Chapter Eight
Kristina cursed the early-morning traffic as she sat behind the wheel of her silver Toyota Camry. She had attempted to leave Frank's apartment early enough to get to her new apartment across town to pick up her keys for later, and still arrive at work a few minutes before 9- now, thanks to an overly-chatty landlord she would be lucky to be on time if she were to park her car and run up the two flights of stairs to the BAU's floor...
Thanks to her lead foot and a few Fast-and-the-Furious-esque maneuvers, she pulled up to Quantico with a minute to spare.
Dave was walking up the sidewalk ahead of her, so the tall brunette quickened her pace to catch up with him.
"Dave!" she smiled, shoving her keys in the pocket of her jacket.
The older man offered a weak smile in return.
"Ah, Kristina, good...can i talk to you for a sec?"
She paused.
"I'm already going to be late-"
"This will only take a second," he assured her.
The brunette sighed, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
"Okay, what's up?"
"Look, I know you're still adjusting to the BAU," he began, treading lightly around the subject, "but Hotch is a little worried about you."
Kristina's brow furrowed. She folded her arms.
"Worried? Why is he worried?"
Rossi lowered his voice, trying to prevent their conversation from being overheard by the other employees walking past them.
"Well, for starters, you didn't exactly follow protocol in Columbus."
"I had my reasons," she reasoned.
"I made a calculated decision in the field. It's not like I deliberately ignored orders or put someone in danger. If anything, I was too careful."
"That may be, but to Hotch, it just makes you look like a loose cannon. Just tone it down, that's all. There's a very fine line," he retorted.
Kristina nodded.
"I can do that."
It was a little suspect that the leader of the team was entrusting the senior agent to discipline the new kid...then again, nothing about this team was ordinary. They were like a well-oiled machine, and she had yet to discover where she fit in their dynamic. The last thing she wanted was to lose their trust before she even began to figure it all out.
Rossi seemed satisfied, and attempted to lighten the mood with a change of subject.
"I'm glad. Now, is there anything else you want to talk about? How are your parents?"
Kristina chuckled.
"They're fine."
"Are they?" he asked again, curious with her avoidance of eye contact.
"yes."
"and you?" he pressed as they walked toward the building.
"I'm fine."
"are you sure?"
The brunette groaned as she pulled out her key card and swiped it at the door.
"Honestly, Dave."
He paused, eye squinted as if he were studying her, trying to determine the validity of her statement.
"Ok...better get to work, then."
"Hey, JJ!" Derek Morgan called from across the office, trying to get the blonde agent's attention. She was carrying a large stack of files from Hotch's office and didn't seem to hear him the first time he called, so he tried again.
"Hey, Shorty, come over here!"
This got her attention, and she sent an icy glare in his direction before making her way to his desk.
"Never again," she threatened through clenched teeth, trying not to smile as a devilish grin spread across his face.
"What do you need, you jerk?" she teased, bumping him with her elbow and setting the heavy files down on his desk.
"Whoa, don't let those get too comfortable, I don't need all that paperwork." he laughed, his eyes shifting upward as he saw Rossi and Agent Kent enter through the hall.
"Well, she's still here," he sighed.
This made JJ chuckle.
"What, did you think they were going to fire her after her first case?"
"Hotch was pissed," Morgan pointed out, leaning against his desk and slyly watching the tall brunette on the stairs.
"Yeah, but I have a feeling she's not going anywhere soon," JJ replied.
"What do you know?" Morgan frowned, making the younger agent sigh.
"Look, Derek, she's...insufferable, but she knows what she's doing. Rossi trusts her. Maybe you should give her a break."
"You're not getting soft on me, are you?" Morgan grinned.
Jennifer shook her head.
"God, no."
"You're starting to like her, aren't you?" he continued teasing her, and the young blonde decided not to argue with the childish agent, scooping up her files and returning to her desk without another word.
Kristina had barely made it to her desk before someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind. The brunette's head whipped around to see Emily Prentiss standing above her.
"Come here," she motioned for Kristina to follow her. The new girl hesitated briefly, then obediently followed Emily across the bullpen and across the hallway to a dimly-lit office filled with computer screens. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed several colorful toys and stuffed animals scattered around the L-shaped desk. The swivel chair at the center of the room was occupied, its inhabitant facing one of the monitors, information rapidly flashing on the screen.
"Garcia," Emily gently addressed the woman, who spun in her chair.
"Hello, my fair-skinned angel-" she began, halting mid-sentence when she saw Prentiss's company-
"and guest! Hello, Gorgeous," she smiled, "you must be Kristina Kent."
The quirky technical analyst held out her hand, and the new agent shook it.
"You must be Penelope Garcia. I've heard a lot about you," she smiled.
"Oh no," Garcia gasped in mock horror, making Kristina chuckle.
"Only good things, of course."
Penelope wiped her brow in relief.
"Thank goodness."
"Penny went to Cal Tech," Emily pointed out their California connection.
"Oh, impressive!"
"I never actually graduated, so don't be too impressed," Garcia cast a warning glance over at Emily, who grinned.
