Aaron Hotchner moved swiftly down the FBI corridor and towards BAU door. He was nervous and excited to see how the day would unfold, although you could hardly tell by looking at his never-changing expression. As he passed the desks of his fellow team members, Aaron paused. They looked at him, sensing that something important was happening.
“I need to see all of you in the conference room,” was all he said before turning on the balls of his feet and walking away. They looked after him, not sure of what to think.
“Well okay then,” Agent Emily Prentiss said, before standing up and readying to follow Hotch.
Dr. Spencer Reid tapped fellow agent JJ Jareau on the shoulder.
“Do you know what this is about?” he attempted to whisper.
“Maybe, if you go to the conference room, you’ll find out,” said Agent Jason Gideon as he passed by. JJ looked at Spencer and shrugged, then they each walked to the conference room, followed by Agent Derek Morgan.
“Are we all here?” said Hotch, as he shut the door after Derek.
JJ nodded, “With the exception of Garcia, sir.”
“Well, I can’t wait for her to come in, so I’ll fill her in later.” Aaron walked to the front of the room and turned the computer screen on. The image of a young woman appeared in front of the profilers.
“This is Dr. Marian Cameron. She just graduated from Oxford University at the age of 21. She has two PhDs in Engineering and Physiology and three bachelor degrees in Physics, Creative Writing, and Philosophy. Her IQ level is at 185 and she shares many of the qualities of our young friend Dr. Reid that make people regard her as a genius.” he stopped a moment to look at Spencer. Reid was staring at the computer screen, his eyes wide, seemingly oblivious to everything Aaron was saying. If he didn’t know better, Hotch would think that Spencer was attracted to the girl.
“She also,” He continued, shaking away the thought, “Is a novelist. Her most commonly known book, Tale of a Teenage Runaway, was published when she was nineteen-”
“No offence Hotch, but where are you going with this? Is it a case? Was she murdered or something?” Derek said with a tone of annoyance. He wasn’t keen on listening to the accomplishments of geniuses, it was bad enough with Reid around.
“No, Derek. Dr. Cameron is the newest member to our team. I thought you should know some things about her before you meet her.” he started towards the door, “Gideon, you finish this up.” And with that, Hotch walked out of the room, leaving behind a room of dumbfounded FBI agents.
“Wait, Gideon, is Hotch serious? Are we really going to have her as a part of our team?” asked Emily. She was excited, for Marian Cameron was one of her favorite authors.
“Apparently, when the young genius graduated last June, the British government wanted to recruit her. When America caught wind of this, they automatically offered her a position. When they interviewed her, the FBI could easily tell that she would be a major asset to our team. Hotch and I talked to her over the phone, and quite honestly I agree with them. She’s bright, fresh, and extremely creative and observant, I think she is exactly what we need.” Gideon looked out the window to the main room, “Now, if you’ll follow me, I believe she has just arrived.”
Everyone stood up, eager to meet this person who would soon enter their world. Everyone, that is, except for Dr. Spencer Reid, who sat absolutly still, staring at the picture of the young girl, completely unaware that his life would never be the same again

The Bau’s profilers stood together and watched as their team leader led Dr. Marian Cameron down the hallway. She was tall and skinny, almost exactly the female version of Dr. Reid, with darker hair. Her features were gentle, and kind. She seemed so unaware of her beauty that you just wanted to throw a mirror at her so she can see how the world saw her.
“Everyone, this is Dr. Cameron.” Hotch announced as soon as they reached the group.
“Marian, please. Its really nice to meet you. I’ve studied your cases and I am really excited to learn from all of you.” She looked at them, clearly impressed, and a little overwhelmed.
“Marian, remember that you are not here to learn from us, you’re a part of our team now, you have a lot to contribute." She flushed and nodded, “Now, let me introduce you to your co-workers. This is our Liaison, Agent Jennifer Jareau.” Hotch motioned towards the blond woman at his right.
“Call me JJ. If you ever need help with anything, my door is always open.” She flashed a smile and shook Marian’s hand.
“Agent Emily Prentiss, our newest member before you.” Hotch said as he continued down the line.
