Emily sat heavily into a chair on the jet, watching as her team filed in and took up the seats around her. It was clear the last thirteen days hunting a sadistic child murderer in rural Kansas had weighed heavily on them all. Fourteen children over six years, held for months at a time and tortured brutally before finally being disposed uncerimoniously in a dry creekbed. The silence on the plane was thick and the tension palpable, each agent huddled in their own bubble, trying to forget. Reid was playing chess against himself, Derek was sprawled on the couch, his arm thrown across his eyes and headphones in blasting something with a heavy, driving baseline. Hotch, though clearly awake, had his eyes shut and his head back, Rossi had been staring at the same spot in his book for longer than believable and JJ was, as always, sifting through more cases files.
Emily jumped and dropped her phone into her lap when it buzzed unexpectedly, her nerves still shot. Sighing inwardly at her reaction she picked the phone back up, smiling softly when she saw the name attached to the text, swiping her thumb across the screen to read the message.
'Hey gorgeous, u on the plane yet?'
Tapping to open the keyboard Emily swiped a quick reply confirming she was on her way home. Her phone quickly vibrated again,
'I've missed u. Tell me ur coming straight home when u land.'
Emily blushed and smiled before starting to reply.
"Who's got you blushing like that Princess?" Derek's voice was low but it cut across the plane and startled Emily again, her hand flying to her chest as she quickly locked her phone. Emily knew it was rare for her to show emotion, but she'd hoped that it would go unnoticed with the team lost in their own worlds. Her eyes were wide and wild as they snapped up to meet Derek's, unsure how to react. Emily watched nervously as Derek rose smoothly from the couch and strode across the plane and sat next to her.
"C'mon Princess, spill." Emily's phone buzzed again, and Derek snatched it from the table before Emily could react. "Tyler hm? Who, may I ask, is 'Tyler'?" Derek asked, fingers busy trying to unlock Emily's phone. Gulping, Emily responded quietly,
"Just, um, just someone I've, uh, been seeing."
"Oh really? And how long has this been going on, and why am I just hearing about it now?" Though he tried to hide it, Derek looked a little like a wounded puppy.
Emily blushed, yanking her phone back unapologetically while Derek's defenses were down. "Ten months," she whispered, blush deepening and eyes downcast.
"TEN MONTHS!" Derek yelped, gathering the attention of most of the plane, much to Emily's chagrin. She sank further into the seat, willing it to open up and swallow her whole. Recovering quickly, Derek addressed the rest of the plane, "Hey, uh, lets get some drinks when we land, yeah?" to murmurs of assent. Lowering his voice, he added just to Emily a protective edge to his voice, "Bring Tyler, I want to meet him."
"Oh, uh I don't know," Emily scrambled.
"Uh uh, no excuses. Send that text, I wanna see him there," Derek rapped his knuckles on the table as he retreated back to the couch, pointing his finger at Emily.
Emily picked up her phone with shaking hands, unlocking it to text Tyler Derek's invitation. Her fingers stayed frozen for a moment while she decided what to say.
"The team is getting drinks. Can u come?" her phone vibrated with Tyler's answer before she even put the phone back down.
"I can't wait ;)"
Emily breathed a sigh of relief and felt some of the tension of the past two weeks slip away at the thought of seeing Tyler again.
0000
It was late afternoon when the jet finally landed in Virginia, the team parting ways with murmured agreements to meet up in a few hours at a downtown bar. Emily rushed home, showering and then spending nearly a half hour standing in front of her closet trying to pick an outfit. Tyler was still lecturing and would meet her at the bar so she had the apartment to herself and Emily was surprised to find she felt lonely. Eventually she settled on a tight, deep red dress with a tulip hem that hit just above her knees. Glancing at the clock she realized she was running late and so Emily rushed through her make up before opening her jewelry box and paused for a moment, fingers hovering over the box before she finally exhaled quickly and added a gold cuff to each wrist, looping extra chain around her right wrist before fastening the clasp. She was nervous to have the team meet Tyler, worried about what they would think, how they would judge. But Emily shook off her concerns, draining the glass of wine she'd been nursing since she'd arrived home and calling for a car.
0000
JJ was the first to arrive at the bar, claiming a table as the rest of the team filtered in and join her.
"Where's Prentiss?" Derek asked moments after he arrived, earning him a chorus of shrugs.
"Not here yet chocolate thunder," Penelope winked at him, halfway through a very pink, very strong cocktail already. Derek's eyes scanned the bar but found no sign of his missing team mate, though a tall blonde at the bar caught his eye and distracted him.
