AN: JenJen and Sebby have now ganged up on me. I don't think I'm going to finish this tonight (Tuesday) but I will get it (and likely the Epilogue) up tomorrow. I'm hoping inspiration strikes me again for this pairing because I totally love it.
MN: FINALLY! My turn! This is the stuff that I love! Fluff city!
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Emily slammed her car door harder than was necessary. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she walked toward her building, still fuming over her conversation with Clyde an hour ago.
"You're out of control, Emily."
She had pushed past him to close her office door. "What are you talking about? These guys are better than making stupid mistakes. They deserved to be reprimanded. We almost lost our suspect because they didn't check their emails or bother to give the locals mine!"
"They screwed up. I know. But you tore them both new ones in front of thirty members of various law enforcement agencies. Your emotions are affecting your judgment. Finish your report and go home. Take tomorrow and the weekend. Get your head straight. We can talk Monday morning."
That had been the end of the conversation. Now, as she climbed the stairs to her flat, she wondered if she even wanted to go back. Clyde had been right. She was out of control. Mentally and emotionally. Her judgment was clouded by her feelings. By what had happened in DC.
She unlocked her door and stepped in and immediately bristled. Her hall light was on. She distinctly remembered turning it off on her way out that morning. She set her bag down gently and drew her Glock, leveling it as she moved into the apartment. She quickly cleared both the living room and the kitchen before moving into the hall.
The bathroom door was open, making the room simple to assess. It too was empty. Her bedroom door was mostly closed. She took a calming breath then nudged the door with her foot sweeping both her eyes and her weapon as it swung open.
When her eyes landed on her bed she nearly dropped the gun in surprise. It only took a moment for her to recover, her surprise replaced with irritation. "What the hell? I almost shot you!"
David Rossi grinned at her in response. "You're too good for that. Your mind works too fast."
She holstered her gun and leaned against the doorframe. "What are you doing here?"
He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, disturbing Sergio who had been sleeping next to him. "I think we need to have a conversation."
"They make these things called phones. Wonderful things really. Capable of letting you talk to someone on the other side of the planet. Or there's a marvelous invention called the internet. With that you can even see someone." She knew her words were sharp, but he had no right to invade her space. She was trying to clear her mind of him and now he was here, relaxing in her bed.
She turned and walked back through the flat, returning to the still open door and closing it, clicking the lock into place. Her routine had been disturbed and she completed it now. She dropped her keys in the dish on the sideboard, set her holster next to it, and shrugged out of her jacket. She hung the coat on the hook next to the door and walked into the kitchen.
Sergio wound himself around her ankles and meowed lightly. "Sorry buddy, it's not dinner time yet. I'm just early."
"And why, exactly, are you early?" He had, apparently, followed her.
She started a pot of coffee. With the case she'd been working, she hadn't gotten to have any that morning and now, just after lunchtime, she was starting to feel the headache setting in. "Why does it matter?"
She moved to exit the kitchen but he shifted in the doorway, blocking her in. "You're home at 1pm on a Thursday afternoon. You always leave your go bag in the office during the week, but you brought yours home, indicating you won't be going in tomorrow. And five minutes before you got here, the landline rang and Clyde left you a message telling you to think about what he said. My guess is you and I are in the same boat."
"What are you talking about?" She was getting aggravated and made sure the emotion came through in her voice.
"You lasted longer than I did. Hotch kicked me out of the BAU yesterday morning. Threatened to send me to the bureau shrink if I didn't go quietly."
Aggravation gave way to complete frustration and she shifted into his personal space, narrowing her eyes at him. "Why are you in my apartment? Why are you in London? And what the hell are you talking about?"
His eyes met hers, returning her stare. "You really don't get it, do you?"
"Get what?"
He simply stared at her for a minute before he grabbed her, hauling her body against his and bringing his mouth crushing down on hers. He kissed her senseless. By the time he pulled back her lungs were burning from oxygen and she was even more confused than she had been before.
As he pressed his forehead against hers, she struggled to even out her breathing. "I still don't get it. You came all the way to London to kiss me?"
She felt him shake his head before he pulled back. She opened her eyes to meet him and was startled by the depth of the emotions she saw swirling there. "No. I came all the way to London to tell you that I need you in my life, Emily."
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"You're absolutely sure about this?" Leave it to Rossi to question her actions even when he was getting exactly what he wanted.
Emily crossed the living room and sat in his lap. She made sure he was staring directly into her eyes before she answered. "I'm sure. It gives me the best of every world. I get to be a liaison between Interpol and various LEOs in DC. I get to consult with the BAU. And, most importantly, I get to be with you and the team."
"I just want to be sure that you're doing this because it's what you want. I want you to be happy, Emily. And, if you leave again, it will kill me." He wrapped his arms around her hips tightly, possessively.
