Night on the Town

Title: Night on the Town

Pairing: gen, some Hotch/Rossi

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

AN: We always see the team in depressing situations doing their cases. I wanted to change it up a little bit and make a fic where they were just enjoying themselves. I hope everyone likes reading it just as much as I liked writing it- or maybe more.

Summary: Hotch allowed the team to stay on South Beach for the night and they all decided to go to dinner together. Read all about their misadventures during their night off.

***

There was a knock at Reid's hotel room door. The case was closed and Hutch was allowing the team to stay in South Beach, Florida for the night. Reid was glad for that as he could finally sit and read Alice in Wonderland for the tenth time. However, the knocking at his door had to be somebody from his team. But they knew he was not a "night on the town" sort of guy- unless they were talking about historical museums. Nevertheless, he turned the silver knob and pulled the door open.

Now standing in front of Reid was Morgan wearing a shit-eating grin.

"Y'know, you should come hang with the team," Morgan said, hoping Reid would say yes.

Reid just stood there and looked down at the rug, his long hair falling over his face as he said, "I was actually going to read tonight. There's this-"

"C'mon, man! People don't live forever. You gotta get out more. Come have dinner with us!" Morgan enthused.

By this point Reid knew that Morgan would not let him say no. So either Reid could say no and Morgan could bring out the heavy artillery- like Garcia- or Reid could go like a quiet little captive.

"All right, but I have to be back by eleven," Reid stated.

Morgan just rolled his eyes and started walking, "Why? Will you get in trouble?"

"No, but if we're leaving by nine I'll wake up at eight," Reid began to explain. Morgan most likely was not even listening, but Reid did not care. So he finished the explanation, "I'd like to get a good nine hours of sleep and that won't happen if I return any later than eleven."

Of course there was no answer from Morgan. He seemed to be scouring the halls for people that he knew and for the team. Reid still did not know exactly where they were going; all he knew was that there was no way out of it. Morgan took a sharp turn down a hallway and ended up at an elevator. The two of them stepped into the contraption and Morgan pressed the button for the ground floor. Ever since the two got stuck in an elevator a couple years before, they were a bit iffy towards the machines.

Ding!

The elevator doors swung open. Reid saw the whole team spread out before him. Hotch was pacing up and down the small hallway, Rossi was standing to the right of the elevator, and the girls were waiting on metal benches decorated with floral cushions.

"Now that we got everybody, let's go. I'm starving," Morgan said.

Reid actually heard his stomach rumble as they stepped out of the elevator.

Prentiss stood up from her seat and said in an unsure tone, "Reid, we're going to that place that serves that food."

"What place that serves what food?" he answered.

"Ah, I kind of-"

"Forgot what it's called?" Jareau laughed and stood up, Garcia following suit.

This was when Hotch intervened, "We're going to Monty's."

"What kind of food does Monty's serve?" Reid asked.

"Fresh seafood and live entertainment," Jareau answered.

There was a pause. Reid processed what was said exactly. He had only asked what food was served and he knew how to play off that. Whoever said the doctor was not funny was either terribly wrong or had no sense of humor.

And so he said, "Do we eat the live entertainment or did you just add that in?"

"Very funny Reid," Jareau retorted, unable to think of anything witty.

Garcia smiled. "Now, now you two. Be nice."

It was then that Hotch's stomach grumbled. In fact, his stomach and Rossi's grumbled simultaneously. They both frowned.

Rossi opened his mouth to speak, but Hotch beat him to it, "Are we going?"

Everyone nodded or made a noise of consent. They stood and followed Hotch out of the hotel. There were some comments on the restaurant they were going to. Apparently a couple agents Garcia, Morgan, and Prentiss had been there before. Reid wondered what kind of fun they had had while here. The team still had the SUV that they were given and they piled all inside it.

"I feel like a sardine," Prentiss commented on the packed car.

There were three seats in the back, three seats in the middle, and two up front. Hotch and Rossi climbed in the front seats. Morgan wanted to sit up front, but Rossi had quickly yanked the door open and climbed inside. With a huff, Morgan got into the far seat in the middle section of the vehicle. Garcia climbed in and sat beside him with a flirtatious smile and a "hello sweet cheeks."

Jareau got in next. "Behave you two."

Reid and Prentiss sat in the back.

Once everyone was settled, Hotch turned the key in the ignition. Reid was the first to buckle his seatbelt and Prentiss was the last. The first couple minutes of the drive were silent. It seemed as though everyone was getting expectant as they shifted positions or drummed their fingers on their armrest.