"Alright, who wants to be my wing man...or woman, I'm not picky," Derek asked, jutting his chin towards the bar. The request was met with silence and downcast eyes, Emily was usually Derek's wingwoman, so he straightened up and sauntered to the bar alone. Derek slid into the space next to the blonde woman's barstool, his hand resting on her lower back as he leaned in to order a beer before turning his attention to the blonde.
"Hi, how are you doing tonight?" he ventured, smiling at the woman. The blonde shrugged off his hand and smirked as she turned to face him.
"Fine thanks, just waiting on someone," the blondes answer was terse and Derek was thrown off his game, it wasn't usually difficult for him to get a woman's number when he wanted it.
"I'm Derek," he tried again, "Can I get you something to drink?"
"Sorry, you're not my type," the blonde turned back to the bar, swiping open her phone and effectively ending the conversation.
Rejected, Derek skulked back to the table with his team just as Emily pushed through the doors.
"No luck?" asked Reid naively, poking a little fun at his colleague.
"Apparently I'm 'Not her type', whatever that's supposed to mean." Derek mimicked quotation marks with his fingers before he turned to face Emily as she reached the table. "Woman, I just got shot down because I was short my wingwoman!" he admonished jokingly. Emily smirked,
"My apologies, I'll try not to shirk my duties in the future," Emily laughed.
"Well here's your chance," Derek said, eyeing the blonde from the bar as she made her way towards the table. The blonde slipped into the narrow space between Derek and Emily, eyes running up and down Derek once more before she turned on her heel and pulled Emily into a deep kiss. The blondes hands smoothed through Emily's hair, and down her arms, stopping to squeeze the bracelets on Emily's wrists lightly before travelling back up to cup the Emily's face. Emily immediately relaxed under the blonde's touch, pushing out a sigh as the blonde pulled away and wove their fingers together.
"Oh. Not your type. Got it." Derek intoned drolly, as the blonde finally released her girlfriend and turned to address the table.
"Hi! I'm Tyler," she said with a bright smile, threading an arm around Emily's waist. "I'll go ahead and assume by the awkward silence and stunned expressions that Emily never got around to telling you I was a blonde?" Tyler winked and smiled warmly.
JJ regained her composure first and introduced herself and the rest of the team. There was a brief period of awkward silence as everyone digested this new information and sipped their drinks but finally Hotch broke the silence by asking,
"So what do you do Tyler?"
"Oh I teach mostly," she replied, "I actually just gave a lecture at Quantico a couple weeks ago about the effects of biotic intrinsic factors on decomposition in the late PMI. I have a PhD in forensic anthropology," she clarified at the stunned looks, taking a sip of her wine. "I consult with law enforcement when I'm needed but it's not enough to pay the bills."
"Wait! You're Tyler Bellamy? Oh man I wanted to go to your lecture!" Spencer said, "We got called on this case so I missed it."
"I'd be happy to go over the content with you sometime," Tyler offered brightly.
"That'd be great! Are you free tomorrow?" He asked hopefully, bouncing on his toes like an excited child.
Looking Emily up and down appraisingly with her teeth worrying her lower lip Tyler said, "I'm afraid I have plans tomorrow, how about Sunday?" Emily blushed deeply at Tyler's implication, hoping the team hadn't noticed the innuendo but knowing they almost certainly had.
"That would be great!"
"How did you two meet?" Derek asked, needing details, shocked and a little hurt Emily had kept something like this from him. He had thought the secrets and lies were done with now.
"Ugh our mothers are actually good friends, they run in the same high society circles," Tyler explained, rolling her eyes in disdain. "We hadn't seen one another since we were kids but my mother threw this awful, stuffy luncheon about ten months ago and Emily got dragged along by her mother. The two of us got drunk on mimosas and snuck off to the solarium to..."
"THAT'S plenty of detail!" Emily interjected quickly, cheeks now a permanent shade of crimson and Tyler laughed.
"Anyways, the rest is history I suppose. We met for coffee a handful of times, a couple dinners when we were in the same city and like good lesbians, moved in together after only three months," Tyler said with a sardonic chuckle.
"You guys seem really happy, I don't think I've ever seen Em like this," Derek commented before pushing off the table. "Alright, it's my round, what's everyone drinking?" As the attention shifted to Derek, Tyler tugged on Emily's hand and murmured into her ear,
"Dance with me." Still blushing, Emily allowed herself to be led onto the dance floor. "You wore them," Tyler said once they were away from the teams prying eyes and ears, her fingers tracing the bondage bracelets softly. "Is this what you need tonight?" Tyler checked in, her mouth practically on Emily's ear, her hands squeezing Emily's wrists tightly over the bracelets.
