City Limits (Spencer Reid Fanfic)

Chapter Five: Hook, Line and Sinker

Distracted by the hum-drum droning of the fax machine, I almost forgot about the briefing.

My pager beeped and a sudden dread kicked in as I realized that I was supposed to be in the conference room. Which, I should mention, was conveniently located across the building.

Typical.

Relying on my virtually non-existent athletic skills, for a moment, I became the fastest woman in the world. Or, at least the state of Rhode Island.

I shoved the rest of a banana nut muffin into my mouth and yanked the stack of files from the printer. Careful not to smudge the hot-off-the-press ink, I tucked them under my arm and let out a line of pardons and apologies as I huffed and puffed around an obstacle course of people and cubicles.

Yeah, I really needed to hit up the gym sometime.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm he-- oof! Oh, motherfuc--"

And now I needed to hit up the unemployment center because I was clearly about to be fired. On the bright side, I'd caught my sailor mouth...

In my haste, I clipped the door frame with my hip and, like I'd so elegantly done in the elevator incident, sent the files pinwheeling in every direction; the room transforming into a temporary snow globe as the papers fluttered to the ground. The last one landed with a defiant flourish.

I sighed.

My parents would probably let me move back in with them. Right?

Three dozen pairs of eyes blinked back at me-- three dozen, including Hotch's laser-beaming glare. Spencer mumbled something and darted forward. He bent down and started to scoop up the files. Dumbfounded, I watched for a few seconds before Rossi cleared his throat.

I shook out of my self-deprecating thoughts and joined in the clean-up effort, ignoring Morgan's failed attempt at coughing to conceal a laugh and Prentiss elbowing him in the ribs. I shuffled the pages up as Spencer handed me his pile. He flashed me a slight one-sided grin once I got to my feet.

"H-Here are my uncle's case files regarding the Babysitter, sir," I said, trying to sound as professional as possible, given the situation, while I presented the manila folder before me like a peace offering.

Hotch snatched it from my grasp and nodded for me to accompany the rest of the team behind him.

"We'll talk about this later," he muttered in my ear as I passed.

Motherfu--

"Now that... everyone's here, I can begin," he exclaimed, staring pointedly at me. I blushed.

"Thank you all for gathering so promptly."

Again, another dig at me.

"Usually, my team prefers to wait a week or so before delivering our profile. That guarantees us enough time to review every aspect of a case, as well as give us an opportunity to collect new information, so we can continue the investigation with as much accuracy as possible. However, with the killer stalking a member of my team, and likely hunting down his next victim as we speak, we can't afford the luxury of time. It's imperative that we get this profile out now, which is why I'm confident in expediting the process. Rossi?"