Prentiss broke the silence with a simple request, "Can we have some music?"

Hotch turned on the radio, which was already on 103.5. After a Krispy Kreme commercial and a DJ announcing the station was called "The Beat" a song came on. Prentiss, Rossi, Jareau, and Hotch all made faces. They did not want to listen to this kind of music. However, Garcia and Morgan were thoroughly enjoying themselves, tapping their hands on their lap to the beat of the song. Prentiss looked over at Reid, who had pulled an iPod out of his baggy pants and was now listening to music surprisingly loud that sounded something like Mozart.

"Change it," Prentiss said after a few more lines of this song.

She could not take it anymore. If she heard more of this hip-hop dance crap she thought she would scream. This was not music. It could not be music. Where were the sweet sounds of crunching guitars? Hotch put his hand over the Tune knob, and before Morgan or Garcia could open their mouths, Hotch changed the station to another one, which no one wanted to hear. Finally, he ended up at 93 Rock.

Morgan sat back in that seat. "C'mon man, I liked that song!"

"That song was like a decent piece of chocolate," Garcia commented.

"Really?" Prentiss shot back like a little kid. "Because I wanted to puke."

"That's pleasant, Prentiss, really pleasant," Jareau said.

Prentiss rolled her eyes, "All I'm saying is that's not music. I'd rather listen to Hinder or Scorpions."

Reid took off his headphones for a moment and chuckled slightly, opening his mouth to say, "All of you are acting like children. Just pick a station and listen to it, it's not that hard."

"Hey, Reid, what're you listening to back there?" Rossi inquired.

"Well I was listening to Mozart, but I changed my mind. Now I'm listening to 'Cellophane' from Amanda Ghost. It's a very haunting song- quite enjoyable," Reid answered.

He slipped his headphones back over his head. The young doctor looked out the window as he listened to his light alternative, which the team was slightly surprised what he listened to. However, the team did take in mind what Reid had said. Nobody argued over the music and instead Hotch left it on the hard rock station, which Prentiss enjoyed. Once Hotch got into the rough traffic, the team heard Hotch do something they never heard him do: swear.

"Damn traffic," Hotch muttered under his breath.

Nobody could help but raise their eyebrows. It took about fifteen minutes for Hotch to find a decent parking spot about three yards away from the restaurant. Everyone groaned about the walk, but Reid just smiled and slipped his iPod back into his pocket.

Hotch turned in his seat to face everyone. "We're here."
"Actually, according to my calculations we're six yards away from our destination," Reid replied with a furrowed brow.

"Remember what I said about showing off?" Morgan asked.

Reid smiled sheepishly. Everyone knew that was just how Reid worked, but nobody except for Morgan called him on it. Hotch turned off the car and opened the door just enough for him to get out. He parked next to the sidewalk and a part of him was always worried a car would take his door off. Once they were all out of the car after a few stepping on other people's feet, they began walking toward the restaurant.

This would be a fun night.

***

"The wait will be a little over an hour," the hostess said with a smile.

Garcia's stomach grumbled at that moment, to which she replied, "That's like asking me to shave my head."

"Hey, being bald ain't half bad," Morgan replied.

"It looks good on you, cupcake, I'm just not willing to give up my hair," Garcia told him and then stretched her red lipstick lips into a smile.

Morgan was about to say something about the fact that he had not been willing, but decided against it. Hotch turned back to the rest of the team with a distressed expression on his face, which caused a few of the team members to laugh. The man only wore that expression during certain tough cases, and it struck them as funny because the only danger here was being hungry.

It was then that Rossi spoke up, "Everyone in favor of going somewhere else raise your hand."

"Are you serious?" Morgan asked.

"Just do it," Prentiss told him incredulously.

Most of the team raised their hands, except for Morgan. He sat back, smug in his seat. First of all, he was not about to play this ridiculous game, and second of all he came here to eat. He really did not feel like going elsewhere. So there he sat, with that smug look spread across his face. Reid furrowed his brow.

"Typically you would raise your hand," Reid noted aloud.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Morgan grinned, "What can I say? I like crab."

"You can stay here, the rest of us are going somewhere else," Hotch stated.

"Oh, c'mon!" Morgan complained.

Garcia grinned. "I saw a Johnny Rockets a few restaurants down."

"I'm not going to a Johnny Rockets," Jareau stated simply, folding her arms.

