"You are so fucking evil, Aitana."

Aitana snorted at her brother's remark. She stepped back from her closet with her hands on her hips. She was quite tired from pulling out all of her shoes from the deepest ends of the closet. She could've found Narnia back there if she wasn't careful. As it turned out, she really did have a lot of shoes. It should make a good lesson for Spencer to get an idea.

Angel came to stand beside her and looked down at the mess of shoes on the floor. He let out a low whistle. "Man, I hate to say this but I think Mateo and I taught you too well because to win a bet like this...it takes skills."

Aitana smiled smugly. "You two couldn't be any more complete idiots."

"Wow, also very kind of you."

Aitana patted Angel's arm. "Also something you two taught me. You should feel proud!"

"I almost feel obliged to apologize to Morgan and Spencer for this chaos," Angel remarked. "Poor guys are gonna be here until next week. Hey, who do you call when an FBI agent goes missing?"

Aitana gave him a playful shove on the side. "I'm FBI, dumbass!"

"Exactly, I obviously can't call you because you'd cover up your crime!"

Aitana rolled her eyes. "You should be proud of me! Two boys messed with me and I got them back! You taught me great!"

Angel waved her off and started heading out her room. "Don't call me when they inevitably get you back!" he warned before disappearing.

"Oh, I'd like to see them try!" Aitana laughed to herself.

~ 0 ~

At around noon, the team started arriving at the Serrano house. Penelope was first with several bags of snacks for them. She left the entire kitchen counter covered in all sorts of snacks that Aitana had truthfully never seen. JJ arrived not long later with more snacks. By the time Emily showed up, Aitana was relieved to see the women had decided to bring wine instead of chips.

"As much of a candy eater that I am, I do love me some wine," Aitana said to JJ and Penelope after doing a particularly loud squeal at the bottle of wine Emily pulled out first.

Emily shot both blondes a smirk while Aitana brought the wine to the kitchen aisle. "I found my new best friend."

When Rossi and Hotch showed up, they were practically pushing Morgan and Spencer in ahead of them. Rossi made sure to announce the "cleaners" were there to make it all the more great.

"Give it up!" Emily clapped loudly, making JJ and Penelope soon join in. Aitana almost felt bad for the whole set up...almost. She would survive with the guilt.

"Alright, alright, we're here," Morgan waved them off. "Where's the dang shoe closet?"

Aitana came around the kitchen aisle in a smooth stride. She'd planned this down to the dot. "I already took out all the shoes. I just need you to clean them and put them back neatly inside. You boys get lemonade somewhere in the middle."

Morgan let the comment go before he dug a deeper hole for himself.

"Is there a specific way you want us to order the shoes?" Spencer asked as he came to set his own bag on the kitchen aisle. Penelope, being the closest one, took a peek inside the bag.

"No, just something neat," Aitana told him. She wasn't that evil.

"Oooh! Spencer brought more sweets!" Penelope cheered and pulled out a box of familiar looking chocolate lollipops.

"Actually," Spencer was quick to take the box from Penelope, ignoring the blonde's pouting face because of his move, "These are for Aitana."

The woman in question blinked as she was presented with the box of lollipops, the same ones she had once introduced to Spencer when they first met. "For me?"

"Yeah, I really do feel bad for the way Morgan and I acted so I'm hoping that the sweets will help me a bit here," Spencer said, pushing the box closer to Aitana. He felt more assured with the soft smile on Aitana's face. She wouldn't know it but he'd been tossing and turning during the nights thinking she was genuinely upset with him...and Morgan of course.

"Thank you, Spencer," Aitana said, taking the box from him. She was aware of the lingering eyes some of the others were giving them so in an effort to stop any comments that might be coming, she set the box down on the counter and ushered Spencer and Morgan out the kitchen. "The rest of you can start with the wine!" She called out from the hallway. That should keep them busy and entertained.

Aitana brought Spencer and Morgan upstairs to her room where the pile of shoes waited for them.

"I hope this answers your question about the shoes, Reid," Morgan said after taking a look at the pile waiting for them.

Spencer was more than surprised with the heavy amount of shoes in front of him. He glanced back at Aitana, his widened eyes asking her if this was really all the pairs she owned. "This is — you can't possibly wear all these shows!"

"Course not, I rotate during seasons," Aitana crossed her arms. "I also did some spring cleaning so that should help you guys out."

