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LYSSA'S HOUSE

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23

Reid's internal alarm clock decided to go off at five o'clock in the morning and the young man jerked awake with a start. Slightly disoriented Reid gazed around the room and then it suddenly dawned on him where he was. Glancing down he saw that Lyssa was sound asleep at his side.

Reid ran his hand through his hair as his thoughts flashed back to exactly how he and Lyssa had ended up in this position. He'd fallen asleep on her sofa the day before however he hadn't slept long before he'd been awakened by a nightmare. He's woken up screaming and had fully expected Lyssa to laugh at him however she'd merely pulled him into an embrace and told him that everything was alright.

Needing someone to talk to Reid had explained to her all of the events that had transpired in North Dakota. Lyssa had listened quietly and then, when he'd finished with his story, she'd held him in a comforting hug and whispered words of comfort in his ear.

That had somehow led to this.

Leaning over Reid gently touched Lyssa on the shoulder. "Lyssa, wake up."

Lyssa's eye lids slowly fluttered open and she smiled up at Reid. "Hey you."

"Hey," Reid said softly as Lyssa sat up and turned to face him. "I have to get back to my apartment and I just thought that I should wake you and tell you that I was leaving."

Lyssa nodded as she glanced over at the clock and saw what time it was. "Do you have to work today Spencer?"

Reid nodded. "I do and they might ask questions if I show up wearing the same clothes that I was wearing yesterday."

"Maybe," Lyssa said with a smile.

Reid leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Thanks for yesterday." With that Reid got to his feet, quickly pulled on his clothes, gathered up this things and left Lyssa's house.

The young man made his way back to his apartment, quickly took a shower, and then dressed for work. This didn't take long since Reid had gotten really good at the rapid shower and dress during his stint in the FBI and it was only six thirty when he finished.

"Ugh," Reid groaned as his gaze shifted to the clock. "Guess I'll go to work early today."

BAU HEADQUARTERS

LATER THAT MORNING

Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner was sitting in his office, working on some case files, when he saw Reid walking across the bullpen area. This struck Hotchner as unusual. He always came to the office early and Gideon did it fairly commonly as well however it was strange for any of the others to do it. Closing the folder that he'd been reading through Hotchner got to his feet and left his office, making his way down into the bullpen.

"Is everything alright Reid?" Hotchner asked as he came to a stop in front of Reid's desk. He gazed down at the younger agent, a look of concern in his dark eyes.

"I'm fine Hotch," Reid replied, his up lifted gaze focused on his boss. "Why do you ask?"

"You're here early," Hotchner said. "I was just curious as to why."

"I woke up early this morning and didn't have anything better to do," Reid replied.

"Alright," Hotchner said. "I was just checking up on you. Since you're alright I'm going to go back to work but if you need to talk feel free to come by."

Reid nodded and watched as Hotchner turned and walked back across the bullpen area, toward the small flight of stairs. The young man shook his head as he opened his top desk drawer and pulled out a file folder embossed with the seal of the FBI. He wasn't even the slightest bit surprised that Hotchner had questioned his early arrival. It was, after all, unusual for him and they all tended to profile one another. An unfortunate side effect of the job that they did. Reid flipped the folder open, hoping that none of the others would come in early. "If I'm lucky, Hotch will be the only one who questions me today."

As the morning progressed Reid would think back on that particular thought with a wry laugh, wondering why in the world he'd ever thought he would be lucky. He'd never been lucky in his life and he'd used what little luck he may have accumulated during the incident with Marty White a couple of days ago.

When Morgan arrived at BAU headquarters he noticed that Reid was hard at work and he glanced down at the younger profiler as he walked by. "Working hard there boy genius? Did you get up early this morning just so you could come in and finish your report?" He glanced down at the piece of paper that was on the desk in front of Reid. "If that's the case, you should try a little harder. You don't seem to be going very fast."

Reid shook his head, his pen held over the paper that he was working on. "No Morgan, actually I came in early because I couldn't sleep and there was nothing better for me to be doing. However I am almost finished with this."

"Touchy," Morgan said as continued over to his own desk. "Sorry I asked."

Reid sighed, knowing that he should probably apologize for the way that he'd just spoken to Morgan but quite frankly he was tired of everyone constantly prying into his personal life. Sighing once more he returned to his report.

"Listen kid," Morgan spoke up a little while later. "I'm sorry if what I said earlier upset you. It wasn't my intention. I was just giving you a hard time."

"I know," Reid said, signing his name to his completed report. "And I apologize too. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"Oh hey, it's all good," Morgan said with a smile, happy that he and Reid were back on good terms.

Morgan wasn't the only one who noticed that Reid seemed somewhat distracted, his mind not entirely focused on work. Both Jareau and Prentiss paid visits to Gideon's office that day, to voice their concerns about their young colleague.

After the visit from Prentiss, Gideon decided that he should have a word with Reid. If the young man was so distracted that everyone was noticing then he might want to talk about whatever was bothering him. Decision made, Gideon left his office and descended the stairs down into the bullpen. He walked directly over to Reid's desk and gazed down at the younger man. "Come on Reid. You and I are going out for lunch."