"I'm with Jareau," Morgan agreed.

Some of the team sat and some of them stood for a few more minutes. Hotch had already given the restaurant their name. However, this deep-seated hunger in his gut was going to make him very agitated. To the team, he was already a very agitated person. Once the hunger hit, it was not going to be pretty. Prentiss had barely said a word besides to be grouchy to Morgan. Rossi obviously wanted to get out of here. Garcia, like a little kid, wanted to go to Johnny Rockets. Jareau would go anywhere but here or there. Morgan wanted crab. And Hotch had no idea what Reid was thinking.

How was a team leader going to make all of his team happy?

Trick question: He was not.

"We're going to Johnny Rockets," Hotch stated.

"Yes!" Garcia grinned and nudged Reid, who was sitting right next to her, squished between her and Morgan.

Morgan and Jareau both groaned.

"Hotch, there're plenty of restaurants on the strip. Can't we eat at one of those?" Jareau asked, like a little kid whining to get what she wants.

Hotch raised a brown. "Unless you can think of somewhere else to eat in the next two seconds, we're going to Johnny Rockets."

"Man, I wanted crab," Morgan muttered.

Prentiss rolled her eyes. "Be happy you're eating."

The team had agreed to eat together for dinner, since that was something they rarely ever did. Hotch had rewarded them with this, and hopefully the paperwork from the case could wait until tomorrow. But now it seemed they might go their separate ways: five of them going to eat at Johnny Rockets, and the other two staying to eat at Monty's. However, Morgan got up as soon as Hotch began walking out of the restaurant and followed. Rossi told the hostess that they would not be eating at that restaurant and quickly followed behind Morgan and Hotch. Garcia was as ecstatic as a little girl bouncing around a toy store, and she looked like one with the grin she wore in two blond pigtails. Prentiss appeared to be pissed as hell as the hunger overtook her, and the fact that she was clumped in the middle of the group and Garcia kept stepping on her heel.

Hotch stepped in the door and held it open for the rest of the team. Rossi waited at the small podium for a seat. The host was nowhere to be seen and Johnny Rockets was visibly packed, including the seats outside. Garcia looked around woefully, as if they would never get a spot, but luckily a large group of people got up and left. That made her even happier. She loved this place. Finally, the host showed up. He was one of those pimply teenagers that probably had gone to pop his zits in the bathroom mirror.

"May I help you?" he asked eagerly, as if he had the jitters.

Perhaps this was his first day.

"We would like a table for seven," Hotch stated as a fact rather than a request.

The boy looked around and smiled with braces that had some green stuff- probably broccoli- stuck in them. Hotch practically scrutinized this kid's mouth, unable to look away from the gross food stuck between the kid's teeth. The host grabbed seven menus and led them to two small tables that he pushed together. There were six chairs that came with those two tables. The boy dragged over another black metal chair with a red cushion and passed out the menus after the team sat down. Reid took that chair and squished in between two chairs at the crack where the two tables were pushed together. Morgan and Garcia planted themselves on either side of him. Prentiss was next to Morgan on the right of Reid with Rossi next to Garcia at the right of Reid. Hotch sat across from Morgan, which left Jareau to sit across from Garcia.

As soon as they sat down, Hotch felt a little tug on his sleeve. The team leader looked down to where the tugging was coming from. Standing there was a little kid- maybe about six years old, maybe a little younger- with chili sauce all over his mouth. A part of Jareau wanted to say "aw" and run over and start talking to him, another part of her really just wanted to look at her menu for something reasonable to eat. However, she could not seem to be able to tear her eyes away from this little brunette boy with large crystal blue eyes.

The little boy swallowed and asked nervously, "Do you- do you know where boogers come from?"

"Boogers come from-" Reid started and then stopped when he saw that everyone was giving him 'the look'.

"Go ahead, Reid," Hotch said, giving the okay, because he truly wanted to hear what would come out of the doctor's mouth.

Plus, Reid really wanted to answer this little boy's question.

"Boogers are a combination of the dirt from the air and mucus that lines your respiratory system. About a quart of mucus is made up from your nose and sinuses each day," Reid explained with a grin.

He always prided himself in knowing what others did not, even if they were a little kid. Quite immature, but he had never learned otherwise. The kid looked up at him with widened eyes, as if he were staring at a magician that pulled facts out of thing air. Little did the kid know that he really was looking at a magician.

"Thank you," the little boy smiled and bounced back to his seat to tell his mother the newfound information.