"And when was this spring cleaning? Three years ago?" Morgan scoffed. He bent down in front of the pile, eyeing it with disdain. "Aitana, c'mon."

"Hey, you lost the bet," Aitana said, raising her hands in front of her. "Think twice before you decide to mess with me again — or rather think twice before pulling me into your shenanigans."

The unfortunate truth is that this really was making Morgan think twice about involving her in anything ever again.

~ 0 ~

One hour later, Spencer and Morgan were regretting their actions a lot more. Morgan started wishing Aitana never even joined the FBI which, Spencer remarked, was going a bit too far.

"This is ridiculous," Morgan grumbled as he finished setting a pair of pumps inside a plastic box dubbed 'party shoes'. "

"But well deserved," Spencer reminded, more resigned to their afternoon. He picked up a pair of casual sandals with bright yellow pineapples on them. It seemed totally Aitana if you asked him.

Morgan chuckled at the sight of the sandals. "I guess maybe there is one good thing that's coming out of all this."

"What's that?" Spencer asked him curiously.

"We're learning a bit more about Serrano," Morgan smirked as he slipped a finger under the strap of an insanely heeled shoe and raised it in the air. "She's a party girl."

"What?" Spencer laughed lightly.

Morgan mused over his accusation. "I know what I see. These are party shoes. Why else would she have them?"

"A number of reasons," shrugged Spencer. He moved around the remaining pile of shoes, tilting his head as he decided how they would be organizing what was left. "Many women wear them for the simple reason that heels are an ingrained part of our culture. Although there have been experiments testing what exactly makes heels so popular. One of them claimed that the act of wearing heels led to a strut walk instead of your usual walk."

Morgan stared at Spencer, dumbfounded as the latter kept going on about the different experiments. "So you know all that, but you don't know they're more likely to have a lot of shoes in the closet?"

Spencer straightened up. He'd found the best course of planning. "It doesn't really matter. I have a lot more books than people usually tend to own. Aitana likes shoes and…" He looked around at the room, the bright greens of her plants, the golden yellow decor up on the ceiling, the bright white of the duvets with equally bright golden flowers and the cream colored furniture pieces. "Summer. She likes Summer. It's her favorite season."

Morgan, who'd gone back to organizing, looked up with a furrowed brow. "Huh?"

"All the bright colors in here, the plants, even those shoes over there," Spencer pointed at a smaller pile of shoes they'd discarded for the time being. They were all a mixture of sandals and open toed shoes. "Summer is her favorite season."

"Alright then, since those are the most shoes around here, you do 'em," Morgan gestured for Spencer to take over the pile on the right side.

Spencer scrunched his face as he made his way over to the pile. He should've just kept his mouth shut. Story of his life.

~0~

When Aitana returned to her room later in the day, she came in cautiously with a tray of drinks in her hands. "You two haven't destroyed my shoes already, have you? Or plotting revenge against me?"

Morgan threw the woman a look, clearly not amused with the sarcasm. Aitana suspected he wasn't amused with anything today.

"I think we're doing well with time," Spencer said, much more light-hearted than his partner.

Aitana smiled at him and placed down the tray she brought on the dresser. "I'm not cold-hearted. I did bring you some wine."

"It's the least you can do, sprinkles," Morgan said, letting the tennis shoes in his hands fall to the floor.

Aitana watched him walk over, her smile widening. "You brought this upon yourselves. If anything, this makes you realize I make a much better ally than enemy. Spencer, you're not thirsty?"

"Oh, um, not really my suit," Spencer apologized with a small smile.

"Oh," Aitana blinked. It didn't occur to her he wouldn't want the wine. "Sorry, I just thought...you had before…I mean..." She supposed it was wrong to assume just because he drank wine that one time that it meant he would always drink.

"Special occasions," Spencer shrugged, feeling even worse for some reason. Aitana tried offering him something else to drink — lemonade, soda, even just water — but Spencer politely refused. He felt like his time to accept anything else had been with the wine. Aitana shouldn't have to go out of her way to accommodate him, much less when they (he and Morgan) had already been more than rude with her prior.

"Don't work yourselves too much," Aitana half joked on her way out of the room. She had half a mind cutting their work hours short anyways, but she'd let them grovel for a few more.

Morgan let out a low whistle once Aitana was long gone.

Spencer didn't have to look at him to know what he meant. "Don't say anything."

"I haven't," Morgan pointed out, his smirk implying that he was about to speak now. "But…"

Spencer chose that moment to walk to the other end of the room. There had to be shoes to organize over there as well.