Reid opened his mouth to decline the offer but Gideon shook his head and motioned for Reid to get up. "That wasn't really a request Spencer. You and I need to talk."

"Great," Reid thought to himself as he got to his feet and grabbed his coat off the back of the chair. "Now what?"

Reid followed his mentor out of the building, pulling on his coat as he went, and together the two agents traveled to a small sub shop that Gideon frequented. Both men ate in silence for awhile and then Gideon fixed Reid with one of his 'looks'.

"Everyone's worried about you Reid," Gideon said quietly. "Apparently you seemed distracted this morning."

Reid scowled, slightly annoyed that his colleagues had gone to Gideon with their concerns.

"Is there something you'd like to talk about Spencer?" Gideon asked.

Reid had every intention of telling Gideon that everything was fine however when he opened his mouth those were not the words that came out. "I think I messed up Gideon."

Gideon heard the slight tremor in the young man's voice. "What did you mess up?"

Reid took a deep breath, not really wanting to tell this story, however knowing that there could be no going back at this point. Even if he fought against telling Gideon what was wrong his mentor would get the truth from him even thought Reid was a profiler as well. His mentor's skills were legendary and Reid knew that it would be easier just to tell him what had happened. "I went over to Lyssa's house yesterday when we returned from Valley City. I tried to cancel our plans but she managed to talk me into coming. She told me that I could take a nap on the sofa and I did fall asleep however I had a. . . a nightmare and I woke up screaming."

The young profiler paused at this point however Gideon didn't press him for information. He merely waited patiently for Reid to continue.

"I was afraid that she'd laugh at me because of the nightmare," Reid confided to his mentor. "But she didn't. She was understanding and comforting and we. . ."

Reid's voice trailed off once again however Gideon didn't need the young man to complete the sentence. He could tell, from the younger man's facial expression and body language, exactly what had transpired between Reid and Lyssa the night before. "Spencer there's no reason to be embarrassed. . ."

"I. . . I'm not embarrassed," Reid said quickly, although the slight flush that colored his cheeks told the older profiler that the young man was embarrassed about talking about it if not about embarrassed about the actual event. "I'm just afraid that I've messed things up between us."

"Well," Gideon said. "Did she treat you any different this morning?"

"No," Reid replied, not even bothering to ask how Gideon had known that he'd spent the night at Lyssa's house. "No, she was her usual happy self."

"Then Spencer," Gideon said. "Stop worrying about what could happen. No one knows the future, all you can do is live for today. The job we do, the things we see on a regular basis, should have taught you that by now."

Reid thought about his mentor's words for a few minutes before saying quietly, "Thank you Gideon."

Gideon nodded, noticing that the young man appeared more at ease than he had earlier.

BAU HEADQUARTERS

LATER THAT DAY

The work day ended fairly uneventfully and Reid heaved a sigh of relief as he gathered up his things. Thankfully, after talking to Gideon about him, the rest of the BAU team had seen fit to leave him alone. Apparently they trusted Gideon to get to the bottom of his problems.

"See you later boy genius!" Morgan called out as he made his way quickly toward the elevator.

Slightly confused by the hurried pace of normally easy-going Morgan and deciding to give him a little of his own medicine. Reid rushed to catch the elevator that the older profiler had gotten in to. "And just where are you off to in such a hurry?" Reid asked with a mischievous grin.

Morgan couldn't help but smile, knowing that he'd been asking for this for a long time and had brought it upon himself. "If you must know, I have a date."

"Really?" Reid asked, arching a brow. "Who is it this week?"

Morgan cocked his head to one side, a quizzical expression on his handsome face. "Excuse me?"

"Just wanted a name," Reid said, his expression completely unapologetic as he stared at Morgan. "And after all the questions you asked me about Lyssa I think you owe me an answer on this one Morgan."

Morgan thought about that for a couple of minutes before he finally nodded, acknowledging the fact that Reid had a very valid point. "Her name's Danielle. I met her at a club a couple of weeks ago."

Reid twitched a smile, letting Morgan know that he had no intentions of pursuing the matter further. "Now was that so hard?"

Morgan chuckled as the elevator door opened and he and Reid parted ways. Reid exited his place of employment and walked away from the building, debating how he was going to spend his evening. He knew that Lyssa had an evening class on Fridays and he decided to go to Virginia Tech and surprise her.

His decision made Reid left the FBI building. The young profiler stopped at a local florist and then continued on his way to the college campus.

VIRGINIA TECH CAMPUS

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23

SEVEN P.M.

Thankful that her class was finally over Lyssa made her way out of the building, looking forward to the fast food supper that she saw in her immediate future. She hadn't had time for lunch and she was starving. "That was so boring and I'm about to starve to death," she thought to herself as she descended the stairs.

"Hey."

Lyssa stopped short as she heard the greeting and her gaze quickly shifted around and found Reid, standing at the bottom of the steps holding a bouquet of pink roses in his hand. Lyssa smiled broadly as she quickly jogged down the remaining stairs and threw her arms around Reid. "What brings you here Spencer?"

