Season 2: Episode 6

Spencer yawned and entered the bullpen. His feet were hurting just from walking around on the case all day and night. He was so glad it was over. The whole suspicion of the house at the top of the hill being haunted and guarded by something that ate children was interesting at first, but it had started to really freak him out, especially after disclosing how he wasn't fond of the dark.

Speaking of creepy, it was strange how the entire room was empty. The silence was so loud it was deafening. Frowning, Reid kept on until he reached his desk. Lifting the strap of his satchel over his shoulder, he set it down on his chair so he could gather up the files and paper on his desk. He couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching him, however. He supposed it was only the case still giving him the creeps.

Spencer sifted the papers together in a line and stuffed them into his bags. He still had to finish the case report and look over a few more files from other cases he was studying just in his free time. It always ended up helping somehow in another case.

Once he was packed up, Spencer slung his bag over his shoulder once again. He looked around the bullpen, feeling his heart rate pick up a bit. What was going on? Where was everyone? He distinctly remembered the rest of the team walking behind him after they exited the jet. Where were they now?

Deciding to take a look around, Spencer started in the round table room. Empty. He frowned and looked over at Hotch's office door. It was closed and he guessed it was vacant, but it was worth a shot.

Spencer approached the door and knocked before grasping the handle and pushing it open.

"Hotch?" he called to an empty room. Nothing there either. "What-" Spencer began to mutter. He was stopped cold in the middle of his sentence unexpectedly. Every source of light in the bullpen and all the rooms around him went dark. Reid was bathed in black, his surroundings invisible to him. His heart nearly stopped in that moment. His first thought was of course Morgan, but he couldn't help but be freaked out a bit.

"Very funny Morgan!" he called to an empty room. At least, he hoped it was an empty room. Everything was so dark that he couldn't even see his hand if he held it an inch away from his face. Even the shades were closed over the window of Hotch's office so that no moonlight would shine through. There was nothing but pure darkness as far as he was concerned.

"Morgan, come on!" he said, his voice cracking a bit at the end in fear. This was ridiculous. He was an FBI agent. He couldn't be afraid of the dark any longer.

"Morgan, cut it out!" he called again. There was not a sound in response. Sighing, Reid shut Hotch's door with the hand still wrapped around the cold metal door handle. The click of it closing rang out as the only sound in the air. The silence almost made it seem so much louder.

Spencer decided to try to get to the other side of the room. He didn't know why that would do anything. If the power was out, so were the elevators. Worst case scenario, he could use the stairs to a different floor to see if other floors were out of power. At least there'd be people there too.

Taking a step, Spencer held out his hands in front of him. He really hoped he didn't hit anything unwanted.

Reid tried to approximate where the steps down to the ground level of the bullpen were, taking caution as he slowly moved his was across the floor like a blind man, feeling around for the railing or something to hold onto. He finally felt the cool metal of the rail underneath his hand, so he gripped it gently, using it to guide himself forward in hopefully the right direction.

Spencer didn't know what was going on or how he was going to deal with this, but he was feeling a bit more comfortable. Why should he be freaked out? The power probably just went out for a bit. He wished he could fully believe that, but with all they see, it was hard not to think of the endless possibilities of the horrors that could be waiting for him. By now however, Spencer guessed it was okay to let his guard down just a little.

That was a mistake. Suddenly, Spencer bumped into a tall mass in front of him. Warm, clothed... breathing. It was a person. Reid yelped and stumbled backwards, not knowing who was there or where he was going. His back came into contact with another standing body behind him, this one much smaller and daintier. Spencer made a strange sound that was a cross between a yell and a whimper before stumbling to his left into yet another body.

Right when he thought he might just stand still and wait to die, the lights came back on. The room was filled with Morgan's familiar booming and mocking laughter. The bodies around him were his team, save for Gideon and Hotch. Spencer's heart was still racing and his breathing was still faster than normal, but altogether it was a relief to be back in the light, even if it was to let Morgan cackle hysterically at the look on Reid's face.

Anger filled Spencer's body and before he knew it, he took off after Morgan who had sensed it about to happen. Derek turned and fled down the stairs into the bullpen where he weaved around desks and chairs to get away from Spencer who was close behind.

"Damn it, Morgan! I knew it was you!" he shouted. He couldn't help but laugh a bit though. He never let Derek's teasing get to him. He knew Morgan was really fond of him for some reason, and he had an equal amount of respect for the guy as well. Sometimes he drove him crazy, however.

"Oh, stop playing, Reid. You were terrified!" Morgan said, laughing gleefully at the thought. He was now on one side of the desk and Spencer was on the other. Everytime he'd move one way though, Derek would move another and they'd be stuck in the same position on opposite sides of the desk. This wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

"How about I buy you a drink and we call it truce?" Morgan offered, holding out a hand over the desk.

"Spencer, I'm sorry. Derek roped me into it." JJ said from where she stood above them on the elevated area around the bullpen. Reid rolled his eyes playfully.

"Yeah, yeah." he smiled at her. She smiled back guiltily, as did Penelope and Elle. "You were all in on it."

"Come on, kid. Drinks?" Derek was still trying to persuade him, his arm still reached out. Spencer twisted his face in thought, like he was thinking really hard about it.

"Mmmm... I'm not much of a drinker." he said, making Morgan roll his eyes.

"Fine. A lemonade then." he said sarcastically. Reid chuckled and shrugged.

"Deal. And I don't shake hands." he reminded Morgan. Derek lifted his hands in defense and nodded.

"Alright, alright. Fair deal." he said, walking around the table and slapping Reid on the back.

"I- I wasn't scared, by the way." he said, making everyone around him chuckle. He couldn't help but smile a bit too. He was honestly scared out of his witts.

"You regretting letting Morgan know your weakness?" JJ asked as the team fell in step together, walking out of the bullpen and towards the elevators to hit the nearest bar for drinks.

"I think that'd be an understatement." Reid said, chuckling. He didn't know what he was thinking. As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth that he was afraid of the dark, he knew it'd been a mistake around Morgan.

"What's might Morgan's big fear?" Garcia asked, turning everyone's attention to Derek while they stopped to wait for the elevator. Morgan shook his head.

"Nuh-uh. I'm not sharing that with any of you people." he rejected.

"You know, research has shown how people develop fears after first-hand experience of an aversive even such as getting stung by a bee or being burned by something hot. In acquiring these fears, a process known as fear conditioning, the brain's amygdala..."

"Keep talking, and I take that lemonade back." Morgan interrupted. Spencer stopped mid-sentence and smiled. He did that a lot. Once he started talking, he couldn't stop.

"Right, sorry."

The team carried on joking with each other for the rest of the night. It was nights like these that Spencer was so grateful for his friends and for the fact that he worked with all of them. It was just a bit easier to forget the case they'd just had and the horrors they'd seen. Although one could never really erase that from their memory, especially an eidetic memory, moments like this really went a long way.