night at the smithsonian | s. reid |

ii. first day in quantico

Alex's POV

The weekend flew by quickly. I decided to stay in a hotel for the two weeks until I was sure that I was staying, then I would look into apartments. I haven't been back to DC or Virginia since I completed my training at Quantico so this is going to be a very different experience. It's not the first time I have started over, done this a dozen times. I can do this... I think. 

--

It was finally Monday morning. The clock went off at 6:30 and Alex was ready by 7:30 to head out the door. She wore a standard black suit with a satin navy blouse. She wasn't that worried about the job itself, being relatively confident in her ability to profile, but was more concerned about fitting in and being a useful member of the team. 

Heading to the bureau, she kept thinking about Friday night. That kiss. That man...

This is your first day at your dream job. No thinking about strangers that we don't know. We need to make a good impression and fit in with the team, she thought to herself. 

She makes it up the elevator to the sixth floor, walks out, and pushes through the glass double doors. People were shuffling all around, a much busier scene than that quiet Friday afternoon. She made her way up the stairs to Hotch's office.

"Good Morning, Agent Sadler", he opened the door and greeted her.

"Good Morning, sir"

"So, unfortunately, there will not be much time for a longer introduction to the team. We have a case so you are just going to have to jump right in. We will get briefed on the case in the conference room", he says with a serious tone as he's leading the two of us out the door. 

"No problem, ready to start."

We reach the conference room to see five individuals scattered around the long table. "Guys. This is Agent Alex Sadler from the Miami office, she will be working with us for the next couple weeks."

First to reach across the table and reach out his hand, "Hi, I'm Derek Morgan". They shake hands.

Next up, the older gentleman speaks up, "Agent Rossi, nice to have you join us". He shakes her hand. The blonde woman next to him gets up.

"Hello, my name is Jennifer Jareau. Everyone calls me JJ. I have a friend at the Miami office, SSA Stevens. He speaks highly of you." 

"I'm glad to hear that, he was great to work with." She shakes JJ's hand.

"Hello Alex! I'm Emily Prentiss. I look forward to working with you.", the friendly woman with dark brown hair said.

"Lastly that leaves Dr. Reid", Hotch said. She didn't realize, he had been staring at her since the moment she walked in the room. He stands up, nearly stumbles. "Hi- uh. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid", he says sounding unsure. He reaches his hand out to shake hers.

"Hi Dr. Reid, nice to meet you", Alex says. She looks up at him, those eyes. Oh no.

JJ leans over to Spencer, "I thought you don't shake hands. Let alone a stranger's..." she whispers. 

"Uh. I don't", he says while still staring at Alex. 

There's no way. That Spencer is THIS Spencer. This can't be happening. It has to be a mistake. Alex, you're seeing things. It's not him...

A happy blonde woman walks in, holding folders with unicorn stickers and pens with glittery fluffy pom-pom pens. "Hi! You must be Alex. I'm so excited to finally meet you. My name is Penelope Garcia and I'm their resident technical analyst."

She wraps her arms around Alex and gives her a tight hug. 

"Let's get started! We have a case from Salt Lake City. Our unsub has been targeting couples, managed to kill three so far. One last weekend and two this past weekend.

"So if victimology and his behavior patterns stick, he will be out targeting this weekend", Derek says. 

"Based on the lack of marks on the victims' bodies and the delicate care post-mortem, this unsub has some sort of regret and likely has rage issues. Possibly stemming from jealousy or a traumatic experience", Spencer says. He tries to not look at her and focus on the file in front of him.

Hotch stands up, "They will act again and we need to try to figure out who they are before that happens again this weekend. Wheels up in 30."

--

Alex is the first one to make it onto the plane, getting there 10 minutes early. She pulls out a book from her bag, Anna Karenina. 

"Tolstoy? Figured you'd be reading Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë.", he said looking down at you with a small smile.

"Oh please, just because I enjoy the works of romantic literature doesn't mean it's all I read. I'm a much more complex person than that, Dr. Reid", she said with a smirk. 

He takes the seat across from her and pulls out a book, Crime and Punishment.

She leans over to look, "Ah so I see you're also seeking literature that inspires happiness and romance."

"Just a light read, next up is War and Peace. That's when the real party begins", he says.

They both sit across from each other, trying to hold back smiles. Her leg accidentally brushes up against him under the table. Like electricity, they both look up at each other at the same time.

"Of course it's you", she says then looks back down at her book.

"What do you mean of course it's me?", as he grins from ear to ear. 

Unwilling to bring up the subject, she drops it. "Nevermind."

"Oh come on don't do that. I wouldn't want to make the girl who I listened to whale sounds with, upset. We can't have that happen", he says looking at her and trying to get her to look up at him.

"Did you know who I was when I walked in this morning?", she says.

"I could tell who you were, the second you walked in the room. There's something about the way you enter, I couldn't forget it." He looks back down at his book. 

"You know what? That's fine. It was a great night. Couldn't have asked for a better first day in DC. Now I can move on and focus on the job"

"Wow. Didn't you say less than 72 hours ago that you are worried about missing out and not going out and living your life? I would consider Friday night to be 'living life'."

 "Well-", she gets cut off.

"-I am just saying that to not continue Friday night would be a shame for that life you claim you want to live but oh well. We'll see about that later" he says.

"Later?" she tries to ask but stops as Rossi and Hotch walk onto the plane.

"Later." He looks up and whispers to her while their legs lean against each other. 

--

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the short chapter, I've been working on other things and I'm still getting used to this style of writing again. If you like this, please vote/comment/share. Also, I just started a hotch x reader fic called Found in the Dark so check that out if you are interested. I haven't had as much time to write chapters up until now so I'll be posting more often.

And as always, please enjoy!