A/N: Whoa. Okay, having trouble with my eyesight today so I apologise if I miss any edits. If I do, please feel free to point them out to me and I'll rectify them soonest.
Reviews in abundance! I am SUCH a happy little clam at the moment because my inbox is full of warm fuzzies from a great bunch of wonderful, amazing people I've never met. Greengirl82 , many thanks for reviewing chapter 9. HPforever-after, you get my thanks for reviewing chapters 9 & 10. To Hazmatt, NicknHotchfan, Wtiger5 (no hun, you didn't offend me in the slightest), HGRHfan35 and miaa29 thank you for keeping up with me and letting me know you are there on this wild journey with me. It really does mean a great deal to me.
Okay, just a touch more on Alex after a few hints from reviewers; I just want to rectify something. Alex is one of the good guys but even good guys can get hurt emotionally. He is however primarily a good guy and will NOT be doing anything illegal either to Emily or to anyone else. That may not stop him from messing with Emily's relationship with Aaron (whoops :s may have said too much) but you'll all just have to wait and see what that may look like.
This chapter is specifically dedicated to Hazmatt and to Wtiger5 for conversations that went on behind the scenes after yesterday's post. I love both of you more than I can say and I will never cease to be grateful that you are both along for this crazy ride with me.
Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben.
Arabian Nights – Chapter 12
Carrie sat and watched everyone around her and though her arms were full of little-boy goodness as she snuggled Toby and Jack in close, she couldn't help but feel a little envious of the women nearby who all had a pair of strong arms wrapped around her at that moment. After all, her arms were wrapped around others, but who was really holding her?
I guess Aaron and Emily would say it was progress for me to even WANT to be held by a male. But still…
"Hey, you're sitting over here looking sad and envious by turns and yet you've been rescued and you're safe and warm. So why so sad?"
She started slightly and looked up at the man standing just to the side of her. The colour of his skin made her think of the trip she took in high school to New Delhi with a friend and her family. Some of her fondest memories were of that city but she was still a touch surprised as excitement uncurled slightly in her stomach as she studied his facial features and wondered if maybe it was him.
She smiled slightly and looked down at the boys to find they were looking up at her.
"Are you sad mummy?"
She took in her precious son's face and felt her smile change and soften. "No baby, I'm not sad. How could I be when I'm holding such a sweet bundle as the two of you in my arms?"
Toby and Jack shared a happy smile and then squished the life out of her. Noticing something near the entry, Carrie shifted her hold on Toby and lifted him fully onto her lap as she pointed across the room.
"Hey Jack, I think someone's looking for you to say hello."
Jack turned with a look of confusion but his joy was clear enough when he saw who had her arms held out to him.
"Mummy, mummy, mummy!"
Carrie pressed a kiss to the top of Toby's head, watched the family reunion and squashed another moment of sadness. Toby was more than enough for her, what more could she want?
As she shot another glance at the man leaning against the wall nearby and watching her with a knowing look, for just a second she felt her heartbeat quicken and her breath catch…and that momentary excitement deepened just a little bit.
Maybe it's time to let the violent past go and attempt a future of a different kind...
New Section
JJ stood and gently stroked her hand through Will's hair. She was completely content to just stand there and bask in the warmth of her family.
Henry had been so distraught when Will had come to hold her that they had put aside their own reunion in favour of comforting him. When he'd sobbed himself to sleep in her arms, she'd put him down on her hospital bed, fully intending to lie down with him in a short period of time and catch a nap of her own. She'd forgotten how tiring it could be to be pregnant and considering the trauma she'd just been through and the distinct and very real threat there had been to her almost 15-week-old foetus, she was definitely overdue for a proper sleep with her family. And despite the narrowness of the bed, she fully intended to talk Will into joining them.
But that would have to wait a little longer. With Henry comfortable nearby, Will had kissed her temple gently, pressed a tender, more intimate kiss to her lips and then he'd sunk to his knees in front of her and had stilled with his forehead resting against their growing child. She'd realised in the last few minutes that telling him about the way the unsub had threatened their child over the phone, where he couldn't immediately see that they were both mostly unharmed, had probably been a bad idea and had left him almost as distressed as their son. This had been proven as he started to cry with his arms wrapped around her.
So she stood and she stroked and she waited for the best moment to suggest they all lie down together and rest.
