The Stranger Game

"...........Raise those hands if you saw CM last nite!!! Micks gonna be my fave character in the spinoff :) How bout you people? Pleaz R&R and tell my what you think!"

Spencer Reid looked at the smiling faces of Cooper's team. They all seemed to get along well enough, but he still couldn't help but feel that they were all hiding something. He understood that his team had their own secrets- whether it be about how they got inside the BAU or what happened when they got in- but he thought that they at least seemed more subtle about it.

"Damn, this is going to take us forever." Mick mumbled as he looked through his fifth case file. Reid, on the other hand, was on his twentieth file.

Prentiss smirked, giving Reid a sideways glance, which he returned with a slight smile. 'That's right,' Reid thought, 'He doesn't know yet.'

Mick, seeing the slight exchange, looked suspiciously at the two of them. "What? Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, about 15,000 words." Reid murmured distractedly.

"What?" It was safe to say they had thoroughly confused Mick.

"Come on Reid, don't be such a tease. Tell him." Prentiss said in a somewhat annoyed, somewhat teasing voice.

"I don't Prentiss; I don't think I should." Reid said with a fake sigh of frustration.

"Hmm....Maybe we should just show him." she suggested.

"Show me what?!" Mick cried.

"Here," Prentiss started, "pass him that case file right there." Mick obediently did so. Without further instruction, Reid quickly flipped through the file, finishing in a minute's time. Mick looked back at him with incredible eyes. "You think that's impressive? Watch this." she smirked.

Reid sighed, knowing where she was going with this. "What page, what line, what word?"

"Page four, line 8, word 3 and continue until page four, line 9, word 7." Prentiss instructed.

"There's no way....." Mick said, rolling his eyes at this nonsense.

''and worked a part time job in the summer of '09 at the recycled paper plant across the street from his house. Note this factory is no longer in use and has been closed ever since." Reid finished, snapping out of his daze.

"This has to be a trick...."

"I have an eidetic memory, the ability to read 20,000 words per minute, and an IQ of 187." Reid summarized. "No, this isn't a trick. Prentiss here made a game out of it a few years ago."

"I call it The Stranger Game." Prentiss smiled.

"Oh? And why exactly did you make his smarts a game?" Mick smirked.

"Dr. Reid here isn't even 30, is as thin as a friggin' tooth pick, and tends to be a bit nerdy. The purpose of my little game is to show people not to underestimate him."

''Apparently, quoting Prentiss here, 'it sickens me to see these idiots not valuing your input all because you're young and pretty. At least now they know what they are competing against.'"

"That would be a neat trick to have." Mick said. "And don't worry kid, everyone in the BAU knows about you- one way or another we've heard stories about you. Don't think our superiors don't talk about us." he warned. "We're all a bit protective over each other, aren't we?" he added after picking up a new file.

"Especially over this one here." Prentiss answered. "He's gotten in more trouble than we can count."

"You know, because it's my fault that I was kidnapped, shot in the leg, taken hostage with you, almost got blown up...." Reid muttered.

"Have you suggested in investing in a leash?" Mick joked.

"Oh, you think that list is bad? That's just about a quarter of it!"

"You know, maybe we should focus on the case." Reid cut in quickly, his voice becoming high and his cheeks blushing red. Mick couldn't help but smile at the boy's innocent look.

"Fine, fine." Prentiss surrendered. "But this isn't over!"

"Down tiger..." Mick purred. Both Prentiss and Reid reached over to smack him-something the team had become accustomed to.

After a few minutes, Mick looked around the room, seeing how much time had passed. Prentiss had finished three more files than he had, while Reid was up 20 on him. He grabbed about five of his and threw them on top of Reid's stack. Reid looked up and smiled.

'Yeah, they're just like us.....'

"..........heheheh...........Sorry, I couldnt resist! Pleaz R&R if you liked it!"