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innerslytherinTitle: Plummeting
Rating: R
Pairing: Rossi/Prentiss and Hotch/Reid
WC: 1,922
Summary: Dave barely avoids his worst fear. Spencer realizes his greatest hope. Aaron heals. Emily survives.
Note: Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
resolucidity for the beta. Spoilers for "Retaliation".
Series: The Fifth Year - a series of Season Five episode tags
1. Not So Alone, 2. Weeping Endures for a Night, 3. The Blink of an Eye, 4. Trust and Regret, 5. Something Pretty Wonderful, 6. Hope and Bourbon, 7. Shaking Things Up, 8. Cementing, 9. Life Goes On, 10. Reeling, 11. About Last Friday, 12. Past Motivations, 13. Taking the Plunge
After the horrible first impact, all Emily could think was, Please don't let me be pregnant. She hadn't told Dave it was even a possibility. She was only three days late. It was probably just the stress they'd been under lately, all the long work hours. Besides, she hadn't been completely regular since going off birth control three months ago.
Then the car tumbled to a stop and a dazzling pain burst through her skull, leaving her stunned.
Bunting was choking to death next to her while Emily tried to think. She strained for her gun, but she was trapped. She was pinned.
Please don't let me be pregnant.
Bunting was dead. Shrader was going to kill her. What if the partner helped?
Emily strained for her gun, but they were going--they were gone. She pushed out the windshield and fired after them. One, two, three shots. Three? She emptied her clip. She wanted to kill them both. He'd killed Bunting.
Her heart was pounding. Her entire body hurt.
Please don't let me be pregnant.
***
The worst moment had been when JJ said, "There's been an accident. Emily's in the hospital." Dave had literally felt his heart jump in his chest, his entire gut seize up...but he was completely frozen with fear. He'd kept the presence of mind to listen to JJ's reassurance that Morgan was with Emily. They had to focus on Shrader. Shrader was a fugitive. Again.
It didn't stop Dave from being jealous that Morgan was with her.
***
Emily kept pleading with Morgan to let her off the gurney. She wanted to go after Shrader and his partner and she urgently wanted the bathroom. She hurt all over, so there was no telling if she was having cramps, but she could feel a warmth down there that made her want to scream.
Please don't let me be pregnant.
After an accident like that, if she had been pregnant, she knew she wasn't any more. She'd been taking precautions like cutting out alcohol and lowering her caffeine intake. But there was nothing you could do to prevent a car accident. Even if it hadn't happened at work, it could have happened.
She finally quit arguing when Morgan told her she really had emptied her clip at Shrader and his partner. She was confused, she hurt all over, and she couldn't even remember clearly what had happened. Adrenaline was pumping through her body, and she finally slumped back and let them treat her. Morgan would talk to the girl and her mother.
Emily closed her eyes and prayed until they finished. Finally they let her go to the bathroom and change her clothes. The bright splash of blood on her pantyliner was unsurprising, but she gasped in relief. If it was a miscarriage, there would surely be more blood than that. This was just a normal period, coming on at the most inconvenient time.
Thank God, she thought as she crumpled her bloody, torn clothes into her bag. I wasn't pregnant.
"Focus," she whispered, staring at her black eye in the mirror. "Catch Shrader. Find his accomplice. Fall apart later."
Don't fall apart at all.
***
The second worst moment had been when JJ had handed Dave the accident photos. He knew he had to look at them objectively, but all he could see was that his fiancée had been in that car. God, they couldn't wait any longer. The minute they got home he was dragging Emily down to the courthouse to file for their marriage license. They'd stand up in front of the team and Jimmy if that was all they could manage.
He heard Hotch ask about Emily and dragged his attention back to the moment. Apparently his fiancée was arguing with the doctors. The sickness in his stomach didn't go anywhere, but Dave still had to fight a tiny smile. That sounded like Emily. It made him feel a little better intellectually, even if he knew he wouldn't feel any better until he got his arms around her.
He was still jealous of Morgan.
***
Spencer knew Dave couldn't ask about Emily. He could see the horrible strain in the older man's posture; he could well imagine the horror Dave must be feeling right now. He remembered how he had felt, working a case knowing Hotch had been attacked by Foyet. Dave would be aching to go to Emily, wanting to touch her and make sure she was all right. But he couldn't even ask about her, because they were determined not to let their relationship affect their jobs. So Aaron and Spencer asked the questions about Emily and let Dave stay focused on the case.
