(1) Can You Start Today?

Briefcase and small suitcase in one hand, your CV in the other, you wait for the elevator to take you to the right floor. You check the watch on your wrist: 7:37 a.m.

The bullpen lies quiet before you. You can hear the clocks on the wall, showing the time in different time zones, ticking. The bright lights on the ceiling make it even weirder. Like you're in a museum.

You straighten your blouse and take a deep breath, walking towards the office up the stairs. It's the only one a person seems to be in. The one you want to make hire you.

Knocking twice, you wait for them to call you in.

"Yes." A dark voice answers.

Opening the door, you ask: "SSA Hotchner?"

He gets up from his chair: "Yes. How can I help you?"

You walk to his desk and put your CV down, then you extend your arm to shake his hand.

Hotchner takes it, visibly surprised by your firm grip.

"I'd like to work as medical examiner for your team."

Obviously confused, he furrows his eyebrows: "We don't have such a position."

"I know, that's why I'm here."

Letting his hand sink, he looks you up and down.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Emilia Byrne. I was appointed to a professorship at the National Intelligence University three years ago. I hold the chair for forensics and criminology." You slide your CV in his direction. "Here is a list of my qualifications and degrees."

Astonished, Hotchner actually takes the piece of paper and quickly reads it.

"The BAU would be more effective if a medical examiner were appointed to them. It would not only speed up the process when handling bodies and crime scenes, the team would furthermore have a professional at hand to assist with building the profile based of medical observations. I read your case files, the time between bodies being found and you getting actual information about them is thirteen hours on average. That's valuable time, especially when you are dealing with serial offenders."

Hotchner's mouth falls open.

"I-" He clears his voice while still processing the information you bombarded him with. After he collected himself, he tells you: "Even if I would want to, we don't have the funding to hire another agent."

You smile. His eyes tell you that he wants you on the team.

"Right." You nod. "The NIU agreed to pay half of my salary if I am allowed to use the cases for teaching purposes."

Hotchner leans against his desk and stares at the floor. He's not as stern as he was described to you.

"What's your rate?" He crosses his arms to regain somewhat of a posture.

"Two thousand." His eyes widen in surprise, way less than he expected. "Per case." You add, raising your chin. Hotchner lets out a stifled cough. "Three if it takes longer than four days."

His eyes dart between the CV in his hand and your face. It's quiet for a moment.

"Can you start today?"

"Yes."

"Let me make some calls."

- - - - - - - - - -

You put your briefcase on the table Hotchner appointed to you. It's almost eight and the other agents of the BAU start to come in. Taking off your coat, you drape it over the back of your chair.

A tall brown-haired woman walks in first. She spots you immediately and walks towards you.

Offering her your hand, you meet her halfway: "Agent Prentiss, I assume?"

"Y-Yes." She shakes your hand.

"Professor Byrne."

Her eyes dart over your face. Before she can ask any questions, the rest of the team comes in. You greet them just the same. Only Dr. Reid doesn't want to shake hands. Of course, you know about that too.

So, instead of offering him your hand, you hold out your elbow.

Surprised, he mirrors your movement, and you tap his elbow with yours: "Nice to meet you."

Hotchner joins you and hands you a badge. You look at it. It has FBI written on it in bold letters. They used your photo off the website of the NIU. It identifies you as Forensic Liaison.

"That was fast." You comment.

Morgan looks over your shoulder and reads it as well: "Forensic Liaison?"

"Looking forward to working with you."

Out of the corner of your eye you see Hotchner's lips twitch. When you look at him, he actually gives you a smile.

"We should get started." Hotchner says. "Garcia called me. She will come in with a case any moment." Even though, everyone still looks slightly confused, they follow him into the conference room.

Reid walks next to you and states: "I didn't know we would get a forensic specialist."

"It was a spontaneous decision. I was hired this morning."

He side-eyes you: "Then how did you get cleared so quickly?"

"I work in Bethesda."

It's all the explanation he needs but goes on to ask: "NIU?"

"Hmh." You nod and sit down next to Hotchner.

- - - - - - - - - -

You sigh when you see the pictures taken of the body. You're on the jet on the way to Colorado. As expected, a small-town police department didn't do a good job at securing the crime scene.

"Fucking barbarians." You curse under your breath.

Hotchner heard you and raises his head to look at you.

You clear your voice: "I don't expect that there is any valuable evidence left at the scene, but I'd still like to take a look."

Nodding, Hotchner agrees: "Would you like to take an Agent with you?"

"Reid."

"Okay."

Looking up from the photos, you see the others staring at you. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion but look back down.

