The spring day was uncommonly warm, and it was a wonderful reprieve from what was turning out to be a never ending cold spell. No cold weather today, it was a time for short sleeves and endless possibilities. For the BAU it was a rare down day. Everyone was in the office to get caught up on the endless paperwork that followed each case. No one thought that there would be an enemy amongst friends.
Everyone was returning from the morning staff meeting which had been more of a house keeping session than the case information sharing marathons they usually attend. Spencer Reid was seated at his desk and he had just finished his second to last report. He pressed the print icon and folded his hands behind his head in his nonverbal scream of, "I'm finished." The others winced at their piles of unfinished work and jealously watched as he walked to pick up his report from the large central printer copier.
"What the hell?" he hissed as he grabbed his report from the finisher tray. He quickly thumbed through all the papers. Every single page had an image of a paper clip right in the middle of the page. The other people in the room who had been focused on their work were now watching Reid out of the corner of their eyes. He threw up the copy machine cover. He was waving his hand all over the glass top. He bent down and got eye-level with the top and stared across the glass.
He quickly walked back to his desk and clicked an icon on his screen. Repeating his earlier trip he walked back to the copier. He stiffened and once again grabbed the paper from the finisher. The clip was still there, right in the middle of his work. With what the others swore was a growl, he pulled open the front of the copier and proceeded to give the innards of the machine a once over. He pulled every level and twisted every dial. He had his head completely in the machine when Morgan couldn't take it anymore.
"Hey Reid, you need some help?" Morgan asked more than a little amused at the young man's actions.
"No, I'm fine." Reid voice came back muffled from its journey through the machinery. "Just a little issue with the copier." Pulling his head back he moved all of the adjustment areas back to their original positions. Just to be safe, he lifted the cover again and wiped his hand over the glass. Pulling back, he had a puzzled look on his face but he stood with the presence of a knight about to enter battle. He took a paper from the recycle bin and placed it on the glass. He hit the copy button.
Pulling the test document out of the finisher he shook his head then turned to the team. He had a sly smile on his face, but his eyes were narrowed. Reid said. "Good one, but it's a long day." His tone was more sarcastic than sincere. Tossing his paperwork in the trash, he was on route to his desk when Hotch called him up to his office. Spencer seemed reluctant to leave, so much so he walked backwards out of the room.
Morgan shook his head and walked to the trash can. He was quickly followed by Blake. Pulling out the tossed reports, they busted out laughing. Seeing the image of the paperclip they understood what the search was for, but what made them laugh was the last sheet. A cartoon character was drawn on the paper holding the paper clip and a speech bubble with the words "Were you looking for this? I found it. Happy April Fool's Day." Morgan moved to the copy machine and pulled out the main paper tray. The sabotaged sheets with images of paper clips were sitting in the bin awaiting their next victim. Blake smiled, "That's a different one." They both ranked it a six on the funny scale as they shared a laugh.
Spencer returned to his desk and received several offers to help him with his printing if he needed it. He was about to respond when JJ walked into the bullpen, she was on a coffee run and it was her usual time to check in before she filled her cup. She looked at the three and knew that something was up. "What?" she asked. Blake and Morgan were smiling and looking to Reid.
Reaching back JJ pulled around one of the extra desk chairs. She sat down and the chair shot down to its lowest setting. Letting out a startled squeak, JJ jumped out of the chair. It shot back up to its normal position. "What in the world?" JJ said and pushed the chair to the side and pulled out another chair. She gave a small embarrassed laugh to the team, but when she sat on the seat once again she shot towards the floor as the chair fell to its lowest level. Jumping up again the chair returned to its normal setting. Cussing loudly she grabbed the chair and turned it over to find someone had duct taped the seat adjustment handle down. The tape read April Fools. She gave a quick laugh and said in a smooth but dangerous voice, "So this is how it is. I see."
The others had tried not to laugh but the shocked look on JJ face not once but twice had them in silent fits. "Here," said Blake, "let me get you some scissors and we can fix that." She said through tightened jaws. Grabbing her desk drawer she pulled. She should have seen it coming. Cursing her thoughtless action, she watched as all the contents of the square container fell to the ground. She shook her head and pulled the rest of her desk open and found that yes every one of the drawers had been put in upside down. Morgan was almost on the ground in mirth.
They all helped Blake return her items to her desk and fixed the chairs. They were sitting in the bullpen sharing guarded conversation trying to uncover the fool responsible for the pranks when Garcia stomped into the room. She was holding an arm full of travel alarm clocks and did not look happy. They all looked at her in confusion, "Oh don't give me those innocent eyes. I am minding my own business when I hear an alarm. I search my office and find a little clock." She slammed it on the table. "Fifteen minutes after that I hear another alarm." Another small clock bangs down on the counter. "Then another fifteen minutes after that." The group looks at the number of clocks she is holding and they can't keep the laughs from bursting out. Garcia scans the crowd and then says. "Is there more going on here?"
"I have got to get some work done" said Derek and turned to his desk. He grabbed his head phones to try to drowned out the prank reporting that the rest of the team is sharing with Penelope. He yells and jumps up from his desk ripping the headphones from his ears. There are large black smudges down the sides of Morgan's face. He stares at the head phones; they are not his they are some cheap knock off. He tosses them in the trash. Touching the foreign substance on his face his is mystified for a moment then nods his approval, "Frosting, nice." and uses his fingers to wipe a large about of the black goop from his ear.
The howls of laughter are brought to a rapid close when Rossi and Hotch call everyone in for a meeting. Holding their sides and wiping their eyes, they enter the conference room for the briefing.
Everyone takes there seat and just as they are about to begin Strauss walks in the door. She asked for a moment of their meeting time. She tosses some of the financial reports on the table. After giving the team an update on their expense reports, she finished with how important it is to watch every penny they spend. She pulls up the only empty chair to listen in on the rest of the meeting. When she sits down a large farting sound echoes through the room. There is a stunned silence as the whole team looks at each other in disbelieve. Hotch opened his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. JJ and Morgan faces distort in various levels of pain from holding in the bursts of laugher welling in their body. Reid and Blake focus on their files. They both study the words, willing themselves to remain quiet. Penelope is in tears as she focuses on her computer screen.
"Well, ah, I have to be going now." Strauss jumped up to leave the room. The team watched her go, still to dumbstruck to say anything. Just as she hits the door she turns and tosses Morgan a set of head phones and swings a pink Whoopee Cushion in the other hand. "Happy April Fool's Day Everyone." She left virtually skipping down the hall.