WELCOME

[Emily Prentiss]

Emily had arrived at the BAU more than an hour before she was due for work. But, if anything, it was certainly for a good reason. Hotch had sent the whole team home the day before, wanting them all to attempt to get a good night’s sleep so they’d be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning, ready to get back to work. They’d been working on their most recent case for the majority of that week, and had hit nothing but dead ends. After two nearly sleepless nights, their unit chief had decided that perhaps a bit of rest would do them all good.

But that didn’t stop her from arriving early to work, as per her norm. Though she could see a stream of fluorescent lighting slithering through from underneath Hotch’s office door, an indicator that he was already most likely hard at work, she was the first to turn up at the bullpen. That wasn’t surprising; Morgan was apt to walk in the doors right on time, and Reid normally got to the office a bit later than Emily did. The times varied for the others, and Emily didn’t worry herself with anyone else’s affairs but her own. Especially not that day; worry had clouded her mind, making sleep difficult the night before, and though she did manage to catch a couple hours of rest, it hadn’t helped much to clear her head.

Paperwork sat underneath her hand; unfinished, and probably would not be completed for a while. A pen rested loosely in her fingers, but Emily’s eyes were unfocused as she stared off into space. Though she’d learned to deal with their odd hours of work, she had never been a morning person. At least the coffee helped, and a half-full mug was tucked into her other hand, which she sipped from absentmindedly every few minutes. So far, the caffeine wasn’t assisting in waking her up any further.

Turning her attention back towards Hotch’s office, she wondered how long he’d been here. She wondered if he’d actually gone home the night before. Though he did have his son to take care of, it wouldn’t have surprised her to find out that his son had stayed at his aunt’s house for the night, while he father spent an all-nighter at the office. But, she did hope that wasn’t the case. They all needed to be well-rested for the case, to have fresh eyes, even their drill sergeant, suit-clad unit chief.

With a small sigh, her eyes refocused on the paperwork. She knew that she should finish it up, before they were called into the conference room to go over what they had so far. Which, to be honest, wasn’t much.

[Melody Samson]

By the time Mel had realized she wasn't late for her first day on the job, damn faulty alarm clock and an all nighter of old B-grade horror movies to blame for making her thinks she was late, she was more than halfway to work. To go home would be well, it would gain her an hour to rest, but really, biking back. Then biking towards work again. It would have been an exercise in futility. So she decided to take the scenic route to work instead.

Spring, it was a time full of life. The light green of the trees spoke of mild weather as opposed to the deep green of scorching summer. She watched as a robin flitted to her nest and landed feeding the youngsters a green catipilliar. Mel giggled a little, the adrenaline from thinking she was late making her nervous. She glanced at the bird again and didn't notice the large branch that was in her way until her tire hit the branch and sent her flying into a mud puddle formed from an early spring rain.

Mel picked herself up and looked down at her clothing. Her earth tone outfit was ruined. Of course maybe the splashes of mud would blend in with the brown leaf patterns on her blouse.

She sighed.
"Who am I kidding?" She muttered. "And I don't have enough time to go home." She stood and stormed back to her bike, muttering words that she most defiantly didn't learn from her mother. In fact they were words her mother told her never to use.

As she picked up her bike her lips twisted into a crooked smile. "Mother would have made me wash out my mouth with soap if she had heard that display." She looked down and her muddied outfit and sighed. "Well, maybe it will be dry by the time I get to work and I'll be able to dust it off." she said hopefully. Then she mounted her bike and headed towards work.

After stopping for a quick breakfast of an energy drink and chocolate muffin she turned her bike towards work and pedalled there. It was a whole half hour before work when she walked into the office, pulling her helmet off and removing a stubborn leaf from her hair. She stopped when she saw someone else there, remembered the rather messy state she was in and went redder than a sunburnt Bald Uakari.

"Hi." she said walking up. "I'm Melody Samson." She said, holding her hand out, after pulling off her biking gloves.[SIZE=7]

[Aaron Hotchner]

Emily’s guess hadn’t been too far off about Hotch’s whereabouts the night before. He had gone home, though only long enough to shower and catch a few hours of sleep, before he returned to the BAU. Sleep had certainly been hard to come by; images from the crime scenes of their most recent case, and past cases as well, flashed behind his eyelids when he’d closed them. It was nights like that when he’d sometimes pour himself a bit of alcohol, in an attempt to clear his mind. Or, if Jack was with him, he’d go and watch whatever mindless cartoon was on television. But Jack had stayed at Jessica’s that night. And so, Hotch was left in his empty apartment, with only his horrible thoughts to keep his company.

