"Oh... my God..." Reid uttered again. His eyes darted from Morgan to Emily and back, over and over, waiting for one of them to explain. He had never been so confused in his life and he just kept waiting for one of them to admit it was some joke.

"Sweetie?" Riley's distant voice called from inside their room. Emily braced herself, knowing another person was about to be brought in on this. Why couldn't she still be knocked out from the drugs?

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" At that, Riley came out of the room in her pajamas and bare feet, her wild hair completely surrounding her. She stood before Reid, observing his expression and trying to understand what had turned him to stone.

At last, she followed his gaze and found the two standing in utter terror. "Hey, guys..." Riley said, confused. She stared at them, trying to figure out what had shocked her husband so.

"Hey, Riley!" Emily exclaimed, her nerves getting into her voice, raising it an octave higher. "Feeling any better?"

Riley didn't answer; she spotted Emily's hand, seeing her clutching both her shoes and violet panties. Realizing at last, her eyes almost bugged out of her head. "Oh my God!"

"Keep your voice down!" Morgan hissed, checking up and down the hall. They all waited expectantly for someone else to join them, but nothing happened. No doors opened; they remained alone.

Reid finally found his voice, speaking in a harsh whisper. "What is going on here?"

"Did you guys sleep together again?" Riley cried before she could think of what she was saying.

"Again!" Reid exclaimed, turning to her with even more shock, if that were possible.

Morgan was a bit less dramatic as he turned to Emily in question. "Again?"

She had never told him it wasn't a complete secret, unsure how to explain it now. It took a moment to regain her composure as she looked between the three. "Reid... Riley... let's go in your room where it's private. It looks like we have some explaining to do."

"Yeah," Morgan muttered, meeting her eyes before he stepped back inside. "I think we all do, Prentiss."

She cringed at that. Emily had never been sure how to tell Morgan someone else knew about that. She and Riley hadn't spoken about it since it happened, there seemed no point in discussing it now.

Emily would have waited for Morgan, but decided against it. She followed Reid and Riley into their room, the door closed behind them. Riley claimed a seat on the bed as Reid stood next to the window, as far away from both of them as possible. He never did well when he was lied to, especially by the people he trusted the most.

A minute later, there was a knock on the door. Emily being the closest answered it, and Morgan slipped in. He was a bit more decent now, wearing a t-shirt. They were safe inside now away from prying ears, yet all that was heard now was silence.

Finally, Riley had the piece of mind to break it. "Did you guys sleep together last night?"

Morgan fixed his gaze on Emily. The explanation responsibility was up to her. Swallowing nervously, Emily replied, "Yes."

The word echoed in the room like they were standing in a wide open cave. Reid was staring at the floor, trying to comprehend this, and Riley kept glancing at him with caution. He may not be willing to ask any questions, but she had too many to keep quiet.

"So... what exactly triggered this?" She questioned.

"That's kind of a long story." Emily replied. She knew how much they were keeping from their friends, but never imagined what it would be like to explain it to them. Foolish, perhaps, but she had believed they would never find out.

"When was the first time?" Reid muttered, looking to his wife.

Riley met his eyes, speaking a bit apologetically, "The night of your funeral."

He glared at her. "And you didn't think to mention that to me?"

"It wasn't relevant. It didn't have anything to do with us, you didn't need to know." She announced. Riley was obviously standing by her decision.

"Oh, you didn't think I needed to know. I'm only the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, why wouldn't you want to keep secrets from me. It makes me wonder, Riley, what else you're not telling me."

"Don't you talk to her like that, Reid." Emily cried, interrupting him. Reid looked up to meet her eyes. "Riley's my friend and she kept my secret, kind of the same way Morgan and I kept your secret when you slept with her the first time."

That quieted him for a moment. Reid knew how much he owed his friends for staying quiet about that. Even now, the threat of their secret could ruin their careers. Still, he couldn't just accept this and move on. "It's not the same." He said in a partial snarl, though he knew the situations were almost parrallel.

"Why now? It's been a year since you two have been together, why suddenly did it have to be tonight?" Riley wondered. Reid may have been upset, but she was intrigued, sitting at attention.

