Erin picked up her office phone, dialling the digits for Agent Hotchner's office. After only two rings the phone was answered.
"Agent Hotchner speaking." Although for the most part Aaron's voice remind in a calm and calculated tone Erin could just about make out the air of concern that laced his voice. This coupled with the almost immediate answering of his phone made her certain that Hotchner was waiting on a call from Spencer to explain his lateness. No other agent could have his superior quite so worried after being no more than a couple of minutes late. She put on her best no nonsense tone.
"This is strauss, I'm calling to inform you that I have temporarily commandeered Dr Reid for the day. He will be helping me translate reports."
"If it's a translator you need then may I recommend Agent Prentice?"
Erin smiled hearing this, even now he tried to protect Spencer by hiding him away within his ranks, but that would not work today.
"No need to pull Miss Prentice from her paperwork, I do believe that I am still waiting on her report from the Boston strangling case. Anyway, Doctor Reid is already briefed on what I want done, he will be returned to you as usual tomorrow." She knew by the beat of silence on the other end that she had won this little battle of wills.
"Yes Ma'am." Was his only response before she put the phone down, looking up at Spencer the hard persona melted away.
"Now, where would you like to work?" She asked warmly. "There's plenty of room if you want to share my desk, or if you need more space you can take over the couch area."
"I think I'll take the couch if that's okay?" Reid responded after a second of thought.
"By all means." She stood and strode around her desk, watching as Spencer extracted himself from his seat, struggling to keep hold of the many files in his grasp. Taking pity on him Strauss intercepted the falling files before they crashed to the floor.
"Let me help." Erin said while taking another handful of folders off the young agent. The last thing she wanted was for him to fall and hurt himself in the few steps it would take to reach the sofa; and with his clumsy entrance into her office that seemed like a real possibility for the accident prone agent.
"That's really not necessary ma'am… Strauss." He caught his slip in the nick of time "You've already treated me better than I deserve, the least I can do is carry my own things."
"Now you listen here young man." Spencer instinctively straightened as Strauss used her best scolding mother tone. "I am treating you exactly how you deserve to be treated, you're a smart and brilliant agent."
She thought she may have gone too far there but Spencer didn't seem to be pushed away by the complements, instead his big brown eyes were still locked onto hers, listening intently, so she continued. "That needs to accept a helping hand every now and again." She wished she'd listened to her own advice when she was his age instead of leaving a trail of bruised egos. To Spencer's credit he ducked his head, having the good grace to look ashamed as he let Erin walk him over to the couch. They placed the files onto the coffee table in front of it.
"And as the person who has the final sign off on the hoard of accidents and injuries you've been involved in I wouldn't want to increase my workload by having another round of 'accident in the workplace' forms to fill in, you've had far too many as it is." She stated, smiling while walking back to her desk.
"I don't do it on purpose, things just kind of happen" He muttered.
"Face it," Strauss joked "You're a trouble magnet." Both parties laughed at that, and the tension in the room dissipated.
The two worked in amicable silence for a while, content in their own work. It was the noise of frantic flicking of pages that first distracted Erin's attention. Peeking out from behind her computer she spied the Doctor reading through a case file faster than should be humanly possible. Obviously when Gideon had first proposed a student he just met to join the BAU his abilities had come up, but it was another thing entirely to see them in action.
Spencer looked up sensing eyes upon him. Now it was Strauss' turn to blush after being caught staring.
"I'm sorry, you must get this a lot but it truly is remarkable to see you work at such speed."
"Um, thank you most people find it unsettling." Spencer couldn't help recalling the names that children at school called him after finding out about his gifts; freak, nerd and teachers pet were some of the nicer ones. It wasn't until he joined the FBI that he met people that appreciated his gifts, even if they did take advantage of them by sneaking in their own work into his stack of files when they thought he wasn't looking. Not that he needed to see them to know what they had done. Normally after slipping in a couple of files one of the residents of the bullpen (usually Morgan) would crack, feeling guilty, he'd disappear off returning with a piping hot cup of coffee, just the way he liked it. Spencer would take the payment gratefully and a wordless the deal was struck.
"I can slow down if it's putting you off." Spencer said nervously.
"No, no you keep going as you were, you are a wonderful pacemaker, I'm already halfway through my workload for the day and it's not even 12 o'clock." Erin smiled.
"Oh okay." Spencer responded, happy to be accepted by someone other than his team. The next few hours passed in a flurry of paperwork. Spencer enjoyed the peace and quiet the secluded room offered, knowing his pile of work would not grow during the day. Erin found the presence of Reid beavering away motivating enough to power through some of the dryer reports that she would usually hide at the bottom of her pile.
Spencer checked his watch after finishing his fourth report, casually tossing it onto his finished stack. It was just coming up to eleven, no wonder his mind was starting to wander from the reports to his increasing need for caffeine. It had been hours since his last cup first thing that morning and now like a sirens' call his mind was being drawn towards the coffee machine sat in the kitchen. However, to get to it he would have to make it through the bullpen unseen and at this time of day that would be practically impossible. So, he resigned himself to a caffeine free day of trying to contain his twitching hands and fidgeting body.
These nervous ticks didn't escape Strauss attention, who after peering at Spencer for a couple of seconds sighed, saved the report she had just finished on her computer and gave the agent on her sofa her full attention.
"What's wrong Reid?" She called concerned.
"It's nothing really…" Reid stopped upon seeing Strauss' stare. "It's just been a while since I've had a coffee that's all."
"Say no more." Erin said with an air of understanding. "I could do with a cup myself." She continued while making her way to the door of her office "You stay here I'll grab us both a cup."
"Thank you." He called as she closed the door behind her to ensure his hiding spot remained undiscovered.
I know I'm a bit behind on this but I wanted to respond to all the people who took the time to review this story it means a lot.
.CSI= Hope this chapter keeps you entertained for a while.
1sunfun= I'm glad you like the concept of the story always felt the pair should be in more stories together so tried my hand at writing one for them.
Cherubim= Your review made me smile, thank you and don't worry I have more chapters planned.
ahowell1993= Your review actually made me go back and do a rewrite for the start of this chapter after realising I hadn't resolved the issue, so thank you for your help.
IRL= Thank you for the review, I wanted to address your comment about why I use the term "boy" in my story, Its not that I'm trying to portray Spencer as a child but rather I wanted to highlight how old Strauss feels that she sees younger agents as children compared to her. To clear up any misunderstandings I will try to refrain from using the phrase in later chapters.