Hotch looked down at his arm where the little boy had touched him, and saw a slight handprint of chili sauce. He grabbed a paper napkin off the table and wiped the area. What a cute little boy, but what a mess. At least he was not wearing one of his nice suits and as an alternative just a nice white T-shirt.

As soon as the little boy was gone, Jareau looked back at her menu as if she had been looking at it this whole time. And as soon as she decided to get the Crispy Chicken Club Salad, she felt something hit the back of her head. She looked down behind her chair and saw a piece of chicken lying there, then her eyes scanned upward and sitting right behind her was a couple with a toddler, of probably two to three years in age, holding another piece of chicken. This time when the toddler threw it, Jareau tried to duck and instead it his her square in the face. Everyone had paused to watch what was happening to Jareau.

What was taking their waiter so long?

Another chicken flew towards Jareau, this time it hit Hotch. He scowled and then turned around.

"Ma'am," Jareau tried to say in her most polite tone of voice.

The mother just sat there. At first she twitched her head as if she was going to listen, but then she took another bite of her burger instead. Yet another piece of chicken got thrown at Hotch, but this time he caught it in his hand. He placed it on the table, and looked intently at Jareau.

Once more, Jareau cleaned her throat and said, "Ma'am."

A few tables turned heads.

"What?" the toddler's mother snapped and turned her head around.

Jareau took a breath and said, "Excuse me, can you please tell your kid to stop."

The mother scoffed and turned back to face her food saying curtly as if to insult Jareau, "You'd understand if you were a mother."

"I am a mother," came Jareau's answer.

The mother turned back around and said in a lighter tone, "Oh, then you know," and then turned back around to face her food again.

However, the mother did move the salad out of the way, which made Jareau happy enough that she listened. No mother liked to hear another mother speak about how they should take care of their child, and Jareau knew that. At least the chicken salad was officially moved out of reach. When she turned back around there was a plump blond waitress waiting to take their orders.

"Is anything the matter?" she asked in a fake sort of sweet voice.

Jareau shook her head and said no, and then added, "I would like a water and a Crispy Chicken Club Salad."

The waiter promptly wrote that down and then began taking everyone else's orders.

***

Prentiss was busy picking the lettuce off of her Bacon Cheddar Single. She had ordered a root beer, but hers had been so bogged down with ice that there had been barely anything in the cup. The woman looked up to see everyone else eating. Morgan took to staring at his Chili Size, trying to determine the best way to eat it. Reid told him to just go at it with a spoon, but Morgan would be damned if he listened. Finally, Prentiss picked the last piece of lettuce off her burger.

"Why didn't you just ask for it without the lettuce?" Jareau asked.

"Truthfully? I forgot," Prentiss frowned and took a big bite out of her burger. She swallowed and then said, "If I wanted a salad, I would've asked for one."

To the left of her, next to Morgan, Reid must have been having a fun time with his chicken wings. Just like a little kid, Reid had chicken wing sauce all over his face. There was a line of it that went up to his cheek, and somehow a little bit had ended up on the tip of his nose. Prentiss laughed. He looked as thought he took a chicken wing and rubbed it all over the bottom half of his face. Already the doctor had used up the napkin that the restaurant had given him.

"Garcia?" Reid asked her as she took another bite of her grilled cheese.

Morgan decided to take to his Chili Size with a spoon.

Garcia looked up at Reid with a mouthful and swallowed, "Yes?"

"Can I- can I use your napkin?" Reid asked, balled up shreds of a napkin left in his hand.

Garcia grinned. "I'm glad I get to be your humble little napkin fairy." She held up her hand and said, "Miss?"

The blonde waitress came back and saw Reid with a face full of sauce. She laughed a little bit, and then held her tongue when she saw the doctor's brown eyes widen until they were doe-like.

"More napkins?" she said, forgetting to use her fake-nice teenage voice.

Prentiss could not help but roll her eyes at the girl's snottiness. "Obviously."

The blonde waitress scurried off. In a few minutes she returned with more crisp napkins that she set right beside Reid's plate. He used three of them to get the sauce off of his fingers, and another three to get the sauce off of his face. Although, no one would tell him this of course, he had a smear from the middle of his forehead to the middle of his right temple.

