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 Forty
He wakes to the smell of burning.
It's a little past 7am, which means he's human, and completely naked. Even without the extra sensitivity of his wolf-form nose, he can tell that the burning is definitely coming from his kitchen.
Immediately, his thoughts go to the worst possible scenario. Is their unsub targeting him now? Has the M.O. changed? Whoever the unsub is, they'd be forced to deal with Emily as well, which means that a silver knife isn't exactly going to cut it. Fire is an equal opportunities offender.
Emily.
Shit. She's not in the bedroom, which means that she's in the attached living area, which means if there's someone trying to attack them, then they've gotten to her already.
He grabs his gun from the bedside table, and, without a second thought about his state of dress, he rushes out there, ready to put a bullet into whoever's trying to kill them.
'Fuck!'
It's Emily's voice, and she sounds panicked. He rounds the corner, almost dropping his gun in surprise.
The stove's on fire, and she's attempting – with little success – to put the fire out. He realizes at this point that he never quite remembered to hang that fire blanket where it's supposed to go. It's still sitting in one of the kitchen drawers, underneath a pile of dish towels.
He jerks the drawer open, digging through the dish towels until he finds the bright red package. The package tears when he rips it open with a little more force than necessary, but he doesn't really care about that.
The magic-infused blanket kicks into gear as soon as it hits the flames, sorcery and chemistry working together to put the fire out. He pulls Emily back, out of protective instinct, rather than any immediate danger.
'Fuck,' she says again, and this time her voice is softer, and a little shaky. 'I swear, that stove is fucking possessed or something.'
'It, ah…it takes a little getting used to,' he says, unsure of whether he should be amused, angry, relieved, or some bizarre combination of the three. He settles on amused, because, the events of the past few days considered, it's got an edge of dark humor to it.
'You said you liked steaks.' Her voice is steady now, but she hasn't pulled away from him.
'What?'
'Yesterday, at the Lamia outpost, you said you liked half a dozen steaks the morning after the full moon.' There's a beat of silence. 'I hope you like them well done.'
He shakes with silent laughter. 'There's a diner I usually go to on the way back from the Sanctuary. It's not far from here.' He kisses the top of her head softly. 'Would you like to join me for breakfast?'
'That'd be nice,' she says. Her hands touch the fabric of her shirt – it's actually his shirt, but she's the one wearing it – and she adds, 'I may need to borrow some clothes, though.'
He's almost about to ask why before he remembers rendering both her shirt and pants nigh unwearable during their antics yesterday.
It takes ten minutes of searching through his closet to find something that will both fit her, and not make it painfully obvious that she is wearing his clothes.
She drives them the half-dozen blocks to the diner, because, though it hadn't exactly been an active full moon, shifting still hurts like a bitch, and he'll be sore for the next twelve hours at least. Emily's limping a little bit as well; he doesn't say anything, but feels the slightest surge of pride.
They take a booth near the back, their waitress at the table immediately. Morgan tips her a wink; Astrid works most post-full moon shifts, and doesn't need to ask him what his order is going to be. She looks a little curious about his company, but it's not a malicious curiosity.
'Pancakes, please,' Emily says, without even looking at the menu. 'With peanut butter if you have it, but if not, maple and blueberries is fine. Small rat's blood, to drink.' She hands over her DHHS I.D, without which no vendor can legally sell her blood. Astrid takes a quick look at the card, and jots the ID number down at the bottom of the pad. The system's designed to keep track of how much blood each vampire is consuming, but of course, the system doesn't really always work like it's supposed to. There are always people breaking the rules.
While they're waiting on their order, Morgan lets his gaze wander. The headline of the newspaper on the stand by the door catches his eye. He hadn't noticed it on their way in, but now the big black letters seem to burn into his retina.
SENATOR QUESTIONED IN WEREWOLF MURDERS.
Shit.
JJ and Hotch had questioned Owens last night – how the press had managed to find that out, he's not so sure. He digs in his pocket for change with which to buy the paper.
'Shit.' Emily expresses the same sentiment when he shows her. 'This is bad.'
'We need to get back to into work,' Morgan agrees. He moves to get up, but Emily stops him.
'No,' she says firmly. 'No way. You didn't even have the strength to walk six blocks. Morgan, you can't come in.'
'You and I both know what will happen if this comes to a head. A vampire politician implicated in fourteen werewolf murders. There'll be uprisings. There'll be gang violence. We need as many people as possible to make sure this doesn't blow up in everybody's faces.'
'Fine,' she says, arms crossing over her chest. 'But if Hotch asks, I had absolutely nothing to do with your decision.' She pauses. 'And we're not skipping breakfast.'