Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.
"Alright, kid, spill it."
Reid looked up from his desk at Morgan. "What?"
"You've been grinning practically all day. What gives?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Reid replied looking back down to the work on his desk.
"Okay, that right there tells me you do know what I'm talking about. What's making you so happy?"
"Can't I just be happy?"
"Yes, but not while you're stuck sitting at your desk doing paperwork all day."
Reid just ignored him.
"You know, kid, even if you don't tell me, I will find out."
Reid stayed silent, but gave in when Morgan wouldn't stop watching him. "Fine, I have a date tonight."
Without even looking up, Reid could see Morgan's shocked expression. He was too shocked to even say anything right away.
"No no no. I am not falling for it," he finally said.
"Falling for what?"
"Reid, I'd have a hard enough time believing you have a date on a normal day. There's no way I'd believe it today."
"What's so different about today?" Reid asked him.
"Don't play stupid. You know it's April Fools' Day today. Nice try, kid, but you can't pull a fast one on me."
"Reid's trying to pull a fast one?" Emily asked as she came back to her desk.
"Yeah. He says he's got a date," Morgan told her.
"Really. You know, Reid, for such a genius, you can be really stupid sometimes," Emily said. "Did you really think we would believe that, on today of all days?"
"That's exactly what I told him," Morgan said.
"Would you guys stop it? I do actually have a date. The timing of it happening on this particular day is purely and entirely coincidental. In fact, the probability of-"
"Just give it up, Reid. Joke's over. We don't need to hear any of your statistics to try to convince us."
"What is Reid trying to convince you of this time?" Rossi asked from behind them.
"That he has a date."
"Who has a date?" JJ's said as she approached them as well.
"Reid's trying to pull a fast one on us," Morgan told her.
"Really, Spence? I thought you were smarter than that."
"What is this, gang up on Reid day? JJ, do we have case or something?" Reid asked, desperately trying to change the subject.
"Oh, no. I just wanted to see what the gathering was all about."
"So I have a date. Is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes," everyone replied in unison.
"So, does your date have a name?" Morgan asked.
Reid hesitated only slightly, but it was enough for the profilers to notice. "Jessica."
"Hmm, Jessica. And what does this Jessica do for a living?"
"She, ah, works in this building actually."
"Come on, kid, just give it up already."
"I am not lying! I do have a date!"
"Twenty bucks," Morgan said.
"What?"
"I bet you twenty bucks you don't have a date."
"Oh, me too!" Emily said.
"I'm in," JJ said, "What about you, Rossi?"
"Alright, I'm in, too."
"I'm in, too!" came Garcia's voice from behind them. "Wait...what exactly am I in for?"
"We're betting whether Reid has a date or he's just trying to pull a fast one on us."
"Oh, then I am most definitely in. Sorry, sweetie," Garcia added to Reid.
"Is there a reason for this impromptu meeting at Reid's desk?" Hotch asked.
"No. Will you please make them go away, Hotch?" Reid asked. "I would like to finish up this last file so I can leave."
"Yeah, so you can get to that date of yours," Morgan said with a chuckle. He turned to Hotch. "He's trying to convince us he has a date. We're all betting twenty bucks that he doesn't."
Hotch was silent for a moment. Everyone was waiting for him to tell them to get back to work. "I'm in."
"Hotch!"
"Sorry, Reid," he said with a slight smile.
"Will you all just leave me alone, so I can finish my work?"
Everyone slowly left Reid's desk, smiling at Reid's desperation. A half an hour later, Reid was just finishing up his work.
"Hey, Spencer, are you ready to go?" someone asked from behind him.
Reid turned around and smiled. "Yeah, just give me a minute, Jessica."
"No way..." Reid heard coming from Morgan's desk. Reid noticed his team slowly gathering in the bullpen as he put his work away and got ready to leave.
"I'll be right back," he told Jessica.
Reid went over to his team. They were all staring, jaws slightly dropped, at the lovely brunette waiting by Reid's desk.
Reid held out his hand. "I believe you all owe me twenty dollars."
