F O U R T E E N

SCOUT KNEW MORE than she let on, but she could never say that it was her fault.

It was engraved into her head. It went past simple muscle memory. It was instinct. It was uncontrollable, bone crushing, teeth clenching, unforgivable instinct.

"You're loosing pace. If my memory recalls, you were able to reload in less than a second. Now look at yourself, you can barely keep up." Xander sneered at her, arms crossed.

She rolled her eyes, "I hurt my shoulder. I can get you a doctor's note if you'd like. "

"Don't be sarcastic with me, Wiley."

"If not you, then what other purpose do I serve the world?" She aimed her gun towards the target and shot before he could respond.

Bringing the paper towards her, she smiled at her bullseye. So far every shot she made today landed at the same spot.

"At least you're aiming doesn't suck."

Scout scoffed, "That sounds almost impossible."

"Yes well, when was the last time your used a gun? I question if your ready for this mission."

"Too bad," She said. "It's too late now to change it, your pimp should've thought of that in the first place."

"Hey, what did I say? No speaking of those who give you your assignments, just be grateful. If it was my decision, you would be still intercepting letters in that little mailroom of yours."

Scout pouted mischievous, "And what? You want me to miss out on all the fun? The only thing I was allowed to carry was a box cutter."

"And yet, you still can't carry a gun with you in the BAU."

She lifted the protective glasses off her face, "Not my fault. Do you want me to pass that test on my first try?"

"Of course not, you idiot. The FBI would be even more suspicious that a 5'1 nobody with no training can suddenly sharp shoot on command."

"Then trust the process, Xander. I just have to play around with the BAU a little longer and then I can put a bullet between Rossi's eyes."

Scout aimed the gun again but quickly had the gun grabbed from her hands and the air knocked out of her lungs. She sent a sneer at the large man, grabbing her rib in pain.

"You insolent brat. You want to mess up this whole situation? Killing David Rossi was never part of the plan."

"Jeez, I know. Can't I make a fucking joke?" Scout rolled her eyes.

"No," Xander said. "I never quite found you funny enough. Now, get out of here.  You better start to learn some respect or I'll have your mother pay for your mistakes."

She scoffed and walked out.

"I'm already paying for my Dad's."

***

"Hey."

Spencer glanced up and made eye contact.

Scout smiled shyly, "You wouldn't happen to know how to do these, would you?"

She pointed to the stack of file resting on her desk.

"Y-Yeah, do you want me to show you?" Spencer stuttered our.

Scout nodded.

He pulled out a similar file from his bag and placed in on his desk. Flipping through it, he pointed out to the now written in lines.

"This section is where you talk about what happened in the assignment from your point of view. On the back, you write about what you could've changed. And on the next page, you give a quick diagnosis on the unsub and what you thought triggered the situation. Its pretty self explanatory really."

Scout shrugged, "Maybe to you, this is my first time here. And from what people tell me, you're considered the resident genius here."

"Well, I wouldn't say that. It's all subjective really."

"From my perspective," She smiled. "You've got a gun, you do the research, you've got the degrees. I'd say your far ahead compared to me."

She looked around at everyone else.

"Well, I think everyone in this room is so that's not saying much when it comes from me." Scout sighed.

"Not true!" He blurred out.

Scout furred her eyebrows together, "Are you delusional?"

Spencer swallowed his dry mouth.

"You figures out Van Reynolds was traumatized by The Yellow Wallpaper. I never even read that story."

"Really?" She questioned, "I read it back in high school."

"I skipped a few grades. Must've been something I missed. But I read it on the plane trip back, it was far ahead of its time."

Scout smiled shyly and nodded.

"As long as you read the basics then it doesn't really matter. But it must've taken a long time."

"I can read 20,000 words a minute."

"You're lying." She narrowed her eyes playfully.

He shook his head, "Why would I lie about that?"

"To impress me?"

Spencer's eyes widened, "I wasn't trying to, I was only-"

She chuckled and sat back down at her desk, glancing at the the insanely tall nerd.

"Relax, Doc." Scout said. "It doesn't impress me that much."

His eyebrow raised, "And what would?"

"That answer would ruin the fun, wouldn't it?"

Spencer glanced over to Morgan, who was once reading his paperwork but now listened with a smile on his face. His eyes were still looking on his paper but the genius knew. Morgan was really listening in on their conversation.

"But," Scout brought back his attention. "I'd say any knowledge that doesn't rely so much on educational facts."

"Like?"

"Why the sudden curiosity, Doc? I thought your weren't trying to impress me?"

Spencer's face flushed. He wasn't trying to but the girl spoke in such riddles that got him so curious as to where the conversation was going next.

"I-That wasn't my intention."

"Instead, you're just trying to get to know your new teammate?"

Spencer nodded.

"Uh huh, what about you, Morgan? Got any knowledge you'd like to share?"

The agent's head perked up, the playful smile never fading.

"I can make a mean macaroni and cheese." He chuckled.

"See?" She pointed at Morgan. "That's the kind of useful information that impresses me. Who wouldn't want to know that?"

"I've seen all 851 episodes of Doctor Who." Spencer blurted out.

Out of the corner of his eye, Morgan's smiled faltered and the man started to shake his head ever so slightly. Maybe Doctor Who wasn't that impressive?

Scout scoffed, "Now, that's a lie."

"No."

"Impossible. I'm still four seasons behind, along with the rest of humanity." She narrowed her eyes at him.

Spencer sat, shocked.

"You watch?"

"I'm struggling, but yeah. I need something to fill my void of Harry Potter."

His eyes scrunched together, "Harry Potter?"

"What? You can't tell me you've never heard of Harry Potter before?" Scout's mouth agape.

JJ walked by, listening in on their conversation, "He hasn't heard of Twilight before either."

"What are you both talking about?" Spencer questioned.

Scout shook her head, "I guess you're not a really genius after all."

She glanced down at her files and started to get back to work, leaving the lanky man to sit in a trace of questionable state.

Morgan shook his head and mouthed towards Spencer, "Nice job."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
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