Carmen | Criminal Minds

First Case

Waking in the morning was always a rush for Carmen. Most days, her nose would bleed for a good amount of time before it finally stopped.

Today was no exception. She woke from a recurring nightmare. She awoke with a gasp and felt blood trickle down her left nostril. She dashed to the bathroom, which was connected to the bedroom. She quickly stuffed a tissue into her nose.

Carmen found that nosebleeds were never a big deal. After learning about the nosebleeds, Alvaro advised her to visit the doctor. She refused. Knowing that it will cost more money to figure out what is wrong with her than simply crossing the bridge when she gets there.

Looking at her phone, the reason why she woke up so early in the first place, she saw a new text from her boss. "New case." With an attachment. After days with no cases and doing nothing but a boring desk job, Carmen was ready to get back out on the field.

Carmen grabbed her go bag, which she had packed at all times, and quickly ran to the kitchen. The brunette grabbed a pink sticky note and a black pen, quickly writing down a note for her siblings. "Got a case. Be back as soon as possible. Please cook yourselves meals instead of takeout." She was out of her house in a matter of minutes after combing her hair and putting on her work outfit. On her drive to the office, she sipped the juice she had packed from home.

Walking into the office, she was hit with the same pungent smell of shitty coffee. Phone calls, and important men in their clean suits. There was nothing Carmen hated most (apart from serial killers, of course). Carmen walked up to her desk once she realized no one was at the round table yet and Aaron Hotchner was still in his office.

"Carmen Valenzuela?" She heard a feminine voice behind her, and turning around, she saw a shorter woman in a bright dress with very blonde hair and dramatic makeup. She knew exactly who this was but had not had the pleasure of meeting her in the past three days since her joining this team. "Hi." She said with a slight smile, "I'm Penelope Garcia; we haven't met yet!"

"I've heard a lot about you from this team. I've been excited to meet you." Carmen said, which lit the blonde's face up. She immediately got excited about the addition of Carmen Valenzuela.

Once Penelope Garcia left, Carmen felt a rush of blood from her nose. She quickly blocked it from dripping onto her desk. She couldn't let these nosebleeds invade her work life, either. She didn't need a team of profilers to wonder why her nose bleeds every single day.

"Morning, Carmen!" She heard it from behind her. Spencer Reid was right behind her, a tiny smile on his face.

"Morning!" Carmen smiled at him, not wanting to take her hand off her nose. A fear of a waterfall of blood would come out.

"You good?"

"Yeah, I just had a tiny nosebleed."

"The fastest way to stop a nosebleed is to tilt your head forward slightly to prevent blood from flowing down the back of your throat. Pinch your nostrils together firmly for about ten minutes to help stop the bleeding. Avoid tilting your head backward, because it can cause blood to flow into your throat." Reid said he was trying to help.

Before Carmen could say anything, the whole team had shown up, and Hotchner was ready to go to the round table as soon as possible.

"Thanks." Carmen smiled at Reid, finally being able to take her hand off of her nose. Knowing it dried up. Reid just did his awkward smile as they walked up to the round table together.

JJ entered the room, ready to get out of the room as quickly as they could. "Here's what we know. A woman called the police for a missing child in the mall for her birthday. Katie Jacobs was there with her parents, her aunt and uncle, and their son."