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A/n here's the next chapter people. Thanks for all your kind support for this little series.

It's Clouds Illusions I Recall

Reid placed the coffee pot back on the maker and smiled fondly at his favorite beverage. Now for the sugar, he thought as he looked around for the container that had seemed to vanish.

"Looking for this," Emily said from behind him, making him jump.

"Watch it!" He said a bit irritably. "This is hot!"

She stepped up very close and said in a low voice. "So are you Dr. Reid."

She held the container of sugar in one hand and a spoon in the other. She dipped it slowly into the sugar and smiled up at him from under her bangs. They made her eyes look sleepy and sexy. His cup slipped again and nearly spilt coffee over his hand.

"Watch it Reid… You don't want to get burned!"

"Right!" He squeaked as she dumped the sugar into his cup and began to stir it with aching slowness as her eyes drifted down from his eyes to the dark purple tie he wore with a matching dress shirt. She lifted her eyes back to his face and smirked.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing…"

"You wouldn't be thinking naughty thoughts on the job, would you?"

"No!"

"You squeak when you lie Spencer!"

He stepped back from her and bumped into the counter top in front of the sink. The adjustment in perspective gave him the perfect opportunity to look down at her legs and imagine them under the dark, charcoal grey slacks she wore.

He could still see the beads of water on the smooth, silkiness of her skin. Only two hours ago, her long tanned legs had wrapped around him in her shower. The hot water pounding on his back had opened her pores and let him breathe in deeply her unique smell, as he had never experienced it. The vanilla scent of her body gel enhanced the spell binding effects on his brain, leaving him shaking and breathless.

"Spencer…"

He loved it when she sighed his name like that. He lost what was left of his fragile self-control at the sound of her deepening tone.

"Hey Reid…"

He jerked, sloshing coffee all over his hands and the sleeve of his shirt. "Garcia…" He yelped, setting the cup down perilously close to the edge of the counter top.

"Sorry to scare you baby cakes. You were a million miles away."

"Yeah… I was just trying to pass him his beloved sugar." Emily shoved the container into his coffee stained hand. "All you had to do was ask Reid."

"Ok… What's going on? You two look awfully guilty. You wouldn't be planning anything."

"We're not planning anything Garcia." Reid fumbled for a paper towel. He switched on the water in the sink, glad for a reason to turn his back on the perky tech and her bright pink blouse.

"That's not what it looks like to me. I'll bet your planning world domination. If you're serious, you're going to need a really good computer geek." She smirked at Emily.

"Very funny Garcia! Why would Reid and I want to take over the world?"

"Why not? You're the looks and he's the brains and… the looks." She said with a laugh.

"That's funny… I'm too busy with work to plan world domination." Emily said, inching away from Reid who dabbed anxiously at his shirtsleeve.

"Here… Let me help you with that." Garcia said as Emily made her escape.

That had been too close for comfort. She shouldn't leave him alone with Garcia, but escaping seemed to be the only thing to do.

---

Emily stepped off the elevator on the top floor of the building and headed for the stairs. She opened the door that moved on silent hinges and walked up another flight of stairs to a door marked roof. Cold wind hit her face as she left the warmth of the building. She shivered and pulled her coat around her body. This wasn't a great idea, but they had to have a conversation.

She paced up and down the length of the roof while waiting for Reid to meet her. This was his idea and she wasn't sure if she thought it was a good one. Perhaps all this hiding out from the others was a bad idea. Was a job worth the strain on their budding relationship?

She looked up at the sky. White clouds scuttled across it and she wondered when people stopped looking for shapes in the clouds. One of her favorite pastimes as a kid was lying on the green grass of the estate and looking up at the sky with her father. He'd find the most wonderful things in the clouds. If only she had the time to do that now.

"That one looks like an eagle." Reid said.

She jumped and whipped around. "I didn't hear you come up here."

"Yeah… I got that."

They stood silently looking up at the white clouds. "There has to be a better place for us to meet than the roof."

"There are no cameras up here. I checked." Reid said with certainty.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

He took her hand and kissed it with warm soft lips that sent her heart rate skyrocketing. "Where else are we going to meet?"

"What about the apartments on the seventh floor?"

"They're supposed to be for people going into the witness protection plan. How would we get a key?"

"Good question… Maybe we could talk to one of the Marshalls."

"They'd just tell us to go to our own people."

"Right… Well, we have to think of something other than supply closets."

