"Karma! This is karma!" Reid said gleefully.

"Shut it, pretty boy," Morgan grumbled, lifting the paint container from his head, paint dripping down him.

Emily said nothing to him except curse loudly as she did the same. Both of them were absolutely covered in paint. Their heads and shoulders were a block of colour while the rest of their body had paint almost artistically trailing down them. He was pretty sure that if he pointed that out that his head would promptly be removed from his shoulders. Especially with the way Emily was looking at him.

"Yellow suits you, Morgan," he couldn't help but say.

It really didn't. It made him look like some sort of crazy shaved version of Big Bird, but still. It had to be said. Yes, even with the glaring he was getting. What was the point of doing something like this and

"And lime green makes you look electrifying, Emily," Reid somehow managed to say with a straight face.

In hindsight, he was glad that he didn't go for the almost cliche red for Enily because then it would look like she was a part of some sort of slasher film. She probably would have enjoyed that instead of the eye twitching she was currently doing.

"Why is this karma, Spence?" JJ asked, struggling to cover up her amusement.

Come on, Emily and Morgan with paint tubs on their head like they were some sort of soldier hat was a hilarious sight. Pair that with paint covering them, well, you could hardly blame her for smiling, could you? Well, Morgan and Emily couldnbut they didn't really count.

"For that hat they put on me." He said like that made sense.

Because in his mind, it did. They put a hat on him, and he puts a hat on them. That happens to he filled with paint.

"At the start of the month?"

"Yes."

"Are you still going on about that?" Morgan asked in exasperation. "It was just a hat!"

Just a hat? Just a hat? Okay, maybe he was exaggerating this a bit, but who cares? He just needed a sliver of an excuse to prank these two.

"That you put on my head when I was sleeping!"

"I've done far worse to you. Why are you so hung up about this damn hat."

"It was a stupid hat."

"Says the man who wears mismatched socks on purpose!"

"Exactly! On purpose!"

"Now you aren't making any sense."

"I hate that hat."

"Oh, really? We couldn't tell," Emily said sarcastically, ineffectively wiping at her fave with her arm only managing to smear paint everywhere.

"I am going to burn that hat when we get home," JJ said out of the corner of her mouth.

"If you're going to do it in the office, make sure you do it in the sink in the break room. Reduce the fire hazard." Hotch instructed, seemingly knowing better than to outright ban them.

Doing that was probably a one-way ticket to setting the entire office on fire by accident. And the dratted hat would still probably be in one piece.

He then froze and actually took in what was in front of him. Emily and Morgan wordlessly pointed at Spencer, who gave him a guilty smile and wave. Hotch opened and closed his mouth and then shook his head. Even he didn't know how to tell them off for this one.

"Go and shower all that off," he said, swiftly returning to the sanity of his office.


JJ came in the next morning fully determined to carry out her threat. That hat had caused more than enough issues this month, and it was just ridiculous. If she didn't do something about it, it was only going to get involved in more stupid things and probably end up being eaten as a part of a dare, knowing her luck. She really didn't want to be rushing someone to the hospital over a hat of all things.

It was right there, on Morgan's desk, probably to be used yet again to wind up Spencer. Well, not today. She snatched it right up. Matches, matches. Or, even better, a lighter. Something with a flame anyway. Nothing. She couldn't find a single one. JJ was all for people giving up cigarettes, but seriously, no one had a lighter or matches this morning? Granted, she was in early but still.

It took some digging around in the kitchen, but she found a lighter. It probably wasn't supposed to be in there, but that wasn't her problem. This hat was.

Safety first, of course, so she put it in the sink, giving the lighter a good shake.

"I'm pretty sure there's a rule about no open flames in the office," said Hotch, suddenly appearing.

She nearly dropped the lighter in the sink. How did he do that? She didn't even hear him!

"It's in the sink," she said defensively. "Didn't you suggest that yesterday?"

"I did not expect anyone to acrually take me up on that, least of all you."

"But it's the hat -"

He held his hand out. "Lighter, please."

With a disgruntled sigh, she did as she was told. Was this how Spencer, Morgan, and Emily felt when Hotch ruined their fun?

His hand was still out. She gave him a questioning look.

"The hat, too."

"I can just return it to Spence -" and then she realised what she was saying and grimaced. "Actually, yeah, here you go."

Shaking her head at herself as she walked back to her desk, JJ wondered what happened to get her to stoop to Morgan and Spencer levels of madness.

"Morning, JJ," greeted Spencer, a mug of coffee in his hand and smiling extremely brightly for it being first thing in the morning.

It didn't take her long to realise why. Emily and Morgan were also in. Still faint shades of green and yellow on their skin respectively.

Yeah, that was why. She wondered if she could sneak that hat out of Hotch's office?