For the second time in my life, the next morning I woke up late. Bleary-eyed, I checked the clock. 10:00am. Ugh. I covered my head with the blanket and closed my eyes again. I had agreed to come at 8 in case the BAU was called away on a case. They were sure to be gone by now. Still…it would look unprofessional if I didn't show up at all. Agent Hotchner would probably-

My eyes shot open and I kicked the covers frantically off of my bed. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" I covered my burning face with my hands, sitting up on my knees. The events of last night replayed over and over and over again in my head. The feel of his big, warm hand in mind, his eyes looking right into mine, the-

Did you want to try some?

I didn't think it was possible, but my face burned even hotter and the memory. I still couldn't seem to wrap my head around it. Maybe because it had been so sudden… although we had talked for hours into the night. It was all for my research of course but, I suppose-

It wasn't your fault!

Oh God, and then I had gotten all sappy. All that hand holding and intense eye contact…what was I thinking? I needed to go back, at least to clear things up. Well… if anything needed to be cleared up. Did it? "Uugh," I groaned before hopping out of bed to get dressed. I had to get these interviews and complete my thesis!

By 10:57 I rushed through the glass doors toward the BAU. I didn't see anyone familiar yet. My heart sank as I realized I was too late. They were probably long gone by now. With a heavy sigh, I stopped to glance up at Hotch's office. The lights were off, just as I had thought. I felt my heart thump a little faster, and I couldn't help but frown. Stupid…why am I being so stupid about this?

A tap on my shoulder startled me out of my thoughts. "Oh!" I turned to face a slightly familiar tentative smile.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." The young man was lanky and tall, hair falling to his shoulders and parted so it stayed out of his face. An earnest face really, if I had to make any guesses about him. But for the life of me, his name escaped me.

"You're Kate Robinson, right? The one writing the thesis?"

"Um…" Oh God. Just when I thought I couldn't get stupider… "Y-yeah. I'm here for some interviews is all." Ok, so he was definitely part of the BAU. I remembered seeing him in our initial meeting yesterday. "I guess…if you're available, maybe-"

"Sure!" He seemed enthusiastic about it, and I couldn't help but smile. "There's a couple of conference rooms that won't be in use for a couple hours." His offered me a more subdued grin before giving me his hand, "Spencer Reid."

I put my free hand on my burning face. "You-!" I choked back my denial. He was a profiler, after all, just like the rest of them. I shook his hand meekly. "God, I'm so sorry. There's just a lot going on and maybe I'm a little over my head."

He smiled reassuringly. "It's alright. I guess it's kind of a good thing."

I didn't ask. I let him lead the way, doing a little studying as we went along. Definitely the youngest on the team, probably underestimated more than anyone else on the team. Though, by what little I had seen of his interactions with his team mates, not by them. More likely by bystanders and suspects above all else. And yet, something about him seemed nervous, maybe even damaged. I guess I would find out.

2:30 rolled around, and I was completely entranced. Doctor Spencer Reid may have been an under-nourished looking twenty something on the outside, but inside was something you would pick up in the autobiography section at Barnes and Noble without hesitation. I turned off the tape recorder and leaned back in my chair, trying to soak it all in.

"Sorry…"

I looked up, confused. "For what? That was so…informative! I don't think I've ever learned this much in one day before."

Doctor Reid let out a nervous laugh and ran a hand through his hair. "I- I just know it's not the most, uh, pleasant stuff to talk about. So, I'm sorry you had to sit through that."

"Hey." He looked a bit startled at my suddenly serious tone. I couldn't help it. It was like the words just came tumbling out of my mouth. "It's ok. Really."

I held his gaze for a moment. It was like something inside me couldn't stand to see him thinking so much of me. The feeling was almost overwhelming. I smiled, trying to shake it off and stood, beginning to gather my notes back into my bag. "Thanks a lot for this, by the way. I'll have to send the BAU a gift basket or something." It came out wrong. My words were tripping over themselves trying to get out of my mouth. "I'll…I'll see you later."

I ducked out of the conference room, leaving Doctor Reid alone.

He watched her leave, the door clicking softly shut behind her. There was something….something Doctor Reid didn't think he fully grasped. This, of course, was a rare feeling for him. It wasn't anything she had really done, or said, he supposed. It was more…it was in her eyes. She just seemed so…it wasn't sad. Or pitying. It was just warmth. It was a deep caring and understanding that he had not yet encountered. At least, not that he recalled currently.

