Piper had been making coffee in the conference room when Gideon walked in, followed by the rest of the team. "Grab your things, kid. This is a good one. Briefing's going to be on the plane, since we're losing time as it is."

"Hostage situation in a bank in the middle of Manhattan. They've closed down the entire block, but there's no way they can blast their way in or send in a SWAT team without a massive loss of life. We've got two unsubs in there, and they've taken out the cameras, so all we've got is voice-recognition software and what one of the released hostages has told us. They've let out two people, a mother and her baby, in exchange for fast food. From what she's told us, at least one of the men matches the description of an escaped killer from a prison in upstate New York," Gideon explained. "We're thinking that the other one is his cousin, who's been convicted of bank robbery before."

"No offense, but why do they want us there?" Morgan asked, flipping through the file. "It looks pretty cut-and-dry for the HRT."

"They want profiles of the people inside," Piper spoke up. "We can profile the hostage-takers, but we also need to know who we can keep in there the longest and who we have to get out soon. Who can withstand more mental trauma and bounce back. I'm sure they have files on most of them, all we have to do is look over the information and give the police and the HRT profiles. And they'll need better profiles of the hostage-takers to see what approach to use to get them to give up hostages."

Hotchner nodded. "We also need to tell them how to approach getting hostages out. They're going to need our guidance for negotiations."

They met the Hostage Rescue Team in a building that they had commandeered near the bank. "Agent Toby LeBrun," the lead negotiator introduced himself to the team. "They've been in there for nearly six hours. We've got files on all of the hostages, and one woman still in debriefing. We're also going to want your input on the hostage-takers. We've got one identified as an Arthur Willis, who used to work at the bank before being sentenced and escaping a vehicular manslaughter charge. We're thinking the other one is his cousin Frank, who worked upstairs in HR."

"Any significant stressors?" Elle asked, sitting down to look over some of the files. She would be taking charge of profiling the hostage-takers, along with some of the others.

"Arthur was convicted of killing one of the executives' wives, and Frank was just fired because of a string of sexual harassment complaints," LeBrun explained.

"Sounds significant to me," Morgan nodded, picking up a copy of the files Elle was looking at. "Have they been demanding anything?"
Agent LeBrun shook his head. "We're thinking that they're in over their heads. They haven't been making many demands, but recently they've been talking about wanting money and a safe trip out of here."

"I think I'm going to want to talk to the lead negotiator," Piper resolved. Hotchner agreed, the two of them heading off to where the negotiation team had set up its base. They were introduced to the lead negotiator, who was about to go on a break.

"You're welcome to sit in on this. I've got my second negotiator talking to one of the women inside the bank. She's the one the hostage-takers are going through, and she's doing remarkably well. She's already given us information about the six other hostages they've got. They haven't harmed anyone yet, but they're still making threats to shoot if anyone tries escaping."

Piper sat down next to the man who was on the phone with the people inside the bank, writing him a note that said "BAU, Piper & Hotchner. Here to help." He nodded as he continued to speak. The woman on the other end of the phone sounded frantic, like she was getting worked up relaying their demands. Piper put a hand on the negotiator's arm. He passed her an earpiece, turning the microphone on as he passed her a note - "Ross. HRT."

"Hi there," she smiled, keeping her voice level. "My friend had to get up to use the restroom. His stomach isn't doing too well on all of the greasy food they've been bringing in for us, otherwise he would have told you. My name is Piper. What's your name?"

"Vivian," the woman said with a sniffle. "They're making me talk so they don't get their voices recognized."

"Okay, Vivian, I'm going to tell you a bit about myself, since we're going to spend some time talking together and it's always nice to know who you're talking to. I work for the FBI, and I specialize in forensic psychology, which means I help to understand the thoughts of people who do things like this. I'm from Florida originally, but I live in Virginia now. I have a dog - his name is Chester and he stays with my landlady when I have to fly out on cases."

"I have a dog too. She's at home with my wife. Her name's Alexandra. We've got a daughter, Summer. Are you married?" Vivian asked. Her voice was calming down now that she was focused on something that made her happy.

"No, I'm not. One day, maybe. Alexandra's a lucky woman. She's got a very brave wife." Piper took a breath, letting the words sink in. "Vivian, I need you to do something for me. Can you tell me how everyone is doing?"

"Most of us are okay. We're in the back room of the bank, right by the safe. None of the employees here know the code for it, though. They're trying to open the computers to see if it's in there. We've got a teenager in here who needs his asthma inhaler, though. He hasn't had his meds in a while. His dad says he should be okay for a few more hours."

