i'll keep you safe, criminal minds

010. day at the bau

Mackenzie walks into Spencer's room to ask him a question about homework, frowning when she finds him fixing his hair in the mirror.

"What are you doing?" She asks making him jump, the man turning to her in alarm.

"I, uh..." He awkwardly clears his throat. "Nothing."

"Were you... checking yourself out, or...?" She trails off in question.

"What? No!" His voice raises an octave. "I... I was just... fixing my hair."

"For what?" She asks with an amused smirk.

"Just... because." Spencer shrugs.

"Do you have a date?" Mackenzie asks.

"Um..."

"You have a date!" She gasps.

"Mackenzie..." He groans.

"Who is it?"

"She-- she's a woman I met on a case. It's just a cup of coffee. It doesn't mean anything."

"Are you nervous?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, if you're nervous, it means you want to make a good impression. It means you might wanna date her. If you're not, then you just care about being friends. Shouldn't you know this crap? You're the profiler."

"You know, foster parents are able to ground the children. I wouldn't push it." Spencer remarks making Mackenzie snicker.

"It's so fun when you try to be threatening." She laughs, starting to walk out. "Have a good time on your date!" She calls, walking out.

"It's not a date!" He weakly yells out.

+++

Mackenzie walks out of the elevator and looks around the area, heading to the glass doors. Pushing them open, she looks around at all the desks, spotting the little kitchen area.

"Ah! My favorite redhead!" She turns back at the familiar voice, smiling when she sees Penelope.

"Hey, Penelope." She greets, accepting the blonde's tight hug.

"Oh, it's so lovely to see you, my beauty." Penelope gushes. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm fine. Uh, off day at school. Teacher day or whatever they call it." Mackenzie says.

"I can't believe it's taken you months to come here." Penelope chuckles. "Reid's desk is the one by the stairs." She nods to it, Mackenzie seeing the man.

"Thanks." Mackenzie mumbles. Penelope nods and smiles, gently patting the girl's back. Mackenzie walks over, Spencer glancing up when she's a few feet away.

"Hey." Spencer smiles despite the confused look in his eyes. "What are you doing here? I-I thought you were just gonna stay in today."

"Yeah, well, uh... I-I didn't really wanna be alone the whole day." Mackenzie says, leaning against his desk. "You know, af-after the nightmare last night." She mumbles. Spencer nods in understanding.

"Yeah, of course. I understand." Spencer assures. He gets up, grabbing a few files. "I, um... we actually have a case."

"Oh." Mackenzie's face drops. "Okay. Uh... sorry."

"Wh-- wait, wait, you-- you can still stay." Spencer quickly assures, grabbing onto her arm. "It-- it's close enough that we don't actually have to fly or drive anywhere. We're doing all of the research here."

"Oh." He notices her relax. "Okay. Cool." She nods, attempting to hide her relief, though it doesn't work.

"We're meeting up in the round table room in a bit. You can hang out here. And if you ever wanna be with someone, just go to Garcia's lair. I'm sure she has plenty of snacks and a lot of figurines."