Scarlet Rose

2

I woke up early the next morning and got up, making my way out of the room and finding Reid still sleeping on the couch, a book lying open on his face.

I decided to head make breakfast since it was clear that he didn't care what happened to me. Finding the eggs and bacon, along with the pan; the smell of bacon wafting through the apartment woke Reid up.

"What are you doing?" He asked, making me turn around and see him scramble up and appear behind me.

"Uh........making breakfast? Honestly, for an agent you don't really observe very well." I said, rolling my eyes and going back to cooking.

He huffed in annoyance and snatched the spatula from my hand, shooing me out of the way. "Go and find something to wear. I'll make breakfast."

"Okay then. But it's your fault if it tastes bad." I said and walked away, heading back into his room and opening the closets, wrinkling my nose at all the cardigans he had; picking out a deep grey cardigan and pulling it on, keeping my black pants on as I walked back outside to see smoke billowing from the kitchen.

I ran I to the kitchen and immediately coughed, waving my hand. "My gosh. You are terrible at cooking. And also, if I'm gonna stay here, I need some clothes."

"Fine. I'll see what I can do." He said.

"Move over. I'll see if I can save any food." I told him, shooing him away.

"Never mind that. It's gone. Let's get some coffee." He told me, tossing the food out and sticking the pan in the sink before walking out of the kitchen with me following.

———

I walked into the elevator with Reid after we got our coffee and stayed silent until the elevator dinged and it opened to show agents bustling about inside the clear glass door right in front of us, Aaron's eyes narrowed once he saw me walk inside the BAU with Agent Reid.

He walked down the steps and cleared his throat as he made his way over to us, disapproval written on his face once he saw what I was wearing. "You need new clothes."

"Good observation." I snapped back, in no mood to take crap from him today.

The short, plump woman with blonde hair pulled into an elaborate bun with sparkles put in her hair walked in and stopped once she saw the three of us; she walked over to us and got our attention.

"Sir, Morgan needs you and Reid in his office. Emily, Rossi, and JJ are already there." the woman said.

"What for?" Aaron asked the woman.

"They're all having a get-together at Rossi's later today for a cooking lesson. Said you and Reid might be interested." she replied with a shrug. "I know I'm going."

"Fine. We'll talk to them. Garcia, would you mind showing Miss Lawrence around? Come on, Reid." Aaron said and the two of them left us without a second glance.

I cast my eyes over to Garcia and tapped my foot in anticipation. "So. You're going to show me around today?"

"Seems so." she plastered on a smile. "I'm Penelope Garcia. We should at least know each other's names since we're going to be working together."

"Hi, I guess. You already know my name, so......yeah." I said,

"Yeah. Anyways, let me show you around." Garcia said, walking beside me as she led us up some stairs and around a corner into a small office filled with computers and colors. "This is where I work my magic. Office, not.....other magic." she added quickly.

"Hmm. Interesting." I nodded faintly. "So, you like colors."

"Yeah. When this is your job, it can get pretty dark so I suggest you fill up your office with happy stuff........" she trailed off and looked at me, snapping her mouth shut.

I raised my eyebrows. "Psychopath, remember?"

"Right.......um, I'll show you where we have our debriefs." she said, walking past me and waiting for me to follow before heading straight to the other side of the room and opening a wooden door, showing a long table and cushioned seats, all facing a giant projector reflecting the BAU's symbol on the wall.

"This is where we have our debriefs about.......bad guys." she said, choosing her words carefully.

I turned to her and she suddenly went ridged. "I have a feeling you're uncomfortable around me. Why is that?"

"You're a killer. And I don't much like being around killers." she admitted.

"Hmm. And I don't much like being around the FBI, but here I am." I gestured around, "Given, I didn't have much of a choice. It was either that or prison, and an orange jumpsuit is not flattering on me."

Garcia cleared her throat and forced a smile. "Shall we continue the tour?"

"I'll take it from here, actually, Garcia." Reid suddenly stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets as he looked at the blonde. "Hotch needs you in his office."

"Thank you, Reid. You'll be okay from here?" she asked, already heading out the door.

"I'll be fine, Garcia." Reid said with a little chuckle that was obnoxiously adorable.

Once she had left, Reid looked at me and walked over, taking his hands from his pockets and stopping in front of me.

"Your opinion on Garcia?" he asked,

"Euphoric." I answered after a minute of thinking. "How do you deal with her every day?"

"Mmh. We get used to it. Shall we?" Reid asked me.

"Guess so. Lead the way." I said and he walked outside with me by his side, the two of us walking around and entering different offices before finally coming up on an empty one directly across from Aaron's office.

"This is your office. I'll see if I can get stuff to decorate this so it isn't so bland."

"I like it. The grey walls and plain outfit of the entire office make me happy. Unlike Garcia's colorful office." I said as I surveyed the office, a sole giant mahogany desk sitting on the left, empty bookshelves right behind it.

"Oh, and I'll see what I can do about clothes for you. As much as I'd hate to say this, you and I can go shopping this weekend."

"Great. Shopping date with Reid." I said sarcastically, looking at him from the corner of my eye and seeing a little smile form across his lips.

———

The apartment door swung shut as Reid entered the apartment again, this time carrying a white take-out bag, setting it on the round table and seeing me on the couch.

"Got dinner." He said as he pulled out the containers from the bag, crumpling up the empty bag and throwing it in the trash.

"Hmm. Thanks," I said, turning back to a case file—my case file—from a few years ago.

"What are you up to over there?" Reid asked as he walked over behind the couch and looked at what I was reading over.

"My case file. Found it at the bottom of JJ's old desk. Apparently, it wasn't all cleaned out." I said as I flipped to another page where a picture of Professor Miller was clipped.

You could barely tell who it was by how badly I mauled him. His greying hair was now blackened from all the blood leaking from his face, his throat slashed deep. His eyes missing and fingers cut off, lying in the desert on the fetal position to look like he was cowering.

"Looking at your handiwork?" Reid asked, taking the file from me and closing it, setting it down on the small desk by the couch.

I sighed loudly and tilted my head back to look at him with a sour expression. "In a matter of fact, yes. I relish knowing you couldn't solve my case for five years."

"And now you're working for us. What a turn of events." He replied.

"I don't look good in orange jumpsuits, Reid. It's not flattering to my skin tone." I said.

"Nothing flatters you, Vanessa."

"Red does." I stated, letting a smile spread across my face.