It was barely past six o’clock that morning when Hotch had awoken. He’d dressed, grabbed some cereal because he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a square meal, and headed out the door. And when he arrived at the academy, he only stopped to fill his mug with coffee at the team’s kitchenette before he closed himself up inside his office. And still, he was alone. No one would be there at such an ungodly hour of the morning, and the first, Emily, didn’t arrive until at least an hour and a half after him. He could always count on the brunette to be prompt. But he had no desire to talk to her, even just shoot her a ‘good morning’, though he’d finished any paperwork he had much earlier than he would’ve liked, and was not busy at that moment.

Through the window in his office, he’d seen Emily sit at her desk and get started on her own work, though her hand stopped moving over the paper after only a short while. He guessed that she hadn’t been able to get much sleep either. That was one of the major problems with their career; lack of sleep. Of course, they were all used to it, and were able to function almost normally with just a couple hours of rest. But, he wondered how long it had been since any of them had actually gotten a full eight hours. Even on their days off, when they had absolutely nothing to worry about, the nightmares that plagues them kept them awake in their beds. The blank stares on the dead bodies haunted their dreams.

And then there was that new agent, Melody Samson. He wondered how long it would be until the bags started appearing underneath her eyes. Hotch had made an agreement with himself to be more welcoming to the newcomer. After all, Emily hadn’t had the nicest reception from them all, and she turned out to be one of the best profiler, and agent, he’d ever seen. Hopefully, Agent Samson would turn out just as well.

He wished Rossi was there. It’d be nice to have a talk with his friend about the new agent. And his trepidation about the whole scenario, about the possibility that the team’s whole dynamic would be altered, was only worsened by the fact that the new agent was arriving right in the middle of a case. It wouldn’t do them any good to have someone getting used to the job while they were trying to catch a killer.

Hotch, from the corner of his eye, saw movement out in the bullpen. Either Emily had decided to move from her slumped position over her desk, or someone else had arrived. Upon closer examination, he found that Agent Samson had arrived, looking a bit worse for the wear. Had she decided to take a trek through the academy’s obstacle course before heading over?

He decided to stay silent, instead choosing to watch how the exchange between Emily and the newcomer played out.

[Jennifer Jareau]

The alarm on JJ's bedside buzzed. She slammed her hand on the off button and yawned awake. Henry hadn't waken her up earlier than her alarm this morning other than his usual midnight meal, which was unusual for him. She smoothed her hair and sat up in bed, patting Will next to her. She didn't wake him but smiled when he snorted a little. JJ pulled on her pajama bottoms and walked over to Henry's room. He was sleeping soundly, his head lolled to one side. JJ's smile brightened as she picked him up with his little blanket still swaddling him. He was just learning to say things and he loved babbling, which is exactly what he did when JJ hugged him and fed him. A little later on when Henry was full, JJ lay him back in his crib. She went back to her bedroom a little happier and more awake from seeing Henry and washed her face in their bathroom. After she had dressed in slimming black pants and a fitted fuschia button-down, she ate a bowl of cereal quietly. Following her usual routine, she kissed Will bye and grabbed her purse to go to work.

Traffic was unusually slow this morning, even though she was ahead of schedule. Sighing to herself, JJ arrived at the BAU still early and walked straight into her office. Glancing out her glass windows it seemed not many people were here. JJ checked her email and telephone, but no messages of urgency. She sat back in her chair and sighed. She looked out her window again. A dirty but otherwise unharmed young woman came into view, and JJ went over an email again written by the director. Melody Samson, eh? She looked new and confused and JJ felt bad for the woman. She stood from her desk, smoothed her hair and shirt and walked over to where Melody was standing next to Emily.

[Spencer Reid]

Reid pulled his battered leather messenger bag over his shoulder and waited for the MARC's doors to open. He often took the train to work- it was more convenient than driving- and it usually got him to the BAU in plenty of time. Today however, there had been a number of issues that contributed to the young agent's tardiness. He hadn't overslept. In fact, he hadn't slept at all. Spencer had spent the night bowed over his desk at home pouring over Jason Gideon's parting letter. For what felt like (and probably was) the 500th time, Reid had scoured the letter for any clues as to Gideon's whereabouts and why he had really left the BAU. Gideon had been more like a father to Reid than his real father, who had left Reid and his mother when the boy was only 8. Then, almost two years ago, Gideon had disappeared as well, professing he could not longer handle the stresses and emotional tolls of the job, just as Spencer's father had found himself unable to deal with a schizophrenic wife and a child prodigy.

