As SSA Jason Gideon, Unit Chief for the FBI's lead team of profilers, stepped off the elevator onto the sixth floor of the building that housed the BAU he was met with quiet. Footsteps echoing on the tile floor quiet. As he started toward his office, the quiet didn't bother Gideon though, as he had expected it - after all not many of the bureau's employees came into the office at six-thirty in the morning. Then again, not many had a desk that was swamped with paperwork even before they went out of town on a case for five days. Add to that the new paperwork for this latest case and he was starting to wonder if he was going to be able to find his desk once he reached his office.

Gideon made his way through the empty bullpen, and up the steps to the catwalk in front of his office. Reaching Hotch's empty office, Gideon pushed open the unlocked door and headed over to the desk. Even in the dim lighting in the office Gideon took note of the shiny, clear surface of his teammate's desk and felt envious of the sight. He wasn't even sure what color the top of his desk was at this point, as it had been covered with stuff for so long. With a hint of satisfaction, the Unit Chief placed the files in his hand down on the otherwise clear desktop. Both Morgan and Nichols' yearly evaluations were due and though he had taken them home with him last night, he had gotten nowhere with them. He had fully intended on working on them but had gotten caught up in other reports - namely the cost justification paperwork for their last case- and had never gotten to them. In fact, he still had to finish that, he had fallen asleep while working on it last night and Strauss would be looking for it today.

~I need to take a vacation in order to catch up on the paperwork,~ Gideon thought ruefully as he turned from Hotch's desk.

The post-it stuck on the front of the top folder would let Hotch know that he wanted the younger man to fill the evaluations out. Hotch had offered to do just that two days ago after they had discussed both agents' performances over the past year during a lunch in Gideon's office. Gideon had declined the help then. While he valued Hotch's input, a second pair of eyes and opinion tended to lead to a more helpful, and accurate evaluation, Gideon had felt he should fill the evaluation out himself. Of course that was before he realized that the other stuff that he couldn't pass onto anyone else was just not going to allow that.

Satisfied that the evals were left in capable hands, Gideon headed for his own office. Flipping on the lights to the room only worsened his mood as the amount of work he had to do became more apparent. Stacks of files of potential cases were everywhere - the extra chairs, on the floor by the wall, and the smaller stack of those he had decided to give to team members for consults on his desk. Boxes with files pertaining to cases he was researching for his latest article sat wherever he had found a spot. The inbox basket was overflowing while next to it, the outbox sat comparatively empty - the handful of things waiting to be picked up by the interoffice messenger seeming meager. Though he hoped to have the cost justification report added to it before the morning pick-up, it still didn't do anything to lift the weight of work he knew had to be done. The rest of his desk was covered with notebooks, scribbled notes, and the start of a lecture on profiling Agent Jericho had asked him to present for the latest batch of Academy cadets next week. The reminder of it had him wondering why he had said yes to his former BAU colleague in the first place.

~Standing here is getting absolutely nothing done,~ Gideon told himself as he headed toward his desk. Finding a clear spot big enough for his coffee cup, the profiler placed the beverage down and dropped the rest of the papers he had taken home the night before in his chair. Reaching out he began to quickly put the scattered items into some semblance of an organized pile so that he would have room to work.

Having cleared a spot of his desk (the surface of which was a dark brown Gideon noted absently), the agent picked up the folders he had dropped in his chair moments before and sat down. His first priority was getting this cost justification report done so that Strauss didn't come looking for it, dealing with the Section Chief via emails and on the phone was bad enough. Gideon tried to limit his face-to-face interaction to meetings that he couldn't avoid with her.

Opening files, Gideon picked up where he had left off at home. The BAU Unit Chief immersed himself so fully into his work that he was not aware of the floor coming to life as other employees started filtering onto the floor. When the cost justification report was done, Gideon thankfully placed it into the outbox, and reached for the top item in the inbox.

Opening the file he recognized the formal proposal Hotch and he had submitted to Strauss about adding a media liaison position to the team. 'Denied' had been stamped in red on the cover page of the proposal with no explanation given. Closing the file in disgust, Gideon turned to his computer. Switching it on, he tapped his fingers impatiently on the desktop as he waited for the computer to start up. Whether she wanted to or not, Strauss was going to give him a reason for dismissing the request for that particular added position, though he strongly believed her main reasoning was that she didn't like him. Not that she would say so, but he wanted to see what justification she could come up with when put on the spot.

SSA Chad Nichols kept a close eye on the bullpen as he pretended to look busy. He was waiting for his youngest teammate, Agent Reid, to leave his desk to get coffee like he did every morning so that he could carry out his surprise for the young genius. Despite the doubts of other agents in the unit, self-doubts, and animosity from co-workers, Dr. Spencer Reid had reached the ninety day mark of his FBI career. Agent Nichols wasn't about to let the milestone go past without some recognition of it.

