Well, this thing came to me completely out of left field. I'm writing a criminal minds story called "Different Realities" and as I always do when I write a story I read a lot of stories published on the ffnet - kinda like checking out the competition…

Anyway, as I was browsing through stories I noticed that there weren't a lot of Derek/Emily stories out there… and then all this just came to my head and I decided to fill the void. I like these two characters and their interaction and I like the fact that not many people put these two together in a story as a couple.

So here it is… it's a bit long but I hope you won't mind. Please read and review - I would really like to know what you think.

Oh and I don't own them or anything but if I promise not to brake them can I play with them for a while? Pretty please?


It started out like any other shitty evening. The case they worked on in Florida went bad - two fifteen year old girls died and they couldn't do anything to help them. When they got back to Washington that night, none of them were too keen on starting up with the paperwork, and decided going out and drowning their sorrows and frustration in alcohol was exactly what the doctor ordered.

JJ, Garcia, Emily and him ended up in a small bar just a few blocks away from the office and for the next few hours there was little conversation and lots of drinking. He didn't really notice when Garcia and JJ called it a night and stumbled out to get a taxi and then it was just him and Emily getting more a more drunk by the minute.

Somehow they ended up in his place after the bar finally closed and the manager kicked them out.

Then there was a flurry of lips touching lips and skin, cloths being shed in a heap on the floor… When they finally stumbled into bed it was rough and fast and demanding. A tangle of limbs thrusting and pulling, hungrily trying to devour each other in order to keep the demons of the day away.

When he woke up the next morning she was already gone.

He made a decision to talk to her as soon as possible. The dynamic of the team was such that he and Emily were almost always paired off together. It was like an unspoken mode of operations - JJ and Reid, Hotch and Gideon and him with Emily. If they were going to keep working together, they had to resolve this.

They were both adults, he rationalized as he took a shower, they could handle this like adults. He even practiced what he was gonna say as he drank his morning coffee in the kitchen and put a bowl of food for Cloony.

Only, by the time he got to the office he was already late, and less then two minutes after walking through the doors Hotch called them all into the conference room for a briefing. After half an hour of theorizing and tossing ideas around the round table they were given 30 minutes to prepare before the plain left, which didn't leave a lot of time, and after that they were all sitting in the cabin of the jet and he didn't really think discussing the events of the previous night in front of Hotch and Gideon was the best way to make things simpler.

He did sneak a few glances her way throughout the morning, trying to gouge her reaction. She seemed fine, he heard her tell JJ something about a headache but given all they had to drink last night… well, hangovers are a bitch.

Then there were crime scenes to go over and meetings with the local police officers and it seemed like they weren't left alone for even a second. They worked side by side with the rest of the team and to his relief nothing seemed out of the ordinary or out of sync. They talked about the case, they tossed around ideas, they even joked a few times.

It was only in the evening, when they were finally given the order by Gideon to go back to the hotel and get some rest that he finally got his chance.

He went down the hallway and softly knocked on her door. He hear her yell that it was open and let himself in finding her sitting crossed legged on the bed with the current file spread out before her.

"I thought we were supposed to be getting some rest" He leaned against the small table right beside the bed and smiled at her deciding to start the conversation on a light note.

She lifted her head and smiled back at him "I was about to turn in, just wanted to go over it all one more time…"

"Listen Emily… about last night…"

"Derek don't…" She cut him off before he could say anything more and there was a soft smile on her lips that he sensed was a good sign "You don't have to give me 'the talk'. We were drunk, we were acting on instinct and most importantly we were both there…" She got up from the bed and came to stand next to him, mimicking his pose and leaning against the table.

"So we're ok?" He had to make sure

"I'm a big girl Derek, we spent the night together, it was nice, we both enjoyed it right?" she looked at him sideways through lowered lashes.

"Yeah…" He smiled at her, finally beginning to really feel at ease about the whole situation.

"So let's not make it any more complicated than that" she nudged his shoulder and smiled and let out a soft chuckle before nodding his head in agreement.

She got up and walked him to the door and he placed his and on her shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze before bidding her good night and letting her close the door behind him.

And there it was. A one night thing that only they knew about, an understanding reached between two consenting adults - and everything was supposed to go back to normal.

Only they didn't.

Things changed.

But in a different way than he'd expected.

Suddenly there was this intimacy between them. They talked more, about mundane things, about the job, about their personal lives, shared their feelings and thoughts about the things they've seen. There were looks and jokes that were exchanged between them that no one else was privy to. Sometimes when they passed a document or a crime scene photo their fingers would touch and they would smile at each other. They teased each other a lot; they made small gestures that were becoming like second nature like bringing each other coffee or helping the other finish off their paperwork late at night.

Then they had another bad case.

