AN: Here is my submission for the Masquerade Challenge. Not all that happy with how it came out, but unfortunately I was pressed for time. Feel free to review!
"Alright Spence, one more hand to decide the winner." JJ smiled as she shuffled the cards.
He glanced at her with a look of disdain on his face. He couldn't believe JJ had just won with her last hand of cards, it was almost impossible to receive that hand. In fact the odds were…
"Are you ready?" she interrupted his thoughts while looking at him with a big grin on her face.
Spencer stared at her, his brain thinking back to what had happened to get them to this point. They were on the plane ride home from another case, this one surprisingly more "tame" than what they were accustomed to if you could actually call any of their cases "tame".
They caught the unsub in relatively quick order and with only one additional victim from when they had first received the case. While the victim would have to deal with the emotional pain of what happened for the rest of his life, the team was just glad that they had found the man before the unsub had been able to kill him. With their case coming to such a quick conclusion, the team was able to hop on their plane back to Virginia and still have a day to prepare for Halloween.
JJ had taken what was becoming her normal seat across from Spencer while Emily and Derek sat across the aisle from them. They began talking, one thing led to another, and all of a sudden Spencer found himself playing JJ in a game of poker for the right to determine Halloween costumes.
Spencer played against his better judgment, suspecting from his previous card games with JJ that she may be a cheater. He was certain of this more than ever after their last hand in which JJ won with a pair of aces and a pair of kings, and he couldn't muster anything more than a high card of ten.
"Earth to Spence…are we playing?" JJ asked as his eyes looked lost and Emily and Derek merely chuckled at his plight.
"What? Yeah, I'm ready but you're not shuffling or dealing, you cheat." He accused playfully.
"I cheat? Spencer Reid I do not cheat!" she said trying to sound mortified while giving him her best press-ready straight face.
"Please JJ, there is no way you should've won that last hand!" he answered.
"Uh two pair beats a high card last time I checked Spence, and you dealt the last hand." JJ argued.
"No, you dealt the last hand; I dealt the hand before that, which I won by the way." Spencer recounted.
"So what's to say you didn't cheat when you dealt then?" she fired back.
"Guys, guys, I'll do the shuffling and the dealing." Derek finally cut in, thoroughly amused by their bickering.
"Is that fair enough for you Spence?" JJ asked with a gleam in her eye.
Something didn't feel completely right to him, but he consented anyway. He watched closely as Derek shuffled the cards thoroughly before reaching across the aisle to deal the cards.
JJ picked up her cards, inspecting her hand and doing her best to keep a straight face. Spencer picked up his cards and tried to hide his despair.
"Cards?" Morgan asked.
"Three." Spencer answered, knowing the odds that he received even worse cards were pretty slim.
When he picked up the three new cards he was in disbelief. He shot Morgan a dark glare from the corner of his eye.
"What? I shuffled them well, you saw; don't give me that look Reid." He said with a sly grin on his face as the girls laughed.
"Didn't I Emily?" Morgan asked for confirmation when Spencer continued to glare at him.
"Yes, you did Morgan, we all saw it."
"Thank you! How many cards JJ?"
"I think I'll stay, I'm suddenly feeling pretty good about my hand." She said giving Emily a wink.
Spencer rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe he was about to lose. He should've known they were conspiring against him; he had been set up.
"Ok then, show your cards." Morgan told them.
Spencer groaned as he showed his measly pair of twos. JJ laughed out loud as she put her three kings down, a wide grin on her face.
"I win again Spence; sorry but maybe you'll get to pick out my Halloween costume next year."
"I can't believe this, you were all in on it!" he said with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Come on genius, what are you talking about? I shuffled after you insisted that I do so." Morgan laughed.
"He's right, Reid." Emily said with a big smile of her own.
"You stacked the deck against me, I know you did. I knew JJ had some card tricks up her sleeve but I didn't expect you Morgan!"
"I have tricks? Please, you're the magician Spence." JJ laughed at his accusation.
"In any case, JJ won, she gets to pick your Halloween costume." Emily cut in before Spencer could say anything further.
"That was the deal, remember? You have to be a man of your word Reid." Morgan added.
"I am a man of my word. I'm probably the only honest one out of the four of us right now. Go ahead JJ, tell me what I'm wearing." He said as he looked into her mischievous eyes.
"Hmm…what should you wear?" JJ pondered as she thought of all sorts of scenarios.
"Remember it has to be tasteful." Spencer said cautiously. JJ laughed at this.
"Yeah, because dressing me as a BLONDE wonder woman would've been so tasteful!"
"You told her?" Spencer turned his attention to Morgan who had a sheepish grin on his face.
"What can I say, I had to get my girl JJ's back on this one. I'm not going to lie and say she wouldn't look tasty dressed like that, but after all the stuff you've pulled on me lately it's only fair." He said simply.
"You were the one who started the prank war!"
"Regardless, you lost Reid. JJ what's your pick?" Emily laughed.
