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The party was full of laughter, and as Penelope looked out of the back door at all of her friends–no, her family –she wished it would never end.
She’d invited some of the old members–it only made sense. Of course, she couldn’t possibly leave without saying goodbye to her statuesque Chocolate Thunder. And Hotch had also shown up.
The turnout was great. Hotch brought Jack. It was great to see his face again. He’d grown so big–he was so tall. She remembered back when he was a baby, and he suddenly seemed so grown. Henry and Micheal also joined JJ with Will. Krystall was here, of course, as she lived here. There was also Savannah and little Hank. Most of the Simmons family also were in attendance. Kristy had stayed home with little Rose.
The Simmons children, along with the aforementioned Lamontagne boys and mini Chocolate Thunder were currently engaged with Spencer–who was performing magic tricks with them–which had sort of become a small tradition that would always bring a smile to her face.
Once Rossi brought out the dinner and they soon finished, they sat outside in the night sky and conversed. The younger kids had gone back inside, tuckered out from all the running around. Jack and Hotch were currently getting reacquainted with the others. It warmed Penelope’s heart to see them here. She had missed Hotch, and she was so happy she’d get a proper goodbye this time!
********
The team was laughing together, as Emily started bringing up some of the things they’d gotten up to since Hotch left for witness protection. Jack had started his sophomore year of high school, which made JJ groan, stating “I saw you like, yesterday, and you were so small! How did you get so big so fast?!” to which Jack smiled.
“I’m glad you had some fun times. I've heard some less-than favorable things from others.” Hotch said, with a nearly imperceptible smile on his face.
“I’m guessing you’re talking about the whole prison debacle?” Spencer asked nervously.
“That actually happened?” Hotch seemed surprised.
“Unfortunately. But, I finally started going to therapy.” he said with a smile, as if the fact that he finally broke and admitted defeat was enough to overshadow just how much he experienced before he broke.
Hotch stared him down. “You need that ages ago .”
The rest of the team all started agreeing. “Seriously, how did you even go this long avoiding them?” Morgan joked, knowing damn well that he could run circles around any bureau psychologist put in front of him.
“Hey, where’s Max?” Emily asked. “I thought about bringing Andy over, but we’re not very far into our relationship for me to want to bring her here.”
“Oh, yeah, that didn’t really work.” Spencer admitted sheepishly. “The whole Cat thing kinda made it hard, but the brain injury was the tipping point.”
“Be careful, now. That’s your biggest asset.” Morgan joked. Spencer just mock-glared at him.
“It’s nice to know that some things never change.” Hotch said. “We’ve all done weird stuff and had to deal with it. You know better, Reid. stop running into danger.”
“I don’t do it as much!” He protested. To which he was immediately shot down.
“You do. You just hide it.” JJ said.
Spencer pouted. “At least I’m not the only one. You guys have done stupid things, too.”
Luke looked interested. “Really? I’d like to hear this.”
“Oh, I have a perfect memory of the last 15 years , Alvez. I remember everything . He declared with a sly grin.
“Now I want to know all the craziest things you’ve done.” Tara said with a small grin.
Penelope gasped. “Never have I ever!” she said with fervor.
Spencer groaned. “Ah, no. not that.” he whined. “Last time you picked things only I’d done just to get me drunk and try to admit I was a virgin.”
“It was fun!” Penelope argued back.
“Oh yeah.” JJ agreed. “The look on Morgan’s face when you admitted you’d gotten laid at a younger age than he did was priceless.”
The whole table erupted out of laughter. Hotch gave them all a glare. “I have a teenager sitting right next to me, do we really need to discuss this?” they all agreed, giving apologies.
“Oh, please? It’s my last wish before I leave! Please, Boy Genius?” Penelope begged.
“I don’t drink anymore!” Reid protested. “And some of us don’t have a plus one to drive them home when they get drunk.”
Krystall gave a small smile. “There’s a lot of snacks in the pantry. I have a sweet tooth.” she said with a smile, looking at her husband lovingly. Rossi stared back with the same look.
“Yes! You can’t say no to sweets, Jr. G-Man!”
Spencer hesitated. Then he saw the happiness that was brimming in Penelope’s eyes, begging to be let out. “I relent,” he stated. “Go get the sugar.” everyone giggled in response.