New Section
Struggling to catch her breath after Derek had stolen it so completely by kissing her senseless, Jordan gasped as she looked around.
"Derek, where's Ben?"
"Take a deep breath love; he's nearby with one of the agents from California. She has a three year old son back home and said nothing was better than cuddles with an infant so she's holding on to him while I reassure my aching heart that you are in one gorgeous piece."
Jordan closed her eyes and dropped her head forward onto her husband's chest and for several long, comforting minutes she simply listened to his heart beating under her ear as he held her close and rubbed her back.
"When can I take you back to my room and ravish you?"
Her startled laughter rang out across the room as she shifted back slightly. "Ravish. Who on earth uses the word ravish anymore?"
He grinned. "I do when I'm trying to hear one of the most beautiful sounds in the world."
She blushed slightly as she smiled. "Oh you totally get points for that answer. As to the leaving; they won't be letting us go until tomorrow. I am apparently slightly anaemic so they have upped my iron levels and are monitoring me to make sure I don't react adversely to the changes. I think they said we'd be free about 10."
"So if we want to up the rating here we need to go find an out-of-the-way storage cupboard, right?"
For the second time in as many minutes, his frantic heartbeat settled at the sound of her laughter; a happy sound that meant he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do.
New Section
She'd decided her husband was a rock and the ass whooping of the century she was planning could just wait…or maybe even disappear altogether.
When she'd seen Kevin, all she could think was, 'ooh I'm going to kill him for not being here yesterday'. Then his arms had closed around her and suddenly none of that was all that important and every other thought had flown out of her head.
She'd been sobbing so hard she could barely breathe; her whole body shaking with the release of the terrible tension and fear she'd experienced. But he hadn't moved an iota, his arms solid and sure around her and not once did the pressure ease up. He'd given no indication that he wasn't 100% comfortable right where he was and his voice was a soft, soothing, constant caress in her ears.
Yep; definitely a rock.
New Section
"I've decided it's official."
Dave smiled slightly at the firm tone of voice Teresa used as she snuggled even closer into him. Her face was all but lost in his neck and though he was just a little ticklish there, he was ignoring the laughter that bubbled just below the surface as her breathe brushed his neck every time she exhaled. He was too content to be bothered with making her move.
"What's official love?"
She pulled her head back to look at him, a slight smile tugging her lips up. "Virginia is a dangerous place for me to live."
He frowned at that, not liking the implications at all, but seeing that she did have a valid point if he compared their lives together both before and after she moved to be close to him. Not wanting to ask, but knowing he needed to, he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he said carefully, "Is it too dangerous for you?"
She looked startled as she gave him really good eye contact for a few interminable moments and then she vigorously shook her head. "No Dave, no! Not at all. I love you more than anything and I'm not for a second going anywhere else. No, I just meant to make a note of it; I didn't think for a second you'd think I was seriously thinking of leaving. I would never…"
Deciding she'd reassured him enough for his heart to begin to race for a completely different reason, he cut her off with another of the deep, drugging kisses she seemed to like the most.
New Section
"You keep shuddering slightly in my arms. Are you cold Kel?"
Kelly shook her head and closed her eyes. More than anything, right in that moment all she wanted to do was just continue to stand here and bask in the warmth of the body wrapped around hers, his familiar, wonderful scent filling her nostrils and driving away the stench of fear of her trauma and the bleach of her hospital surrounds that had mingled uncomfortably in the last few days. But if she didn't lay down in the next minute, she was pretty certain her back was going to give out completely and she'd end up on the ground anyway.
"Brad."
He turned his head and looked at Carrie where she sat in a chair near Reid and Austin's wheelchairs. She was pointing at a bed down in the corner. Understanding dawned and he mouthed his thanks as he shifted his hold on the precious gift standing within his embrace.
"Can I carry you to your bed or do you need to walk?" he asked her softly as he felt the muscles in her back begin to contract painfully.
"Carry," she gasped as she sagged in his arms.
He swept her up off the floor and moved her to the bed. Her whimpers of pain tore at his heart and the first thing he did when he got her to the bed was hit the call button.
"Do you have pain meds on hand that you can take or do you need to wait for the nurse?"
"Wait," she whispered as her eyes opened, tears beginning to leak from her eyes as her pain increased. He nodded as he took her hand and eased himself down to sit on the edge of the bed.