"Oh God," Emily whimpered, "Yes. Please, yes."
Tyler hummed with contentment, it was rare for Emily to ask to be dominated but it was a role Tyler relished, she loved seeing Emily at her mercy. Tyler had commissioned the bracelets from a metalsmith as a way for Emily to ask without words when she needed Tyler to take control, as the raven haired beauty often found it difficult to ask out loud for what she needed. The extra chain looped around Emily's right wrist would clip to the left bracelet, forming a delicate but strong pair of handcuffs.
"You're such good girl Em, asking for what you need so nicely," Tyler purred in her ear as they danced, the beat of the music long forgotten. "I can't wait to get you home. I love seeing you all tied up like a pretty little package, desperate to cum beneath me."
Emily's steps faltered and Tyler caught her around her waist, pulling her closer. "Keep it together baby," she crooned softly, "You don't want your team asking awkward questions." Emily licked her lips and swallowed thickly as she nodded, melting a little more into Tyler's embrace. "Come on, lets go get that drink."
"Tyler please," Emily whined, "I want to go home."
"We just got here baby, we can't abandon your team, they'll start asking questions. I promise it'll be worth your while to stick it out. Be a good girl for me, okay?" Emily nodded, shivering a little as she imagined the things Tyler had in store for her at home, letting herself be led back to the table.
Back at the table, Emily picked up her wine and took a sip with a head tilt towards Morgan in thanks. Small talk and friendly banter resumed easily as the team filtered back. Suddenly, a quite tipsy Garcia looked up from her phone across the table from Tyler and exclaimed,
"Caitriona Belle!" Garcia pointed her finger accusingly. The blonde blushed and dropped her gaze to the table,
"Well shit, you are scary good." Tyler glanced at her watch, "Wow, forty three minutes, and while intoxicated too!" Tyler pulled a hundred dollar bill from her wallet and handed it to Emily. "You were right, less than an hour. I do have to wonder how many privacy laws she just broke," Tyler smirked.
Garcia smiled and raised her hands in mock surrender, "I plead the fifth!" A quick glance around the table showed a myriad of confused faces, barring JJ who quickly schooled her features from a look of awe to one of neutrality. Garcia rummaged through her purse and pulled out a dog eared paperback and slapped it on the table, "Best selling fantasy romance novelist, Caitriona Belle. Author of the Eternal Diaries series, and my personal favourite series Court of Roses."
"Me too!" JJ exclaimed, unable to stop herself. "I'm sorry, I'm such a huge fan. I think I might be able to recite Of Ash and Bone from memory at this point."
"Okay wait," Derek chimed in, breaking up the fangirling. "You have a PhD, you lecture, you consult with the FBI and you're a novelist? Damn girl, you're giving Reid here a run for his money."
"Caitriona Belle is kind of my alter ego. Emily was the only person who actually knew until right now," Tyler laughed. "The juxtaposition of smutty romance novelist and PhD was a little much so I separated them. Smutty romance novelist got the legal, though never used, first name and the PhD got the middle name. Tyler is my mom's maiden name, I've gone by it since I was seven and sick of correcting everyone's pronunciation of Caitriona. Drives her nuts which is a delightful bonus," she said smirking. "My publisher hates that I insist on staying anonymous but I sell so well he can't really complain too much."
Unable to help herself Penelope started peppering Tyler with questions about her books, trying to get her to spill spoilers for her upcoming new release in the Court of Roses series. After a few minutes of in depth inquisition, Tyler offered to give both Garcia and JJ advance copies as soon as she got her hands on them, much to their delight. During a lull in conversation Emily's head dropped to Tyler's shoulder, eyes fluttering shut.
"I think we've lost Emily," JJ chuckled, "Jet lag is a bitch." Emily's eyes fluttered open again and she smiled softly,
"I'm sorry guys, the last couple weeks are catching up with me. I think I need to go to bed," Emily, looked up at Tyler for confirmation.
"Goodnight everyone, it was lovely to meet you!" Tyler smiled, wrapping her arm around Emily's waist as the dark haired woman dropped her head back to her shoulder. "Spencer, I'll call you Sunday morning and we can meet up."
Emily sighed as Tyler steered her delicately towards the exit, "I'm not really tired," she whispered conspiratorially.
"Good."