********
Krystal had a ton of snacks, indeed. She came out with boxes of snacks. Some small snack-sized packages of candy, like skittles, gummy bears, and starbursts. There were small packages of rice krispies, and small chocolate bars. There was plenty to host a game. She sat down and smiled. “So, who’s ready? Is it all of us, or just the BAU?”
Hotch looked around. “If it’s the BAU, I might have to send Jack away.”
Jack looked at his father. “Dad. What are you hiding?” he asked with a grin.
Hotch stared at his son. It wasn’t the signature ‘Hotch Glare,’ not when it was directed at his son. But it seemed to be a watered down “Dad” Glare. Spencer silently thought it was one that had been directed at him as well before.
“There are some dangerous things that I don’t like telling my son about.” Hotch finally said. Half of the team realized that some things regarding Foyet might come up, so they all silently gave a look agreeing that maybe Jack shouldn’t be present.
Matt offered that his older boys might want to do something together, and JJ added that Henry had missed Jack. The teen soon relented and hugged his dad before leaving to go find the other kids.
“So, BAU members only?” Tara asked. They all seemed to agree.
“I’ll go first.” Penelope said with a smile. “Never have I ever wanted to be a profiler.”
Everyone besides her all grabbed a snack, some rolling her eyes at the intent to get everyone else to join in. Reid grabbed his with a smile, saying something about wanting to get all the snacks out of all of them.
Penelope turned to Hotch next. “Your turn.” Hotch smiled. “Never have I ever earned a Phd.” Reid smiled, and grabbed a rice krispy and two small packets of gummy bears. The others protested a little.
“Hey, you don’t get more than one!” JJ said.
“I earned three , JJ. I get three.” he said smugly.
JJ gave him a little glare. “Game on.” she declared with a smile that made chills go down Penelope’s spine. Oh, was he in for one.
Tara, seeing that it was best to move on, started next, going with the direction that had been set. “Never have I ever been in the military.” She said coolly. Luke, Matt, and Rossi all took a treat.
Reid was next. He looked right at JJ, and said, “Never have I ever had any kids.” JJ gasped. “Oh, that’s it! You’ve declared war just now!”
She grabbed two bars of chocolate. Morgan and Hotch grabbed one. Rossi grabbed two, looking at his wife with a smile, in a silent way of acknowledging Portia. Matt grabbed five and muttered “sweet!” under his breath. When Hotch saw, he raised an eyebrow. Matt smiled and mouthed “last one, I promise.”
JJ turned and looked at Reid sitting right next to her. “Never have I ever failed a gun certification.”
The table erupted in discussion. Morgan started laughing hysterically. Hotch gave a genuine smile. JJ had a look of pure, glorious vengeance.
“Wait, wait. You’re telling me that you, Dr. Spencer Reid, the man who scored a perfect 100 on your firearms test a year ago, once failed one?”
Spencer was blushing all the way up to his ears. “I was 24.” he muttered. Luke started laughing with Morgan. Tara smiled at JJ. Matt was smiling. “Sure is an improvement.” he jested.
“You got 100?” Hotch asked Reid, pride evident.
Reid grinned. “A wise man once told me, Front Sight, Trigger Press, Follow Through.” Hotch gave him a grin with only the smallest amount of guilt.
Luke and Morgan managed to stop laughing. Morgan was huffing something about a whistle before Garcia shot him a glare. “Okay, I’m admitting it,” Luke announced. “Never have I ever cooked a decent meal.”
“Ha!” Tara laughed. “You suck.” Luke glared. Most grabbed a snack. Morgan reached for one, before Savannah grabbed it and tossed it back, which caused a good deal of laughter. When Reid confidently grabbed one, he was surprised to hear Emily speak up.
“No way, Reid. You forget to eat unless we hover a bagel in front of your face during a case.”
“Key words: on a case. I cook just fine. It’s just chemistry. And I remember every recipe and ingredient I’ve ever seen written down.” The team relented.
Noticeably, Matt also didn’t take one. He stated “No way, my kids disagree.” Next was his turn. “Never have I ever been shot and injured. And I mean somewhere other than the vest.”
Derek, JJ and Emily grabbed one. Penelope also did with a frown. Reid, beaming, waited for them all to grab theirs, then slid three chocolate bars from the stash over to his pile of wrappers and unopened treats.
“Three?!” Matt exclaimed. “Nuh uh.” he shook his head.
“I have the scars to prove it.” Spencer stated. “Grazed in the arm, shot in the knee,” he then pulled aside his shirt collar and leaned over to Tara. “and in the neck.”
