Disclaimer: I don't own any right to the tv series Criminal Minds
-I started writing this story during a clear night in the Middle East while listening to Rachmaninoff and thinking of home.
-As usual my English stumbles even though I try my best to express myself
-Reviews, comments and suggestions are really precious and useful to me, so don't be shy, leave a note! :)
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoy :)
On dinners and plans
It was a rare night of leisure for the BAU team. They had been through a very intense month spent barely hitting their own beds, rushing case after case, hunting and running, working relentlessly. It was like if someone had opened the cages and let the worst of humanity pour out of it.
The occasion that brought them in that restaurant was the publishing of Rossi's last book. It wasn't actually a big deal for the author himself, but when he shared the news with Hotch they both agreed it would have been a good idea to have the team gathered under merry circumstances for once.
Now the feeling everybody silently shared around that table was a mixture of contrasting emotions. There was the happiness of sharing a joyful moment and taking a break from unsubs, pictures of mutilated bodies and mourning families, but also a bit of uneasiness. Over the past months they had basically lived together in a forced coexistence, barely having some moments of privacy to spend on their own or with their families. It was tough sometimes; despite the not-profiling-your-team-members rule, every longer silence, every sigh was noticed and analyzed by the others. The intention behind that was to take care of each other but it ended up being a bit oppressing.
Prentiss in particular was having a hard time with that; few weeks before they investigated a series of rapes in a small town, one of the victims found out to be pregnant and decided for an interruption. Emily took her job further than required and gave her support knowing well the feeling of handling alone such an overwhelming experience. Her emotional involvement in the case had naturally arisen concern among her colleagues, especially Derek who couldn't stop keeping an eye on her. The issue for Emily wasn't just revealing her experience, but even more her sacrosanct necessity to keep some details of her life to herself without having to share each feeling, emotion or thought.
They chose an Italian restaurant as a tribute to the guest of honor; the atmosphere was lively but not too loud, cozy but not sleepy, the service was impeccable and the notes of a piano provided a pleasant and discrete soundtrack.
"So what are your plans for the weekend guys?" Penelope asked after they sat at their table while sipping some soda.
"I am far behind with some work on my properties.. I think I'll go for some smashing walls and crushing doors work out" replied Morgan in a grin of satisfaction.
"Chess tournament and Star Trek Final Fight" followed Reid "I have been out of the scene for a while now…"
"Star Trek Final Fight?" Rossi addressed the young genius "Is that a new episode of the sequel?"
"No it's a quiz relative to Star Trek, it goes on until all the participants but one are eliminated. It's really exciting actually; it can go on for days, weeks even. Every night the group meets up and heads roll" he answered dancing his hand in excitement, thumb and middle finger touching together.
Rossi raised an eyebrow making an effort to find the exciting part in Reid's plans, but unsuccessfully.
"Intoxicating.." Garcia commented "Well, I am definitely thrilled by your plans my friends.. Reid The-Galactic-Highlander and Derek The-Merciless-Renovator. Someone else wants to contribute?"
The general giggling and the arrival of the food covered both profilers' objections.
As a start, mixed antipasti composed of cheese and honey, bruschette and grilled vegetables.
"I've been promising Jack to take him to the funfair for ages now, so I'll better hurry up before he turns 18 and goes to college" the rest of the team smiled to Hotch's semi-ironic joke, knowing how hard it was to be a single parent and a dedicated profiler.
The first course: a trio of mushroom risotto; ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach; homemade pasta with zucchini, sundried tomatoes and lemon zest.
"I'll skip the book signing and go out with my boat. Me and my dog, away from profiling for a couple of days, hopefully" Rossi added with a longing smile, envisioning already himself in the calmness of nature.
The second course: - left to the bravest who still had some room left- a giant Florentine style stake served with a side of grilled eggplants, peppers and zucchini.
All the courses naturally bedewed by the generous company of the finest red wine.
"I will spend a weekend of sinful pleasure with Kevin" said Garcia with a malicious grin while stabbing a piece of meat with her fork, then pointing it to Derek "don't be jealous mon cher, during the week days I will be yours again"
"Oh, you'd better be baby girl!" he played along with her "before I get too hungry" added stealing the mouth of meat from her fork.
All the team couldn't help laughing at their naughty flirting.
And as a grand-finale, the dessert: chocolate & pears cake.
"God, I love chocolate" Emily sighed with pleasure while dipping her spoon in the hard chocolate cover and then finding the softness of the chocolate and pears filling, hoping to avoid her turn in disclosing her plans for the weekend.
"What about you?" asked Garcia, obviously not enough distracted by that chocolate gorgeousness.
"Well not much relaxing, I promised months ago to be at this fund raising my mother is organizing and I am gonna be stuck there" she lied. Then taking a spoon of that perfect contrast between bitterness and sweetness, hard and soft melting in her mouth, she smiled mischievously "at least there will be free champagne".
She had this disturbing feeling of being on a stage: 'smile, look pretty, straight your pose, suck your stomach in'. Truth was she didn't want to admit with her colleagues that beside her job, in her life there wasn't much more going on, she was sailing toward her forties, no boyfriend and no dates in schedule, no actual friends out of the BAU, no hobbies besides some reading and going to the theater sometimes. When did her life become so boring?
To conclude a round of limoncello was on the house, to reward the endurance shown by the company in getting to the end of the dinner.
Despite the tiredness and uneasiness of the beginning they spent a lovely evening, laughing and talking about all the possible topics from movies and books, to holiday destinations and embarrassing dates, and it was frankly amazing to realize that there was so much they could share besides their job. Once more proving to be a family and not just a team.
During the whole evening though Rossi had noticed something was off with Prentiss, she was shifting from her usual sharp sense of humor mocking Reid and playfully flirting with Morgan to moments of withdrawn silence.
"Did you enjoy the dinner?" He asked her when they got up from their seats.
"Yes, it was delicious! Remind me to get the card of this place before we leave" she answered excited with a big smile.
He then figured she was just tired and didn't bother about that anymore. Actually there was something that had been catching her attention since they got there, and despite her efforts in joining the company she couldn't help repeatedly staring at it.
At the end of the night they were all happily full and tired and considering the dose of alcohol they drunk and the chronic sleep deprivation accumulated overtime, they wisely decided not to drive. Rossi and Hotch took one cab, Morgan, Garcia and Reid another, Emily was at walking distance from her place so she decided to head back home on foot. As soon as they left the restaurant Emily realized she left her gloves inside and ran back to retrieve them.
"It was a lovely dinner, thanks a lot!" she smiled at the waiters while leaving, gloves in her hands this time.
She was about to cross the door when a husky raucous voice stopped her "He won't bite you if you try him"
"Excuse me?" she asked back doubting whether the comment was directed to her.
A man in his sixties, wearing a suit and a sneak smile approached her, his white teeth standing out against his dark complexion, a lively light in his eyes sided by wrinkles. She couldn't say why, but she felt instinctively attracted to him.
He got closer and pointed with his finger a dim corner behind him.
"I noticed you were looking at him many times tonight, you seemed attracted and intimidated at the same time; so I wanted to tell you that you shouldn't be scared, he's not going to hurt you if you get closer" his smile magnetic and sincere.
Emily at first looked at him with perplexity then chuckled cheerfully when she understood who, or better what, he was.