Mágoa // Spencer Reid

Chapter 6

"Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect."
Alan Cohen

Maria checked her watch and it was now 8:50 so she had been standing staring at the building for three minutes instead of actually going in, "Bloody hell, keep it together Maria!" She grumbled to herself. She took a sip of her dirty chai and headed into the building, grabbing a visitor pass as she entered; as she entered the elevator she had to try and think back to what floor Uncle Bill had told her to go to, was it seven or five? She couldn't remember and began to feel like a fool-

"Hold the elevator!" A familiar voice yelled, Maria held the door- not that the elevator was going anywhere when she hadn't pressed a button, and then she was joined by none other than Dr Spencer Reid, "Um, hello Maria," he mumbled awkwardly,

"Morning!" She chirped back,

"what floor are you going to?" Reid asked as he looked her up and down,

"Honestly I'm not sure," Maria replied with a forced laugh, she wasn't trying to make things awkward- it just kinda happened, mentally she cursed herself for making the situation feel so uncomfortable, "I guess I'll just go to the same floor as you," She said with a smile,

"Mind if I ask why you are here?" He said with questioning eyes,

"I'm hoping to get a job or at least an internship here. So I'm meeting with uncl- the d-director and the unit chief SSA Hotchner," She said stumbling with her words attempting not to mention that she was related to the director, Spencer nodded at her,

"Well, good luck!" He said as the elevator doors opened, Maria smiled at him and took a final sip of her latte.This is it.

She stood in the midst of a busy office, there were desks covered in paperwork and computers, people were rushing around with their morning coffees, clinging to the caffeine as if their life depends on it, she looked up to where it appeared to be calmer, there are two offices that are a few steps higher than the desks, Maria could only assume that is where the big boss man himself works, she walked up the stairs taking deep breaths and trying to muster up some courage. She arrived at a door that says SSA Aaron Hotchner, it was slightly ajar and she could hear her uncle's voice, only he sounded pissed off,

"Aaron this isn't because she is my niece! She has so much potential, please give her a chance," Maria heard a sigh,

"Is that an order?" The other voice said,

"It isn't, but I don't want to have to make it one." Hearing her uncle sound so authoritative wasn't something she was used to, after hearing that snipped of the conversation she couldn't help but feel like she wasn't wanted or needed here. Taking a final deep breath she knocked on the door,

"Come in." the annoyed voice called and Maria strode into the room as confidently as she could,

"Good morning Agent Hotchner, director, I'm Maria Williams," She stated as Hotchner reached out to shake hands,  she felt herself blush under the stares of both men, and now she was worried that she was flunking it.

"Please, take a seat." Hotchner instructed gesturing to the chair in front of Maria, she sat down and could almost instantly feel her nails digging into her palms, "Why should we take you on? You have no prior experience with the FBI." Maria nodded as he spoke,

"Well sir, I don't have prior experience with the bureau, however I do have a lot to offer. I have had firearms training-" She said suppressing a smirk remembering the time uncle Bill had dragged her to a shooting range, "and I do have a lot of physical abilities. I have just graduated with my psychology PhD, so I now have that alongside a criminology PhD, I have studied extremely hard to get where I am. I would appreciate any chance you are willing to give me." Maria said trying to keep her voice even and calm,

"Alright, we have a case now so you can work it as an intern, we will see how it goes and we will reassess the possibility of giving you a permanent position." He said standing up and shaking hands with Bill, he left the office allowing Maria and Bill to talk briefly.

"Uncle B, did that just happen?" She asked in awe, Bill nodded and patter her on the back,

"It sure did kiddo, did you pack a go bag like I told you to?" He asked and Maria nodded with a huge grin, "good, I will see about getting you into the bureau as quickly as possible, I'll pull all the damn strings I can, you deserve this, Kid." He said with a proud smile, Maria said her goodbyes and he gave her directions to the conference room where the BAU team were all sat reading over the case files.

Maria walked in slowly and everyone turned to look at her, she felt like the new kid at school and she hated it.

"Okay everyone, this is Maria Williams, she's here as an intern at the moment so make her feel welcome." Hotchner said in a monotone voice, Maria did a small awkward wave to the team, and they all introduced themselves;

There's the older Italian man, David Rossi; he is one of the BAU founding fathers.

There's Jenifer Jareau aka JJ who radiates motherly vibes.

Emily Prentiss who has worked with Interpol on many cases.

Penelope Garcia, she's the optimistic bubble of hope in the form of a technical analyst.

There's also Derek Morgan, an extremely attractive black man who seems very flirty with Garcia.

Then there were the two agents Maria had already met; Dr Reid and Hotchner, or as the team call him, Hotch. Maria took a seat next to Rossi who handed her his tablet which had the case displayed on its screen, Garcia stood at the front of the room presenting the case.

"Alright my crime fighters, you are headed to New York where five abductions have happened in the last three weeks. All abductions have happened in pairs, stepdad and stepchild. The stepdads have all been found scattered across state lines, the stepchildren haven't been found. Local PD believe our unsub is keeping the children. The vics are; Andy Butler, Ross Smith, Julio Lopez, TJ Danes and Luke Gilmore." Garcia said averting her eyes from the images of the men's brutally mutilated bodies,

"That's a lot of overkill don't you think?" Maria said quietly, the other agents turned to look at her before nodding in agreement,

"Could the unsub be keeping the children for sexual purposes?" Prentiss questioned,

"Excuse me, Garcia? Do you have images of the children?" Maria asked, once again trying to sound confident, Penelope quickly put the photos on the screen, "well if these children are being held for sexual abuse the unsub doesn't have a preference, gender, race and age are varied," Maria stated grimacing at the thought of what they could be going through.

"We need to hit the ground running with this. Wheels up in twenty." Hotch stated.