Chapter 1: New Beginnings

"Every noble work is at first impossible" – Thomas Carlyle

Aoife Murphy tapped her black high heels anxiously on the floor of the elevator as it travelled upwards. Her hands twisted as she smoothed down her black dress, nervously entangling her fingers in its soft material as she brushed out the imaginary wrinkles. She pursed her lips together in an attempt to ensure her rosy lipstick was perfectly blended whilst readjusting her bag securely onto her shoulder.

Aoife took a deep calming breath as a soft ding announced that the elevator had arrived at its destination. She straightened herself up, holding her head up determinedly to face the doors. Time to go.

She stepped forward confidently as the doors opened, her heels clicking as she entered the impressive hallway. She took one last breath to compose herself before continuing towards the imposing doors ahead. Reaching out her arm, she pushed open the glass door proudly adorned with the FBI seal.

This was it.

She was taken back by the sight that greeted her.

It was all a blur. People bustled past hurriedly as phones rang out noisily and employees chatted animatedly to one another. This was the FBI. This was the Behavioural Analysis Unit. Aoife never would have envisioned herself here – she was always favoured more of a desk job. But, people can change. A chance for a new start.

The flurry of people rushing past her pulled her from her musings. Time to focus. Her lips curved into a small smile as she surveyed the bullpen. A hum of noise filled the room as agents continued to diligently work, unfazed by the commotion surrounding them. Her bright green eyes narrowed as she focused her gaze on the office at the back of the room. Aoife nervously readjusted the strap on her shoulder and brushed her dark hair from her face, before she moved towards the Unit Chief's office.

Emily Prentiss rested her head in her hands as she finally surrendered to her exhaustion. She let out a deep sigh, rubbing her temples soothingly. It had been a tough week.

She let herself fall back into the comfort of her black leather chair, her head lulling backwards as she relinquished her resolve to persevere through the piles of casework sat in front of her. It had all been a whirlwind since her appointment as Unit Chief.

Hotch never got enough credit. Emily mused quietly to herself. The amount of paperwork and bureaucracy was overwhelming. At times, it even felt as if the pressure was crushing her. She loved her job and she was immensely proud to lead her incredible team. But, the responsibility that accompanied her new role was immense. It was time to introduce a new face in the BAU.

Suddenly, a sharp knock on the door interrupted Emily from her thoughts. She sat forward in her seat. "Come in."

The door opened and a woman entered the room, carefully closing the door behind her. Emily stood up eagerly to greet her.

"Hi, I'm Aoife Murphy." Aoife greeted enthusiastically, outstretching her hand to shake Emily's. "It's great to meet you properly Agent Prentiss."

"It's great to have you here Agent Murphy." Emily grasped her hand firmly, flashing the woman a bright smile. "You have no idea how wonderful it is to have a new member joining our team. As you can probably tell, we really need your help." She joked, gesturing to the hectic scene outside her office.

"It definitely looks like you're all being kept busy." Aoife laughed softly, thinking about the bustling bullpen outside.

"Well, your résumé certainly showed you're more than capable at handling office chaos." Emily told her admiringly, gesturing for Aoife to sit down on a nearby chair as she perched on the end of her wooden desk.

"Your record at counterterrorism alone was impressive. Never mind your time at NYPD Media Relations. You're exactly the type of person we need in the BAU."

Aoife smiled gratefully at the compliment. "Thanks! It felt like time for a change and it doesn't get any bigger than the BAU. The work you guys do here is incredible. I'm just glad to be a part of it."

"As our Communication Liaison agent, you'll be the team's primary link with the media, local authorities and people pertaining to investigations." Emily explained. "We used to have a fulltime agent performing the role, however due to circumstances it ended up being shared between our former Unit Chief and our Technical Analyst. As you can tell-" she gestured to the busy scene outside, "we're run off our feet due to our heavy casework. The escape of thirteen serial killers earlier this year definitely didn't help us! We need you to take up the role."

Aoife smiled warmly at her. "I'm delighted to do it."

Emily let out a small laugh. "Trust me you won't be so eager once you see the mountains of files waiting for you! So, are you ready to meet the team?"

Luke Alvez sat quietly at his desk, his eyes squinting at the computer screen in front of him. His pending case reports sat in a neat pile to the right-hand side of his desk. Who knew being a Supervisor Special Agent-in training with the BAU would require so much paperwork? He stifled a yawn with his hand as he leant back in his chair.

