A/N: Just putting it out there...I LOVE CLIFFHANGARS! At least I do when I'm writing them and know what is coming next. Not so keen on reading them if I have to wait to find out. Hmm, I guess I'm beginning to see where everyone is coming from but I doubt that I can change my nature at this late stage. However, as you can see, I have done my best to get this back to you quickly so that you wouldn't have to wait too long to find out what happened to that bullet. Unfortunately the end has been written and you're almost back to square one...but you all still love me, right?

I must be an evil author to be so happy to see so many reviews where I am being scolded for leaving things where they have been left and being delighted to read what you all have to say. But I truly do appreciate all of you who faithfully leave reviews every time I post something new, so this is all for you.

Big, big thanks to miaa29, HGRHfan35, Hazmatt, Wtiger5 and greengirl82 for encouraging me to get my typing butt into gear.

Additional thanks to the gorgeous Wtiger5 for all your helpful information...you'll start to see it play out in the next chapters and I really hope I can do you justice. Love you sweetie.

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 20

She was back to shaking like a leaf in a hurricane again. It seemed to be the story of her life at the moment and she was well and truly sick of it.

Emily huddled on the bed in her room, feeding India while Jordan pressed up beside her feeding Ben. Neither could figure out who was shaking more and it didn't even really seem to matter that much as they took comfort from the fact that their children were alright. Teresa sat on her other side, feeding Chloe for her. Aaron, Derek and Dave watched over them as they talked quietly with Alex and Phil over near the door.

About the only good thing to come out of the last hour, was that Mirkal and Carrie were well and truly out of the closet. Despite being a technical analyst and absolutely atrocious with a gun in his hands, the man hadn't hesitated to rush into the line of danger to put his body between Carrie and the gun that was being waved around. He also hadn't hesitated to kiss her senseless once the immediate danger was over; right in front of everyone.

Now they were all in the same suite because they didn't trust the bad guys not to try something a third time.

Jack whimpered in his sleep at the foot of the bed, bringing Aaron out of his little meeting to comfort his son. Once Jack was settled again, he returned to the men at the door. India finished her bottle and burped when urged but then she started to cry and wouldn't settle, causing Emily to burst into tears herself. This set off the other babies and the women holding them and suddenly everything was just too much.

It took almost an hour to settle everyone down, probably because the men trying to do the settling were just as unsettled as the women and children. But finally everyone was settled in to bed and all was quiet as they rested.

New Section

"You didn't do it right. You need to have a subtle touch with them; they're like flowers you could crush. And I certainly didn't want you shooting the babies."

"You know I wouldn't have actually shot them. It was just a ruse to get them to come quietly. I should have known it would've been quicker just to take them altogether. But that's besides the point; we really need to leave before they track us down."

"No! Just give me one more day. I have a last plan I want to try and then if that doesn't work we can forget about them and go elsewhere. Please Malik, just one more day is all I need."

Malik studied his little brother for a long moment before nodding reluctantly. "But it needs to be quick and silent, with absolutely no chances of being caught."

Najeeb beamed at his brother, despite the bandaging around his nose and the pain the manoeuvre caused. "Thanks Malik. I promise that this plan is better than any other and then we can go home. I won't need any more wives once I have my chosen few.

New Section

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Mirkal muttered as he walked slowly towards the suite where the girls were to spend the afternoon while the men worked together to come up with some answers they could do something with.

Carrie nudged him gently. "Don't fret so much; I'm sure we'll be fine. We'll be locking the door behind you and we won't be opening it for any reason. Aaron has already taken the master key so no one else can access the room and he isn't intending to give that key out to anyone. And aside from all of that, Emily, JJ and Jordan will be armed and they won't be hesitating to shoot if presented with trouble. We've also decided on a lot of check-in calls at odd times and if we miss even one of those calls, the guys are going to come running with guns drawn, even if we then realise we missed a time and call after; just in case it's them forcing us to make the call in order not to be found trying to take us again. We're really very well covered. We're just going to sit around and gossip, most likely completely at my expense, and we'll drink the sweet tea special they sent over from the local cafe that is supposedly famous in these parts."

He sighed. "I suppose you will be fine with all those checks in place. I think I'm just so worried because these guys haven't given up yet and one of them is on the loose and somewhere nearby. I only just found you again and I'm not intending to lose you but it doesn't much do me any good considering they're prepared to use guns and knives and I don't know anything about defending anyone."

She turned fully into him, ignoring the two men following them for extra protection and the fact that Dave stood in the doorway they were approaching and had been watching them and their surroundings for the last minute.

"You could always come and learn self-defence with me. Aaron insisted it was a necessity and I've continued it even knowing I'm safe from my ex. It's probably why I coped as well as I did; I feel stronger now than I have since Vincent entered my life."

He nodded agreement as he cupped her face gently. "That sounds like a good idea and a perfect way to bond with you more fully." A throat cleared behind him and he nodded again. "They're right; we should get you inside where it's safer."

But he didn't release her until he'd kissed her thoroughly and she was all but plastered to his front because she had no strength left to hold herself upright.

"Hmm, you could always come rescue me from the gossip," she said as she leaned all her weight on him. She loved the knowledge she'd gained the morning before that he was more than strong enough for her every need.

He shuddered slightly even as he grinned. "Much as I'm falling for you, you're on your own there."

