A/N: Thanks for the reviews:) And a special thanks to my beta (you know who you are :)) for the kind comments and suggestions. Love ya :) This is an Elle/Reid-centric chapter. Hope ya like it:)

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.

Chapter 10 – The Aftermath

Day 19…

Reid awoke the morning after his and Elle's passionate kiss with a bright smile on his face. He hopped out of bed with a newfound energy and showered and changed before he galloped downstairs.

The only person in the kitchen was Gideon. "Good morning," Reid greeted his mentor pleasantly.

Gideon nodded as he gestured towards the coffee pot. "Morning, coffee?" Reid nodded and walked towards the counter. He poured himself a cup of the caffeinated beverage as the older man took notice to his perky behaviour. "Did you find a lead?"

Reid looked at him confused. "What? Ohh…the case!" He shook his head. "No, I'm just awake and ready to work."

Gideon continued to look at him curiously. "Well that's good."

"So where's everybody else?" Reid asked quickly as his thoughts lay elsewhere.

"Dave is in the shower and I believe that everyone else is still asleep." He glanced down at his watch. "Reid, you do know that it's only six thirty right?"

Reid shook his head as his eyes widened. "No, I just woke up and I had a lot of energy so I got up."

Gideon laughed lightly. "Okay then, well we can talk about the case until everybody gets up."

Reid nodded as him and Gideon walked towards the kitchen table. They sat and chatted about various aspects of the case as they waited for their fellow housemates. Rossi came down to the kitchen first and quickly joined the conversation. It was almost as if Reid could feel his heart jump up in his throat every time he heard footsteps coming down the stairs but to his disappointment, Elle never came downstairs. Hotch appeared shortly after Rossi, Emily and Garcia came down together, as always, then Morgan, and finally JJ.

Reid did not want to appear too obvious so he waited for one of the girls to ask the question that he desperately needed an answer to. "Where's Elle?" Garcia asked curiously.

"Oh she's still in bed," JJ answered, "she's not feeling well."

"She's sick?" Hotch asked alarmed. The truth was that Reid was feeling the same way as Hotch but he refused to show it.

JJ nodded. "I'm bringing her up some tea."

"I'll do it," Reid spoke up eagerly as he hopped out of his chair. "I'm going back upstairs anyway," he added as he tried to be more casual.

"Sure," JJ replied as she passed him the mug of hot tea.

He walked very carefully out of the kitchen, up over the stairs and down the hallway to Elle and JJ's room. He lightly knocked on the partially opened door before he pushed it with his foot and stepped inside. "I brought you tea," he declared cheerfully.

Elle shot up in bed upon hearing his voice and quickly smoothed out her hair and pulled the blankets up to cover her legs. "Reid what are you…?"

He cut her off, "JJ was making it so I volunteered to bring it up." He walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. He passed her the cup of tea and she quietly thanked him. "Are you sick?" He asked concerned.

"I just have a bad stomach." He reached forward to touch her forehead but she stopped him. "Don't, I'm not warm."

"What's wrong?" He inquired worried as he noticed the uneasy look on her face.

She laughed lightly to herself as she stared into her mug. "I…I was a little apprehensive about having to see you this morning." She smiled at the look of confusion on his face. "I kinda assumed that if I went down to breakfast than I would have to give you a bit of the cold shoulder around everybody and I didn't wanna do that."

"Oh…so what does that mean?" He asked embarrassed.

"I'm not sure…I mean we kissed because we got into an argument so maybe it means nothing…maybe it was just the moment," she replied slowly as she stared at him.

He shook his head. "I don't think so."

She laughed, "You're much more assertive than I took you for then." He gave her a small smile before he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. It was so pleasant and sweet that she drew in a ragged breath as soon as he pulled away. "Wow," she blurted out breathlessly.

He gave her a small smile. "Feel better and maybe we can talk later."

"Okay," she nodded. "Thanks for the tea."

He got to his feet and smiled down at her. "No problem." He left quietly and with a grin on his face. He had no idea where his new found confidence was coming from, if anything, he thought that being around her would make him more introverted, but obviously not. He wanted to prove to her that he was worth dating, even if it was for a very short period of time.