“Marian, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m a big fan of your books. Maybe we could talk about them sometime, they’re amazing.” Emily was bursting with enthusiasm as she shook hands with her favorite author.
“Thank you so much. I would really like that.”
“Agent Derek Morgan,” continued Hotch.
“Nice to meet you,” Derek smiled a smile that could take any girl’s breath away, his normal response to any woman. Marian nodded her head, and flashed a small grin in return.
“You already spoke to Agent Gideon on the phone.” they shook hands and Gideon grinned at her, thinking he was right in his choice to bring her there. At that moment, Dr. Reid stood up and came out of the conference room. He walked down the aisle and toward the group.
“and this is-”
“Dr. Spencer Reid,” Spencer finished for Hotch, and stuck out his hand, “but you can call me Spencer- or Spence, if you would like.”
“I’m Marian.” Was all she could manage to say. The two geniuses gazed at each other as they shook hands slowly, as if they had forgotten that there was anybody around them completely. It was almost a minute until Derek cleared his throat, making both Spencer and Marian jump slightly, and then blush. JJ and Emily threw a knowing glance at each other and held back a laugh.
“We're not starting another case until tomorrow, so why don’t you all finish your paperwork and then help show Marian around and teach her the ropes.” Hotch walked away and into his office.
“Hey, Spence, since you’re done with your work, could you show Marian around for me? I could use the time.” Spencer nodded at JJ and led Dr. Cameron down the hallway. When they were out of earshot, JJ turned back around to Emily and Derek. The three of them let out the laughs they had been trying to hold in.
“What was that about?” Emily grinned.
“Looks like boy genius finally found a girl genius, maybe the two of them will discover the cure for cancer together,” Derek half joked.
JJ smiled, “Did you see the way he looked at her, it was so sweet, his face lit up,” She was really happy that her friend seemed to have found someone special, and hoped that it would work out.

“And this, is our conference room. Whenever we all need to meet together and talk, we come here. Learning new cases, eating lunch, excreta, excreta.” Spencer and Marian walked down the hallway side by side. He could smell her shampoo whenever she accidentally brushed up against him. Vanilla, his favorite. “Why don’t we go in and sit down, and I’ll explain our job.”
“Basically, the police call us when they think they have a serial case, or any case really, that they need help with. The cases then go to JJ. She sifts through all the cases and picks the ones that she think we’re needed at most. We’re called all over the country, so we usually take our privet jet for traveling.”
“ooh, privet jets, how very classy of you.” Marian smiled at Spencer and giggled.
“Laugh if you want, but after three or four cases, you’ll thank god you don’t have to sit between a mother and her screaming baby, and a big sweaty guy asleep on your shoulder on your way home after catching a serial killer.” he explained with a smile.
Marian wondered if he was speaking from experience. “Oh, but I adore sweaty guys asleep on my shoulder. And screaming babies. It’s the best part of travel.” she teased.
“I guess you’ll just have to do without.”
“Darn.” With that one word, the two of them lost it, and fell into a cascade of laughter. I took a while, but eventually they pulled themselves together enough for him to finish.
“The first thing we do when we get to a site is to look at all the parts of the crime that with show us the unsub’s personality: the crime scenes, the dump sites, the MO, and we develop a profile. A profile is our way to break down the unsub in order to figure out how to catch him. Then, when we get a potential suspect, we profile him, and see if he matches our description.”
“How do you do it, profile someone? I mean, in theory, I understand it completely. In theory its easy. but in practice…” Marian trailed off, feeling a little stupid for asking him.
“Well, basically all it is, is noticing personality traits, and then understanding what those traits mean.” she rolled her eyes and grinned.
“I know that… I guess I need someone to show me. I learn by example.”
“Maybe I could pull some files from JJ’s office and show you with some of the unsubs.”
“or, you could just profile me.” Marian looked up at him with hopeful eyes. She honestly thought this was the best way for her to see profiling, but Spencer knew it was a bad idea.
