DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: T - Teen
SPOILERS: Through US Aired Episodes
PAIRING: Rossi/Prentiss
WORD COUNT: 2712
SUMMARY: A long weekend gets off to a delayed start, but Dave is determined to make it right.
A/N: After seeing a photo from a Criminal Minds location shoot, I was attacked with a plot bunny. Thankfully I was able to distract until I finished the last crossover fic.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Major thanks go out to my long suffering beta. Thanks to some brain fry on my part, there was a lot more for her to catch this time around. I'll have to do much better next time.
REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.
She wasn't really tired, but the moment the tires hit the gently winding asphalt of McB4 just outside of the Quantico airstrip, Emily Prentiss' eyes drifted closed. There was just something about having someone you trust behind the wheel in the wee small hours of the morning that instantly lulled her until she was softly rocking in that comfortable space between asleep and awake.
When her ears registered the tell-tale sounds of highway concrete under the tires and then it quickly faded away, Emily stirred. They had three days off ahead of them and Emily naturally assumed Dave would hit I-95 back to the city. But as they continued on down Russell Road, she perked up and watched from the window as they passed the first turnoff for the USMC Quantico base.
She turned back to Dave and asked, "Um, Dave?"
"Yeah," was his casual reply.
"Are you okay to drive?" She was checking to make sure he had not gotten them lost.
"Perfectly fine, why?" His eyes never left the road as they sailed down the USMC Truck Highway route on Russell Road.
"Well, because I'm pretty sure neither of our places is going to be this way." Emily let a little of her trademark sarcasm into her attempt at concern.
"Then I guess it's a good thing we aren't headed home, isn't it?" And there it was. Dave's careful little smirk turned the corner of his mouth and Emily relaxed. He was obviously up to something, and she had long since learned to just go with the flow when that happened. When Dave was up to something, it was easier that way, and the rewards were always worth it.
Emily just smiled and snuggled back down in her seat. "Well, all right then." She was just as capable of playing coy as he was, and his amused chuckle confirmed it.
She was just about to really nod off when she felt the road get a little rough. Not like a dirt road, but like riding over railroad tracks and pot holes rough. And it was a rough she immediately recognized. Sitting up in her seat and looking around, her suspicions were confirmed as her eyes found the familiar little chef statue standing silently outside the door of the bakery as Dave pulled up out front. They were at Harry O's Bakery in the town of Quantico.
Emily enjoyed their coffee, but what she really loved were all the amazing pastries and breads that could be found at Harry O's. Dawn had not reared its head yet, but Fred, the owner, always had the place open by five during the week to help out the Marines living off-base. Dave just put the car in park and smiled at her before stepping out.
Leaning down, he asked, "The usual?"
She glanced at her watch and it was as early as she thought. "Dave, it's only four thirty."
He quickly shrugged it off. "I called ahead. Coffee and chocolate croissant?" When he laughed and shook his head, Emily realized her interest in the prospect was probably painted on her face. "Okay, I'll be back in a flash."
Before he could reach the door, she opened the window and called out. "Grab a couple bagels, too, please?"
"Yes, Ma'am." He gave her a mock salute as he pulled open the bakery door on a smiling Fred and followed the affable baker inside.
She chuckled at his playful demeanor. Their last case had been another awful demonstration of the depravity of man. Emily often wondered how they could walk away from the job and still retain their sanity. But there was actually a benefit from their work beyond the punishment for the guilty. Seeing the worst humanity had to offer made her appreciate the best of it so much more. She found hope in seeing Hotch and Jack making their way together. She found laughter in Morgan and Reid trying to out prank each other in the bullpen. She saw the future in Henry's sparkling eyes every time he learned a new skill, and the pure joy shining in J.J.'s whenever she talked about her cherubic little boy.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Dave opened the rear door to drop a rather large bag into the back. "Good grief, Dave. What did you get?"
"Oh, just some bread and cheese. Fred put some stuff together for me for later. And he apologizes, but…" Dave paused in his climb back into the driver's seat to hand her the coffee tray. "He didn't have any chocolate croissants ready for you, and he hopes you will enjoy these…" He reached into the back and pulled out a small box to hand to her.
