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 Seventeen

He gently lowers her to the ground, trying not to exacerbate the already deadly looking wound. It's not as bad as it looks. He hasn't really dealt with vampire first aid before, but he knows that they heal faster than most other species, the older ones especially. He doesn't know how old Emily Prentiss is, but she's old enough to walk in the sunlight without burning to a crisp.

One eye still on his unconscious colleague, he opens the trunk and lets out a breath. He knows that some people keep things in their car for emergency situations – blankets, spare clothes, food and the like – but this is more than he's ever seen. There's the expected tool box and first aid kit, the aforementioned blankets, spare clothes and food, but there's also what looks like half an armory in there. Guns and ammunition (silver and otherwise), wooden stakes, vials of holy water, even a sword tucked away at the back. It seems almost logical, since she's ostracized by most of the vampire population, but he's not so sure that there isn't another motivation behind her vigilance.

He puts the first aid kit on the ground beside her still form. One of the half a dozen tiny white packages in there will speed up the healing process, though at the expense of most conscious functioning. It's almost a good thing, then, that she's already unconscious.

He realizes quickly that he'll need to put the healing pack to skin for the magic to work as intended, and his fingers go to the buttons of her shirt. She might be upset that he had undressed her while she was unconscious, but at least she won't be dead.

The first thing that catches his eye as he slips the blood-stained blouse isn't the still bleeding wound, or the black, silken bra. It's the scar. It's not big by any means - a small cross on her right shoulder blade – but it's red, and raw, even though he can tell that it's an old wound. Her body jerks slightly when he brushes his fingers across it in wonder. He reminds himself to ask her about it later.

He straps the healing pack across the still-bleeding wound, a few sparks flashing as the magic starts to work on the wound. In conjunction with her body's natural healing processes, it shouldn't take much longer than a few hours for the wound to repair, but she'll be out of it until the next morning at least. The pain will stick around for a little longer, though. Magic isn't without its side effects.

It doesn't seem right to leave her looking so bare, though, so he pulls a blanket from the trunk, and tucks it around her. He doesn't want to violate her privacy any more than he already has.

She's not that heavy – not to him – and it takes little effort to lift her from the ground. The passenger's side seatbelt locks in with an audible click. With their still healing prisoner in the back seat, the first stop will have to be at FBI headquarters. He can't very well be carting around an incapacitated vampire in his unconscious colleague's car, prisoner or no. He'll have to come back later anyway to pick up his bike, providing no enterprising thief knocks it off in the meantime.

He shifts the car into first gear, idling noting that the clutch is a lot smoother than most other cars that he's driven.

He drives as fast as the speed limits allow. There are no portable sirens in the car, and the distraction of being pulled over isn't one he wants to deal with. All he wants is for the vamp in the back seat to regain consciousness so he can explain why he killed fourteen werewolves. Though he wouldn't mind asking Emily why she found it necessary to let herself take a knife wound for him. Pragmatically speaking, it makes sense – the wound that wounded her probably would have killed him – but he'd still like to hear it in her words.

As he drives through the familiar streets, his eyes constantly jerking between the road, the back seat, and the passenger's seat, it doesn't really occur to him just how much has changed in the last twelve hours.

***

The parking garage is still relatively full; the vehicles of workaholics, vampires and people that don't sleep. Morgan parks as close to the elevators as he can, earning a strange look from a departing agent as he hoists the vampire out of his back seat.

He stops, briefly pondering how he's going to work this. He settles on carrying Emily over his shoulder, and dragging the other vamp behind him. Technically speaking, it's not the most practical way to do things, but Morgan would be lying if he said he didn't want to inflict as much pain as possible on the man in their custody.

The elevator dings at the fifth floor, and Morgan exits, turning to the left. The holding cells are down this end of the hall, along with the interrogation rooms and the medical office.

'Interesting night?' the agent at the desk – Harris, his badge says - asks him, looking up from his copy of Magic Monthly.

Morgan looks down at his blood-stained clothes. He knows the kinds of things that go on in this building. His appearance is probably fairly low on the list of interesting things going on tonight. He hears a loud screech from one of the holding cells, only giving evidence to his suspicions.

'One for the cells,' he says, which doesn't really answer the question. 'Neutralized vamp with spell bands. Still healing. Name unknown. Suspected for murder and attacking a federal agent.' He signs and dates the proffered form, marking it with a bloody handprint.

'We'll give you a buzz when he's ready for interrogation,' Harris says, relieving Morgan of his burden. 'I'll get someone from med to give him a look-over.'

He watches for a few seconds as the vampire is thrown into a cell, an event that is accompanied by a second screech and a blinding flash of light.

Harris shrugs. 'She's harmless. Mr. Vampire there might have a splitting headache in the morning, but that's about it.'

Morgan doesn't complain. He instead adjusts his hold on Emily, so that he's carrying her bridal style. She doesn't even stir, which he takes to be a good sign. If she wakes up now, she'll be in a world of pain.

He sets off to find Hotch.

***

Hotch is reading a file diligently when a dark shadow blocks the light from the hallway. He looks up to ask what his visitor wants, but is momentarily at a loss for words. Morgan's standing there, with an unresponsive Prentiss in his arms, blood staining both of them.

There's a beat.

'You killed her already?'

Morgan's mouth opens in shock. 'No, we were ambushed.'

Hotch raises an eyebrow. Apparently there have been some developments, and not just where the case is concerned. Morgan looks almost indignant at the suggestion that he might have harmed the woman he was so recently hell-bent on getting rid of.

'I went back to the Sanctuary,' Morgan reveals, and Hotch is unsurprised. While Morgan isn't a particularly dedicated member of the pack, he is still taking this one personally. 'She was already there. We checked out the scene, and we got attacked. By a vampire with a silver knife.'

Hotch is slightly skeptical. Silver knives aren't so uncommon. But then, a vampire with a silver knife at a restricted crime scene is a little suspicious.

'She saved my life,' he adds quietly, as if he's almost afraid of admitting it.

Hotch keeps his face free from expression. 'The vampire's in holding?' he asks.

'Yeah. His neck is snapped, but that should heal soon enough.' There's venom in his voice, as if he doesn't really want the guy to wake up. 'We can interrogate him when he can talk without screaming in pain.'

Hotch nods. 'Okay. You two need rest. There are probably a couple of spare beds in med. Get a few hours sleep.' He's reluctant to let Morgan leave; the chances are high that some form of vigilantism would be involved. 'Make sure she gets looked at.' Hotch is appealing to the 'wolf's protective nature. This way, at least, he knows Morgan will stay by Prentiss' side instead of going out and getting himself killed.

'You should get some rest too, Hotch,' Morgan suggests.

Hotch nods again, but he has no intention of sleeping.