“Well. Were not really supposed to profile coworkers.” He wished she wouldn’t go there. Profiling isn’t the best way to get someone on your good side. People don’t understand how easy it is to find problems when you’re looking for them. And discovering troubles that are wanted to be concealed doesn’t earn you many friends.
“But you see, there’s the beauty of it. I don’t technically start work until my first case, which is tomorrow. So you kind of have to do it, I mean, for all you know, I could be a serial killer. Shouldn’t you find out for sure before I start to work with you and learn all the FBI’s secrets.” She grinned slyly, clearly amused, but still hoping he would do it.
“Ok, fine, you win.” Spencer shifted position, sharply. He was now leaning towards her, with his hand under his chin, staring into her eyes. She jumped at his swiftness, but never took her eyes away from his.
“You’re not nearly as sure of yourself as you should be for a person as smart as you are which leads me to think that you were raised by a person who didn’t exactly appreciate your accomplishments. Because of that when people first meet you they think that you are shy or scared of them but your not scared of them at all. I don’t think you could be scared by any person. I mean sure you’re scared of what people do: murder, rape, mug, steal, but people themselves don’t scare you, because you believe they really are good at heart.” Spencer talked so fast it shocked Marian for a moment.
“You figured all that out by looking into my eyes for three seconds?”
“No, of course not. I already knew that about you, looking into your eyes was a test. You see, when I moved suddenly, you jumped, which means I scared you, but even though I frightened you, you still looked into my eyes, and never looked away. That tells me two things, the first is that you’re very brave, although you probably don’t think you are, and the second is that you are not scared of people. You can look into someone’s eyes even while they make you feel completely uncomfortable.”
Marian was impressed, but she tried not to show it. “Anything else?”
“You love music, There was a song playing softly in a room we passed by, it was barely audible, but it still made you smile, and you were able to recognize the song, because even after we were long passed, you beat the rest of the song on your hips lightly while we walked. You also like to sketch, I see some pen marks on your hands that don’t come from just writing something. You really like this job, and you truly believe its where you belong. You are very proud of your individually and you aren’t willing to compromise it for anyone, including the FBI.” Spencer pointed to the inside pattern of her black blazer, which was multicolored then to her shoes, which were bright orange. Marian sat there in silence.
“You are absolutely gorgeous, but you don’t believe you are.” He said, slower this time. It took her a second to process it.
“You just said I was gorgeous.” They stared at each other, completely silent. Spencer opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could there was a loud squeal from the doorway.
“Oh my gosh, you’re Marian Cameron. The Marian Cameron. I have all your books. I cant believe your working here. I mean, Emily told me when I walked in but I couldn’t believe her. Hi, I’m Penelope Garcia, it is so good to meet you.” Penelope, the technical analyst for the team, had just walked in and was talking up a storm to Marian. Spencer let out a sigh of relief. He had no idea where all that came from, usually he barely had the guts to say hi to a woman he found even remotely attractive. But with Marian… he felt like a completely different person.

Lazy days like Dr. Cameron’s first day were rare for the BAU members. Finishing paperwork was usually done after they came back from a case, or on their own time, they hardly ever devoted an entire day to it. Whenever they did come along, these laid back days were extremely joyful, and allowed the team to unwind. They considered it a gift, almost like a personal day, spent with your best friends.
Lunch had brought the whole team to the meeting room. They sat around the big circular table, getting to know their new coworker. Penelope and Derek had spent almost an hour arguing over what to order for lunch. The two of them had finally decided on take out from a local pizza shop, after Spencer and Marian both confided that neither of them had had it for a long time.
“So geniuses have pizza aversions now, too?” Morgan joked, stuffing half a slice into his mouth.
Marian shook her head as she finished chewing a bite, “Well, I’m kind of a health nut. If I ever do order takeout, its tofu pad Thai, but I like pizza just as much as the next person.”
“Did you know that 93% of Americans eat at least one pizza per month, and in the US 350 slices of pizza are eaten per second?” he hesitated before finishing, “Whenever my mom was too sick to make dinner I would order from the local Italian shop. Ever since I left the house, ordering pizza doesn’t appeal to me as much.” Spencer looked down at his plate, tearing apart the crust in his hands. The people around the table looked away, in different directions, trying to pretend they didn’t notice the sorrow in the young doctor’s voice. Marian stared at her new coworker, seeing for the first time past his solid, happy exterior.