"I notice you have some difficulty talking to Sprinkles over there…" Morgan was smirking. Spencer saw it from the corner of his eye. "I mean, more than usual with other people."

"Really, I hadn't noticed," Spencer muttered quickly. Aitana would want her brown boots with the rest of the winter boots.

"Oh, I've noticed," Morgan assured, still smirking at Spencer despite facing his back. "Genius, pretty boy? Don't tell me you haven't noticed. Please."

Spencer's was stuffing the brown boots inside a plastic box. "I have trouble talking all the time. Remember when I couldn't get two words together with JJ?"

Morgan nodded. He would be the first to admit to those awkward moments. JJ would have no problem bringing it up either to make fun of Spencer.

"But this is different," Morgan clarified, pausing his work for a second, "It's not a secret that she's got you tongue twisted sometimes."

Spencer ended up shoving the brown boots in the box however they fit. "So what?" He snapped unintentionally. "That happens with others too."

Morgan would concede on that but he also had another point to make. "Yeah, but, Sprinkles has you just a bit more twisted, don't you think?"

Spencer put the box away in the closet, perhaps not as organized as he had wanted. "No, I don't. I also don't know why this is pertinent to our organization? You do remember that's why we're here, right? Because we screwed up with Aitana."

"Yeah," Morgan picked up the box in front of him and stood up, "And how'd that go for you, eh? Brought a whole box of lollipops and all…"

Spencer strode over and grabbed the box from Morgan. "Politeness and guilt," Spencer clarified his intentions. He took the box towards the other side, preferring to do it all himself if it meant ending this conversation.

"Still, kinda sweet, don't you think?" Morgan smirked again. "C'mon pretty boy."

"C'mon what, Morgan?" Spencer finally turned back again, his head tilting at Morgan demandingly. "I'm not talking about this. I already did this. And you remember how that went, right?"

"Yeah, but we had the story all wrong, didn't we?" Morgan gathered a few more pairs of shoes from the floor. "You thought Aitana had a boyfriend but he turned out to be her half brother." Morgan laughed to himself.

Spencer did not. He didn't find it that amusing.

"So why not ask again?" Morgan swayed his head on his way to drop off the next couple of shoes. "Or, I guess, it's the first time since you didn't actually get to ask last time…"

"Morgan, just stop," Spencer said with a sigh. "I'm not doing anything."

"Why not?"

"Because it's nothing," Spencer took a pair of sneakers from Morgan. He set them accordingly in another plastic box.

"Is it, though?" Morgan genuinely wondered.

Spencer shrugged without thinking. He was actually trying not to think about that stuff. "Of course. Aitana's a friend and since we've screwed up, I'd rather fix it. So let's just finish up, alright?" Spencer took the remaining pairs of shoes out of Morgan's arms and arranged them in the best possible organizing way.

~0~

The next time Aitana went upstairs, it was late in the afternoon. She came with the plan to finally free her two prisoners, deeming one whole day was more than enough for them to learn their lesson. What she didn't expect was for her entire shoe closet to be genuinely organized. She figured they would've dallied and maybe organized a quarter of what she had set out.

"Oh my goodness, you actually did it," Aitana laughed. She stood in front of her closet, gazing over the clear plastic boxes holding her shoes. "I can't believe you actually did it."

"What, you didn't think we were capable of organizing a couple shoes?" Morgan feigned offense.

"I thought there would be too many for you to handle," Aitana smirked and folded her arms. She glanced at Spencer who seemed busy figuring something out with the shoe boxes. If she was right, he was calculating. "Spencer, something you want to share with the class?"

"You have exactly 50 pairs of shoes," Spencer said, although it sounded like he had just figured out his calculations. "That was actually less than Morgan guessed."

"What?" Aitana pouted. "You guys were making bets on me again?"

"Reid," Morgan reprimanded, whilst also begging for help. He was not going to organize shoes again or anything else in the godforsaken room.

"No, no, I just wanted to know the average amount of shoes a woman has," Spencer explained himself as best as possible. "See, I'm not very knowledgeable in that department and this provided a good learning opportunity for me. We just wanted to see who was closer with their number."

Aitana's head turned from one man to the other, deciding whether or not she should believe them. Ultimately, she decided they both looked scared enough to think twice before using her for another game. "Alright, you're both done. Breathe, gentlemen, you've paid up."