"Okay, we're going to focus on getting him out first, if everyone else is doing okay. You're doing brilliantly, you know that?" Piper took a sip of water from a bottle someone had brought over. She had wanted to do hostage negotiation work for a while. It seemed nice, having everything brought to you and not actually running around in the field, but one wrong word or one mistimed statement could get everyone killed. So she went into behavior analysis.

A gruff voice came from behind Vivian. "Tell them they have an hour to get us the safe code, or she gets shot."

"Who is 'she'?" Piper asked, keeping her voice level.

"Her name's Anna. She's four months pregnant, and she was going to meet her husband here to talk about a mortgage. He made it here just after they'd sealed the doors and the police had taken over this part of the block.

"Okay, we're working on the code. Tell her she's going to be fine. I'm going to take care of this. My friend Hotch - he's also part of my team - is calling the managers now. We're going to have that code for you soon."

Hotchner had gone to another room to talk to the bank manager, promising him that none of the money would get further than a block from the bank. The Hostage Rescue Team was already working on a plan to open the safe and convince the hostage-takers to come out. They would get them into a vehicle and take them from there. But first the negotiators had to get them out and away from the hostages. Piper kept talking to Vivian as the others worked to profile the people in the bank and make a list of who they needed to get out and in what order, profiled the hostage-takers, and helped the HRT map out how they would capture the hostage-takers as they exited the building. Piper was watching the clock, just like she knew the people in the bank would be, as she talked to Vivian, having her get the hostage-takers to promise to let out the boy in exchange for the code. With eight minutes left, Hotchner passed her a sheet of paper as a team outside got ready to get the boy away from the bank. He was standing in front of the doors, waiting. "Vivian, I have the code for you. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"You're going to enter 04-26-38-93-77. Then it will ask for a pin number for confirmation. That's going to be 2451." Piper was quiet as she heard one of the hostage-takers snatch the paper From Vivian, saying that it had better be right. There was a pause, and then the safe beeped as it was opened. Piper breathed a sigh of relief, but tensed up as they heard two gunshots echo from the bank, both over the phone and from across the street. Vivian yelped. "What happened?"

"They shot at the police as they let that boy go. Everyone looks okay, we're just jumpy in here. He's out. The police have him, I think."

Someone behind her confirmed that, "They've got the boy. He's being moved the a medical truck and then he'll go to the BAU people in Room 3."

Piper dropped her head into her hands, sighing in relief. Six hostages left. They were all doing well, if a bit hungry. They had just saved a boy who would have died without his meds in a few hours. If she could pick up the pace, convince them that they should let more people out in exchange for other things, they would be doing well. They were on the right track as it was. Near 9 o'clock, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Reid stood next to her, handing her a note. "Finally time for dinner time. You're off for a while." She nodded, signed off with Vivian, and handed control of the negotiations back to Ross.

"Good job," Reid smiled. "I know you weren't meant to end up in the negotiator's chair, but you did great."

"Thanks." She had gotten two more people out of the bank, and Ross would be taking over as they started planting the seeds of an escape plan in the hostage-takers' minds. "How have you guys been doing?"

"Fine. We got dinner earlier, but Hotch ordered a pizza and sent it up to your room. We're all taking turns working and being in the back of the negotiation room, passing notes around and listening in. Elle, Hotch and Morgan took their breaks earlier. Gideon's napping in his room, and they sent me to get you. We're off until the 3 AM shift, or until they need us out with the SWAT team while they execute the rescue and capture." They had all been given rooms in the hotel above the business they were working in, so they could switch out with the others easily and run downstairs if they were needed. "There have been hostage situations that lasted years, so be prepared," he joked.

"They won't close Manhattan down for years," Piper shook her head. "Let's get some food."

They sat upstairs devouring a pizza and watching the bank from Reid's window, which partially faced the side of the bank. They could see figures moving around in the street, and once, someone came out of the bank. "There's another hostage out. That means we only have a few left in there. They're getting close." Piper opened a bottle of wine that she had found in the room - the hotel had been evacuated, so they had free reign over what was left behind. "Want some?"

"Even a 0.067 BAC level impairs judgement-"

"I know you just did the calculation for your share of this in your head, and that's impressive, but do you want any?"

"Sure."