JJ tried to lighten the mood again. “So Emily tells me that you are an amazing author, what kinds of books do you write?”
“What?” Marian took a second before looking away from Spencer, “Oh, my books.” She suddenly looked uncomfortable, “They’re mostly realistic fiction. I don’t see them as very impressive, I use them as my creative outlet. Like how some poets write their feelings into a poem? My characters lives portray my most passionate feelings when I write them.”
“Oh really, that’s so interesting. So writing is like your stress reliever.” Emily was fascinated by Marian. Her life was exciting and free, unlike her own. She couldn’t imagine giving all that up for an FBI job.
“Like Gideon and Reid with chess.” added Garcia, before going back to whispering with Derek. Marian had noticed them flirting the entire day, she wondered if there was anything going on between them.
“You play chess?” Marian looked solely at Spencer, even though the comment was clearly about Gideon too.
Reid finally looked up, “Yeah, a little. I’m no match for Gideon though.”
“I’d like to play with you sometime,” she paused a moment, then finally registered that she was staring at Spence, “er- both of you.” she added quickly, nodding to Gideon.
After lunch had ended, Marian and JJ had both opted for clean up duty. Spencer hung around and helped, until he was informed that there was a call to him from his mom. He nervously excused himself, almost tripping into a chair while saying goodbye. When he reached the door, he turned around and quickly, as if not thinking, spoke.
“I heard Morgan talking about possibly stopping by Freddy’s, the small club around the corner, after work today. We all go there sometimes. I was just hoping, I mean, wondering if you would you want to come?” He blurted out, talking faster by the second, “With all of us, I mean.” His eyes shifted from Marian in an attempt to meet her eyes, before failing and retreating to a spot on the floor.
“I’d really like that.” Her answer, made him break out in a smile.
“Great! I mean, that’s cool. I’ve, um, got to go. See you.” Spencer retreated down the hall, to the nearest phone. Marian’s eyes followed him as he left, too happy to tear her eyes away. JJ laughed to herself. Her friend was always nervous around women, but his spastic ways seemed intensified somehow.
“So you like it here, so far? I mean, everyone is pretty nice, right?”
Spencer turned around while on the phone to his mom and waved to Marian from across the FBI office. “Yes, he is very nice.”
It took Marian a second to realize what question JJ had actually asked her, but when she did her face turned the slightest shade of pink.
“I mean, um, yeah, everyone is great.” JJ smiled at Marian before leaving the conference room, pretending not to have heard the first comment at all.

“So if you’re a genius, why don’t you act like Reid?” Morgan was leaning against Marian’s new desk, along with fellow agents Prentiss and Garcia. They had just watched as Spencer, trying to maneuver through the BAU headquarters to Gideon’s office, managed to bump into four people, and knock over a stack of papers.
“What, like, the klutz thing? That has nothing to do with intellect.” Marian hated the subject of her IQ, it made her feel like she was either bragging, or being made fun of.
“No, not just that. He means that the two of you are different. Really different. I thought all geniuses were socially awkward because that’s just how Reid is, but you’re nothing like that.” Penelope explained, trying to make sense of the extreme difference.
“Oh trust me, I’m plenty socially awkward, I’m just good at hiding it. And besides that, there are different types of geniuses. I bet you thought all of them could memorize things like Spencer, right? Well, I can’t do that nearly as well.” She hated that word, genius, “I’m what they call a problem solver. I look at situations and can easily see all the possible outcomes. Like, if you put a bunch of supplies out in front of me, and say make something, its easier for me to see everything I could make. That was my engineering final, by the way.” The three agents just looked at her like she was from a different planet.
“That sounds like a super power,” Derek said with a smirk. Marian stood up, and took a few steps away from the desk.
As she passed Derek, she stopped, and looked over her shoulder at him. “Its not. Trust me.” The three agents continued to watch as Marian walked toward Spencer. The two of them must have spent five hours that day talking to each other.
