Verecund (Criminal Minds)

Chapter 17

"She's been in there almost a half hour," Morgan declared. 

"Thirty two minutes," Spencer mumbled. "Going on forty-five seconds."

Derek Morgan shook his head, a small smile tracing his lips. He watched the young doctor, who stared at the office door from his desk. It was another few minutes before the oak door opened, and Ash stepped out. Derek took his feet off his own desk, swinging them up to stand. "Hey, kid, how'd it go?"

Ash shrugged as Derek put a careful hand on her shoulder. All right, I guess. Not sure. Said it'll be a few days before any notification.

Derek looked to Spencer, who repeated "She said she thinks it went okay, but it'll be a few days or so before we know."

"That's okay," Derek nodded. "Hotch will probably be the first to know. Until then, you still get to hang out with Penelope. Sounds like you two get along quite well."

Ash shrugged, as she always did. 

"It'll definitely help you get accustomed to what we do," Emily was the next to approach. JJ nodded from her desk in agreement.

"Are you guys ready for lunch?" The spoken-of technology worker appeared. She held tightly to a purse that looked like a banana. "I wanna hear all about your interview."

"Then let's go, pretty mama," Derek was ushering people out. "I'm sure the tiny genius has plenty to say. But I didn't eat breakfast, so let's get a move on."

"Did you know that a non-habitual eating of breakfast can actually be more harmful than never eating breakfast?" Spencer piped up as he followed the others. "Eating breakfast only occasionally can have some of the perks including increased physical performance, but it can decrease your metabolism and exhaust your brain, unless you create a habit of eating every morning."

"Sorry," Derek raised his brows. "I'll keep that in mind."

Ash smiled a little as Derek shook his head at her, holding open the door as she passed by. Emily and JJ were half-ignoring the rest of their coworkers as the walked ahead, talking about a new movie. Penelope and Reid waited for Ash and Derek as they talked about the newest episode of Doctor Who. 

The coworkers were able to fit into one van, and Derek was the one who drove them to a little diner near the headquarters building. They hopped out, into the diner, and were seated at a table. 

"Okay," Penelope leaned forward on her elbows, staring at Ash across the table. "Now, I need to know what they asked you, what happened in Hotch's office?"

Ash shrugged. She signed her hands quickly before Spencer translated.

"The director mostly asked about her problem solving skills, gave her some examples. Asked what she would do in certain situations. What she expects to see in the field and how she would work under pressure."

"Did he seem nice?" Penelope leaned forward a little. "I mean, he's the director and all, but I've never met him. Was he all dark and mysterious, or was he actually nice and cool?"

Ash shrugged. She didn't have another answer.

"He may not be very warm," Emily reminded them, "But he works fast. If he didn't have any intentions on moving forward with the application, he wouldn't have met you so quickly."

"And when you're approved," JJ put her glass down with an eyebrow raise. "You are more than welcome to help me organize the case files in my office."

"Maybe you should hire a secretary," Derek cracked. "God knows all the assistants up in HR could get something to do with their day for once."

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A/N: short update ikik but I literally haven't updated this in a whole year so I wanted to get something out there before I rly kick it back up bc I've always had plans for this fic