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A/n thank you all for supporting this story. A huge shout out to my beta REIDFANATIC for all her help with this story and it's various incarnations.

Epilogue

Reid paced in front of the elevator. Why did elevators always take their sweet time when you were in a hurry he wondered. It was as if they knew you wanted to get somewhere quickly and they made it their mission to stop you in your tracks.

The door finally opened to reveal Mrs. Slater. She pushed a wire basket on wheels as she exited the car. "Oh… Hello Dr. Reid, I'm so glad you're okay." She left the basket and hugged him hard.

"Um… Thanks," he squeaked.

"How's your friend?" She asked.

"Who?" He asked, bewildered.

"That beautiful agent you were with that night." She asked.

Something that Morgan told him clicked over in his head like never before, "You're the anonymous caller to the police."

His neighbor went pink in the cheeks. "My husband didn't know about my disposable cell. He thinks cell phones are the tools of the devil or something. He gets so mad when people talk on them in supermarkets and restaurants. He wouldn't let me get a phone, so I bought it and minutes on my own. I knew if I told him, he'd try to interfere, but when I saw that man shoot your friend and drag you off, I had to help."

"I'm floored," he admitted. "You saved Emily's life. Thank you."

"I was in the right place at the right time. I'd left my pocket book in the car so I'd come down here to get it and saw everything."

"Why didn't you tell the police when they knocked on your door?"

"I did… They didn't believe me. They thought I was some nutty old woman. I think they just wanted to believe you tried to kill your friend."

"Thank you," he repeated.

"You're welcome… The police believe me now and my husband is so busy basking in second hand light he doesn't care about the phone."

Reid smiled. "Can I help you Mrs. Slater." He gestured at the basket.

"No, I need the exercise and if I haul up the laundry on my own, I may get sympathy for once from Mr. Slater." She said with a gleam in her eyes that made Reid laugh.

"Okay…" He pushed the call button for the elevator again as she pushed the cart away.

He opened the door to his apartment and stopped dead in his tracks. Emily sat on the couch, but despite her sitting there, he thought he had opened the wrong door.

His living room had been transformed into a Christmas wonderland. There was red ribbon, holly and a Christmas tree. Someone had decorated it with red and gold ornaments with white and red lights. An angel topped the tree with large golden wings and a beautiful smile on her face.

"Don't just stand there gaping." Emily said.

"How did you get in here? What did you do to my place?"

"Did you forget you gave Morgan a key two years ago after Georgia?" She reminded him.

"Oh, so this is why he made me go have a drink with him."

Emily smiled up at him as he stood there staring around the room. "Yes… He knew you wouldn't decorate so JJ, Garcia and I did this."

"Oh… Well I'm sure you have better things to do." His eyes kept straying to the picture, once kept in his room, which now sat on the coffee table.

"No, I don't have better things to do."

She patted the couch next to her. "I think you should sit down. You look terrible."

"It was a tough first day back."

"I'm sure it was. Morgan won't let me come back for another month."

"He's right!" He blurted out, and then blushed.

"Sit down."

He sat down, but as far away from her as he could get.

"I don't bite you know."

He picked at the sleeve of his dark brown corduroy coat. "I know…" He said softly.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" She picked up the picture frame.

"I - I d-didn't want…" He stopped and breathed in deep. "I didn't want to mess up our friendship. I thought, um I don't really know… I can't…"

Emily slid over on the couch and touched his hand. The silence expanded over them like a bubble. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't smiling. He turned his head to look at her face. She looked at him the same way she'd looked at him on the plane after their ordeal in Colorado. Something twisted in his chest.

"I'm sorry Emily. I shouldn't have put this out here." He pulled it from her hands and stumbled to his feet. "I - I just, um, I'll take this out of here -"

She grabbed his hand as he tried to escape her eyes. "Wait!"

Her eyes flashed up at him. "I didn't say I'm angry. Don't you see Reid? I asked Morgan to distract you. It's Christmas in two days. I wanted to give you an early gift if you want it."

He sat and she took the picture from him. "You don't need this anymore."

He stared at the image behind glass that had fueled his dreams and fantasies because this had to be a dream or fantasy. It couldn't be real because this kind of thing didn't happen to guys like him.

"Reid…"

"She did something to me one night." He started speaking very slowly. "She drugged me one night. I had this dream about you." He went scarlet in the face. "I'm sorry… It was a very inappropriate dream. I know you probably hate me, but I couldn't help it. She took off my clothes. She got into bed with me. I think her… um I think -"

She touched his hand. "I don't need to hear the rest Reid. It was her fault. She drugged you and played with your mind. She's the guilty one. You're the victim."

"You're not mad at me!" He asked incredulously.

"No… Why would I be?"

He looked down at the stack of books on his coffee table for long minutes. She waited quietly until he met her eyes again. The sense of relief in his face seemed to push back all the tension in the air like wind moves fog.

He looked at her because he couldn't keep his eyes off her face. "I'm sorry I didn't come see you in the hospital." He said abruptly. "I couldn't see you like that. I'm sorry." He repeated.

"I'm so sorry you went through days of thinking I'd been killed."

"I'm glad she's dead!" He whispered.

"I know," she repeated. "Morgan got the forensics report on Clarissa…"

"I don't want to know." Reid said softly.

"I think you do. Clarissa was murdered. She didn't kill herself."

"I don't understand."

"Morgan got word that federal agents in Phidelphia picked up Ivan Gregorevich. They found blood on his clothes, that they matched to Dr. Thompson. The CSU determined that he came back to the house, released her and then made it look like she killed herself. He admitted to all of it. He would have come after us next. He didn't want to leave any lose ends. He's on his way back to Russia for his crimes there. Even though we don't get to see him go to prison, I think I like the thought of him in a Russian Gulag for the rest of his life."

"That's the best news I've had in a long time."

Reid sat smiling shyly at her for a moment. Then she shook herself and said. "I have gift for you." She reminded him. She reached over the side of the couch and pulled gift bag into view.

"Emily…"

"Just look at it."

He opened it and pulled out a scarf, a new purple scarf. "Thank you." He stammered.

"I thought you could start over with a new scarf. Well I just thought you'd like a clean slate. If you don't like it -"

He leaned over and kissed her hesitantly. "Thank you… I really love it."

"I love you." She said.

"What?"

"I love you… I tried not to love you, but I couldn't help myself. It's been coming on for a long time. After I was shot, I had a lot of time to think. I realized that life is too short to avoid feelings."

"I'm g-glad." He stammered. "I l-love you too."

"Now what do we do?" He asked.

"I can think of several things." She waggled her eyebrows. He just stared at her in confusion.

"Oh Reid, you're so innocent." She laughed.

He got it! His cheeks went scarlet. "Um… Maybe we can start with coffee or a movie." He squeaked.

"That works for me!"

He shuffled closer to her and took her hand. "I don't know what to do now."

"One day at a time." She advised him and they both knew she meant more than their relationship.

"Yeah… One day at a time! I like that! "