Reckless

Chapter 12

It wasn't a regular occurrence for an agent to be fired from the FBI. But it wasn't totally unheard of either. The fired agent was always provided with an empty box that used to contain file folders to pack up their personal belongings. Then they were escorted out of the building by bureau security. Because of this, Toni felt weird placing her personal things into one of those same boxes, even though she was only moving one floor up.

Toni was a part of the task force for years. Since she was their only female field agent, she held a sort of unofficial celebrity status there. The old field agents treated her like a sister. These weren't just her coworkers, they were family. Toni came in early to pack up her desk, in an attempt to avoid any tearful goodbyes. But a few of her colleagues knew her well enough to predict such a move. They were waiting at her desk with coffee and a twinkie with a candle in it.
"I don't eat twinkies. And it's not my birthday," Toni protested, blowing out the candle with a laugh. She tried her best to keep her composure as her teammates hugged her and helped her pack up her desk. But by the time she was waiting for the elevator with her box, Toni had to reach into it for a tissue to dab at her eyes so her mascara wouldn't run.

With as much time as she was on the road, Toni didn't keep a lot of stuff in her desk. She had a small stash of protein bars and an extra coffee cup in case she forgot her favorite one at home. There were tissues and a box of gel pens. Toni bought her own because the pens the bureau provided were garbage. She had the desk plaque with her name and title on it, and three framed photos. One was of her brothers. And the other two were of her son. In one, he was in his karate gi being presented with his yellow belt. The last was of her and her son when he was just a baby. She bundled him up and took him outside to see his first snow when her cousin snapped the picture. She was holding Romeo in the air and both of them were smiling at each other. Right before he learned to walk was the only time her son ever had chubby cheeks. He was downright adorable. Though truthfully, it was possible that she was just a little bit biased.

"Good morning!"

Toni stepped into the elevator with Rossi, returning his greeting and shifting her box onto her hip so she could shake his hand as they rode up the last floor together. He reached for her box, chivalrously insisting on carrying it for her. As a rule, Toni generally refused to let her male coworkers do things like that for her. But Rossi was being so nice, Toni didn't have the heart to refuse him. And she wanted to start off her position in the BAU on the right foot, if that was even possible after she technically already started it on her back.

Toni followed Rossi through the office, thanking him once he set her box down on top of an empty L shaped desk. The way the desks were set up, hers adjoined a second desk with only a low partition between them. "We saved you the best seat in the house," Rossi declared, though Toni noticed that he had his own office. There was a hint of amusement in his tone, one that made Toni wonder what the joke was. Rossi favored her with a knowing smile and a wink as he tapped the top of her new desk. "You're right next to Reid," he announced with unnecessary gusto. "Welcome to the BAU."

"For fuckssakes," Toni grumbled under her breath. It was distracting enough to be in the same office space as him. With Spencer right next to her, she was never going to get anything done. Toni raised her voice to a more audible level as she thanked Rossi for helping her with her things. But Toni was pretty sure he heard her swear, because he walked away chuckling to himself. At least Spencer wasn't at his desk yet. Because Toni needed a moment to collect herself. Just looking at the empty seat already had the heat rising in her cheeks.

The next person to approach Toni was a blonde woman in very impractical shoes and a brightly colored dress. They hadn't met in person yet, but Toni recognized her voice. Penelope Garcia greeted her with a hug and a gift. It was a little planter for her desk with a unicorn doing karate hand painted on the front, and a purple tinted succulent growing out of the top. It wasn't really her taste, but it was extremely thoughtful. No one on the task force ever gave me a unicorn planter, Toni thought with a giggle.

"I love it," Toni exclaimed. "Thank you so much."

Before either of them could say anything else, one of the front desk security workers appeared in the upper area of the bullpen. He'd be hard to miss since there was a giant bouquet of flowers in his hands. They didn't allow actual delivery personnel into the building. So anything that got delivered to the front desk had to be brought up by building security.

"Ohmygosh," Penelope squealed. "Someone got flowers!" The security man called out Toni's full name, after which Penelope squealed again even louder. "You got flowers!" Penelope lifted her hand, waving the security guard over as she gestured wildly towards Toni. "Antonio Ramirez! She's right here! They're for her!"

