A/N: For anyone who has actually been paying attention to the chapter sequences with the prologue at the start, NO; you haven't missed a chapter. I have decided to turn the prologue into chapter 1 and then bumped everything down to fix the flow. I haven't re-written anything so you haven't missed anything; I just took out the prologue and made it the first chapter. This IS where we are up to in the story.

Now for my lovely reviewers; you continue to be a source of light and encouragement and this is greatly appreciated, particularly after how heavy the last chapter was. I would like to thank Wtiger5, greengirl82, miaa29, Hazmatt, HGRHfan35 (so I had to look up the guy you mentioned cause I'd never seen the show and he does sort of look like the man I see in my head, but not quite) and HPforever-after. You guys mean the world to me and I hope I can continue to keep you interested as I continue to progress this series.

Another chapter of quiet moments. The more in-depth discussion on what happened between Emily and Alex is here, as is a quiet little moment between Dave and Teresa.

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 16

"So tell me about Alex."

Emily sighed at the realisation that she couldn't put off the conversation any longer.

At least he'll listen without judging. If he were anyone else, I would have been screwed six ways to Sunday with what Alex said last night, let alone being given this chance to tell my side of the story.

Grabbing a pillow and hugging it tight as he sat tailor-style across from her she nodded. "You deserve to know the truth. The truth is, I didn't particularly like myself much while I was in California. I still don't when I think back on that time. I was still hung up over what happened with you even those two years later and for a while there I forgot I wasn't a slut."

He shot her a disbelieving look and she laughed softly. "You forget how wild I was during my teen and college years. I settled a lot towards the end of college and while I was with you. But I was extremely broken up over our breakup when I arrived at the State Department and time spent there didn't really help. Then I found out you'd married Haley and that you'd achieved your goal of becoming a public prosecutor and I started to struggle a little with my self-image. Feeling really low, I decided to find a man who would make me feel wanted in place of your rejection and forget about you that way. But it didn't work and then I got the role I wanted in the FBI and moved across the country."

"So how does any of that equate to you thinking you were a slut?"

She blushed a deep red and muttered, "Alex wasn't the only guy on the California team that I slept with."

He frowned and said slowly, "It isn't that unusual for team members to interact with each other. I mean, yes; it isn't allowed and there are instances where doing just that could get you into a world of trouble, but it doesn't mean it isn't done. You only have to look at our team dynamics to know that's true."

Damnit! He's going to make me say it.

"Emily? How many of them did you sleep with?"

She ducked her head and pulled out the lackey band holding her hair up to allow it to fall forward to cover her face.

"Emily!"

"Fine. I slept with all of them and the two that the girls have obviously replaced as well." She lifted her head to gauge his reaction and flinched slightly at the shock she could see there. She dropped her head again and said softly, "Like I said, I don't much like myself when I think of that time. Do you want the details?"

"That would be nice," he admitted with an edge to the tone of his voice.

She flinched again, but nodded. She deserved his censure and he deserved the truth, though she hoped he would let it go once he knew it all since it was all in her past.

"I slept with Mirkal first, but it was completely a comfort thing after a really tough case. We were both a little bit drunk and neither of us was interested in repeating the experience. Sampson and I got together shortly after that, but we only lasted a few months; I bowed out when he fell in love with another woman. I then fell pretty quickly into Eric's arms but his feelings for me grew to be more than mine for him and I decided to end it as a kindness to him because I didn't feel the same way. I tumbled into the party scene for a few months there with the other two guys, but that ended when we were all absent at work one day. Alex came to my place first to find out if I was alright and found the three of us in bed together surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol. A lot of them."

"Wait, wait; two guys at once?"

She hesitated before continuing; the list of those who knew this information she could count on one hand. But he was her husband and she either trusted him with this or she didn't.

"Alex got them awake but he couldn't wake me nor could he find my pulse. He called 9-1-1 and started CPR. Tests at the hospital confirmed I had a high alcohol concentration in my blood verging on alcohol poisoning and a commonly used rufi's drug. I'd said 'no' the night before because I didn't want to do both of them at the same time and they decided that I didn't know what I was missing out on. They're both still in jail for the charges that were laid that day."

He looked white as a sheet as he shifted closer and pulled her into his arms.

"You don't have to go on if you don't want to, but I would like to know."

