Just a quick one-shot of Dave realizing that the woman of his dreams will remain just that unless he finds a way to win her heart in a new and unique way. And leave it to Dave Rossi to not just win Em's heart in a new and unique way, but to go above and beyond the call of duty. But then again, he is after all a Marine.
Song prompt: "Killing Me With Twilight" by Will Champlin and Michael Caruso. Please check out these wonderful artists on Reverbnation, Facebook and YouTube.
I don't own Criminal Minds.
Killing Me With Twilight
Emily Prentiss had a new obsession: Vampires. As if she didn't get enough of blood, guts, and gore during her working hours, she had to fill up her free time losing herself in the majestic fantasy world of Vampires, lust, and dark unrequited love that grew in the cover of darkness but didn't stand a chance when brought out into the light.
Kind of like what he was experiencing. Three years of working next to her, side by side, in the good, the bad, and sometimes the truly unbelievable, had made him realize that she was more than a one in million woman- Emily Prentiss was a once in a lifetime woman. And he wanted her.
But she didn't want him. She had made it clear on more than one occasion that she had no interest in dating the legendary FBI Lothario. Not that she would have been able to if somehow over night she had a change of heart. He could blame that FBI "No Fraternization Policy" that he help set in place. How many times had he kicked himself? More times that he could count. But he did have a logical excuse: he didn't know a woman like Emily would be walking thru the door.
Now she had and he saw everything he ever wanted in her: strength, power, defiance, loyalty, a steel back-bone, and…loyalty. Okay, he said loyalty twice, but in his book, next to honesty, loyalty was a powerful and respected trait to possess. He couldn't have made a more perfect woman if he tried; he wouldn't change one thing about her. On second thought, yes he would change one thing- her attitude toward him.
Rules were meant to be broken. Who would know better than he? He had more counseling sheets in his personal record than he had accolades. It wasn't that he hated rules…he hated the hypocrisy that they stood for. Rules were set to keep the little man in line while the fat cat in charge did the exact opposite and flaunted it in front of everyone. His policy was that if it was good enough for the goose, then hell, the gander should be allowed to have it all.
But when it came to Emily, he had done everything he could think of to get her attention….short of being shot. Okay, that bullet that whizzed by his head HAD gotten her attention but not in the way he expected. She had cornered him at the hospital after he had been put thru the routine x-rays and exams, and told him that she didn't care if he was a senior agent- if he ever caused her heart to stop again, she was going to make him wish the bullet connected.
It had been on the tip of his tongue to let loose on her. How dare she read him the riot act when it came to the apprehension of UNSUBs? He literally wrote the book on it when she was still in junior high. As he went to remark about her position on the team, he noticed something in her eyes: tears of relief. Her lips may have been saying one thing, but her eyes were saying something entirely different.
He couldn't reach out and hug her- even he wasn't that stupid- so replied that he understood where she was coming from and that if he ever did that again, she had his permission to finish him off. Glaring defiantly, she spun on her heel and left him alone in the exam cubicle.
The way she confronted him kept him awake for many nights. He wanted her. He needed her. And slowly but surely, he was falling in love with her. Madly, head over heels, truly in love the likes of which he had never experienced. But how to get to her?
Flowers? Candy? Romantic dinners? Nothing he decided on really looked that good when he took it out and examined it. She was too smart to fall for the trite things. She was unique and the way into her heart had to be just as unique.
As he wracked his brain for a solution, it fell into his lap from the heavens one day as the team was coming back from a case. It had been a joint American/Canadian effort to stop a brutal killer who was running a sex slave trade over the border. Once the rules with the Calgary law enforcement officers were established, the investigation went into high gear. Two days later the UNSUB lay dead and two dozen women were saved. Not exactly the outcome they had expected, but the best one when it was revealed the level of torture the woman had endured.
Exhausted beyond words, he lay on one of the settees and tried to get some rest. The case had drained him more than even he would care to admit…although it would make a great book. But first he wanted to get the images of that room out of his brain before he tried to put it into words.
As he started to drift off, he heard Morgan and Prentiss arguing in the background.
"It's a great book!" Prentiss remarked.
"I'm sure it is, but I'm not going to read it," Morgan replied.
"Why not?"
"It's creepy. Vampires and werewolves killing each other and falling in love."
"I think it's romantic that a dead life-form could still feel that 'something' for a human."
"Dead is dead princess. And when you start drinking the living's blood…well, even the logical part of me can't wrap my brain around that no matter how good the writer is."
Prentiss sighed. "You do realize the woman who wrote this did so because of a dream, right?"
"Ha! Right there that should tell you that sometimes you should leave your dreams in the bed."
"I think you're afraid that if you read it, you might like it."
Morgan chuckled. "That won't happen. And don't even think you are going to drag me to see the movie."
"Oh, but I bet you went and saw the new Stallone movie."
"Of course. That didn't have vampires drinking each other's blood."
"No…just lots of shooting, killing, fighting…"
"Don't forget explosions," Morgan injected.