The security guard was only mildly attractive. But Toni noticed that didn't stop Penelope from batting her eyes as she offered him a very flirtatious morning greeting. Penelope was quick to change her focus, turning away from her view of the security guard's back end to the giant bouquet on Toni's desk. The only time Toni ever got flowers at work was when she caught her ex cheating. And that arrangement was tiny and cheap compared to this bouquet. It was full of yellow and orange roses, along with a whole slew of other flowers she didn't know the names of. Whoever sent it knew her taste, because it was all fall colors. Being from Texas, Toni never saw a real change of seasons until she moved to DC. Watching all the leaves change color was still magical to her.

"Who are they from? Open it!," Penelope encouraged, bouncing around with excitement as Toni plucked the small cream colored envelope from the center of her bouquet. Toni barely had time to read her card, let alone react, before Penelope reached over and snatched it from her hand. From the level of her excitement, an onlooker might assume Penelope was the one that got the impressive bouquet. She read the note aloud to the entire office, which to Toni's absolute horror, now included Spencer Reid. He was hovering near what Toni assumed was JJ's desk with a large cup of coffee in his hand. If the flowers were from him, which obviously Toni secretly hoped they were even though she'd been refusing to return his phone calls, this was about to be terrible. And if they weren't from him, it was going to be even worse.

"I hope you have the best first day ever. Here's to more firsts to come. Love, Luke."

Toni reached over and took her card back before Penelope could do any more damage with it. Not that there was much more she could do. Toni saw the shocked look on Spencer's face before she quickly averted her eyes. She looked down at her card, feeling all her emotions swirling inside her. It felt good to have someone care enough to send flowers. Toni was flattered by the gesture, especially since it was from Luke. His idea of romance was taking a long walk in the dog park. But Toni also felt pressured to return the gesture. Which presented a problem, because she didn't have romantic feelings for her former partner. And since she just got flowers from another man, she was worried that Spencer was about to get the wrong idea about her. She wasn't sleeping around with anyone else. That wasn't her style at all.

Toni could feel her face getting hot. And the myriad of nosy questions Penelope was asking her weren't helping. "Who's Luke? Is he your boyfriend? Is he cute? I bet he's cute! Do you have plans with him later? When can we meet him?"

"Hey Penelope," JJ hollered. "I really need your help with my computer. I can't log in again."

Toni gave JJ a grateful smile, mouthing the words 'thank you' as Penelope clumped away on her heels towards JJ's desk. Toni could tell she was a sweet person, The little unicorn planter on her desk was proof of that. But she was also a lot for Toni to take in before she'd finished her morning coffee.

Toni turned towards her desk, forcing herself to focus on unpacking her box. Really, she was trying her best to avoid making eye contact with Spencer. Toni grasped her long straightened hair and flipped it forward, over her shoulders. She hoped it might help to disguise her reddened face, though she was certain everyone present in the office already knew she was blushing. Thankfully, they probably assumed it was because she got flowers and not for the real reason.

As she moved her giant flowers off to one side of her desk, Toni sensed that someone was standing behind her. "Good morning," Toni chirped. Her nerves were making her voice come out higher pitched than usual. She was also trying to sound friendly and way overdoing it.

She cringed internally as she glanced at Spencer and forced a smile. Toni took a moment to admire his appearance. He wasn't as clean shaven as he had been the last time she saw him. There was the shadow of a beard around his goatee area and along his jawline. It was hands down the sexiest thing she'd ever seen. His shirt and jacket were black, but his tie was a purplish color. It made her wonder if what he had on under his suit was purple as well.

"Good morning," Spencer replied. "Welcome to your first official day at the BAU." He was talking a little louder than normal, maybe because he was nervous. Or his greeting was meant for everyone else to hear. Either way, he dropped his voice down to just above a whisper before he added, "...I tried to call you."

"I know I just…," Toni stammered. She was about to give Spencer the same line of excuses she kept handy when Luke called her. She was busy. She must have missed his call. She was in the shower. She meant to call him back but she forgot. But one look into Spencer's big hazel eyes and Toni felt the truth spilling out of her before she could stop it. "I wanted to call you back but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop myself from asking you to come over," Toni admitted. "I thought you might say no."

"I would not say no," Spencer clarified. His voice was low and he was leaning in to keep anyone else from hearing their conversation. "I would never say no to you."

