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A/n hey all... Here's the second and final chapter. Thank you all for your support and Happy 2011

Poker Face

She turned in circles around the room with its bronze fixtures, rose and gold marble counter tops and the round, sunken bathtub. On the marble counter top stood three, fat, cream-colored candles on graduated bronze holders. At the other side of the cream and gold, oval shaped vessel sink stood a tall, crystal vase full of golden and pink rose buds sprinkled with baby's breath. More vases stood around the room with dozens of roses. The perfume eddied in the air with the vanilla scented candle, which someone had lit.

"I modernized it a little. It's a Jacuzzi tub, the only one in the hotel." Reid interrupted her staring.

"I think I'm in love." Emily breathed.

"What?" He squeaked.

"With the room," She countered, smirking at him.

"Oh right…"

"How did you do all this in less than two hours?" She breathed.

"I'm the owner," he reminded her with a very satisfied smirk.

"Right, I forgot that for a moment. It's not easy to think of you as the owner of a fancy bed and breakfast like this."

"It's a good investment." Reid shrugged. "Why don't you enjoy this bathtub? I'm going to see about something to eat."

"I may never leave this room." Emily sighed.

"I think you'll have to at some point."

She made to smack his arm, but he moved fast, ducking out of her reach and hurrying to the door. "I'll just leave you alone."

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It just didn't get any better than this, Emily decided as she soaked in the sunken oval shaped tub with all the jets on full.

She'd found bath salts that added Lavender to the scent of the roses in the air. She'd read somewhere that Lavender was good for relaxation and she could believe it now. She breathed in the lovely smells and sighed. Her muscles were certainly relaxing under the pressure of the jets, and her headache was nearly gone.

She sighed and closed her eyes. For the first time in days, she could shut the blood, the horror and the pain of her job out of her mind. All the things that had kept her from sleeping for days trickled out from behind her eyes.

She didn't know how much time passed until a tentative knock sounded at one of the doors to the bathroom.

"Go away…" She said lazily.

"The food's here," Reid said.

Her stomach suddenly rumbled as though just the thought of eating had made her realize that she was hungry.

"Alright Reid, give me a minute."

Well… It had been good while it lasted. She supposed it was true that all good things must end.

"You can't stay in here forever." She said morosely.

At least her headache was completely gone, and her muscles were loose and limber. If only she could get a good night's sleep, then she'd feel back to 100%.

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She found Reid in the living room by following the wonderful scents of food that wafted into her room.

"Good heavens Reid. Where did you get all that food?" She blurted out.

He had a large pizza box, a bowl of popcorn, and a huge white paper bag from a burger place they'd passed on the way to DuPont Circle.

He almost dropped the paper container of French fries from the bag at her question. "Oh, well Martha ordered all of this in. I told her we were hungry and since we don't have a full kitchen…

"I think it's appropriate for the holiday." Emily said as he stomach rumbled. "I'm so hungry I could eat just about anything."

He smiled a rare broad smile that made her grin back at him. "I thought you'd be hungry as it's after eight thirty."

"Really, I was in there that long?"

"Yes you were," he said, removing a couple of paper wrapped burgers from the bag. "You like bacon cheese burgers right?"

"Unfortunately, they're bad for my diet." She picked up the burger and unwrapped it.

"You look fine." He squeaked.

She'd put on a pair of navy blue sweat pants and a red tank top and left her feet bare. She looked like she was on her way to bed, but his words still lifted her battered ego a little.

"You said bring something comfortable and this is it."

"It's fine," he squeaked again. "We're not going anywhere."

"You mean you're not going to take me to one of the firework shows, or to a fancy dance." She teased as she sat down on the couch next to him.

"Oh… uh well, I guess I could take-"

She reached over and covered his mouth with her hand. "I'm just kidding. I don't want to go anywhere but to bed for at least ten hours."

"Oh… I thought we could stay up. You can see the fireworks from the window."

"I'll try, but I can't guarantee I'll stay awake. That bath was very relaxing."

"I'm glad."

They ate in comfortable silence for a while. She noticed that being there with Reid was the most comfortable she'd felt in a long time. Spending time with Reid outside of work was like the most natural thing she'd done in a long time.

"Emily… You okay?" He asked anxiously.

"Yes… I was just thinking that this is nice."

He went pink in the cheeks. "I was going to ask if you wanted to watch a movie."

"Sure."

He picked up the remote and turned on the television. They debated over movies on cable until he found Ground Hog day. She was pleasantly surprised to learn that he liked the movie as much as she did.

"What would you do if you had to repeat the same day over and over again?" She asked him when the movie was over.

"That's movie stuff Emily. Repeating the same day over and over again is impossible, time and space travel in one direction. You can't get caught in some kind of temporal loop like that."

"Reid, just pretend it could happen."

"I don't know what I would do if something impossible happened to me. How do you prepare for that?"

Emily threw a bit of her pizza crust at him. "You're no fun Dr. Reid."

He shut off the television. "It's nearly eleven. What do you want to do?"

She swallowed a yawn. She could make it another hour because it was important to Reid.

"How about a game of poker?" He asked slyly.

"I don't think so."

"Come on Emily… You haven't played with me since the last time you won."

"That's right; it's called not pushing my luck."

"How about we have a little bet?"

"That's what you do when you play poker Reid, you bet." She reminded him while gathering up the debris of their pizza and hamburgers.

"If you win I'll tell you a secret." He said.

"You already told me a pretty big secret." She said.

"I promise this is a bigger secret."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I can't tell if you're exaggerating or lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"Okay, you win and I'll tell you a secret." She bargained.

