Heal Me

Sometimes, to fix the broken, you have to break the rules.

. . .

Chapter 1

Emily bit her lip as he stared dumbfounded at her. This was not going as she'd hoped. She'd expected rage, hurt or even happiness. But nothing could have prepared her for the silence that was hanging between them, a dead weight pulling her down beneath its surface. A cold hand was twisting around her heart, forcing a lump into her throat. Don't cry, she thought desperately.

"You're dead" Rossi breathed.

It was kind of sad really. How had Emily fallen for David Rossi, serial womaniser and legendary profiler? Simple really. He was different to any of the other men she had ever dated. He was the kind of man that made Emily strive to be better than what she was. Be a better person, better woman, better profiler. But no matter how hard she tried she never seemed to make edgeways with him. He just treated her like everyone else.

Hell, he probably saw her as a daughter figure.

"That's the beauty of having bricks in your coffin" Emily said and cocked her head to one side.

Rossi rubbed at his eyes with one hand and placed the other hand on his hip. "How?" he asked.

"Could we have this conversation inside? It's not really advisable for me to be in plain sight"

Rossi's eyes flew around the abandoned hallway and then travelled back to her face. He nodded and in a fluid movement, caught up his fallen book and led the way into his apartment. Emily took a moment to observe Rossi's home. It was modern, but it wasn't lived in so to speak. But then all of their houses would be like this. Moments in their own houses were few and far between. Every waking moment was spent either at the office or out of state.

"Care to explain?" Rossi asked abruptly.

Emily noticed he was pouring himself a shot. She sighed. "Which bit Rossi?" she asked tiredly.

"Try every fucking thing!" he snapped and turned to face her, leaning against his scotch cabinet.

Emily recoiled as though he had slapped her across the face. An angry David Rossi was not one she liked to contend with. She had only seen it a handful of times, usually pitted against unsubs but this rage – God it was scary. And it was directed at her. Rossi sighed and rubbed at his temples.

"Have you seen the others?" he asked gently.

Emily straightened. "No" she said. "And I probably won't"

Rossi's expression darkened. "Why?"

"As of five am tomorrow I enter into the US witness protection program" Emily explained, and tucked her hands into her pockets. "Seeing them could put my new life in jeopardy"

"Then why are you here?" Rossi demanded and slammed his glass down.

Emily looked at him steadily. She sighed and leant against his kitchen counter, placing her head in her hands. She felt tears threatening to fall again. Damn.

"You need to know the whole story first" she whispered.

"I already know it" he said harshly "You overstepped the boundaries Prentiss. With Doyle of all people!"

Emily stiffened at his use of her last name. He truly did not feel anything for her. It made her heart swan dive into her feet.

"I did it for my country" she argued tiredly.

"I do a lot of things for my country but jumping into bed with a convicted criminal is not one of them" Rossi snapped.

"God Dave!" she cried. "What do you want me to say? That I regret it?"

"I want an explanation!" he retorted "Why did you do it? Why couldn't you trust us? Why couldn't you trust me? Do any of us mean anything to you at all!"

"You mean everything to me!" she said. "All of you – you're the reason I didn't run earlier! This team is the reason I get up each and every morning!"

"Hell of a way to show it" Rossi deadpanned and turned away from her.

Emily stepped towards him, and reached out a shaking hand to him. Her fingers grazed the back of his business shirt and she hesitated. Where could she start? The beginning was logical, yet the mere idea of explaining everything was terrifying. The rejection that could come from it was horrifying.

"Dave – he meant nothing to me. He doesn't mean anything to me now. He's the reason I'm dead to the people I care about the most" she whispered to his back. "I did it to protect Declan. He was the closest thing I had to a child"

"Yet you couldn't trust us with this?" Rossi whispered back.

"You tell me" she breathed. He turned to her, confused. She gave him a weak, but knowing smile. "How did Morgan react when he found out about me and Doyle?"

Rossi opened his mouth to answer, thought about it for a second and shut it just as quickly. Emily laughed weakly and turned away from him, hugging her arms around herself. She was right. Morgan was all about honour and integrity. Her sleeping with Doyle must have made him question everything he knew and felt about her.

"Exactly" she whispered to Rossi.

Rossi shook his head. "I still don't get why you're here. Of all places" he said.

Emily raised an eyebrow. "Where did you think I'd go?"