"Blood is blood."
"No, shooting and explosions causing blood loss is entirely different than a dead, glassy eyed vampire draining the blood out."
"But he's a good guy!"
"Vampires are bad. Vampires are dead UNSUBs still wreaking havoc in the fantasy world. No sir, you can keep your romantic vampires finding true love in hell, but I'll keep my action movies."
"Wimp," Em teased.
"Maybe so, but I have enough nightmares over real life without feeding my imagination with fiction."
"Well, I don't care if he's dead, undead, a vampire, or what…if a man came to me and did that one thing to show me how much he cared, I would be his in a heartbeat."
"Princess, vampires don't have heartbeats."
"Smart remarks like that will ensure you won't have a heartbeat by the time this plane lands."
"I'm not afraid of you."
"I'll drag you to go see the movie. And I'll get PG to help."
Morgan groaned overdramatically. "Okay. I give. But where are you going to find a man dead or undead, for that matter, who can do the one thing to let you know how much he cares?"
"Thank God for fiction," was Prentiss's simple reply.
Lying on the seat, listening to the woman of his dreams playfully tease their co-worker, a plan formed.
****
Pulling on his sports coat as he walked to the elevator, Dave stopped by Emily's desk.
"Care to get a drink?"
Standing up, Emily grabbed her purse and threw her phone, blackberry and badge inside. "Thanks but not tonight."
"You will never go out with me, will you?"
"Rossi, it's not like that. I…just don't feel comfortable dating co-workers."
"I know; my reputation precedes me." There was a tinge of defeat in his tone. "I'm used to it."
"Rossi…" Em started. But what could she say? You gave the term horn dog a whole new definition?
"I get it. I just wish I could have been the one to do that one thing to let you know…." He trailed off. Looking around her desk, he nodded toward the corner. "Don't forget that." Then he walked off.
"What?" Em watched him leave then turned to the desk. There in the corner was an object adorned in beautiful silver and purple wrapping paper, topped with an expensive silver bow. Taking it in her hands, she pulled the paper apart. Slowly she opened it to reveal a book.
Blinking twice, she looked at the title and author. A new Twilight book? That was impossible; the new release wasn't until December. It was only September. What in the world? Her brain tried to understand what was happening, but nothing made sense.
Opening the cover, she looked for a clue, anything to indicate that it wasn't a dream in her hands. Turning the first page, her eyes fell on handwritten script.
To Emily, Thank you for being a fan. Dave said you loved my books and couldn't wait for the next one. I hope this tides you over until the next movie. With love and blessings always. Stephenie Meyer.
Feeling as though the air had been sucked out of her lungs, Em looked at the book again and then toward the elevator. He was gone! Grabbing her purse and book, she ran for the lift. Pressing the button twice, she gave up and headed toward the stairwell. Never had she ran down seven flights of stairs so fast in her life.
Hitting the door to the parking area, she scanned the open space for any sign of Dave. Nothing. Looking at the book again, she decided to head to her car. To her surprise, there stood Dave. With a Cheshire smile on his face, of course.
"I take it you liked your present."
Em tried to catch her breath. "I don't know what to say. How did you…? I mean…that's…I don't know what to say."
"Thank you would be nice," Dave prompted and shoved his hands into the pockets of his sports coat.
"Thank you." Em tried to meet his eyes and failed. "But how? This book isn't due for three more months."
"My editor knows Stephenie's editor. And we met at the book club Christmas party in 2007. We speak occasionally. Any way, I over heard what you told Morgan and I know that you would never go out with me because you want to think I'm still like the randy bastard of old. I wanted to change your mind."
"You sure do know how to get your point across."
"Does that mean you will go out with me?"
"For a drink?"
"A drink. A meal. A Twilight movie. Whatever."
Em looked at the book again. "I think with what you did, you managed to earn rights to all of the above."
"Even the whatever?" Dave's eyes danced with mischief. He moved closer to Em.
"More than anything the 'whatever' tops the list." Em felt her heart pick up its pace.
"Even if my idea of 'whatever' is kissing you right here in the parking lot in front of God and everyone?" Dave reached out and cupped her cheek.
"What is it about writers? All of them are all words and no action…" Her words were cut off by Dave's mouth closing over hers. Caught by surprise she tried to return his kiss, but gave up. The rumours about him were beyond true…Dave was a heavenly kisser. As his tongue mated with hers, she wondered if he was this good at kissing… Em, it's the first date for crying out loud!
Pulling away, she tried to catch her breath. "Wow!" she breathed.
"Wow is an understatement."
"Umm…if you want, I have wine at my place and we can order in. Plus I have Twilight on DVD." Em bit her lower lip. "And then we can continue with whatever."
"Whatever works for me."
"Chinese?"
"Anything that tastes good after growing cold in the fridge sounds good to me."
Em bit her lip and tried to contain a smile. "Okay. But can I try that 'whatever' one more time?"
"My pleasure." Dave remarked and kissed her again for good measure in front of God and the FBI building.
The End