(Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Criminal minds or the show itself)
I was planning loads more for this chapter, but I got a bit carried away with Reid's new team. Don't worry I will update it tomorrow, where there will be some more action!
Miami"Y'know I'm not paying you to slack off. I wasn't expecting you to take a personal day." Harper raised annoyed eyebrows at his newest Detective, who was still wearing clothes he'd been in days earlier, his hair messier than usual.
"I...uh... it's complicated." 'James' stuttered gripping his collar.
"Oh really? Care to explain?" Harper got dangerously close to the Detective, who focused nervously on his shoes.
"A friend of mine was in hospital yesterday. I..just.. needed to see them." Reid answered honestly, guilt reddened his cheeks. Harper's face suddenly contorted from annoyance to guilt. He put a kind hand on the kids shoulder, making Reid wobble slightly.
"Oh, Kid, you should've said. Is your friend okay now?" His voice was softer, the buzzing which had filled Reid's ears ebbed away.
"She's.. she's alright now. I wasn't planning on taking the whole day, but she was up state, so I had to fly out." Reid shut his mouth, as not to divulge any more information to his new boss.
"I should've told you, sorry." He scratched the back of his neck in shame.
"You can talk to us you know." Whispered the blonde detective, who'd crept up behind them. Reid jumped as she spoke, dropping his file and mumbling apologies as he bent down to pick them up.
"Shit, Coop! You're super jumpy today!" She bent over to help him, her hand snaking over his back for reassurance. "Don't worry, you don't have to go into anymore detail, I was only joking." The blonde offered him a kindly smile and skipped over to her desk, feeling she'd interrupted enough.
Reid rearranged his files and looked back up at his boss, his fingers fidgeting anxiously.
"She means well. And she's right, if you want to talk about this,or anything for that matter, we will listen." He patted Reid's back, marching back down the steps and into his small office.
Reid sighed in relief, combing his fingers through his hair instinctively.
(One month before)
Reid ran his fingers delicately through his new hair, still not used to the style or colour. His hands trembled with nerves. Last time he'd felt like this, was when he started at the BAU, but even then he had Gideon to guide him. Now he had no-one.
He walked through the doors of the precinct and forced his legs to stumble to the front desk.
"Uh.. Hi, I'm Doc... uh James Cooper. I've been transferred here." He caught himself, remembering he was no longer Dr Spencer Reid; he no longer belonged to the BAU.
The woman sat at the desk was practically busting from her tight blouse, the buttons screaming against her breasts. She eyed Reid and puckered her lips, which were thickly coated in purple lipstick.
"Mmmm hmm. I'll have to check that. ID." She grumbled, looking back down at her monitor, holding a silver nailed hand up to him, the other hand typing madly on the keyboard.
Reid clumsily dug into his pocket, accidentally dropping his wallet on the turquoise tiles and scrambling across the floor to snatch it back up.
He stood back up casually, trying to mask his embarrassment with a 'facade' of coolness that he was failing to achieve.
The receptionist kept her eyes on her computer, but a smug smile crossed her face; she wasn't a fan of 'newbies' in her office.
"Sorry." He mumbled handing his ID into her patient palm.
After a minute of glancing between her computer and 'James Cooper's' ID, she gave him a sickly sweet smile.
"All checks out, sugar" she sang, making Reid think she had a borderline personality disorder.
"Good luck" she laughed reviewing his phisique and deciding he wouldn't last a day. That was until her eyes crossed the almost healed wound indenting into his skull and the unforgiving bruises which surrounded it. Reid saw her eyes flick to it and he pushed his hair over it.
"Thank you." He smiled and walked away before she could judge him any further.
Mara Dunkel had been watching James cooper's entrance on the CCTV in the 'Computer lab'.
"You really shouldn't do that." Conner sighed. Conner Jacobs was average height, average build, black haired, grey eyed and he was considered the king of computers in the department. This meant he could be arrogant and smug and extremely selfish at times. He was not much of a team player, and preferred to work independently. However, that had changed 3 months prior when a second 'computer guy' was employed. Matthew Copus. Jacobs had good morals, yet he was still not used to having a partner. When he'd been informed of a new member to the team, he had been against it. He was completely sure that whoever was being employed would be fired or leave by the end of the week. He believed he was an exceptional member of an elite team, therefore becoming a member was near impossible.
"I want to see how Tara reacts to him, you know what she's like." Giggled Mara, who bounced with excitement when Tara held up a chubby hand to the new guy.
