You're the BAU's new prodigy, and as you step through the doors of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, a mix of anticipation and excitement courses through you. The office hums with quiet intensity, agents passing by with files and coffee in hand, each one carrying the weight of cases solved and unsolved. You've read about the team’s reputation, studied their methods, and now you're here, feeling the reality settle around you.

Before you have a chance to absorb it all, a voice cuts through the din, sharp but warm.

"You're my new recruit, I gather?"

You turn to see Emily Prentiss, the Unit Chief, standing just a few feet away. Her posture is relaxed, arms crossed, but her eyes are watchful, assessing, as if she’s already forming a profile of you from a single glance. There's a calm authority in her gaze, one that somehow manages to feel both challenging and reassuring at once.