And when Emily showed up at the station, looking amazingly good for a woman whose car had been mangled, Spencer could see the relief go through Dave in a shudder. But Dave didn't even greet her. He just looked at her with eyes that said what was necessary, and Emily met his gaze and went on.
Spencer had always known his team was the best. He thought the way they all loved each other was part of why.
***
Finally she showed up. Already working the case, of course. Dave had never wanted to hold her more than in that moment.
***
Emily had wanted to shoot Shrader. She'd wanted to put a bullet in him for what he'd done to Bunting, let alone for revenge of her own. She wouldn't do it for herself, though, and she wouldn't do it for Bunting.
Then again, Shrader didn't exactly give her a choice.
When Muller went after her it was like being hit by a wall of fear. Even though Morgan was there right away, Emily was still shaking minutes later.
After a while she realized it was a stress reaction. She spent several moments hunched over the station's drinking fountain, letting the cold cold water run over her lips and down her throat. It didn't stop the shaking, but it settled her stomach.
Later, holding the little Muller boy in her arms, she realized the shaking had stopped.
***
If this case had happened a year ago, Aaron would have gone home worried about Emily. Despite his gratitude for Morgan's assistance, despite the way returning home to his son was comforting, he would have sat up pondering how to help her.
This year he could leave that up to Dave. This year he wasn't going home alone. He was going home with Spencer. It was a good feeling.
***
Dave poured two glasses of Eagle Rare and headed for the back deck. He found Emily smoking a cigarette. She glanced over at him, her entire body language a mixture of sore and sheepish. "I bummed it from Mrs. Otey," she admitted. "I haven't had one of these in ten years."
"You earned it," he said. He wrapped an arm around her and held the other hand in front of her to offer the whiskey. "You shouldn't mix this with painkillers, but I've heard it'll do a number on your pain."
"I'm not pregnant," Emily told him, and a horrible fear went through Dave. Why was she telling him that? She leaned back against him and took a large slug of her whiskey. "I thought maybe I was. I was three days late. But I started yesterday." She shivered. "I thought maybe the accident had made me..." She trailed off and shook her head. "But I'm not pregnant."
"It's okay," Dave said, smiling. "I like making the attempt." He brushed his lips against her ear, and abruptly his laughter turned to a horrible, heart-crushing pressure in his chest. "I thought I'd lost you," he gasped, and tightened his arm around her.
She made a surprised noise, then turned in his arms and held him as horrible, dry sobs wracked him. He'd held it together all through the case, but suddenly he could no longer ignore what had happened. The thing that he prayed against every night had almost happened.
Please don't take Emily from me. Please protect her. Whatever happens, keep her safe.
And he'd almost lost her.
***
"I missed bedtime," Spencer said, sounding unhappy about that. He'd arrived twenty minutes behind Aaron. He was still afraid of Jessica Brooks, and Aaron was respecting that, even if he was pretty sure Jess knew about them anyway. It wasn't like Jack was particularly good at keeping secrets.
"Sorry," Aaron said. "Jess kept him up for me, but he was practically asleep on the couch. I couldn't keep him up any later. But you'll be able to make your happy-face pancakes for him tomorrow."
Spencer's smile lit up his whole face. That smile still sent shivers all through Aaron when he earned it. Aaron wrapped his arms around Spencer and hugged him tightly. "Thank you for caring about my son," he whispered.
"Thank you for caring about me," Spencer whispered back.
Aaron slid his fingers into Spencer's hair and kissed him tenderly. His lips were soft and undemanding on Spencer's, but Spencer deepened the kiss, his body eager against Aaron's. Aaron felt his blood quickening in his veins and before he knew it they were in the bedroom, his lips against Spencer's bare chest while Spencer struggled with Aaron's belt.
Yes, Aaron thought. It's time.
He'd never done this with another man, but Spencer had, and Spencer was a good teacher. Their hands were all over each other as Aaron gasped in pleasure and Spencer breathed instructions.
Aaron's body was humming with desire. Spencer seemed to enjoy exploring ways to heighten that as much as Aaron did. They teased and touched and finally, finally consummated their love. As climax crashed through him, Aaron had to hold his breath to keep from crying his joy aloud. And then they were both spent, their bodies sated, their gazes alight on each other.
Aaron hadn't known such bliss in far too long a time.
Wrapped up in each other, they slipped into dreams.
***
Emily took Dave to bed when she thought the worst of his anguish was spent. She'd always known him for a passionate man, both physically and emotionally, but he'd surprised her tonight with the depth of his fear and stress. She'd held him and stroked his hair and whispered promises that she didn't think he heard. And when the storm was past, she took him to bed and used her hands and lips to make more promises, promises that she hoped he would feel.
