The team needed some time as a group. They needed some time when they weren't working a case together. Luckily for the team, Derek had a brilliant idea. Instead of going to Rossi's house for a small dinner party, or to the bar, Morgan suggested something that he knew would interest every single person in the team. Axe-throwing.
Now, when Morgan found this place online, he knew that his team would enjoy releasing some of their pent up anger and energy.
The anger came from not only the absolutely frustrating unsubs that they had to deal with, but also the possibility that not every case would end with success.
The energy came from similar places. They spent almost every - if not all - day of the year kicking down doors, busting through windows, shooting unsubs (if necessary), and overall just fighting the bad guys. Morgan knew for a fact that he and the team needed to release some of their energy by doing something fun, with a bit of healthy competition.
So, at 9 AM on a Friday morning - usually when most of the team were asleep or on the jet (flying because of a new case) - they each sat at their respective chairs at the round table in the conference room, wondering why the hell Morgan had called them into work with such excitement.
"I present to you all, our new activity, meant to help us release our pent up anger and energy. Axe-throwing!" Morgan handed each member a pamphlet, watching as some laughed and some rolled their eyes.
"As much as this sounds like a fun idea, - because it does - can we please do something that Spencer won't inevitably win?" Cassidy groaned, Spencer rolling his eyes at her.
"I agree with Cassidy. Spencer has this freaky way of figuring out the exact method that will end in his success. I know that axe-throwing will be no different." JJ groaned.
"Too bad, because we have a 2 hour session starting at 11 AM." Morgan chuckled, allowing everyone to leave the room.
Everyone went to their respective homes and got changed, heading to the address that Morgan had texted them. When the team arrived, Morgan had them sign waivers, before they walked over to their respective targets. There were two targets, meaning two team members could throw their respective axes at the same time.
"Really baby girl? You couldn't have chosen a more...breathable outfit?" Morgan chuckled.
"Look, Mr. 'I'm so strong and I can wield an axe with ease', I'm not comfortable with holding, let alone throwing a dangerous weapon such as the axe. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to sit behind the barrier and keep score for you 7." Penelope rolled her eyes, sitting behind the barrier.
The team was briefed on safety. A few team members - Cassidy, Rossi and Emily - chose to zone out while the safety briefing happened, considering they figured that they dealt with deadlier weapons on a daily basis, so not being stupid (not touching the sharp end) with an axe was all they had to do.
Then, the team was given a demonstration on how to successfully throw the axe at the target.
Lastly, the team themselves got to try and get some practice before the actual competition. Morgan surprisingly didn't hit the target as much as the team expected, considering he was too impatient and relied only on his strength, when in fact, technique and accuracy mattered more.
The team was given the breakdown of the scoring system. If you hit inside the blue circle, you scored 1 point. If you hit inside the red circled you scored 3 points. If you scored inside the black circle (the bullseye), you scored 5 points. But, if you were skilled enough, and you managed to hit one of the two green circles in the corners just above the actual target, you'd score 7 points.
Each pair had three main rounds, with 5 chances to hit anywhere within the target. Whoever won the most rounds during their turn would move on in the competition. If you lost your initial round, you were allowed the chance to get back in the game, but if you lost that round as well, you were out.
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For the next 2 hours, the team had fun throwing axes. JJ and Emily vowed that they'd attempt, and hopefully succeed in hitting the green circles. Morgan focused on one thing - hitting as many bullseyes as possible. Hotch and Rossi focused on competing against each other, mainly because whoever lost would by a round of drinks for the team after the session.
As for Cassidy and Spencer, when they were throwing axes, Spencer tried so hard not to win - considering he had already figured out the perfect strategy that he could use to win (against Morgan) - and Cassidy was just trying to work on her accuracy. But, when they weren't throwing axes, both of them found themselves laughing at the failures of their co-workers. Slowly but surely, members of the team lost.
Eventually, after the last axe was thrown, the leader board was as follows:
In 1st place was Cassidy. In an attempt to get her throws as accurate as possible, she took her time and actually won each round that she played in.
In 2nd place was Spencer. He figured out a very useful method to getting more points, BUT he weakened his throws in order to prevent himself from winning as much as he could have.
In 3rd place was JJ. She had managed to get a few hits of the green circles, winning her bet with Emily. Apart from that, she managed to only score 1 - 3 points.
In 4th place was Rossi. He managed to beat Hotch, which meant that he wasn't the one buying the first round of drinks for the team. He would happily pay for the next few rounds though.
Tied in 5th place were Morgan and Emily. Morgan managed to get 1 bullseye every round, before ultimately leaving himself to earn 1 - 3 points. Emily had managed to hit the green circles a few times, but only got 1 point from each throw after hitting the green circles.
In 6th place was Hotch. He didn't mind losing. In fact, all he cared about was how much fun he and the team had. In reality, he hadn't seen the team this happy in a long time.
But, like all good things, the day was coming to an end. After a good 2 hour axe-throwing session, the team went for lunch and also got drinks. By 4:45 PM, each member of the team had at least 5-6 shots. Penelope was - of course - the one to initiate the drinking, giving each member of the team a drink she thought suited them.
By 6:15 PM, Hotch was genuinely surprised that a case hadn't come through. Usually, most days like this got sadly interrupted because a case needed to be dealt with. But not today apparently. The team got through a whole day without needing to fly across the country to find and apprehend an unsub.