Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the words. I have way to much time on my hands. comes from being snowed in for 4 days.
Reviews are appreciated.
Confessions in The Dark:
They'd been in the field 4 days, this case was close to home, but no one had seen or heard from Alpha team. Their section chief received one call from Agent Hotchner, and he called his deputy director who in turn called the families, but that had been the only communication. Cases like these leave the team exhausted, they get little or no sleep, eat whatever they can find, that's usually junk, and drink way to much coffee.
She looked out the window into the darkness, its cold, temperatures dropping to below 0 at night and yesterday it had begun to snow, the weather men were predicting several more inches. She didn't like that he's out in this, that any of them are, he's in good shape, but not as young as the others. She knows when he gets home he'll be withdrawn. Cases involving children are the hardest for him, they've always been, but now that he has Jack and Henry calling him uncle and he's grown to care for her kids, they're even harder. He works so intensely on cases with kids, tries to solve them quickly, and knows the first 24 hours are critical.
Watching the snow coming down leaves her shivering, even though it's warm in the house, grabbing the throw off the back of her chair she wraps it around herself, looking away from the window when she hears someone come into the room.
"Mom, are you okay, you've been looking out the window for a long time?" Katie asked.
Turning to face her daughter, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just a little worried about David and his team. It's really cold, the snow is coming down hard and they're out searching for these missing kids. It's been days, I know they have to be worn out."
"Dave will be exceptionally quiet when he gets home, won't he? These cases tear him up," the young lady questioned.
"Yes they do, especially since Jessica, Daniel and you entered his life." Erin tried to smile.
"Well, mom, we'll all just have to make sure when he gets home, he knows how much he is appreciated, out there every day making it safer for us, for all kids." Katie smiled.
Erin turned back to the window, wondering how much longer they can stay out there, battling the unsub and the elements. Suddenly she feels her phone vibrate, looking at it she sees there is a text.
Erin, we have the kids, they're safe, we're coming home.-JJ
Team okay? – Erin
Yes, exhausted, wet and frozen, but ok. Dave has a black eye and broken nose. ;) – JJ
OMG, what happened? – Erin
Think I'll let him tell you. He should be there in the next hour. – JJ
Thank you, get some rest. – Erin.
True to the word, an hour after the last text, Erin heard the front door open, the sound of a bag hitting the floor and a low moan. She got up from the chair, walked into the foyer, where he stood, not moving just standing, leaning against the wall, shivering. He had tape on his nose, his left eye was purple and as he removed the coat, there was blood all over his shirt.
"Oh my God, David are you all right? What happened?" She asked moving toward him.
He saw the concern in her eyes, "I'm fine, wet and freezing, the blood isn't mine, well some of it might be, but the majority isn't."
She knew he wasn't ready to talk about it. Taking his hand she leads him up the stairs and into their bedroom, slips into the bathroom, starts the water running in the giant whirlpool tub, comes back slowly unbuttons the bloody shirt, sliding it off his shoulders, before depositing it in the garbage can, "don't think we can save that shirt." Returning to stand in front of him, she kisses the corner of his mouth, careful not to touch his nose, then stands on tip toes, placing another soft kiss on this swollen eye, running her hands down his arms and across his back, "You're freezing". She unbuckles his belt, slips the button through the hole and lowers the zipper. Kneeling she pats his right ankle, he lifts his foot and she removes the soaked shoe and sock, repeating the same action on the right. Tugging on the leg of his jeans they slip off his hip, down his legs where he steps out of them. Standing back up, Erin takes his hand again; leads him into the bathroom, where he slips out of his boxers and into the warm tub. She sets the jets to low and turns to leave.
Dave grabs her hand. "Stay, please." He shivers as the warm water hits his cold body.
"Okay, but let me go down and get you some tea, the water will warm your outside, the tea will help with the inner chill." She left, returning a few minutes later placing the mug on the edge of the tub and sitting down next to it.
