A/N: Who will be the last in the team to realise?

Chapter Sixteen

Place Your Bets Profilers

Rossi sat in the passenger's seat as Luke got in to drive them to a crime scene to check out, in the shuffle of putting on seat belts the older man happened to lean a little closer than normal to his coworker, a familiar scent reaching his nostrils in the form of a musky cologne. He didn't say anything as Luke started the engine and began the journey, his mind trying to place that particular cologne as he was sure he'd been around it before. They say the sense of smell is one of the most powerful in evoking memories but it took a minute for the truth to strike him, eventually placing the scent as the same one Spencer wore.

He wondered for a moment what the odds were that they might wear the same kind, the good doctor likely to actually know the statistics on that, but he doubted it was a coincidence, maybe he borrowed it or bought it by Luke's recommendation? Perhaps, but when Dave cast his mind back to the first time he had brought up the topic of the cologne Reid had outright denied that he was wearing any, and it seemed sincere. All too easily everything seemed to slip into place, Luke having a boyfriend, the pair both dating mysterious persons for around the same length of time, their blatant time spent together including going to the movies, and of course how Penelope had been acting lately, like she was bursting with a secret after the incidents of the case a few days ago, the circumstances around the shooter targeting Reid also now making sense.

"Alvez" Rossi said, his voice flat and Luke focused on the road but acknowledged the man before continuing "treat the kid with care, got it?" he said all of a sudden, Luke although not expecting the man to pick up the truth right that second wasn't surprised long, having wondered all too long when the team would eventually catch on more and more.

"Got it…what tipped you off?" not denying or shying away from what was being revealed about their relationship.

Rossi just chuckled, glad to hear the ex-ranger taking things in stride "your cologne, I used to think Reid was wearing it because he was dating…now I realise you were wearing it and he was getting it second hand" his inflection implying just what sort of acts might result in the transfer and Luke just grinned.

"Excellent work, Rossi…that's definitely the most creative way someone's figured us out" he chuckled, feeling comfortable with the older agent and both handling addressing the information maturely

"Am I the last to clock it?" he asked curiously.

"No, Lewis and Simmons are the remaining players"

Rossi smiled and chimed "well, I'm a betting man, so…this could be fun" before he looked over at Luke as the agent parked the car, the crime scene not far from the sheriffs office where they were investigating. Taking a moment before getting back to work the men faced each other respectfully, Rossi like a wise uncle he said in all seriousness "I mean what I say - you don't mess with family" close to a threat but not unlike all his other shovel talks so far "but congrats you two…good luck" he added sincerely "this could be really great for both of you, Alvez…I'm happy for you."

"Please? Come on, it's perfect" Penelope practically whined over the phone, from her den in Quantico she chatted with Luke who was miles away on the case having to listen to her angling for a date with Phil, and more than that - a double date with Luke and Spencer! "That way there's less pressure, it can just be friends hanging out since Phil's an old pal of yours and us three work together, it'll be more fun and shouldn't be as awkward since someone will always be chatting?" she reasoned as though that was to make Luke any more convinced.

"I'd have to run it by Spence" Luke argued weakly, as much as he loved his boyfriend and was so happy having told his family and feeling all official a double date was really not his cup of tea, especially not accompanying a pair on their first date and for one of those people to be his best friend and the other being the excitable Penelope Garcia.

"Do it, call him now" she said eagerly.

"Pen, he's probably teaching," he chuckled, "just cool down, I'm not sure Phil would want to be getting all flirty in front of me and Spence anyway, you sure you want that?"

"Hmm…that is a point" she mulled over "I will get back to you with my final decision" she concluded so far.

Chuckling Luke glanced over to the other passengers in the car with him, Rossi, Emily and JJ, all of whom Garcia was obliviously unaware she had spoken so openly in front off, honestly it was a wonder that anyone didn't know about Luke and Spencer. Letting her know Rossi coughed deliberately and Penelope over the call asked "who was that?"

"It's Dave" Rossi answered and heard the bubbly woman on the other end of the call turn speechless before Emily couldn't contain it anymore, a burt of laughter leaving her from the back seat, JJ giggling more in reaction to Emily than anything else. Before Penelope could get too worked up Luke let her know "don't worry, Pen, it's just Prentiss and JJ, and Rossi just figured it out this morning."

"Phew" she sighed over the phone before a jittery laughter came over her, truth was there was no need to be nervous, the moment Tara and Matt learned it was still totally cool, but there was a game to it now especially with bets on, even Spencer having been informed on the action had put in his bet on who would be last to figure it out. "From now on could people tell me who I'm on speaker to before I go rambling?"

"Will do, Penelope."

