A/N: Back in Sepetmber I was visiting Kricket Williams and on a very sunny Saturday she took me to a Medieval Festival - which was definitely interesting - with plenty of shows. One of the shows was a hypnosis show. And a story was born LOL This also marks my 50th story for CM - all in less than two years. I definitely have way too much free time on my hands. LOL

Emily had smoked since she was 14. It was a habit she had fought against for years. She never herself actually saw herself as much of a smoker and actually only started so many years ago because she knew it pissed her mother off. Yes, even as an innocent 14 year old Emily Prentiss had already looked for the best way to piss her mother of as much as possible. And smoking had been just that: The best way. In retrospective it was probably not her smartest decision, taking in a rather unhealthy habit just to annoy someone. But when you are 14, you don't think much about 'ten years from now' and most definitely not what is healthy or not for your body.

Over the years she had tried almost everything she came across that promised to get rid of that habit almost instantly but nothing worked. No patches, no gums, no almost unhealthy amounts of coffee. It almost seemed like a lost cause, when she read about hypnosis. Thinking there wasn't much more she could do at this stage she gave it a try ... and was smoke-free ever since.

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Ever since she started working as Media Liaison for the BAU JJ had been stressed. It came with the territory and most definitely with the job. It was normal, especially with the BAU's workload. But the stress levels became so bad that it started affecting her health and mood. She knew taking a step back and getting a new perspective on things provided only temporary help and the stress would soon enough return again. Changing jobs was not an option for her either. She loved too much what she was doing and loved the people she did this with. It was just not an option. Ever. So when she saw Emily overcoming her year-long addiction to smoking more or less overnight JJ thought that maybe hypnosis might be something for her as well. And it worked. Well. The stress wasn't completely gone, but she was now less affected by it.

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More or less ever since the first year with the BAU was over Morgan had suffered from insomnia. It was not that bad that it was affecting his job, but something he certainly could do without. So when he saw JJ and Emily recovering from their issues through hypnosis he decided on seeing if it was something for him. He certainly didn't believe that it would definitely working. It was more of a 'last resort' thing. And surprisingly for him he did sleep now. Maybe not a full '8hrs a night' sleep, but a few solid hours, which made a huge difference for him.

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Spencer Reid was … adorable. And that was his problem. It wasn't as if he had any confidence issues, but it didn't seem like he had plenty of confidence going on either. He just didn't seem very comfortable around women, or any kind of person for that matter. But that was just how he was, and Emily certainly didn't want to change him, but a small little shove in the right direction couldn't hurt either, right? Because, God knows, they already had enough Casanovas in the office in form of Morgan and Rossi. They certainly didn't need a third one.

The only people who had not given Emily's new best friend, the hypnotist, a try were Hotch and Penelope. Hotch himself had no reason for seeing someone. And as a single father he had all hands full with other things. He was all day long out in the field and every minute he was not working or out in the field he spent with his son. He couldn't afford sending time away from him any more than he was already.

Penelope on the other hand… she just didn't have any reason either. She was not smoking and certainly didn't need any more confidence. She didn't suffer from insomnia and wasn't in need of any other help Emily's hypnotherapist offered. She wasn't suffering from any fears that she couldn't master all by herself, so, nope, she was in no evident need for a hypnotist. Or so she thought.

When Emily came to her, suggesting an evening out with the team – something they hadn't done in what felt like ages – Penelope was game right away.

"What have you planned?" she asked curiously, after they agreed on Friday.

"Well... you see… I'm sure I mentioned that hypnotherapist I went to a couple of months back…" Emily started, seeing her friend nod warily.

"Well, it turns out he kind of does these shows, like… well, a bit like a magician, just without a hat and things vanishing and more like… hypno-things. He only seems to do like a few shows a year and it turned out he is having one this week. I read a couple of good reviews about his show in the previous years and thought it could be fun. I got everyone on board already, even Hotch, who will bring Jack."

"I could bring Kevin. It also feels like ages since we actually did anything couple-like really," Penelope mused and saw Emily nod.

"Sure, the more the merrier. I just need to know the final number for making the reservation…"

And with that she was gone again, chasing after Hotch who wanted to see her already ten minutes ago, but couldn't be found anywhere. Maybe Emily had more luck now.

Penelope had never been to a hypnotist's show before. She had seen the occasional odd TV program on it and never really believed anything. There always were some sort of doubles, or actors or other things in her mind, so she was looking forward to actually experiencing it.

It sounded like a good night out and the team really could do with a night out together. Their last one had been months ago and despite them not necessarily depending on such nights, since they were really tight, it certainly couldn't hurt to do something else together than looking at dead people, or cases of missing children.

And just when Friday came around and Penelope really looked forward to some fun and a few good hours, she wasn't aware yet how much the next few hours would probably turn everything more or less upside down and after tonight things never be quite the same again.