"Ooo I hope he's nice!" She beamed. Conner rolled his eyes at her childishness.
"Let's hope he leaves as soon as he arrives." Conner took a good look at the screen and chuckled.
"I mean look at him! Practically a stick. He is not gonna last a day." Mara frowned at his negativity.
"It's good you hide away here all day, you'd drive me crazy." She teased.
"Sorry, I was sure you held the award for 'most annoying'. Now shoo, I have better things to do than help you spy." Mara gave him a sad puppy dog face and bounded out of the room, ready to give the poor kid on the CCTV a warmer reception than Tara had given him.
Mara hopped by her sister, Amelia, who was sat impatiently at her desk, twiddling a pen in her fingers.
Mara and Amelia were identical twins. Amelia had dyed her hair a glistening ginger and wore makeup all day everyday, whereas her sister, younger than her by 6 minutes, kept her hair a natural blonde, which she wore in messy buns and ponytails, and she didn't waste her time on makeup. Mara was a very bubbly person, always smiling, always joking, forever happy. Amelia was more sedate, she was quieter and much more synical. Even with their endless differences they shared a bond like no other. They'd remained together their whole life, enrolling in everything together and helping each other succeed. They'd been living together until Amelia moved out to live with her boyfriend. This relationship had lasted another 4 months before plummeting to an end. Within that time Mara had also found herself a boyfriend. Their relationship was still going strong 1 year 7 months later, when she became his fiancé. She wore a small emerald ring on her right hand which she often gazed at and smiled.
"And where do you think you're going? Scaring the new guy?" Amelia scorned fixating her raised eyebrow on her sister.
Mara paused and sat on the edge of her sister's desk.
"Get off you lump!" Amelia yelled.
Mara leaned in close to Amelia's ear. "Maybe you should introduce yourself first. He seems cute aaaaaaand you're single." She winked.
"Oh just go, I'd rather you annoy him than me." Mara grinned mischievously at her sister and dashed off.
She flew by Micheal Harper and Stanley McGarity on her way.
Harper was an extremely amicable guy. He was easy to talk to and less stern and serious than a typical boss. He was probably too lax on his team, but no one ever complained.
McGarity was closest in age to Harper being around 7 years younger. Both men were still fit and active in the field and often proved more useful than the younger rookies. Stanley was glad to see a new member added to their team, he'd heard the most about James Cooper from Harper, being good friends with his boss. He knew the kid was smart; PhD smart. There was little history on him, Harper had told him this was due to being in a confidential branch of the CIA, and being respectful of a man's privacy, McGarity left it there.
Reid slowly trudged up the stairs, butterfly's flying around his stomach, begging him to turn back. As he neared the top step he saw big glass doors into his new workplace. A young woman, around his age, was racing towards the doors. She ripped them open and skipped towards him, making him step back worriedly.
"Hi! Hi, I'm Mara Dunkel, just call me Mara though, because my sister works here too and so, you'd get us mixed up if you used our second names an... sorry I'm rambling aren't I? You must be James Cooper." She shoved her hand into the air in front of them, grabbing his eagerly and shaking.
"Sorry about Tara." She motioned back downstairs."She likes to play bad cop, I guess that makes me the good cop... not that you're being interrogated.. uh.. come inside and meet everyone." She pulled Reid into the precinct, who was still searching for words of response.
The team had gathered around the desks, chatting and glancing towards Mara and James Cooper. Conner followed Matthew from their lab and had to cover his mouth when he snorted at the sight of the thin and scrawny new guy.
Mara was still pulling Reid along behind her, stopping at her team and almost pushing Reid into them.
"And this is the team. That's..."
"Mara, give the Kid a chance." Laughed Harper, extending a friendly hand at James who took it gratefully. The team noticed the dying bruises littering Reid's face. Those on his cheek were yellow and faded, but his nose was still pink and purple from the break. None of them mentioned it.
"I'm Michael Harper, I've read a lot about you, not that there's a lot to read." He winked at Reid, who smiled back.
"Pleasure to meet you, Sir." He said, finally finding words.
"Please, its Harper." He smiled toothily.
Reid was slowly introduced to the whole team, excluding Angela Morris who worked in the lab downstairs.
Reid stepped back, his nerves grinding inside him. As he did the team finally had a good look at him.
Reid pushed his hair out of his eyes and unintentionally revelealed the gunshot wound which was still healing. Connor's smug grin dropped when he saw the deep gash across Reid's forehead, and how the skin around it was still red and purple with fairly recent bruises.