"I thought you might like to go out to dinner," Reid said, offering her the flowers, which she took with a smile. "Maybe go see a movie."

"That sounds like fun," Lyssa said, entwining her arm in his. "And it was sweet of you to think of me."

"I think of you all the time," Reid said quietly.

"Aww," Lyssa said, her smile widening. "You are SO sweet Spence."

Reid blushed slightly as he and Lyssa walked away from the building. "So, where would you like to go?"

"You choose this time," Lyssa said. "I always pick."

"Alright," Reid said with a nod. That sounded fair to him. The young man thought for a moment and then suggested that the two of them go out for seafood.

"Sounds good to me," Lyssa said, nodding her head in approval. "There's actually a seafood restaurant within easy walking distance of here. Let's go."

Reid nodded and the couple walked the short distance from the building where they'd met to the seafood restaurant. Once they were seated at a table and had placed their orders Reid turned to Lyssa, a serious expression in his brown eyes. "Lyssa a. . . about what happened last night. . ."

"Do you regret what we did Spencer?" Lyssa asked in a quiet voice, her gaze focused steadily on Reid.

"No," Reid replied. "I just thought you. . ."

"I have no regrets about anything that went on between us," Lyssa said, a soft smile on her lips. "I was a full participant and, the fact that you're here and concerned about how I feel about the situation, proves that I was right about you Spencer Reid. You're not like most men."

Reid gazed over at her and whispered, "I love you."

Lyssa's smile widened. "I love you too Spence."

Lyssa reached across the table and placed her hand on top of his. Reid glanced briefly down at the small hand that didn't quite cover his own, larger one, and then he looked across the small table at Lyssa, his brown gaze meeting her blue one.

"So," Lyssa said casually, determined to prove to Reid that nothing had changed between them or, to be more precise, that if things had changed it was a change for the better. "How was work today?"

Reid briefly thought about the concerns of his colleague's and the talk he'd had with Gideon however he quickly decided to keep both of those things to himself. "Fairly uneventful. I gave Morgan a hard time about his date tonight."

Lyssa shook her head although she couldn't keep the smile off her face. "That wasn't very nice Spencer."

"You have no idea what he's like," Reid said, thinking about the daily torment he endured at the hands of the older agent.

"Oh I don't huh?" Lyssa said, seeming to take Reid's statement as some sort of challenge. "Let's see, he picks on you at work, asks you embarrassing questions. . . he's like the big brother you never had."

Reid opened his mouth to deny that claim however, as he thought about it a little more, he realized that was exactly what their relationship was like. In fact it reminded him a lot of the way Charlie and his older brother Don acted when they were together.

Lyssa smiled, enjoying the fact that she'd accurately read the relationship between the two profilers.

"Lyssa," Reid said after a few moments of silence during which he'd been lost in thought. "Have you ever played laser tag?"

"Can't say that I have," Lyssa replied, slightly confused by the sudden change in topic. "Why do you ask?"

"Remember the Coed Killer case that I told you about?" Reid asked.

Lyssa nodded.

"Well," Reid explained. "We were all so stressed out after that case that Morgan and one of he local FBI agent, Colby, thought we should do something to take our minds off of it. The something that they chose was laser tag and my team won, although I'm still not entirely sure how that happened. Anyway Morgan's wanted a rematch ever since and I thought, if you like to play, we could get a group together and have a match."

"That actually sounds like fun," Lyssa said, imagining the FBI profilers playing laser tag. "We should definitely do it."

Reid nodded. "What do you say to next Friday, if we're not away on a case?"

Lyssa smiled. "It's a date."

REID'S APARTMENT

LATE THAT NIGHT

When Reid arrived back at his apartment he briefly debated going to bed early for a change however, in the end, he decided to see if Charlie was on line and, as luck would have it, he was.

FBI PROFILER: Do you just stay on the computer all the time now?

MATH WHIZ: Hey Spencer! I just leave it on now so I can hear when you IM me.

FBI PROFILER: How thoughtful of you.

MATH WHIZ: I thought so. So how are things going?

FBI PROFILER: Surprisingly well actually. Too well as a matter of fact. I keep waiting for something bad to happen.

MATH WHIZ: Well that's the spirit. Honestly Spencer, you are entirely too pessimistic.

FBI PROFILER: I know but I can't help it. Past experiences have not served to promote optimism.

MATH WHIZ: I understand. So are things still good with Lyssa?

FBI PROFILER: Yes. She and I went out to dinner tonight and I told her about our little laser tag match.

MATH WHIZ: You know Don's still mad about the fact that he lost to us.

FBI PROFILER: Morgan too. That's actually how the subject came up. We were talking about Morgan acting like my big brother and that made me think about the laser tag game.

MATH WHIZ: You know, I never thought about it but he really does act like your big brother.

FBI PROFILER: Yea he kind of does. Anyway I suggested to Lyssa that we get a group together and have a match and she seemed all for it. So I'm going to see if Morgan and Garcia want to join us.

MATH WHIZ: That sounds entertaining. You'll have to let me know how that turns out.

FBI PROFILER: I will

TBC. . .

A/N- Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and let me know.