Jareau went to put some leaves on her fork when she accidentally flung them across the table, right next to Prentiss' plate. No one could explain it. It happened just like magic. Not even Reid could tell anyone how some of Jareau's salad ended up all the way across from him at Prentiss' seat. So Prentiss grinned- all in good sport- and picked up some of the lettuce that used to be sitting on top of her burger patty. Using her fork as a catapult, Prentiss tried to fling lettuce back at Jareau, but it ended up in Morgan's chili, which he was busily eating. Rossi sat back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest.

Hotch turned to Rossi and asked, "Should we do something?"

Rossi just shook his head and kept enjoying the show where Garcia chucked a piece of bacon from her BLT at Jareau for starting this whole mini food fight. Reid looked excited with a childish grin on his face. He quickly unfolded his napkin and then folded it back up into an airplane. Rossi and Hotch both raised their eyebrows with anticipation. Reid threw the airplane at Prentiss, with it landing only a couple inches away from her food. He made a face, as if expecting the airplane to make it all the way across the table, and instead succeeded in ripping up pieces of his old napkin and balling them up to launch with a spoon at everyone at the table. Rossi and Hotch did not even mind getting dirty bits of napkin thrown at them if it meant having an amusing time at their table. Hotch took another bite of his Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, his eyes still raised in amusement. Jareau laughed and used her fork to fling a piece of chicken into Morgan's Chili Size, at which point he began using pieces of Garcia's lettuce to retaliate.

Little did anyone at the table know that the waitress was approaching, ready to take their order for dessert when suddenly a paper ball hit her square in the forehead. The ball was a good two centimeters wide as she looked at it on the floor. The girl had half the mind to complain to the manager and tell a lie stating that these people had interrupted other peoples' meals. However, tables upon tables around the profilers had stopped to see what the hubbub was about. Reid quickly put down his launching implement, as if that would make him any less guilty.

However, the waitress asked in her sickeningly sweet voice, "Anyone for dessert?" even though she was grating her teeth with every word.

Reid was the first to speak up, "Um… yes. I would like the-" he dragged the word 'the' on, as if trying to decide if what he was about to order was what he really wanted, which irritated the waitress "- apple pie a la mode with cheddar cheese."

"You're ordering cheddar cheese on your desert?" Morgan asked in disbelief, because to his ears it sounded quite revolting.

"Yes… I find that perhaps since the cheese and ice cream are both dairy products that they will most likely work well together," Reid explained as if it made all the sense in the world.

Garcia snapped the desert menu shut and said, "This beauty knows what she wants. I'd like the Perfect Brownie Sundae."

"My beauty always knows what she wants," Morgan grinned with a wink.

She returned his flirt with a gracious look, but did not reply because she wanted to add to her order, "Can I have extra hot fudge on that?"

The waitress nodded and said she could.

"You like chocolate?" Morgan grinned flirtatiously.

Garcia replied, "You know I do, sugar."

All the flirting between those two would make her sick, and she was worried they would start throwing around racy innuendos.

"I'll have the Single Scoop," Jareau stated.

"I'll have the Vanilla Shake," Rossi said.

Hotch threw in, "Make that two, please."

"You three are going to end up boring old people," Prentiss stated, and shortly after added, "I'll have the Banana Split since some people are more exciting than others."

The waitress scribbled that down and then addressed Morgan, "And for you?"

He looked up at the waitress and said, "I'll have the Root Beer Float, sweetheart."

She nodded, tapped the pen on the pad of paper and walked away into the kitchen.

"Did you really order apple pie with cheese?" Morgan inquired.

Reid nodded with a grin of high hopes.

***

The waitress returned fifteen minutes later with a tray full of deserts. Each smell joined together to make one significant sweet aroma that traveled to each agent's nostrils. Reid was anxious to get his apple pie. He had heard of people eating apple pie with cheese all over the place, he had just never tried it before. Of course, Morgan was one mind that thought it would be quite gross. But the waitress gave Hotch and Rossi their vanilla shakes first, and then Garcia got her sundae. Jareau received her scoop of vanilla ice cream after Morgan got his root beer float and Prentiss got her banana split.

Finally, Reid got his apple pie, and any onlooker would think that this kid was never happy the way he seemed to gleam from the joy he had from receiving his desert. He looked at it; all happy that the cheese was so melted it covered some of the apples that poured out of the crust. He poked his fork into the delectable crust and apples, pulling a perfect looking bite off from the slice of pie. Studying it for a moment, he glanced up. Everyone was staring at him.

"This would be much more enjoyable if you weren't all staring at me," Reid said, opening his mouth to place the piece on his tongue.

