A/N

I got this scene in my head for no reason, and I personally thought it was funny enough to write down because my sense of humour apparently needs to go and play in the snow...


A popcorn flew through the air, bounced once on Spencer Reid's head, and continued to land on the book he was reading. It was not the first popcorn making this journey on this dreary, snowy afternoon, but it was definitely the last one that the youngest agent was going to ignore. He tossed his book aside, turned around and threw himself over Morgan, sending them both sprawling against the couch. Blake, curled up in one corner of the couch with her own book, reached out and moved her coffee mug out of the danger zone, without even looking up from the pages.

"JJ, I think the children are getting restless," she said.

"Boys, go outside and play in the snow instead," JJ said, and was blatantly ignored, just as she had expected.

The four BAU members were snowed in at the small B&B in the mountains. At first they had considered booking rooms at a hotel in Boulder, but given the area where the killings were concentrated, combined with the unpredictable winter weather and having to drive back and forth on the slippery mountain roads, they had decided it would be better to be as close to the site as possible.

Boy, did they regret that now!

Two days earlier, just after noon, Hotch and Rossi had gone to Boulder to talk to a former sheriff who might have some information relevant to the case. Around the same time, a snowstorm had hit, confining four team members to the small inn which wasn't much more than a cabin, and leaving Hotch and Rossi no choice but to get those hotel rooms in Boulder.

None of the four stranded agents believed for a second that they were unsatisfied with that specific turn of events.

And to add to matters, the owner, and at this season only staff member, at the B&B, had had an accident on the morning before the snowstorm, and had been taken to the hospital. Of course it was a good thing he had gotten there before the roads were cut off, but the lack of others present meant the agents no longer felt a need to act their best.

Right now, Morgan, superior in muscle power, had pushed Reid down on the couch, and the younger man was swinging his arms and legs wildly to get loose. One flailing arm struck Blake on the cheek, not hard enough to leave a bruise, but it wasn't exactly a light brush either.

"Alright, that's enough," she said in the exact same tone she used in the classroom when her students were messing around or talking over her. Usually on Friday afternoons. "You. Get off him," she told Morgan, who was so surprised he froze for a moment and then meekly moved away. "And you," she said, turning her gaze on Reid, "Stop fluttering like that or I'll throw you out in the snow."

"That is actually not a bad idea," JJ said, perking up. She was on the floor, cheating in Solitaire, but now she looked at Blake across the small den, the cards forgotten. Her eyes sparkled. "Let's throw them out and let them cool off for a bit."

"I don't need to cool off," Reid objected. "It was Morgan, he kept throwing popcorn at me!"

"And you charged at him," Blake reminded him, rubbing her cheek. "But it was me you smacked."

"Sorry," he muttered.

"I'll live. But you two still need to work that restlessness out of your systems, so, jackets on and get out."

"Come on Alex, you're treating us like kids…" Morgan chuckled.

"If you don't want us to treat you like kids, then don't act like kids," JJ replied in Blake's place. She had gotten to her feet and now stood a couple of steps behind the other woman. Both kept their arms crossed and looked like they wouldn't budge in a hundred years.

"Come on Morgan," Reid sighed. "I've seen JJ with that look before."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning Henry always eats his vegetables," Reid said. The tone of gloomy surrender in his voice forced JJ to bite her cheeks to avoid laughing and spoiling the whole 'mother-knows-best'-charade.

Morgan and Reid shuffled outside, where the snow reached them to the hips, and the door hadn't more than closed behind them before Blake started to relent.

"We can't let them stay out there too long," she said. JJ grinned.

"Nah. Just long enough for us to finish Morgan's popcorn."

"Oh. I like your thinking."

"And maybe hide their cell phones so they won't call Hotch and tell."

"Even better."