Chapter Text
Lilith looked down to her blazer, brushing off imaginary dirt. She was being called in to assist the BAU at the whims of Erin Strauss, because the Section Chief felt the team was compromised. Lilith agreed. The Unit Chief, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, was under immense stress from the in-home attack from The Boston Reaper. It put him out of the field for a month, and his family was currently in WitSec.
Stressful for anyone, much less the man actively attempting to catch said Reaper. Who also happened to be a serial killer that liked to mind fuck the police.
Now, this is where Lilith became confused.
She got it, she's good at her job. Great, even. She has Master's in criminology and psychology, and her history and experiences gave her an insight better than her peers. But honestly, there were other agents better suited to work on a team, and a multitude agents that would be more susceptible to manipulation by Strauss. Surely, Strauss knew she couldn't control Lilith.
All that aside, Lilith didn't really care. The Hotchner's group was the FBI's A team, with the highest solve rate percentage out of all the BAU. Not to mention she was tired and done with her old position. This was a spectacular opportunity, and not one she was going to give up regardless of the circumstances. Even if she wasn't particularly keen on working with a group. A tight knit group, if that.
The elevator dinged, signifying that she had arrived at her destination.
The sixth floor. Home to the BAU.
She walked into the bullpen, looking around for the office of Agent Hotchner. She spotted office doors on an elevated walkway, presumably housing the Unit Chief and other senior agents. Lilith could make out plaques on both doors, but she was too far away to read either.
"Excuse me?"
Lilith turned around, seeing a blonde woman standing next to her. Said woman was slightly shorter than herself, although Lilith was wearing heeled boots, so it might not be an entirely accurate estimate.
"Are you Lilith Kiernan?" Unconsciously, Lilith raised an eyebrow. Somebody was expecting her, apparently.
"Yes, I was looking for Agent Hotchner?" Her tone was clipped, though not hostile. The blonde woman nodded, placing both her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, I figured. I'm SSA Jennifer Jareau, communications liaison with the BAU. Hotch is meeting everyone on the jet." Agent Jareau's voice was authoritative but warm, a unique combination. Perhaps a mother.
"I'm going with you all?" Lilith asked, not expecting that. She expected resistance from a team as well known as the BAU, not a warm welcome and a 'get on the jet.' Agent Jareau nodded her head to answer Lilith's question.
"Strauss told us all to expect you. Hotch is just coming back in today, so be prepared." Lilith nodded, a bit taken aback by her bluntness. Used to being in charge, then, even if she wasn't Unit Chief.
"Got it. Is there anything else I should know?" The other woman shook her head.
"You can ride with me and Spence to the airport." Lilith nodded, "But first, we gotta find him."
"I- okay?" The words stumbled out of Lilith's mouth, and Agent Jareau huffed a laugh, leading the younger agent. They walked down the hallway to a black door, and Agent Jareau entered and immediately sighed in relief.
"Spence, there you are. Grab your go bag." Lilith hovered by the door, going unnoticed by the room's occupants.
"What's going on?" A masculine voice said, presumably 'Spence.' Lilith figured this was the team's Dr. Spencer Reid, resident genius. Agent Jareau told them to turn on the news, and the four watched the reporter give the details of a spree killer on the loose. Delightful. Murder on the go.
"Well this is gonna be fun." Lilith said, more to herself than anyone else.
"Oh," Agent Jareau said, stepping aside to reveal Lilith to the others, "Spence, Garcia, this is Agent Lilith Kiernan." She nodded, a tight smile on her lips.
"Yes, pleasure to meet you both." Lilith began to turn around when clanky footsteps are behind her, and then a hand on her wrist. She turned around to see who was invading her personal space. Garcia, as Jareau had introduced, was a very pink person. With lots of chunky jewelry and pink frame glasses. And a ruffly, patterned, hot pink dress. Hence the, "she's a pink person."
