If you're looking for fun and a little humorous adventure, look no further! Mabelreid and I are pleased to present this little tale--hope you like where the road takes us! Usual disclaimers will apply to all chapters.

A/N: The titles of each corresponding chapter will relate to a particular song lyric. Our muses will provide cookies if you can guess the song each chapter's inspirational lyric comes from... :)

"Spencer, those are my pajama pants."

Reid looked up as the young woman pointed to the makeshift tie that was now currently holding his ancient Volvo's muffler to the undercarriage of the vehicle. The small pink hearts dotting the bright white background of the fabric leered at the profiler as a sign—though of what, he wasn't quite sure.

"I'm sorry, Austin," he said quietly, smearing some sort of dirt over his overworked brow. "There's nothing else that'll work."

"You mean you didn't pack a tie?"

"No. Apparently those were all destroyed when I asked Garcia to grab a few things for me yesterday," the lanky man replied, settling down in the backseat of the car to rest a minute. "Something to do with 'being on vacation with a beautiful woman'…"

Austin smiled a little while shifting her weight on her feet. "She did, huh?"

"I think actually it was her excuse to just buy me some new clothes."

"Well, orange looks great on you, Spencer." Austin leaned in and kissed him right on the tip of his nose, and it was impossible for Reid to stay frustrated. "Though I'm not sure the purple fuzzy pants were a great idea…"

"Hot coffee…first degree burns…large stain in very conspicuous place…" Reid grumbled, remembering the pair's disastrous attempt at breakfast. "You picked them out for me!"

"Well, it was early, and you were screaming bloody murder."

"Um, hot coffee?"

"Yeah. Well," Austin said, sliding into the car next to her traveling partner, "can't say we're not getting off to a good start."

"I can't believe they 'arranged' this trip for us," Reid said.

"I thought you liked traveling?"

"I do, but…"

"You travel a lot for work. I get it," Austin said. "Well, we're in Kentucky now. Washington State is a long way from here."

"Yeah, but this is better than work. I mean, I can take my time, there's no rush, great company, and plus there's no mutilated corpse or crazed man wielding a deadly weapon at the end of this trip." Reid smiled for the first time in hours—at least, since the car had started making weird noses resembling a giant, ferocious under-the-bed monster about to attack. "I just wonder why they picked Washington State…"

"Oh. Um…" Austin's gaze fell to the floor, a small conspiratorial smile gracing her face. "I, ah, told your friend Garcia that I always wanted to see the ocean, and the next day I got this phone call…"

Reid's hand hit his forehead. "Ow," he said suddenly as the pain began to spread behind his eyes. "That explains a lot."

"So, what now, oh wise one?" Austin joked. "I mean, the rustic highway is just lovely, but I think I can hear banjo music coming from somewhere around here…"

"Whoever thought up that book is more depraved than the guy who made the movie," Reid winced, his mind going where all men's minds go when Deliverance is mentioned in any form. "Well, thank God she let me keep the cell phone, because a tow truck's now coming to try to get this looked at, because frankly, I'm not genius when it comes to the mechanical workings of a car."

"And here I thought most guys had it hardwired into their brains." Austin settled her folded arms against the top of the car's roof, the warm summer sun washing over her like a giant spotlight. "At least, most of the losers I used to date were like that."

"Losers?"

"Problem was, if you weren't talking about a car or how much you could drink in one sitting, they weren't interested." She sighed. "Beauty, no brains."

"Oh."

"Now, you, on the other hand, are the best of both," Austin said. "Gorgeous and holds an intelligent conversation. Be still my heart."

Reid blushed. He didn't want to tell her that he was drawn to her partly because of her looks, but also that she was genuinely interested in him as a person. Thanks, Morgan, he thought silently as the two began to swap stories about being stuck in other situations. Perhaps I can do more 'magic' than I realized…

Just then the tow truck arrived. "Dr. Reid?" the driver asked, a fat, bushy-bearded man wearing a red cap and a pair of dirt-stained overalls.

"Y-yes," Reid stammered. There was a part of him that worried about those 'banjos' that Austin joked about.

"Bill Walker. Y'say you've got a bad muffler?"

"Oh, yeah," Austin said, deftly stepping between the immense driver and the tongue-tied profiler. "We thought about driving it, but we'd get pulled over pretty quick, the racket it's making…"

"You know cars, miss?"

"Dated a lot of gearheads. No offense."

"None taken." Behind Walker's scraggly gray beard was a warm smile, and Reid visibly relaxed as the man set about loading the car onto the hoist. "Prefer raising geese, myself. Old Bo in there is looking forward to herding them once we get back."

"Bo?" Austin asked, and seconds later a joyful bark swiftly turned her attention to the cab of the tow truck. Inside was a dark-spotted, short-haired dog that was wagging his tail as fast at the joint would allow.

"Oh, yeah, Bo there, he loves chasing geese. Never eats 'em, mind, just goes out and rounds 'em up. Got a lot of people raising birds in this area—what with the economy and all…"

Reid noticed as the sun began to sink in the west, the air temperature cooling considerably with each passing minute. "Um, about how long, do you think…?"

"Oh, Donnie's not in 'til tomorrow, son," Walker explained. "Takes Mondays off—works Saturdays instead. Claims he can fish more that way, but I dunno."

"In that case, how about someplace to eat?" Austin said brightly leaning into the cab of the tow truck to pet the large dog sitting inside. "Aw, aren't you sweet!" The dog simply lapped up the attention, a giant 'smile' crossing his face and his tail thumping against the sides of the door. "Spencer, come on, he's harmless!"

Gingerly, Reid reached in to pat the dog. He was surprised when the animal leaped out of the cab and jumped on top of him, happily licking his face after smelling the agent over carefully.

"Bo! Get back in there!" Walker yelled as he set the indicator lights on the ancient Volvo. "I'm terribly sorry, son…"

"No, no, it's all right," Reid said, looking down at his now-mud-stained shirt and purple fuzzy pants. "In fact, that hasn't happened before…usually dogs don't like me."

"He sees you being nice to the young lady there," Walker explained. "Old Bo, he likes girls. Likes men only if the girl they're with does, if you catch me."

Both Reid and Austin smiled wide. "About dinner, sir?" he asked. "It is getting late."

"Yep. Drop this to Donnie, tell him put a rush on it, and then I can drop you both to Nancy's—she's got the best coffee and ice cream pie in town…"

"Sounds great," Austin said, smiling. "Well, at least we're off to an interesting start, Spencer," she added as she hopped into the cab, Bo following close behind her.

Good thing I'm skinny, Reid mused as he gently sat next to the overly happy dog whose ears were being scratched by Austin. At least the car will be fixed, and the place seems pretty nice…