Reid and Prentiss

Chapter Three

October 2012

Reid waited on bated breath for phone calls from Europe from Emily, while she was off working with Clyde Easter to track down an international terrorist. The calls usually came late at night, his time, because she never knew when he might be working a case. She didn't want to interrupt his job so she tried to catch him around midnight. It made it hard for him to fall asleep before then, just in case she might call, and if he did then he found himself waking up during the night to check the time and his phone to see if there were any message from her.

She didn't call nearly enough for him. He wanted to hear from her everyday to know she was okay but he was lucky if he heard from her once every couple of weeks. Reid knew that wasn't because Emily didn't care about him enough to call more often. It was because her job had her in situation where there wasn't very good cell coverage or much time to be making calls.

He wanted her back in the BAU where he could see with his own eyes each day what kind of danger she was in and that at the end of each day she was safe. But what he wanted wasn't going to happen until she caught the terrorist that she had set her sights on.

Often he thought of the night they had shared together right before she left for this assignment- the feel of her slick, smooth, soft body gliding and grinding against his- and it left him aching for her even more. Not just so they could have sex, though, so that he could be near this woman who knew all of him and wanted him that much.

He had no desire to look twice at another woman now. Not when he knew what it was like to be with Emily.

When his cell phone rang at 2:33 pm with her name on the screen, Reid's heart jumped into his throat. He figured that it would either be really good news- she caught the suspect and was on her way back home- or bad news, and he didn't even want to imagine what the bad news could be.

Quickly he snatched his phone off the table at the police station and answered. "Emily?"

"No, it's Clyde..." a heavy sigh.

Goosebumps spread over Reid as his eyes slowly closed. "Is she...?"

"Hurt, yes. She's in hospital here in Prague. They're waiting to do surgery on her back once the swelling goes down."

"Was she shot?"

"Fell out a window a couple of flights up. I'm sorry. I promised her I'd look after her. Of course she told me she would be the one looking after me." There was a pause before he continued in a strained tone "I failed her terribly. She's on painkillers but being stubborn and didn't want me to call anyone till we knew more. But I thought it would be prudent to inform you sooner rather than later. Her injuries are not life threatening but the doctors don't know, or won't say, the severity yet."

"Tell me the address where you are," Reid barked into the phone, his hand shaking as he scratched down the information.

Just then JJ walked into the room and said "We're ready to give the profile." Seeing the tense look on his face, she asked "Spence? Everything all right?"

Reid told Clyde "You make sure she knows I'm on my way," before he hung up. Looking up at JJ, he said "Emily's been injured and I need to go to her."

Then he hurried from the room to find Hotch and explain that even though they all loved Emily...Reid was in love with her and he wasn't going to allow her to go through this without him by her side.

XXXXXXXX

As he walked through the foreign hospital, the smells permeating the air started to get to him.

He remembered when his mother was first put in the mental health facility and how that place had smelled of antiseptic and misery. Usually being inside of hospitals did not make his skin crawl- he went into morgues and viewed it as a challenge to look at the body scientifically rather than emotionally- but it was entirely different when someone he loved was a patient.

He knew some Czech and most of the staff seemed to also speak English so Reid was able to communicate who he was there to see and get the directions to Emily's room. When he reached her room he found she was alone, asleep in the bed.

Walking near her, seeing her for the first time since they had hugged and kissed goodbye outside of the resort, he noticed she looked pale and had probably suffered great blood loss from smashing through the window. Her hands, arms, and throat bore abrasions and those were just the parts he could see of her. Underneath her hospital gown were surely more cuts and bruises, marring her beautiful ivory skin.

When they had made love he had noticed the skin graft over her heart. From the case file on when she took on Doyle, Reid knew that Emily had been branded by that man. But it was nothing they had every spoke about. Now she bore more scars from battle, just like everyone on their team did. She was as tough as any of them. As willing as any of them to risk the danger.

Only Reid hated it now that she had been in that sort of danger, especially without him near to look out for her.

Gently he took her hand; the action jostled her awake. Her eyes slowly focused on him and then she squeezed his hand.

"Reid..."

Tears sprang to his eyes. He dropped his head down and pressed a kiss to the top of her hand.

She whispered, groggily, "I really screwed up this time."

"No! You did your job. It's going to be okay."

She started to cry, the sound ragged and heartbreaking, growing louder and louder even though it was clear she was trying to hold it in.

"Emily, shhhhh. You must stay still," he warned her, wiping away her tears. "You would really be crying if I had brought your mother with me."

His little joke made her slightly chuckle, swallowing down her sobs.

He leaned over to nuzzle her neck. "I know you probably don't want me to be here seeing you like this but I'm very grateful Clyde called me. And I'm grateful we're more than friends now. If we were simply friends I would have to accept your stubborn statements, that I know are coming, about how you can handle this all on your own but since we are a step beyond friends I do not and will not take that for an answer."

Their eyes met and held. He could see fear and regrets swimming in hers but he knew it wasn't about them. They could never be a mistake and he would make sure she knew that, especially if she never walked again.

Because Emily would think of herself as a burden on him. Reid could never imagine seeing her that way. She was still the woman who made him feel like a complete man finally- like he was sexy, funny, worth being with and lovable. Like he could love her the way she wanted and needed.

She had made his life worthwhile by opening her heart to him. He would never allow her to push him away because of a medical condition. They were in this together, and Emily would just have to accept that it was no burden on him because he loved her.

There love was just getting started, still being tested at every turn, but Dr. Spencer Reid no longer doubted what his path should be. Now he knew. He saw his future every time he looked into her eyes.

XXXXXXXXX

December 2012

Tears welled in her eyes as he opened his Christmas present from her. "I promised myself I would not cry!" she snarked. "Damn female hormones."

"Why would you cry over a Christmas present?" he asked, unwrapping a huge box that held another box and another and another until he got down to a very small box. When he opened it he saw a set of wedding rings.

"That's why."

His eyes widened in surprise and she couldn't blame him. They had only been together seven months and she wasn't even walking again yet. She had moved back to Washington DC for physical therapy and was living in a handicap accessible apartment. Stubbornly Emily wanted to still be as independent as she could, even with her injury, so she refused to allow her mother to come stay with her and help her to recover.

The only person Emily let see her at her worse was Reid. She hated that their still new relationship was being put to this test but every moment that he was there for her through this ordeal she only fell in love with him more and more.

"I never would have guessed," he said, about the rings she had presented him, his tone awed. "No one has ever wanted me like this before." Looking into her eyes, he asked "Are you sure you want this...me?"

She reached over and stroked his cheek. "If you're sure you want this...me."

A slow smile grew on his lips and she had her answer. Nothing they had gone through was like the average dating relationship but it all brought them closer until there was not a doubt left between them that they made each other's lives better and made each other stronger.

Emily had come close to death several times in her life. With the days she had left she wanted to live this life to the fullest...with the love of her life, her Dr. Spencer Reid.

They shared a tender kiss as the lights of the Christmas tree blinked in the corner of the room. Last year they both had been without love during this holiday but next year and the year after and the year after that they would have each other.

Never again would they have to make it through this world alone. Never during their life together would another holiday have to be bittersweet and filled with lonlieness and wishes for more. Now they had all they needed in each other and it could only get stronger and better from here.

THE END