"It... hasn't been a year." Emily shamefully admitted. Saying it out loud made the whole thing seem even worse. "We've been together a few times since then." She looked up at Morgan for support, but he seemed just a twisted over this as she. "The second time was about a week before Reid came out of hiding... the third was right after we caught Nathan Harris."

"When you ran out of Hotch's office?" Reid asked, amazed, looking up again. "That's why you never came back in?"

She nodded, closing her eyes. His anger was making her feel more and more ashamed. Morgan at last spoke up, moving a bit closer to her. "After that, it became a regular thing."

"So you guys have been dating for a year? And you never told us?" Riley wondered, almost sounding delighted.

Her joy faded as the two took a glance at each other, and Emily shook her head. "We're not dating," Morgan corrected. "We spend the night together, we hang out... but we're not a couple."

Reid carefully watched the two, from Emily to Morgan and back again. He knew his friends weren't traditional people with regular plans, but even they knew better than to take a chance like this. "You guys are taking an awfully large risk just to sleep around."

Morgan rolled his eyes. "You can't be pissed about this, kid. It doesn't concern you."

"That's where you're wrong, Morgan!" Reid yelled. "What if Strauss or someone higher were to find out? We'd be split up, it would ruin our team! Did you guys even consider that?"

"We know we're being selfish." Emily said with remorse. "That's why we've been trying so hard to keep this a secret... that's why we've been pretending to hate each other all this time."

"Believe us, that little rouse has not been easy." Morgan added. "You know how hard it is to pretend someone means nothing to you when really, it's the complete opposite."

Had Reid not looked away at that moment, he would have seen the curious look she gave Morgan, wondering if perhaps what he was saying was a reflection of how he really felt. Instead, he turned to his wife, looking into her glowing brown eyes and his anger began to melt away.

"Yeah..." He mumbled. "I know."

"Maybe we don't have as much self control as other people, but we just couldn't stop ourselves." Emily urged. "No matter how we tried to resist, once we did it, we couldn't resist each other."

"But you're just sleeping together?" Riley voiced, trying to piece this together. "You just hook up every night and then go your separate ways in the morning?"

"It's a little more intimate than that!" Emily cried, offended. But at the core of it, she knew Riley was right.

"People do it all the time, everyone in this room has done it..." Morgan landed on Reid and smirked. "Well... almost everyone."

As Reid gave him a deadly glare, Riley wondered "Don't you guys care about each other?"

"Of course we care about each other." Emily said. "Morgan's my best friend and I'm his."

"Well, it's just... if you care so much about each other... why aren't you together?" She asked.

"Because we're not that kind of people." Was Emily's response.

Reid was confused. "What kind of people?"

"You know..." Morgan shrugged. "We're not the kind of people who can be in a real relationship."

Once again, he locked eyes with Riley and at last gave a small smile. "Neither were we." He told them.

"You guys are different." Emily mumbled. "For one thing, we don't want that."

"We don't have to explain anything to you two!" Morgan interrupted. "This is between me and Emily. We don't have to define anything. You guys know, and that's great, that's two less people we have to lie to. All we're asking is that you keep our secret from Hotch and the rest of the team. And if you can't, then we have a problem."

And silence took over once again. The married couple looked to each other a moment, as if telepathically debating the request.

"Yeah, we can." Reid mumbled. "You know we wouldn't get you into trouble."

"Thank you," Emily sighed with relief. "We promise we won't make this a problem for you."

"Okay, guys, we're running late. We need to meet the team by ten." Morgan annoucned, though it was no doubt he was just looking for an excuse to get out of this room.

"I'd better change, I doubt I have time for a shower." Emily said.

"Well, um... Emily, if you wouldn't mind staying with Riley while Morgan and I check out the crime scene. I don't want to leave her alone until we catch this guy." Requested Reid.

"Sure," She agreed. "I'll just change and be back in a fifteen minutes. I'll get her statement and call you guys if we find anything."

"Great," Reid said, giving her a reassuring grin, indicating he wasn't quite so distraught now.