“They’re so cute together,” Penelope pointed out.
“Who’s cute together?” Hotch approached the trio, holding a cup of coffee. Other than lunch, it was the first time anyone had seen him out of his office that day.
“You must be out of your element, Hotch. There’s no work to do.” Derek laughed.
Aaron almost cracked a smile. Almost. “There’s always work to do. I just came out for some coffee. So, who’s cute together?”
Emily and Penelope hesitated to answer, their team leader wasn’t too keen on inner-team relationships. “Spencer and Marian. They’ve been flirting all day long.”
That really made Hotch laugh, “Reid? No… he’s way to smart to try anything that stupid. Reid and Marian? Ha.” He walked back to his office, laughing as he left.
“Can anyone say denial?” Emily was shocked by how oblivious Hotch could be.
Penelope frowned, “He’s right though. Reid’s not going to be allowed to have a real relationship with her.” The thought saddened the technical analyst, who was a true romantic.
“I wonder if he’ll let that stop him.” The three watched as Spencer and Marian laughed together, their heads close, and their eyes magnetically locked.

That night, after a fun day at the BAU, the team got together at Freddy’s for what Morgan calls the three perfect D’s: dinner, dancing, and drinks. Marian sat at a large table that the FBI team had gotten together. They were all there, with the exception of Hotch and Gideon, who both believe themselves too old to go out dancing. Emily, Spencer, JJ, and She watched as Morgan and Garcia danced to a loud pop song, with a fast beat.
“And you’re sure nothing is going on between them?” Marian asked, the disbelief pouring out of her mouth.
“We’re just as amazed as you.” JJ answered, as the song ended, and Morgan and Garcia walked back to the table.
“You done already? Its only been, what? Ten songs?” Emily joked.
“Hot stuff over here tired me out, but not to fret, I will be back, after a drink or two.” Penelope winked at Morgan, then headed off to the bar. As the laughter at the table faded, Marian heard for the first time what song was playing.
“Areosmith. This is one of my favorites.” She exclaimed, humming to the first verse of I could not miss a thing. Morgan kicked Reid’s foot from under the table.
“Really? Would you like to dance?” She smiled up at him.
“I would love to.” He took her hand and led her out to the middle of the dance floor.
“Spencer isn’t a half bad dancer.” Penelope noted as she walked back to her seat.
“They’re swaying back and forth, its not that hard,” Morgan laughed, and scooted closer to Garcia.
She gazed at them “Well it looks like they’re having fun,”
“Oh baby girl, you don’t know fun,” he grabbed Penelope’s hand and pulled her out next to Spencer and Marian. JJ and Emily rolled their eyes and laughed, until they noticed how alone they were at the table.
“Oh crap, not again.” Emily sighed, she hated not having a man in her life who could take her dancing. “It usually doesn’t feel as pathetic with Spence here.”
“Come on, I’ll teach you how to play darts,” JJ and Emily slid off their seats and away from the table.
Meanwhile, Spencer was having an amazing time with the newest agent. She knew all the words to the Areosmith song they danced to, and the Coldplay song after that, and the Fray song after that. Her voice was timid when she sang, it was pretty, not always on pitch, but pretty.
“So tell me something about you,” The sound of her voice made Spencer return back to earth.
“Why in the world would you want to know about me, I’d rather talk about you, you’re very interesting,” She blushed.
“That’s sweet of you, but my life isn’t as amazing as everyone here seems to think it is. I’d really like to hear about you,” Spencer stared down at her, she was tall, but he still beat her by a few inches.
“I’m afraid of the dark, every morning for breakfast I eat pop tarts. I can’t cook for the life of me,” He smiled a crooked smile that sent shivers down her spine.
“Can’t cook huh, I’ll have too cook for you sometime,” Spencer looked into her eyes with amazement.
“So now you’re a chef too? Is there anything you can’t do”
“Plenty,” She was going to continue, but the song changed.
“I love Mat Kearney,” She commented.
“You know every song that comes on, do you have an infinite music library in you head?” he laughed, and smiled down at her. She rested her head on his chest.
