Chapter 3

And the grand finale. Once again a million and eight thanks for the reviews. I seriously smile like a fool every time my email dings with a new review and then anyone surrounding me, whether they know me or not, just stares, and it makes me giggle even more. Anywhosers! Thanks and here we go! The final part- but I'm always open to story ideas.

The guys, minus Reid, were on lounging on the back patio of Hotch's house one sunny afternoon. Hotch held steady at the grill while Morgan and Rossi were both relaxed in a couple of patio chairs, drinks in hand.

The doorbell rang and Morgan hopped up. "That must be the girls." He smiled, walking through the familiar home to see JJ, Prentiss and Garcia walking in, each holding food or a gift.

"Chocolate Thunder would you take this back to Hotch?" She asked handing over a sequined gift bag. "A girl needs both hands to take her heels off."

Morgan raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything as they all shared a smile. "Sure thing, we're all out back. Besides Jack and Reid that is."

"I think it's sweet that those two are spending so much time together. He's great with Henry so I'm not surprised he's great with Jack." JJ said, leading the group to the porch. Hugs were exchanged all around as the girls each found a seat to settle into. Morgan put the present next to Hotch at the grill.

Morgan couldn't hold back a snort at the surprised face Hotch made when he saw the shining sequins. It only took a moment for Hotch to recover and offer a gracious, "Thank you Garcia."

"You're welcome Mr. Boss man in an apron, just a little gift for the host!"

The group started talking, a couple different conversations going on when the back door slid open to a wide-smiling Jack. "Hi everybody!"

He was greeted with hugs and many "Hi Jack!"s and "Hey Buddy!'s by the team.

"Did the smell of the burgers drift inside bud?" Hotch asked, putting the grilling tongs down.

"No! Spence said to come get everyone cuz we're ready!" Without further ado he ran back in, laughing the entire way.

The team all shared a fond look, not quite sure what to expect, as they got up and entered to study which was 'off limits' earlier.

"This should be good." Hotch smiled as they followed the sounds of giggling as he pushed the slightly ajar door open.

Needless to say the team was shocked to see such a transformation in the usually simple room which housed the piano and a few books. Hotch, Morgan and Rossi all had their mouths hanging slightly open in surprise while the girls all squealed or cooed, all laughing. The entire floor was lined with silver tarps, streamers were hanging in straight lines from the ceiling, there were two rows of assorted chairs lined up to face the back of the room where a table was set up with an assortment of odd items with Reid and Jack standing behind it, both donning blue capes and ridiculously big smiles.

Slowly prodded forward by the girls, the team took a seat. Morgan and Rossi had recovered by now but saw that Hotch was still eyeing the room's new décor. "I didn't even see him bring in any boxes." Hotch finally said, giving the rest of the team another reason to smile and laugh.

"He sure outdid himself." Rossi added, seeing how big Jack's smile was.

"This is gonna be so good!" Garcia squealed in delight, getting her camera out and ready.

JJ and Emily both smiled as they watched Jack and Reid talking quietly to each other before the
"recital" was about to begin.

Morgan leaned over to Hotch asking, "What kind of music do you think Reid's been teachin' him?"

Hotch smiled. "I'm not sure but I think you were right. He always surprises me." The team noticed the fond look Hotch was watching not just one of the boys with. Rossi knew that look and could understand perfectly how Hotch felt to watch their youngest give the team an opportunity to smile and relax in the midst of what they do.

After some small preparation was done, Reid cleared his throat as he walked to the front of the table to address the audience. "Welcome one, welcome all. I, Reid the Regal and Jack the Jovial welcome you to…our magic show!" As the team clapped, Reid repositioned himself behind the table next to Jack who took over in his best entertainer voice.

"Spencer showed me that magic is real and that through the use of physics and chemistry we can make our own magic!" Jack said, picking up a large plastic cup, pouring its contents into a large clear bowl with a little water in it.

Hotch and JJ both smiled, loving how both their kids were constantly learning from their Uncle Spencer.

Reid added a couple of brightly colored powders from different containers, explaining, "Look closely and watch carefully, to see the radical transformation that magic and chemistry can create!" Reid nodded to Jack who picked up a plastic bag from under the covered table. The team all watched on as Reid helped him open the bag but then took a rather large step back as Jack went to mix in the final substance.

Everyone's eyebrows raised at that, knowing their youngest would never put Jack in harm's way but being weary nevertheless, because let's face it, trouble seemed to always follow Reid without him trying. Reid's smile put them at ease, knowing he had deciphered their slightly concerned looks.

In an instant, the bowl was no longer visible, being completely hidden by an ever-growing bright blue foam that seemed to appear from air. The girls all started clapping as the table was soon completely engulfed with the foam which sent the aroma of cherry through the air.

