It was supposed to be a normal day. Morgan and Prentiss showed up for work first,taking their places at their respective desks,Rossi was next,followed by JJ and Hotch. Garcia showed up a few minutes later in all her pink,blue,and sparkly glory,singing happily as she entered her technological domain.

Everyone sat at their desks,settling in for the day,and then a few of them groaned at the pile of paperwork on each of their desks. It was a tough price to pay for having a day off.

Prentiss and Morgan each took a few folders from their piles in an attempt to sneak them into Spencer's significantly smaller stack...only to realize that the young prodigy wasn't even there.

''Has anyone seen Reid?''Hotch asked,poking his head out of his office. The boy was never late. Yet,his desk was empty.

Everyone shrugged,and then the unit chief saw Emily and Derek ready to add the few folders they held to the youth's pile.

''Morgan and Prentiss,do your own paperwork,please.''

The pair,caught in the act,ran back to their desks.

...

A full hour went by,and then the door to the bullpen opened,revealing Spencer,who had pulled the hood of his jacket up over his head,and his messenger bag,which normally hung at his side,had been turned awkwardly to press against his back,clearly hiding something.

His hands were stuffed in his pockets,he quickly marched to his desk. He grabbed his few folders and started for the door again. ''I'm doing my work in the break room!''he called frantically before he disappeared.

JJ just looked at Derek,completely dumbfounded. Spencer never did his work in the break room. He was always comfortable at his desk. The boy hadn't even stopped to get coffee! JJ got up from her desk and headed for Hotch's office. She knocked a few times,and with access granted,she entered.

"Is something wrong,Jennifer?"Hotch questioned as he scrawled his name at the bottom of a paper.

"Spencer just showed up,and took his work to the break room. He was covered head to foot,too,and it's almost 100 degrees out."

"Really?" Hotch looked up at her,slightly surprised. While Spencer liked to wear layers,he just couldn't see him wrapped up in a jacket in the dead of summer,pun intended.

Hotch stood up from his desk and went out to the bullpen. He examined the bare desk,and the empty chair. He sighed,wondering why Spencer would be acting so strange. Oh,sure,Spencer was unusual to most people,but there in the BAU,he was encouraged to show off and use his unusual gifts.

But this was new. He sighed and stalked out to the breakroom. There he found Spencer hunched over at a table,already through three files and working on his fourth. The hood of the brunette's jacket twitched slightly,and this caught Hotch's attention.

He had to pause again though,as he spotted a brown tail swaying softly from under the youth's messenger bag. The hood twitched again,and Hotch chose to lean against the doorway. He was going to wait the kid out.

...

The first thing to go was the messenger bag. He watched the boy remove it and dump it on the table. This revealed the entire length of the tail,and that Spencer was clearly showing discomfort in his usual clothes. The hems of his shirt and sweater vest were brushing against it,causing awkward twitches and jolts.

The next thing to go was the hood,and Hotch had to stifle a slight chuckle at the two feline ears that stood atop the brunette'a head. Further examining the clear discomfort,the unit chief saw that the boy was having trouble holding his pen. ...and then he saw why.

Sharp claws had replaced properly cared-for nails,making it weird to hold the writing utensil. Spencer struggled to find a comfortable way to hold the damn thing for several minutes until finally,the pen was sent halfway across the room.

Again,Hotch had to stifle a laugh;he's never seen the genius throw a fit before,and he smiled with victory when the genius's coat joined the pen.

Finally,Hotch got to see Spencer properly. The brown tail swayed angrily,and Spencer shrieked when it touched the floor,and the shriek allowed Hotch to see that the boy's teeth had changed,as well.

Beautiful,if sharp fangs had replaced his canines,and then the unit chief saw that slits had replaced pupils. Spencer ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He was not at all fond of the change. So this was why he'd run off and refused to sit at his desk.

Hotch finally decided to make himself known.

"That certainly is new,"he said with a light chuckle.

Spencer jumped at the voice,and when he saw his superior,he let out a pathetic mewl,as if looking for help or sympathy.

It was too cute,and Hotch broke down into a laugh. Spencer's ears flattened against his head,he hissed,and his tail started to puff up.

"What's so funny?!"he demanded.

Hotch paused to breath,and decided on grabbing the boy's arm and hauling him back to the bullpen.

"No,Hotch! Wait!"

Hotch didn't listen. He just kept dragging the brunette until quite suddenly,he refused to move.

"Reid,"the unit chief warned.

"No!" The youth had grabbed onto the edge of a desk that was near the door to the bullpen,and the poor woman sitting at the desk had looked up from her computer to see claws buried in the finished wood,and that was the only thing saving Spencer from humiliation.

Hotch wrapped his arms around the boy's waist,and started pulling,trying to get him free from the desk.

"No,no,no,no! Let me go!"

Hotch growled and gave one last hard tug,freeing the youth's claws and creating curled pieces of wood. Spencer flailed and kicked, desperate to get free from his superior's arms. One of Spencer's swinging legs caught Hotch's ribs,and the elder dropped the neko.

Spencer took the opportunity,scrambled to his feet,and darted for the first open door he saw...

This was,however,his big mistake. Instincts had taken over and told him to climb,so he sort of missed winding up on top of one of Garcia's filing cabinets. The "Tech Goddess" turned around in her chair to see that the neko had knocked over a few of her pen cups and papers.

But it was Garcia spotting the tail and the ears that truly sealed his fate. Hotch came into her office to try and remove him from the filing cabinet.

"Spencer,please come down,"he practically begged.

The brunette sat down on the cabinet and folded his arms. "No!"

The unit chief sighed and rubbed his forehead. The new level of stubbornness was already a problem.

"Oh,Reid,you look so cute!"Garcia squeaked. Spencer's eyes widened. Oh no. He whimpered,earning a dark giggle from the hacker. A red light appeared out of nowhere,catching the youth's attention.

His eyes followed it up the wall,down the filing cabinet,across the floor...and it stopped on Hotch's shoulder. The elder groaned because as soon as it stopped moving,Spencer leaped from the cabinet,tackling his superior to get that little red dot.

Penelope giggled in delight,even as Hotch threw Spencer off of him to care for what was sure to be a bruised tailbone. He glared at her when he saw the laser pointer in her hand.

"Really?"

"Look at him! He's so happy!"

Hotch looked at the brunette that was swatting at the dot from the laser pointer,trying to catch it. He wore a look of determination,proving that all intelligence had gone out the window.

"I'll get his paperwork. Can you lead him into the bullpen?"Hotch asked as he stood up.

Derek was working on another file when a little red dot suddenly appeared on his paper. It caused him to raise a brow,even as it moved up his arm and stopped in the center of his chest.

All was calm in the bullpen until Spencer appeared out of nowhere,scaling the man's desk and tackling him to the floor as he screamed and sending papers flying.

Prentiss launched herself away from her desk as the red dot appeared on her files,followed by Spencer,of course. JJ dove to the floor clutching her phone and growling as she heard Penelope giggling.

Garcia,for fun,then aimed the laser pointer at the desk to a familiar office,and Spencer chased after it without a second thought.

Hotch came in carrying Spencer's files and belongings just in time to catch curse words screamed in Italian.

Please review! Not sure when the next chapter will be posted. Rated K for now.