Paige's short program was scheduled for early on the first day of competition and, after she had removed her skates and changed her clothes, she and Ian joined the team in the seats.
"I heard you guys cheering for me," Paige told the team with a smile.
"Yeah – About that," Morgan looked slightly embarrassed.
"We weren't sure if it was appropriate to yell like that, seeing as how we are in another country and all," Garcia commented.
"And then I thought about the ice hockey game Morgan dragged me to," Reid continued the explanation.
"And, seeing as how they play hockey in this arena all the time," Blake wasn't about to be left out.
"Hockey being the national game of Canada," Joel smiled knowingly.
"We yelled," Hotch got right to the point.
"Well, it must have helped," Ian smiled at everyone. "Because her program went really, really well."
"Several of your maneuvers weren't as difficult as what some of the other skaters are doing, but we knew that would be the case going in," he continued, talking to Paige. "However, you skated a clean program, and that's what counts."
"You had good height on all your jumps," Laurel pointed out. "And all your jump rotations were completed."
"Your spins were all centered and your footwork was clean," Tovah added.
"Hopefully, the judges realized that the sixth skater, the one from Azerbaijan, was not on a clean edge when she took off for her Lutz," Reid observed. "And that the eleventh skater, the first of the two from China to skate, shorted her rotation on her Salchow. As for the skater from Italy who skated fourteenth - "
"Excuse me," Joyce Takata leaned over from where she was sitting the row behind them to talk to Reid. "Do you really remember all that about the skaters?"
"I can recite their entire programs, move for move," Reid replied offhandedly. "Eidetic memory."
"Plus a genius IQ," Morgan added. "Nothing gets by our most favorite Genius here."
"I need to talk to you later," Joyce told Reid as the music began for the next skater. "I may have a proposition for you."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"I wish you were here," Laurel was talking to JJ over the phone. "The facility is absolutely beautiful and everyone here is so nice!"
"I wish I was there, too," JJ replied. "However, until this young man of mine decides to put in an appearance, I am going to be staying close to home."
"Have you had any encounters with the press?" she continued.
"Not really," Laurel told her. "The security in the arena is quite tight and the representative from the USFSA has been screening everyone who has access to the Team USA skaters. There was a 'Group Interview' and a photo op, but that's been about it."
"However," she chuckled. "There has been an interesting development."
"Tell!" JJ demanded.
"It seems that Spencer has been offered the opportunity to become a caller at upcoming skating competitions," Laurel reported. "He would have to serve an apprenticeship first but, with his eidetic memory and his ability to identify all the moves, that should go fairly quickly."
"What does Tovah think about that?" JJ asked.
"I'm not really sure," Laurel replied. "She seems to be a bit distracted. However, she has to realize that he's not going to be an FBI field agent forever and that this will give him something to do when he finally does stand down."
"She's probably worried about traveling with a baby who isn't quite four months old," JJ said thoughtfully. "And, as for Spencer's future, that is probably the furthest thing from her mind right now."