"So what have you got planned for date night this week?" Garcia asked as she looked through some information.
"I don't know. It's Reid's turn to pick." JJ replied as she thumbed through a file. The rest of them were headed back to the office just having finished up a case in the local area.
"Is that a wise decision?"
"It can't be any worse than when I took him to my goddaughter's birthday party last week."
"The Reid effect still in full force?"
"He was great with Amy one on one but twenty screaming girls in princess costumes was a little much."
"You took him for punishment?"
"We didn't get back until late Friday night and I'd already promised Amy I would be there if I was home. Reid came along."
"How exactly do explain Reid?"
"A friend who was at a loose end." JJ replied. "You always need more adult supervision at kid's parties than you think."
"You do know I'm going to want all the juicy details on your date girl."
"I'll make you a deal, you don't flirt with Morgan for the rest of the day and I'll fill you in." JJ proposed.
"You're on."
Morgan hung up his phone and shook his head.
"Is everything okay?" Emily asked.
"Something is up with Garcia. She doesn't sound like her normal self." Morgan replied.
"Do you want me to call her and see if it's something you said?" Emily offered.
"No..." He said but Emily had already dialled.
"Hey Garcia, it's Emily... Yes... I see...Okay we'll be back in about twenty minutes." She hung. "She's fine." Emily wasn't got tell him that Garcia had a reason for not flirting with Morgan.
Morgan spent the rest of the afternoon trying to convince Garcia to tell him what he had done wrong.
"So where exactly are we going?" JJ asked.
"You'll see." Reid replied.
"You know dark alleys aren't exactly what the judge had in mind." JJ pointed out.
"It gets better I promise." He walked them up a loading dock ramp and knocked on the door.
"Dr Reid." A man stepped out. "Right on time, it's good to see you again."
"You too. JJ this is Dr Harold Yarbrough, he's one of the exhibit curators here."
"Exhibits?" JJ questioned.
"Don't you know where you are dear?" Dr Yarbrough asked.
"Umm no sorry."
"The Museum of Natural History." He replied.
"Dr Yarbrough is a friend of Gideon's. He's going to show us the exhibit he's working on that doesn't open for a few more weeks." Reid explained.
"What kind of doctor are you Doctor Yarbrough?" JJ inquired.
"I'm an entomologist." Dr Yarbrough led them through to his work room. "These are the specimens I'm working on right now, and then I'll show you the rest of the exhibit."
"Butterflies." JJ's face lit up.
"I wasn't sure how you felt about them after the Fisher King, but I thought you might like it."
"It's great Reid." JJ assured him. "It's perfect."
Dr Yarbrough spent 45 minutes showing them around the specimens he began to show them the exhibit before he got called away for a phone call.
"This was a really good idea Spence." JJ told him.
"I have a question."
"Okay?" JJ said.
"What did you promise Garcia to get her to stop flirting with Morgan for the afternoon?"
"You figured that one out did you?" Reid nodded. "I told her I'd tell her where we went tonight. But wasn't it fun watching Morgan squirm for the afternoon?"
Reid started to agree but his cell phone rang.
"Reid... Is she okay?...Okay I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up.
"Is everything okay?" JJ asked.
"One of patients at my mother's sanatorium had a psychotic break and caused a riot. My mother is in the hospital, they had to sedate her because she wouldn't stop screaming for me." Reid explained. "I need to go and see her."
"Of course, call Hotch. I'll try and get you a flight out tonight." JJ told him.
They apologised to Dr Yarbrough for having to leave so quickly.
"I've got you on a non-stop flight that leaves in about an hour from Regan National." JJ said. "It's a good thing we're not that far away."
Once they got to the airport JJ picked up the ticket from the e-ticket machine she had reserved on her credit card.
"Thanks JJ. I'll pay you back."
"I'll hold your car as collateral." Since they had taken Reid's car to the museum it was her only way home. "Do you have any money or your credit cards?"
"I have a hundred dollars; my credit card is locked in my desk back at Quantico."
JJ pulled a pad out of her purse and wrote a number on.
"Memorise this." She told Reid which she knew wouldn't be hard for him.
"Okay."
"There's a thousand dollar limit and the only thing on it is your plane ticket." JJ handed him her credit card.
"JJ I can't..." Reid started to protest.
"I keep this one for emergencies and this is an emergency. You can pay me back. You'd better go or you'll miss your flight. Call me if you need anything else."
"Thanks JJ."
"That's what friends are for."
TBC