Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. But boy if I did….
Author's Note: This is for the Masquerade challenge for Chit Chat on The Author's Corner. My prompts were JJ/Reid and a Yoda Costume. Please read, enjoy, review, and drive safely!
Spencer Reid stood nervously outside the door. Sweat dripped down his face, threatening to ruin his makeup. He hesitated before knocking. Was he in the right place? Would he be the first one there? What if he had merely imagined JJ inviting the whole team to go trick or treating with her, Will, and Henry?
A creak caught Reid's attention and his head whipped in the direction he thought he heard it coming from. That was one of the many flaws of prosthetic ears; clear hearing was sacrificed.
He met the eyes of JJ's older than God neighbor. She shot him her trademark "youth-these-days" stare. He tried to smile back, but the prosthetic mouthpiece warped his smile into an unintelligible blob. She glared at him again and slammed her front door.
Not wanting any more awkward confrontations, Reid knocked on JJ's door. He heard no less than nine pairs of feet stampede towards where he stood. He also heard a brief argument as to who would let him in.
Clearly, JJ won, because when the door opened, her face was the one smiling at him from under a silver tiara. "Hi Spence! Glad you made it!"
"Yeah, Pretty Boy, we almost left without you!" Morgan added, laughing form behind the black cloth covering his face. "What are you supposed to be anyway? Donkey Kong?"
"Don't you ever watch old movies Morgan?" Rossi asked. "He's Cornelius from the original Planet of the Apes saga."
"Actually," Reid replied, "I'm Caesar, specifically from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. But Roddy MacDowall played both of them anyway, so it really doesn't matter…"
"Guys, come on, can we please go already? My sprinkles are going to fall off!" Garcia complained, pulling on Morgan's arm.
"Easy cupcake," Morgan said, smirking at his pun off of her costume. "We've got to wait for Henry and Jack."
Noticing the confused look on Reid's face, JJ explained. "They wanted their costumes to be a surprise. Will and Hotch are helping them get ready."
"They'd better hurry up. They're the reason we're doing this," Rossi interjected from the door. "This costume itches anyway," he added, tugging at his collar.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Reid asked. He hadn't even realized Rossi was even wearing a costume in the first place. "Blue-polo-and-khaki-man?"
"I'm Billy Mays," Rossi replied, proudly displaying a tub of Oxyclean and giving a thumbs-up.
"Who?"
"You don't know who Billy Mays is? Kid, don't you ever watch TV?"
"No…not really…no."
"That's who you are?" Emily cut in. "Too soon, Rossi, too soon!"
"It is not! Besides, this was all I could think of at ten o' clock last night."
Everyone laughed. The door to Henry's room opened and Will and Hotch walked out. The laughter ceased. Reid glanced around in awkwardness. He thought something serious was going on, but, the looks on his team member's faces quivered with suppressed laughter.
Jack peeked his head out from Henry's room and whispered, "Daddy, the music!"
"Oh, right, sorry buddy," Hotch replied in mock forgetfulness. Jack smiled and darted back inside. Hotch cleared his throat obviously and loudly, then hand-trumpeted the Star Wars theme music in a duet with Will.
Hearing his cue, Jack sauntered into full view of the team. He also pulled Henry out by the hand.
"Oh my gosh, that is adorable!" Emily and Garcia gushed in unison.
Reid nodded in agreement. Jack had improvised a Jedi costume, and his blue lightsaber could only mean that he was Luke Skywalker. Henry had also improvised a Jedi costume, but his costume differed from Jack's in a very significant way: Will had obviously helped him cover his face in green paint.
"Do or do not, there is no try," Henry recited. Despite his best efforts, however, he could not help bumbling over his 'r' sounds.
"Alright you little space rangers…"Will began.
"Jedis! Jedis! " the two boys giggled.
"You little Jedis," Will corrected, smiling at JJ. "Let's go before all the good candy runs out!"
The entire team cheered along with the boys. Emily even supplemented her cheer with an incredibly long and in-character howl.
The motley crew, which consisted of a princess, a cowboy, Billy Mays, Luke Skywalker, a ninja, a businessman, Yoda, a cupcake, Caesar, and a werewolf, piled outside into the chilly October dusk. They left only JJ and Will's modest home behind.