Later that evening, everyone gathered back at the table to say goodbye. They all had work in the morning. Marian was excited to hear her first case the next day, but sad that the evening had to end. She was just about to get into a cab when Spencer walked out of the club.
“Today was fun,” he said, looking into her eyes.
“I had a great time. I can’t wait to work with the team,” they stood there for what felt like forever. Neither of them said a word, their eyes said it all. The taxi driver honked his horn.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Marian smiled at him as she got into the backseat. Spencer stood there, watching her cab drive away into the distance. It took him a second to remember that the next day he would see her at the office. And the day after that. And the day after that. He turned around and started his walk home, whistling and thinking about Marian.

The next morning, when Marian entered the BAU office, she was surprised by the feeling of home it gave her after just one day of work. It was comfortable, she finally found a place where she belonged. As she walked in, carrying a box of things for her desk, she was greeted by a few of her fellow team members. JJ passed by her while looking into a case file. She smiled at Marian, and wished her a good morning. Derek and Emily were talking to Penelope, commenting on the blonde’s hairdo of the day. Marian joined the conversation easily, and chatted with them until her arms felt like they were going to fall off from the weight of her box.
When she found her desk, the one shown to her yesterday, she opened up the box full of photographs, writing supplies, notebooks, and her laptop. She was just setting everything up when one of her pens rolled to the floor. Spencer, who had just walked into the door and saw her at her desk, picked it up and placed it into the container with the rest of them.
“Thank you. How did you sleep?” Marian’s cheeks flushed. She liked him so much, and she didn’t want it to be obvious. I mean, common, what would an amazing guy like Spencer Reid want with her. In her mind, she was nothing compared to him.
“Amazing, surprisingly enough. I’m not the easiest sleeper, but last night, well, for the first time in a long time I had sweet dreams.” Spencer felt like a bumbling idiot. Marian was so gorgeous and intelligent. He was smart too, but Reid felt that her brain was so much more then his was. He was a mess of statistics and facts, Marian was true, honest knowledge. He felt that she could never be interested in him in the way he was with her.
JJ approached the duo. “You guys, we better all get to the conference room. I’ve got a bad one.”
“How bad is bad?” Spencer’s eyes were concerned. Marian’s first case should be easy, not difficult, or gruesome.
“Honestly, its one of the worst I’ve ever seen.”
They followed JJ into the room. The rest of the team followed in soon afterward. JJ turned off the lights and turned on the screen. A family of four appeared, there were two children, a young boy of about six, and a teenage girl.
“This is the Ramon family. A few days ago the entire family was tortured, and, with the exception of the youngest boy, killed. The Unsub left this at the house.” JJ pressed the play button, shaking her head as she sat down
It opened up to a scene of the Ramon family, each strapped down to a chair. The Unsub, his face concealed by a mask, cut off the father’s arm restraints, leaving his feet connected to his chair, and handed him a knife. He picked up Mrs. Ramon, chair and all, and set her down right in front of him.
“Kill your wife, or I’ll kill your son.” The man protested, screaming and pleading for there to be any other way. The murderer walked over to the daughter’s seat, pulled out a knife and severed her index finger. Her shrieks filled the air.
“Now.” Mr. Roman whispered to his wife that he loved her more then she ever could know, then slit the knife across her throat.
The profilers were shocked by what they saw. Some shielded their eyes, others shook their heads, Spencer looked at Marian to see her reaction. She sat there, silently watching as the masked man chopped the father and daughter to pieces, forcing the son to watch. She looked frozen by the horror of the video. He reached out and grabbed her hand, she squeezed it, glad for the distraction that brought her back into the room.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” JJ walked back to the front of the room, and shut off the movie. “This was the most recent in a string of similar killings that have occurred in the last three months in New York. There were five other families in five separate cities. The police departments didn’t catch the connection until this time because of how different each case is. The one similarity every time is the young boy being kept alive. Other than that everything is a variable. The jet leaves in twenty minutes.” As the rest of her team members stood up and processed out, Marian just sat, amazed by what she had seen. Nothing had prepared her for this.