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Elle got up out of bed before noon and joined the other eight for lunch. They worked on their various uncompleted tasks until dinner and then decided to take the evening off to relax. After a game of darts, JJ went to bed early. Hotch, Morgan, Garcia, and Rossi were watching the news on the television in the den while Emily and Gideon played chess in the living room. Elle was watching the very close chess match until she announced that she was going to bed. Emily and Gideon managed to lose a moment of concentration to say goodnight and then she quickly made her way upstairs.

Instead of walking to the end of the hall, to hers and JJ's room, she stopped at Reid, Morgan, and Hotch's door. She quietly opened and closed the door to the bedroom that Reid was staying in and saw him reading on his bed. "Reid we need to talk," she said seriously.

He smiled brightly when he heard her voice. He turned towards her and quickly hopped off of the top bunk and onto the floor. "You look really pretty today." She blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear, a habit that was growing on him. He walked until he met her and bent down to kiss her softly on the lips.

He gave her a cute, timid smile and she couldn't help herself from giving in. She pulled back after a long, deep, intense kiss and he leaned in eagerly but she placed her hands on his chest to stop him. "We can't fool around."

He nodded. "No of course not, not here."

She shook her head. "No, I mean we can't…period." He had his arms wrapped around her so that their bodies were pressed against each other and she could tell how excited he was, his breathing was hitched, his heart was beating out of control, and blood had rushed below his belt.

"Why not?" He asked frowning.

She gently pushed him away and took a step backwards. "Because there's no point."

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"I mean as soon as all this is over, I'm going back to Seattle, and I think that you're really sweet so I don't want to do that to you," she explained. "And more than that, even if we did fool around I think that it'll be kinda weird, I don't think that we're exactly compatible."

He smiled at her. "My New Years' resolution was to be less awkward around women but you make me really nervous but oddly enough more confident and I like that cuz it tells me that I really like you and I think that you're great." He smiled again as she blushed. "And I really really like you and I think that that kiss that you just gave me says something quite opposite of we're not compatible."

"You gotta stop being really cute and sweet when I'm trying to stop things between us," she said laughing lightly. "And I may be FBI but I don't go out with good boys like you."

He started to slowly advance on her. "Yeah I am a good boy but I thought that that's why you think I'm cute." He stated smirking.

She sighed, "Yeah, you're really cute." He smirked at her mischievously. "But you're only 21."

"But you're only 25," he rebutted quickly.

"Why do you want to do this?" She asked sighing heavily.

He shrugged. "I dunno, I've never been this infatuated with a girl before, and as you said, I'm 21," he added with a smirk.

She walked up to him and kissed him fervently. "Okay," she spoke breathlessly once she pulled back, "but only for tonight."

He nodded excitedly. "Whatever you say." He was fully aware that he was willing to do anything he could to change her mind.

He walked over to the bunk beds and hopped up on the top one while she walked towards the door and flicked off the light switch. JJ was already asleep in her room so she hoped that the people downstairs would think that she and Reid were in bed as well. She quietly walked back towards the bed and he helped her onto the mattress.

He reached down and flicked on the bedside lamp. He shyly smiled at her as he lay down on his back and she climbed on top of him. She placed her hands on his shoulders as they began to kiss hungrily. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth and she moaned into his, he was a really good kisser. He slipped his hands under the back of her t-shirt and lightly tickled her back with his fingertips.

She pulled back from a kiss and giggled. "This is actually really…"

"Great," he cut her off.

She pressed her forehead against his and gave him a small smile. "I can't believe that I'm doing this with a good boy."

"I can be bad," he sulked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She watched him reach down between them and undo his belt. "What do you want me to do?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

"Nothing," he answered quickly. "I'm really sorry for even suggesting anything by it."

She laughed, "Yeah you're really bad." He frowned and blushed. "But really sweet," she said smiling. She leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips. "Really sweet and cute and," she ran her fingers down his lips, "and uggh…you're so good." She laughed lightly as she sat up and ran her hands through her hair.