Piper poured him a glass and they looked out the window, watching the police spotlights as they drank, trying not to think about the negotiation process going on a few floors below them. "You know, I've only been with the BAU for something like two months now, but I can tell we're never going to have an average day at work, are we?"

"Simple answer, no. Even paperwork days are fairly eventful," Reid answered, taking his tie off and yawning. "We should probably get some sleep. They're going to need us again at 3, and you're going to probably be back on the phone, since she trusts you now."

"Help me finish this bottle and then I'll head to bed."

"Okay, fine. You'll be able to sleep it off by the time you have to be up, if I calculated your weight right."

"I'm not going to tell you not to say that to people," she laughed, finishing her next glass and pouring another, staring out of the window. Not much had changed, but it was interesting to see the people moving about outside, even though the normal New York life had been almost halted on that street. Piper took another sip of her wine, leaning closer. She smiled a bit of a tipsy smile, watching the lamplight reflect off of his glasses. "Can I ask you something?"

He didn't turn to look at her, but instead was focused on three people moving a barricade down the road. "Yeah, sure."

"What does the brilliant Spencer Reid do when he's not solving crimes?"

"Well, I read a lot, and -"

"Do you ever go out? Like to the movies? Or to dinner?"

"Of course I do, everybody-"

"Hey Reid?"

"Hmm?" He finally turned to look at her, his fellow behavioral analyst taking a deep breath. "Wat?"

Piper moved forward a bit more, leaning onto him. Their lips met for a few seconds, Piper pulling back almost as soon as she realized what she had done. "I, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have… that was wrong of me, I'm so sorry." She moved to get up, Reid grabbing her hand.

"It's okay," he insisted.

"I should go." She brushed a strand of red hair out of her face, grabbing her keys.

"No, I, it's okay," he assured her, following her to the door. "Wait, I… I like you. You're nice, you're sweet to me and you've never called me a… a freak, of looked at me like I was crazy, or told me to shut up when I've said something that doesn't really matter but is actually pretty interesting or… it's okay. I'm… I'm fine with it. And," he paused, turning a bit pink as she looked at him. "And, uh, if you wanted to do that again, I wouldn't be opposed to it. But only if you wanted to."

"I think I'd like that."

Reid leaned forward slowly, giving her a kiss at the door. Her lips tasted like wine, and she smelled nice, a bit like vanilla and a bit like flowers. He suddenly felt the urge to hold on to her, to ask if she wanted to stay a little while longer. But they had a case, and they needed their rest, especially if they wanted to get as many people out alive as they could.

"Where do we go from here?'

"We finish this case, and then we get dinner one day."

"I like the sound of that." She turned to leave, but hesitated for a moment. "Reid, don't say anything to anybody about this, okay?"

"Of course." He watched her go, listening for the click of the lock across the hallway before going to lay on his bed, smiling to himself.

Piper's alarm went off at 2:30, which was way too early for anyone, let alone the team that had been working on this situation for a while already. She rolled out of bed, got ready quickly, and was on her way to the elevator within fifteen minutes. Reid was waiting for the elevator when she got there, turning to look at her as she walked up. "Let's go."

There wasn't much time to talk as they re-entered the hectic offices below their rooms, jumping right back into the thick of profiling, negotiating, and helping the HRT group get ready for their mission. The hostage-takers had agreed to come out if there was a helicopter waiting for them. They had already been stuffing cash into briefcases and were getting ready to exit the bank with their three remaining hostages.

The next few hours went quickly. The hostages were thrown to the police as the hostage-takers got into the helicopter, which was quickly surrounded by police. It turned out that neither of them knew how to actually fly a helicopter, and the reading they had done on it while they were holed up in the bank had not helped in practice. They were taken in by the HRT and SWAT teams, and the hostages were brought to the BAU team, who interviewed them all and were able to make sure they weren't likely to suffer from any permanent trauma. Things were packed up and they were back on a plane to DC soon after, heading right back to work to write up reports and process everything that had just happened.

Piper was busy typing up a procedural memo when Reid appeared beside her. "What's up?"

"Approximately 5,000 commercial airplanes and 1,459 satellites at the moment, but I know that's not the answer you're looking for." Piper smiled and stopped typing, turning to look at him. He paused for a second before asking her, "What happened last night… does that all still stand?"

"Is that your way of wondering 'Was that real or was it a mix of stress and exhaustion and half a bottle of wine?'?"

"Sort of, I guess."

"It still stands. I mean, as long as your offer of getting dinner still stands. But not today. I'm heading home and sleeping for ages."