(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)
Hey, I'm back with a new chapter! Woooo! This chapter will be a bit more fast paced, unlike the previous on where the team were just stood around talking.
The BAU are about to discover the real issues associated with their costume.
"How the hell are we going to get to your place, Baby Girl?" Morgan questioned.
"Subway?" Spencer suggested and Morgan snorted.
"Have you not seen what we look like Reid?" He retorted and Reid squinted down and grimaced.
"Oh yea."
"How far is it, Garcia? We'll have to walk", Hotch said. Garcia tore her eyes from where Reid was sat and looked at Hotch with utter disbelief.
"Walk! It has to be 13 miles away!" She exclaimed.
"11.29 miles...", Reid trailed off when Garcia shot him a scowl; he had already had a run in with Carrie and a vampire, he wasn't about to face a sorceress.
"Hotch and I have supernatural speed. And Emily will probably be fast for a cat", Morgan added, but Garcia still looked unconvinced.
"How will we get back?"
"Oh...uh", Morgan rubbed his neck, clearly having not thought it through.
"Morgan's right. They should run back, that way they won't be seen and Hotch will be inside before the sun comes out", Reid agreed. He stood up on the flimsy branch and walked across it as if it were second nature.
"See! And he's a genius", Morgan cried. JJ glanced at Reid trotting over the branche 20 metres off the ground. Some genius, she thought sarcastically as he jumped up and attempted to walk to the weakest part of the branche.
"Spencer Reid! You get down here right now! Stop messing around!" JJ ordered, a panic inside her swelling as Reid tightrope walked the branch.
"I feel safer up here!" He called back, although he realised JJ could probably still hurt him from where he was.
"Look, I don't want to find out what will happen if we don't get Hotch inside soon. Give us the keys and we will see you back at your place", Morgan pleaded, giving Garcia his best puppy eyes. "I promise we won't make a mess", he grinned, fluttering his eyelashes.
"Fine! But you stay out of my freezer, I know you ate my ice cream last time...don't even deny it", she hissed when Morgan raised his arms innocently. She thrust the keys into his palms. "Now scram. We've gotta figure out how to get back."
The two men took off and the rest of the team sat down in defeat. They remained this way for 20 minutes until Emily piped up.
"I guess we could go back to the buerea and take an SUV", she shrugged.
"We'd have to walk in the office to get the keys I don't really fancy meeting a security guard like this", JJ muttered. Emily sighed hopelessly.
"Maybe we should wait it out here!" Grumbled Rossi, he was beginning to get cranky from the knawing hunger that Reid's scent was inducing.
"I'm okay with that", Reid called back.
"Will you get down from there, you're making me nervous", Garcia fixed Reid with a hard, serious stare that he could barely make out. He grinned back at her bravely, reaching up to the branch above and swinging dangerously from it.
"Reid!" Garcia shouted warningly. Reid pulled himself up onto the taller branch in one swift movement, he was soon up on his feet and testing the taller branches flexibility. He glanced up at the branch above him which would require a leap to reach. He felt excitement surge through him; there was something freeing about climbing which made Reid want to scramble higher.
"Spence! Don't-" JJ Yelled but it was too late, Spencer took a leap forward, grabbing onto the tall branch and swinging from it eagerly. He started to heave himself up when the tree started to shake and his grip lossened.
"JJ, calm down", Hissed Garcia, watching the blood soaked blonde glower at the tree making it shudder under her power.
"Okay! Okay! I'll get down, j-just stop making it move", begged Reid, he tried to pull himself back up, but the branches vibrated under his fingers causing his one hand to slip from the bark.
"I c-can't h-help it", JJ cried, trying to tear her eyes away, but her power was uncontrolled.
"JJ!" Screamed Garcia when Reid hung with only one hand on the branch, and the jerking tree disturbed his already tenuous grip. Suddenly he slipped from the branch. Reid felt himself fall through the air and he squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Just as quickly, Garcia whipped her wand out, muttering an incantation, her eyes becoming cloudy and unfocused.
Reid let out a gasp when air whooshed past him, a sudden jerk rippled through his body and he opened his eyes an inch. He found the ground was much closer and that he was no longer falling, but floating. T-tha-that's not possible... his brain whirred around for an explanation for his phenomenon.
