❝spencer, all this week you've been holding my hands. what about your germ thing?❞
❝you were more important.❞
hazel finley is a liar. but she's a damn good one. and she's especially good at telling when other people are lying. she's the newest memb...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
❝Every moment is a fresh beginning.❞
T.S. ELIOT
✩
0.1 : a fresh start
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT ONCE SAID, "YOU MUST DO THE THINGS YOU THINK YOU CANNOT DO." Hazel Finley is repeating these words over and over in her head as she walks up the stairs toward the Behavioral Analysis Unit office. It's her first day and she's combating the intrusive thoughts that are telling her she's not competent, not good enough, not smart enough.
While it's true that she was pulled out of the Academy early, she's definitely good enough. Four years at Vanderbilt for degrees in psychology and forensics, twenty weeks training in the FBI, and now promoted to profiler-in-training. Fin's not sure if that's the technical term, but it's definitely cool.
But right now, she's wishing she'd worn heels. The email she'd received hadn't specified if there was a dress code, so she'd gone for dress pants, a blue-and-white striped blouse-and her green hightops. Comfort won over class, but Fin has a bad feeling that it's going to bite her when she meets her new boss.
But she doesn't see Section Chief Erin Strauss anywhere, and since no one else knows her, she's going to have to go in there and introduce herself, which she was hoping not to have to do today, and heels would have made a hell of a difference in her confidence level.
Fin takes a deep breath, steadies herself, and walks through the doors. Good morning, my name is Hazel Finley. I'm the new agent and today is my first day! That sounds too peppy. God, you're so cliché, Fin, shut up. She gives up on trying to recite anything and instead looks around for a face she might recognize, one from the file sent to her desk at the Academy.
And there's one! SSA Emily Prentiss, stirring a cup of coffee at her desk and reading over a file. Her photo was black and white, but in person, Fin can see that she has beautiful dark hair and serious brown eyes, which suit her. Fin musters up her courage and walks over. "Um, hello?"
Agent Prentiss looks up, her eyebrows raised. "Hello?"
"Hi. Um, I'm Hazel Finley. I'm looking for Aaron Hotchner?"
"Oh, you must be an intern!" Agent Prentiss nods, smiles. "He's actually in a meeting right now, but there's someone who could use your help." She points to a desk further from hers, where a man is bent over a file, his hair obscuring his face. "I'm Emily Prentiss, by the way."
"I'm actually not-" Fin wants to explain that she's actually an agent, that she really needs to speak to Agent Hotchner, but before she can say anything, Emily is already talking to the other agent.