Nichols original plan had been to get here early and be waiting for Reid when he came in. His son, Evan, and niece, Karen, however had ruined that plan when they decided to have a food fight with the scrambled eggs this morning. When he and Vanessa had finally gotten their two kids to cease and desist, eggs and ketchup smears were all over the kitchen, in hair, and on clothes. The only one not soiled was Tara who had ran from the room as soon as Evan had flicked the first pieces of scrambled eggs at Karen with his fork. By the time that he had gotten the kids cleaned up and changed clothes himself, Nichols had to rush to make it to work on time, meaning all of his teammates had arrived first.

So now Nichols was waiting for Reid to leave his desk. As the young agent still didn't have coffee, the computer tech knew it was only a matter of time before Reid would head for the small kitchenette for his caffeine fix.

Nichols was just finishing the filing, which really didn't need to be done, when he saw Reid get to his feet. Inconspicuously, Nichols turned from the shelves he had been working at and headed for his office. Quickly retrieving the cupcake he had brought with him this morning, a red '90' written on the white frosting, he headed back for the bullpen. With a quick glance at the kitchenette to gauge Reid's progress, the team's computer specialist made for Reid's desk.

Pushing the file Reid had opened out of the way, Nichols placed the cupcake down in the center of the desk and then added a candle to it.

"What's that?" Morgan asked from his own desk.

Nichols stepped away from Reid's desk and leaned against the side of Hudson's which faced it. He looked across the aisle at Morgan.

"A little celebratory cupcake. Junior's managed to make it ninety days, so I thought I would recognize the accomplishment."

"Has it been that long?" Hudson asked idly, looking up from his computer.

"Sure has been. Much longer than that week you gave him, huh?" Nichols replied, glancing over his shoulder at his younger teammate.

"Okay, so I underestimated the kid. Cut me a break, will you?"Hudson muttered, looking properly embarrassed. Since the case in Georgia, Hudson had been making an effort to be nicer to Reid, though he would be the first to admit the genius drove him crazy at times. More than once Hudson had to fight the urge to lock Reid in a closet so that he wouldn't have to hear him spout facts and the occasional verbal jab did slip in from time to time during team discussions. The biggest difference was that Hudson would be just as quick as any of his other teammates to defend Reid if someone outside their team gave him a hard time.

"Here he comes," Morgan whispered, seeing Reid walking toward them, coffee cup in hand.

The three agents fell silent, all of them looking toward their returning teammate. Seeing three pairs of eyes on him, Reid slowed his steps, eyeing his teammates warily.

"Did I do something wrong?" Reid asked, looking first at Nichols, then Morgan and then Hudson before letting his gaze fall back on Nichols. He still hadn't noticed the cupcake sitting on his desk.

"Now why would you think that, Junior?"

"Because you're all staring at me like I did something or you're waiting for something to happen," Reid replied, stopping a few paces away from the desk.

"Relax, Kid. It's not like Hotch or Gideon is here waiting for you," Morgan supplied, trying to put the younger agent at ease.

"Yeah, I was just telling Morgan and Hudson about the food fight Evan and Karen decided to have at the breakfast table this morning," Nichols replied, not bothered by the white lie because if he had gotten the time he would have told them. Chances are he would still be telling the story as he had no doubt both of his teammates would be asking questions now that he had mentioned it.

Accepting the explanation, Reid moved forward lifting his coffee cup to take a sip of the heavily sweetened hot beverage. Pulling out his chair, Reid started to sit down, stopping in mid motion as he noticed the cupcake.

"What's this?"

"Just a little celebratory cupcake," Nichols said, taking a lighter out of his pocket. Leaning over the partition separating Hudson and Reid's desk, the computer specialist lit the candle. "There you go. Blow it out for good luck on your next ninety days."

Reid hesitated, staring at the flickering flame. "What is it? A trick candle?"

"Now would I do something like that, Junior," Nichols asked. "Now one of these two," he continued, nodding his head in Morgan and then Hudson's directions as he spoke, "would probably try it."

"Come on, Kid, blow it out before we set off a fire alarm or something," Morgan joked.

Placing his coffee cup on the desk, the young genius blew the flickering candle out. Despite Nichols reassurances, Reid was still surprised when the flame stayed out. Reaching out, he picked up the cupcake and plucked the candle from it so he could enjoy the treat later.

Nichols pushed himself away from the desk. "Don't forget, dinner at my house tonight if we don't catch a case," he added as he started walking toward his office.

Reid looked up in alarm. "I thought you said it was just going to be your family?"