Smiling Dave, motions to the water, "In here, Erin, I want you in here." She slowly undresses, steps into the warm water, sitting between his legs, leaning against his chest, she places her head on his shoulder. Dave wraps his arms around her waist, leans his head against the wall and closes his eyes, letting the warmth of the water and his lover's body begin to melt the ice and chill in his blood and bones.
Erin hears him exhale; she knows all his sounds and this is his I've had enough sigh as he pulls her even closer. She feels his body shiver, she knows it's from the last four days and he's still chilled to the bone. "Amante, are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, not really…" He whispers. She doesn't push; Erin knew Dave would talk when he's ready. Right now she just wants him to get warm and know he's loved completely. She leans over and raises the temperature on the tub, hoping the warmer water will sooth some of the chill she knows he still feels.
"Can I ask you one question?" She asks, and feels him nod. "The four days you were out there, how much of it did you spend out in the weather?"
He sighed again, "Most of the last four days I was outside. We went in a couple times a day to warm, up but Morgan and I spent most of it out looking for the kids."
"No wonder you're body is so cold. Leaning into you, I can feel the cold coming off your body. Let's get you warmed up." She raises the temp on the water again, and then runs her hands up and down his arms and legs.
"Erin, I love you and I appreciate what you're trying to do, but if I sit here any longer I'm going to look like a raisin. How about we get out of here, put on some really warm sweats, build a fire and cuddle under a blanket on the couch with some more tea, a sandwich and a good movie. I'd really like to hang with the kids if they're up to it." He said as he stood and helped her out of the tub.
She pulled the drain, grabbed a towel and headed to the bedroom. Dave pulls out his warmest sweats, grabs socks and slippers. Getting dressed he began to feel warmer. When both were dressed, they headed down stairs. "You go start a fire and I'll get us some sandwiches."
Erin's children were in the kitchen snacking when she entered. "Hi guys."
"How's Dave?" Jessie asked.
"He's okay or he will be. He hasn't said anything about the case, but he'd like to build a fire, cuddle and watch a movie." Erin said.
Before she could finish Katie said, "That's cool, Mom, we can go upstairs."
Shaking her head, "No, that's not what he wants; he wants a family movie night. You know what cases like this do to him. I think he just wants to make sure you three are okay, that his little corner of the universe is still unharmed." All three nod, "While I'm making tea, and sandwiches, why don't you go get into pajamas or sweats, then join us in the family room."
Fifteen minutes later, everyone had settled into their spots. Katie was on the loveseat, Daniel lying across the chair, Jessie was curled up on the left side of the couch, Dave in the middle and Erin cuddled as close as she could get without sitting in his lap. She pulled the heavy comforter they kept in the closet over them. Dave made sure it covered Jessie as well.
Daniel was the one who spoke, "Dave, how did you get a broken nose and black eye?"
Taking a bite of his sandwich, he looked like he wasn't going to say. "It's kind of embarrassing."
"Oh come on," the younger man urged, "we won't laugh."
"When we found the children, one of them had been beaten and stabbed by the unsub, I picked her up and carried her to a waiting ambulance, her brother, who only saw a stranger carrying his bleeding sister slugged me the minute I sat her on the gurney. Actually he got in two good punches, before Morgan pulled him off. His father had to slap him to get him to understand I wasn't the one who hurt his sister that I was FBI." Dave explained.
"Didn't you have your FBI vest on?" Katie asked.
"Sure I did, but it was under my coat, he couldn't tell I was FBI." Dave answered. "Local PD wanted me to press charges, for assault on a federal agent, but there is no way I can. He's a kid afraid someone was hurting his sister. It would have been like Dan protecting Jessie or Katie."
"How old was this kid?" Erin asked
"I don't know maybe fifteen, a big fifteen, the girl was twelve." He said. "I'm not pressing charges, not ruining his life because he's concerned for his sister."
No one laughed, everyone understood. "Good for you, Dave." Jessie said leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. As Daniel hit the play button on the DVD player to start the movie, the young girl felt Dave shiver as if he were cold, instead of returning to her end of the couch, she moved closer to him, cuddling as close as she could. Hoping that between her mother's body heat and hers he might begin to feel warm again.