Dropping the cup of coffee he had nabbed at the station in a trashcan, Reid pushed the problem to the back of his mind as he waited for the elevator. He looked down at the watch that sat on top of the sleeve of his white and brown striped oxford shirt. He still wore the same worn khakis, forest green sweater vest, and thin brown tie as the day before, having sprung from his contemplation too late to change. As the bell dinged and the doors slid open, Reid noticed with some dismay that most of the team was already congregating in the bullpen. He ran his pale hands through his untidy mop of dark brown hair and then into his pockets as he set himself on a direct line for the team's small kitchenette.

He offered a quiet, subdued, "'Morning" to the group as he crossed the room and began to fix himself a mug of coffee and began heaping in his customary four spoons of sugar. He took a long sip of the hot liquid, considered, then added another generous spoonful of sugar. He'd heard it said that you never really got over an addiction, just replaced it with something else, but Spencer wasn't sure he totally agreed with that statement...either part of it. Joining the group that was forming Reid let himself ease into the periphery of the conversation, taking a spot next to JJ, one of his best friends on the team, and probably the person he was closest to after Gideon's departure.

[Emily Prentiss]

It would be incorrect to say that Emily hadn’t noticed the newcomer’s rather disheveled appearance. Rather, she had decided to ignore it, and instead plastered a friendly smile on her face, and shook the woman’s hand. “You must be the new agent, huh?” Well, her current state wasn’t too comforting. After all, it was well-known that the BAU really didn’t take to newcomers well; she herself could testify to that. They had a good team dynamic, one that would suffer greatly if disturbed. This fact made her wary, but she also did not want the new agent to feel put-off, as she had when she first entered the BAU. Though, her entrance had been due to rather underhanded purposes on Strauss’s part, but that matter was long gone. ”It’s nice to meet you,” she continued, letting go of Agent Sampson’s hand. ”I’m Emily Prentiss.”

The woman looked a bit embarrassed, most likely due to her untidy exterior, and Emily would not make any jeers to draw attention to the fact. No, she’d leave that to someone like Morgan. But she knew that Hotch wouldn’t be too happy; with his impeccable suits, it was a wonder that he wasn’t stricter about the dress code, emphasis on Reid’s sometimes strange attire. Again, her eyes wandered to his office door, and she could swear she saw him staring out the window. But she averted her gaze back to the congregation that had formed around her, consisting of now JJ and Reid as well. The younger agent had murmured a quite hello, but the media liaison hadn’t uttered a thing. None of her colleagues really seemed to be morning people; not exactly conducive to their line of work, but, hey, it couldn’t be changed otherwise.

Emily decided that she’d do the honors of introducing the other two agents that had joined her. Jerking her chin towards the blonde on her left, she said, ”This is Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, our media liaison. Next to her is Dr. Spencer Reid, our resident genius.” She chuckled lightly. Pointing one slim finger towards Hotch’s office, she continued, ”Up there is our unit chief’s office, SSA In Charge Aaron Hotchner. The next door over is SSA David Rossi. But you’ll meet him, as well as Agent Morgan, another time. They’re away doing a custodial interview right now.”

[Melody Samson]

Melody simply raised both her eyebrows and said "Ah" She looked at each of them, repeating their names so that she would remember them.
"Yes, I am the new agent. I used to work on the Cadaver dog unit, but I decided to take the tests so that I could be a profiler. I wanted to stop those people I found from becoming bodies." She sighed then looked down at her shirt.

"You are probaly wondering about all the mud, and the leaves." she said. "I bike to work, and since I was early I took the scenic route here. And ended up crashing my bike." She blushed a little more. "At least I was wearing my helmet." She joked, giving a little half grin. Unlike the other sleepy eyed agents it was quite obvious that Melody was very much a morning person. And very chatty in the morning.

"I went over the files that were sent me. So I won't need that much briefing to catch up. But a little would be nice." She added. "Though I'll do my best to keep my mouth shut until I understand more how you guys work." she grinned a little, then decided to break the ice with the others.

"So, do you have any pets?" she asked, tilting her head like a curious cat.

[Aaron Hotchner]

Still, he’d been waiting, and watching, and was glad that Reid and JJ had finally shown up. It’d have been better if Morgan and Rossi were there too; the team worked like a well-oiled machine, and missing parts did not bode well with the team dynamic, but their job did have to focus on research as well, and the custodial interviews were all a part of that. Hotch decided to make himself known, though by Emily’s gesticulation, he assumed that they already knew he was present.

”-crashing my bike.” He managed to hear the last snippets of conversation as he made his way to the group. He sidled up so that he was positioned beside Emily and JJ. ”Good morning, everyone. Nice to see you again, Agent Sampson. Catching you up won’t be a problem; I’m sure JJ can handle it.” Something akin to a grin tugged at the corner’s of his lips, though the expression was gone as quickly as it had appeared, and his face returning to its familiar stoic expression. ”And please, input is always good. There’s no need to keep your ‘mouth shut’. The only way you’re going to learn to be a part of this team is if you involve yourself.” He hoped that he wasn’t coming off too coldly, though he knew that his position as leader would always distance him from the rest of the team.