It had been difficult to adjust to life in the BAU. He was used to working on his own in the fugitive task force, so it had been difficult to adjust to the close-knit team. However, Luke was enjoying it. He'd never thought of himself as much of a thinker, he was more of a doer. One of the reasons he'd joined the army was because he loved the action and adrenaline that accompanied the role. But, his new job seemed like a good mix between exhilarating fieldwork and challenging himself with new opportunities. The workload was insane though…

Luke's dark eyes scanned the bustling room, observing the frantic agents who rushed back and forth. The Unit had really been feeling the pressure recently, with the continuing threat of Mr Scratch looming over the team and the absence of Hotch weighing heavily on all their minds.

As he slowly turned his head, his eyes fell upon Emily's office. As Unit Chief she'd been feeling the strain more than anyone. Luke definitely didn't envy Prentiss for her new role. He thought she'd been handling it expertly, whatever the FBI brass claimed. He squinted as he examined the two figures standing in the office with curiosity. This must be the new agent.

Emily had informed them all last week during a team meeting that she'd taken the step of hiring a new team member to be their Communications Liaison. It would be an enormous relief to the team for someone to take the burden of bureaucratic planning and strategy off their shoulders. In the past, Garcia had split the responsibilities with Hotch, but everyone on the team knew it was gradually becoming an additional stress on their busy technical analyst. Garcia was also rarely available to be in the field with the team. This new agent would be able to travel with them to help them organise on the ground.

Luke reclined further back in his seat as he looked at the unfamiliar woman in Prentiss' office. She was petite in stature, yet her confident posture made her appear taller. Long dark hair framed her face, the waves cascading down her back. He quickly glanced away as he saw them move towards the door.

This should be interesting.

Aoife felt her stomach flutter nervously as Prentiss led her out of her office to introduce her to the team. She was well-aware of how tight-knit the BAU was and she didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with any team member. She also secretly felt a little intimidated - she knew how impressive every individual member of the team was, their reputations preceded themselves in the FBI.

"Ah! Aoife, this is David Rossi." Emily interrupted her thoughts, beckoning an older man over to them. "Rossi, this is Aoife Murphy. She's our new Communications Liaison." She warmly introduced them, gesturing to each of them in turn.

"Wow, we haven't had one of them for a long time! But, we could certainly use one. It's a pleasure to meet you Agent Murphy." Rossi leant forward and clasped her hand in his. "Welcome to the team."

"Thank you Agent Rossi. It really is an honour to be here." Aoife gave him a warm smile as they shook hands. "I still remember your training seminars on hostage negotiation back in the Academy."

"I hope that's not a painful memory for you." Rossi joked.

"Definitely not! I actually wrote one of my assignments based on your argument regarding demand theories. It came in useful in counterterrorism." Aoife grinned at the older agent. David Rossi was something of a legend in the FBI. It really was a honour to finally meet the esteemed agent.

Emily smiled at the two of them. "Here, come this way and I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

"You guys don't understand, this girl is amazing. I hacked into counterterrorism and-" Penelope Garcia babbled excitedly.

"Garcia!" Tara Lewis exclaimed, surprised at her co-worker's declaration. "You hacked into counterterrorism? Isn't that-"

"Actually, it's technically not that difficult to hack into the FBI's counterterrorism database. Reports suggest that-" Spencer Reid began to explain, twirling his pen in his hand.

"It's not that bad! Besides, I like to know who's travelling with my family." Garcia said, cutting him off before he could launch into a full review of system security in the US Government. "But, don't worry, she sounds awesome! Plus, I read some pretty bitchy emails about how sour they were that Cruz transferred her to the BAU. It was pretty entertaining." Garcia shrugged nonchalantly, tapping her fluffy pink pen on her furry notepad.

"Is that not illegal?" Luke questioned, raising his eyebrows as he leaned back into his chair.

"Please save it Judgy McJudgerson! Besides, I've done worse. Remember that time I hacked into the CIA and found Prince William's phone number JJ?" She said, looking to her blonde friend for support.

"You what?" Stephen Walker exclaimed, his usually calm voice slightly shocked. "When did you-"

"Maybe it's best not to talk about that again Garcia." JJ advised her, grinning widely as she perched on the end of her desk.

"I'm not even surprised." Luke laughed, shaking his head at Garcia's antics.

Penelope glared at him, pushing her glasses up her nose indignantly. "Zip it Newbie!"