"I see the tarps were less for decoration and more on the side of practicality." Rossi laughed as they all stood now, trying to see the two magicians behind the wall of whatever it was.

"That was sweet Pretty Boy! Jack the Jovial's got some sweet magic!" Morgan said giving the "magic" a wide berth as he walked around back of it to congratulate the two. What he found made him stop and smile. "Uh.."

Hearing the uncertain note in the agent's voice, the rest of the team skirted around the now slightly hardening blue wall that was nearly chest high and an arm's length wide. They came around the table to see that the room was absent of their two favorite boys.

"What in the world!" Penelope laughed. "Where did they go?"

"…They were in front of us the whole time, we were practically a solid barrier between them and the door." Emily started thinking like a profiler on a much more fun case than usual.

Seeing what she was doing Morgan joined in. "Well the obvious place would be under the table wouldn't it?" JJ nodded and without a moment's pause, lifted the table cloth, only to reveal a couple of now empty containers.

They each took a second to look around the room, analyzing it almost subconsciously. After a few moments of being spread out in the room, a chuckle came from Rossi who was standing over next to the window.

"I feel like we should have heard the window open if they crawled through it. And the breeze would have shifted the foam." Emily laughed.

"That doesn't matter." Hotch said, still smiling. "I had that window sealed, it doesn't even open."

"It wasn't the window itself that made me laugh." Rossi said, and was the first…err rather third to leave the room.

Curiously, the rest of the team went and looked out the window, all smiling even wider at what they saw. Spencer and Jack were now on the porch getting a plate of food they had made for the barbeque.

"Oh my Junior G. Man!" Penelope literally ran out the door to give her boys a huge hug. The rest of the team followed at a bit more leisurely pace.

They opened the back door to now find Rossi, Penelope, Jack and Reid all sitting down at one of the tables set up on the lawn. At seeing the rest of the family come out, Jack and Reid got up and went over to greet them.

"That was amazing Jack. You'll have to show me how you did it later." Hotch said, giving his son a bear hug as the rest of the team came around them.

"It's a secret Dad. Spence what's the time?" They had all seen that smile before and knew they were missing something.

Spencer groaned and looked at his watch. A soft, "Eight minutes" was mumbled, causing Jack to jump and laugh. He stuck his hand out expectantly. The team watched on curious as Reid grabbed a five dollar bill from behind Jack's ear which only added to his excitement. "Remember our agreement?" Spencer added with a smirk all his own.

"Yes. Can we eat now?" Jack asked, eyeing his plate of food hungrily.

"Of course! Go eat Bud." And with that Jack ran back to the table where his plate was already filled.

"What was that?" Morgan piped up, as curious as the rest of them.

"Well…you see we were wondering how long it would take for you guys to figure our disappearing act out or rather how long it would take for you to come find us." He smiled sheepishly.

"And Jack won?" JJ prodded, wanting more information.

"Yes. I figured you would spend about fifteen minutes, figuring out that first we weren't there and then being profilers I assumed you would then try to figure out how we got out, not necessarily thinking to instead just come find us. I calculated the best odds that one of you would look out the window to be around the fifteen minute mark."

The team smiled at having been profiled correctly for the most part.

"And Jack?" Hotch asked.

Smiling, Reid answered. "He said you'd do it in under ten." The team all shared a good laugh and decided that they were in fact hungry and ready to eat also. Reid and Hotch were the last ones on the porch still getting their plates of food.

"That was quite the show Reid." Hotch started. "Wasn't quite what I was expecting from a 'recital'."

Misunderstanding and already feeling slightly out of his comfort zone, Reid started babbling. "I hope you're not mad..I know you wanted him to have piano lessons and I didn't want to waste anybody's time but then he found magic so much more interesting and-"

"Hey, Reid. Calm down. It's completely fine." He put a relaxed hand on the genius' shoulder. "That was a terrific surprise and honestly I don't have a clue how you managed it."

Feeling slightly better about the whole thing, Reid immediately perked right up. "Well actually it was a simple combination of Polyurethane and Diphenylmethane but at a larger scale than a normal quantitative experiment would typically be held at. Also, Jack and I agreed before starting that we would have the study completely back to normal right after dinner."

Hotch just smiled as he listened to Reid. "Don't worry about it Spencer, let's just all enjoy our meal together after such a great show."

Reid let himself feel content and comforted as the pair walked down the steps and to the tables that were currently occupied with their laughing and smiling family.

The End.

Thank you so much for the support and reviews. Love it! I think I'm going to go ahead and end here. Although there is always the option for more with Jack and Reid's little agreement. JUntil next time.