come down soon | s. reid

iii ~ new york state of mind

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

three:
new york state of mind

❝ The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo. ❞
—Desmond Morris

𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝟹, 𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 20

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

    SCOUT'S FIRST THREE AND A HALF MONTHS of being an official part of the team went by in a flash. February bled into March into April and soon enough May's cooling breeze outmatched winter's violent winds. Since her unofficial promotion from filing to field work, Scout felt simultaneously more exhausted and more fulfilled than she had in all 25 years of her life. The cases she helped with were difficult, but everyone's ability to work together was surprisingly beneficial.

     In the past—both academically and professionally—she was used to treading water and fighting to be taken seriously. But with the BAU, her ideas were never dismissed or glanced over; she was listened to and encouraged to contribute.

Socially, things got easier in their own way. The agents that had once ignored her when she hid herself in the corner suddenly wanted to befriend her. They started conversations with her and asked her how she was adjusting as if they hadn't sat a few feet away from her for eight weeks. When she brought it up with Emily—who was quickly becoming one of Scout's closest friends—she gave her a knowing nod.

"There's a bit of an unspoken hierarchy," Emily explained, leaning back in her chair. Her desk sat next to Reid's and diagonally from Scout's, so the two often got caught up in side conversations when they were supposed to be working. "We get to actually go places and experience all the action so the other agents...well, they kinda resent us."

Scout let out a soft laugh—she had subconsciously taken part in that resentment before being bumped up onto the team. "Yeah, I get that," she said. "But I don't get why they suddenly care so much about me. Most of them wouldn't give me the time of day when I first got here."

"My guess is that you got more done in two months at that desk than most of them have in their whole careers." Emily smiled at her. "Plus, they probably think that if they're nicer to you now, you'll put in a good word with Hotch or Strauss."

"Like my word would do anything," Scout laughed sardonically. She glanced around the bullpen trying to scope out who might be taking advantage of her just as Reid set his things down.

He followed her gaze, surveilling the room. "Your word would probably do more than ours," he said.

Scout scoffed at him incredulously. "Yeah, right."

But Emily gave her a reassuring shrug. "He's right, Scout. You're one to watch."

Although there were some days she missed her desk in the corner, isolated from any distractions and left to her own devices, Scout really enjoyed getting to know the team on days where they had nothing to do but paperwork. Garcia still pestered her to visit the lair; being desk neighbors with Emily always made for fun conversations that JJ often joined in on and Rossi playfully scolded them for; Morgan had taken to teasing her just as he does the rest of them; and little by little she was learning to decode Reid.