49. Luck

Author: rogueandkurt

Rating: K

Fandom: Criminal Minds

It's been a while. All I can say is I'm sorry for the tremendous delays. I continue my fight against writer's block, and have about fourty-five fics in the works right now. I promise I'll do my best to finish every last one of them.

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of these characters.

"Rise and shine, Reid. We gotta go."

There had to be another pair.

Morgan's voice sounded outside his apartment door, and Reid cursed himself for asking the older agent to give him a ride that morning, since his car was in the shop. He should've just taken the subway like he used to, but ever since the incident with the guitar-playing busker, he'd been wary of that particular brand of public transportation.

It's not like I was wrong about the history of street performers, Spencer groused, pushing aside a pile of books. I still don't understand why he took it so personally.

Maybe under the bed? The genius dropped to his stomach, inching under the mattress to rifle through the mess that resided there. How could he have made such a mistake? He was usually so careful about these things.

"Reid? Come on, kid, we're gonna be late."

He could always go barefoot. Reid winced. He had a feeling that Hotch's leniency when it came to his eccentric footwear choices would not extend to something so unprofessional. He rifled through the drawer again, glancing back at the small maroon bundle on the bed. There had to be another pair somewhere.

"Reid, get your butt out here! Hotch is expecting us for the briefing in half an hour, and I am not putting up with morning traffic. Get your beauty sleep another time."

"Just a minute!"

What about the ones he'd worn yesterday? Surely they hadn't been in the pile of clothes he'd dropped at the downstairs drycleaner's last night. Frantically, he located the hamper of clothes he'd worn the day before, disappointment claiming him as he remembered the mud of yesterday's crime scene had wreaked havoc on everything below his calves. He couldn't show up at work wearing dirty, manure-smelling socks.

"Reid! If you're not out here in two seconds, I'm going to break down the door!"

He groaned. He'd have to risk it.

"I'm coming!"

Hastily, he pulled on the maroon socks as he hopped towards the door, pulling it open just as Morgan looked about ready to follow through on his threat.

"Let's go."

"I still don't see how that puddle missed you," Reid grumbled, shaking his hair out again.

Morgan laughed, patting his soaked friend on the shoulder as they pushed open the glass doors of the bullpen. "Maybe because I know enough to walk on the far side of the sidewalk after it's rained."

The team was already assembled in the round-table room, Hotch halting his morning briefing to glare at the latecomers. The pair of them slunk quietly to their seats, all-too-aware of the attention they were receiving.

"Thank you for joining us," Hotch commented dryly, his gaze lingering on Reid's less-than-professional appearance. The young genius ducked his head, brushing wet bangs out of his eyes.

"Sorry," apologized Derek, looking almost sincere, his eyes dancing as he glanced at Spencer once more. "We got caught up in traffic and Reid got splashed by a puddle."

JJ and Emily struggled to contain their laughter as Reid's ears turned red with embarrassment. The inklings of a smile threatened to appear on Hotch's face but were quickly brought under control, a stern look replacing them.

"I want to see both of you after the briefing," he decided, straightening the pile of paperwork before him and resuming the meeting.

"Hey, grab me a cup too, would you?" Morgan requested as Reid announced his intention to get some much-needed coffee. Spencer had half-a-mind to ignore his friend's request after the incident with the puddle and Hotch's dressing-down about appropriate job behaviours, but Derek had given him a ride to work. He settled for throwing his friend a mild glare and set off in the direction of the kitchenette.

He grabbed his navy blue mug from the cupboard, and was surprised to find the coffee pot quite empty. Usually, the agents would've gone through at least one brew by this point, and the unwritten rules of office courtesy called for the last agent responsible for emptying the pot to start a fresh batch.

Grumbling at the inconsiderateness of others, the young genius fumbled for a pack of instant coffee and a filter, throwing the pot under the spout once more and hitting the button. He waited, his patience growing thin as nothing happened. Frustrated, he hit the button again, jumping back as the machine began to pour steaming sludge-liquid all over the counter.

"No good, my lanky genius," Garcia called, passing by, a medium Starbucks coffee in-hand. "The machine broke this morning. Emily went for a coffee run earlier, but you and Morgan weren't here yet."

Reid stared after her, absently wiping the sludge off his pants as he resisted the urge to tackle her and steal her cup of caffeinated goodness.

It'd be pointless, he told himself. Any revenge she'd come up with would be far worse than a day without coffee.

