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JJ had met Rossi’s niece a few times over the last two years since the younger woman started at the FBI, sometimes in passing in the break room and at many of the get-togethers that they had over the years at Rossi’s place. She was friendly, but something about her made JJ a little nervous. She had been working with profilers for almost a decade, so it was startling when someone who was younger than all of them and not even trained could read her incredibly well.
Rossi just smirked when she brought it up and only said that Joan was a natural. He’d made no moves to lure her to the BAU as far as she knew, but he could be waiting until she had a little more experience. It was also very important to avoid even the slightest hint of nepotism with the BAU, considering how often they came under scrutiny, so it might be that he was trying to find a way to work around it.
With all that said, Joan mostly reminded her of a slightly less extroverted Penelope Garcia even if she sometimes seemed to be looking straight through someone into her soul. That made it a little odd to see her standing there, back straight and face calm as someone poured out an angry tirade at her. This particular coffee shop was one most of their units favored as an afternoon break, so they were used to FBI agents hanging around, but it was rare that any of them went alone. Had someone been lying in wait for just this opportunity?
There was a small crowd gathered around, a couple of people with their phones out and recording, and JJ had no idea what kind of damage control would be needed or how much. Some of them were probably livestreaming, which would make it awkward if Joan needed to go undercover.
“I was seventeen when you started targeting me, Ryan,” she finally said. “And you were very much a grown man. I wasn’t the one that destroyed your reputation. All I did was report the things you said to me.”
“It was supposed to be between us, not you tattling to Daddy,” the man said. “It shouldn’t surprise me that you ran off and joined the jackbooted thugs. Always looking to get someone in trouble for just living their life on their terms.”
“You were convicted by a jury,” Joan said, still calm in the face of the man’s rage. “You burned down a synagogue, desecrated a mosque, and vandalized a Catholic church. I wasn’t even called to testify, because the physical evidence was overwhelming and I was a minor.”
JJ was close enough to step up next to Joan, although it looked like the younger woman had it handled. Joan had turned to her when she’d approached, giving her a closed-mouth smile. “Agent Jareau. On a caffeine run for your team too?”
“It was my turn,” she said. “You need any help?”
She shook her head. “Ready to get back to work. I’ll stay and help you carry things, though, if you want.”
“Hey!” The man was clearly past normal anger and JJ was glad that neither of them had their purchases yet. She had a feeling that this was about to turn physical. “I’m not done!”
“I have nothing to say to you, Ryan,” Joan said. She turned and started to walk away towards the inside of the coffee shop.
The man made a high-pitched, inarticulate sound of rage, and threw his coffee cup. A man who was probably close to Agent Girardi’s age stepped into the path and let the coffee splatter across his face and chest. Ryan went pale, then dark red, before he stumbled backwards and left.
Joan looked at the man who had taken the coffee throw for her and smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Joan,” the man said, before turning and walking away with a wave before anyone could offer help or clean clothing.
JJ couldn’t help but think that she’d missed something, but since no one seemed hurt or upset she put it out of her mind. It probably wasn’t important.