Disclaimer- I do not own CBS or Criminal Minds

A/N- It's fun out with the 'family' as Reid, Lyssa and the BAU bunch have a little fun after work. Hope you enjoy this chapter

BAU HEADQUARTERS

MONDAY NOVEMBER 26

The members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit had been working quietly at their desks for awhile when Reid glanced over at the desk that was occupied by one Special Agent Derek Morgan. "Hey Morgan."

Morgan stopped working and glanced up at the younger agent. "What is it kid?"

"Do you have any plans for Friday?" Reid asked.

"Not yet," Morgan replied, somewhat confused by the question. "Why?"

"Well," Reid said slowly. "Lyssa and I were talking about that laser tag game that we played while we were out in L.A. I was telling her that you've been whining about a rematch ever since and then I told her that we should all get together and play."

"Oh," Morgan said. "I'll take a piece of that action. Friday night, you said?"

Reid nodded. "I suggested it to Lyssa, barring any out of town cases."

"Sounds like a plan," Morgan said. "Who else did you have in mind for this little rematch of yours?"

"Garcia for one," Reid said. "She's always trying to get me to go out and have fun and, although I'm fairly sure that laser tag isn't exactly what she had in mind, I figured she might like to play again. She seemed like she enjoyed it the last time. Other than that I haven't thought much about it."

Morgan nodded. "Doesn't really matter who else is in on this little game. All that matters is, you're going down this time boy genius."

Reid twitched a smile but said nothing.

LATER THAT DAY

Reid had just returned to his desk after his lunch break when Hotchner walked across the bullpen and came to a stop beside him. Reid glanced up at his boss, a questioning look in his brown eyes, waiting for Hotchner to say why he'd came.

Hotchner offered Reid a stack of file folders. "Can you run these down to Garcia for me Reid? I need some background information on these people ASAP."

Reid nodded as he grabbed the folders and got to his feet. The young agent quickly made his way down to the office that their digital intelligence officer called home. When he reached the office he knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in."

Reid opened the door and stepped inside the office. Penelope Garcia spun her chair around to face her visitor and she smiled broadly when she saw who it was. "Hey sweet boy. And what can I do for you today?"

Reid held up the file folders that he held in his hands. "Hotch sent me with these. He said he needs background info on these people ASAP."

Garcia nodded as she took the folders from Reid and placed them down on her desk. "He shall have it."

Reid nodded and turned to leave however, after only a few steps, he turned back to Garcia. "Um Garcia. . . did you enjoy that laser tag game that we played out in California?"

Garcia nodded, a smile once again lighting up her pretty face. "Oh yea, that was fun. I especially love the fact that we beat Derek's team. I never miss an opportunity to bring that up and gloat. Why?"

"Lyssa's never played," Reid told her. "And I was telling her about our match and then I suggested that we get together and play. She seemed to like the idea and I was wondering if maybe you'd like to join us? We're going on Friday and Morgan's already agreed to the rematch."

"I'm in," Garcia said without a moment's hesitation.

"That's great," Reid said and with that he opened the door and left the office. After delivering the files for Hotchner Reid made his way back up to his desk in the bullpen area and when he arrived he saw that Morgan was once again seated at his own desk.

"Hey Reid," Morgan said as the younger agent sat down at his desk. "Do you have any objection to the others joining our little game on Friday?"

Reid shook his head. "Not really."

Morgan nodded. "That's good. I was talking to JJ and Emily about it during lunch and they seemed interested. I told them that I'd ask you just to be sure but that they'd more than likely be welcome."

Reid nodded.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 30

On the night of the scheduled laser tag game Reid picked Lyssa up at her house and together they drove to the arcade that had been chosen for the game. Morgan had called ahead and reserved one of the laser tag arenas for them, since the place would most likely be crowded on a Friday night, and they were all supposed to meet there at seven o'clock.

"Is this game hard Spence?" Lyssa asked during the drive.