Without thinking about it, he fell back on the motions he'd started whenever this would happen at home since the crash. He moved her hand closer to his heart, caught and held her amazing green eyes with his own blue ones and gently stroked her sweaty hair with his other hand. And as they waited for the nurse, he softly told her how very much he loved her and was grateful to have her back with him.
New Section
She knew she was supposed to stay in her wheelchair, but Austin didn't think the nurses would mind all that much if she left her own for Reid's. After all, it was still a wheelchair; even if he was already in it. When he'd held out his arms and said "Come here," there was nothing that could have stopped her from doing just that.
They hadn't said anything else in the longest while. He'd simply held her close with his eyes closed, softly humming under his breath what sounded like a lullaby. Her tears had eased as she took comfort from him and gave that comfort back as they held hands and she played her fingers lightly through his hair, something he'd long since admitted that he loved her to do.
He stirred under her, his free hand sliding up her back to tug gently at her hair. She tipped her head back to look at him as he seemed to want.
"I don't blame you, you know," he said softly, the sincerity on his face and the honesty in his eyes backing up the truth of his words.
She swallowed hard and nodded. "I know," she whispered as another tear tracked its way down her cheek. "I don't even blame myself; I know there was nothing I could have done differently. It doesn't stop the pain though and it doesn't change how broken my heart feels right now."
He nodded agreement and gently tugged her head in closer so that he could kiss her temple.
New Section
Emily smiled as she watched Jack wander back to Toby and Carrie. Her beautiful, sweet son was so sensitive to the feelings of others and knowing that she was happy and safe, his world had settled back on its proper axis and he'd gone off to see if he could make Carrie feel better too. As she watched, Carrie lifted Jack up onto her bed and climbed into it, obviously with the intention of telling the boys a story.
She shifted in Aaron's arms to face him again. "Where are the girls?"
He kissed her gently, the smile in his eyes filled with just a little heat that said if they'd been alone there would have been a hell of a lot more going on than a just a cuddle and a few steamy kisses. Of course, there were other signs of that fact but she was choosing to ignore them in favour of propriety and everyone else's sensibilities.
"One of the agents from California has a child and said she'd be quite happy to watch all the babies while we reunited. So Ben, India and Chloe are with her at this moment in the waiting room until a later, more appropriate time to grill you all for information at which time Derek and I will take our youngest back in hand."
She hummed her happiness. "That's good of them to wait because much as I have a goldmine's worth of information for them, I'd much rather just stay right where I am in this moment."
"Oh good, cause I was all prepared with about a dozen arguments for why you needed to stay right here for the time being."
"Only a dozen?" she teased softly.
He chuckled in appreciation and gently rocked her. "Can I take you back to the hotel with me and hold you tonight?"
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait on that one more night. They aren't releasing any of us until tomorrow."
He frowned as he used her hair to gently manoeuver her head into a position where he could clearly see her face. "If the only issue is shock, you should have been cleared this morning. What haven't you told me about your condition? Did they hurt you more than you let on?"
She sighed softly. "Aaron…"
"Damn it Emily; haven't I been through enough lately without you trying to keep secrets from me too? Now tell me what's going on?"
She hated the fear and panic she could see in his eyes. Her hands shook slightly as she lifted them to cup his face. Going up on tiptoe she kissed him lightly and said softly, "I promise you there is nothing wrong with me that can't wait until we aren't surrounded by people who don't yet need to know before I tell you what more there is going on. What I can tell you is that though they threatened us and used knives on JJ and PG, we weren't violated in that sense of the word."
He looked at her steadily and whatever he saw on her face must have reassured him because he relaxed under her hands and nodded slightly. "Very well Em, but as soon as we are alone tomorrow, you will tell me."
"Of course; just not right now."
He folded her back into his arms and she relaxed as well. A minute later, he said softly, "Can it wait just a little longer?"
She tipped her head back to look at him, just a little bit confused about what he meant when movement to her right turned her head in the direction he was looking…and she was left utterly grateful that Aaron was holding her up as her knees went weak. Thinking it was a maybe that the reference to the team from California might be the one she knew so well was a completely different kettle of fish to finding out it was true.
"Alex?"
"Hello Emily."
End-
A/N: Stay tuned to the next instalment from this author...
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