"Yes, I did and at the time I invited you over it was just going to be us," Nichols said. He had known it would be harder to convince Reid to come over for dinner if he knew the rest of the team was there, however after the rough beginning that the young genius went through with the team, everyone had wanted to show Reid that he was accepted by all of them. Celebrating his ninety-day mark had seemed the perfect way to do that. "However, I added to the guest list afterwards. And no backing out, Junior. We all know where you live."

As Nichols headed for his office, Reid turned back around. Grabbing his coffee cup he took a gulp of the hot liquid. He hated social gatherings. He always seemed to say the wrong thing. Having dinner with Hotch in his wife or with Nichols and his family was one thing. Reid had gone over several times now and felt comfortable at both residencies. Knowing the whole team was going to be there was another matter entirely. He was pretty sure he still annoyed Morgan and Hudson from time to time with his rambling. The last time the three of them went out, Hudson had supplied him with a list of topics he was not allowed to talk about in his presence.

Tonight was going to be awkward and uncomfortable. Reid found himself suddenly hoping that a case would come and ruin the dinner plans. He knew it was the only way out of dinner as any made up excuse would be seen through by the people he worked with. Ninety days with this team had taught him one thing he hadn't expected to learn working for the FBI - even an IQ of 187 wasn't enough to stump a group of profilers as good as the ones he worked with.

"Want a ride tonight, Kid?" Morgan asked, causing Reid to jump.

"What?" the genius asked, glancing over at Morgan.

"Do you want a ride over to Nichols tonight? I've noticed you prefer not to drive when you can avoid it. Your apartment isn't that far out of my way to Nichols' house."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it," Reid said, accepting the offer even as he continued to process Morgan's statement. After a moment he looked at his teammate quizzically. He had never told any of his teammates that he didn't like to drive. "How do you know I don't like to drive?"

"Reid, you own a car and yet walk the three blocks from your apartment building to the subway station, even in bad weather, to take the subway to work. You are also the only rookie I've heard of, in any law enforcement agency, that doesn't ask to drive while on the job. Hell, 'can I drive' was the first thing I asked my training officer in the Chicago PD when he asked if I had any questions."

"Me too," Hudson admitted.

"And my final piece of evidence is the fact that you drive an old Volvo that looks like you put only enough time and money into the thing to keep it running. People who enjoy driving usually cherish their cars and take an effort to keep them looking good or restore them."

"So much for what Hotch said about not profiling teammates," Reid muttered, retrieving the file that Nichols had pushed out of the way to make room for the cupcake.

The fact that Reid hadn't bothered to deny Morgan's observations told the older profiler that he was right.

"The real question is, why he doesn't like to drive," Hudson commented, looking across the partition at Reid although his words were directed toward Morgan.

"Bad experience maybe," Morgan supplied, leaning back in his chair.

"Or maybe he just isn't any good at it. Makes me wonder if the tactical driving portion of the academy training was just as bad or worse than his firearms scores."

"I did fine in that portion of the training actually," Reid supplied, raising his head to meet Hudson's gaze. "You can ask Nichols to verify that for you as we all know he has hacked into the results of the Academy Training for everybody on this team."

"I like to know what kind of people I'm working with," Nichols called out as he walked past them on the catwalk on his way to Hotch's office.

Reid glanced over at Nichols quickly before looking down at the file in front of him, his cheeks starting to feel warm. He hadn't meant for his teammate to overhear the comment.

"So how did our resident genius do with tactical driving training?" Hudson asked.

"Third highest marks in his class actually," Nichols supplied as he knocked on Hotch's door.

"Okay, so we'll scrap the 'Reid just can't drive theory'," Hudson said, looking both surprised and impressed by the information he had just received. "Though that still leaves the bad experience theory."

Reid kept his eyes on the file in front of him although he could feel his teammates' eyes still on him. He knew they wanted an answer but he was in no mood to supply one. The bad experience theory wasn't too far from the truth. Reid didn't like driving because the experience always made him nervous what with people speeding, and disobeying road signs and traffic lights. Not to mention the morons who seemed to take pleasure in cutting other people off. He didn't need that kind of stress, as his personal life provided quite enough for him.

Going back to the file that he had been working on, Reid hoped his two teammates would lose interest in him and go back to their work. While Reid's attention was focused on his work, Morgan and Hudson exchanged looks, a silent conversation going on between them as to whether to apologize to Reid or just let the subject go. Deciding it was best not to draw further attention to the exchange, the two profilers chose to let things go and silently returned to their own work. The silence didn't last long as Morgan and Hudson were soon discussing the football match-ups for the upcoming weekend. As he listened to the conversation that made absolutely no sense to him, Reid was just relieved that the focus was no longer on him.