Disclaimer: See chapter 1

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Reid ran his fingers through Linda's hair as she lay on the sofa with her head on his lap. "That feels so good," she said as the long fingers caressed softly yet their touch seemed to burn through to her soul. "I don't know why you…"

"Because I don't want to hurt you. You can't want, well, you know, while you're lying there with a sprained ankle."

"Sex, it's called sex and I can so want it." She lifted her hand up to touch his face.

Reid ducked his head away. "Linda, you have to behave yourself or I'll have to go sit in one of those chairs over there." He pointed to the other side of the room. "You don't know how much effort it takes to keep my hands off you."

"Okay," she crossed her arms in front of her. "I'll be good."

"Why don't we watch some more Star Trek?" Reid suggested. "Maybe it'll keep your mind off you know what."

"You think watching Spock and company is going to keep me from wanting to jump your bones? Think again," she giggled. "You being infected with anthrax didn't curb my desire, what makes you think this will work?"

Oh God, he wished she'd quit talking like that. She had no idea what it did to him. "I was hoping," he said absently as his traitorous fingers left her hair and tenderly traced her eyes, nose and lips. They slowly moved to her neck and slid through the small opening at the neckline of her blouse where one open button under his dexterous hands soon became two then three. He closed his eyes and let his hand explore what lay beneath her blouse like a blind man reading Braille. He cupped her breast, his fingers moving gently over the contours of soft flesh until he reached its center which hardened and seemed to stand at attention at his touch. He felt Linda's breathing speed up and he could feel her heart pounding under his hand.

A strangled moan brought him back to reality as he felt Linda shift and her hands began pulling his shirt out of his pants as her fingers began their own exploration. Her touch was so soft, barely feathering his skin, and he wondered if it were a dream like the ones he'd had almost every night since he'd met Linda. He felt the buttons opening on his shirt as if by their own accord. Linda turned her head that still rested on his lap and brushed the skin of his lower torso with tiny soft kisses until she reached his belly button which she slowly and sensuously explored with her tongue. He moaned as his hand jerked on her breast. Suddenly they were both jolted from their amorous pursuits by the ringing of Reid's cell phone.

Reid's face turned beet red as if he was a little boy who'd been caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, and what a cookie jar it was flashed through his mind as he awkwardly pulled the instrument out of his pocket and scowled at the caller ID, "R…Reid," he stammered as if the caller could somehow see what he had been doing before the phone rang.

"Hi Reid, we've got a case. You'll need your go bag."

"Oh…okay JJ, I…I'm on my way." He folded his cell and returned it to his pocket. "Uh…I've got to go. We've got a case," he told Linda.

"What kind of case?" she asked.

"JJ didn't say. The team'll get briefed together."

"Maybe you shouldn't go into the field just yet. Maybe you should do desk work for a while. I…I could talk to Agent Hotchner."

"No Linda, I have to go," he said, extricating himself gingerly from the lovely woman who a moment ago he'd…Oh well, there was no point in thinking about moments ago. The reality of the situation was that someone somewhere needed him. He began to button his shirt. "What about you?" he asked.

"What do you mean what about me?" Linda replied.

"Is there someone you can call to come and be with you?"

"I'll be fine."

"Maybe Shirley or one of your other nurses?" Reid suggested.

"Spencer, I'll be fine."

"I don't like leaving you alone. You know that the majority of injuries within the home occur from falls and burns. You've already got a sprained ankle."

"What about you?" Linda struggled to her feet with the aid of her crutches waving Reid off when he attempted to help her. "What about you?" she repeated. "Who knows what kind of danger you'll go running into in your eagerness to find some monster?" Her voice was rising with each word.

"Linda, it's part of my job. You know that," Reid retorted.

"Well, I don't have to like it."

"I could say the same thing." He opened his arms. "You go gallivanting all over the country looking for dangerous pathogens. What's to stop you from being infected by something deadly? Do you think I didn't worry about you when you went to Minnesota?"

"You did?" she sounded surprised.

"Well, I…uh…yeah."

The room was silent for what seemed like an eternity while the couple stared at one another. Linda finally looked down. "Will you promise me you'll be careful?" She stepped forward and put a hand on his chest.

"I promise to be as careful as I can. My job entails some degree of risk. I can't help that. I wear my vest."

"Yeah, well that didn't help you avoid contracting anthrax or being kidnapped by some murderous psychopath."

Reid sighed. "Linda I can't stand here and debate the dangers of our jobs. I have to call a cab so I can go get my car and get to Quantico. I'll call you tonight, okay?" Reid pushed the buttons on his cell and ordered a taxi.

While he waited for his cab Reid went to the dining room and donned his vest along with his pocket watch. Linda watched in silence and winced when he returned his glock to his belt before slipping into his jacket. A honking from outside alerted the pair to the cab's arrival. "I…uh, guess I better get going. You make sure you rest that ankle, doctor's orders," he laughed in an attempt to lighten the moment.

Linda nodded, unable to find her voice. She reached up and put her arms around his neck letting her crutches fall to the floor meanwhile pulling him down to her height. She kissed him softly at first then with increasing intensity, suddenly pulling away. "Go," she said before her tears could start.