When you shuffle through the pictures, you see one that shows blood splattered on a wall. Narrowing your eyes, you hold it closer to your face. Then you get the picture of where the body was found and compare it.

You put them back in the folder.

There are two SUVs waiting for you when you get off the jet. Hotchner orders: "Reid and Byrne will head to the crime scene. JJ and I will set everything up at the precinct. Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi, go interview the next of kin."

You look up from your phone: "I can drive you to the precinct, it's on the way to the crime scene."

Again, the others stare at you when Hotchner simply replies with: "Okay."

JJ and Reid in the back, Hotchner sits next to you in the front.

"Where do we get overalls?" You ask him.

"There should be some in the trunk."

Your mind is already at the crime scene and you stay quiet for the rest of the ride. After you let JJ and Hotchner out, Reid come to sit next to you in the front.

Handing him the folder with the photos you stashed in the side of the driver's door, you ask: "What do you see?"

He tells you: "I don't need to look at them again."

"Why?" You drive off.

"I have an eidetic memory."

"You only see what you look for. What did you see?"

Reid starts to rush through everything he saw in vivid detail. He stops when you arrive at the scene.

Luckily, there are actually overalls in the trunk. You take off your jacket and put one on. Reid hesitates, but eventually does the same.

Inside, you walk straight to the living room where the body was found. It's a mess. The carpet is stained where the body laid.

Squatting down, you look closer at the stains, then at the blood on the wall.

"You said nothing about the splatter."

Reid steps closer and admits: "No."

Taking a deep breath, you get back up: "Hope you're ready to spend some time on all fours."

He lets out a sound as if he choked on something: "What?"

Seeing his cheeks flush, you explain: "The pattern of the blood on the wall doesn't seem to match where the body was found and how the wounds were inflicted. We need to analyze the pattern."

"How- how do we do that?"

"First of all, we need some yarn."

- - - - - - - - - -

You're both sweating and your knees hurt. But you did it. There are strands of yarn all over the wall and floor, showing at what angle the blood hit the wall. You take several photos to show to the team.

Reid stares at what you did with his gloved hands on his hips.

"We should have hired you sooner." He mumbles.

You grin: "I know, right?"

After you put your stained overalls in a trash bag, you both take a big sip of water.

In the car, you ask Reid: "Do you guys visit the coroner?"

"Sometimes. Usually, we just get the report."

You nod and quietly think about the blood pattern for the rest of the drive.

Pulling your suitcase, you enter the police station, Reid trailing behind you.

"Oh, hello!" A cop next to the reception greets you, eyeing you up and down.

"I'm looking for SSA Hotchner."

"Maybe I can help you?"

"Sure. Lead the way."

His face falls a little, but he turns around to bring you to the office the team is in. Reid lets out a small chuckle and follows you.

Hotchner and JJ are in the conference room, putting all the major information on a whiteboard. When he hears you enter, Hotchner turns around. Groaning, Reid falls into a chair.

You ask: "Can we get a screen?"

Hotchner blinks but doesn't answer. So, JJ tells you: "They don't have one."

Sighing, you put your stuff down: "A printer?"

Hotchner gets it together: "I'll show you."

Following him down the hallway, you tell him: "The pattern doesn't match the position of the body."

"What makes you say that?"

Starting to print the pictures, you wait until the first one is done to show it to him: "We calculated the origin of the drops by determining the angle at which they hit the wall."

Hotchner looks at the picture, furrowing his eyes at the chaos of strands it shows.

You give him a smile: "I'll explain it when the rest is here." After a pause, you ask: "Oh, and do you know where I can get an icepack?"

- - - - - - - - - -

With a thump the icepack lands on the table in front of Reid.

"For your knees." You tell him deadpan.

His cheeks flush. Hotchner's eyes dart between the two of you. Morgan, who just entered the room with the rest, whistles loudly.

"I like her." Rossi states without even knowing the context.

After putting up the pictures you explain: "We determined that someone splashed the blood onto the wall while standing next to it."

You trace the strands with your fingers: "The victim appears to have been stabbed repeatedly. I would suggest, however, that the victim was already dead when the wounds were inflicted, and the blood was splattered to make it appear like the stabbing was the cause of death."

"Why would someone do that?" Prentiss asks.

You shrug your shoulders: "I don't know, you're the profilers."

Hotchner's lips twitch again but he puts on his stern face to ask: "Could you explain how you came to that conclusion?"

"Sure."

Hotchner is currently leaning against the table, arms crossed.