Tara’s eyes went wide. “Reid, that looks like it was on your carotid !” Luke and Matt joined the shock as they realized that he did, in fact, have the scars to prove it.
“Doctors said it was millimeters away.” Spencer stated.
“That’s not an accomplishment, Boy Genius. You had us scared to death!” Penelope scolded. Reid stopped smirking, but the smile was still faint.
Rossi leaned forward, looking right at Emily. “Never have I ever had a relationship with the same sex.”
When Emily had met Andy Mendoza on the 27 minute case, she was taken aback when she’d asked her out. She eventually gained the confidence to tell the team she was a lesbian, which some of the team had already guessed. Morgan was caught off guard. She’d talked about going on dates with men before, but she’d just admitted a lot of them were set up by her mother, who was still under the assumption she was straight.
Emily looked at the stash and snatched a bag of skittles, muttering “taste the rainbow, Bitch.” Under her breath towards Rossi. To most of the team's surprise, Tara reached across the table and grabbed a pack of skittles as well. She smiled and said, “surprise. I’m pan.”
Then, to most everyone’s shock, Reid smiled, and grabbed a pack of skittles with a larger grin on his face than anyone had seen in years .
“I KNEW IT!” Emily hollered. She turned to JJ. “YOU OWE ME FIFTY BUCKS!”
Morgan looked surprised but happy. Luke’s mouth was hanging open. Rossi looked a little confused. “What about?....” He trailed off.
“I’m bisexual. Men and women.” Reid said with a smile. He turned to Penelope, who was smiling quietly. “What was the bet, 100 per each year the others didn’t call me out on it?”
Penelope’s smile dropped a little. “Oh, shit.”
Reid held out his hand. “16,00 Pen. Pay up.”
The table erupted in laughter and more shouting. It took a while for it to calm down.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hotch asked.
“Gideon knew first.” Reid admitted softly. “He advised me that it wasn’t exactly well-received in the bureau, so I didn’t say anything. Garcia knew pretty early on, and I made a bet that the team would find out in a year. When that didn’t happen, I bet her $100 for every year they didn’t talk to me about it.”
“Oh, come on!” Emily exclaimed. “I was in the closet this whole time! We could’ve been buddies!”
“Oh, I’m not in the closet at all . I thought it was kind of obvious?”
“I mean, sometimes…?” JJ jested. “That’s why I agreed to the bet in the first place. But no, I never really caught on completely.”
Reid stared at her. “I literally slept with an ex in the middle of a case. I called him a friend from college and everything.”
Hotch’s eyes widened. “Oh, my god, you missed that plane because–”
Reid looked scandalized. “We don’t talk about it. We don’t. We agreed. We don’t talk about it.”
“Oh, we’re talking about it.” Luke said. “I cannot believe you did that.”
“Wait, cher, was that th’ case I met you?” Will asked JJ.
Her eyes widened, but Emily cut in.
“Spencer Walter Reid, you did not!”
“NOPE. NOPE. We don’t talk about it. We don’t. I was not in the right headspace, and you all know it. ” he pleaded.
Luke was about to protest, but there was a sudden change in the air when Reid spoke. Some of the others looked…guilty? He didn’t quite get it.
Derek cleared his throat. “Never have I ever learned another language?” he said, trying to break the tension. It seemed to work.
Reid was too grateful for Morgan's change of subject that he only grabbed one snack. Emily and Tara also grabbed one, and so did Garcia, who muttered “french, mon ami,” when given a questioning look from Hotch.
Luke looked at the others. “I learned ASL, but I knew spanish and english growing up. How many do I get?”
“One, Newbie. He said learned. ” Penelope teased menacingly.
Morgan looked tired. “Just take two.” Luke grabbed two silently.
Emily sighed. “Never have I ever found the love of my life.”
“What about Andy?” JJ asked.
“That’s new. And it’s my first real relationship, but again, I’m not to that point yet.” Emily said. “But I still love her.”
JJ grabbed one and then promptly turned and kissed Will. Rossi looked at Krystall, who nodded. He then grabbed two, softly saying “Carolyn” when given questioning looks.
Hotch grabbed one. Everyone gave him sad smiles. Matt grabbed one, smiling and saying that it was for Kristy when he got home. Luke sighed, and grabbed one, glaring at Penelope when she looked at him wrong. Reid bit his lip, and silently grabbed one. This was noticed by many.
