Chapter Text
Abel knew he was supposed to work for the FBI, but how did he end up in this mess?
“Kid!”
He jerked his head to locate the voice who said that. “Yeah?” Abel scanned the onslaught of people walking in, “Who said that?”
“Me,” Two men walked up to him, both towered over him. “Name’s Morgan,” He stuck out his hand, but when Abel just smiled he went on to introduce the other person. “This one’s Reid.”
“Oh,” Maybe they were his new coworkers? “Do you guys work in the-” Abel checked his folder given to him by the woman in charge. “The behavioral analysis unit?”
The shorter one smiled. “Yeah, are you Palacio?”
“No,” Abel said quickly, almost like he felt guilty. “Wait! Yeah, sorry.”
The two of them shared a quick glance then Morgan shrugged. “Well you might want to find your desk if you want to meet the rest of the team.”
“Are you near my desk?”
“Yeah, you wanna come with us?” Reid offered.
“Yes please.” Abel followed the two of them as they continued their conversation.
When they made it to his desk, Abel thanked the two of them and started to unpack his desk objects. That’s when the rest of the team filed in. The first two people where two women, one with black and one with blonde hair. They both looked enraptured in their conversation.
The next person was a nice looking woman who walked into her own room. Maybe not part of his new team?
An older man walked into his own office, which caused Abel to originally think that he wasn’t going to work with him, but then the man started talking with Reid. Six people so far, not to many, hopefully only a couple more.
Abel finished up organizing his desk that would eventually end up disorganized. Right as he sat down, a man with black hair stuck his head out of a room that Abel hadn’t noticed before.
“Meet in five.” The rest of the team nodded.
His voice commanded respect, that was Abel’s first impression. His second was that the guy looked tired.
“Hey, we should get going,” The dark haired woman addressed the room. “Oh hey! You’re the new guy, right?”
Abel felt the team’s eyes glued on him and nodded slowly.
“Oh nice! My name’s Emily Prentiss. Have you met the team?” She walked over with a smile.
“Umm, I’ve met Morgan and Reid?” He said pointing to the two he had seen before.
“Oh that’s good, did they help you find your desk?” When he nodded she continued, “Great! Well she’s agent Jennifer Jareau, but she prefers JJ.”
JJ smiled and waved, “Nice to meet you Palacio.”
Abel curled his lips up in what he hoped was a normal-ish smile. “You too!” He said a bit to loud. He tried again, “Nice to meet you too.” Luckily they just laughed it off.
“You’ve already met Derek, Spencer, and Emily, so that leaves Garcia, Rossi, and Hotch?” JJ asked, gathering files from her desk.
He tried to calm his fidgeting hands as he replied, “Yeah.” He couldn’t calm his tapping foot.
“Well Rossi is sort of the Uncle of the group. He takes care of us, but not like Hotch or Emily.” Morgan cut in before JJ could finish.
“Garcia is the nicest of us,” JJ interrupted. “She can help with anything.
“She’s also our tech genius.” Derek stepped closer, “Two geniuses per team!” He finished.
“Yes,” Emily said exasperated. “Garcia is amazing.”
“Two geniuses?” Abel asked while scratching his desk.
“Did Morgan not tell you?” JJ turned towards Morgan. “Did you really not tell him?”
Derek raised his hands in his defense. “Well I was busy helping him find his desk!”
“Oh sure,” JJ turned back to Abel. “Dr. Reid over here is our certified genius. He’s got three Ph.D’s and has an IQ of 187.”
Abel nodded while looking over at Reid’s general direction. He never made eye contact with anyone for more than a second though.
“He can also read 20,000 words per minute and has an eidetic memory!” Morgan blurted out, just as JJ was about to speak.
“You are so-” JJ was cut off by Hot calling for them.
He once again called in that voice. “Guys!”
They all ran to their desks to grab their files and folders.
“That’s Hotch.” He said in what seemed like a confident voice.
“How’s you know that?” Morgan’s eyebrows furrowed.
“He was the only one we haven’t introduced yet. It’s the only logical guess.” Reid stated while walking towards the meeting room.
Morgan shook his head and followed behind JJ and Emily, leaving Abel to fend for himself.
Abel grabbed his files, a pencil, and a small paper clip that he’d found in his new desks drawers.
The meeting room was dark and cool, so far everything was good. The carpets smelled funny, but the odor wasn’t overpowering so he could deal with it. The table however, had a texture that Abel hated. As soon as his arms touched the surface, he knew it would not work out. He tried to put some of his files down so he didn’t have any skin touching, but it wasn’t a perfect solution. He decided to just stand up. That’s when he realized everyone was staring at him.
“Hi?” He raised his hand and copied a wave. “What’s the case?” He quickly glanced towards Hotch and saw a small frown. Oh no, did he cause that? His eyes darted to the next thing, which so happened to be the chairs behind Hotch.
Hotch cleared his throat and started talking about the case.
Abel tried to pay attention, he really did, but the smell of the carpet was filling his head. By the time Hotch and Emily had finished their run down; he had found a way to breath that would allow him to take in the air he needed, without smelling the carpet.
“Palacio!” Hotch’s voice scolded. “Are you paying attention?”
His head shot up faster that his foot that was tapping on the floor. “Sorry, yes I am.” He said, unconsciously spinning the paper clip faster and faster.
“Good. As I was saying…” Hotch and the others continued to profile the unsub and Abel tried to pay more attention. Finally the meeting came to a finish and they all started to pack up. “Wheels up in 20.”
Wheels up? Abel thought. What does that mean? Before he could get out the door, Hotch called him back.
“Palacio. Please stay behind.”
He nodded and looked at the others for some kind of clue. Hopefully their expressions could give him some sense of what to expect. Unfortunately, they all just gave him the same sympathetic frown. So much for that idea.
Abel turned and walked to where Hotch was standing. “Yes sir?”
Hotch’s back was facing Abel as he started. “Palacio, you’re the one Strauss told me about, correct?”
That wasn’t exactly expected? “Yes sir.”
Hotch turned around. “The one who…”
The one who betrayed his team. “Yes sir.”
“You don’t have to call me sir palacio.”
Abel felt a flush spread across his face. “Sorry sir.” He grilled his head down.
“Palacio.”
“Sorry!”
“It’s okay. Do you know what Strauss assigned me to do?” By the time Abel realized that that wasn’t a rhetorical question, Hotch had already sighed and continued. “She wanted me to keep an eye on you. To know how work. To understand you.”
“She wants to profile me, sir.” He said awkwardly.
Hotch’s brow shot up at Abel’s sudden comment. “Yes. She did.” He put his files on the table. “She wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t have a repeat of your history, and if she needs a profiler to help, she’ll do what she must.”
Abel’s paper clip had snapped from the bending and unbending, so he gently put it down on he table next to Hotch’s files. “Yes sir.”
“But,” He said as Abel was about to speak again. “I don’t like being a tool for others, and I certainly don’t like profiling my teammates.”
“Yes sir.” Abel tried to make his voice sound grateful, but he was afraid it came out more of a neutral tone. “Thank you sir.”
“Good, so you understand that I won’t be profiling you unless you give me a reason to?”
“Yes sir. I promise I’ll be good.”
Hotch gave him a strange look then gestured for him to leave.