Morgan did exactly that, letting out a huge breath that had Aitana laughing. "Sprinkles, you are a hard woman."

"I've got to be," Aitana said, raising her hands in defense, "It was constant war living with two older brothers. I had to learn. You're welcome."

"I never had any siblings," Spencer shared, "So I guess this was a good learning experience."

Morgan scoffed, letting a small 'aha' slip out of him. He didn't think Spencer saw Aitana like a sister at all.

Aitana clapped her hands together. "Okay, you two have officially paid your debt off and as such, you are now welcomed downstairs. We're ordering in."

Morgan was quick to drop the rag in his hand to the floor. "Good, cos I'm starving!"

Aitana laughed after him, motioning Spencer to follow as well. Work time was officially over.

~0~

Penelope had chosen their dinner that evening and as such, they eagerly took their Chinese food from the delivery boy as soon as it got there. Aitana helped her carry it to the living room, after having to insist that it was fine eating there instead of the kitchen.

"I'm not my parents," she said to Penelope when the blonde reluctantly sat down on the couch with her take-out box. "I don't care if you spill."

"But it doesn't mean I want to spill! Your furniture is so beautiful!" Penelope exclaimed, worriedly looking down at the couch. It was a nice white that an ugly Kung Pao chicken orange stain would definitely contrast with.

"You think it's beautiful?" Aitana sat down on the couch chair. "Angel chose all this. He actually had this whole place furnished before I stepped in."

"He did all this?" Emily looked around the living room in disbelief. "Can he come do my apartment?" The others laughed despite Emily saying she was quite serious. "What!? He has nice taste!"

"He's a good brother," Aitana concluded. "Bit of a bully but good brother nonetheless."

"Meet my sisters," Morgan said, "They were nightmares."

Aitana smirked. "And you weren't?" Morgan shrugged. "How many sisters do you have?"

"Three."

"Oh," Aitana sucked air between her teeth. "Yeah, okay, I can see that being bad."

"Sometimes I'm perfectly fine being an only child," Emily admitted easily as she sipped her wine. She abandoned her Chinese food when it was half done claiming the wine had taken most of her appetite away.

"I would have liked the friendly competition," Spencer said, earning matching scoffs from half the group. Even Hotch gave a slight shake of his head in amusement. "What?" Spencer made a face.

"It's only friendly on the best of days," Aitana clarified for him. "You never said 'I love you' to their faces or else they might throw you something. Mateo threw his baseball at me one time."

"What?" Spencer gaped. "Why!?"

"Because I said it to him in front of his friends."

"You are so bad," Penelope giggled. She leaned over to high five Aitana who laughed.

"Yeah, I said it to him because he'd pissed me off that morning!"

Spencer couldn't wrap his mind around such a strange relationship.

"Cheer up, Spence," JJ called from her spot on the sofa chair, "You have no competition in the magic department, right?"

Spencer ended up smiling. Of course JJ would think of something like that.

"What's she talking about?" Aitana said, confused.

"Oh, our Dr. Reid is a magician as well, remember?" JJ said with the most dramatic wide eyes. She waved her chopsticks in the air as if they were wands. "Moonlights as one."

"Shut up, you don't do magic," Aitana eyed Spencer with disbelief.

"I do," Spencer nodded.

"You?"

"Yeah, why's it so hard to believe it?"

"Because magic is...magic. You're a factual guy."

"Magic relies on powerful psychological illusions," Spencer explained, "It exploits gaps and errors in our conscious experience."

Aitana looked more bemused than anything else. Her eyes went over the rest of the group, silently asking them if this was actually real. Each one of them nodded like a chain of dominoes.

"No!" Aitana suddenly exclaimed, laughing to herself. "Don't ruin magic for me, Spencer!"

"What — I'm not!" Spencer couldn't help but laugh as well. "It's true! Look, magicians tend to use misdirection to manipulate what you pay attention to and so they can control what you see—"

"Oh my god, no!" Aitana insisted. "When I think of magic, I think of Harry Potter!" Morgan snorted and laughed. Even Emily had trouble hiding her own laugh. "I don't think of misdirection!"

"Aitana—"

"Or gaps and errors!"

"It's about cognition—"

"No!" Aitana pointed at Spencer, warning him to stop right there. "It's magic! Don't ruin it!"

"You heard the lady," Morgan said, flashing a smirk at Spencer. "Don't ruin it for her."