It was slow and tender and reassuring, and he was too honestly exhausted to return the favor, but she didn't care. She wanted to take care of him tonight, and even though she enjoyed touching him and bringing him pleasure, her body wasn't really interested in receiving pleasure anyway. When he was spent, Emily wrapped herself gingerly in his arms and let him feel her closeness. She was battered and bruised, and her arm was throbbing, and the cramps had started finally--but at least they were the familiar cramps, so it couldn't be a miscarriage--but she would rather be in Dave's arms than anywhere else.
Dave was her shelter from the storm, her rope against a fall, and she had no trouble being that for him when he needed it. After all, that was what love was about.
Rating: R
Pairing: Rossi/Prentiss and Hotch/Reid
WC: 1,922
Summary: Dave barely avoids his worst fear. Spencer realizes his greatest hope. Aaron heals. Emily survives.
Note: Thanks to
resolucidity for the beta. Spoilers for "Retaliation".Series: The Fifth Year - a series of Season Five episode tags
1. Not So Alone, 2. Weeping Endures for a Night, 3. The Blink of an Eye, 4. Trust and Regret, 5. Something Pretty Wonderful, 6. Hope and Bourbon, 7. Shaking Things Up, 8. Cementing, 9. Life Goes On, 10. Reeling, 11. About Last Friday, 12. Past Motivations, 13. Taking the Plunge
After the horrible first impact, all Emily could think was, Please don't let me be pregnant. She hadn't told Dave it was even a possibility. She was only three days late. It was probably just the stress they'd been under lately, all the long work hours. Besides, she hadn't been completely regular since going off birth control three months ago.
Then the car tumbled to a stop and a dazzling pain burst through her skull, leaving her stunned.
Bunting was choking to death next to her while Emily tried to think. She strained for her gun, but she was trapped. She was pinned.
Please don't let me be pregnant.
Bunting was dead. Shrader was going to kill her. What if the partner helped?
Emily strained for her gun, but they were going--they were gone. She pushed out the windshield and fired after them. One, two, three shots. Three? She emptied her clip. She wanted to kill them both. He'd killed Bunting.
Her heart was pounding. Her entire body hurt.
Please don't let me be pregnant.
***
The worst moment had been when JJ said, "There's been an accident. Emily's in the hospital." Dave had literally felt his heart jump in his chest, his entire gut seize up...but he was completely frozen with fear. He'd kept the presence of mind to listen to JJ's reassurance that Morgan was with Emily. They had to focus on Shrader. Shrader was a fugitive. Again.
It didn't stop Dave from being jealous that Morgan was with her.
***
Emily kept pleading with Morgan to let her off the gurney. She wanted to go after Shrader and his partner and she urgently wanted the bathroom. She hurt all over, so there was no telling if she was having cramps, but she could feel a warmth down there that made her want to scream.
Please don't let me be pregnant.
After an accident like that, if she had been pregnant, she knew she wasn't any more. She'd been taking precautions like cutting out alcohol and lowering her caffeine intake. But there was nothing you could do to prevent a car accident. Even if it hadn't happened at work, it could have happened.
She finally quit arguing when Morgan told her she really had emptied her clip at Shrader and his partner. She was confused, she hurt all over, and she couldn't even remember clearly what had happened. Adrenaline was pumping through her body, and she finally slumped back and let them treat her. Morgan would talk to the girl and her mother.
Emily closed her eyes and prayed until they finished. Finally they let her go to the bathroom and change her clothes. The bright splash of blood on her pantyliner was unsurprising, but she gasped in relief. If it was a miscarriage, there would surely be more blood than that. This was just a normal period, coming on at the most inconvenient time.
Thank God, she thought as she crumpled her bloody, torn clothes into her bag. I wasn't pregnant.
"Focus," she whispered, staring at her black eye in the mirror. "Catch Shrader. Find his accomplice. Fall apart later."
Don't fall apart at all.
***
The second worst moment had been when JJ had handed Dave the accident photos. He knew he had to look at them objectively, but all he could see was that his fiancée had been in that car. God, they couldn't wait any longer. The minute they got home he was dragging Emily down to the courthouse to file for their marriage license. They'd stand up in front of the team and Jimmy if that was all they could manage.
He heard Hotch ask about Emily and dragged his attention back to the moment. Apparently his fiancée was arguing with the doctors. The sickness in his stomach didn't go anywhere, but Dave still had to fight a tiny smile. That sounded like Emily. It made him feel a little better intellectually, even if he knew he wouldn't feel any better until he got his arms around her.
