𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐍 the landing as her brother descended the stairs, handing the folder to an otherwise preoccupied JJ. The blonde opened the file, skimmed it, then looked between her boss and his sister before nodding. Making his way back up to Abbie, Hotch passed her to knock on the open door of the office next to his.
"Conference room," he spoke, his hand on the doorframe, "five minutes."
"You got it," a voice replied, but Abigail couldn't see the face it belonged to.
Aaron's dark eyes found his sister's and he cocked his head to the other end of the platform. "Come on."
She quickly followed as he led her to the far room. It housed a large, round table, its wood sleek and polished. Horizontal blinds hung from the windows that overlooked the bullpen below, and a large tv screen was fixed to the adjacent wall. Abbie surveyed the room, unknowingly taking mental count of the chairs; there were six, and one beige couch against the opposite wall, spanning the length of two of the four vertical windows.
From the open doorway across from where she and Aaron had entered, three figures emerged. One was JJ, who gave Abbie a polite smile, which was reciprocated. Second was Derek, who shot her a wink. Thirdly, however, was a woman Abigail hadn't met before. She had dark hair, pin-straight and cut to her shoulders, and was dressed in a deep plum t-shirt, slim black trousers, and black heeled ankle-boots that Abbie would've killed to know where to buy. She too smiled kindly to Abbie, knowing they would eventually be introduced.
"Who's this brown-eyed beauty I see?" Abbie heard from behind her and she turned, her entire face breaking into a wide grin as she finally was able to recognise the voice she had heard earlier.
"David!" she beamed, her stature softening as he wrapped her in a hug. "I can't believe they managed to pull you out of retirement."
David Rossi shrugged, smiling beneath his neatly trimmed, and greying, goatee. "Guess this old dog still has a few tricks left in him."
Another man quickly entered from the same place as the others, catching Abigail's attention. He sat, flustered as he fixed his mousy-brown hair. "Sorry," he murmured before his eyes fell onto Abbie, their tones as warm as cinnamon. She smiled before Aaron took everyone's attention.
"Before we start, Dave and Morgan you know," he spoke to Abigail before pointing to the others around the table in turn. "Jennifer Jareau, Emily Prentiss, Dr Spencer Reid."