"Hmm, I really didn't expect to win so I'm a little caught off guard, sorry." JJ teased while Spencer shot her a look.
"Uh, Morgan, any ideas?" She looked over at him.
"Oh yeah!" Morgan answered immediately.
"Hey! Wait! What is this? He can't choose!" Spencer said outraged.
"He's not choosing he's simply giving me his opinion." JJ smiled at him.
"That's not fair! This was between you and me! Not at any point did we agree that Morgan would be a part of this!" Spencer said loudly, getting the attention of everyone on the plane.
"Calm down, Reid. You never said I couldn't be part of this either. JJ and I cut a little deal. I told her about Wonder Woman, and she agreed to let me help her pick your costume if she won." Morgan smiled.
"I think you mean when she won." Spencer groaned, knowing full well that he had been played. JJ simply chuckled.
"Believe what you want, Spence, I'm not going to argue any more. Go ahead Morgan, what do you suggest?" Morgan gave Spencer a long look, a big grin plastered on his face.
/
Spencer stood outside of Morgan's house somewhat dreading that he would have to show up to Morgan's Halloween party dressed the way he was. He knew he was the last to arrive, but he had planned it that way, hoping that by being the last to arrive would somehow save him some torment.
Slowly he approached the door, knowing full well that Morgan and JJ –her of all people- had teamed up and bested him for once. He would get his revenge, someday, but for now he would take the pain and do his best to not let them get to him.
He rang the doorbell, and within moments Morgan, dressed as a gladiator, opened the door to greet him. Morgan took one look at Reid and smiled.
"Hey, Reid my man, glad you made it! I was starting to wonder if you had a change of heart." He said as he tried not to burst out laughing.
"I told you I'd come Morgan, it just took me a while to get into my costume." Spencer replied as Morgan closed the door.
"I bet it did." Morgan smirked as they walked towards the main room to join the others. Spencer walked in first, spotting most of the team as well as some of the other party-goers mingling around the room.
"Reid's here!" Morgan announced to the room, drawing everyone's attention to where Spencer stood.
"Looking good Reid!" Emily called out while a few of the people looked at him and chuckled.
"I love the metallic face paint." Garcia commented as she looked him over. "Good job with the costume, I bet it took you a while to put it all together."
"Not really, it was just a little challenging to make it look realistic in such a short time."
"You did a good job, right down to the silver-colored spandex." Emily laughed.
"Hey, that was part of the agreement, I'm just glad he stuck to it." Morgan said as he gave Reid a pat on the shoulder.
"I still don't know why, out of all of the costumes you could have chosen for me to wear, you chose a robot." Spencer turned to him.
"Simple, it fits you well. You're always spouting these random facts, and a lot of times you sound almost robotic when you do. It shouldn't be too hard for you to be in character for the night." Morgan smiled.
"Funny. Where's JJ?" Spencer asked when he scanned the room and realized that she was not around.
"Oh, she just went out for a moment, she should be back any minute." Emily replied. Spencer nodded and made his way to one of the tables that were set up, ready to fix himself a drink.
/
JJ walked back into the living room after briefly running to the bathroom to adjust her costume. She couldn't believe she had talked herself into wearing the costume she was currently donning, but if Spencer could endure some teasing then maybe he could endure a little more.
She stood in the doorway, looking around the room to see if he had arrived yet. Her eyes stopped when she saw him by the food table talking to Derek and Emily.
She couldn't help but to look Spencer over. He was wearing tight silver spandex, his chest adorned with fake looking robotic buttons and gadgets, his face and hands painted silver, and his hair slicked back.
JJ was a little surprised he hadn't rigged up something electronic given that he was a genius, but she knew he had less than twenty four hours to put the costume together. All told he certainly looked rather robotic, and JJ was especially appreciative of the tight-fitting outfit.
Quietly she made her approach, waiting until she was directly behind him to make her presence known.
"Hey Spence, love the costume!" JJ smiled as he turned around.
Spencer's jaw visibly dropped when he saw her costume causing her cheeks to turn a slight shade of pink.
"Uh…thanks, you look great too." He stuttered as he tried to keep his eyes from wandering too much.
"I love the spandex." She winked at him.
"Yeah, well, it was part of the agreement, and it was short notice. I didn't have time to really design much…"
"That's alright, you look good. It fits you well." She complimented.
"Thanks, uh…you don't look so bad yourself." He said giving her costume a quick glance.
"Do you really think so?" JJ teased a little.
"Yeah, your costume is great, I just, uh, I didn't think you wanted to be wonder woman?" he stuttered some more.
"I changed my mind." JJ said simply.
"Uh, ok." Spencer looked at her quizzically. JJ laughed and his cheeks turned red when she caught his eyes drifting to her chest.
"I thought robots weren't supposed to feel any sort of emotion?" she questioned as she looked down at the bulge protruding from his spandex covered lower half.
"I guess this one does." Morgan smiled as he gave a very embarrassed Reid another pat on the shoulder.
"Happy Halloween genius, good luck getting me back for this one!" Morgan laughed.
END