“Oh,” JJ said.
“What?” Matt asked. “Really?”
Spencer took a deep breath. “Her name was Maeve.” the tone of his voice seemed to scream: “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay!” Penelope said. “Never have I ever been a hostage.” This got some huffs from others. Hotch grabbed one, catching a look with Reid. JJ did the same. Morgan and Emily both did. Spencer gave a small smile, and asked: “What’s the maximum?”
The table once again grew loud. Finally, Krystall asked, “Should I be worried?”
Spencer grinned. “I’m a Danger Magnet.” When the others gave him looks, he continued. “YES, I admit it, okay?!”
Penelope frowned. “It can’t be that many .”
Spencer launched into an infodump. “Philip Dowd, Ted Bryar, Chester Hardwicke, Benjamin Cyrus, and Casey Allen Pinkner. And those are the ones with actual hostage situations. I’ve had unsubs slow you down by holding a gun to my head tons of times.”
“Just take five and shut up before I decide to implant a tracking device in you.” Emily said grumpily. Reid did so without arguing.
“Never have I ever had a pet.” Hotch said. Penelope, Emily, Luke, Morgan, and Rossi all grabbed from the stash.
Tara looked at them all. “I’m sorry,I have to know.” she said, apologizing. “Never have I ever been kidnapped.”
Most at the table groaned. Tara was then shocked to see that almost everyone at the table went to grab a snack. She watched, shocked, as Reid grabbed two. “YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!” she hollered. “TWICE??”
Hotch and morgan turned to her, and then to Reid who she was staring at. }
“REID!” Hotch yelled at the same time as Morgan's “Kid, you’ve got to STOP .”
“Hey! The second time was NOT my fault!”
Luke and Matt finally realized. “Oh my god, how are you alive?” Matt muttered.
“When? How? Why?” Luke sputtered.
“Georgia. 2007. Never split up. The end.” Reid said tersely.
“And the rest of you! JJ! When?” Tara demanded.
“2014.” Reid said automatically.
“Who here hasn’t been kidnapped?” She asked exasperatedly.
Rossi and Hotch raised their hands. Tara then shoved hers in her face with a groan.
Reid sighed, then turned to JJ. “Game on. Never have I ever asked a friend to join me on a date.”
JJ growled and snatched a bag of candy. “Never have I ever Experienced the afterlife.”
Some of the others gasped. Spencer glared. “Ha ha,” he said dryly. “Jokes on you.” before grabbing two.
“Oh my god, please no.” Emily said as she grabbed a snickers bar.
“Limbo. When my brain was bleeding. Fun times.” Spencer said.
“Oh, like, you talked to people who were dead?” Hotch asked. Reid nodded. He was too busy inhaling a Reese's peanut butter cup to give him the origins. To his surprise, Hotch grabbed a candy bar as well. He was so surprised, he inhaled the chocolate a little too much, and started coughing.
JJ turned to him. “Spence, don’t you dare make that number 3.” she scolded. He coughed for a little while before looking at Hotch.
“You remember when I had internal bleeding right at the beginning of the case?” he asked.
“No way!” Emily responded.
“You had internal bleeding ?” Matt sputtered.
“Yes. anyway, I saw Haley.” he hesitated. “And Foyet.”
Reid went pale. “Um… yeah. He sort of… he sort of popped up out of nowhere as well.”
They stared at each other. “Luke, change the subject.” Reid begged. “He’s not blinking.”
Luke panicked. “Uh, never have I ever inhaled Mr. Scratch’s Super Secret Recipe?”
Rossi groaned and set his head on the table. Hotch grabbed one. He looked straight at Reid. “We don’t talk about him.” he said gruffly.
“Agreed.” Reid said, also grabbing one. Hotch’s eyebrow raised, and then he looked even more surprised when Emily also did.
She looked him dead in the eye and said: “it was weird.” and her tone asked to change the subject.
Matt spoke up. “Never have I ever liked Cigars?”
Rossi looked back up, grabbed a rice krispy, and then handed it to his wife. “Enjoy,” then turned to Garcia. “Never have I ever been to a convention.”
“Hey!” she protested while grabbing gummy bears.
“Sweet!” Reid said while grabbing more chocolate. JJ was starting to worry about a sugar high.
“Never have I ever worked for Interpol.” Derek said. Emily grabbed one.