"To be honest with you I'm not that great at it," Reid told her honestly. "Our team won the last time but I think that was mainly because of Garcia. But I'll give you the same advice that she gave me; playing laser tag isn't the same as firing a real gun. It's more like using a computer mouse, just point and click."

Lyssa smiled. "She told you that?"

Reid nodded.

"And did it work?"

"Well," Reid said. "Like I said before we did win but I was too embarrassed to actually look at my individual stats so I'm not sure how much I actually contributed to said victory."

"I see," Lyssa said with a smile.

When Reid pulled in to the parking lot of the Fun and Games Arcade he saw that Morgan was already there waiting for them, accompanied by Garcia, Jareau and Prentiss. Reid parked beside his SUV and he and Lyssa got out of the car.

"Boy genius," Morgan called out as Reid and Lyssa came to stand beside him and the girls. "Are you ready to lose?"

"Not a chance," Garcia answered the question before Reid even had the chance. She walked over and wrapped one arm around Reid's neck and the other around Lyssa's. "We're going to kick your butt sweet cheeks. Count on it."

Morgan scoffed at her confidence. "Not this time Angel. This time I'm going to come out victorious."

"And who exactly made you team leader?" a voice called out from across the parking lot.

Heads turned toward the sound of the voice and the group watched as Hotchner and his wife Haley walked across the parking lot toward the spot where they were standing.

"Hotch?" It was evident by the tone of Reid's voice that he hadn't expected the boss to show up for this little extracurricular activity.

Hotchner offered his young subordinate one of his rare smiles. "Come on Spencer, you didn't think you could do something like this without me now did you?"

Reid shrugged and nodded in the direction of Mrs. Hotchner.

Hotchner turned back to his wife and motioned toward Lyssa, who was standing beside Reid. "Haley, this is Reid's girlfriend Lyssa Knight. Lyssa, this is my wife Haley."

"Pleased to meet you," Haley said, offering the younger woman a friendly smile.

"Same here," Lyssa said with a smile.

"Well," Haley said. "This should be entertaining."

"Aren't you playing?" Lyssa asked.

Haley shook her head. "No, I came to offer Aaron moral support just in case he loses to Spencer again."

"That's not gonna happen," both Hotchner and Morgan said in one voice.

"Uh huh," Haley said, not sounding convinced.

"Um guys," Reid said. "We haven't even chosen teams yet."

"Doesn't matter," Haley said, gesturing toward her husband, a former SWAT member, and Morgan, formerly of ATF. "They're both determined to beat you and Penelope which puts them on one team and you guys on another."

Reid shook his head but didn't say anything.

"Am I late?"

"Gideon?" This time no one missed the shock in Reid's voice.

"You're right on time," Hotchner said. "Now that we're all here shall we?"

Morgan nodded and led the way toward the arcade, followed by the others. Reid and Lyssa remained at the tail end of the pack and Reid couldn't help but shake his head. "Somehow I have the feeling that our friendly little game has turned into something much more."

Lyssa smiled. "Your colleagues are fun."

When the group went inside the building they were quickly led back to the arena that Morgan had reserved and given vests and guns. As they were all donning their gear Lyssa noticed that Morgan had pulled on a baseball cap with the letters FBI on the front and he was quickly copied by the others.

"Here," Hotchner said, walking over to the spot where Lyssa and Reid were standing and offering Lyssa a baseball cap. "Wouldn't want you to feel left out." Then he handed one to Reid, whom he knew didn't already have one and, with a soft chuckle at the surprised expression on their faces, turned and walked away.

"Cool," Lyssa said as she pulled on the cap.

Reid smiled. "Maybe you really should apply to the FBI."

"Hmm."

"Alright," Jareau said once everyone was wearing their gear. "So who are the team leaders?"

"Hotch and boy genius," Morgan replied immediately.

"Okay," Jareau said. "That was easy enough. Are we picking teams like last time?"

