It was approximately nine o'clock that Wednesday morning, when Section Chief Erin Strauss strode onto the walkway surrounding the bullpen area that housed her BAU teams. Most of the desks were occupied, and she knew that in the offices opening off the balcony more members of her staff were busy working on cases and consultations for law enforcement agencies all over the world.
Suddenly she stiffened. That girlfriend of Dr. Reid's was in the bullpen. What business did she have being there? Strauss' initial impulse was to head down into the bullpen and confront the intruder. However, after stopping to think about it, she came up with another plan. She returned to her office and retrieved a package from her desk before walking down into the bullpen.
"Good Morning Dr. Reid," she greeted the young agent. "And, Christine, of course."
"Of course," Christine agreed. She could tell that something was going on, but she couldn't quite identify it, and she didn't want to alienate Reid's boss's boss.
"You are going over to The University when you leave here?" Strauss asked.
"Yes, I'm headed to work," Christine wondered where this was leading.
"I wonder if I could ask you for a favor," Strauss was practically purring.
"Of course," Christine glanced at Reid, who appeared to be just as puzzled as she was.
"I have these recruitment brochures that need to be delivered to Dr. Milner at the Career Center," Strauss told her. "It would save me a trip if you could take them."
"No problem," Christine assured her, accepting the pile of brochures. "I know where that is."
Standing in the doorway to his office, Hotch watched the exchange. Instinctively, he wondered what Strauss was trying to accomplish. The only immediate result he could see was that Christine was committed to leaving the bullpen area fairly quickly. The secondary result was that Strauss now owed Christine a favor. Somehow, that didn't seem like Strauss.
Christine turned to Reid. "I had better be on my way," she told him.
"I'll walk you out."
As Strauss watched the two walk towards the elevator, she commented to Blake. "Well, that's the last we'll be seeing of Dr. Reid's little friend for a day or so."
Blake looked at her. "Erin," she said. "You did that just to get Christine out of here?"
Strauss smirked at her. "It was easier than I anticipated," she bragged.
"You do realize that Dr. Nielson is a fully qualified psychologist and that she would be well within her rights to bill us for the consultation she just had with me?" Blake inquired innocently.
Strauss glared at Blake before returning to her office.