come through but I almost wished they hadn't. I had more than likely opened up painful memories for her that she'd tried to forget or work through and felt guilty for every word.

I walked inside my own apartment and closed the door behind me, placing my phone on the small table next to the door. I sat on my couch and put my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands as several different child abuse cases ran through my mind.

In all the years I'd worked with the FBI, I could never once understand how anyone could hurt someone who'd done nothing wrong. I'd heard several reasons but they'd never made sense and it was never right, no matter how it was put.

The thought of someone angry, disappointed or in pain had never been a justifiable answer for taking their problems out on someone they were supposed to love and protect. I would have done anything to find out how to help her heal and how to help her move past the secret hell she'd been through.

I'd have to give her time to cool off and I'd let her decide when she was ready to talk again. If she would want to and if she did I would be sure to be there to listen.

Nothing could be done to night though and so I shook my head and chased away the last hour of the night and laid back, letting sleep claim me for the night.

***Can't keep a secret from a profiler but pushing questions that someone doesn't want to answer is not the best way to help. Anyways, R&R and have a great day.