He paused, unsure. "Hotch's" he admitted.

She burst into laughter then. Rossi stared at her, a hint of frustration on his features.

"Dave – you obviously don't know me that well" she said softly. "Hotch is my boss"

"And I see you making eyes at him all the time" Rossi countered swiftly.

Emily's mouth fell open. She could feel bile burning at her throat and she swallowed, fighting back the desperate urge. She turned to face him, holding herself rigid, protecting herself from the repercussions that she knew were headed for her. A train with no brakes, moving at over a thousand kilometres an hour.

"You are blind" Emily noted. "Hotch is a friend, a colleague. I feel nothing for him"

Rossi let out a harsh, almost bark like laugh. "Nice one Prentiss – for a moment there you almost had me fooled" he said.

Emily reeled like something had smacked her in the stomach. He thought she was lying. Did he even know how much it was hurting her to have him make such assumptions about her? Or how much it would kill her to leave him behind in less than a few short hours? She felt tears fighting their way to the surface again. This time, she let them fall.

"Fuck you Dave Rossi" she whispered. She backed away from him. "Now I know that coming here was a mistake. Just – go fuck yourself"

Rossi's expression darkened. "I'm not the one who's lying to themselves" he sniped.

"You know if you actually opened your fucking eyes Dave you might actually notice that I have feelings for you!" Emily shouted.

Silence reigned within the flat for a moment. Rossi's mouth fell open and Emily clapped a hand to her own, shocked that those words had left her mouth. This was not how she had planned to tell him. And now – it was all fucked.

"Emily" Rossi muttered.

She shook her head, feeling it weighed down with emotion. "You don't even fucking care" she whispered. "I'm going to leave now – and you can just forget I was ever here. Just like the rest of them will"

"You really think they'd forget you?" he asked.

"I don't think I know" she replied "I've hurt them – it'll be easier for them to forget rather than forgive"

Rossi shook his head and moved towards her so they were less than three feet away from each other. Emily could see now that his hands were shaking and his eyes were shining. Slowly he took a deep breath and she closed her eyes, bracing for the rejection.

"You're wrong"

Emily's eyes shot open. "Excuse me?"

"I do, as you so eloquently put it, fucking care" he snapped, stepping to her and staring down into her face. "Why do you think I'm so fucking angry at you?"

"Because I didn't tell you?"

He chuckled darkly. "Well that but also – God Emily – you jumped into bed with Doyle!" he said.

"Jealous?" she asked incredulously.

"How could I not be? And then he had to turn around and come after you" he whispered, sounding much like a broken man as Hotch did at Hayley's funeral.

"I –"

"The day he-" Rossi trailed off, trying to compose himself. "Killed you, I promised myself I would find you and spend the rest of my life protecting you"

Emily reached out and trailed her fingers down his cheek. "I'm not dead yet Dave" she whispered.

"Don't say that" he pleaded "Don't say yet. He will not win Emily"

Emily smiled sadly at him. "That's the general plan" she replied.

Then, soft as a passing butterfly, Rossi pulled her to him, and kissed her lips. A sweet bliss that sent Emily's world spiralling upwards, the best kind of rollercoaster. Her arms encircled around his neck as his arms came around to caress her waist gently.

She ran her fingers down to the buttons on his dress shirt and slowly, delicately, began to undo each one. He shrugged out of the restraint and it fluttered to the floor, light as a feather. They stumbled down the hall and Rossi, fired up, pushed Emily against the wall. She gasped as they continued to kiss deeply.

His hands began to travel up underneath her shirt, sending shivers all over her skin. He freed one of his hands and opened the shirt and she pulled it off, still locked against his lips. Her mind was not in this anymore, all that mattered was her heart and body. Rossi grabbed her hand and, still kissing her thoroughly, led the way down to the bedroom where he laid her down on the soft bed. His fingers moved behind her and unclipped her bra. As it came free she inhaled slightly at the coolness of the air.

Emily fumbled with his belt and fly, removing them as quickly as she could. Her hands were shaking, anticipation and love building inside her. As she removed his pants Rossi removed hers. Then, as he loved her, Emily held tight onto his back in order to never lose the man that was making her feel so much emotion.

. . .

Author Note:

Right that's done :)
What do you guys think?
Have a gorgeous day :) xx