"Sure," Hotch said. "Everyone pick a leader, keeping in mind that there can only be four to a team."

Reid was immediately surrounded by women as Lyssa, Garcia and Jareau quickly assembled at his side.

"Just like last time," Garcia said with a wide grin as she wrapped her arm around Reid's shoulder. "With Lyssa filling in for Charlie." The computer tech turned to Lyssa. "Are you a nerd?"

Lyssa was slightly confused by this question. "I beg your pardon?"

"Our team was comprised of a bunch of, quote unquote, nerds the last time," Jareau explained. "Garcia was just wondering if you fit in."

"Well I am a gamer," Lyssa replied with a smile. "As well as a certified anime freak so, yeah I'd say I'm a nerd."

"Alright," Garcia exclaimed. "Nerd power!"

Reid simply shook his head.

"We are not losing to them again," Morgan said to Hotchner as the two groups entered the arena.

"I can't believe we lost to them again!" Morgan moaned as the group got together for pizza after the laser tag match.

"I told you that you didn't stand a chance," Garcia said as she gave Morgan what was meant to be a comforting hug.

"I think you guys cheated," Morgan protested as he picked up a slice of pizza.

"You're just a sore loser," Jareau told him with a smile. "And Lyssa is just awesome."

Lyssa couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she thought about Jareau's comment. They'd actually checked their individual stats at the end of the game and she'd scored the most hits, followed closely behind by Hotchner and then Garcia and Morgan had been tied for third.

"I thought you said you'd never played?" Morgan said.

"I hadn't," Lyssa said. "But Spence gave me some good advice before we came. Apparently it's not like shooting a real gun. More like using a computer mouse, just point and click. I told you guys that I was a gamer."

Garcia smiled as she heard her advice repeated. That was the same advice that she'd given Reid before the first laser tag, in LA.

"Well we should probably get back home," Hotchner said as he and Haley got to their feet. "We left Jack with Haley's mother and she's probably thinking that we got lost or kidnapped or something."

Everyone nodded and bid their boss goodnight.

"Oh wait," Lyssa called out when Hotchner and Haley were almost to the door. She jumped to her feet and jogged over to the spot where they'd paused and offered Hotchner the baseball cap that he'd given her for the game earlier. "Here."

Hotchner waved his hand. "Keep it as a souvenir."

"Thank you," Lyssa said softly as she watched them leave.

The rest of the group hung out for a little while longer and then they parted ways. Reid and Lyssa were the last to leave and as they drove back toward her house Lyssa talked about how much fun she'd had with Reid's 'family'. Reid smiled softly to himself as he heard her describe his colleagues in that way and as he thought about her words he realized that they were true. Apart from his mother, who lived in Nevada and whom he saw once a year, the members of the BAU were the only family that he had.

"Your family is really fun," Lyssa told him as she got out of his car at her house. "We'll have to do this again sometime."

"We will," Reid said. "Good night."

"Love you," Lyssa called out as she closed the door.

"Love you too," Reid whispered although he knew that with the car door closed there was no way that she'd be able to hear him.

Reid drove back to his apartment and turned on his computer. This time there was no doubt that Charlie would be online since the two of them had prearranged this chat the last time they'd spoken to one another.

FBI PROFILER: Game over.

MATH WHIZ: Oh yea? How'd it go?

FBI PROFILER: My team was victorious once again. And Lyssa's really good at the game.

MATH WHIZ: Bet that made Morgan's night.

FBI PROFILER: He and Hotch are already planning the rematch. Apparently this is going to become a routine occurrence, at least until they win.

MATH WHIZ: Well if it gets tedious you could always let them win.

FBI PROFILER: Not as long as I have Garcia and Lyssa on my team. Those two are relentless.

MATH WHIZ: Not exactly a bad trait although it doesn't help your situation any.

FBI PROFILER: Oh well, I'm sure it could be worse.

A/N- Hope you enjoyed this latest installment.