Emily and Morgan hurried from the room, leaving the newlyweds alone.

Morgan couldn't get away fast enough, whipping out his key card as he reached his room. Emily stood back, watching him tentatively. "That could have been worse."

"I guess." He muttered. His cold response and rigid form meant he didn't want to be around her.

"At least they're not going to tell anyone." She took a few steps towards him.

"Yeah... you could take a lesson from them, Prentiss." The card unlocked the door and Morgan opened it. Without a second glance, he stepped inside.

Shocked, Emily practically ran, throwing herself in the way before he could close the door, stopping it from hitting her just a second before it struck. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You talked to Riley about this." He pointed out. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't tell anyone what was going on."

"I mentioned this to her long before we ever made that deal." She assured. "It was right after our first time, I was confused, I needed to talk to someone."

"So you chose a woman who was grieving her dead boyfriend?" He clarified.

"Hey, you can't get mad at me because I went to a girlfriend for support. It's not like she's apart of the team." She cried as loudly as she could without drawing attention to the adjoining room. At any moment, one of the team could come out and find them. And here was Emily, still holding her underwear. "Why do you even care? You can't stand there and act like I'm violating you when you treat me like nothing."

"You think I treat you like nothing. I've got news for you, Prentiss. That whole romantic night I planned for you, I worked on that for a long time. I was planning that long before I knew you wanted it, that wasn't just some 'James Bond' time."

At last it dawned on her. She gave an angry grin. "Oh, I see how it is. It took me awhile, but I got here. You wanted to make me jealous. So I would tell you I only wanted you to be with me. And that would give you an excuse to break this off. If you wanted this over, why didn't you just say something?"

She didn't get it at all. And Morgan realized she never would. He glared at her, stepping forward. "We don't have to wait until we get back to America. This thing between us, Princess, is finished."

"Thank God." She snapped, moving to step off of the threshold. "When we get home, I'm requesting a transfer."

And with that, she stormed down the hall back to her room. She whipped out her key card and tried to work the lock. She assumed Morgan was watching her for a moment, when the door finally closed. At last, the lock clicked and Emily hurried inside. The door slammed and she was alone. Sad, confused, and alone.

Just after Emily and Morgan left, Riley got off the bed. She wasn't sure what to say. Her back was to Reid right now, nervous of what repercussions she was about to face. But she could wait no longer. Slowly walked over to him.

"Are you mad at me?" She wondered, timid, as she stood before him.

To her relief, Reid shook his head. "No... I was just... thrown off. I know you would have told me if it had been more serious. I just feel like I've been lied to."

"Believe me, if I knew anything more about this, I would have said something. I just knew about the one time." She assured. "And I had too much going on when it first happened. What with you being dead and then catching Nathan Harris and then after all that, we got engaged. It just... it really slipped my mind for awhile."

As she got closer, Reid put his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "Do you see how quick they were to change the subject?"

"There's more to this than their leading on." Riley replied. "You can tell they're hiding something, and it's more than likely from each other."

He thought for a moment. "If they're going to be together, they may as well be committed. They're probably just scared of putting themselves out there and risking rejection. You and I know how hard taking that chance can be, maybe we can give them a push in the right direction."

"Listen to you," Riley exclaimed, her one hand stroking his shoulder as she smiled. "Who would believe Dr. Spencer Reid would be such an advocate for love?"

He admired her beautiful face. Her eyes were lit up, as they always did when she looked at him. He adored her perfect pink lips and misshapen teeth. God, he loved how she looked when she first woke up in the morning. "Love is more a subject of philosophy. Psychologists try to explain how love changes the effects in the human body, all the chemical and organic reactions that occur in our systems when we feel love, the same effect we get when we eat chocolate and peas. It's a rational explanation and makes complete sense... if you've never been in love."

His hand ran along her face, watching her eyes close for a moment as she savored his touch. "But until you actually find that one person... that person who reverses your whole mood just by smiling at you... who makes you feel like your life is worth something because she's apart of it... you understand it's not something scientific. It can't be explained. I learned that a long time ago and it's completely foolish. But that's the greatest thing about love." His smile brightened for her. "I don't care. I don't care how foolish I am when I'm this happy."