"Woah", Rossi murmured as he looked from Garcia's glowing wand to Reid floating midair.
"How did you-" Emily started.
"I just did...it just happened...", Garcia said, her eyes still focused on her wand.
"Uh, thanks Garcia...do you think you could let me down?" Spencer whimpered, kicking out against the air as he floated in place.
"I...don't know how", Garcia admitted, her wand still aimed up. Rossi sighed and shuffled over.
"Let me be of assistance", Garcia's eyebrows furrowed, but he gaze remained on her wand."You're only a few feet up, Kid. Oh and land on your feet", Rossi called before knocking Garcia's wand from her hand, breaking the spell. Reid came tumbling from the sky, landing on his feet and rolling forwards into a pile of leaves.
"A bit more warning next time, Rossi", he huffed, spitting out several crispy leaves from his mouth and shaking himself down.
Rossi swallowed his answer; the smell of human flesh that had been lingering now penetrated his nostrils and it was taking all his effort to not sink his teeth into Spencer's already purple neck. Where'd I put that deer leg, he thought hungrily.
"I see you guys figured out how to get back", a voice cackled from behind them. Morgan swaggered through the trees, a smile plastering his lips. Garcia sighed in relief and bounced over to the werewolf.
"Why did you come back?" Rossi asked, as Morgan untangled himself from Garcia's tight embrace.
"I borrowed Hotch's SUV", he replied simply. "Let's go. It's already 4...", he was about to check his watch when Reid mumbled "4.38", his neck craned upwards looking at the sky. "4.38," Morgan finished with a low chuckle. "Suns gonna be out in full force soon, and unless you want people to see you like this, you had better come with me", he didn't have to tell them twice. Reid darted past him, with Emily slinking by, her tail still and content.
Morgan rolled his eyes and pulled Garcia along to his ride, Rossi and JJ trudging behind.
Morgan unlocked the car and was about to climb in when he realised the rest of his team were stood waiting to get in.
"What now?" Morgan drawled.
"I'm not going in the back with Rossi", Demanded Reid, folding his arms stubbornly. He had noticed the famished looks Rossi was giving him.
"Fine, Rossi can be in the front with me", Reid peeked nervously at JJ, touching his neck gingerly, wincing as his fingertips brushed against the bruising skin. JJ saw the anxious movement and felt a pang of guilt.
"Yea, maybe it's for the best if Spence takes shotgun", JJ implored. Morgan looked from Reid to JJ and nodded.
"Fine. Girls you'll be in the back with Rossi", Morgan received a collective groan from Emily and Garcia.
"He smells!" Moaned Emily, to which she gained a scowl from Rossi.
"I can't help that I'm falling apart", he grunted sulkily.
"How are we all going to fit in the back?", Garcia whined.
"Squeeze in."
"Urgh! Garcia, you better find away to change us back!" Hissed JJ, slipping into the middle seat.
"Uh, Hotch?" Garcia got into her apartment to find Hotch sat on the couch with several books thrown around him. They all appeared dated, their spines cracked.
"I'm trying to figure out what you did to us", he chided, looking back down at the books.
"Well you're looking in the wrong ones. Those are my cookbooks", she shrugged, hopping over to her coffee machine. Hotch frowned at her back and looked closer at the book.
"Their not spells?"
"I know my cooking is magical, but no, they're just normal cookbooks", giggled Garcia. The others walked in and the room fell silent.
"Do you want a shower?", Penelope nodded to JJ, who touched her hardened hair, blood flaking from her skin. She nodded sheepishly. "You left your clothes from yesterday in my room, so you can wear those instead of that", she added as the bathroom door clicked shut.
Hotch went back to the small book case in the front room, trying to distract himself from the aromatic smell of human blood.
"They're not in there either", Garcia sighed, setting down her coffee and walking to the guest bedroom. Hotch followed and groaned loudly. The adjacent wall was filled with shelves, books ranging in thickness stacked high on each one.
"Are these all written by your family?" Hotch grunted.
Garcia shook her head. "I inherited them all from my parents, but only a few of them are actually written by my great grandparents. We just have to find them."
Rossi walked in and whistled.
"This looks like one of Reid's walls. Speaking of whom, I don't think Reid will be very happy if I start chowing down on his leg, so do you have any meat?", Rossi inquired.