"Oh, aren't you adorable. Is that why Strauss gave you to us?" Her eyebrows raised, and she met the eyes of the doctor sitting in the chair, sucking on a lollipop.
"Uh, not exactly." Lilith gently removed the intrusive hand on her wrist, suppressing a shudder.
"Oh," Garcia's tone dampened, as if she genuinely believed she was here from her 'adorableness.' "Right, well, I am Penelope Garcia, technical analyst extraordinaire."
"Agent Lilith Keirnan."
The overly pink woman nodded and went back to her chair, and Agent Dr. Reid and Lilith followed, and in Dr. Reid's case, hobbled, after Agent Jareau out the door.
.
Lilith rode in an SUV with Agent's Jareau and Dr. Reid to the airport, small talk flittering around the three. Agent Jareau parked, and hurried out of the vehicle when a small crash sounded behind her.
"Here, Spence, let me help you with that," Agent Jareau, who had since told Lilith to call her JJ, said to Reid.
He sat in the back of the SUV alone, so he could prop his injured knee up. Low and behold, when he attempted to get out of said SUV, his currently useless leg hit his crutch and knocked it out to the pavement.
Lilith turned around in her seat, smirking at the man. He met her gaze with a blush, and then looked down to tuck a piece of hair behind his ears.
Cute.
Wait. No. He's a stranger and a coworker.
She sat back properly in her seat, scowling to herself and listening to the light banter between the two agents. They seemed close, and Lilith wondered if she could ever have that kind of friendship.
Knocking herself out of her reverie, she got out of the SUV and walked up to the jet, climbing aboard before the other two agents that were currently arguing about crutches and a satchel.
"Hello," a drawn out voice caught Lilith's attention. She snapped around and was faced with two men. One older, David Rossi, she presumed, the bestselling author, and Derek Morgan, the muscle of the BAU.
"Hello. I'm Agent Lilith Kiernan," She said, addressing both men. They both nod, and accept her begrudging handshakes. She's not to keen on human contact, even if brief and formal.
"Derek Morgan," said the man who first called hello.
"David Rossi," They greet her kindly, yet professionally.
Soon enough, JJ, Morgan, Reid, Rossi, and Lilith are all seated, going over the case. 'Murder on the go,' as Lilith had dubbed it.
JJ is interrupted with two sets of footsteps, and in walks Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner and SSA Emily Prentiss.
"Good morning," Agent Hotchner said briefly, not yet noticing Lilith. She was unsure if Strauss had told him that she would be joining the team. She prayed that Strauss had, but she knew the woman enough to know that she liked to cause drama.
"Good to see you," Rossi returned, and then Hotchner's voice goes from somewhat pleasant to downright cold when he saw Lilith.
"Why are you here." He spat out, eyeing the new agent up and down. So maybe he did know about her, and apparently thought Strauss' threats of a new agent were bullshit? Either way, its not going to cause for civil conversation.
"I'm on a case, sir." Lilith bit to keep to sass from her voice. She succeeded, mostly.
"I don't need Strauss playing politics with my team. Get out." In her peripheral vision, she noticed the other agents giving each other looks. Seemed his aggression was somewhat unexpected.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir. I'm on orders from higher ups. Besides, I'm not here to step on any toes." Lilith said, with every ounce of professionalism. Every ounce she could manage, at least. His lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed, but Lilith didn't back down from his stare. Well, glare, would be a more appropriate term for the look he was giving her.
"I don't need a rookie agent messing up my team. One slip up, and you're gone. Am I clear?"
A miniscule, teeny tiny smirk makes it way onto her face. "Crystal, sir."
He kept staring, and an amused cough from Rossi breaks the tension. "We'll talk later." Lilith nodded, expecting so.
The rest of the team hesitantly greeted their Unit Chief, and its easy to tell that despite his aggression towards the new agent, they're truly glad to have him back.
What a wonderful arrangement. Trying to be a functioning member of a murderer catching team when said murderer catching leader hated her with all his guts. Splendid.