“Never have I ever tried knitting.” Emily said proudly.
Garcia and Reid once again took another snack.
“Never have I ever gotten out of a hostage situation with the help of an ankle holster!” Garcia proclaimed.
Reid sighed, looking at Hotch. And then he grabbed two. Hotch watched this, and then when JJ also grabbed one, he shot a look at him.
“Casey Allen Pinkner.” he said dully.
Hotch nodded, then asked, “ankle holster?”
“After prison.”
“Okay. Never have I ever had a goth phase.”
Garica beamed and grabbed one. Emily rolled her eyes and did as well. “No talking about it.” she growled when Luke opened his mouth.
“Never have I ever been tortured?” Tara asked. She sighed as Hotch, JJ, Reid, Luke, Matt, and Emily all grabbed snacks. “Figures. You all need to stop.”
“Never have I ever helped fake a death .” Reid said viciously.
JJ gasped. Her face turned red with anger, and then she exclaimed, “Never have I ever inhaled anthrax !” before snatching a bag of teddy graham crackers.
“JJ!” Reid shouted. “That is a gross violation of National Security!”
“Oh my god, one of you ACTUALLY inhaled anthrax?!” Matt screeched.
“JJ.” Hotch scolded. “He’s right.” then grabbed a twix for helping cover up the fake death. He sent Emily a look and she did as well.
“Whoops.” JJ responded dryly. Then glared at Reid.
Spencer threw up his hands. And then grabbed a rice krispy treat and started devouring it.
“I SWEAR TO GOD, REID, HOW?!!!” Tara yelled. “HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!!”
“Luck.” Reid somehow managed to spit out around his sugary treat. “And a genius IQ.”
“That’s just cool.” Luke said.
“No, it’s not. Emily growled. “I have to deal with him wheezing if he runs too much.”
Hotch shot her a look. “Great. His youth has failed him. He was fine when he recovered!”
“How is this okay?!” Savannah yelled. She turned to Morgan. “Why? Didn’t you tell me he had a death wish?” she muttered.
“I lived. He’s in prison. No one else died. Well… all but four of the original victims died.” Reid said, grabbing another rice krispy to eat.
Savannah stared him down. Reid froze for a bit. “Yay for life-saving?” he asked nervously.
“Uh. Never have I ever had a sibling?” Luke said.
Hotch, JJ, Garcia, Tara, and Morgan all took candy.
“Never have I ever Interviewed serial killers for a research hobby.” Matt continued. Rossi and Tara both took some.
“Never have I ever had a forced training session from Morgan.” Rossi said, smiling at him.
Reid groaned. “I hated that. You were so mean!” Penelope just nodded.
“You need it, Pretty Boy. You’re a twig.”
“I’ll have you know, that I actually gained some weight since you’ve left.” he pouted.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Never have I ever won a trivia game.” He jested, just to mess with Reid.
Even though Spencer frowned, he took some. And was happy to see that Penelope and Tara did as well. He beamed. “You have underestimated the power of nerds, Morgan.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Never have I ever been married. Thank god.” she got looks from Hotch and Rossi. Tara just took hers silently.
“Do I get three for every woman, or four for every marriage?” Rossi asked.
“You get four.” Penelope told him with a smile. “Never have I ever been unit chief–however briefly.”
Hotch was surprised to see JJ take one. When seeing the look he gave, she explained “Linda Barnes. She-devil extraordinaire.”
“The Assistant Director of Security?”
The whole table groaned, all sharing their hatred toward her.
“I swear, I was so close to doing something illegal.” Emily muttered. “She was the WORST. ”
“Emily. No crimes, remember?” Rossi scolded.
“Oh, but I so wish I could have seen her face when she was finally put in her place.” Matt said longingly.
Everyone agreed wholeheartedly.
“I am surprised, though. I never knew you were unit chief, Morgan.” Tara asked.
“It was brief.” Morgan said tersely, glancing at Hotch.
Hotch just nodded, and gave his turn. “Never have I ever been tased.”
This got a groan out of Morgan. “Man, that hurt like a bitch.”
“Now I want to know when this was.” Luke asked.
“Oh, 2005. Really stuck-up unsub got the jump on him.” Reid responded.
“Okay. um.. Never have I ever had a spouse in a hostage situation? You haven’t had a lot, Matt.” Tara said.
To her surprise, JJ also took snacks. “Right before we got married. He nearly got blown up.” she said before leaning her head on Will’s shoulder.
