A ping was all that alerted the agents that anyone had arrived on their floor. Busy officers and a fair distance stopped the team from even hearing the sound though as advice was given on cases.
"Hotch, do you have a moment?" Morgan had barely met his side and pulled out the case when he noticed that Hotch wasn't even stopping.
"One moment Derek. I have to show Elora to her new desk." His dark eyes sprang open instantly and a smile was seen curving the edges of his lips.
"I see that you changed your mind in the end. I know that I wasn't kind to her last time she worked with us officially but Elora was a good help." Hotch only nodded as he then met the now blonde woman.
"Another change in hair colour?" Elora was grinning so wide that it seemed that there was no space between her ears but, her shining grey orbs seemed to be far too distracting for her face to be easily forgotten. The button nose had taken shape and the light spread of freckles seemed to finish off the whole face as her tanned skin was finely decorated.
"You know me. Never happy with what I got." Derek bent down to her level and kissed her cheek for a brief moment before the three of them walked into the room.
"This will be your desk." There was nothing on the table aside from the computer and some empty folder systems that were badly worn.
"We can get you some new organisers. That filing cabinet over there is full of stuff and you know that Garcia will not stop until the desk looks like you have been here since birth." Those same grey eyes didn't leave the desk as her hand ran over it.
"Back for a visit?" JJ asked as she walked through to talk with the team a little more. Spencer and Emily were close behind, Rossi took a little longer to follow up.
"No. I passed my fitness tests, fully healed from the shooting and I can go out onto the field. Hotch has chosen me to be the new agent. He didn't have much of a choice though. It was either me or someone who has failed their basic training more times than I have moved police stations." They all gave a smile to her words before sitting around the room.
"You are sat with Spencer and Emily. Not very lucky really." Morgan was teasing and Emily elbowed him in the side.
Elora sat on the top of her desk, legs dangling freely over the edge. She was listening as the group spoke about their work and plans for the end of the day. They became so animated that it washed the room with a fresh and easy feeling.
"You seem happy." Emily stood with her back to the group, her hip resting on the desk beside the place where Elora sat.
"I've never had this before. I was either training or undercover. Not that I am complaining because it was lovely but I can actually make friends. None of you sells drugs or wants to kill me. I guess it feels odd as well. I don't have to watch my back every five minutes." Emily was smiling as well but it was nowhere as large as Elora's smile. Grey eyes constantly moving as she watched the room move.
"What were you doing after the restaurant instance?" Officers had not stopped once as they tried to keep to deadlines and pots of fruit told those watching that they had been at their desks for lunch.
"Recovery. Lots of working out and rebuilding the muscles that wasted away. I had to be put into protection and then I was dealing with loose ends. Some of the lower members that weren't caught or killed." Emily could see that a new light was shining in the eyes of the agent.
"I hope that you like it here. We liked having another face about and you seem to be a good fit for that role." Emily had nudged Elora with her shoulder and the pair laughed slightly. Elora couldn't make a response though as Derek made his voice clear.
"What are you two talking about? I know that I am beautiful but just say it to my face." Emily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms while Elora climbed down and walked to be a part of the gathering.
"You wish hotshot. Now, we have some cases and Elora here needs to ask Garcia for her login." There seemed to be a collective set of nods that seemed reluctant to do so.
"Always the party pooper. Anyway, could someone point me in the way of Garcia? This lair of hers is quite the mystery that I have only heard mentioned twice." Most of them had left but help was never far away with the BAU.
"It looks like she can do it herself. It's like her Elora senses went off or something." Both women had laughed before Garcia finally saw the latest arrival.
"Look at you. Hotch said that there was someone new joining us and this, Mademoiselle, is your new login." A slip of paper was given to the agent and a hug was as well. Blonde hair covering the new girl as she laughed.
"Lovely to see you Garcia and I will say that I L-O-V-E the dress. My day wardrobe consists of jeans and tops. My pyjamas are another matter. Jogging bottoms and lazy tops as far as the eye could see." Grey eyes seemed to reminisce as they stared off into the distance.
"Well, we can go shopping and I can think of a few places that your cute little butt would love." There was barely any time to reply as one of the screens was noticed in the corner of the room.
"Oh. It's just the news. Another killing happened but it wasn't one of our cases." Garcia tried to catch Elora's attention but her eyes would not budge.
"I would love to go shopping with you. I am free whenever. Not like I have a life. Five years undercover didn't help me make friends." Still, eyes didn't leave the screen as children and a wife was seen being left behind.
