counting stars | criminal minds [discontinued]

2 | F L O R E N C E

"bought a two for twenty from applebee's and ate both entrees. great day"

Derek Morgan was enjoying one of the rare times when he neither had a case to work nor did he have paperwork to fill out. He had his morning cup of coffee in hand and sauntered over to Spencer Reid's desk to try and get on his nerves. It was working for the most part as he picked apart his nonexistent love life. Reid would've much rather been focusing on the paperwork he had to finish or telling JJ about a new scientific principle.

Both men heard the awkward shuffling of feet and looked towards the door. They spotted a young girl who had to be in her late teens or early twenties. Her age aside, she certainly didn't look or act like she belonged in a federal building.

While everyone else in the room was wearing some form of a suit or other business formal attire, she was dressed in a yellow t-shirt tucked into jeans and white tennis shoes that had seen cleaner days. Around her left ankle were two bracelets woven out of string — one was different shades of pink and the other the colors of the rainbow. They looked like something that might have been made at a summer camp. The bottom half of her otherwise brown hair was dyed pink and pulled back in a ponytail. Instead of a purse or briefcase, she had a pink backpack with several enamel pins covering the surface. Reid thought he could see a Starfleet Insignia pin, but she shifted and he couldn't get a better look.

Despite not being dressed like an employee, there was a freshly printed ID badge clipped to her belt loop.

The girl's eyes quickly scanned over the office, clearly looking for someone. When she didn't find the person, she bit her lip nervously. After readjusting her backpack, she backed up against a wall to lean on it and wait for someone.

"Do you know who that is?" Reid asked.

"Never seen her," Morgan said, crossing his arms. "Maybe she's lost. I'll go check."

|||

Florence Sabin wasn't exactly excited about her first day working at the FBI — she wasn't excited to have a job at all but it was either this or prison. Years of not thinking through any of her decisions and this are where it led her. She didn't even have professional-looking clothes, making her stand out even more once she reached the floor for the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

She had been told that the Penelope Garcia she had met the previous week would be waiting for her when she arrived, but one look around the room proved otherwise. For a moment she thought about wandering down one of the hallways to search for the technical analyst, but given the lack of signs to help guide her, she decided to stay where she was.

It was only a few moments before she was approached by a man. He was a tall, handsome, black man who smiled as he approached.

"Hi. I'm SSA Derek Morgan," he introduced. "Can I help you?"