He propped himself up on his elbows and chewed on his bottom lip. "You're not attracted to me are you?" He asked awkwardly as he looked up at her.

She shook her head as she ran her hands down his chest and gently tugged on his t-shirt. "No, I'm pretty sure that I am. What would make you jump to that conclusion?" He shrugged as he turned bright red and she smiled. "No, I find you very attractive, I'm just afraid of a personality clash."

"Well I enjoy reading, watching movies, and doing crossword puzzles."

She simply smiled at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him up for a passionate kiss. When she pulled back, she smiled at the look of shock on his face. "I don't know why but I just got so unbelievably turned on by everything that you just said."

She shifted in his lap, causing him to let out a little whimper. "Please don't do that again."

She leaned in and kissed him again. "I'm sorry," she muttered against his lips. He began to kiss her hungrily and push his hands further up under the back of her shirt. She was forced to shift in his lap again as she deepened the kiss. He let out a second little whimper and she smirked to herself. She didn't like teasing him, especially when she knew that they would be going no further than this, but she did take enjoyment in the fact that she had this effect on him.

She cut a kiss short and gently grasped his wrist. "I should probably move to my room now," she said after she had seen his watch.

He pulled her body as close to his as possible. "Don't go," he begged moping.

She smiled as she ran a hand through his soft, brown hair. "If I stay any longer then we're gonna get caught."

"And if we're caught, that makes me bad," he replied smirking.

She giggled, "Yeah, you're a bad boy." She got up off of him and carefully hopped off of the bed.

He followed her onto the floor and she giggled. "What?" He asked self-consciously.

"Come here bad boy, you still have your belt undone." They smirked at each other as she fastened his belt. He rose up onto the balls of his feet as she pulled his belt a little tighter than she needed to. She leaned in, stood on the tips of her toes, and whispered in his ear, "I don't want any other girl getting in your pants before I do." She gently bit his earlobe. "I can't wait to get out of this house."

He swallowed nervously. "But what about what you said about this only being for tonight."

"Well you made me change my mind," she responded as she slowly ran her hands up his body, from his belt to his shoulders. "I really like you, bad boy," she said smirking at him seductively. He smiled shyly as she softly kissed him again. "I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll try to remain calm." They joined for another kiss and he slowly, and boldly, moved his hands down to her butt. She pulled back and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry," he blushed as he brought his hands back up to her waist.

"No," she smirked as she placed her hands over his. "It was a pleasant surprise, I liked it." She kissed him again. "I like little acts of boldness like that." She bit down on her bottom lip as she looked him up and down.

"What?" He asked self-consciously as he felt hot under her gaze.

She simply smiled at him, actually she was unable to do anything but smile. "Goodnight Dr. Reid."

"Goodnight Elle," he replied cutely. He watched her leave the room with a smile on his face. He had to prevent himself for exploding with excitement when she closed the door behind her. A woman who was unbelievably gorgeous had been sitting in his lap while she told him that she was attracted to him, and then she had made suggestions about how she wanted to do a lot more than simply make out when they got out of the safe house. He hopped onto the top bunk and felt like he was 16 all over again. "She wants you," he smirked to himself, "yeah, she wants you."

Meanwhile, Elle snuck into her room as quietly as her body would allow her. She quickly changed into her pyjamas and climbed underneath the warm covers of her bed. She was about to let out a sigh of relief when her roommate spoke up. "And where were you?" She could almost hear the smile in JJ's voice.

"I was downstairs with everybody else," she lied.

JJ laughed to herself. "No, you weren't. Garcia came up like ten minutes ago to say goodnight and she asked where you were."

"Oh that's cuz I was in the living room and Garcia was in the den."

"Uh huh, yeah sure," JJ replied, she did not believe a word of the brunette's story. "Goodnight," she added, giving up on getting any more information out of the FBI agent.

"Night." Elle sighed as she rolled over so that she faced the wall. She was aware that she had done a horrendous job on her cover story and that she hadn't fooled JJ. She just hoped that the blonde didn't jump to the conclusion that was actually the truth.