A/N: Okay so I know I said I was going to dump the excuses and just run with the fact that I don't always have the time I need to type, but I really feel I owe all of you an explanation AND an apology. Firstly, I was visiting my mum (much as I love all of you, I'm definitely not going to be writing while spending time with her) and now I am in a new job where I have a little more responsibility. I DID have a couple of quiet weekends in there, but one of my fav authors brought out a new book and in the way of bookworms everywhere, I was drawn back in to the rest of the books in the series. So I've been reading more than writing.

BUT...Christmas is right around the corner. I have a four day weekend coming up, followed by a three day working week then another three day weekend. And except for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, I am intending to get a lot more writing done to make up for my recent absence. My work has also settled down and now that I am faster at everything I HAVE to do, I have more time to do what I actually WANT to do.

Also, stay tuned in the next few days for my Christmas fic, as inspired by the requested prompt from the lovely x-MJ-x.

Okay you guys. The response to the last chapter was so wow and mixed it was incredible but as always, your reviews have been amazing. Wtiger5, NicknHotchfan, miaa29, Hazmatt, HGRHfan35 and HPforever-after; you guys ROCK! Thanks so much for your encouragement and I'm glad too that you seem to like Carrie and Mirkal as a couple. I'd had them in mind for a while and was simply waiting for the right time to introduce them. It's about time that Carrie has something positive happen in her life. Now we just have to see how Toby reacts.

Right, so miaa29 brought up a really interesting point that I wish to clarify for everyone regarding this story in particular and the storyline of NPH in general. To answer the question posed regarding the haunted look in Emily's eyes when she arrived in California, it was simply to do with still being hung up on what happened with Aaron from when they were together and how it ended. Remember, he completely broke her heart, but she was still in love with him all these years later. In this AU, Doyle never happened and Emily's history is almost completely different to what the writers of CM have portrayed.

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 14

Emily sat on the bed edge the morning after having her so-closely-guarded secret outed and watched Aaron as he dressed for the day. In light of the cold outside, he had pulled on jeans and though she knew they still had to have a serious discussion before they left the hotel room, she kept getting distracted by his butt encased in denim as he went about his routine.

The conversation with Alex the evening before had extended long into the night; so long in fact that when Aaron had finally walked her back to the ward, only the men were awake as they watched over their ladies. Though they'd watched her walk into the room, no one had said anything as her husband tucked her in to the bed and as Jack, already sleeping on her bed, snuggled into her warmth.

Her only clue that Aaron might be willing and able to forgive her came in the gentle press of his lips to her temple as her eyes slid shut.

Now they'd all been released from the hospital except for Austin and she was shortly to be interviewed for her side of the kidnapping attempt.

But first she had to face her husband. If she could concentrate long enough to get the thoughts roiling through her head to stay still long enough for her to put coherent conversation to them.

"Emily?"

She started in surprise, looking up from her contemplation of the rings on her finger to find he was standing right in front of her. As she stared at him mutely, he frowned and crouched down in front of her. Taking her hands in his, his frown deepened. "Love, your fingers are like ice. Are you cold?"

It was a good question, but the answer eluded her mental grasp for several long seconds and it took another few seconds after that before she could get her head to nod in the affirmative.

He stood with a deeply worried look on his face, walked to where her jacket was draped over the chair near the door and walked back to drape it over her shoulders. She was surprised at how immediately her body started to warm up under the soft wool.

When the guys had left home for Baltimore, they had wisely thought about the ladies' needs at the other end if they were rescued as planned. Or rather Reid had and the rest agreed it was a good, positive-thinking idea and went along with it. So where there was an already packed go-bag, these were grabbed and where there wasn't, a bag had very quickly been packed. Which meant that they were all now surrounded by comforting smells and fabrics; all things the doctors had agreed would help with their recovery from the shock they were all clearly experiencing.

"Emily? Talk to me, please."

She looked into Aaron's eyes and seeing only his worry and concern for her, she finally felt that it was safe to let go of her vigilant guard on her emotions. As the first hot tears slid down her face, he sighed heavily.

"You're finally feeling the shock of what happened now, aren't you?"

She nodded as a sob escaped and tipped sideways on the bed, suddenly too weary to even hold herself up despite the fact that she was already sitting down.

With another sigh, this one filled with a combination of exasperation, amusement and love, Aaron walked out of her sight. She closed her eyes against the knowledge of being alone while she broke over her ordeal but they quickly flew open in shock as the bed shifted behind her. He pulled her fully up onto the bed and into his arms and began to rock her gently as her sobs wracked her entire body.

"Silly kitten; when will you learn you're never alone and that it's okay sometimes not to be the strong one?"

New Section

Austin watched her husband sleep in his wheelchair and knew that somehow they would get through this whole ordeal.

Falling asleep the night before so suddenly and deeply had pushed back the conversation she knew they needed to have about what had happened. But now she was awake and she was so content just watching Reid sleep that she was again feeling sleepy.

She must have dozed off because a nurse checking her vitals woke her up again. Opening her eyes was a delight; Reid was gazing at her in that way he had that let her know he was thinking of her and how much he loved her. She smiled at him and was rewarded with a warm smile in return.

"Hey you. Did you have a nice sleep?"

She flicked a look at the nurse as a machine beeped, but the woman didn't look too concerned so she turned back to her husband.

"I had a lovely sleep. I actually feel a little better."