Jareau looked at the youngest profiler and spoke up, "I know you'll like it. Having cheese on pie is an American tradition."

"I get points if he thinks it's gross," Morgan grinned, sipping some of his root beer out of his desert through a straw.

Reid placed the bite on his tongue and began to chew. He smiled through it, obviously enjoying the weird mixture of flavors that combined in his mouth. Morgan's eyebrows raised slightly in disbelief. Jareau smiled with her mouth shut as if to say, "I told you so". The rest of the team, however, had begun chowing down on their deserts. Hotch had a hand to his head, massaging both of his temples with thumb and forefinger.

"Hotch?" Prentiss asked.

Hotch grimaced. "Brain freeze."

"Ah, the glory of a frozen brain!" Garcia grinned as she took another bite of her hot fudge sundae, scooping up as much hot fudge as she can in the bite.

Reid swallowed another piece of apple pie and said, "You can warm your brain back up by touching your tongue to the roof of your mouth, thereby narrowing those blood vessels and ridding of the headache."

"Thanks, Reid," Hotch said, beginning to do what Reid had told him, no matter how far fetched it sounded.

"Seriously, is there anything you don't know?" Morgan inquired, a bit brusquely.

Reid frowned. "I don't know much about Hollywood."

"Who're the three Jonas Brothers?" Garcia popped out the question.

Prentiss rolled her eyes. "I hate the Jonas brothers."

"Nick is so adorable!" Garcia gushed.

"Oh God, not you too," Prentiss moaned.

"You do know you just blew your own question," Morgan told Garcia.

Garcia frowned. "I did not. There're still two more brothers!"

"There's Nick…" Reid began, and then he looked up, as if looking for the answer.

There was a long pause after that. Reid tried to wrack his brain while eating his apple pie. The rest of the team just ignored him and started eating their deserts. After that it was kind of quiet at the table. Relaxing, but silent. A couple conversations occurred around the table between Rossi and Hotch, and then there was also Morgan and Garcia. Rossi and Hotch were talking about a past case while Morgan and Garcia were talking about some more Hollywood trivia.

After about ten minutes, Reid furrowed his brow and muttered, "The three brothers are Nick, Joe, and Kevin. They also have their own television show on the Disney Channel."

Garcia turned her head toward Reid. "What?"

Reid spoke louder, "The three Jonas brothers are Nick, Joe, and Kevin. They also have their own television show on the Disney Channel."

"Be still my heart-"

"The kid officially knows everything!" Morgan said in disbelief.

"With an IQ of 187 you wonder why he knows everything?" Rossi inquired, without even truly asking a question.

Reid smiled a little bit and finished the rest of his pie.

"Do how did you know that?" Garcia asked.

Reid put on his thinking face and answered, "I read it in the newspaper."

"Of course, he read it in the newspaper!" Morgan said, still in disbelief.

The waitress came over with the check. She placed it right in front of Rossi, who was about to pick it up when Hotch reached passed Jareau and snatched it out from under Rossi's nose. Hotch opened it up to look at the price. He pulled out his wallet. Before he could stick any money inside the plastic pocket of the check, Rossi grabbed the check back.

"I'm paying for it," Hotch stated.

Rossi shook his head. "No, no, I insist."

"I'm the team leader, I should pay for it," Hotch sighed, holding his hand out for Rossi to give him back the check.

"That doesn't have anything to do with this. I want to pay for the team. You let us stay the night here, I should get to reciprocate the deed," Rossi stated, slipping what looked like seven twenties inside the pocket.

Hotch looked disgruntled. Prentiss eyed them both as if they were crazy. In fact, the whole team, the exception being Reid, looked at Hotch and Rossi as if they were insane. It was an odd thing when people were fighting over who should pay the check. Jareau looked back and forth between Hotch and Rossi, as if waiting for Hotch to take back the check. Reid seemed to be occupied with the whipped cream that was on his plate, or maybe he was just choosing his battles carefully.

"Rossi, I'm going to pay it," Hotch said.

That was when the waitress came by. Rossi held up the check and told her to keep the change.

"At least let me buy you a drink," Hotch told him.

Rossi inclined his head. "I'll think about it."

Everybody stood from the table then.

But Prentiss had other plans, so she said sarcastically, "What're you two doing, going on a date?"

"Maybe," Rossi said with a wink.

And then they all left one by one. Reid went back to the hotel. Rossi and Hotch headed to a classy bar down the street. The rest of the team went clubbing. And Reid finally got to read Alice in Wonderland.