A giant chocolate cake sat on Spencer's desk as his family sang happy birthday to him with a giant smile on his face and the silly birthday hat Garcia had jammed his head as soon as he walked into the bullpen.
"Oh, Come on man! Blow, baby, blow!" Morgan exclaimed as Spencer tried to blow out the candles.
"I thought you were full of hot air, Reid." Elle giggled as Morgan chuckled alongside her, given the candles were his idea.
"Come on, Reid," Morgan teased again before JJ decided to take pity on the youngest team member. "They're trick candles, Spence. They're gonna come back on every time."
He tried to blow them out one more time. "Aw, Mommy to the rescue." Derek messed with the hat as JJ moved to take the candles off the cake. "Mommy?" Spencer asked in a confused tone.
"Hope you like chocolate." "Hey Reid, does this make you legal?" "Aww man you blew wax on the cake, man." Spencer looked around awkwardly for a moment before making his way to Gideon.
Gideon could only look amused at one of the small celebrated moments of the young man's life. "You having fun?"
Spencer gave a small smile. "Yes, definitely. I'm definitely having fun."
"Make a wish?" "Can I take this hat off?" Gideon looked at the silly hat before shrugging, " I wouldn't."
JJ called out to the birthday boy with a slice of cake in her hand, "Hey, Spence! First piece of the birthday boy!"
Spencer turned back to Gideon, "Did you know JJ is the second person in the whole world who calls me Spence?"
Gideon took a quick look over the genius' shoulder, "I'm guessing the first person just walked in our doors?"
Confused, Reid looked at the glass doors to see Elena walking in holding a small tray of cupcakes. All the agents excluding Gideon stared at her out of place appearance as she looked around the busy room trying to find her best friend. She wore her usual black beanie, and leather jacket over an extremely short miniskirt, plain black crop top and combat boots still showing the multitude of tattoos decorated the pale skin. She also wore the normal dramatic eyeliner and black lipstick. The lights glinted of the hoops in her nose and lower lip along with the belly button piercing. Garcia joined the team as they all stared. The platinum hair and ocean blue eyes were a complete contrast to the outfit itself. Derek's eyebrows raised in surprise at the wide smile she aimed in their direction but shared the shock of every agent in the room at what they witnessed next.
Spencer also aimed a wide grin that nobody had seen before as he nearly jogged over to her. Elena giggled as he hugged her tightly. "Happy Birthday Brainiac."
He looked at the cupcakes in her hand in excitement, "Are those-?" "Tres leche with strawberry topping, your favorite. Love the hat by the way." She flicked the rim of it and Spencer could feel the heat in his face.
Derek looked at the two friends before whispering the rest of the shocked team, "Ok, who is that and how do they know each other?" JJ looked in confusion as Elle could only stare. Garcia could only whisper back "I don't know, but I love her style."
Spencer grabbed her hand (other shocking thing that nobody there expected) and walked her over to the team to introduce them. "Guys, this is Ellie, my best friend!" His wide puppy eyes almost nervous at their reactions. Elena was also nervous. This was Spencer's team, his family. She only hoped they wouldn't judge her harshly. She held up a manicured hand in a shy wave.
"Spencer has told me so much about you guys. It's nice to finally put faces to the names."
The body language between them had Morgan wondering if they were dating. Spencer stood slightly in front of her in an almost protective manner while their fingers were intertwined lazily. She had also slightly angled herself towards him which some kind of interest or shyness, but Derek was willing to bet more the former. Garcia was the first to break the silence. "Oh aren't you adorable!" She squealed rushing over to hug the petite girl, "You are so tiny, I could put you in my pocket."
JJ played with her necklace before speaking, "We didn't"t know Spencer was dating anyone." She sounded a little put out.
Elena laughed before glancing at Spencer, also laughing, "We aren't dating. We're best friends."
Morgan raised an eyebrow at Reid as if to call him a liar, but Spencer just shrugged it off. "3 years, 8 months, and 27 days , probably my longest friendship."
Elena placed the cupcakes on the desk next to her before jokingly punching Spencer in the arm, "Probably? Talk about a shitty participation trophy. Anyways, I made these for everyone, please don't let this joker not share."
Spencer pouted, "It's my birthday."
Elena was about to reply back when Hotch finished his phone call. "Sorry guys, party's over."
Everyone began moving to get their things. Spencer brushed his lips against her forehead before pulling away, "I'll call when I get back." She smiled him with that sunshine smile "Be safe, genius."
She walked out of the bullpen, while Morgan threw an arm around him, "Best friends my ass."
After the case, back on the jet.
Spencer and Gideon were in the middle of their chess game. "Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you." Gideon pulled a small box out of his bag and handed it to Reid. "I forgot to give it to you at the party."
Spencer was grateful, but a little confused, "But you don't give birthday presents."
He opened the box to see two tickets inside, "Oddities Expo?"
Gideon smiled, "They're all access the entire weekend."
"Thank you so much." "Ever been to that kind of thing?" "Honestly, I don't really know what kind of expo this is exactly."
Gideon chuckled, "You're gonna like it."
"You're coming with me right?" Spencer asked.
Gideon shook his head, "No, but I think I know someone else who would love to go."
Confused again, Spencer frowned, "Who?"
"The first person in the world who called you Spence."
It suddenly dawned on Reid that this was the convention Ellie wanted to go to except the tickets were sold out before she could purchase them. He wanted to kick himself for not remembering that he told Gideon about this months ago. Gideon took a quick look around to make sure no one was listening and then spoke in a low tone.
"I didn't include the kids since some exhibits are not child friendly. I hope she won't take offense to that."
Spencer shook his head, "She won't. She says that kind of stuff is too overwhelming for Ollie and Livy will easily run off."
Gideon nodded in understanding. Spencer looked at the board before moving a piece, "Checkmate." The older man looked at the board in shock as Spencer rushed to the back of the jet to call her. Maybe he could muster the courage to finally call it a date.
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A/n I know this was a shorter chapter, but I don't see too much of a point of including the cases since Elena is not a BAU member. I am aware the Oddities Expo is family friendly in real life, that's just what fit with the storyline. I welcome all opinions and criticisms.