The nurse smiled. "That's because all your vitals are beginning to return to normal. Only your hormone levels are still high but that is to be expected. I need to go and get the doctor now that you are properly awake, so I'll leave the two of you to talk."

Reid frowned as he watched the nurse leave. Austin smiled slightly as she watched Reid try to fathom what the nurse was hinting at with that last comment before leaving.

"You know, your hormones should have dissipated when...well, they should have left by now."

She held her hand out to him as a pained look crossed his face and once his hand was in hers, they just stayed like that for a while, each of them thinking of the child they'd just lost. When she deemed that enough time had passed for her to break the comfortable silence they were in, she said softly, "Is there any reason you can think of that my hormones might still be high?"

He shrugged and settled more comfortably in the wheelchair. "The only reason I can think of would relate to you still being pregnant. I'm not too sure otherwise, I have to admit."

She smiled, a supremely happy and confidant smile as she watched Reid frown again. She didn't say anything, she just watched him work through what was going on in his head. He was the smartest man she knew; there was no doubt in her mind he'd figure it out shortly. Even as she thought this, his head whipped around to stare at her and as he took in her expression, his eyes grew huge and he moved as far forward in his wheelchair as he could.

"Are you still pregnant?"

She smirked, deciding to tease him a little bit. "Well, that took you a little longer than I thought to fig..."

She sighed happily as he pushed up on his good leg and proceeded to kiss the life out of her. Neither of them noticed the doctor stop in the doorway and then back up with a small smile as he realised what must be happening.

Reid pulled back from her mouth and she whimpered slightly as she tried to pull him back in. He resisted as he slid a hand down to her stomach.

"Are you both well? What happened exactly?"

She smiled softly and dropped a hand to join his. "Twins run rampant through our team," she said in an amused tone of voice. "In our case, one of them was growing in the wrong spot. The one that remains is right where it is supposed to be and is as healthy as a little clam."

"How pregnant are we?"

She liked how he phrased the question, her smile approving as she ran her hand gently through his hair. "About 11 weeks. The doctor said it was a touch abnormal to have made it this far with little to no symptoms but we are none the less blessed by this turn of events. He doesn't think this pregnancy should be affected that much by what just happened, but I should get in touch with the correct type of doctor when we return to DC because I should be pretty closely monitored regardless."

"That shouldn't be too hard. I'd ask Emily for a recommendation but since her doctor was found to be criminally negligent after what happened with her and several others during their pregnancies..."

"Hmm, well maybe there are others at the same practice. Em did say once that she liked the atmosphere they had created there."

He smiled. "Whatever makes you happy for the next 29 weeks is my command."

With an unholy little smile, Austin tugged him closer. "Oh goody," she breathed right before she claimed another kiss.

New Section

Aaron returned to the bed after calling Dave to pass on the information that Emily would be along later to give her statement. She was calmer than she had been, but she was still far too quiet for his liking. Deciding on a plan of action, he slipped off his shoes and climbed back onto the bed with her.

"Dave will inform the other team of our lateness. He also said to pass on to you that no one on the team holds it against you that you kept quiet about such a juicy piece of information as having been engaged in the past. He then pointed out that it was up to me to decide how I was going to react. I said I was still trying to swim with all the information in my head and I'd get back to him.

"But while I would definitely like a more personal, and far less confrontational, explanation of what happened" she smiled just slightly at that reference to how prickly and aggressive Alex had been the evening before, "I think I am slightly more interested in what you're keeping from me. So how about we discuss whatever that is and come back on the rest. Does that work for you?"

She nodded slightly and pushed up to sit with her back against the pillows mounded up near the headboard. Then she studied her toes as she thought about how best to tell him. Remembering the doctor's report, she thought that might be the better way to go so she slipped from the bed and walked to her bag on shaky legs. Retrieving the slip of paper she'd hidden there when Aaron went to sign her discharge papers, she walked back to the bed and reclaimed her spot with relief.

Once she'd handed the paper over, she curled up against the pillows and yawned hugely. She had every reason in the world to be exhausted, and yet every time she closed her eyes, she thought she could hear one of them coming back to re-capture her.

Upon hearing Aaron's sharp intake of breath, she opened her eyes to see the shock roll over his features.

"Is this accurate?"

She smiled just slightly as she fought a losing battle with keeping her eyes open. "My reaction to the doctor was more along the lines of, 'Is this a joke?' but he confirmed it none the less."

"I didn't think it was possible."

She shrugged. "Neither did I, but hey; we learnt something new, didn't we?"

His eyes narrowed. "You're taking this far too well."

She sighed softly and pushed herself up. Lying down was making her think longingly of sleep and at the moment, she really needed to concentrate because, somehow in all this, she'd forgotten what they'd so recently been through.

"Aaron, it's not the end of the world." The frown on his face deepened and brought another sigh to her lips. "Look, we can come back and deal with this later. For now though, I need to take a nap because I have cried myself into exhaustion and then we need to go and catch a couple of nasty unsubs. Then we can deal with this. Alright?"

He shook his head as a reluctant smile tugged his lips up. "How is it you always know the right thing to say, even when I know I'm right?"

She shot him an innocent look. "Maybe because you aren't always right?"

The shocked look on his face caused her to break into a fit of giggles. She was still giggling when he lunged in to kiss her senseless. Then she was just breathless until he settled her in against him and they both shut their eyes for some much needed sleep.

End-

A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.