The final chapter is up. Dave and Em are at a cross road in their lives and relationship. Will everything Dave confessed to Em be enough to change her mind? Will Em finally recognize the love standing before her? This chapter is a little long, but it wraps everything up. I hope you all enjoy. Oh, and for once, Em gets the last word.
I don't own Criminal Minds
Do It For Love
"Godspeed to you and your husband, Em. May your lives be blessed…always." Walking briskly to the door, he yanked it open. As he stepped over the threshold, Em spoke up.
"Dave, don't go."
Emily's words hung in the air. Stopping dead in his tracks, Dave took two deep breaths, released, then he turned around.
"What did you say?" he asked as he tried to read her expression. Something was wrong. Something he hadn't caught earlier because he had been too caught up in trying to cleanse his conscience before he let her go.
"I said, don't go."
Dave stepped back inside and closed the door. "Emily, what's wrong?" He had seen that lost, withdrawn look before. What ever had happened in her could not be a good thing for either of them. He started forward but stopped. That invisible wall was going up and if he wanted to be on the other side, he couldn't do anything to jeopardize the moment.
Em watched Dave. Her world was upside down. Everything she thought she knew was wrong. Hearing Dave confess his soul to her only added to her confusion. There were a hundred questions she wanted to ask him, but where to start?
Taking a shuddered breath, she leveled an unblinking gaze at the man who save or sacrifice her. "I need to ask you a question and I need you to tell me the truth."
Dave knew that tone. "I have never lied to you before, and I'll be damned if I start now."
"Who sent you?"
"I'm not following you."
"Here. Did the Ambassador- my mother- send you in here? Or was it JJ?"
"Em, no one 'sent' me." Dave watched her every move, her every facial expression. "I hadn't planned on coming here today. Why do you think I didn't respond to the invitation? This is the last place on earth I want to be. I told myself that I would rather walk thru the fiery pit of hell than be here. But this morning when I went to get my morning paper, I found myself here- inside the church, tucked in a corner away from everyone- wondering what sin I had committed to put myself thru this torture."
Dave shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and took a deep breath. "The Ambassador found me and wanted to know why I was here. Why I was putting myself through the agony of watching you get married…and I had no answer for her. Nor for myself. She was honest with me, so I decided to be honest with you. And that is the truth. Why?"
Without a word, Em walked over to the cream colored papers lying on the floor, picked them up, and then handed them to Dave. Looking at her, he had a moment of confusion before he started reading. As the meaning of the words dawned on him, Dave began to understand, and then he got angry.
"Em…I don't know what to say," he offered.
"As long as it isn't 'I'm sorry', there is a chance you can walk out of here alive."
Dave's eyes softened. "If I said I'm sorry, I would be lying. And seeing that I am in a church, that might not be my wisest move." He scanned the words again. "Honestly, I'm not sorry."
Emily was taken aback by his words. "The worst day of my life and you're happy?"
"Yes."
"Are you insane?"
He shrugged. "The term has been applied to me on more than one occasion, so it's possible."
"I've been jilted. And you're happy," Em cried, her voice strained with unshed tears.
"Yes."
"He left me because I was stupid."
"You were honest," Dave corrected.
"I should have never said anything; he wouldn't have been the wiser."
"You could have lived with that?"
"Yes."
"Pardon my French while in the sanctity of a church, but bullshit. You live for honesty and you give what you expect in return. You didn't lose him because you told the truth; he lost you because he couldn't handle the truth. He didn't want to. You were honest with him. And instead of affording you the same courtesy, he leaves you a pathetic letter making it your fault."
"I wish I hadn't said anything."
"But you did, and I applaud you." Dave moved in closer. "If you hadn't, I would have walked out of the church and out of your life for good. Now I have a reason to stay and fight."
"Dave…."
"Do you want this Todd guy back? Honestly? Because if you do, I'll go get him and I will change his mind. I will do everything in my power to bring him back. Say the word, Em. Your wish is my command," he growled.
Em's eyebrows came together in confusion. "You would do that for me?" Dave nodded. "Why?"
"Because this is your day and you deserve to be happy." Em searched his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth. "So, just say the word, and I'll bring him back."
She weighed her options and Dave's offer. Biting her lip, she shook her head. "No. That's alright. What's meant to be is." She reached out and cupped his cheek. "That was very kind of you to offer, but I don't want a man to feel obligated to do the right thing."
Taking a shuddered breath, Em ran a hand over her forehead. A tremendous headache was threatening to overwhelm her and she had yet to announce to the crowd - and her mother- that the wedding was off. Wiping a stray tear from her cheek, she attempted a weak smile.
"Thanks for coming by, Dave; maybe the Ambassador will be able to salvage the reception into something memorable…hopefully it won't be at my expense." She stepped around him and walked to the door.
Dave felt his heart race and his mouth went dry. It was like déjà vu. She was leaving his life for the second time. Stop her, Dave! His mind screamed. You wanted a second chance? Here it is. Stop her!
"Marry me."
Em stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, she turned around to face Dave. "What did you say?" she asked carefully.
Dave took a couple steps forward to be right in front of her so he could read her eyes. "Marry me," he repeated.
"Why?"