You step closer and grab his shoulders. He inhales surprised at the sudden proximity and you feel his muscles tense. You move him to the side, and hand him a pen. Then you lay down on the table, your legs dangling down.

Grabbing his arm, you guide him to make stabbing motions while you explain: "When you stab someone, blood is spattered when you pull the knife out of the body. That means, if someone is laying on the floor when they are being stabbed, the drops of blood on the wall should lead upwards. Meaning, being rounder at the bottom and thinner at the top."

You repeat the stabbing motion a few times. Is Hotchner blushing?

You clear your throat and let your hand sink: "From how the drops are formed, the person who splashed them on the wall should be about six feet tall, give or take a little."

When you lean back up, Hotchner silently fumbles with the pen. The others are nodding and taking notes.

The same cop from earlier comes in, carrying a file: "The coroner's report. For Professor Byrne?" His eyes dart around as he is trying to determine who that is.

You step forward and take it: "Thanks."

He looks irritated but hands it to you.

While Hotchner gives out orders to the others, you go to get coffee. There is a café nearby and you decide to get a cappuccino for Hotchner as well. When you get back inside, it's only the two of you.

He gives you a smile when you push one of the cups towards him. It's a nice smile. Why does he hide it?

Sitting down, you open the report and start to read it. Now and then, you mark stuff or take notes. You hear Hotchner's pen scratch the paper in front of him as he is collecting thoughts as well.

When you're done, you get out your phone and call the number that's on the report.

Hotchner twitches when you suddenly start to talk. You ask them to do a tox screen since there isn't one in the report.

"What for?"

"The most frequently used neurotoxins."

The person on the other side of the phone sighs: "Which are?"

You close your eyes: "You know what, I'll just come by."

"Be my guest."

You hang up and throw your phone on the table: "How do you put up with this?"

Hotchner chuckles: "Not as fancy as you imagined?"

Rolling your eyes, you get up: "Do you want to come with me?"

"Okay." He gets his jacket and follows you to the car.

- - - - - - - - - -

Gloved up, you ask to have another look at the body. The coroner wants to protest but Hotchner's eyes make him shut up. He opens the morgue cooler and helps you put the body back on the stretcher. Then he walks away to prepare the tox scan you ordered.

You roll the stretcher under the light and pull off the sheet covering the body. It's a female in her late thirties. After checking out the prominent stab wounds, you take a closer look at the rest of the skin.

Hotchner observes you silently from the other side of the obduction table.

"Why were the others surprised when you asked me if I want to take someone to the scene with me?" You ask without raising your gaze.

"On the jet?"

"Yes."

He doesn't answer immediately, so you just wait until he can't stand the silence anymore and admits: "I usually don't ask."

"Hmh." You acknowledge his statement and press your lips together to hide a grin.

When you grab the woman's shoulder to turn her over your hand slips and the body makes a thud when it falls back down.

"Should I- "Hotchner starts to offer you but you raise your gloved hand and tell him: "It's wet."

You walk around and push your hand under the shoulder you just grabbed. Feeling the small pool of liquid, you furrow your eyebrows.

"Oh." You breathe out.

"What?"

"Get me the chair?"

Hotchner whips around and briskly walks to the other side of the room to roll it over.

Sitting down, you grab her neck and turn her head away from you. Leaning as close as you can, you palpate the skin until you find it.

"Do you see that?" You look up to find Hotchner's face right in front of yours.

Your eyes lock and you feel his breath on your skin. His eyes are dark but attentive, small wrinkles around them.

You turn away: "There is a track mark in the back of her head, just above the hairline. That's where the fluid came from."

"Unbelievable." Hotchner mumbles and steps away to talk to the coroner.

- - - - - - - - - -

Hotchner calls it a day a few hours later and you groan in relieve. You have to wait on the results for the toxin anyways.

On the way to the hotel, you go through your emails and answer as many as possible. After the car stops, you slowly get out while answering the last one. When you look up, Hotchner is already carrying your suitcase. Shaking your head, you catch up to him.

"What about dinner?" You ask after everyone got the key to their room.

"You can order takeout or eat at the hotel's restaurant. Keep the receipts and you'll get the money back." Rossi explains.

Since no one tells you what they are going to do, you decide to shower and eat at the restaurant. You're the new one, you understand that they don't immediately invite you to a sleepover.

After changing into a fresh shirt, you get back down. You order and get out your tablet to go over the entire case file. Until now, you mainly focused on the medical reports. Maybe checking out the other stuff could give you valuable hints.

When your food arrives, you push your tablet to the side and start to eat. Suddenly, a familiar dark voice asks: "Mind if I join you?"