Each of his team members wordlessly got out their wallets and handed Reid the money. Reid took it and turned around back to Jessica. He could feel their gaping stares as he walked out of the bullpen with her. Reid couldn't help a wide grin form on his face.
As soon as they entered the elevator, Reid reached into his pocket for the money. "Here is your cut."
"A pleasure doing business with you, Dr. Reid," she said, taking the money and shaking his hand.
"As always. I owe you big time, Jessica. I never would have been able to pull that off without you."
"So, how'd it go?"
"How'd what go?"
"Your date."
"What date?"
"Your date with Jessica last night."
"I didn't have a date with Jessica."
"Come on, kid, April Fools is over."
"I know, and I believe I got you guys quiet good."
Morgan stared at Reid, dumbfounded. "You didn't."
"Yes, I did," Reid goaded, watching as Morgan figured out what he had done.
"The whole thing was a set up?" Morgan asked.
"And I thought I worked with a bunch of profilers."
"Wow. I am humble enough to admit that was a good one, kid."
"I know," Reid smiled proudly.
"So what is this girl's real name, where does she really work, and how exactly do you know her."
"Her name really is Jessica, she really does work in this building, and she's a friend."
"Must be a really good friend to do that for you."
"She is," Reid replied with a hint of a smile in his voice, "but she mostly did it for a cut in the money."
"Wait, how did you know we'd make a bet out of it?"
"I'm a profiler, Morgan."
"Right," Morgan replied.
"How was your date, Reid?" Emily asked when she arrived.
"What date?" Reid said again. Emily stared at him in confusion and was about to ask another question when they were interrupted.
"Hey, Spencer."
"Hey, Jessica, what are you doing up here?" Reid asked.
"Oh, I had to bring some files up and thought I'd say hi. By the way, I had fun last night." This earned a strange look from Morgan. "Well, I should probably get back to work. I'll see you tonight, Spencer." Morgan stared at her as she walked away and then turned his attention to Reid.
"What?"
"'I had fun last night'? I thought you said you didn't have a date."
"I didn't."
"Okay, I am officially confused," Emily said. "What's going on?"
"Yeah, Reid. Explain."
Reid took a deep breath. "I really didn't have a date with her last night, but we decided to use our winnings to get some drinks, so it kind of ended up actually being a date anyway."
"What about tonight?"
"We have another date. A real one," Reid said, blushing slightly.
"Okay, so let me get this straight," Morgan said. "You purposely told us you had a date to trick us into betting that you didn't have a date, only for us to find out that you did, but you really didn't, and then you ended up actually going on a date with her anyway, and you have another date with her tonight?"
"Uh, yes."
"Wow."
"Wait, so technically Reid did prank us yesterday?" Emily asked, still a little confused.
"Yes, he did."
Emily went over to Reid's desk and held out her hand. "You didn't have a date, so I think that means we get our money back."
"No," Reid responded immediately. "Technically I did have date with her, so I believe I get to keep it."
"I think he's right, Prentiss. Besides, that was too good of a prank. I think he deserves it."
"Damn!"
"How was your date, Reid?" JJ asked.
Reid groaned, while Morgan laughed. "You do realize you're going to have to explain this to everybody now, don't you, kid?"
"I didn't think that far ahead."
JJ looked clueless. "Explain what?"
Reid groaned again and dropped his head down on his desk. Garcia stepped into the bullpen as well.
"Short version," Morgan said before Garcia could say anything, "is that Reid pranked us AND got a date out of the whole deal...lucky bastard."
"I heard that, Morgan," Reid said without lifting his head.
Morgan smiled. "Well, it's true."
"Did Reid's date go that bad?" Rossi asked as he came up to them.
"No, trying to explain everything to us is just making his head hurt," Morgan chuckled.
"We really need to stop having these impromptu meetings at Reid's desk," Hotch said.
Reid got up from his desk and left them there to discuss him. "I think I need coffee," he mumbled.
Hotch watched him as he left. "Was his date that bad?"