"Tara's gotta get it" Penelope said over the phone, her bet on Lewis not without reason but largely fuelled by her emphasis on girl power, Rossi's money on Simmons he replied "usually I'd have backed Lewis too but I'd have expected her to get it like Prentiss did, so now it's down to the wire I say don't count my boy Matt out." The team had placed bets not only on who would be the last to figure it out but also when things would occur, whoever was closest got the cash, and it turned into a fun competition, the hardest thing to resist was giving uneven hints, any hint was given in front of both of them now bets were made.

It was quite ridiculous the stuff they got away with, especially given they were still on a case, JJ and Luke would openly talk about Spencer and hanging out with him, playful teasings, Luke even calling Spencer just for fun, and while Tara did tease a little about the boys being adorable it seemed to be considering the whole thing as platonic. Penelope was practically bursting to just yell it but the waiting game shouldn't take too long, if they couldn't figure out about the relationship soon they'd at least figure out there was a betting pool around them and they'd wonder what they were missing.

At some point Tara and Matt found themselves in an elevator as they went to interview a witness, both a little tired from the day but neither could deny that something was going on in the office as thy exchanged a knowing look to one another "so…they're totally betting on us over something" Tara said and Matt chuckled "definitely, whatever it is Garcia knows, I started to ask her if there's anything I should know and she hung up on me."

"Okay, if it was something super serious like about our jobs it wouldn't be kept from us like this," Lewis reasoned, pouting her lips a little as she thought over it "and knowing them they'll be dropping hints all over the place just for the fun of it."

Mulling that over Simmons was the first to voice "I'd say what I'm thinking but maybe I want to beat you to this."

Laughing at those fighting words "your only chance at getting at this faster than me is to work with me" she warned in a cocky tone.

"Game on."

When Matt and Tara entered the sheriff's office they divided in their individual attempts to figure out just what was so entertaining there had to be betting on them, Matt went straight for Rossi trying to tease it out of him, not because he thought the older man might give anything away but he figured he would have interest in giving clues, Rossi likely having bid on him to solve it first. Meanwhile Tara went straight for Penelope, knowing how to butter her up and how the blonde would be dying to get information out.

Both went into a type of hyperdrive, connecting dots and digging into information wherever possible, some interesting theories coming up however off the mark they were. Tara had entertained the thought that maybe Luke and Phil were a couple hence why Luke wasn't setting Phil and Penelope up for a date? That theory flew out the window when part way through the day he caved and called Phil to set up a double date so Penelope and Phil could finally have a date. Damnit. Matt meanwhile was actually playing up how confident Tara was and how clueless he felt so Rossi might throw him a bone, the older man seemed tempted but wouldn't reveal anything. He did wonder if maybe the secret belonged to Rossi hence why he wasn't talking, like maybe something between him and Krystall? But again it didn't seem to fit something so interesting the team would be betting on it.

The side effect of all of this digging became it's own monster, setting two profilers loose to find a mystery to solve meant they were getting up in everyones business and very easily. JJ was tired of being looked at like she might be pregnant again, Emily's dating and work life was not for perusal, Rossi wanted to win but not if it meant being analysed and so on. Eventually the team in the know went to Luke with a seriousness while Matt and Tara were talking to a suspect.

"Luke, you gotta tell them," Emily said tiredly, "I bet they'd have found out by now so I'm out of the pools, but they are a menace to society like this" managing to find some humour.

Penelope over the phone then said boldly "I don't care if you mount boy genius on the desk - let them know the truth" and everyone burst out laughing at the idea of such a dramatic display.

Rossi quick to point out "I think HR might have an issue with that" with a smirk "but yeah, the bets aren't worth it."

Luke couldn't help but find the whole thing quite funny, especially as Luke was actively dropping hints and it was the very thing that Simmons and Lewis weren't paying attention to. "Oh alright," he said and waited for the pair to get back into the office when he dialled Spencer, Tara and Matt focusing on work luckily and not the little race of theirs but were within earshot, the rest of the team went about the tasks of the day when the genius eventually picked up. "Hey cariño, how's teaching?"

The use of the nickname seemed to alert Tara most of all, especially with her being fluent in Spanish she understood the pet name, they didn't know he was dealing Reid at that moment but at very least they knew his boyfriend was some sort of teacher. Spencer answered talking about his day, unaware of any audience listening to Alvez' side of the conversation. "Good," Luke replied "just thought I'd let you know I caved, we have to go on that double date idea with Pen and Phil" and over the phone Spencer accepted that just fine although he'd never been on a double date before and seeing Penelope on one would be unusual. They talked about restaurants and general aspects of the plan, then he also dropped in "we'll have to pick a day around work, and it'd be good for you to meet my parents before christmas too so we'll have to organise everything."