She shrugged and pulled back a little so that she could see his face. She'd long since detached herself from the heavy feelings of guilt and shame surrounded with that moment in her life. "Phil comforted me throughout the trial and afterwards but eventually admitted that he was struggling with the knowledge that I'd been with all the other guys on the team before him except Alex so we split up with no hard feelings between us.

"What he said made me really think about my life and how I'd been spending it, culminating in the remembrance of what I couldn't actually remember thanks to the drugs and alcohol in my system. I decided then and there that I didn't want to be that person any longer and so I declared myself single and happy, took myself off the market and focused on my career and rebuilding my almost-completely-trashed reputation."

She watched him chew over the information she'd given him and was gradually relieved to see that he was calming down as he obviously worked it over in his mind. She wasn't proud of her actions, but she also couldn't change them and they really didn't have any bearing whatsoever on her character now. He would remember that and it would be alright. Then she just had the last hurdle to cover when she told him about Alex and then they were done with this conversation; hopefully forever.

"So now we get to Alex right?"

She nodded as she realised she'd have to wait for the final verdict on her actions. Well, she'd give him all the facts and then it was up to him what he did with them.

"I had been single for almost 6 months when Alex asked me out. I pointed out that I'd been with all the others before him and he said that none of the others had been as serious about me as he was so it didn't matter. He swept me off my feet, romanced me and before I knew it, he was proposing and I was thinking I was in love with him and that I'd finally gotten over you.

"But the closer we got to the wedding, the more uncertain I became about everything. Then one day I overheard him discussing with Phil that we would need to start having children straight away because I was getting too old to bear children safely." He smiled dryly at her and she returned the smile weakly as they both thought of how wrong he'd been. "I couldn't believe his audacity in not having discussed that with me first and so I called him out on it. He shrugged it off, said it wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things and of course we should have the family sooner so that we could be around for more years to enjoy it."

"So he basically ignored what you wanted because it didn't jive with what he wanted."

"That pretty much hits the nail on the head. I started to notice that he did that a lot; not just with me either, though I was more annoyed than anyone else by it probably because I was around that behaviour more frequently than anyone else. It made me start thinking about you and how we'd been together. You never belittled me and you were always willing to compromise where it wouldn't hurt anyone to do so. This of course made me start thinking about you all the time and brought me to the realisation that what I felt for Alex was completely pale in comparison to what I still felt for you.

"It was three days to the wedding and I knew I couldn't go through with it, that it would be disloyal to Alex to pretend to feelings I didn't actually have, so I arranged dinner at my place, sat him down and attempted to tell him the truth about what I'd realised. He ran right over my concerns and said everything would be fine once we were married and that our feelings for each other would grow over time. And because everything was ready for the day, I let him talk me out of cancelling the wedding and allowed him to take me to bed to show me how much he loved me.

"Three days later I was so ill over what to do I could barely function with it. How I got down the aisle I still don't know, but I was standing there facing him and the suddenness of how desperately I wished I was standing there getting married to you was a physical pain that nearly crippled me completely. I knew I absolutely couldn't go through with it regardless of how many people were watching and so with the priest at that moment asking for any who objected to speak up, it just burst out of me that I couldn't do it. Everyone was still gasping and exclaiming in shock as I whispered an apology, took off my engagement ring and gave it back to him. Then I just picked up my skirts and ran.

"The limo driver was a lovely older man who'd noticed my unhappiness the moment he helped me into the car for the drive to the church so he was completely willing to help me make a quick getaway when I asked for his help. I stayed away for three weeks, returned only long enough to pack up my desk and say goodbye to everyone; this had all happened right before I got the appointment to your BAU team so I already had a completely legit escape planned and ready to go. I'd already tried to explain things to Alex, both in the lead-up to the wedding and after I ran but he'd ceased listening to anything I had to say. So I cut all ties and left that life behind. I stopped trying to be someone I wasn't, resigned myself to working with you and my unrequited feelings and knuckled down to the job. You pretty much know the rest.

"I didn't mean not to tell you any of it Aaron; it's just that it ceased to be important to me the moment I realised I was back working with you. I buried it like I'd buried the painful sections of my past and I didn't think about it again until I realised that it was Alex who was supposedly coming to rescue us. I would have told you then, but he didn't give me the chance. And now it's up to you how you want to react to what I've said; just know that I won't hold it against you if you are furious with me. I fully believe you have every right to be. All I ask is that you try to find forgiveness for what I didn't say."

