Philophobia

Nineteen; Coffee

May 28th, 2010
7:42 am
The Office of BAU Press Liason Elizabeth Doyle
Quantico, Virginia

Eliza sat in her office, staring at the phone on her desk. She'd called Declan two days ago, and he'd yet to respond. There were files open on her desk, but she hadn't bothered to look through them. She was nervous, and it wasn't a feeling she liked. She was rubbing the bridge of her nose when he came in.

"Good morning!" Reid chirped. He placed a cup of coffee on her desk and sat in a chair across from her to sip his own cup.

"Morning," Eliza replied. "Thank you for the coffee." She grabbed the mug, not making eye contact with him. She was still debating whether to ask him or not.

"Are you okay? You've seemed kind of distant since Tuesday. Did I do something?" She looked up to see Reid staring at her, worried.

"It's not you," she reassured him. "I've just been busy. It takes more effort than you'd think to act as a barrier between Hotch and Strauss."

"That's all?" They both knew she was lying.

"That's all." Reid nodded, then got up. He was at the door of the office when she spoke again. "Spencer, do you know anything about genetics?" He turned back, leaning on the door frame.

"Ya. I read a couple of books and studies about genetics, why?" Eliza hesitated slightly, wondering if she should really ask him.

"Um...my brother, Harry, he and his wife are having a baby. They're having a shower, and one of the games is to guess what the baby will look like." Reid raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound like a typical baby shower game."

"It's not. My mum's weird. Says she wants to...t...to guess how attractive the baby will be," Eliza lied. Reid gave her a weird look.

"Your mom said that?"

"Ya. Yes! You've heard enough about my mum to know that she's batshit." Eliza furrowed her brows. "Anyways, um, both my brother and his wife have blue eyes, and...and Oli guessed that the baby would have brown eyes."

"Okay..."

"Obviously, me, Kenzie, and Declan can't be there, but we want to um...we want to guess more accurately than... than Oli did." She looked at him expectantly.

"I'm not sure what you want from me," said Reid cautiously.

"Oh! Right...um...is it genetically possible for two blue-eyed people to have a brown-eyed child?"

"Well, eye color isn't a simple genetic trait, despite what's taught in most schools. I mean, yes there are dominant and recessive genes, but eye color is determined by many different genes and the interactions between them," Reid told her. She looked at him, slightly confused. "Yes, two blue-eyed people can produce brown-eyes offspring, but it's highly unlikely."

"Why are you two talking about offspring?" Blake asked. She had been walking through the lobby and taken notice of the Reid in the doorway.

"Baby shower game," Eliza clarified.

"That seems like a dumb baby shower game," Blake scoffed.

"That's essentially the same thing I said," Reid agreed. Then Eliza's phone rang. She picked up, shooing the two away from the doorway. They left, confused.

"Eliza Doyle," she answered shortly.

"Doyle," the man on the other end replied, just as shortly. His English accent wasn't a relief to her.