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. Some guest beta work from Yellow Smurf.

Chapter Thirty-Three

He holds her close with one arm, letting his free hand trace her jawline. The tears have stopped, salty drops still clinging to closed eyelashes. He kisses her again, and he can taste the salt, though it's just as likely from the sweat of their brawl as it is from the tears.

'Morgan…' she breathes as they part, pulling her lips away with a slight whimper. 'I can't…'

I can't. Not we can't.

'Tell me you don't want this,' he says huskily. While she had pulled away from the kiss, she isn't trying to escape his grasp.

'I just tried to kill you,' she chokes out. 'Doesn't that bother you?'

'You also saved my life last night. And you got us out of the castle,' he counters. 'I'd say you've broken even.'

She shakes her head, the movement brushing her hair across his shoulders. 'I don't mean just tonight. I mean doesn't it bother you that I could snap at any time. That I could taste one drop of human blood and then you'd have to deal with me all over again.' She gives him a pained look. 'You should just kill me now.'

And then everything becomes so much clearer. It all adds up. She's terrified of losing control. And she'd done exactly that to get them out of there alive.

'Emily,' he says, forcefully, but gently at the same time. 'Listen to me. Nobody is going to be killing anybody. We're not going to sit around and let you go through this alone. You're part of the team now.' Only it's not just the team that she's a part of. She's a part of the hodge-podge family that's been forged through late nights and bad coffee. Part of him thinks that he shouldn't trust her just yet; that in spite of the events of the past few days, she is still, ultimately, one of them. It's the same thought he'd had not half an hour ago, with her body pressed up against his in the small, dark cell. Right now, he can't bring himself to see her as the enemy, even if she did technically just try to kill him.

He knows that she doesn't really feel like she belongs, and in a way, it's true. She hasn't been around that long, and while she's certainly made an impression, it's going to take a lot more before she actually considers herself a part of the family.

She leans forward slightly, her lips parting. He takes the invitation with gusto, their mouths crashing together with a little more need than the first time. He feels her hands slipping down his torso, and realizes for the first time that she had destroyed his boxers in the heat of battle. He's standing naked in the middle of a forest, making out with a vampire. If anyone had revealed to him this part of his future, he would have been insulted.

They're interrupted by the sound of heavy feet crunching across the forest floor. Their retreat is a little hastier this time, as they both move into offensive stances. It takes Morgan less than a second to jump from that offensive stance, to one that provides a little more security to his more delicate body parts.

'I came to see if you'd killed each other yet,' Rossi says in an amused tone. 'If I'd known, I probably would have stayed behind and let you get on with it.'

Morgan says nothing, but under the moonlight, he knows he's flushed with a little more than just adrenaline.

Rossi slips off his long Nehru jacket, and tosses it to Morgan without another word. He shrugs it on, buttoning as quickly as his fingers will allow him. The jacket hits him at about knee height; not enough to ward off the night chill, but enough to cover the essentials.

'Thanks,' he says, hugging the jacket a little tighter. It's a reminder that they need to get out of the forest – get back to civilization. It's not just the temperature, it's the multitude of other things that could go wrong. The vampires could come looking for them. They could run into some rogue wolves. Usually the 'wolves don't hang this close to the city, but he really doesn't want to be putting that theory to the test on tonight of all nights.

They make their way back to the rest of the team, and Morgan notices that Emily's hanging back a little, as if she's still afraid that they're going to be judging her. Personally, he thinks that they'll have a lot more on their minds to be worrying about. Still, he slows down a little, and falls into step with her. It's a show of solidarity to the team, as much as it is a show of camaraderie to Emily. She gives him a small smile. Briefly, he considers what might have happened had Rossi not interrupted them so timely.

'Please stop thinking about sex so loudly.' JJ's voice comes through the trees as they approach the small clearing. He puts a block on his thoughts, mentally kicking himself.

'Sorry.'

Emily raises an eyebrow at him, but she doesn't seem as upset as she had been, which is a major plus.

They congregate in a tight group, and this time it's Reid who's standing a little way away, which is completely understandable. They're a family, and they betrayed him, even if they'd thought it for the best. This isn't a problem that's going to be fixed overnight.

'We need to get back to FBI headquarters,' says Hotch authoritatively. It's something they all know, and yet when Hotch says it, the need for action becomes so much more real. 'We need to get back, and we need to question the members of the Prentiss clan.' He pulls the sheet of paper from his jacket pocket; the consent form having miraculously survived the encounter with the vampires, which is more than can be said for any weapons or cell phones. Legally speaking, even if Elizabeth Prentiss had tried to kill them, they still have the right to question clan members without repercussion.

Morgan looks at his watch. It's almost three a.m, which means they don't have much longer until the sun rises. They don't want to still be hanging around when that happens; while it'll hold off most of the vampires that want to kill them, it definitely wouldn't be good for Emily, and quite frankly, he thinks she's been through enough crap in the past couple of days.

'If we circle around to the east, we can bypass any patrols in the area,' suggests Reid, to Morgan's surprise. 'We can call Garcia from there,' he adds.

Hotch nods. The vampire patrols are noticeably less prominent in the more neutral areas of the city. Providing there are no complications, they should be able to make it to some form of shelter before the sun rises.

Then they'll have a whole 'nother can of worms to deal with.