Erin also felt him shiver, she wondered if there were more making him feel cold, if something happened out there that when he thought about it made him shudder. She knew not to push, maybe when they went to bed, he'd open up. He seemed to do that more and more, she wondered if he felt safer telling her the bad things in the dark when she couldn't see his face, see the pain and terror he dealt with every day. If telling her in the dark was his way of letting her in, but also shielding her for the horrors of his every day work. Sure she was also FBI, but she didn't have to deal with the awfulness day to day, especially not now that she had been promoted to deputy director. She cuddled closer, as he wrapped his arm around her. Happy he was home, safe and with her and the children.
The movie ended, Katie cleared the tray that at one time contained sandwiches and tea. Jessie had fallen asleep curled up next to Dave, not wanting to wake her, he didn't move. It was Daniel who woke the sleeping teenager, helped her up the stairs and into her room. When the children had all gone to their room Erin asked, "Are you ready to go to bed?"
"In a few minutes, can we just sit here for a while longer?" He said staring off into space.
"Sure," she said, pulling the comforter tighter around them, leaning her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes.
Neither said a word, just sat holding each other. Dave finally stood, took her hand and led them up the stairs to their room. He pulled back the covers, helped her into bed and crawled in next to her, pulling the blanket up around them both.
Erin turned on her side, reaching for him as he spooned her. She slowly ran her fingers up and down his arm, giving him comfort. She knew he would make the next move; he would initiate sex, talk or just fall asleep. Whichever he chose would be okay with her as long as he was home, in their bed, cuddling with her and safe.
He was so still, if it hadn't been for his breathing she would have thought he was asleep, she knew the difference in how he breathed when sleeping and awake.
"When we got to Arlington and briefed by the locals, Derek and I went to the dump site. It was gruesome. Then we found the third kid, and it was worse. We knew the others had to be somewhere in the area. Both dumpsites and all abduction sites were within 10 miles of each other. We checked every house, barn, cave and hole we could find. The others did their assigned jobs, but Morgan and I stayed out in the woods, searching. I knew and Derek knew we had to find those kids. Then the sub-zero temps started and the snow came. We had a whole new thing to be worried about. Not only did we have to be concerned about the unsub, but now we had to deal with the elements. We knew we needed to find them before they froze to death." He got very quiet for several seconds, "Erin, I don't think I have ever been as nervous for victims as I was those last two days. I didn't care about me, about Derek, or the team; I only cared about finding those children, and finding them alive, bringing them back to their families. I heard JJ tell Hotch, I was like a man possessed. Luckily, Morgan was as obsessed as I. Finally we caught a break. One of the unsubs got careless, they made a mistake, left a clue. Derek and I found it, and ran with it. It took us another day to find the place where they were keeping the kids. We found all eight, and they were alive. They had been beaten, no food, little water, the one girl stabbed, another raped. Who knows what would have happened if we hadn't found those clues, found where they were. I hate cases like these. Sometimes, Erin…"
She waited and when he didn't go on, "Sometimes what, David?" She asked.
"Sometimes I wonder if I should just retire again and walk away from all the horrors we see every day. Occasionally, I question if I'm not too old to do this anymore. Then we have days like today where we find the victim alive, and we know they will eventually be all right. I look back at the past few days and I know I did my job, a job I love and I did it well." He said.
Erin knew this time when he stopped talking he was finished; he had needed to talk it out, confess his heart and his head. He did that more and more when a case got to him, it was his way of working it out and letting it go. He would never forget this case, but he wouldn't let it define his mood for the next few days like he did before her and her kids. His confessions in the dark were his way of putting it all to rest at the end of the day and move on.
She rolled over, looking at him, he had his eyes closed. She didn't say anything, softly kissed him again being careful of his nose. He responded deepening the kiss and letting his hands wander over her delicious body. NOW he was initiating sex, and she would let him, she would enjoy it tremendously, she knew he would as well; he had already given his confessions in the dark.
The End!