She was still the stronger of the two so he dipped his head down first. Ha! She won! She probably shouldn't be so gleeful about one-upping her ill friend but she rarely got one over on him so she'd take it.

"Fine," he huffed, giving in. "But get something for you too. Someone should at least get to keep some food down."

Emily rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"I was planning on it," she assured him and looked searchingly around the room.

Reid frowned questioningly at her.

"Ah ha!"

"What-? Argh!"

Emily had spotted a Dr Who throw in a crumpled heap on the ground (probably a gift from Garcia) and had literally thrown it over Reid.

"Are you trying to suffocate me?" He asked petulantly, pulling the blanket away from his head.

"Stay under that. It will help you stop shivering so much until I can get hot food into you."

Reid opened his mouth to argue with her but snapped it shut at the stern look on her face. She'd got it from JJ (not that she could pull it off as well as her blonde friend), it seemed to work very well with Henry and Reid.

"I'll be back soon," she said, pulling his front open. "Don't you dare move."

Reid pulled a face at her as she left his apartment. She didn't let him see the fond smile on her face for him. That would be embarrassing. She quickly went down the stairs going down much easier than coming up, and was soon in her car. There was a convenience store a few blocks over if she remembered correctly. It did those 'homemade' style soups, which she would hopefully get Reid to eat, and premade sandwiches that she'd get for herself. Quick and easy, she'd be back fifteen, twenty minutes tops.

Or maybe not. Emily had picked up a 'Hearty Tomato Broth' to tempt Reid along with a cough syrup and something to sooth his stomach and was about to grab a sandwich for herself that was next to the cashier when a woman muscled her way past her, making her collide with the shelves.

"Hey!" She protested at the woman's back.

The woman turned around, looked Emily up and down and dropped her extremely full basket with a loud 'thud' on the counter without even saying anything to Emily. Several boxes slipped off the top of the precarious pile and onto the floor.

"Now look what you made me do," the woman tutted at cashier who looked just as Emily felt, dead inside.

"Look what you made me do," the woman scolded Emily.

Oh, really? Emily debated about contradicting the woman but, she quickly profiled, she wouldn't get anywhere except maybe thrown out without the soup. She settled for giving her a dark look, the low level one for dealing with slimy LEOs. Annoyingly, the woman didn't seem fazed by it.

"Aren't you going to pick it up for me?" She demanded

"Excuse me?" Emily asked, shocked

"You can't expect me to pick it up."

Really not in the mood to deal with this sort of crap, she snapped back, "Actually, I do."

The woman gave her an outraged look.

"Ma'am, would you like a bag?" the cashier asked hesitantly.

"Don't interrupt, young man," the woman scolded and turned to Emily. "You are incredibly rude."

Emily took a deep, calming breath. Think of Reid. She had to get back and look after Reid not get locked up after slapping someone. Hotch would be annoyed.

Thankfully, another employee scurried out from the shelves and opened the second till. It looked like they expected this behaviour from this woman.

Emily was passing her items to the cashier when she was tapped on the shoulder by this woman.

"Excuse me, aren't you going to answer me?"

"You didn't ask a question," Emily replied through gritted teeth, not turning around.

Making eye contact with these people just made them worse. Emily was not in the mood for shrieking.

"The nerve!" the woman said loudly, obviously wanting attention. She then turned to the cashier, "You shouldn't have opened another till for this person. You don't need to cater to these people."

The cashier didn't even acknowledge that the woman had spoken, he just robotically scanned her items. Poor guy, not even out of his twenties and already jaded with the world. Those items of hers were still on the floor.

Emily pulled a face at her cashier, a teenaged girl, who giggled. That didn't help the situation. The woman swelled up like a bullfrog, ready to explode.

"Apologise!" She all but bellowed, breathing heavily.

Emily looked her up and down and folded her arms.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"All you've been is incredibly rude and obnoxious so no, I am not going to apologise for my behaviour. I think you are the one who should be apologising."

The two cashiers gaped at her and the woman' face was turning purple. Emily grabbed her bag from the shocked cashier's hands, giving the woman an incredibly smug look. She was convinced that steam was now coming out of her ears. Yep, job done. And with a twirl of her coat, Emily left.

"Sorry I took so long. You wouldn't believe what this woman ahead of me was li-" Emily said, her voice trailing off as she came through the door.

Reid did not look good. Not that he was looking great before but in the time she had been gone to the shop and returned he had completely wilted. She dropped her bag and darted over to him.

"Holy shit, you're burning up," she stated, her hand on his sweaty forehead.

Did he have a fever before she left?

"I'm fine" Reid muttered, listlessly brushing her hand away and turning his head into the scrunched-up blanket.

"No, you're not," she retorted sharply, trying to subdue her worry.

He had lost all the colour he had regained from before she left, which admittedly not a lot but it had still been something despite all her teasing about how white he was.

"Do you have a thermometer?" She asked, helplessly looking around her as if one would just magically appear out of thin air.

"S'in baf'oom," he slurred.

Panic pooled in her belly as she basically apparated to his cabinet. She yanked the door open and was prepared to sweep everything out to get the thermometer when thankfully she spotted it glinting, tucked into the side.

"Take this," Emily instructed, thrusting it at him.

"Mm?"

"Please, Reid."

Reid blinked blearily at her and rubbed at his eyes. He yawned sharply and shook his head, looking at the thermometer she was holding out like he had seen it for the first time. Placing it in his mouth, he looked confusedly around him as she kept an eye on her phone's clock.

"Weren't oo jus' leavin'?" He asked around it.

She frowned at him and replied, "That was half an hour ago."

The thermometer beeped. Emily jumped; she hadn't realised it did that.

"Must have fallen asleep," Reid said, voice raspy as she read the thermometer. "I remember wanting to rest my eyes for a bit."

"A hundred point one," she announced, feeling more relieved.

Sure, it was a fever but she honestly thought he was going delirious from a high one.

"That high?" Reid asked in amazement.

"I was thinking 'That low?'" Emily retorted.

He coughed sharply and tried to wave her away as she thumped him on the back.

"That was unnecessary," he informed her, his voice clearer.

"Not after all the worry you put me through," she retorted, folding her arms.

"I told you that I was fine."

Emily raised her eyebrow.

"Or not that bad," Reid amended.

"Hmpf," was all she said as she went to pick up the dropped back of food. "You are so frustrating, you know that?"

"What do you mean?"