She pouted slightly as she pushed back to an upright position. "Fine; just don't think I won't remember you left me unprotected with them the next time you want something."

He laughed. "I'm sure you'll live."

She tossed her head and stalked off into the room.

"Playing with fire a bit don't you think?" Sampson asked curiously.

Mirkal nodded and sighed happily. "Totally...and I'm loving every minute of it."

New Section

Emily watched the door close behind the men, feeling agitated beyond belief. She didn't like being left behind, despite the gun resting in it's holster on her hip. After biting her lip for a minute, she gave in to her fears and started moving the table beside the door to rest in front of it, ensuring the handle wouldn't turn fully. She hadn't pulled the heavy wood structure more than half a foot when Jordan arrived to help her get it into position.

"Great minds think alike," Penelope said from where she was already resting happily on one of the couches. Toby and Jack were curled up on either side of her, a hand each on her belly and a look of total fascination on their faces as they felt her baby move.

They all agreed as Jordan tugged Emily gently over to one of the other couches and sat her down. When she would have jumped straight back up, Jordan held her down firmly.

"Talk to us Em; what's going on?"

She shook her head. "I can't put it into words...something just feels wrong and I seriously don't think I'll be at ease with everything until these guys are caught. Don't mind me; all I really want at the moment is to have such hot and heavy sex that the only thing I can actually manage to do is sleep." She grimaced slightly as she realised what she'd said with two impressionable young boys in the room, but neither was paying them any attention so with a slight shrug she finished with, "Barring that, I'm barely holding it together but I'll make it out the other side. I'm not intending to let these guys destroy me."

Penelope nodded. "So that leads right into my first question; what exactly did I miss last night?"

Jordan explained what had happened as she hugged Emily and stroked her hair. For her part, Emily found herself beginning to relax into the experience knowing that she was surrounded by some of her closest friends and that her man was just a phone call away.

"So anyway, Emily managed to get out of his arms and as soon as she was free, we both kind of ran for the children. I missed what happened after that beyond the fact that someone shot at someone?"

JJ nodded. "I was peering around Will's shoulder when Em got free and you all ran away from the guy. He was bringing the gun up in the general direction the girls were running in when Hotch and Derek went streaking past them towards him, guns drawn. I think Dave was the one who fired the gun once Teresa and Carrie were behind him, though I don't think he hit the guy because he took off running immediately and didn't look wounded. Anyway, they gave chase and somehow he got to his van and they rescued him before we could get him. The van itself had no plates that we could trace."

"So in other words we still have nothing to go on?" Teresa asked in a soft, shaky voice.

JJ moved closer to her on one side and Carrie hugged her from the other side. "We know these guys are stupid and that is something we weren't completely sure of before."

Both Emily and Teresa laughed at that and some terrible, unknown tension eased out of the room.

"So who's having this famous tea?"

New Section

"Damn, the door's stuck. They must've jammed it closed."

"You said this was going to be quick Najeeb. If the doors' stuck, this is going to be anything but quick."

"It would have been quick if they hadn't done something to the door. They are very smart; they'll protect my future children well."

Malik sighed softly, rolled his eyes at his brothers' folly and pulling out a screw driver, went to work on the hinges of the door. "Keep an eye out for anyone arriving or coming up the stairs. If we're spotted at any moment, we abandon this plan and you go home and accept that you'll only have one wife this rotation. They already know what our faces look like; they don't need to be catching us as well."

Najeeb nodded, but didn't answer as he smiled in anticipation of being with her again.

Soon my love, you will belong to me and you won't ever want another again.

New Section

Aaron exited the car even before he'd fully parked the vehicle. He'd almost missed his alarm informing him Emily was due to phone him the first time. But he hadn't missed the fact that she hadn't called and neither had any of the other ladies. They'd all been trying to get through but had been unsuccessful, fuelling a full-fledged panic attack the went like wildfire through the entire group.

He knew his wife was struggling with everything that had occurred over the last while and that she was far more fragile than anyone could imagine. Then adding her health into the equation and he could barely breathe through the terror roaring through his veins. And thinking about the children they'd left with their ladies wasn't helping anyone in the slightest.

He was aware that they were all right behind him as he bolted towards the door he could clearly see was off its hinges and to the side of the opening. In that moment, he didn't care that he could get shot the second he went through the door; all he could see was the nightmares his unknowing brain was feeding to his consciousness.

He cleared the entrance fast, gun extended and his brain working a mile a minute to process everything he was seeing even as he prayed they weren't too late.

New Section

"That was too close Najeeb. You need to be happy with what we've got now. No more looking even for the rest of your allotted month; this is it. As it is, dad'll skin us alive for all the trouble we've gotten into."

"Only if you promise not to hurt them," Najeeb said, focusing on the first and ignoring the last. "I know you're mad at them for getting away from us, but you need to leave it to the priests to perform the Rites properly. You have to promise me that you'll leave them alone."

Malik sighed. "I can't just leave it alone, but I do promise not to kill them. I might bruise them up a bit, but I promise not to leave any permanent marks."

Najeeb sighed and turned away from his brother to look at the beautiful women sleeping in the back of the van.

"I suppose that will just have to be good enough."

End-

A/N: Now we're really getting into it...did you like learning more about the unsubs? You'll be really well educated about them shortly, I promise.

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