Reid absentmindedly chewed his lip, staring at the door where she had disappeared. The thought that she may have been the first person to look at him like that, like a person, and not a walking basket-case with a PhD, made him strangely sad.

He tucked the thought away and left the conference room.

God, I knew he must have thought I was an idiot. If I didn't get a grip soon I was going to be escorted out of the building for suspicious behavior. I had no idea what the hell was wrong with me. I was probably still riled up from last night.

Speak of the Devil… I felt my heart kick into high gear as Hotch entered through the main doors with Morgan following close behind. They seemed to be talking about something important. Suddenly feeling shy, I lowered my gaze and made a beeline for the door. I would go home, transcribe my notes and the recording and come back to it tomorrow so everything would-

"Miss Sawyer?"

It took every muscle in my body to not jump out of my skin. I turned around and exhaled slowly, trying to get a hold of myself. "Um, yeah?"

Hotch motioned for me to come over, and I complied. "Why don't you interview Morgan tomorrow. He's got a lot of paperwork to catch up on."

"Oh…sure."

He nodded. "Alright. Why don't you go up to my office? I'll meet you up there. We'll just need to make sure we have a conference room open and we'll schedule some time."

With a nod I quickly moved toward the stairs and up to the office. My heart was no longer racing, but pounding in my ears. I sat in one of the stiff leather chairs facing his empty desk. Quietly, I began to wonder what I would say to him once he sat down.

I respect you and your team very much and I'm really grateful to you for this opportunity. I don't know what happened last night, but-

Oh I knew what happened last night. I could remember every single little detail. Back up, try that again.

Okay, last night.

That was better. At least now I wasn't lying.

That was…something else.

Really. That was the best I could do short of feigning ignorance. Now slightly panicking, I watched his form start to move up the steps and toward the door. It was crunch time. I had to just let whatever I was going to say be said and improvise.

The door opened. Hotch stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Not saying anything, not even looking at me, he walked to his desk and sat down. As he looked down on me, I suddenly felt very small. I tentatively opened my mouth to speak.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. It was unprofessional and an invasion of your personal space."

He beat me to it! I couldn't say anything, I just sat there like a stone. He looked at me for a moment, waiting for a response I'm sure. When I answered again with my eloquent blank stare, he went to work scheduling for tomorrow. "Ok. So we'll put you two in conference room delta at around noon. Will that be alright?"

When I was still silent, he looked back up. I nodded quickly, finally letting go of a breathe I didn't recall holding. Clutching my bag, I stood and made for the door. My hand closed around the handle, and yet I paused. I felt my face begin to warm, and a small smile had formed across my lips. I turned back to him and caught his gaze again. He had been watching me go. A moment passed, and I opened my mouth again to speak.

He had felt terrible. He'd had no way to contact her to apologize or anything. He hadn't been thinking clearly. It had been a stupid thing to do, and he knew it. He made his amends, hoping it would stave off any potential awkwardness. Instead, it seemed it had made it worse. She didn't say a word. She barely even looked at him. Despite it all, he felt an ice cold stab as she got up to leave. She paused, and the ice spread into the back of his throat as they locked eyes. Now she would let him have it, of course.

"Y…you don't…"

Hotch frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You don't…you don't have to apologize for stuff like that." She was smiling. He hadn't noticed it until now, but she was smiling. She seemed a little pink, which made that smile somehow seem irresistible, like a magnet. He could feel his pulse speed up just looking at her.

Her hand slid off the handle, and she turned completely to face him, her back pressed up against the door. The ice in his chest had melted and was searing hot, throbbing with adrenaline. This is… He felt paralyzed by that look. This was backward. This wasn't how these things were supposed to go. It was court the girl, take her to dinner, wait a few weeks and dive in. But he had started on a slippery slope, and she was pushing him. It was all that talk…opening up to someone like that- especially when that someone was beautiful and smelled like vanilla and lavender and had hair that looked like it felt like silk my god- was an intimate thing to do. Intimate secrets like that…well, he wasn't even sure he had ever told his late wife some of those things. Maybe he had just been out of the game too long. Maybe this was how everyone did it.

Finally, he stood up. She didn't take her eyes off him as he approached. Reaching over her, he quietly closed the blinds (after ensuring no one was in sight). His other hand rested squarely on the wall above her shoulder. What little space left between them finally closed and became non-existent.

