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a/n hey all, here's the next chapter for you all... Please enjoy and thank you all for your support

Gossip in the BAU

Garcia was second to arrive Monday morning. As always, Hotch was there before her, doing the endless paperwork that went with the job. He never seemed to slow down, she thought with concern. No one could question his dedication, even Erin Strauss.

Garcia hurried to the break room for a cup of coffee and was surprised to see Agent Richard Flynn blowing on his first cup. "Hi," she greeted him brightly.

"Hey Garcia, how was your weekend?"

She took the newly brewed pot of coffee from him and reached for the creamer. "It was so nice to have a couple of days away from here." She said.

"I hear you." His blue eyes twinkled like sunlight on ocean water.

"You're very cheerful," Garcia observed. "What's going on?"

He followed her out of the break room, through the still empty bullpen, and down the long hallway to her office. "I saw something Friday night that I think you'd be very interested to know."

She put her free hand on her hips and pinned him with her dark eyes. "I used to believe the women were the worst gossips. You're worse than any woman I know."

"Hey," he responded with a little indignation. "Knowledge is power, especially around here."

Garcia heaved a sigh and unlocked her office door. "Spill it. I can tell you're dying to tell me."

Agent Flynn shook his head causing his wavy blond bangs to slip attractively over one eye. He raised a hand and pushed them back from his face. "Oh no… You gotta pay to play."

Garcia's eyebrows lifted behind her tortoise shell glass frames. "What's it going to cost me to get the latest scoop?"

"For you, a dozen cinnamon raisin bagels from that little shop I love in downtown."

She narrowed her eyes at him. He always bartered for food, yet maintained the physique of a world-class athlete. Next to her chocolate God, she considered him the second most attractive man in the Bureau.

"No way," she disagreed.

She could see by his smile that he had something hot, but she refused to beg.

"It's hot news." He promised.

"Name some names and I might think about half a dozen."

She left her bag and her leopard print coat on her coat rack as Agent Flynn followed her into her office without invitation.

"You drive a hard bargain Garcia."

She stepped to her computers and flicked a switch. "I'm busy Flynn. Do we have a deal?"

Agent Flynn crossed his arms over his light silver suit coat. "Fine, you've got a deal. Guess who I saw at the movies Friday night?"

"I don't have any idea."

He nodded at her irritation. "I saw two members of your team, rather cozy at the new multiplex. They were too busy with each other to notice me or my date."

"I'm not in the mood for games." Garcia snapped.

He held up a hand and took a sip of his coffee. "My date dragged me to Twilight and while we were waiting in line for food I saw Agent Reid and Agent Prentiss."

Garcia glared at him. "Is that all? They're friends."

Agent Flynn flashed his perfect white teeth at her. "That's not what I saw. They were standing way too close to be just friends."

Garcia decided to nip this in the bud by ambushing Emily as soon as she got in, but Agent Flynn didn't need to know that. "What will it cost me for you to keep this to yourself."

He lifted an eyebrow. "What if I don't want to keep it to myself? This is hot news. Who knew that Dr. Reid could get Emily Prentiss that close?"

"If you breathe a word, I will make your life miserable and you know I can do it." Garcia warned, her eyes flashing dangerously under her blond curls.

"Hey, I owe you for last spring. I promise I won't say a word." He crossed his heart like a schoolboy."

He left and she shut the door hard in his wake. Agent Flynn was trustworthy to a point, but she had better have a talk with Emily.

CMCMCM

When Emily signed into her email, she found one marked urgent and confidential from Garcia. Her eyebrows went up at the contents. It simply requested her presence in her friend's office as soon as she got into the office.

Five minutes later, she knocked on Garcia's office door. "Come in if you want to hear truth."

"Hey," she began. "What's with the summons to your lair?"

"Shut the door and sit down."

Emily shut the door and sat because Garcia's tone wasn't playful at all. In fact, she was more ruffled than the sleeves of her bright pink blouse.

"What's wrong?"

Garcia tapped a key and shut off the monitor of her computer, which sent Emily's thoughts into overdrive wondering what was wrong with their favorite tech.

"I had a conversation with Agent Flynn."

Emily sat back in relief. "You scared me PG. I thought something bad happened."

"You shouldn't discount Agent Flynn. He keeps his ear to the ground and he knows what happened with you and Reid last Friday night."

Emily didn't flinch, but her heart rate began climbing. "I don't know what Flynn told you, but nothing happened with Reid. We saw a movie and that was it."

Garcia scrutinized her for a long time. "I'm not sure I can believe you."

"I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, you can ask Reid."

"Something must have happened to get Flynn's gossip detector in a snit."

"Nothing happened." Emily crossed her heart like they were in school. "All we did was go to a movie and then rode the train home. I tried to get him to get off at my stop and have coffee at my place, but he refused."

Garcia narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't be trying to get into his pants, would you?"

Emily tried to maintain eye contact with her friend and failed miserably. "Alright, I admit that I'd like to be more than friends with Reid, but he doesn't trust me and I don't blame him."

Garcia left off setting up her systems for the day and reached out to squeeze Emily's right hand. "He doesn't hate you Emily. He's having a tough time right now, but he's coming around."

"I hope you're right. I feel like a complete bitch for what I did to all of you."

"Just give him some time."

Emily smiled and got up to leave. "I have to get to some paperwork before the briefing."

Garcia nodded. "We'll talk later."

CMCMCM

Emily almost ran into Reid as she was leaving the ladies room an hour later. He stopped, flinched and then smiled. "Hello." He said shyly.

"Hello there," she answered.

They stared at each other for a minute and she could see he was trying to think of what to say and couldn't, so she spoke first. "Look, I wanted to tell you before we leave that Flynn saw us Friday night. He told Garcia."

Reid's face went pink, and then his eyes shut down. "Nothing happened, so we don't have to worry. As far as I'm concerned we're two friends that went to the movies."

"Yeah…" Emily said. "That's exactly what I thought."

Something passed over his face, but he shut it down fast and gave her a rare smile that started her toes tingling. His eyes crinkled a little as she stared at him and she felt her face getting hot. The palms of her hands began to sweat. Something was happening right there and she wasn't quite sure what it was.

"You look confused." Reid said suddenly.

"I'm not confused," she insisted smoothly. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Are you sure about that?"

How he could stand there in navy slacks, a matching sweater, and a red and blue striped tie knotted under the collar of a white shirt and dirty converse shoes, and still make her heart thump like crazy?

"I'm completely fine Reid. You don't have to worry about me."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you have something up your sleeve, but I know you know better than to play games after the last nine months." He said confidently and there was something in his eyes again.

"Yes…" She agreed in an unsteady tone.

She tried to think of something to say that wouldn't get her in deeper, but nothing came to mind. Damn, she was a profiler and used to thinking on her feet, and now she couldn't think what to do or say."

His eyes shifted again, and he was just Reid again.

"In that case, is it okay for friends to have coffee after work?" He asked her with a familiar shy smile.

"Yes… I think that can be arranged."