The look in his eyes left her with no doubt that he was serious. Which was good, because she was pretty sure that leaving again would kill her too. "I'm very sure, Dave."
He still looked unsettled, and she couldn't blame him. She had found him in her bedroom less than a full day ago and she generally didn't make life altering decisions this quickly. "And Clyde is okay with this?"
Emily nodded. "It was his idea, actually. Apparently he had a long chat with our favorite Unit Chief and they worked out this little plan together. By Monday the Interpol paperwork will be filed. They work faster than the Bureau. I could be home within a few weeks. By the time I get settled, the FBI paperwork that Hotch has already started should have gone through to allow me to consult for the team."
His lips twitched into his signature half smile. "Remind me to send Clyde a bottle of Scotch. A really nice one. And do Aaron's paperwork for a month."
A smile spread on her own face and she laughed lightly. "I don't know about a month. I would like to actually get to see you if I'm coming home."
The smile disappeared from his face and his eyebrows knitted. "When you do come home, are you going to find an apartment, or would you stay with me?"
Emily chewed her lip. "I don't know. This is a lot at once. I guess I feel like we may need to work up to it."
They sat in silence for a moment before his smile returned. "You could stay at the condo for a while and I'll stay at the Cabin when I'm in town. It would give us time to figure things out."
As always, his smile was contagious. "Sounds good. Speaking of time, how much do we have? Before you have to go back, I mean."
Rossi shrugged. "I still have about three weeks of vacation sitting on the books. How long do you want me?"
Emily decided to forego the sexual comment that crossed her mind and settled for a serious answer. "I'd like to tell you to stay until I'm ready to go, but there are things I have to get taken care of here. Stay the weekend?"
"I'll call Garcia and ask her to set my return flight for Monday." He pulled her tightly against him and dipped his head, pressing a kiss to her neck. "What exactly is it you have planned for this weekend?"
Emily shifted her weight in his lap, deliberately rubbing herself against the growing bulge in his pants. "I'm sure we could find some way to pass the time."
Before she could tease him any further, his mouth covered hers. Moments later, he stood, lifting her in his arms and moving toward the bedroom. Her fingers worked the buttons of his shirt as they moved. If she only had two and a half days to spend with him, she planned to make every moment of her weekend count.
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Aaron smiled to himself as he signed the last sheet of paper in the file open before him. He may have had issues with Clyde Easter in the past, but he'd really come through for Prentiss this time. In a matter of weeks she would be back in Virginia where she belonged, and by the end of summer she would be officially consulting on BAU cases.
He had entertained the thought of begging her to come back full time, but he quickly realized that was a bad move. This job could sometimes become too much for a person to take, and Emily had reached that place.
He understood how it had happened. As their only female profiler for years, she'd had to take point on interviewing rape victims, wives of serial killers, and abused children. Without a way to let it all out, it had built up inside of her. Then she'd been on the run from Ian Doyle, and that had changed her. It had changed them all. And she had gone through it alone. And the year she'd been back had been a rough one on all of them.
Finally, she had handled all she could by herself.
His eyes settled on the picture of Jack on his desk and he smiled. His son was how he coped with what he saw every day. And Garcia was how Morgan coped. And teaching for Blake; Henry for JJ. Rossi had reached his point for a lack of a coping mechanism once before and he'd retired. Now that he had Prentiss in his life, Aaron fully expected him to psychologically outlast the rest of them.
Closing the file, he pushed back from his desk and stood. He could send the paperwork through inner office mail, but this was one batch of paperwork he wanted to hand deliver. As he exited his office, he turned the light off. He was done for the night. It was Friday, he was in town, Jack was waiting for him, and Beth was on her way. He planned on enjoying every moment of his weekend with them.
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AN: I am so very sorry. I know I promised people that this would be up last night or even earlier, but life intervened. Mom had a lousy day at work so I agreed to accompany her to her play practice an hour away to help her dig through the costume loft. Just before we left we got a frantic call from my sister-in-law about the baby bunny she rescued from becoming her dog's morning snack so when we got back to town (at 9:30 pm) we stopped for kitten milk and a syringe, swung by and picked up the bunny, and spent an hour convincing the poor thing to eat 3 mL of the milk. This morning I had to get up early and repeat the feeding process (got about 4 mL in him) so I didn't have time to write before leaving for work. Then when I got home from work I had to feed him again (5.5 mL this time!) and watch last night's new CM. So again, very sorry this is late.
MN: Let me tell ya, the bunny is cute enough for it to be worth the wait for this folks! Anyway, we've just got the Epilogue to go to wrap it up. We promise to have that to you by Saturday night so long as the little bunbun keeps doing alright.