Line Of Fire •L.A•

3. Don't Let Them See

  Felicity soon learns the team family dynamic by watching them interact and work. JJ was the mother of the group, making sure they got to meeting on time and that they all got their work done.

Rossi is the father of the group. He offers her some of his fancy food and gives her reassuring smiles or pats as he walks past.

Unit chief Prentiss is like the older sister, checking up on everyone and helping them if they needed it but refusing help for herself.

Matt is the older brother that always tells embarrassing stories about everyone else but would also take a bullet for anyone in his family.

Next is Tara. She likes to make jokes about how much she hates doing paperwork but she gets the job done. Mostly because she was too competitive to let anyone finish before her.

Luke is the brother that gets picked on the most but still is a sweetheart to everyone because he knows they don't mean it. He's a big golden retriever when you get to know him.

Penelope is of course the joy of the family. She lights up a room just by walking into it. Her funky outfits get her weird looks but she did not care whatsoever.

And finally Spencer is the youngest who gets picked on as well but for different reasons than Luke. He can talk your ear off but no one truly hates listening to him.

It makes her wonder where she'd fit in over time. She hopes it won't take too long.

After the brief ends, Penelope shows Felicity around. Giving her a tour of her 'lair' as she likes to call it. It was exactly what Felicity expected. A lot of computers and colorful trinkets everywhere you look.

When it is time to get to work, Penelope hands her a small trinket for her empty desk. Felicity takes it gratefully, happy that the tech analyst accepts her as a friend, before finding her way back to her barren desk. She places the colorful trinket in the corner and gets to work.

By the time 5:30 rolls around, she is happy to finally leave. She enjoys the work but sitting at the desk for hours on end makes her bones ache. She stretches her arms above her head as she stands.

JJ walks over with a smile." Tired?"

"Yeah, It'll take a little while to get use to this." She answers with a chuckle.

As everyone packs up their stuff and heads for the elevator, Felicity looks up at Prentiss' office. " Does she leave soon?"

"She has a lot of paperwork to do so she usually doesn't leave until late." JJ answers. "I've offered to help but she denies it every time, she doesn't like when I stay later because she knows I want to spend time with my boys."

Felicity nods absentmindedly, her eyes not leaving the window where prentiss is hunched over her desk as the elevator doors close. She makes a mental note to help prentiss with paperwork one of these days as she grips the railing once again.

The team chats as they leave. Making plans for that Friday night. Rossi insists they come to his place for his famous carbonara. Which he promises Felicity she'll love.

Felicity goes home a lot less anxious than she had been that morning. Her phone rings in her back pocket as she pulls leftover Indian takeout from her fridge. She pulls it out and as soon as she sees the familiar caller ID, the food is forgotten.

She lets it ring, staring at the number on the screen. When it stops and the silence overwhelms her once again, she puts her phone as far away from herself as possible. Scared that if she looks at it, her mother will call again.

She doesn't end up eating dinner that night. Her appetite disappeared along with her ability to sleep. Which was normal for her, she was a bit of an insomniac.

You will be punished, Felicity.

She covers her ears with a pillow.

The next morning...

The next morning, she wakes up earlier than usual and heads to her apartment's gym. She spends the next hour on the treadmill. Her 70s playlist plays in her headphones, drowning out the thoughts of the night before.

After the workout, She showers and changes into a tan turtleneck and a pair of wide leg dark brown trousers. She puts her hair up in a ponytail, leaving a few strands of baby hairs out, before making her way to the shop to get herself a matcha tea. She makes it to her desk with time to spare, also being the first one there from the team. She gets a head start on her work and after a few minutes, Spencer walks in. He smiles awkwardly at her as he makes his way to his desk.

"Morning, Felicity." He says cheerfully, clearly he had slept well.

"Morning, Reid." She answers in the happiest tone she can manage.

"You sleep well?"

"Very well." She answers in a voice a little more sarcastic then she would have wanted. He doesn't seem to notice as he sits down at his desk and nose dives into his paperwork.

After 30 minutes, the rest of the team shows up ready to start the day. Luke smiles at Felicity as he enters." Good morning."

"Morning." She answers, forcing a smile once again.

He scrunches his eyebrows slightly, like he knows something is off.

That's what you get for working with profilers.

She quickly moves her smile wider, putting more enthusiasm in her voice." You sleep well?"

"Like a baby." He answers.

Matt joins the conversation." Luke, you clearly have never slept around a baby."

JJ leans closer from her desk." They wake up every few hours or minutes, and cry." She says the last two words with a dramatic sigh.

"Okay okay, I slept well. Is that better?"He exclaims, his grin widening. "I don't need to be two teamed by the parents."

Matt and JJ laugh. Felicity finds herself joining in. She's happy for the distraction.

"How'd you sleep?" He asks her, watching intently like she's a puzzle he needs to solve.

"Pretty well." She lies. And before he can call out her bluff, Penelope comes teetering into the bullpen in her high heels.

"Briefing room my friends, we have a case."

Everyone makes their way upstairs. Felicity feels the anxiety of her first case with this team creep up on her, but she's quick to stomp it down. She'd been on plenty of cases before, she had no need to be anxious.

They take their seats as Emily walks in. "Good, you're all here."

Penelope pulls the crime scenes up on the big screen, keeping her eyes anywhere but the gory images of the decapitated corpses. Felicity finds herself wondering why Garcia had chosen to join the FBI.