Chapter Text
"Hi." Tatiana stopped next to the brown-haired woman and smiled at her when she noticed her.
"Oh, hi." Elle ruffled the brown hair of a girl by her side. "You are not late."
"Not the first time." Joked Tia and followed the direction Elle was looking at. "What's going on?"
"Human trafficking." Murmured the woman and headed towards the whiteboard and a group of people next to it. "Do you have anything new?"
"Not really." Answered a black man (no racism!) as he turned around to look at his coworker.
When his gaze stopped on Tia, he raised an eyebrow. His eyes were asking a question and were waiting for an answer right now.
"Who's that?" A gentle whisper sounded from behind the black man, and the brown-haired girl knew it was about her.
"Oh, that's my niece." Elle decided to introduce her younger company to her friends." Ti-"
"Tatiana Verriven. Pleasure to meet you." The girl bowed with her head, as a form of greeting, and then again looked at the people by the board.
"Does Hotch know about her being here?" Asked Morgan straightforwardly, he didn't care Tia could hear him.
"Yes, I do." A black-haired man in a suit made everyone turn around to look at him. "Please, come with me."
"Yes, sir." The girl followed the man called 'Hotch' to his, as assumed, office.
On the way, which wasn't that long, Tatiana was watching the surroundings. People walking from room to room, phones calling one by one, keyboards clicking, a lot was happening. And coffee. The smell of coffee was something that somehow made her calm down in the middle of the chaotic workplace of her aunt's. Some people brushed against Tia as they hurriedly walked past her, making the girl hide her hands in her hoodie's kangaroo pocket.
"Please, come in." Hotch opened the door to his office and let Tia come in first, he was a gentleman, after all. "I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner. I'm the direct superior of the BAU. Short plan, every day at 10 am we have a meeting about a new case, unless we are working on one. If we are out, you either go to Garcia, will meet her later, or just write down the date on your papers, I will sign at the end."
"Yes, sir." She nodded quickly, as if the time was something that was following her.
"Okay, I guess that's all for now." They both got up from their seats. "I will introduce you to the team. Everyone here got an email that you will be around, so they won't be surprised."
"Thank you, sir." Hotchner and Tia stopped, again, next to the group of people by the board.
Tatiana needed only one pair of eyes on her to feel anxious...again. Hands, already hidden in her pocket, started to shake, fingers were fidgeting with one another. Knees became soft as if made out of cotton, ready to bend with the smallest wind blow.
Breath.
"Guys." Hotch stood behind the girl, whose eyes were glued to the floor, her hair was hiding her pale face from the strangers' eyes. "This is Tatiana Verriven. She's a student, she will be spending her practice time here."
"Oh, the practice. That's so cool." The black man smiled brightly and stuck out his hand. "I'm Derek."
The girl, with a short moment of hesitation, took her shaky hand out of her kangaroo pocket and shook the man's. It was warm, not like Tia's which was cold like the air in the winter, it was warm like the fireplace on Christmas morning.
"Jason Gideon. Pleasure to meet you." Tia again bowed slightly as she shook Gideon's hand. It was mild warm, like a tea that had been waiting to be drunk for some time.
"And that's dr. Spencer Reid." The youngest-looking one waved when his name was mentioned by Hotchner. "Morgan, take her to Garcia, and then come back."
"On it. Let's go." Derek smiled brightly and waited for Tatiana to join him before they started to walk side by side. "So, what do you study?"
"Psychology." A short and brief answer was all that the man got from the girl.
"That's cool. What made you choose that?" Morgan wasn't about to shut up, was he?
"I don't know. I just like it." Tia shrugged her shoulders, her right hand now fidgeting on the hoodie string. "You can learn a lot about people and yourself."
"That's true." Derek opened the door in front of him widely, and let Tia come in first.
"I hope you have a great explanation not to knock." The woman with blond hair turned around on the chair and was about to add something, but when she saw Tatiana next to Derek, her eyes became soft and a smile appeared on her face. "Who you got here?"
"Elle's niece, Tatiana. She will be our little helper." Morgan briefly explained the situation in the softest way possible, making the girl feel warm on the inside, even the butterflies appeared in her stomach.
"Hello, sunshine. It's so nice to meet you." The IT master, as Tia deduced from the number of screens, keyboards, and computers, got up from her chair and shook the brunette's hand. The woman's hand was also warm, like Derek's. "I'm Penelope. I'm a technical analyst. In other words, I am a-"
"A hacker." Murmured Tatiana, her eyes deeply focused on the main screen with all those codes and windows opened.
"Yeah." Garcia nodded slowly, and a smile slowly crawled onto her lips. Her eyes moved to Derek, who was leaning on the door frame, and whispered. "We have an observer here."
"Psychology student." Said Morgan. "That's her future job."
"That's part of my future job." Corrected him, Tia, after a moment of silence. The second later she added. "Sir."
"She got you!" Sang Garcia and winked at Tatiana. "Good job."
"She stays on the bright side." Joked Derek, what made Penelope laugh. "Okay, Tatiana, you staying here or are you going with me?"
"I don't want to bother anyone." Whispered Tia. "Maybe I will stay here..."
Her eyes slowly moved from the screen to Penelope, whose gentle expression made the girl feel this warmth inside, like a hot tea after a walk in the winter. It was a weird feeling, something she hadn't felt in some time. But, like it or not, the feeling was pleasing, made her feel taken care of.
"Whatever you say, sweetheart." Garcia grabbed the nearest chair, moved it closer to her, and encouragingly patted the seat. "We will have a perfect time. Trust me."
The blond hair winked again at Tatiana, and when the girl sat next to her, she handed her a pink pen.
"And you, gorgeous." The woman looked at Derek, who was still watching both of them from the door, and smiled. "Go, and play with your toys. Girls' night doesn't include you, hot stuff."
"I will remember that." Joked Morgan, but politely left the room to join his team.
"Now it's just you and me, sunshine."