"Why am I the only one who gets stuck with the 'Newbie' nickname?" Luke protested.

"Because, Walker has the voice of an angel and the new girl sounds awesome!"

JJ, Stephen and Tara tried to contain their laughter as the two bickered back and forth.

"Hey guys!" Emily greeted as she approached them, Aoife and Rossi in tow. "I have someone I'd like you all to meet."

"Everyone, this is Agent Aoife Murphy. She'll be our new Communications Liaison Officer." Emily introduced her to the group sat in front of them. "Agent Murphy, these are Special Supervisory Agents Stephen Walker and Jennifer Jareau, JJ to us, Doctors Tara Lewis and Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia, our technical analyst, and Special Supervisory Agent-in-training Luke Alvez." She said, gesturing to each person as she announced their name.

Walker gave Aoife a reassuring smile, he seemed to have a calming presence. JJ smiled warmly at her, her blonde hair falling in her face as she stood up to greet her. Lewis flashed her an encouraging smile as she shook her hand. Reid grinned childishly as he nodded at her from his seat, twirling a pen between his hands. Garcia rushed forwards to pull her into a friendly embrace.

She got to Luke Alvez last. He stood up to greet her. Luke was extremely tall, with broad muscular shoulders. Aoife could tell that this was probably the team member who was primarily responsible for chasing unsubs. He had short, dark curly hair and stubble framed the bottom of his face. He inclined his head towards her as he firmly shook her hand, a small smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you." He told her sincerely.

"It's great to meet you all." Aoife smiled brightly at the group. "Luckily, I'm good with names!"

A sharp phone call interrupted the group. "Sorry, I have to take this." Prentiss explained, politely excusing herself before returning to her office.

"Ah, it never stops." Rossi joked, causing the group to chuckle. "So, with a last name like Murphy and a first name like Aoife, can we safely assume you've got Irish family connections?" He asked her inquisitively, perching himself on the nearest desk.

"How could you tell? My parents weren't exactly subtle about it." Aoife let out a small laugh. "If only I had a dollar for every time someone's pronounced my name wrong."

"Don't worry, people mispronounce my second name all the time." Luke told her, laughing softly. "Is that a New York accent I hear?" He leaned forward in his seat to face Aoife.

"It is indeed. Queens born and bred." Aoife grinned widely at the young agent. "You don't even have to tell me, you're from the Bronx, right?"

"Naturally!"

"I wouldn't be so proud about that...you guys did give us the Yankees after all." She playfully teased.

"Okay, enough with offending my borough." Luke laughed as he held his hands up in mock surrender.

"New York actually provides fascinating comparative studies of the effect of gentrification in cities-" Reid blurted out, before being interrupted by JJ.

"Spencer's our resident genius by the way." She explained, gently patting Reid on his shoulder. "From gentrification to mummification." She joked. Reid smiled sweetly at Aoife and returned to twirling his pen.

"So, I take it you're not living in Virginia." Walker commented, glancing curiously up at Aoife.

"No, I'm too much of a city girl I'm afraid. I've condemned myself to the commute from DC to Quantico every morning." Aoife pulled a face at the thought of early morning wake-ups.

Lewis laughed warmly. "I can definitely sympathise with that!"

"Oh my goodness! I have to take you for cocktails at this one place in-" Garcia began to exclaim excitedly, before being interrupted by the arrival of Prentiss.

"Guys, it looks like we have a case." Prentiss explained as she approached them. "Briefing room in fifteen minutes please."

The team exchanged looks with one another, before dispersing to organise themselves. Prentiss turned around to address Aoife. "Agent Murphy, if you accompany me to my office, I'll personally brief you on the case. It looks like your job starts now."

It was time to begin…

I thought I'd try something a bit different. I'm a tad obsessed with Criminal Minds at the moment so I thought I'd give this story a go. It's going to be focused on Aoife, the new Communications Liaison for the BAU. I've got some good storylines already planned out (especially regarding potential cases). I'm also planning something between her and Luke (I think I fell a bit in love with him over Season 12). I'm still debating about whether this should take place before or after the events of Season 12 or if this story will follow the show's timeline generally. Let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy this chapter and the idea of this story. It's not my best writing but I just wanted to get the first chapter up and see how it goes.

The face claim for Aoife is Katie McGrath in case anyone was wondering.

If you want to check out more, take a look at my Tumblr (butsomeofusarelookingatthestars) which will have more photo edits, one-shots etc.