Spencer sighed. He figured he could stop picking mean things for JJ. “Never have I ever successfully eaten with chopsticks.” This got a lot of laughs from around the table.
Surprisingly, Luke didn’t take snacks. “I don’t like Chinese because of them,” he responded.
“It’s like trying to forage for dinner with a pair of number two pencils!” Spencer responded.
JJ gave a smile. “Never have I ever made out with a victim.”
Reid gasped, but before he could scold her, Luke shot in. “Never have I ever made out with an unsub !”
“Oh, that is just mean !” Reid said loudly. He then pointed to Morgan. “I know that you’ve kissed a victim,” and then to Emily. “And you’ve definitely made out with an unsub during your undercover days.”
“I want to know what made Reid kiss a victim.” Rossi said smugly.
Spencer threw his hands in the air. “I was 24! And she started it !”
This got many to raise their eyebrows. “Wow. you had game back then?” Emily joked.
“She pulled me into her pool.” Spencer muttered viciously.
Tara was close enough to hear it, and started laughing loudly. “Oh, no, that’s hilarious!”
Reid once again went bright red. Which Morgan saw perfectly. “Oh, the pool thing?” he asked, a goofy and mocking smile spanning across his face. “There’s pictures.”
Most of the table gasped. “I need to see these.” Emily begged. The team soon joined in.
Reid objected loudly. “No. nope. Not happening. It was like 14 years ago! And on film, not digital!”
Penelope smiled. “Nothing can stop me.”
Reid banged his head on the desk. Those he’d pointed at before silently took their prizes.
“Never have I ever had a godson.” Matt said with a smile towards Garcia. This made her beam. She grabbed two snacks. Reid poked his head up and slid three over to his pile.
Rossi turned to Hotch. “You need more. Also, someone needs to stop the kid before he explodes from the sugar.” This got chuckles from the others. “Never have I ever been a prosecutor.”
Hotch gave a smile and took his candy.
Derek gasped. “Oh, I like this new game. Make Hotch win. Um…. I’m so sorry. Never have I ever been stabbed?”
The table gasped. Emily glared at him. “That was rude.” she said pointedly as she slid chocolate over to herself.
“It’s okay, Emily.” Hotch replied. He then leaned over, and counted out nine separate snacks. The whole table went silent.
“I’m afraid to ask.” Luke said softly after a while.
Hotch just stared at him.
“Uh… Never have I ever been divorced?” Emily but in.
Rossi once again took many more than should be normal. Hotch and Tara both took one as well.
“Never have I ever been given a concussion from an unsub.” Garcia announced proudly. Many of the others sighed and grabbed from the stash. Consisting of Tara, Reid, Luke, Matt, Rossi, Morgan, and Emily.
“Never have I ever dated a superior.” Hotch said to Rossi smugly.
Rossi rolled his eyes and took candy.
“Never have I ever spent time undercover?” Tara asked. She was interested to know who had. The answer was Emily, Morgan, and Luke.
Reid was pouting, and said his next words with frustration that portrayed deeply hurt feelings. “Never have I ever left the BAU.”
The others frowned. “Oh, Boy Wonder, I’ll still call!” Penelope assured him.
“I’m sorry, Reid. I know it sucks.” Morgan said.
“No, I know, you have a family to come home to. I’d rather you have that.” Spencer said.
“Honestly, it’s been an open wound since Gideon. Maybe even Elle.”
“You mean since ever.” JJ said. “You always have had abandonment issues.”
Reid shrugged. “It would help if you guys checked in more.” he looked toward Hotch and Morgan.
“I’ll do that.” Morgan promised. Hotch also nodded.
Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, Emily, JJ, and lastly Penelope all took snacks. Penelope threw hers at Reid.
“Ow.” he said.
“Eat it.” She simply told him.
“Never have I ever written a book.” JJ said.
“If I take one for every book, I’ll have way too much sugar.” Rossi said while grabbing only one. Matt also partook.
“Never have I ever played an instrument?” Luke stated. Surprisingly, Reid took some candy with Penelope. “Piano.” he muttered between bites of chocolate.
Matt smiled. “Never have I been given an Iconic Garcia Nickname.”
Morgan leaned over. “Chocolate Thunder.” he said as he grabbed one.
So did Reid. “Boy Wonder. Baby Genius. Good Doctor. Take your pick.” However, he only took one snack. Maybe he wasn’t close to a sugar-caused combustion.