"Is that why you left your last job?" Asked Amelia pointing at the shot wound. Reid's eyes went wide with panic and he flicked his hair back across his head.
"Uh... something like that."
"That's pretty crazy." Said Mara, her fingers moving Reid's hair from covering it, so she could have a look.
"Is that a shot wound!?" She gasped, her mouth dropping. Reid backed off her intruding hands and smiled.
"Um yea." He grimaced looking down.
"How'd you manage that?" The team caught the cruel tone Jacobs often used with them, but Reid simply looked at him and sighed.
"My last ...case didn't go according to plan."
"What so this is your punishment? You think we're below you or something?" Hissed Conner, desperate to make the new guy squirm.
"Oh shut up, Jacobs. You shouldn't even be asking, it's none of your damn business." Stanley growled, shooting a dirty look at Conner.
"That's okay. I'm not being punished. What happened wasn't my fault, call it a personal vendetta against me." Reid chimed.
"Vendetta? Where d'you get him from, Harper? Medieval times?" Conner sniggered.
Before the team could defend their new member, Reid's facts began to spew out of him.
"Actually the term 'vendetta' is Italian and it originates from Corsica, and was practiced in many parts of Italy and later in other European countries. It is still used now a days, however it is universally proscribed by law and persists in areas that are remote or lack trusted police protection." Reid eyed Conner anxiously, waiting for an angry outburst, yet the man seemed lost for words.
"Christ, Kid! Read much?" Stanley chuckled.
"I can read 20,000 words per minute and I have an eidetic memory, which is how I remember what I read. I read mostly technical books." He bit his lip and looked down at his feet, embarrassed by the gawking eyes watching him.
"How is that even possible!? 20,000 words a minute, what are you selling us?" Snapped Conner.
"Our conscious minds can process 16 bits of information per second, our unconscious minds can process 11 million." Reid stated.
Harper held up his hand, chortling. "Well, Conner maybe Cooper can demonstrate for us." Reid's eyebrows arched with fear. "I believe ya kid, I just need to see it."
Mara squealed with enthusiasm and grabbed Reid's hand again, pulling him over to her desk the team following.
She hustled Reid into the chair and dropped a case file in front of him. She smiled reassuringly at him.
"There's like 8 pages of writing in this, it's on the case we just solved."
Reid looked up bewilderingly at the work force. "Um..what do you want me to do?"
"Read it, Genius." Snarled Conner his eyes narrowing. Amelia smacked his shoulder, which sent his look of despising at her instead.
"Okay." Reid opened the file with shaky hands, not being used to so many eyes on him.
His eyes found the first page and he looked up at Mara. She raised her eyebrows and nodded her head as a signal to go.
Reid's long fingers ran down the first page in seconds and he flipped over to the next, and he'd finished that in a blink. He was on the 7th when Conner groaned, "Oh, get over yourself." Reid held up a finger as he finished the last page and closed the file.
"I'm impressed" admitted Stanley.
"Oh come on! He couldn't of read all that. If you're so smart, recite page..5." Conner crossed his arms, assuming he'd won.
"Kid, don't listen t..." Reid interrupted Stanley's speech as he began to perfectly recite page 5. Mara grabbed the file and her finger followed the words as Reid said them.
Harper clapped his hands loudly, his face red with laughter.
"Go to your lab and sulk, Jacobs. Your attitude has been most unprofessional." He waved a big hand at the computer guy who was still in shock.
Harper turned his back on Conner, blocking him out.
"Welcome to the team, Coop." He patted his aimable palm against Reid's back.
Present
"What you got?" Reid asked Mara, who had her feet up on her desk reviewing a file.
"New case, Mini Coop. The teams on their way here, but we will go early." She mumbled sticking a lolly into her mouth. She'd begun to call him 'Mini Coop' after the car 'Mini Cooper' when she'd seen it whilst on a drive with him. She also reminded him that it was because he was young and basically the mini member on the team, which made him feel like even more of a kid.
"'We'?" Reid said frowning.
"Yea, you're with me. Let's get going now, I hope you like music, because I have lots of it." She teased dangling her phone at him, like a cat with string.
This chapter was supposed to be more, but I felt my original plan moved the story way too fast, and I don't want to rush it. So, it turns out this 'short story' may turn out longer than I had anticipated.
I hope you're all enjoying it as much as I am writing it. Please give me all of your thoughts in the reviews ;)