Gravitational Constant

Chapter 1

"How do you do?" he said, "Oh! You're, um, Ambassador Prentiss' daughter. I did security clearances for your mother's staff; it was one of my first commands. I believe you were off to...Brown at the time."

"Actually, it was Yale," she replied, "I've been in the Bureau almost ten years now."

"Don't tell me that. Has it been that long?"

"Apparently, sir," Emily chuckled, "But I work mostly in the Midwest—St. Louis, Chicago." That was technically true. She had worked in both of those offices.

"Good," he said. Then, after an awkward pause, "Uh, your parents well?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah, yeah, they're great."

"Excellent," he said. And then, after another pause, "What can I do for you?"

Emily was somewhat taken aback. "Uh, well, I guess I was hoping you could tell me where to put my stuff."

"I'm sorry?"

"I-I'm supposed to start here today, at the BAU." She handed him her file, and he gave it a cursory once-over without really looking at any of it.

"There's been a mistake."

"I don't think so, sir."

"There's definitely been a mistake," he insisted.

A young, attractive blonde woman knocked gently on the doorframe. "Excuse me," she said, "We're getting started."

"Thank you, I'll be right there," Agent Hotchner said to her. He looked back at Emily. "I didn't approve this transfer, Agent Prentiss. I'm sorry for the confusion, but you've been misinformed. Excuse me." He handed the file back to her and left the office.

Emily followed him out into the hallway, but he was clearly not coming back. The BAU team was gathered in their conference room, so Emily figured she would wait. Surely Agent Hotchner would have to come back to his office before he went out into the field. She put her box down and sat on the couch, determined not to leave until she'd been accepted as part of the team. But the seconds kept ticking by, and Emily was getting impatient. She got up and started walking around the office, studying the commendations and family pictures on the walls.

"Oh, hi," a cheerful voice chirped behind her, and Emily turned around to see a curvy blonde woman in a brightly colored blouse and skirt. "Uh, I didn't think anyone would be in here," she said, "I'm Penelope Garcia, the BAU's technical analyst. Are you looking for Hotch?"

"Is that what you call him?" Emily asked, "Yeah, um, I'm Emily Prentiss, and I—well, I'm supposed to be the new agent here, but..."

"Oh, well, the whole team just left for St. Louis; I mean, you just missed him."

"No, no, I didn't miss him," Emily sighed.

"Oh..." Penelope said, "Well, hey, I was about to go to lunch. Would you want to join me? I can give you the inside scoop on the team and everything."

Emily smiled. "I'd love that, thank you." At least someone seemed to want her here.

Penelope took Emily down to the cafeteria and bought her a turkey sub. She rattled through the names of the other agents on the team and what to expect from each of them. She told Emily that the team had been a little on edge lately since one of their agents, Elle Greenaway, resigned following a fatal shooting. Hotch was probably just trying to avoid a repeat of that whole ordeal. Emily listened intently. She didn't do much talking, but that was fine by her; she enjoyed Penelope's chatter. After lunch they parted ways, and Penelope promised to call Emily when the team was headed back from their case.