He shook his head slowly. "You know, there are actions in my past that I'm not proud of. The worst of it being the moment I chose Haley over you knowing that I still had deep, abiding feelings for you. I have no right to judge you for your actions when we weren't together. Yes, I'm completely confused over why you haven't mentioned any of this to me before, but I can at the same time understand why you would want to forget such a painful past. So I won't penalise you now for your honesty; I just ask that from now on you keep no more secrets from me."

Her smiled trembled but held as she nodded slowly. "I can do that. I don't actually have any more such huge secrets that I am keeping, and I can't actually thinking of any little ones I may not have mentioned, but if I do remember any of them, I shall let you know immediately that it is appropriate to do so."

He nodded agreement and pulled her back into his arms for a long, deep kiss that turned quickly into something far more satisfying.

New Section

Teresa watched the boys in her care go running through the snow at the park and smiled tenderly at their enthusiasm.

"Are you thinking about what I think you're thinking about?" Dave asked as he wrapped one arm around her waist and offered her a sip of his hot chocolate with the other.

She smiled slightly and murmured her thanks as she took the hot cardboard cup from him.

"I don't know what you think I'm thinking about; why don't you clue me in."

She could hear the smile in his voice when he next spoke a few seconds later. "I've watched you when you're spending time with any of the BAU children. You get all mushy and introspective. You're thinking about us having children."

He hadn't moved away from her; had in fact pulled her closer and splayed a hand across her stomach. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard a conversation to have as she'd thought it might be.

"I'll admit that a huge part of me wants to have children. It always has, but I grew up in a loving family home and I want that for any children I have so up until you proposed I didn't think it was a possibility. Now that we are getting married, I can't stop thinking about it and it is in fact driving me crazy with wanting. I certainly don't want to do something that you aren't comfortable with, but I don't know if I'm in a position to really compromise on this."

He kissed the side of her head and they both turned slightly to keep the children in their line of sight as she handed the cup back to him and wondered that he hadn't caught on to what she'd said.

"Any chance you've been thinking about it too?" she asked hopefully.

"Only since I noticed you thinking about it."

"Oh, okay. Happy thoughts or not-so-happy ones?"

"The thought of you pregnant with my child makes me feel all primal, protective and strong and there is nothing that could possibly convince me not to try for a baby with you. You decide if they are happy thoughts or otherwise."

She turned in his arms to face him, watching as his eyes tracked the boys before he looked at her briefly and smiled. That smile told her he wasn't playing with her, that he meant what he said and he was definitely okay with it. He shifted them around again slightly as she cuddled in closer to his warmth and smiled as he muttered, "Surely those boys have to be getting tired sometime soon. They're making me dizzy."

She smothered a laugh as Dave called to the boys to come back a little closer. She heard their affirmative shouts and felt Dave relax further.

"Primal, protective and strong?"

He shrugged and shot her a quick grin. "What can I say; I'm a throwback to another era."

She nodded slow agreement. "So that's code for you making the next eight and a half months of my life a misery with your over-protective attitude."

His grin slipped into a frown and then became understanding as his eyes grew huge in his face just as the boys came running up.

"Uncle Dave, we're hungry."

She could see him struggling to pay attention to the world outside of his arms though he did eventually manage it after shooting her a dark look which she returned with a serene smile.

"Aren't you boys always hungry?" he asked mildly. They shook their heads as they tried to look innocent. But considering lunch had been just under an hour ago, the adults weren't fooled. Dave sighed. "Alright then; let's see if we can find an honest-to-goodness hotdog vendor somewhere on the way back to the hotel."

The boys cheered and started talking excitedly about what they wanted on their hotdogs.

"You know you'll spoil their dinner," Teresa murmured softly as they all started walking.

"Yes, but I can return them to their parents with happy reports from all concerned about the day. In the end, that is all that matters."

"Hotch or Emily?"

"I'd like to say Hotch, but Emily is the one that has me shaking in my boots. And don't think that I'm not coming back to that announcement and what I think it means at our earliest convenience. You are in big trouble my love; you can't just spring something like that on me when I can't immediately follow it up without getting arrested."

Her laughter rang out across the park as they strolled along behind the excited boys in front of them and thought of the conversation to come.

End-

A/N: I wonder if any of you picked up on my reference in chapter 11 as to everyone having something 'kooky' in their blood work. Or are you all sitting there and thinking 'Huh?' Hope you like my little surprise.

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