A/N: Sorry for the long wait. It's been hell over here...

House of Mirrors-Fun and Games

Spencer Reid woke up to the sounds of crispy leaves and howling winds hitting against his window and promising of another cloudy fall day-and his cell phone screeching at him on full blast. The young agent inwardly groaned; he had been looking forward to the day off his team had been promised, but he should have known better than to think they'd actually get it. "Hello?"

"Spence, hey!"

"JJ?" Maybe it was better news than he thought it would be. "What's up?"

"Well, I know it's not really your thing, but we're taking Henry to some circus that's in town. We asked Hotch if he wanted to bring Jack, too, and it looks like the whole team's going now…." She let the 'will you come?' hang in the air wordlessly.

"Oh? When should I be there?" Reid grinned. How could he pass up an opportunity to see Henry again?

"Great!" JJ cheered. "We'll pick you up at noon, actually." She hadn't really expected him to say no, obviously, and had already been prepared to answer the question.

"Sounds like a plan," Reid nodded. "I'll see you then."

"Bye!" With that, she hung up.

Reid pocketed his cell phone before heading to his small kitchenette. He then made himself a cup of coffee while cleaning his apartment as he waited for noon to come around. Although he was more than a bit excited to see Henry, he was also a bit nervous. It had been a while since they had last interacted; he couldn't help but wonder if Henry would still even recognize him. His thoughts were halted, though, when his apartment door was being buzzed. "Crap," he muttered. He hadn't even started getting his shoes on or anything! "Hang on!" he yelled through the intercom. Seeing JJ's hand form the 'okay' signal he rushed back to his bedroom to grab his converse shoes- and his purple scarf. It looked a bit chilly outside, and being born in Las Vegas, even the slightest bit of a breeze felt overwhelmingly cold to him despite how long he'd actually been living in Virginia. Finally he had his messenger bag on his shoulder and keys in his hand. He was ready to go.

"Good to see you again, Spence." JJ smiled kindly as she watched Reid descend down the staircase. The nervous man just smiled back and quickly jogged to catch up to her. Soon enough they were both in the car with Will and Henry driving off to the circus. For most of the ride Henry had taken to giggling on Reid's lap as he made funny faces, much to JJ and Will's amusement. Eventually Henry became tired, though, and quickly fell to sleep. "Here," Will grinned, "let's put him back in his seat."

"Thanks," Reid laughed, passing Henry off to his father.

The rest of the ride was full of comfortable chatter and catching up. Time flew by as they drove the hour and a half that the circus was away from the Quantico area, and soon enough they were parked in a decent space and heading toward the front of the circus. Henry was in Reid's arms as they approached the gate, where they saw the rest of the team standing and waiting. "Pretty Boy," Morgan snickered. "See JJ? I knew if you brought Henry he'd come!"

"What-?" Reid frowned. The rest of the team had to smile at that.

"Never mind Spence," JJ rolled her eyes. "Come on guys, let's go."

The team nodded as they shuffled through to the 'Ticket Center'. A few minutes later the group was on the other side of the gate, and what they saw puzzled them. The circus had been opened for hours, but yet there was no one else there. Of course that raised a few bells in their heads, but they decided not to think much of it. It was fall time now; the air was getting chillier and the wind wispier. Maybe the other people were just afraid of the colder weather- or maybe there was another event going on around the town.

"Oh, look!" Garcia suddenly cheered. "There's a juggler!" The whole team in return turned their heads to see a gothic-looking young man tossing three balls up and down in the air. His face was solemn and was completely covered in black and white make-up, something Garcia found almost intriguing. The sight made Reid frown, however; he hadn't been expecting to see such sad looking make-up in a circus. 'Not that I've ever been to one before,' he mumbled in his head.

"Come on," Hotch said quietly, placing his hand on Jack's shoulder, "let's go check out when the next show begins."

Rossi looked around the circus grounds with a carefully placed frown. Something wasn't right about the whole charade- he just couldn't put his finger on it. The juggler hadn't been that much of a shock to him at all, though. He had read somewhere that a lot of circuses were starting to go 'gothic' to get a younger crowd to come to them.

"Hmm, looks like the next one starts in less than fifteen minutes," Hotch informed them.

"Should we go get seats?" Prentiss asked. It was almost sarcastic, though, as when she looked around no one was there. Absolutely no one, to be exact.

"Sure," Will murmured. He, like the other adults, was about ready to turn around and go some place else. Maybe the kids would enjoy a trip to the zoo better than the Hot Topic inspired circus. "You know, maybe we should go to the zoo instead-"

"Well, but the show's just about to begin!"

The voice came from behind the team. Everyone turned around to see and semi-muscular man in his early 30's with pitch-black hair and matching make-up. On top of his head laid an old-fashioned showman hat with a rich, purple ribbon above its brim. The fake cane he held in his hand and the cape he donned told Hotch that he was the show runner.

"Um, sorry sir-"

"Please, my name is Cole," he grinned devilishly.

"Sorry, Cole, but I was just wondering if my son wouldn't enjoy the zoo better," Will replied respectfully- and a bit cautiously.

"Hmm," Cole mused, "how about we ask him?"

"You could try, but I don't think it'll work," JJ replied, motioning to the baby in 'Spence's' arms.

"I see," Cole nodded. "Well, about this young man?" The black-haired man leaned down to see the child at Jack's own height. "Do you want to see the circus?" Jack just smiled and nodded his head, completely oblivious to his father's growing discomfort. "It's settled then!" the man smiled. "The circus it is!" Suddenly the man waved to the group and made his way into the arena. He needed to prepare for the show, after all.

"I don't like this," JJ whispered to Will.

"Yeah, neither do I."

Despite their ill-fated feelings about the matter they moved on into the building with the rest of the team. To no one's surprise no one was seated inside. 'At least we'll get good seats,' Morgan thought dryly. The agents quickly chose seats in the third row-not too close but not too far- and waited patiently for the show to begin.

"Something seems a little off with that Cole character," Morgan grumbled to Reid. The younger man just nodded, unsure what else he could possibly say. Of course he agreed with Morgan, and he knew that everyone else felt the same way. They couldn't leave now, though, it was too late. 'And besides,' Reid admitted to himself, 'I really don't want to see what might happen if we try to leave.'

And then the sound of a someone clicking a mic to check it filled the loud speakers. Suddenly the entrance behind them was closed, the lights were dimmed, and the man who had introduced himself as Cole was smiling viciously on the stage.

"Good evening, ladies and gentleman," he announced in a good-natured tone. All that vanished, however, as more people dressed similarly as he took the stage. "Welcome to hell."