"You can shuffle and deal." He pulled a pack of cards from the pocket of his light grey sweat pants and handed it to her.

"You're being way too accommodating. What are you up to?"

He just stared at her with his puppy dog eyes.

"Fine… I'll shuffle and deal."

Reid took the cards she dealt him after waiting for what he thought was an excruciatingly long time for her to shuffle the deck. She smirked at him while he arranged his hand.

"How many cards?"

"I'll take four." Reid said, discarding all but one of his cards.

"Trying to tell me I dealt you a lousy hand." She asked.

"Just give me the cards."

She gave him four and took one for her hand. "What's the bet?" She asked.

"Just show me your hand. I think our side bet is enough." Reid said.

"Okay…" She laid down a full house. "Show me your cards."

He lay down a pair of fives, a seven, a nine and the Queen of diamonds. "You win," he said.

"Alright, what are you trying to pull?" She asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about. You're the one that shuffled and dealt the cards. I should be the one accusing you."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know how to stack the deck."

"Do you want to hear my secret or not?"

"Yes Reid, I want to hear this big secret."

His face went suddenly serious. His big brown eyes took on the look of someone about to say something he'd been rehearsing for a very long time.

"I'm in love with you." He suddenly blurted out.

Of all the things she expected to hear, "I'm in love with you." wasn't even close to the top of the list. Suddenly her heart was pounding.

"Is this why you brought me here? Are you trying to seduce me?" She asked, finding that she hoped the answer was yes.

"No!" He squeaked. "I brought you here because I can't stand to see you in pain and so tired. I just wanted to spend time with you. I don't know why I just blurted that out. I had this big speech planned, but it went out of my head. You know how you want to say something really important, something that could change your life and it just goes right out of your head." He snapped his fingers. "Just. Like. That. Okay, so nothing really goes out of my head, but sometimes I can't say what I want to say and…" He stopped suddenly because she was staring at him.

"I'm sorry Emily. Please just forget what I said."

She leaned over the table and took one of his long fingered hands. "I'm glad you said it. I've had quite a crush on you for a long time."

"Really?" His eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of his head in disbelief.

"Yes…"

"I'm glad. I wanted to tell you for a long time." He looked like he might collapse from relief.

She smirked at him, keeping hold of his hand. "Just how long have you been rehearsing your speech?"

He went pink in the cheeks. "Um… since that day when you asked me about the note Gideon left for me. You said to read it again and think about why he chose me. You were so nice to me after I was so mean to you in Houston."

"I told you… Don't worry about it. I never held it against you. I knew you were hurting and you'd ask for help if you needed it."

"I did ask, just not from you." He told her, his eyes going sad.

"I don't care who you asked as long as you got it."

"I did, I mean I do, every day."

"I'm glad Reid." She squeezed his hand.

"Do you feel better?" He asked.

She released his hand and sat back on the couch. "Yeah… I'm tired, but I feel great. Thanks for sharing your secret."

"You don't have to stay up." He said. "You can go to sleep."

"No… I think I'll stay up for the fireworks." She slid over and hugged him around the waist. He put a hesitant arm around her shoulders. "Is that okay." He asked.

"Yes, it's very nice."

She decided that the best part of the evening was sitting there, not talking, until they heard the first faint popping noises from the street.

"It's midnight," Reid said looking at his watch.

"Yes it is."

"We should go look out the window at the fireworks."

"No…"

"No? What do you want to do?" He squeaked.

"This," she leaned up and kissed him on the lips.

He nearly jerked away, but she held on to his face with both hands until he relaxed.

"Wow," he said when she ended the kiss. "That was amazing."

"Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year Emily."

They stayed on the couch until her eyes wouldn't stay open anymore. "I need to go to sleep." She yawned.

"Me too… Um Emily," he stopped her from getting up. "What happens now? Hotch won't like this and neither will Strauss."

"I'll remind them both that the frat rules don't apply to us. You're not my boss."

"Do you really think that will work?'

"If not, then I'll resign. She doesn't want to lose this brain." He tapped his forehead. "So far, Garcia and I are the only ones on the team she has actively tried to sabotage. I can handle her."

"I like it when you talk tough." Emily said.

"I don't like it when people attack my family or my new girlfriend."

Emily kissed him again. "That's totally sexy."

"It is?" The determination on his face turned to confusion.

"Oh yeah…"

"Um… What do you want to do in the morning?" He squeaked, clumsily changing the subject.

"Why don't you wake me up in about twelve hours and we'll see." She said.

"Sounds good."

She stood up looking at the mess on the coffee table. She started to pick up some of the trash. "Leave that alone. I'll deal with it later." He said.

She picked up cards he discarded and looked at them. "Hey…" She said indignantly. "What's this?" She held out the makings of a straight in diamonds he'd thrown away.

"I had to let you win." He said not at all perturbed. "I was tired of being too scared to say I love you."

She dropped the cards and grabbed him for another searing kiss. "Good answer Dr. Reid."

"Why do you still look irritated?" He asked when she let him go.

"I'm just wondering how you managed to get such a good hand and you didn't touch the deck."

"Just lucky I guess."

"No," She argued. "I'm the lucky one."

He watched her walk away to her room for the sleep she needed. His heart sang because finally, he'd had the courage to reach out and grab onto what he wanted and it was glorious.

He went to the window to watch the last of the fireworks in the black night sky. Even though the old year sang its swan song with light, color and noise, it wasn't an ending for him. He'd left behind the fear and uncertainty of the old year. Now he stood on the cusp of something new and exciting. The consequences of this night were yet to come, but if he had Emily with him, he could face them without fear.