Garcia chuckled. "There should be something in the freezer. Knock yourself out. Just don't hurt my precious little Robin Hood", she warned. Rossi winked and staggered out.
"Okay. Show me which ones were written by the Garcia's", Hotch ordered.
Rossi had finished the last chicken leg an hour before and now his stomach was yearning for something more...satisfying, and that something was relaxing on the couch.
Hotch was scratching his jaw as he and Garcia sorted through the books. His fangs pressed against his lips and his leg had been shaking for over an hour.
Emily sat on the couch beside Reid, giving her furry black fingers a tongue bath. Luckily she was only part cat. Her hands and feet were covered in silky black hair, as was much of her face. Her long whiskers twitched every now and then along with her smooth black ears. Her tail curled around her waist, tickling her arms. She was the same size as human Emily, just much furrier. Reid was unconsciously stroking her soft ears and she snuggled further into his lap, purring.
Morgan only felt one urge and that was to go for a run. Like Emily, he hadn't changed in size or stature. His face was bristled with brown fur, which inhabited his knuckles and his toes. If his fangs didn't hang low over his bottom lip, he could've passed as an incredibly hairy man.
Rossi on the other hand was practically a shade of green. His skin was peeling in certain areas and his yellowed, bloody teeth and hunger for human organs proclaimed him a zombie.
JJ was fidgeting with her fingers. She looked like herself, except for the pale complexion and dark ringed eyes. She was going over what she had done to Reid in her mind. She felt disgust at herself whenever she caught sight of the young man's bruises. She was also think of Will and Henry. She didn't know how she would explain her absence.
Reid looked most like himself, except for the unusual costume and the bruising over his face and neck, which was still blossoming.
It only took another 5 minutes before Hotch slid down the wall breathlessly, trying his best not to lunge at Reid.
"I have to get out of here soon. I can't control myself much longer", he rasped. This made Reid tremble and he sunk further into the couch, letting Emily lean into him more.
"I second that. If you guys really don't want to stay in the woods, we can stay in my mansion. But don't let your...powers loose on my $5,000 dollar oak wood flooring."
"What about your neighbors?" Queried Emily, looking up sleepily from Spencer's warm lap.
"I haven't seen a neighbor for 6 months. In fact I prefer to avoid them", he shrugged simply.
"That's not going to solve our problem, Rossi", Hotch argued.
"There's a wood near my house. We can just go there when we feel like eating Reid", at that Spencer threw a pillow over himself, trying to hide from the agents.
"Chill out, we're trying our best", Rossi said half heartedly.
"Alright. Garcia, can you bring the books?" She nodded at her bosses requests.
"I'll take my SUV with Rossi, JJ and Garcia. You three take Rossi's", Hotch pulled his suit blazer back over his costume. Garcia bustled in with a huge bag of books and an umbrella.
"Here. The suns going to be out, and if the legends are true, you'll burn to death", she handed him the umbrella which he took gratefully.
"Thanks."
The four left, scampering to the SUV so no one would notice them. Morgan waited for their car to pull away before grabbing the keys. Reid and Emily were still sat contently on the couch and he hated to force them apart...or maybe he did like disturbing them...
"Come on lazy bones. Time to go sort this out", he sing songed and the other two groaned.
"Can't I just sleep?" Emily hummed.
"Cats normally sleep 16 hours a day. Older cats can sleep up to 20 hours a day. This helps them conserve energy between meals. It's in their psy-" Morgan interrupted Spencer before he could continue.
"We don't need a lesson on cats right now, Reid", he chortled. Reid blushed.
"Sorry..." he pushed himself off the couch, making Emily whimper and get up herself.
Um...you don't think Rossi or Hotch are going to attack me?" He asked nervously. "I'm just worried in case I turn into a vampire or a-a zombie. Will I be able to turn back?" He bit his lip fearfully.
"Listen kid. First off: I'm not going to let them near you, and neither is Emily or Baby Girl. Even JJ will stick her ore in. Second: we're going to be back to normal in no time, you'll see." Reid swallowed thickly and nodded along with Morgan. He wished he could believe the older agent, he really did.
It's Friday 13th! I just had to get a chapter out because of this momentous day!
Hope you enjoyed. Sorry for lack of happenings, next chapter should be better.
Please review!
See you soon!