Title:
Power
Play
Rating:
R
Fandom:
Criminal
Minds
Universe:
Creatures
of the Night (Part 1)
Pairing:
Morgan/Prentiss;
JJ/Hotch
Genre:
Supernatural/Drama
Summary:
Tensions
are running high when a vampire joins the BAU, but all differences
must be put aside as the team investigate a series of suspicious
werewolf murders. AU.
Author's
Notes: Betaed
by Windy City Dreamer.
Chapter Sixteen
Emily feels the burning pain in her abdomen before she sees the knife. It's enough to tell her what's happened; she's been stabbed enough in her life to remember how it feels. She comes to her senses quickly enough to swat Morgan's hand away before he can get near the wound.
'Are you fucking stupid?' she seethes, remembering too late that injury has always been accompanied by acerbic insults on her part. There's a look on his face that's part hurt, part anger. 'It's silver,' she reminds him, her own hands feeling for the object that is impeding further healing. Her hands are sticky with blood before she finds it, the handle cold against her skin. Shaking fingers grasp the protrusion, teeth gritted. No matter how fast she heals, it always seems to hurt like hell.
She lets out an involuntary whimper as the knife jerks free. Immediately, Morgan's hands are pressed up against the wound. Already, the flesh is starting to knit itself back together, and it's a matter of making sure she doesn't die of blood loss first.
'Have you got a first aid kit in your car?' he asks, dark eyes filled with worry. He came here on his motorcycle, she remembers. Not much room for gauze and magic-infused healing packs.
'Yeah.' She sits up slowly, her stomach twisting in pain.
'Lay down,' he insists. 'You're making it worse.'
'I'm fine,' she tells him through gritted teeth, which is nothing more than a bald-faced lie. It's not the worst pain she's ever been in, but that's not to say it's a walk in the park. 'We need to get to the car, and Wonder Boy here isn't going to be walking in his condition.'
He looks at the vamp that tried to kill them, or, more accurately, at the neck Emily had snapped just moments ago. He isn't dead, though. Healing will just take a while; maybe a day. Much longer than her own healing will take.
'You can walk?' he asks, voice uncertain. It's his abhorrence of vampires jostling against the fact that he doesn't hate her as much as he'd like to think.
'Yeah,' Emily chokes out, and though she's trying to keep the pain out of her voice, she's pretty sure he knows she's lying. In any case, she accepts his help standing, and doesn't protest when he puts her arm around his shoulder. The other hand is still pressed to the wound, in lieu of a bandage. It's not much, but it will suffice until they make it to the car.
Instead of leaving their incapacitated prisoner there, and making two trips, Morgan picks up the unconscious vampire by the scruff of his neck, and hoists him into a fireman's lift. She gets the feeling that the 'wolf doesn't want to stick around longer than is necessary.
'Now you're sure I don't need to carry you too?' he asks, something in his voice suggesting that he'd probably prefer it that way.
'I'm sure,' she assures him, but almost regrets it when they take their first step, and the pain shoots through her torso. If she were jacked up on human blood, this would be nothing. A mere flesh wound. Even with the excess nourishment in her system from earlier in the day, she thinks she'll probably need a booster before the night is through.
And the sad thing is, it isn't the worst first day she's had. All things considered, it had gone pretty well. Hotch will probably come around, and Morgan hasn't left her for dead, both of which are good signs, in her book. It's her reasons for being on the team that bother her. She doesn't exactly top the promotion list, especially not when the prestigious Behavioral Analysis Unit is involved. She can think of at least a dozen vamps that are in actually in the good books of the higher ups, and are pretty good at their jobs. Maybe they sent her here to get stabbed by a vamp hell-bent on killing. She wouldn't put it past them.
When they get to the car, she pulls her keys from her pocket with bloody fingers and hands them to Morgan. Clutching onto him is all she can do to stop herself from collapsing in agony.
He tosses the cuffed vamp into the back seat of the car, not really caring if doing so breaks a few more of his bones. Hell, she's silently approving of the force that he's using, even if the vamp won't feel it until later, and even though it means she may have to dish out the cost to reupholster the back seat.
'Trunk,' she tells him, using as few words as possible. Her arm unhooks from his shoulder, and she almost drops to ground before he catches her.
'Careful there.' His words are like honey; thick, heavy, and sweet. They're also the last thing she hears before she passes out.