Emily set the coffee down on her knees and carefully opened the box to discover, "Chocolate Brioche? Oh my God! I haven't had this since Mother was assigned to Paris."
"And all is forgiven with nothing more than a chocolate French pastry." Pulling away from the curb with his amused laughter filling her ears Emily was reminded of the other thing she was keenly aware of thanks to their work. Through Dave, Emily was re-learning everything about love and all its forms and gifts.
She was thoroughly enjoying the brioche and coffee as they slowly made their way through the tiny hamlet of Quantico. The town itself was small and poorly maintained. At best, it was a factory town. Except the product coming out of Quantico was Marines. The base and all that surrounded it were the only things that got any real attention in the county. The FBI campus was a self-sustaining unit within the greater complex.
When Dave pulled the car into the municipal marina parking lot Emily began to wonder exactly what he was up to again. Without a word he opened the door and stepped out as he activated the trunk release. Looking around in confusion once more, Emily tried to make out what was happening. When Dave opened the back door to retrieve the bag from the bakery, he poked his head in to ask her, "Are you coming, or just staying in the car all weekend?"
"Coming where?" She quickly gathered herself together and stepped out of the car. Talking over the roof she asked, "Where are we going?"
"The wine auction, of course." He answered nonchalantly and walked to the back of the car again.
She followed his path with incredulity. "But we missed our flight to Norfolk because of the case, I haven't even packed anything, and my go bag is filled with dirty work clothes. I can't go to a fancy wine auction with dirty work cloth-" She was stopped dead at the sight of her pilot case sitting on the ground next the trunk. "What's in there?"
"The clothes you've left at my place recently. Laundered, folded and packed in the pilot case I swiped from your place to get my clothes back home." He lifted the handle and tilted the case to her. "I'm sure you can find something in there that will be suitable for this weekend."
She took the handle and looked on as Dave began to roll his own case toward the marina. "But how'd you know we'd miss the flight?"
Calling back over his shoulder without stopping, he simply said, "Because we never finish a case on time when I plan a trip, and this is not something I was willing to miss."
It suddenly dawned on Emily that she better hurry up or Dave was liable to leave her standing by the car. She took a firm hold of her case and quick timed it up to Dave just as he walked out onto the dock.
The sun was just beginning to light the landscape around them and the rhythmic knocking of their rollers trundling over the planks of the well-used dock provided an additional soundtrack to the seabirds and lapping waves. Once again Emily tried to find out what was going on. "How long will it take by boat?"
Dave furrowed his brow and replied, "What boat?"
"Well, we are in a marina, Dave. And we'll need to get to Virginia Beach somehow if we're going to that wine auction." Emily shared her deductive reasoning with Dave.
"Not on a boat, we're not." He stopped and checked his watch before adding, "I want to enjoy the weekend, not start it by puking my guts out from all the chop on the water. Plus it would be way too cold to take a charter boat in November."
"All right, then what are we doing at the marina?" Emily was thoroughly confused and not for the first time.
He seemed not to hear her, as his attention was elsewhere. But when they both heard the approach of a single engine plane, he looked at his watch again and smiled. Just as he looked up into her face, the seaplane skipped across the water barely fifty yards from the end of the dock, and came to a gentle glide before slowly chugging over to the outermost birth. "Waiting for that," Dave said with a smug and satisfied look on his face.
Once the capacity of speech returned to her, Emily exclaimed, "Dave… Tell me you didn't charter a plane just to so you wouldn't miss a silly wine auction?"
He instantly scoffed at her question. "Don't be ridiculous." He grabbed her case and strapped it to his as he explained, "First of all, the Nineteenth Annual Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Grand Auction is a fantastic charity event benefitting the schools in the area, not some silly wine auction."
She rolled her eyes at his assertion, because she knew these things were really just a place for people with too much money and free time to network and play while they drink over-priced wine. But the next words out of his mouth nearly knocked her over. "And besides, it's silly for you to have gone through all that training for your Single Engine Sea rating and not take the final test flight."
"How… How did…" She stammered through the words as Dave stepped away from her. Shaking the fog away in her head, she rushed to his side and took his arm to stop him. "How the hell did you find out about that?"