"You're a genius, Spencer. There's so much you can offer the world that no one else can. Your life is more valuable than probably 90% of the world's population and I make your life worth living?" She asked, skeptical.

Reid moved slowly forward and gently captured her lips. They moved in their familiar, wonderful harmony. She sighed blissfully, her hand brushing over his waist lovingly while her other arm brought her as close to him as possible. He loved when she sighed like that, knowing he brought so much sweet pleasure to her from just his kiss.

Their lips parted slowly and Reid met her eyes again. "You have no idea." His hand ran to stroke along her frizzy hair, soft in his hands like cotton balls. "Riley, you know I feel awful about all this. I should have gotten us out of that hotel as soon as we learned about the first murders. Better yet, as soon as I knew how afraid you where. I'm sorry I got us into this, but I promise I will get us out. I want you to go home, but I am so grateful you want to stay with me."

"Hey," her one hand slid down his chest and gripped at his shirt, "I told you this is not your fault. And it's not like I've always made things easy for you. Since the day we met, it seems I keep putting you through Hell... I've broken your heart, I've almost gotten you killed, and yet you're still here. Is it so hard to believe I'm still here, too?"

His hands moved onto her backside, pulling her middle right against him. "I love you."

"And I love you," She beamed. "What would I do if you weren't here watching over me? Speaking of which..." she reached up, teasing him with the slightest kiss. "Did I properly thank you for that?"

"Well, you tried." Reid admitted. "It didn't feel right having sex when you were in that state. You have no idea how hard it was to resist you when I wanted you so much."

"Well, I'm sober now." She smiled alluringly at him. "And there's a bed behind us."

"And I have to meet the team in a few minutes. It's almost ten." He said sadly, shattering her happiness.

Her smile faded, remembering. Riley let out a groan, resting her head on his shoulder a minute. "We just can't catch a break."

"I'm sorry," He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "You're sick anyway, and we need to focus on the case. But I promise it will be over soon." Reid placed a kiss on top of her curls. "The evidence we find today should put us on the right track. Just give it one more day. And then we will crawl into bed and use up every last bit of energy we have."

"I like the sound of that." Her grin returned, reaching up to kiss him again, her hand went to stroke his cheek. Just before their lips made contact, she gasped, staring at her left hand.

"What's the matter?" He asked, worried.

"My rings." She exclaimed, looking at her bare finger in panic. "My wedding ring and my engagement ring, they're back in the suite. You have to get them, Spencer."

"Okay, don't worry." He assured. "They won't be considered evidence, I'll get them."

"I put them on my bedside table, where I always set them." She explained. "If anything happened to them-"

"We'll replace them."

"I don't want to replace them, I want them!" She cried. "I want the ones you put on my hand, not some replacement!"

"Riley, calm down." He said softly. Her poor body had been through enough, Reid didn't want her blood pressure to get too high. "I promise you I will get them, and I will put them right back on your finger myself. You just wait here for Emily and I'll see you later at the station."

"Okay," She sighed. "That'll give us a chance to talk anyway. I'll handle her, you handle the other one."

"Got it," He agreed. "Be careful. I love you."

"I love you, too." She said softly, placing one last quick kiss on his cheek. Reid disgruntily pulled from her arms, finally leaving her side. He grabbed his things and went towards the door. Just as he opened it, he stopped.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked, wondering why he froze again.

"Nothing," He shook his head. Reid looked back at her... he just needed to be sure. "You are going to stay until Emily's here, right?"

"Of course," She agreed. "I promise, I won't go anywhere unless someone from the team is by my side."

She was sincere, he knew, but it didn't ease his anxiety. He finally forced himself to leave, closing the door with a soft tap. Reid stood for a moment, staring at the number on the door, wanting to run back in and stay with her. At last he left, trying to convince himself he was just being overprotective. Because Reid couldn't ignore the cold fear in his stomach that despite their optimism... he was never going to see her again.