He did remember that when Emily had joined the team, she’d been extremely eager to prove herself, jumping in with her own thoughts, almost too eager sometimes. But the opposite would be the worst extreme; he wouldn’t care for a new agent if she wasn’t ready to start profiling with the best of them. Tentativeness would not do in the BAU.

At the mention of pets, he kept quiet. He’d never been much of a animal person, never having enough time to care for another being anyway, with his current lifestyle. He knew Morgan had a dog, and sometimes wondered how he managed to keep up with the maintenance.

[Jennifer Jareau]

JJ nodded at Melody when she was introduced and smiled warmly. She hated it when the rest of the team seemed unwelcome to new agents, the last one being Prentiss, and knew that if they'd just open up then they'd be able to tell how Melody dealt with things.

A murmured 'no' at the mention of pets made JJ's mind go back to Henry. Henry loved any dog that walked up to him during his daily routine walks in the park. He was probably still soundly sleeping and completely oblivious to the world around him.

Nodding at Hotch's push to catch up the newcomer, she cringed at Hotch's introduction. He wasn't always the most welcoming out of their team, but she knew he probably had a reason for it.

She pulled Melody aside, out of earshot. "Sorry about Hotch. He has a little bit of anxiety around anyone new. But as you heard from Prentiss, I'm Jennifer Jareau, media liason." she smiled again and added, "...also the one who chooses which cases the team takes." It was something not many of the agents said during her introductions but she liked to add it to any introduction she made herself. "Our current case is in my office, and I'll have to look over it again before I brief the entire team. I will call you in once I've looked it over myself." She offered a last handshake before she departed to her office.

[Spencer Reid]

As Hotch introduced him, Reid gave the newcomer his custormary, frantic-looking wave before turning back to his coffee. He usually let himself slip into the background of most social situations, even within the team. Morgan and JJ were the ones that often pulled him from the background when they noticed, but he was comfortable with an observatory role. Spencer didn't respond to Melody's inquiry about pets, thinking it was directed more at someone else, but absently swirled his coffee with the plastic mixing stick, the undissolved sugar grating against the bottom of the cup.

When JJ drew Melody to the side, he looked over at Hotch. "When did her appointment get approved?" He asked in a hushed voice. It was very unusual for a new agent to join the BAU, even more so since they hadn't lost anyone recently. Emily had come after Elle, and Rossi after Gideon, but no one else had buckled under the pressure recently. Maybe it was another one of Strauss' ploys to gather information or keep an eye on the BAU's actions.

Watching as JJ left for her office, Reid wondered where they'd have to go next and how long they'd have to be there. His go-bag was ready, of course, but it was full of the clothes he worn for the last case. As one hand slid into one of his pockets, the fingers brushed the edge of Gideon's letter.

[Melody Samson]

Melody blinked a few times. She was slowly taking everything in. "I understand sir. My last superiour was very, cranky and a bit... bossy." she said. "He liked to be in control. I suppose I've become conditioned to acting that way." She blushed a bit and sighed.

She let out a puppy like yelp when she was pulled aside. "Oh..." she said, blinking again. "He seems a lot better than the last person I worked with. And I'd like to look over the case files." She smiled a little.
"I told Emily that I used to be a Cadaver dog handler. Still am. Though I'm skilled with training and handling any sort of service dog. Search and rescue, bomb and drug sniffers and of course Cadaver dogs." she paused. "But I decided to go though the Academy so i could profile. It's sorta been a life long dream of mine. They finally listened to my letters." she grinned. "It's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil I guess." She added. "Either that or the powers that be decided that a Hound Handler was needed." She chuckled a little.

[Emily Prentiss]

The pet question certainly struck Emily as a bit odd. Here they were, standing in the middle of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, and this new agent was making small talk. After all, they were in the middle of a case. And, small talk was a bit hard to come by with their team. Normally, their conversations were spent discussing sociopaths and serial killers, rather than the latest movies or what would be on television that night. She wondered how this woman would fit in with the team, because so far interaction was a bit awkward. Hotch seemed a bit put off, and that wasn’t too comforting.

When JJ pulled Agent Sampson away, Emily stepped a bit closer to Hotch and Reid. Reid’s question was valid; why did they need another team member, exactly? Strauss could just be screwing with them again, though her plan certainly hadn’t worked last time. But she hoped that wasn’t the case. Her eyes wandered to her watch, wondering when they’d get back to work. She knew they were all impatient to resume their work on the case, and this interruption wasn’t exactly conducive to their wishes.