"Only because you were recruited by the FBI!" she reminded her humble friend.
Kristina couldn't help but enjoy the playful banter between the girls. It gave her hope that maybe, one day, she would be part of the gang.
That is, if she lasted long enough without getting fired.
Spencer finished his paperwork by 5 o'clock, but waited at his desk half-reading more files and half-watching Kristina diligently churn out most of their potential case files, quickly catching up to speed with the rest of the team. She finished these around 5:45, and the younger agent had already packed his belongings into his satchel for the night. He chose to walk with her to the elevator, hoping he could finally gather the gumption to converse with the new girl when they were alone.
"Hey, Kristina..." he choked as the doors slid shut.
She looked up from her cell phone.
"Hey, Spencer." she nodded in his direction, then returned her attention to her phone. He cleared his throat- in the end, his curiosity was greater than his innate apprehension of interactions with the opposite sex.
"Are you...do you want to get something to eat? Dinner?" he managed to eek out, studying her facial expressions. She let out a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Reid, but i'm so exhausted- i'm moving into a new apartment right now, and I still need to go to Frank's place across town to pick up the rest of my stuff."
She did not miss the deflation in the younger agent's chest when she shot him down.
"Another time, maybe?" she added, trying to lift his spirits. He seemed to have a newfound interest in his shoes as he replied.
"Sure, yeah. Some other time."
"Shame on you!"
Frank's voice came from behind a pile of boxes that entered the new apartment and crossed the hardwood floors to what would eventually become the living room. Kristina's new dwelling was nothing too extravagant- the major selling point was the view of the Washington Mall. She had sold most of her furniture in California so the apartment looked embarrassingly bare, even with the dozen or so boxes of her belongings that she had shipped across the country.
"Shame on me, for what?" she shot back as she slid a razor blade through the tape on a box marked "KITCHEN".
"For not going out with that cute genius kid. You need friends, and he seemed nice. Very inoffensive."
Kristina scoffed.
"I'm sure Dr. Reid is perfectly inoffensive," she mocked her best friend, "but i just wasn't up for it tonight. I wanted to get all my stuff in here before we leave for our next case."
Frank gently dropped both boxes on the floor between the kitchen and the living room.
"You mean, you wanted me to carry all these boxes for you before your next case," he corrected her with a grin.
"Oh, c'mon, Frank, you're still big and strong even though you're retired." she teased, pulling plates out of the box and setting them on the counter.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Agent Kent," he shot back.
Kristina shook her head playfully.
"I don't think that's how it goes."
"I'm still upset about you not trying to fit in with these people," he changed the subject again. The brunette frowned and attempted to defend herself.
"For your information, Emily and I worked fine together yesterday."
Frank wore a devilish grin.
"Emily, huh?"
Kristina rolled her eyes.
"No, Frank."
He threw his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, okay, as long as you're making the effort."
"I am!" she snapped, still frustrated at his doubt.
Like he was Mr. Personality, anyway...and she had been trying to get along with the team more- Penelope Garcia seemed to be a bright and bubbly person, which was unusual for their line of work, but she also seemed easy enough to get along with. She got the feeling that Derek didn't trust her, and she didn't exactly make the best impression with Jennifer, either. She would have to win them over somehow, as well as impress their boss. From what Dave had told her, SSAC Hotchner was none to pleased with what had transpired in Columbus. She had a massive amount of catching up to do, and read through several days' worth of files at her desk, but something told her it was going to take nothing short of an act of God to impress that man.
There was a brief moment of silence, which Frank ruined as he ripped open one of the cardboard boxes.
"But why wouldn't you go out with Dr. Reid?"
"Frank, honestly," Kristina groaned, "why don't you go out with him if he's so fantastic, huh?"
"I don't date men," Frank folded his arms.
"Yeah, well, neither do I." Kristina retorted with a laugh.
"It wasn't even a date!" Frank raised his voice, pulling several leather-bound books from the box and stacking them on the floor.
"How do you know that?" Kristina teased, "Were you creeping in the bushes?"
"Yes," Frank shot back with a straight face, "i was. Super stealth. Night vision goggles. The whole shebang."
Kristina couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous her best friend was being.
"Of course you were," she humored him, putting the dishes in one of the cabinets.
"I was. And you were being pertinacious." he grinned.
"Where should I put all these books?"
Kristina paused, her eyes scanning the apartment, a sense of dread coming over her as she realized...
"Oh my God, I don't have any bookshelves," she groaned, throwing her hands up in defeat.
"Okay, we can just..." Frank quickly looked around.
"We'll just make a gigantic fortress of books in the living room. You brought a lot of books with you," he observed, making Kristina scoff.
"I only brought half of them, the rest are coming in a week or so."
"You and the genius would probably have the world's most intelligent offspring," Frank teased. Kristina groaned again.
"Frank, if you don't drop it, I swear to God..."
"You'll what?" he grinned. "You'll beat me up?"
Kristina's hazel eyes darkened.
"Don't tempt me."
This made the older ex-agent laugh.
"Yeah, sure...here, help me with all of these books."