"Why not? But if want the truth, here it is: you're ready, the church is ready, the guests are here, everyone is expecting a wedding, so why let them down? But most importantly, he isn't here, and I am." He cupped her face and slowly stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Your mother's last comment before I came in here was that no matter what decision I made, she was going to be stuck paying for a wedding."
Anger darted across Em's features. "Are you saying that you asked me to marry you to save my mother's reputation?"
"Hell no," Dave growled. "I'm asking you to marry me because: one, I'm an opportunistic bastard, and two, I love you. I won't leave you, Emily. You confided your deepest darkest secret to me, and I didn't run. I've seen you at your best and your worst, and I didn't run. I don't run."
"Someday you might."
"Someday I might win the lottery, but I'm not going to worry about someday. Right now- this moment -is more important to me than someday. I'm asking you, Emily Prentiss: Marry me, please."
Em shook her head. "It wouldn't legal in the eyes of the law."
"It will be in the eyes of God," Dave corrected.
"It might not work."
"I followed everything by the book for my last three marriages, and they didn't work. Maybe doing it ass backwards will break the curse."
"What do you mean?"
"We have the wedding, then the honeymoon, and then we get married." Dave licked his lips. "That way if it doesn't work out, at least we had the honeymoon."
"There's a no fraternization policy at the FBI."
"You resigned," he reminded gently. Watching her eyes flick downward, he lifted her chin. "You're out of options, Em. Now I need an answer."
Silence filled the air for a long moment and Dave swore he could hear his heart pounding. Holding his breath, he watched Em's face for something, anything.
"Yes."
Dave blinked. "What?"
"Yes. I'll marry you. The Ambassador might have a stroke, but what the hell, it is my day."
"You said hell in a church," he reprimanded.
Em's eyes shone with tears. "Corrupting me even before we're married?"
"You think you're corrupted now? Wait until we're married," Dave growled as his mouth covered hers in a hunger filled kiss. He had waited too many years to feel her lips against his and now that he had her, he was taking it all. Parting her lips, he searched her tongue out with his and nearly died as she touched him. Pulling her close, he deepened the kiss.
Caught up in one another, neither heard the door open, but they heard the gasp.
"Oh my god! Em!" JJ gasped as it dawned on her that her best friend, the bride, was kissing David Rossi in the middle of the dressing room.
"Hi, Jayje," Em greeted, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
"Not to sound rude, but why are you kissing Dave, and where is Todd?"
"Todd decided not to show up today," Dave remarked as he pulled Emily closer. He thrust the papers toward JJ, who took them and read them quickly.
"Does this mean the wedding is off?" JJ asked, as she scanned the note again.
"The wedding is still on, but the groom is going to be different," Dave remarked. "Jen, do me a favour and go get the team and the Ambassador. We only have a few minutes to do this, and I want to make sure it goes off without a hitch."
"Are you sure?" The cool blonde cast a skeptical look at her friends.
Dave cocked his head. "Yes. But don't hurry back too quickly because I still have to convince the bride she made the right choice."
JJ closed the door behind her.
Em smiled lovingly at Dave. "You don't have to convince me that I made the right choice."
"Then consider this 'sealing the deal' then," Dave replied and kissed her again.
*********
The crowd in the church was considerably smaller as Dave, Hotch, Morgan, and Reid took their place at the end of the aisle.
Johan Pachelbel's Canon in D filled the sanctuary as Em walked down the aisle on the arm of her father. Dave had been adamant that he didn't want the wedding march. Other than wanting Emily to marry him, it had been his only request, so it was honoured.
It had been a quick conversation between Dave and Hotch as the younger agent tried to reason with his friend. Once Dave filled the guys in, the attitude had gone from talking Dave out of the crazy tree to hunting Todd down. Reminding the team that it was still Emily's day, Dave got Morgan calmed down as JJ and Pen situated everything else.
Now he stood at the altar, his three friends standing beside him, while he waited for the woman of his dreams. As she walked up to him, he took her hand in his and felt his heart fall.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony," the priest announced dramatically. "If any one has just cause why these two should not be joined, speak now or forever hold your peace." Dead quiet filled the room before the priest continued. Turning to Dave, he started to speak but was interrupted.
"I, David Anthony Rossi, vow to love, honour, and cherish, Emily Marie Prentiss in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, through the best and worst of what life has to offer, from this day forward until death does us part," Dave spoke to his bride.
The priest, speechless, looked helplessly at Em, and then Dave. Hotch cleared his throat and whispered, "It's alright; he's done this three times before."
Casting a bewildered look at the motley crew standing before him, he nodded and continued. "And do you, Emily Marie Prentiss, vow to love, honour, and cherish…" He looked at his note, "...David Anthony Rossi and all that he vowed unto you?"
"I do," Em confirmed.
"In lieu of the rings, I would like to give a blessing. Today, God Himself has brought together David and Emily to celebrate their love in front of their friends and family. Their love for one another has overcome obstacles of every kind to lead them here today." Looking at the couple standing before him, he made the sign of the cross. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I declare you husband and wife. What God has brought together, let no man bring asunder. David, you may kiss your bride."
Lifting the veil, Dave caught his breath. "Tell me those stars in your eyes are for me," he whispered.
"They are," Emily confirmed. "Now kiss me."
And Dave did.