"I don't care." Reid said. "I just want to spend time with you away from prying eyes."

"Do you think anyone suspects us?"

"If they don't they will soon. We're all profilers Emily." He reminded her as his hair blew around in the wind.

"I know… I also know we promised not to profile each other."

"Sometimes you can't help it."

She leaned her head into his shoulder, relishing the contact and the faint smell of the aftershave he'd taken to wearing in the last week.

"You smell really good. What's the name of your aftershave? I can smell coffee, but that's probably because you drink it like it's been banned.

He began to shake with silent laughter. "It's called 'Night,' they add coffee beans into the fragrance when they make it."

"Trust you to find an after shave like that."

"It's cologne, not aftershave."

"Have you been taking lessons from Morgan?" She teased.

"No… just wanted to wear it for you."

"Go easy… We don't want them to get suspicious."

"I hate this. We should talk about telling them and taking the consequences."

She pulled her head off his shoulder. "Do you really want to do that? They'll separate us. Send us to opposite ends of the country if they find out."

"Then I'll quit." He vowed. "I love my job and I want to help people. This job brought you to me." He held onto her hand when she would have pulled away. "I'll never regret that, but I won't let it take you away."

"What are we going to do?"

"Be very careful." He advised.

"And find a different place to meet. It's cold out here." She fit herself back into his embrace.

"It'll warm up soon."

"Not soon enough for me. I have a major case of Spring fever."

"Did you know that the change in season brings about a marked change in mood of some people? Those who suffer from SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder," do much better with more sunlight and warmer temperatures. This is because the brain receives more -"

Emily stopped him with a brain-searing kiss. "I don't care about all that Dr. Reid."

"About all what?" He asked.

"Exactly!"

Later… They both sat on the roof with their heads tilted up at the clouds again. "That one over there looks like a bowl of ice cream." Emily said.

"No it doesn't," Reid argued. "It looks more like a dragon with its tail curled around its body."

"I didn't know you're so imaginative."

"I never really played this game." He admitted.

She angled her head around to see if he were serious. One could never tell for sure when it came to him. "You really never just laid out on the grass looking at the clouds in the sky."

"No… I was too busy reading with my mother, or later on with advanced calculus problems and science project for school. Later…" Something caught in his throat so she reached over to squeeze his hand. "Later, my dad left and I didn't have time between homework, extra credit projects so the teachers didn't get suspicious and taking care of my mother."

"Well… we're going to do more of this kind of stuff."

"You don't have to do that Emily."

"I want to…"

"We better get back," He said checking his watch.

"Yeah… Lunch break is over, and I'm sure JJ is probably looking for one of us to pile on more work."

He helped her stand up. She brushed off her skirt. "Do I have any dirt on my backside?" She asked turning her back on him and trying to look over her shoulder at her legs at the same time.

He looked down at her "backside," but dirt was the last thing on his mind.

"Reid!" She snapped irritably. "Stop staring and tell me if I need to brush off my butt."

He reached out and brushed off her jacket and backside. She leaped out of his reach and glared around at him. "That wasn't an invitation to cop a feel Dr. Reid."

He had the decency to go a little pink in the ears. "Sorry," He apologized, but she didn't hear the sincerity in his voice.

"Just keep your hands to yourself when we get back to the bullpen."

"If I have to!"

"You do!"

"Can I at least get a kiss before we go back?"

His eyes made it impossible forher to stay irritated. "Okay… One last kiss."

Her lips tasted better in the fresh air for some reason. She finally had to push him away with some reluctance because he had talented lips that made her forget where she was, and what she was supposed to be doing.

"We're going to be late."

"Okay… I'll follow you in a few minutes."

He watched her leave then turned his face back up to the blue sky and the white fluffy clouds over his head. A sweet wind ruffled his hair as he looked at the clouds, trying to see something different in the shapes. One of the clouds suddenly split off from another. He supposed the weather patterns were beginning to change. He pushed his sunglasses up on his nose and watched as one of the clouds took the shape of a very rough face that reminded him of Emily. He shook his head and lowered his face to the ground. He must have it bad if he could see her face in the meaningless shapes of the clouds in the sky.

He looked back up at the sky thinking about Morgan telling him the statistics and facts weren't what counted when it came to women. Garcia always told him that he thought too much and he should just let life happen instead of trying to over analyze things.

The clouds shifted again becoming elongated and wispy as it move. It reminded Reid of Emily's hair in the wind. He smiled and headed back into the building.