Toni could smell Spencer's cologne or soap or aftershave or whatever it was it was driving her crazy. She was glad she chose to dress up for her first day, because her nipples were hard under her fitted suit jacket.

"I guess maybe that's what I was really afraid of," she whispered back. "This whole meeting again after so long thing is kind of… intense."

Toni met his eyes, watching as the expression of upset and concern on his face slowly faded into a soft smile. She knew she ought to look away. What they were up to was going to be obvious to everyone around if they kept standing there looking at each other like they were lovesick teenagers. Thankfully, Spencer got distracted by the framed photo in her box.

"Are these your brothers?," he asked, plucking the picture out and holding it in his hand to get a better look.

Toni smiled, eager to have an excuse to lean in closer to Spencer. She pointed out the biggest man in the group. His arms were covered in tattoos. That was her almost twin brother Benny. Carlos was the one with the slicked back hair. He was the one that used to be married to the sex shop lady. Miguel, her oldest brother, always had a serious expression on his face. And Matias was the one with the long hair and the green eyes. Carlos was the skirt chaser, but Matias was the heartbreaker. It wasn't until Toni was laughing about how many times Carlos had been divorced that she realized that she was really leaning into Spencer. The entire side of her body was touching his. And his arm was wrapped around her back, his hand resting on the curve of her waist. Toni jabbed him lightly with her elbow.

"Not here," she whispered. "Someone's going to see." Spencer shifted away from her, biting back a smile as he set the photo down on her desk and reached for the next one. As he pulled the picture from the box, suddenly Toni felt like she was trapped in a falling elevator. Her stomach flipped and what morning coffee she had threatened to make a reappearance.

"Who's this?," Spencer asked, holding the photo of her and Romeo in the falling snow. "One of your nephews?"

"Uh… no." Toni bit at her lip. Then she reached over and took the picture out of his hands. "That's my son."

"Son?," Spencer repeated. "You have a baby? I didn't know you had kids…" Despite the horror of the situation, Toni couldn't help the effect Spencer's obvious excitement had on her. The thought of dating a single mother sent most men scurrying as fast as they could in the other direction. Spencer sounded more like he'd just won the lottery. It made her feel special in an entirely different way from the large arrangement of flowers on her desk. Spencer pulled the last photo out of her box, holding it next to the first. "He's much older in this picture… oh and he does karate."

Toni felt a pang of sadness and longing in the center of her chest. She couldn't help but consider how much Spencer had missed of his own son's life. After a deep breath, Toni reminded herself that she couldn't have known that Spencer would even want to be involved. Toni spent one night with him. Up until last week, Spencer was just a nameless conquest that ghosted her a week later. She didn't know he was on a case. She thought he was a college professor. And even if the emotional side of her wanted to do the right thing and tell him about her pregnancy back then, there were the legal aspects of the situation to consider. Toni had no interest in custody papers and visitation arrangements. She'd seen enough of that nonsense growing up that she knew being forced to share her child with someone she didn't know was a terrifying prospect.

"His name is Romeo. And he loves karate. That's a picture of him when he earned his first colored belt. He's working on his blue belt now." Toni reached for the pictures of her son, holding them protectively in her hands before she set them carefully down on her desktop.

"Romeo. I like that name. How old is he?," Spencer asked.

Toni could tell from his tone that Spencer was just curious. He had absolutely no idea what a loaded question he just asked. But Toni had seen firsthand how fast Spencer could do math in his head. It didn't take a genius to do these numbers either. Romeo was five years and four months old. Add about another 40 weeks to that and you'd get the date she and Spencer met.

"He's in kindergarten," Toni replied. She was tempted to lie, but she quickly decided to evade Spencer's question instead. And pray that by some shred of a chance he didn't know enough about children to know at what age they typically went to kindergarten.

Toni felt a weird bump against her backside. She spun, ready to throttle the offender. But her fury quickly dissolved into laughter when she realized she was about to fight a dog.
"Roxy!," Toni exclaimed, leaning down and rubbing her hands over the large dog's head. She looked up, her eyes scanning to locate the dog's owner. Luke wasn't as fast as his service dog. But he was already down the steps and heading in her direction.

