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FOUR: "Nothing good was coming out of sitting so close to him"
Anna had received her first official badge and gun. The badge was even specialised with her position in the BAU. At present, she was an agent, she did not yet have special agent status. That would come with more time and experience.
Today was the day where she would officially meet her colleagues. She knew that an Agent Aaron Hotcher would be her unit chief, and of course, she knew Spencer and JJ, but otherwise, she only vaguely remembers faces from her first class with Spencer.
She entered the FBI building which she was already familiar with. She used her ID to enter the elevator, and went up to the BAU floor. She entered a set of glass double doors where she was met by a group of people. She immediately made eye contact with Spencer, who she'd been trying to forget. She had just wanted that whole experience to be a distant memory. She didn't realise how overwhelmed she would be by seeing him again.
"There she is!" exclaimed JJ.
"Agent Harper, it's nice to meet you. I'm Aaron Hotchner. JJ has talked very highly of you," introduced the man wearing the same crisp suit that she remembered from her first day.
"It's nice you meet you Agent Hotchner, and the rest of you all too, such a pleasure," said Anna.
Everyone individually greeted themselves after Hotch did.
"Derek Morgan" said the muscular man she remembered, with a smirk.
"I'm Penelope Garcia!" said the woman who reminded all of the new trainees to do everything with a smile.
"David Rossi, what a pleasure," said the Italian looking man, and his accent confirmed her suspicion.
"Emily, Prentiss," said the woman with the short bob and bangs. She seemed to have grown out her hair a bit since then.
The last person was Spencer. "Of course I remember you, Dr Reid," Anna said with the fakest smile she could put on.
"Please, call me Spencer, after all I'm not your teacher anymore," he said.
"You were in Spencer's class?!" exclaimed Penelope.
"I was, until he left unexpectedly," she said, trying to not sound bitter. "But then JJ came and took over."
Spencer smiled awkwardly, he must have known he was in the wrong here. He couldn't just expect to have sex with her and leave. And then he couldn't expect her to not be angry about it.
Hotch took her into his office for a while, to explain things and to explain her role in the BAU. Then he took her back out and showed her to an unoccupied desk.
Spencer was sitting at one across from her and two over. At least this isn't too close to him, she thought.
She planned to avoid him, as if that would resolve their unspoken conflict. She couldn't deny his attractiveness. As she sat with some paperwork that officialised her position, she would look over at him from time to time. How is he so okay just sitting here after knowing what I look like naked?
Anna had to clear her head. Nothing good was coming out of sitting so close to him. She decided that coffee could be the answer.
Spencer had decided that it would be a good idea to get up and follow her. After all, he did feel bad. He hadn't said a word to her since their last encounter in his teaching office. He knew how he must look in her eyes. But he was just trying to protect her, and himself, in all honesty. He knew that if a single soul found out about what happened between them, both of their FBI careers would be over, and hers would be over before it even started. He just had to explain it to her.
But, by the time he got to the break room, Emily and JJ were already in there talking to her.
"So, tell us about your family and where you're from," Emily asked.
Spencer now had to pretend to actually need coffee if he was going to stay in the room.
"Well I have three siblings, Brian, Laurie, and Maureen, but we call her Mary. Brian's a police officer, Laurie is a lawyer, and Mary's an artist, like my mom," said Anna.
"And your dad?" asked JJ.
"My father... is an engineer," she responded. Spencer noticed hesitation in her voice. Now he was intrigued. "And I grew up all over the place. We were constantly moving for my dad's work."
That was all Spencer could really listen to before having to leave. If he were to stay after his coffee brewed, he would surely look strange just standing there. He knew that she probably hated him. And he just didn't know what to do about it.
Spencer often found himself having an identity crisis. When he was around someone he found attractive, he changed completely, becoming this dominant, sexual version of himself. Shy Spencer wouldn't recognise this version of him. But he couldn't help it, that's how his brain told him to act when he was around certain people. He's probably slept with more woman than he should because of this almost alternate personality of his. But when Spencer was with his team, he was the shy doctor they all knew and love. His team knew him as being this socially awkward person who was incapable of talking to woman. Morgan and Rossi still referred to him as "kid", but they wouldn't be calling him if they knew what he was like behind closed doors, when it was just him and a girl. The way he was with Anna was a product of lust taking over, but that wasn't all he was.
But, the problem was, he couldn't just go up to her and explain his identity crisis and then ask to be forgiven. How would he even bring this up in conversation. He wanted to talk to someone about it, but he couldn't tell anyone, not even Morgan, that he slept with a student. He trusted Morgan, of course, but that could be held over his head if anyone from the FBI ever asked him about it. Spencer didn't want to turn it into a situation where his friend would be lying for him.
All these thoughts were distracting him from his work, so he did was he always does, and just put on a good work face. Spencer Reid was the master of deception, exceptionally talented and making everyone believe that he was okay, even when he wasn't.
Anna then returned to her seat, and she couldn't help but noticed Spencer's face. It seemed so...cold. He didn't even look like he wanted to talk to her, it just looked like he was too busy focusing on work to care that he hurt her.
She then tried to convince herself that Spencer hadn't hurt her. That it was just a distant memory and it wasn't worth dwelling on. But with him just a few seats away, that was really hard to do.
Anna and Spencer were both snapped out of their thoughts when Garcia announced a new case. Everyone gathered in the small conference room.
"First of all, I'd like to welcome you, Anna, to your first case," started Penelope and everyone smiled at her, including an awkward grin from Spencer. Anna thanked her, but then the mood changed. "But, let's not get too happy. We have two murders in Phoenix, Arizona. Local PD called for help because there seemed to be some ritualistic marks at the crime scene, way more advanced than they had ever encountered."
"Allright team, we will debrief more on the plane. Wheels up in 30," said Hotch.