Spencer glanced at the clock with apprehension. He was less than halfway through the day, and already regretting getting out of bed. His phone rang, and he frowned, worried at what else the day might bring.

"Dr. Reid? This is Freida from Lowell's Drycleaners."

Reid smiled, relieved. He liked the exuberant older woman who ran the shop below his apartment. She was never put-off by his vast knowledge of inane trivia, and always willing to listen to his explanation of how the first washing machine was invented.

"Hi, Freida."

"I'm sorry to call you at work, but I'm having a bit of a day here. I found a receipt of yours from last night, saying you dropped off your usual batch of clothes. It would've been when Lola was working. Is that right?"

Spencer blinked, the apprehension returning full-force. "...Yes."

He heard Freida sigh. "Well, I've just searched this place from head to toe, and I can't find a single, solitary sock of yours. I'm very sorry, but I believe we may have lost them somehow."

"All of my clothes?" Spencer asked in a small voice. "You can't find any of them?"

"I'm not sure how it happened - I've been having some trouble with the new staff, but this is a first. I'll be happy to reimburse you for what you lost," Freida offered apologetically.

Reid nodded numbly, before remembering she couldn't see him.

"Yeah, that's fine," he replied absently, already dreading the massive amounts of shopping that lay before him. He'd have to be sure not to mention it to any of the others, lest they decide it was a prime opportunity to take his wardrobe into their own hands.

"Again, I apologize for the inconvenience."

A dial tone sounded, and Reid fought the desire to bang his head against his desk.

"Reid?" Hotch hesitated, pausing for only a moment to take in the depressed mess of an agent before him. "Is everything alright?"

Spencer sighed, his eyes downcast. "Fine."

Aaron doubted the sincerity of that statement, but chose to ignore it. Reid was more than capable of looking after himself. "Do you have that Dobson file for me?"

"Yeah," replied Reid sullenly, sifting through the small pile of completed files on his desk. He blinked, shuffling through them again.

Hotch coughed meaningfully. "Reid?"

"Just a second," Spencer muttered, searching the collection of files he was working on. He frowned, pulling open his desk drawers before remembering that he'd put the file in his bag yesterday to finish last night. Hurriedly, he pulled his messenger bag off the back of his chair, yanking open the flap and barely containing a moan of anguish as the clasp broke off. With Hotch looking on, he could do little more than bite his lip at the damage to his favored bag, even as he found its contents to be lacking. The file was nowhere to be found.

"Sorry, Hotch. I must've forgotten it."

There was no reading the expression in Hotch's eyes, but Reid doubted it boded well.

"Get it to me as soon as possible, please."

Only four-forty-one. The end of the godforsaken day seemed eons away to Reid, who had decided to hole himself up in the break room for safety's sake. There was no telling what more bad luck was in store for him.

Reid pulled up his pant legs, glaring at the cursed identical socks that were the cause of his misfortune. If this day had done anything, it had reinforced his lifelong belief that wearing matching socks was just asking for trouble.

"Hey, Reid?" JJ called, poking her head into the room. "Before I forget, your mechanic called to say your car is going to be in the shop for another couple of days. They just found something wrong with the motor, and they have to order a bunch of parts from overseas. He said he'd call you later with an estimate. It sounded pretty pricey."

Spencer watched her leave, his control snapping along with the pen in his hand, grimacing as a wave of ink sprayed him.

"Arrrghhhh!"

Emily frowned in confusion as she ducked inside Garcia's office, closing the door behind her. The blonde technician sat with her back to the door, humming along to the Cyndi Lauper tune playing on her computer.

The brunette blinked dumbly, pointing back at the door.

"Why did Reid just put a pair of maroon socks through the shredder?"

Penelope shook her head, turning up the music to block out the frustrated cursing coming from the bullpen.

"When it comes to that boy and footwear, we're probably better-off not knowing."

Fin.

Well, there it is. For anyone who's interested, the idea of identical socks bringing bad luck comes from Matthew Gray Gubler's own beliefs about socks. I figured since they worked the mismatched socks into Reid's character on the show, his reason for wearing them would be the same.

Liked it? Hated it? Desperately searching your sock drawer for another pair to mix-'n-match with? Let me know - please take a moment to review. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

For those who care, I should have the next piece of the 'Reid-on-drugs' miniseries up pretty soon - it's written but still needs to be edited. And I'm working on getting to more regular updates of my other oneshots, so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.

Keep Smiling! ;)

rogueandkurt