"But I didn't — I'm not…" Spencer sighed in resignation. Everyone was already chuckling. It was futile to try anything...right now. Plus, Aitana was smirking at him knowing exactly what she'd done. She was confident that she won and Spencer didn't really see the need to prove her wrong right there and then. He could wait. He was patient.

~0~

After a few more glasses of wine, Penelope started wandering through the house picking out things she swore Angel must have read her mind about because she wanted them all. She even almost stuck her head into Aitana's big fish tank. Thankfully, Rossi had spotted that intention and led Penelope away with the idea that he had found another furniture piece she would like.

"I think I'm going to take her home," Morgan announced.

"Preferably walking her to her door?" Aitana asked curiously and out of concern. She didn't think Penelope was in any condition to walk any stairs on her own.

"And inside," Morgan assured seconds before Penelope nearly tripped on her own feet. "Possibly to her room."

"Yeah, just in case," JJ chuckled.

"Hey Aitana!" Penelope called as she wobbled her way up to the brunette in question. "Did you have Nemo in that tank?"

"What?" Aitana blinked and even looked around Penelope as if the fictional fish was really swimming in her tank. "No, no...no. No Disney fish, Pen."

"Oh." Penelope drew in a breath as if she'd heard the worst news ever. "Is he okay? Did he...you know…?" She made a cutting motion across her neck, causing a whole round of laughter from the others.

"Please get her home," JJ told Morgan who was already on his way to retrieve Penelope.

"I will," Morgan promised them and the rest of the group. He then guided Penelope out of the house, having to pull her once they reached the door and Penelope realized she had "seen" Nemo.

"Maybe we should start heading out too," Rossi said, already getting up from his seat. Hotch was doing the same thing.

"We don't work tomorrow," Emily reminded them as she took another sip of her glass.

"No, but some of us have early bird sons," Hotch smiled tightly. "My only day off and I still have to get up before eight."

JJ agreed with the sentiment and lowered her wine glass. The others laughed.

"Take the leftovers please," Aitana said, "JJ brought a ton of stuff! It's in the kitchen!"

"What, I don't like coming to someone's house empty-handed," JJ said with her hands raised in defense. "Besides, Spence brought a boxload of those chocolate lollipops or something."

"I only brought one," said Spencer with a scrunched nose. "And that was an apology, not for you."

"Oh," Emily's lips morphed into a dramatic 'o' shape. "Watch out JJ, you've been replaced."

"Shut up," Aitana gave Emily a gentle shove. "No one here is replacing anyone. We're not doing that anymore. And Rossi, Hotch, seriously, take some of the wine in the kitchen. Angel and I don't really drink a lot."

She herself guided the two men into her kitchen to make sure that they took the bottles. When she returned to the living room, she came out with the very box JJ had spoken of.

"I will share," she informed her remaining guests. "But you only get one."

Emily and JJ laughed and made fun of Aitana's concept of sharing. Aitana ignored them as she took one more chocolate lollipop out of the box and walked over to where Spencer was. He'd become interested in her fish tank, completely engrossed in it for that matter.

"I know, I'm a hoarder of fish," Aitana said as she came up beside Spencer.

"Not really," he said, straightening up, "There's the same amount as last time. Still haven't found Venus and Mars yet?"

Aitana beamed, although a moment later she realized she shouldn't even bother being delighted that he remembered. Of course he would remember. He remembered everything. "No, no I haven't. I thought I found Mars but it turned out to be a a bust."

"You're seriously naming those fishes after planets?" JJ looked bemused more than anything. "Sounds like something Henry would do."

Aitana chuckled rather nervously. "I mean...yeah...guess it is kinda silly…"

"It's an interesting idea that I've never seen," Spencer said, looking at JJ with some disapproval. He of all people knew what it was like to have his interests shut down, even if it wasn't with the intention to be rude. It still didn't feel all that good. "And if I see a fish that might fit your idea, I'll send you a picture," he said to Aitana.

Her smile came back with full force. "I'd like that," she said, flushing red. She had no idea why but everything felt pretty warm. She offered Spencer a marshmallow chocolate lollipop.

Spencer took it from Aitana with his own smile, although if he had asked JJ and Emily they would've told him he seemed rather flushed as well.

A/N:

Also, it seems like fanfic . net is being useless again because I'm not getting notifications about anything again no matter what I do. It says that my email doesn't recognize the site's email address which is total bull because I have it listed as as contact. So just an fyi for anyone who's on this platform, check your account settings because they may have messed with your account too .

As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)