"I didn't know it was your first day too," Toni said, squealing when Luke wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. He set her down but instead of releasing her, he leaned in for a kiss. Toni just had time to turn her head, causing his lips to land solidly on her cheek instead of her mouth. "Thanks for the flowers," Toni said. "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I had to," he teased. "You caught the Crimson King and landed your dream job, all in one swoop."

As grateful as Toni was when JJ called Penelope away from her desk, she was a thousand times more grateful when the woman came barreling back fact that Penelope was an animal lover didn't surprise Toni at all. But when she elbowed Luke out of the way so she could get to his dog, Toni fought back a laugh. Penelope patted at her chest, encouraging Roxy to raise up on her back legs for a big hug.

"I don't like her… uh… Roxy's really not supposed to be jumping on people like that," Luke protested. "She's a service dog." Toni bit back harder laughter when Penelope not only ignored Luke completely but started encouraging his service dog to lick her face.

"Luke, this is Penelope Garcia," Toni announced. "Penelope, meet Luke Alvez."

"Wait," Penelope gasped. "This is Luke, like on the flower card Luke? And he brought a dog! You're having the best first day ever! I'm going to kick Spencer out of his desk so I can sit with you. We can just have flowers and dogs and sexy pirates around all day."

Toni's eyes widened slightly. She wasn't sure if she ought to laugh or not at Penelope's obvious reference to Luke's eye patch. It was actually sort of hilarious and wonderful at the same time, like Penelope herself. When she ignored Luke's outstretched hand and went in for a hug instead, Toni couldn't stop the giggle that bubbled out of her. Spencer was still hovering nearby, though he'd backed up almost onto her desk to keep from being covered in dog hair. The whole situation was like a full force comedy show nightmare.

"You've got to come to the party tonight," Penelope gushed. "And by you I mean you and your dog." She turned to Toni, as if she only just remembered something she meant to tell her. "Oh! I didn't even tell you yet. We're having a welcome party for you tonight. At Rossi's house."

"What?," Toni asked. No one said anything to her about a party. The last thing they needed to do was add alcohol to this mix. "I don't have a babysitter," Toni objected.
"That's okay," Penelope promised. "You can bring your son. Everyone's kids are coming."

Before Toni could drum up another excuse, Luke took it upon himself to speak up for both of them. "We'd love to," he declared. Toni would have cursed him out right then and there. But she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her new team, so she settled for giving him an extremely dirty look. "What's that for," he huffed. "You're always saying you want Romeo to make new friends."

Toni sighed. It was more likely that Romeo would feed these poor people's kids dog treats before he made friends with any of them. But on the plus side, hopefully that would get her banned from future BAU social events.

"Fine," Toni sighed. "I'll go." Penelope let out a squeal of delight before she ran off towards Rossi's office, presumably to let him know the good news.

"I'll pick you up around six," Luke offered. He winked at her with his one good eye. "You should wear that red dress," he teased.

"That's not my dress, that's Daniela's dress," Toni replied, keeping the rest of her comment about how Luke ought to fuck the hell off telling her what to wear to herself. She wasn't sure if it would really be considered a fetish. Maybe it's a kink, Toni thought as she flicked her eyes towards Spencer. But whatever it was, Luke had a thing for the clothes she wore when she was undercover. Toni didn't know if it was because the clothes were trashier, or just that she took on a different persona. Whatever it was, Daniela gave him major wood. It used to be a running joke on the task force. Sometimes Toni wondered if it was even her that Luke liked, or if he was hoping to bed her alter ego instead.

"It looks better on you," Luke promised, hugging her against his side once more before he headed back in the direction of the elevator. He paused on the stairs to glance back at Toni. "See you at six… or maybe I'll see Daniela," he joked.

Toni waved him away with a roll of her eyes. She turned, letting out a soft sigh. All this and she still didn't have her desk set up. Toni grasped her box and pulled it towards the edge of the desk. She was going to get her stuff put away if it's the last thing she did. Spencer was still standing nearby. As Toni reached into the box, he approached. Wordlessly, he helped her get settled and then tossed the box away onto his desktop to deal with later.

"Can I ask you something?," he questioned.

Toni nodded, though she was honestly terrified as to what his question was going to be. If he asked about the situation with her and Luke, it wouldn't be a short answer. And if he asked about her son, that was a whole other problem. But instead, what he asked made Toni laugh out loud.
"Who's Daniela?"