“Newbie.” Luke said with disdain while grabbing a snickers.
“Does Boss Lady count?” Emily asked.
“Absolutely.” Penelope beamed.
Rossi smiled. “Never have I ever gone after an unsub all alone.”
“Hey, you totally have!” Emily scolded.
“Fine. Never have I ever gone after an unsub all alone, driven purely by angst and/or stupidity.”
This got many eyerolls. But many took from the now nearly empty pile that once stood tall. Only Tara and Penelope seemed to be smart enough to not do such a thing.
Derek gave Reid a lopsided smile. “Never have I ever tricked an unsub with sleight of hand.”
“And yet you still refused to look at me like you were going to see me alive again when I gave you the demonstration.” Reid pouted. “Now I trick Unsubs for fun every week.”
“Okay, I think this is enough of the game. I still want Krystall to have some snacks.” Emily told them.
“Hey, you still have one turn left!” Penelope pouted.
She turned straight to her best friend. “Never have I ever flirted so nonstop with a coworker that I had a harassment seminar made for me.” she said with a straight face.
Derek laughed and grabbed two, throwing the second to her. “Gotta admit that, Baby Girl.” he said smugly.
“Okay. I can now wholeheartedly agree with Hotch. Reid, you are insane.” Matt said.
“And kind of cool.” Luke said.
“Thank you.” Reid said with a smile. The others chastised him softly.
Penelope sighed. “I love you guys. And I’m gonna miss you.” She said mournfully.
“Hey, I thought we agreed to stay in touch more!” Reid complained.
They all agreed. Suddenly, Garcia had to know who’d won the game.
“I think I do?” Luke asked. “I have…..” He started counting the treats in his pile.
“16.” Reid informed him before he could finish.
“Nah, that would belong to me. I have 12.” Tara said.
Reid frowned. “Isn’t getting the most answers the point?”
Emily shrugged. “Depends on the group. Based on the fact that you’re all hyped up on your pile of sugar, I’d say it’s not quite a win for us.”
Reid pouted. “It’s a win for me.” He said softly with a silly smile.
Penelope was so happy to see her family together for one last time. They were laughing and teasing. And they’d grown so much, spent so much time together.
When she’d first met Hotch, she was a little taken aback at his emotionless face he’d sometimes make. She’d get so happy when she’d see him smile. And for a while, the fact that he hadn’t in so long made her ache with sadness. Now, seeing him smiling wide, healed more holes in her heart that she wasn’t totally aware had been there.
JJ had grown so mature and confident. Garcia had only really seen how hard it was to handle the press one time. And those months she spent far away from the team were so hard. But JJ was like a sister. She was so glad to keep her in her family. And she knew that there was no one who could try to take JJ’s family away from her again.
Reid had started out so gangly and shy. She remembered his cute little face when he started. The glasses he’d wear. Now, he was all grown up. He was confident. And the crazy hair had remained. He might have had many struggles. But that life and thirst for knowledge that had once gone dim a couple of times over the years was strong.
Her first meeting with Rossi was interesting. She remembered walking in on his first briefing and being horrified to see the images on the screen. But he’d warmed up to her surprisingly quickly. He was much softer than he seemed on the outside.
Emily was just as feisty today as she was when she first joined. Penelope doubted there was anything that could keep that spirit down for too long. She was so happy when Emily came out. She seemed so much happier to show her true colors.
Her dear Chocolate Thunder had come so far. She once saw him as an alley cat. He attracted so many women at the clubs. He seemed like he would never settle down. And even though a teeny part of her was jealous of the gorgeous Savannah, she was filled with joy every time she saw Derek’s happy face alongside his familys’.
She hadn’t known Matt for long. But he was strong and smart. He was a firm protector of those he loved, and Penelope was so glad that he’d accepted the team into that group.
Tara was so smart and confident. Penelope loved how little shit she took. And she loved deeply. She was brilliant and fun. There was never a boring day with her around.
Newbie. He was interesting. She really hated him at first. She had missed Derek so deeply, she didn’t want to replace him. Surely not with Luke. but she’d met Roxy, and she was so cute. Her heart had started to open. Even though she wasn’t quite sure where they stood, she was looking forward to that dinner.
She looked at all her family members that she had gotten over so many years. And she knew. That one can take a member out of the BAU, but you couldn’t take the BAU out of anyone.