How Could You Forget?

~0~

The corridors and walkways of the BAU were strangely stark and cold, little light showed, of of that that did most flickered silently. No cubicles or workstations were full today, everywhere was still...silent...and he began to panic a little.

~0~

Though he would never admit it, Spencer Reid was more than a little afraid of being alone...justifiably so, considering his ordeal with Tobias Hankel...but still, if the team had been on a case, why hadn't they called him?

And where was everyone else?

~0~

He knew it was a little early, but still...

They couldn't have all gone on holiday at once, it was statistically improbable to the point that there were better odds of the world imploding next Saturday, than the entire Government office being completely empty and devoid of any life...though he was happy to be proved wrong...he had a date on Saturday...

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Casually, he ran a hand over the laptop on Morgan's desk...cold. As were the one's on Prentiss an JJ's desks, thus proving no one had indeed been working for the last several hours at least...but that still begged the question...

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Where were they NOW?

And for what purpose had they all simultaneously gone AWOL?

~0~

For the first time in his life...his head hurt...

Striding down the hall, he discovered Garcia's Technological 'Altar of Awesome' as she had deemed the place, last Thursday...it was desolate of life, even the familiar waving kitty screen-savers were gone...all the computers were -he gulped in near-terror- off!

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Heart pounding in his ears, he began to grow wary of his surroundings, his over-imaginative mind throwing completely illogical suggestions and ideas at him...had they all been abducted by aliens? Were there Zombies somewhere in the building? Was everyone invisible or he, himself, out of phase?

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After about two minutes of this irrational thinking, he resolved to NEVER watch horror movies with Morgan again...they made him all jumpy...especially now...

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Something caught his eye, upon Morgan's desk was strewn a calendar, he read across this week's listing of days and dates...only to pause on today, for it had been circled by a giant red marker -most likely a flat-edged number three which would have been used by-...oh he was not seriously profiling a pen, was he?

That was weird even for him! Sadly, this time he knew it, too...

~0~

The date, March 12th...it seemed so familiar, as if it had an important purpose...but the reasoning behind it eluded him for some reason...an unfamiliar sensation for Reid. He furrowed his brows, intense concentration lighting his features...yet still the thought eluded him, the significance...

And then he saw it, the other clues he had missed, a docket sticking out from JJ's beloved black folder, some wrapper's in Prentiss's bin -though he knew she never ate junk food such as this...and the drawn blinds in Hotch's office...

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Tentatively, he walked over to the door of his superior's/surrogate father-figure's office door, failing to notice the soft rustling of the blinds as they fell minutely...Reid stared at the cedar as if it were personally responsible for all his confusion and apprehension, if he was Superman, the thing would have melted under the scrutiny.

He was not, however, though Spencer could have sworn he saw it buckle a little...

~0~

Taking a deep breath, he reached out and grasped the brass knob, turning it clockwise with careful deliberation. He truly did not want to intrude upon his commanding officer's privacy...but in the name of scientific curiosity...

The door swung open to reveal a room devoid of light, and yet his stomach clenched, sensing he was not alone...a vague thought about the zombie theory again did not help to dispel thoughts of a gruesome death...

~0~

It was brushed aside as blinding lights flashed into his eyes and all his co-workers leapt out from various positions yelling, "SURPRISE!"

Garcia shot over and grabbed him in a bone-crushing hug...Reid was convinced he could no longer feel his legs as she yelled, "Happy Birthday, Reid! Oooh, who's my big Boy Wonder?"

He blushed a little...just knowing intuitively, that she was picturing him in the original Robin costume...little shorts and pixie boots...he went a deeper red...

~0~

Morgan whacked him on the back in an overtly manly gesture, though Reid was sure if he did it again, he would have to blow the candles off that delectable looking cake, with a respirator's assistance...from a wheelchair...

He frowned almost imperceptibly as JJ and Prentiss took their turns hugging him, connections moving at super-speed in his brain...and then it hit him...

"How could-

~0~

"...-he have Forgotten?" laughed Rossi, nudging a bemused-looking Gideon -who had come specifically for the surprise party. Hotch smiled a little, "Well, eidetic memory he may have, but it still defies the face of science and logic that he manages to forget his own birthday, every year!"

~0~

Their now, twenty-four-year-old wonder child, had the most amusing look of disbelief, confusion and excitement on his face -like a child at Christmas...whilst being squeezed within the inch of his life by Garcia for the second time...

Gideon nudged Rossi surreptitiously, as he whispered, "I was right...you know what that means..."

~0~

Rossi sighed dramatically, and handed over the ten dollars...

Hotch just stood there and laughed...

THE END!^^