Me again. Hope you enjoy!

See disclaimers.


"I cannot believe you got his boxers!"

Emily smiled, a sort of 'Mona Lisa' smile. "And his phone number." She waved the little scrap of paper in front of JJ's twinkling eyes.

Josh just shook his head. "What a way to meet people, eh?"

Now JJ rolled her eyes. "Now, about that sign language, Josh…"

---

As the screen showed the three leaving the bar, Malcolm began to chuckle. "Very clever girl," he said, pouring himself a pint. "I would not have thought of tossing red wine—or apparently, what passes for it in that establishment."

Even Peter laughed. "And then claiming she was taking them to the cleaners?"

"Well, now it's my turn to have my hands full," Terrence said, stretching himself out a bit. "That JJ there is going to have her hands full, trying to convert someone into a Redskins fan…"

"And in full dress, no less," Peter said. "Didn't Gina say she had the helmet as well as the jersey?"

"I heard she's got socks, too. Reginald got a peek one night when she and Emily were sharing a room in Tucson."

"What was Reg doing peeking in their stuff?"

"He claimed he was looking for anything that might hurt his charge. I think he was actually taking notes on certain ladies' lingerie."

Peter shook his head. "I'm just glad he hasn't gotten anywhere near Garcia's boudoir."

----

"Here's your soup, hon," the waitress said, still apologizing for accidentally spilling it into Reid's lap. "I am so sorry…"

"It's…it's all right," Reid stammered. "The pants needed washing anyway…"

"Still, it's my fault."

"Really, it's all right…"

Blushing a little, the waitress turned and resumed her work.

"Reid, are you nuts?" Oliver asked, flabbergasted.

"What?"

"That was a prime opportunity right there."

"Oliver, how could I possibly make her feel indebted? I mean, it was an accident…"

Oliver just shook his head. To Hotch he asked, "Is he always like this?"

"I think a certain bartender is still on his mind," the older man said between sips of coffee.

"Oh. Well, I'm stuffed. The sandwiches here would put Cameron Stackhouse to shame."

"See, now, if we went there for dinner, I could easily get free food," Reid said heartily.

"You, me, and practically every person Joseph Stackhouse has a soft spot for," Oliver laughed.

Reid stared at his soup-stained clothes. "At least the soup wasn't scalding hot…"

---

"Nice save, Reg," Charlene said approvingly. "You see that coming or was that luck?"

"In my experience, this job is never about luck. We've always got to be on our guard," Reginald said, looking hurt. "Besides, that was nothing."

"It was you blowing cold air on a dish of hot soup, buddy," Gina said. "You weren't taking a bullet for him or anything."

"And leave dear Stanley with nothing to look forward to? Heavens."

Charlene laughed. "Way I hear it, Stan's been put through the wringer more than enough times since that young man's been walking. I'm amazed he keeps up half the time."

Gina settled back on the puffy seat of the Cloud Rover the trio had managed to snag for the challenge. "You and me both. I bet he's really enjoying Morgan right now…"

---

"Morgan, if it's really that bad, for heaven's sake don't eat it!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who got stuck cooking for everyone," the agent said with a little smile. "But no way am I losing out on that pot."

--Plans for the money, Morgan?—

"Oh, you bet. I plan to go dancing, maybe take in a little dinner…"

Kyle smiled sweetly. –With a lady friend, no less.—

"Maybe, my man. May-be."

Kyle rolled his eyes and thought of his own girlfriend, who was busy spending the holidays in Denver with her family. –I can get Beth that 'little something' I've been wanting to get…--

Chase pointed to her ring finger, her eyebrows raised expectantly.

Kyle nodded.

"Serious?" Morgan asked.

Kyle nodded again, a big smile gracing his face.

The wheels in Morgan's head began to turn. "She's in Denver, you say?"

--Yeah, why?—

"Kyle, I think I've got your first 'little task' in the bag. Here's what we're going to do…"

Chase managed to cream a bowl full of potatoes into a tub of sour cream and quickly checked the turkey browning in the oven. Her eyes were also taking in the conversation, however, and as Morgan wrote out his plan she saw Kyle's eyes widen and a mischievous smile wash over his face.

--Perfect,-- he said, tapping two closed 'E' hands together and pulling them away slightly. –She'll be so surprised…--

----

Connie was relishing the little break she was getting from her new charge's cooking escapade. After burning another batch of biscuits, Chase had thankfully decided to buy some and had moved on to the turkey and potatoes. Unfortunately, Connie had had to alert the woman to a small fire in the middle of Morgan's oven and then ruin a batch of potatoes because Chase had grabbed ones that were full of toxic mold.

"I will be so glad to get my Morgan back," she exclaimed. "At least he doesn't try to kill himself with food."

Stanley smiled. "No, he prefers bullets, falling off buildings and decidedly crazy people with a grudge who are on a murderous rampage."

"For the last time, Stan, he wasn't trying to kill your charge that time in California!"

Now Anya was interested. "Wait—one of them tried to kill the other?"

"It involved a high-speed chase, a guy who'd gone off the deep end in the world of sanity, and Morgan driving like a maniac," Stanley summed up.

"Oh? Like your charge drives any better…"

"Better than Morgan…"

"Oh, so, ah, that time in Michigan when they got stuck in the snow?"

"Which time? There were two, and Morgan drove one of them."

"The one where you nearly lost your charge to those crazy cousins, the ones who tortured people in the basement?"

"Hey, because of me intervening, I managed to help save two people!"

"Uh, guys…" Anya said, looking down from the Cloud Cart the three were occupying.

"If save was even the word!" Connie shouted. "Who put the hurt on that one in the loft?"

"Guys…"

"He's still breathing, that other guy! Just talked to Paco last month—he's doing real well!"

"Connie!" Anya shouted, her voice a stern no-nonsense tone.

"What!"

"The curtains are on fire. She shorted out the blender."

"Oh my---" Connie swooped down and poked Chase hard in the back, causing her to straighten up from checking the turkey and notice the flames leaping up the countertop. Within seconds the three charges were beating the flames with towels and throwing salt on them.

"That was close," Connie said, out of breath. "Thanks, Anya."

"Don't mention it," she said, smoothing out her wings. "Believe me, you didn't see Oliver's place that last time…"

----

"Okay, so…what exactly are you looking for?"

"I…kinda made a bet with some co-workers, and I hate to lose," Rossi explained to the young tattoo artist behind the counter. "So, here I am."

"Something small, then? Enough to win your bet?"

Rossi looked through the design books, not really satisfied with what there was. "You do custom work?"

The artist smiled and pulled up her shirt ever so slightly. "See this?" she asked, revealing a small frog resting inside of a personalized Celtic knot that was set high on the woman's hip. "Did this one myself."

"That is so cute," Garcia said, looking at the detail work.

"Tell you what," the artist said. "Give me a couple hours, and I think I can come up with something for you. I'll even throw one in for your girlfriend, on me."

Garcia's eyes grew wide. "F-for me?"

"Sure. Really win your bet."

"We'll take it," Rossi said. "What do you need?"

"Little information on you, the lady here, and I'll see what I can do."

---

"Oh, vonderful," Wilhelm said. "Here I thought I vas going to help you, but it seems like I vill bee 'on alert' as vell."

"Two for the price of one," Jorge chortled. "I wonder what they'll pick."

"Something outlandish, I vould think. If Miss Garcia is any judge…"

"Or not. This Rossi fellow seems level headed, but willing to take a risk or two."

"Ve vill see, Jorge. Ve vill see."