"Don't tell me that you know him too." Elora didn't respond as she watched his movements and the reporter was seen in the corner of the screen on occasion.
"Why do they do it?" Her voice was so light and fragmented that it seemed like another woman.
"Well, people kill for a variety of reasons. You know, humans are actually the only creatures that kill another of their own kind for a reason other than self-defence or survival. Often the mind isn't..." Garcia was signalling for him to stop as he rambled on.
"I mean, why do they ruin their whole lives to just get high? In this day and age, fewer people are getting married and more couples are deciding that they don't want children. Yet, these people have more than most people could even think of and then they throw it away." Her face was like a canvas as she just watched the arrest play out.
"Sometimes people get so used to having it all that they have to have more. Besides, " Garcia nudged Elora slightly as she came to rest at her side.
"You're young. Give it time and you will have it all. Now that the secret spy stuff is behind you and we are here." Plump lips turned into a smile as her grey eyes moved and watched the wall.
"No. I don't think that I will." The three of them just sat there for a while before an officer passed by them and dragged out their attention.
"Oh come on. We should go and have some fun, the team can get to know you and you can get to know us, like a family. Nice necklace by the way." It seemed like drugs powered Penelope Garcia but over time it became envied as her happy can-do attitude was always radiating.
"I haven't had a family for 10 years. And thanks, my papá bought it for my mami, she then gave it to me, a couple of years ago now. The tree of life." Wide eyes and an open mouth met Elora as she spoke and almost immediately the girl smiled at her.
"Well, you know that I read your file but nothing before the FBI was even recorded. Why don't you tell me about your parents, siblings?" Spencer returned to his desk and Elora sat on her chair, trying to log in as Penelope spoke.
"Hispanic. What I can say is that I had some colourful language but my teachers never caught me. They assumed I was sincerely complimenting them." Her smile was tight but as soon as she logged in the systems were up and running. A new email had arrived and she had begun her first case.
"Most people try to assume that others are speaking well about them to make them feel better about themselves but most of the time they are wrong. Some languages, however, lend themselves to sounding insulting or complimentary. Spanish, for example, is seen as being quite a... I will shut up." The two girls began to laugh but Elora stuck out her bottom lip and looked sadly at him.
"Never stop being yourself, Reid. I have no doubt that I will regret saying this but I am so stupid that having you around might just be what I need. A walking google and, he dresses well." Spencer had glowing red cheeks as soon as she said this but he began to smile at her before going back to all of his work.
"Look at you. Smiling, forming a personal relationship with one of your coworkers and complementing those around you. It's like a new woman." Emily spoke while watching Elora out of the side of her eye.
"Oh yes, she is. Look at her, sat at a desk, spending time with people and not sharing a bed with a gang leader." A laugh was given as soon as Garcia said it and the computer was almost forgotten as Elora moved back to how she was previously seated.
"And this is all thanks to you, Penelope Garcia." Confused eyes all met before turning to her, Spencer had moved his chair to her side of the desk and she nodded.
"How?" Garcia almost challenged her as the statement had been left unexplained.
"Well, after you kept digging into my case, my old boss told me that we were so close to closing the gang down that this last mission was it. Maybe we had planned a different, less bullet orientated ending but it was the end. I was then told that I was a dark agent. I had two options and you made that decision." Her smile was still held and it even grew a little wider.
"Dark agent?" Emily pushed and Spencer gulped down before tilting his head back and looking down at Elora.
"Dark agent, an agent who is vital and dangerous to the FBI. After they have served their purpose their death can be faked or they can work for the FBI. Dark agents can't retire and they can't be fired either. Quitting isn't an option for a dark agent. There are two dark agents who are known publicly after a leak and both have dementia but are expected to work every day. There has never been a willing dark agent before and the only way out is to fake your own death once your big case is over. The two who are alive now originally faked their deaths but the leak of their identity forced them to come back." Both women looked between Spencer and Elora with worry.
"I worked in various teams in the FBI. There was a leak while I was there and one of my superiors worked for the gang. I know too much to be allowed to walk free, originally we planned the case to end with an FBI agent shooting me and then a paramedic, who happened to actually be my boss, pronouncing me dead on the scene, I would actually have a bulletproof vest on. My real id would never be known. Because you visited me in hospital, doctors knew who I was or what I was and you also knew that I had survived. That meant I had to spend my life as a dark agent. I am glad though, I met the two dark agents after I had been told and both of them said that life after they faked their deaths, was not comfortable."