Dave only smiled with that knowing half smirk of his and said, "Ah, would you believe a little birdie told me?" Her determined scowl answered that question in a hurry. "I guess not." He let go of the bags and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. "You really are adorable when you're being indignant, but it's no great mystery, my love. Your father and I were talking when he was in town last month and he asked if you'd taken me flying yet." Her cheeks were instantly hot with embarrassment at Dave's confession. "Until then, I didn't even know you had a pilot's license. Why isn't that in your profile?"
"Well, I um, well, I-" She never understood why it happened, but being reduced to a stammering idiot seemed to be her defense mechanism every time she was caught in a personal trap. It never happened on the job, but Dave seemed to be especially good at triggering it when they were alone. She took a deep breath and gathered her wits again. "It was just something I did with my father. Something I could do to spend time with him, something we could share…something to make him proud of me." She looked down at the ground with her final admission.
She felt Dave push the hair away from her face and then his warm, thick fingers laid across the back of her neck. "Honey, if that man was any prouder of you he'd be walking two steps behind you with pompoms and a banner in his hands." Emily looked up into Dave's eyes and saw the truth of his words shining back at her. "Or, you know, he could be me." His careful wink brought the corner of her mouth up into the beginning of a smile. "But I don't do pompoms." And with that single mental image, all the tension was gone and they both laughed.
Dave brushed her hair away once more, and then gestured for her to follow him to the dock. "So, I bribed Hap by pulling some strings to get him a flight with the Blue Angels this weekend. He's going to give you a refresher course on the way down. And then he'll give you the test on the way back Sunday."
Emily quick stepped to keep up with Dave. He was genuinely excited about this trip and flying with her, but the butterflies in her stomach were just starting to take flight. "Dave, this is really sweet and everything, but maybe we should just let Hap fly and call it good."
"What are you talking about?" He reached out, taking her hand in his free one and squeezed it tight. "You've only got a few more hours left to this rating, and I am not about to let you throw that away."
She stopped walking and forced him to either let go or stop as well. "Dave…"
"Don't 'Dave' me. I listened to your father talk about the way you got when you were flying. How it lifted you out of whatever was bothering you, how free and happy you got as soon as there was nothing between you and the earth but air." He took both of her hands in his and held them to his chest. "And if I can do something to give you that feeling, just once, I want to do it. For you." She flattened her palms against his chest and choked on the emotion welling up in her throat. "For both of us…please?"
Speech was failing her again, so, instead of stammering through another string of incomprehensible words, she nodded her head before wrapping her arms around Dave and burying her face in the soft, heavy collar of his shirt.
The whole weekend was incredible. The flying, the auction, the rental house on the water, it was all perfect. For the whole weekend there was nothing between her and the earth but air. She may have started flying to be closer to her father, but she never imagined all the rewards it would bring her over the course of her life. It was through the magic of flight that Emily Prentiss finally understood the meaning and value of love.
Standing beside Hap's seaplane, with Dave's arm draped comfortably over her shoulder, they waited for the team's lead pilot to snap a "graduation" photo. Even with their feet planted firmly on the dock, Emily still felt like she was floating three feet off the ground. Emboldened by the feeling, she pulled Dave's hip into hers with the hand around his back. When he looked into her eyes, she said, "How much would we have to bribe Hap to leave him behind and take the seaplane back out…by ourselves?"
"I don't know… It might take a lot, since we'd be abandoning him in Quantico." Dave seemed to enjoy the playful suggestion, but he was not biting yet.
Emily shrugged, "Toss him the car keys. We'll be back before dark." His furrowed brow told her he was not convinced. "This weekend has been so amazing, and I just want to make it last a little longer." He still was not biting, and that was when Emily went for broke. She leaned in to his ear and whispered, "I'll make it worth your while," as she squeezed his butt. The catch in his breath told her he was coming around. Besides, it's only a few more hours."
Without anymore hesitation, Dave reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and keys. "Hap!" He tossed them both at the pilot and shouted, "Car's in the lot, lunch is on me, we'll be back before dark."
They climbed back into the craft just as the pump jockey was finishing up the fueling. As Dave prepared to seal up the door, Hap shook his head and called back, "You owe me, Rossi…a lot more than lunch, old buddy."