• 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 •

Chapter 2

" I dare you to call my bluff. Can't take too much of a good thing."

" Good Morning!" You strode into the office as cheerful as Garcia's usual entrance with two coffees in hand. JJ ran over with a bounce in her step, eyeing the extra coffee in your hand. You had officially met the blonde agent and former communications liaison when the team returned from their case late last night. She had been eager to get to know you, despite her bosses less than warm opinions of you.

" Is that for me?" She asked hopefully, pointing at the coffee cup with a thick J scrawled in sharpie on the side.

You held it out with a nod, " Yep, took a wild guess with the order. Hope it's alright." She accepted it eagerly with thanks, blowing across the rim before she sipped it. The rest of the team was just starting to get settled into the office, all greeting you with brief but friendly welcomes. Garcia had already locked herself in her cave, checking up on previous cases and increasing the team's cyber security. Tara and Rossi were engaged in a spirited conversation involving vintage cars at the coffee station, and Luke stood beside them looking hopelessly lost.
JJ had set you up a small corner of her office, which the team let her keep even after she became an agent. Everybody was silently settling in for a long day of paperwork. It was long overdue, stacks of papers could be found in every room of the office. Every agent was someone who thrived under high pressure environments, and therefore found typical paperwork tasks more dull than most.

Emily emerged from her office, leaning against the railing of the catwalk as she surveyed the room. You hadn't seen her come in. She must have been locked up in her office long before everyone else arrived. Maybe she never even left late last night. You wouldn't be surprised to find out she was the type to basically live at the office. " Y/n can I see you for a moment?" Her strong voice from across the room pulled you from your spiraling assumptions about the woman. You felt awkward underneath her hard gaze and you walked up the seemingly endless path to her office. She opened her arm, signaling for you to enter in front of her, before she closed the door behind the both of you. " I'd like to establish our work environment and how we- how I run things around here."

You pivoted around awkwardly, wringing your hands behind your back. " Okay, go right ahead." You shuffled your feet around until caught on that Emily was distracted by your inability to sit still. Silently slipping into the wooden chair in front of her, you refocused your attention.

The unit chief didn't take her seat across from you, instead opting to half sit on the ledge of her desk a few feet in front of you. You carefully studied what she had chosen to wear today. It always interested you what people chose to wear on any given day. It told you more about them than they did. Today she had chosen another button down, this one of blue silk. Her top two buttons were undone, revealing the thin gold chain nestled on her collarbones. Her sleeves were rolled up her forearms and your eyes jumped to the blazer slung on the back of her chair that she must've already discarded.

A clearing of her throat pushed away your wandering mind." I'd like you to arrive at the same time as the rest of the team, even though you're technically not an agent and don't have contract hours with the bureau. My biggest ask is that you stay out of the team's way when necessary. I suppose you can ask agents for whatever you might need, as long as-" She paused, making her point crystal clear as her voice dropped slightly, " you do not interfere with cases. They always come first, understood?"

" Yes ma'am," you nodded tightly, recognizing her requests or rather demands. Your eagerness in your reply seemed to amuse Emily as the barest hint of a smile flashed across her face before her stoic expression returned.