Both Tara and Matt started to listen in to the often private man being so open and chatty with his boyfriend, he'd been much more open about his personal life lately both with his relationship and his friendship with Reid, how he fit everything into his schedule they weren't sure, they'd partly assumed that since Spencer wasn't allowed to go on some cases he was actively reaching out and keep him involved, not dissimilar to how JJ would go to lunch or breakfasts with him sometimes. When Luke started talking about his day and sharing some details about the case however the information a little too identifying to be proper protocol outside of fellow law enforcement they grew confused, Luke never compromised information where civilians were concerned and he knew better, but he had just revealed his boyfriend was a teacher?

A lecturer for the FBI, maybe? At the academy? Tara and Matt exchanged a look, both picking up on the information as it was being presented to them. Maybe Reid had introduced Luke to his boyfriend? Like he'd met a lecturer through Reid's new role, but the more Luke spoke the more things he just threw out there, using profiling terms and leaps of logic to describe the case that even a well trained federal agent wouldn't be able to follow too easily. Then it happened, Luke smirking into the phone as he said "we miss you here, amorcito…I'm sure you'd have solved the coded letters between the unsubs in a heartbeat, luckily Penelope found a decoder engine and lucked out on a few…"

'We miss you here' being the biggest give away, both agents looked at each other and completely stopped what they had been doing, hands stilling and mouths agape as realisation struck them, seeing in the other agent's eyes that they were thinking the same shocking thing. Everything made sense now! Not just in regards to clues and relationships but also why the team were so excited over this one thing, it was exactly the kind of news that was to be dealt with a delicate manner but also wonderful! The gradual development from Alvez and Reid spending even more time together, oh my gosh - the hints! The number of times they blatantly left for dinner or the movies right under their noses. If it wasn't clear from the hints of their relationship alone, the moment they realised people were betting on them the act of hinting should have given the game away.

Somewhat appalled at themselves for not realising sooner, too blinkered by assumptions about their friends and coworkers to see what was plain in front of them, it was incredible what they could overlook. Nothing quite made you more blind than feeling sure about something that just wasn't true, obviously Luke had opened up that he had a boyfriend but Spencer they had both just continued to believe was straight. If anything it was a good lesson in profiling, not to let assumptions or biases get in the way of fully looking at the details - sometimes you've got to learn that the hard way but it sure as hell stuck with them now.

Luke with a cocky grin turned on his spinny chair to face them, locking eyes with them as he continued to talk with Spencer, seeing their expressions he knew the cat was out of the bag and their faces went from being in awe to impressed smirks, realising just how outdone they both had been. "Okay, we should be wrapping up soon, hopefully be back in Virginia tonight, if not I'll text you" he started to close up their conversation and with absolute glee he said "see you later, love you, Spence" if there was any doubt remaining it was gone now so boldly Tara even started shaking her head at the man's cheekiness.

After hanging up Luke just pocketed his phone and took a deep breath, looking to each of the agents in turn with a shamelessly smug smile that made him look so mischievous and triumphant Tara being almost like a sibling in how they spoke to each other thought the only thing that would suit the situation would be to give him a noogie but she held the urge back. Matt was still in shock and actually felt more congratulatory towards his coworkers than anything else, not only for their relationship but the fantastic teasing they had gotten away with before handing the truth to them.

"Well…" Luke started as though mulling over what to say, smirk not leaving his lips "anything new with you guys?" he teased and while they did laugh both quickly descended on him with a thousand questions, Tara got a punch in on Luke's arm but nothing more, she joked more on the angle of how Alvez was punching above his weight and Spencer must be taking pity on him, lovingly teasing of course. But all thoughts of the betting and other silliness faded away as they just focused on the great news within the team and BAU family.

At the end of the case and back to Virginia the team arrived at the bullpen to find Spencer waiting there, leaning against his desk and chatting with Penelope over coffee. Happy to see the genius however unexpectedly and he greeted the group of agents with a smile and wave, Luke had texted him to say the whole team knew now and when they'd be landing and he could see a strong smirk on his boyfriend's lips. The customary teasing of Tara and Matt came from both Reid and Garcia at being the last to find out and they took what they were due, admittedly deserved given their professions.

"So who won the bet?" Simmons asked, curious about just who had managed to call the outcome best, Emily was the one to fetch the paper and cash to read out the answer.

"Let's see…" she started reading "most people bet on one or the other and for it to be over really early…" and it only made the pair even more sheepish "but one person called it, both will have to be told outright and got close on the time" the chief smirked before handing the cash to Spencer. A series of laughs and whoops erupted at it being the one agent that wasn't even around to be the winner, the man's eidetic memory explaining the knowing smirk that he would be the closest.

"Nice one, cariño" Luke chuckled and gave his partner a cute peck on the cheek "dinner's on you, huh?" and Spencer just nodded with a big smile.

Quote: "The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone