✓ | 𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗘 · ͟͟͞͞➳ spencer reid

CHAPTER 16 ━━━

# ! | CHAPTER SIXTEEN
- elia makes his debut

━━━ WHEN MERYL PULLS UP
to Quantico in her Maserati Spyder with a doberman riding shotgun, Morgan is the first person to greet her.

"Hey, sweet thing! Welcome back. And what's up, big man?" Morgan coos, dropping to Elia's level to give him some scratches.

Derek grabs the dog bed and bowls out of her trunk, tight black jeans limiting his range of motion, which Meryl makes sure to give him shit about. She's dressed in dark grey slacks tucked into a black blouse with a dark red belt to match her lipstick and shoes. Meryl grabs the coffee and sweet treats from the car and then follows Morgan into the building.

"MERYL!" screeches Garcia, barely able to keep herself from exploding as Murph hands out the beverages and breakfasts to everyone.

"Come here, you," the dark haired doctor beckons, pulling Penelope into a hug. The rest of the team waits their turn, kissing cheeks or taking hugs of their own. When it's Spencer's turn, they embrace and he whispers in her ear, "In case you're wondering, I would have meant it."

Meryl prays that her cheeks don't flush when she pulls away, not meeting Spencer's teasing eye. Elia bops his head into Spencer's leg and the tall agent smiles widely. "Hello again!"

Rossi raises an eyebrow. "Again?"

"Yeah," Morgan smirks, "you two seem to be on awful friendly terms."

Meryl shrugs. "Spence came by my place to apologize for being a dick. No biggie."

Reid interprets her body language like he knows his colleagues are. Every signal she throws points to nonchalance, but he knows better. Still, it's a testament to her skill as an undercover agent. And it's also rather hot, but he couldn't be thinking like that right now.

Meryl pops in to Hotch's office and sits in the chair across from his desk. He has a bundle of paperwork in front of him, presumably the approval documents for her return from medical leave. She'd gotten a doctor friend to give her the go ahead, even if it was a bit early.

"It's interesting, Murph," Hotch locks his dark eyes on her light ones, "I wasn't expecting you back for another four weeks. You know, given that ribs usually take about six to heal."

Meryl nods. "Yes, sir. Well, my fractures are transverse nondisplaced fractures which means they were able to complete the stages of bone reconstruction faster than if they would have been dislodged or comminuted. See, when ribs bre-"

"Okay, I'll bite. You're good to be back in the field, just don't be stupid. Please." Hotch's voice is teasing but the look in his eyes is genuine. He'd seen her at her lowest and it rattled him up.

Meryl stands and offers a cheerful little salute. "Aye aye, captain."

When she walks back to her desk in the bull pen, Elia is sitting in her chair like a person, eyes bright and ears swiveling happily. She kisses his nose and then takes a perch on her desk, sitting criss cross with a pile of paperwork on her knee.

Emily and JJ walk over some time around lunch with worried expressions on their faces. By now, the last of the mundane paperwork has been carted off and the team is just scraping by until the end of the day. Meryl has just come inside from taking Elia out and her hair bounces down her back in springy waves. "How are you, really?" Emily asks, knowing firsthand what it's like to get abducted and be powerless at the hands of a vicious assailant.

"I'm alright, truly. I know you guys keep looking for me to fall apart but I learned how to deal with these kinds of things a long while ago. My ribs are still a little tender from time to time, but that's about it. I'm just happy to be back, you know?" She looks between the two agents, Jennifer's shirt opened a button more than usual and Emily's hair just slightly out of place. A quick supply closet smooch sesh, she presumes.

"So what's the dealio with you and Spence?" JJ asks, leaning in and lowering her voice.

Emily takes a more direct approach. "Did you rock his shit when he came to apologize? Make up sex? Did he buy you dinner?"

"Yeah," Meryl replies, catching her mistake when the agent's eyes nearly pop out of her head. "No! I mean, we ordered Indian and he paid for it. I didn't fuck him into submission or whatever you're implying."

"Who are you... what?" Spencer asks as he returns to his desk after a visit with Morgan where he was similarly interrogated.

Meryl suddenly wants to smack her head into the nearest wall. "Nothing, princess. These fine ladies are just being... lewd."

She didn't quite understand why she got so prone to humiliation at the public discussion of sex. Meryl wasn't a prude, nor was she vanilla. Guys, girls, ice, wax, anything was an adventure and she was happy to experiment. And usually, she could have this conversation without batting an eye. But talking about making love, especially to Spencer, sent her thoughts scattering like poorly herded sheep.

Spencer gives the three girls a little half smile. "Well, now I'm curious."

"Too bad, so sad," Jennifer replies, dragging Emily back toward their cubicles.

At four thirty that afternoon, Garcia saunters out of her cave with a determined look on her face.

"Babies."

Five heads turn her way. "Yeah?"

She grins. "I need a drink. So do Rossi and Hotch, apparently, because I got boss man to let us off early and Rossi said he'd cover the tab for the night."

"I can get us in to a pretty cool nightclub," Meryl speaks up, a bit of a smirk playing on her face. "The DJ is so fun."

Hotch and Rossi join the group as they wait for the elevator. "See you in a few," the eldest says, both dreading and looking forward to this night that was sure to be eventful.