The minute his lips met mine again, I felt weak. I struggled to keep myself standing, and both my hands clutched at his jacket. This pulled us even closer, and the kiss intensified. I felt myself growing hot. Was it even possible to get any hotter than this? The kiss broke. Without hesitation, Hotch buried his face into the nape of my neck, and I tried to suppress the sound that had been threatening to come out of me. I felt his breath in my ear, his arms wrapping around me, all tantalizing me, pushing me further and further. My hands shakily climbed from his jacket to his shoulders, and I pushed back slightly. He complied and looked me in the eye.

"We should probably go somewhere else." It was as if he had read my mind. But I couldn't help it. It was like…like magic, for lack of a better word.

"We don't have to," my voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "I don't mind."

He pulled away completely, even taking his eyes off me. I frowned. Had I said something wrong.?

"Don't say things like that."

My eyebrows rose. "Why not?"

When he looked back at me, I felt myself flush. He looked like he was barely restraining himself. "If you talk like that, I don't know if I'll be able to hold back."

I felt that smile coming back to my face. I knew the one, as did anyone who had ever been with me intimately. Now that I knew what kind of sway I held over him, it was my game to play. Not taking my eyes off of him, I began to unbutton my blouse. With each button, I came closer to him. Slowly, he sat down in the chair I had just been seated in earlier, having a normal conversation. As soon as he sat, I straddled him. I could feel his length through his trousers, and I felt a rush of heat rip through me. I brought my lips toward his and wrapped my arms around his neck

"Do you still think what you wrote about me is true?"

I only looked back at him blankly. What, was he peeking at my manuscripts at a time like this? "What?"

"'A good, honest man.' Do you think that's true?"

I thought about it for a moment. Sitting in the lap of a man I had talked to on the phone twice and had only officially met yesterday. I supposed it wasn't the most…honorable looking thing. I wasn't one to be passing judgment on others, especially in my current situation. "It doesn't matter what I think," I concluded. Before he could protest I stifled him with a deep kiss. As I pressed against him, his words became indecipherable mumblings punctuated with low moans. I grinned against his lips. I was having fun. Fun had become a foreign concept to me once I had decided to go for that double major. It became a relic once graduate school called my name. I should have been working. I should have been interviewing and writing and making history with this thesis and instead I was fraternizing in an office. A government office, of all things. The thought should have given me anxiety, or at least stopped me, but instead it egged me on.

Knock knock

"Shit!" I hissed, nearly falling over backward as Hotch quickly stood. "Shit, shit-" I hastily buttoned my shirt while he straightened his tie and jacket.

Who but David Rossi poked his head through the door, smiling impishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt your meeting."

"It's perfectly fine. Ms. Sawyer was just leaving." Oh God, Hotch was a lot quicker to regain his composure than me. I could only stand awkwardly with my arms crossed over my chest. Hotch handed me a neat folder heavy with papers from his desk. "Here. You'll want to keep better track of these."

"Oh! Yeah! Haha!" I knew I looked suspicious. My mind was streaming panicked profanities as I took the folder from him and started out the door. "W-well, goodnight! Nice to see you again Mr. Rossi!" Trying my best to remain calm, I walked as casually as possible out of the office, down the steps and toward the doors out of the BAU. Once I thought I was out of both men's sight, I bolted. Damn, damn DAMN. What the hell was I thinking? I was getting reckless, and only on my second day. I needed…I needed to…ugh, I didn't even know what I needed to do next! For now, getting home was the main priority.

Both men were completely silent as they watched her go. Hotch stole a glance at Rossi. He looked…amused. That was never a good sign. "Did you need something Dave?"

"Hm?" Rossi seemed to peel himself from his thoughts as he returned his friend's gaze. "Oh, no, no. I just wanted to make sure you weren't doing anything you would regret later."

Protesting would make it worse. It was better to put up a wall and try to remain void of any verbal or physical cues that would give him away. "I don't know what you mean." Well, maybe denial wasn't so bad after all. Feign ignorance and avoid any consequence to his actions for now.

Rossi patted him on the shoulder before walking out the door, motioning for Hotch to follow suit. "It's late. Why don't we call it a night?" Hotch nodded, and the two left the office, locking up behind them. "Let me give you a little piece of advice I got from my third wife," he chided, although he still had a ghost of a smile on his face. "She told me, 'You can always look, but you can't touch. When you touch, there will be hell to pay'."