Young women were being kidnapped and held by an unusually vicious UNSUB, one managed to get away from the brutal torture and Emily was sent to the hospital to interview her. She sat by the young woman's bed for hours and held her hand only to watch her eventually die from her wounds. She tried to keep a professional façade but he could see that it truly affected her.

Later that night he was getting ready for bed in his hotel room when there was a knock on his door. He opened it without bothering to throw on a shirt and found Emily there, looking uncomfortable and de-shelved, he noted that her make-up was smeared and it appeared like she had been crying.

Without a word he pulled her into the room and guided her to take a seat on the edge of his bed. He left her for a moment and went to the bathroom to retrieve a wet wash cloth then gently wiped her cheeks.

"Emily, talk to me babe…" He said gently, rubbing lazy circles on her back to encourage her to talk.

It took several minutes of her just sitting there, staring into space and keeping silent before it finally happened. She took a deep shaky breath and suddenly everything came rushing out.

"I'm sorry…I just had to talk to someone… I know I shouldn't let this get to me, I thought I could compartmentalize better, that I could shield myself someway and not feel… not feel like this…"

"Em, you're human" He said softly "You sat by that woman's side, you talked to her, you got to know her, you watched her die… that kind of thing would get to anyone…"

She nodded and the two of them kept sitting together, sharing a comfortable silence, until he could feel her relax by his side. She took another deep breath, this one more stable, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Her hair was soft against his neck and he could smell her scent when he breathed in. She placed her hand on his chest and the simple touch sent shivers down his spine and he pulled her tighter to him.

She lifted her head and looked at him and a moment later their lips met in a kiss that started out simple and sweet but soon turned more passionate and demanding. She leaned back and pulled him with her without breaking the kiss. He broke the contact for a second and looked right into her eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" His voice was husky

She nodded and reached for him again and this time he could resist anymore. His hands moved to her waist and snaked under her blouse while she reached for his belt. Soon, they were both naked and he was lying on top of her. He took a moment to admire her body something he was way to drunk to do the previous time. She was beautiful, ivory soft skin and long limbs with legs that wouldn't end and curves in all the right places. He cupped her breast and kissed her neck and she moaned and arched her back in response. He kept trailing kisses until he reached a nipple and took it in his mouth and she racked her fingernails up his back.

He came back up and kissed her again, exploring her mouth with hunger he didn't know he was feeling then took both her hands and pulled them above her head. He entered her with one slow thrust and smiled as he saw her eyes flutter closed. They started moving in unison, touching each other in all the right places, kissing and licking and groping and gradually picking up the pace until finally he could feel her tremble around him and arch her back, throwing her head back as she went over the edge. A few more seconds and he fell over the edge after her with a deep groan and collapsed beside her on the bed.

She took a deep breath and he was almost sure he heard her utter a 'Wow' which made him chuckle and put his arm around her to pull her closer. She placed an arm across his chest and her head on his shoulder and he pulled the blanket around them.

And for about half an hour the two of them just lay there – sated and content.

"I should probably go back to my room" She finally whispered even though he could tell by her voice that she was already starting to doze off. He was spent himself, perfectly numb, his limbs heavy and languid.

She gave his shoulder another kiss before slowly moving and sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling on her cloths. She turned to him one more time and smiled softly before getting up and he smiled in return reaching up and lifting himself to grab the back of her head and give her a long passionate kiss.

Next thing he heard the door click shut behind her as he collapsed back on the bed. Sleep came fast and heavy that night and he felt more rejuvenated the next day than he had felt in years.

That's when it really started. They'd reach out for each other when ever a case went wrong or when either one of them felt bad or depressed and needed some release.

True to their word - they never discussed it, never showed the other team members any sign as to what was going on. The intimacy was still there - they kept talking, making jokes, making the little gestures. He kept telling himself that they shouldn't be doing this, that at one point or another it would start interfering with the job, but every time the opportunity presented itself he just couldn't help himself from being drawn back to her. The sex itself was amazing, and it just kept getting better every time they slept together.

About two months into it, she spent the night in his apartment for the first time. It was a Friday and they didn't have to go to work the next day so he made breakfast and they talked while they sat at the kitchen table and fed Cloony errand pieces of bacon.

The whole thing was simple, uncomplicated, the kind of no-strings-attached relationship that every warm blooded man always dreams about. Which is why, he surprised even himself when one night, when they were both lying in her bed bathed in sweet sweat after spending the last three hours having sex, he heard himself asking her what they were doing.

She lifted her head from his chest and looked at him with a quizzical look "What do you mean?"

"I mean this" He gestured between them "You and me. What's happening between us… Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining" That earned him a chuckle from her.

"I don't know…" she finally answered "Do we really need a definition?"

He shook his head and she rested her head back on his chest as he caressed her bare back until they both fell asleep.


A/N I'm thinking of maybe writing another chapter to this, from Emily's point of view tell me what you think…