He was still jealous of Morgan.
***
Spencer knew Dave couldn't ask about Emily. He could see the horrible strain in the older man's posture; he could well imagine the horror Dave must be feeling right now. He remembered how he had felt, working a case knowing Hotch had been attacked by Foyet. Dave would be aching to go to Emily, wanting to touch her and make sure she was all right. But he couldn't even ask about her, because they were determined not to let their relationship affect their jobs. So Aaron and Spencer asked the questions about Emily and let Dave stay focused on the case.
And when Emily showed up at the station, looking amazingly good for a woman whose car had been mangled, Spencer could see the relief go through Dave in a shudder. But Dave didn't even greet her. He just looked at her with eyes that said what was necessary, and Emily met his gaze and went on.
Spencer had always known his team was the best. He thought the way they all loved each other was part of why.
***
Finally she showed up. Already working the case, of course. Dave had never wanted to hold her more than in that moment.
***
Emily had wanted to shoot Shrader. She'd wanted to put a bullet in him for what he'd done to Bunting, let alone for revenge of her own. She wouldn't do it for herself, though, and she wouldn't do it for Bunting.
Then again, Shrader didn't exactly give her a choice.
When Muller went after her it was like being hit by a wall of fear. Even though Morgan was there right away, Emily was still shaking minutes later.
After a while she realized it was a stress reaction. She spent several moments hunched over the station's drinking fountain, letting the cold cold water run over her lips and down her throat. It didn't stop the shaking, but it settled her stomach.
Later, holding the little Muller boy in her arms, she realized the shaking had stopped.
***
If this case had happened a year ago, Aaron would have gone home worried about Emily. Despite his gratitude for Morgan's assistance, despite the way returning home to his son was comforting, he would have sat up pondering how to help her.
This year he could leave that up to Dave. This year he wasn't going home alone. He was going home with Spencer. It was a good feeling.
***
Dave poured two glasses of Eagle Rare and headed for the back deck. He found Emily smoking a cigarette. She glanced over at him, her entire body language a mixture of sore and sheepish. "I bummed it from Mrs. Otey," she admitted. "I haven't had one of these in ten years."
"You earned it," he said. He wrapped an arm around her and held the other hand in front of her to offer the whiskey. "You shouldn't mix this with painkillers, but I've heard it'll do a number on your pain."
"I'm not pregnant," Emily told him, and a horrible fear went through Dave. Why was she telling him that? She leaned back against him and took a large slug of her whiskey. "I thought maybe I was. I was three days late. But I started yesterday." She shivered. "I thought maybe the accident had made me..." She trailed off and shook her head. "But I'm not pregnant."
"It's okay," Dave said, smiling. "I like making the attempt." He brushed his lips against her ear, and abruptly his laughter turned to a horrible, heart-crushing pressure in his chest. "I thought I'd lost you," he gasped, and tightened his arm around her.
She made a surprised noise, then turned in his arms and held him as horrible, dry sobs wracked him. He'd held it together all through the case, but suddenly he could no longer ignore what had happened. The thing that he prayed against every night had almost happened.
Please don't take Emily from me. Please protect her. Whatever happens, keep her safe.
And he'd almost lost her.
***
"I missed bedtime," Spencer said, sounding unhappy about that. He'd arrived twenty minutes behind Aaron. He was still afraid of Jessica Brooks, and Aaron was respecting that, even if he was pretty sure Jess knew about them anyway. It wasn't like Jack was particularly good at keeping secrets.
"Sorry," Aaron said. "Jess kept him up for me, but he was practically asleep on the couch. I couldn't keep him up any later. But you'll be able to make your happy-face pancakes for him tomorrow."
Spencer's smile lit up his whole face. That smile still sent shivers all through Aaron when he earned it. Aaron wrapped his arms around Spencer and hugged him tightly. "Thank you for caring about my son," he whispered.
"Thank you for caring about me," Spencer whispered back.
Aaron slid his fingers into Spencer's hair and kissed him tenderly. His lips were soft and undemanding on Spencer's, but Spencer deepened the kiss, his body eager against Aaron's. Aaron felt his blood quickening in his veins and before he knew it they were in the bedroom, his lips against Spencer's bare chest while Spencer struggled with Aaron's belt.
Yes, Aaron thought. It's time.
He'd never done this with another man, but Spencer had, and Spencer was a good teacher. Their hands were all over each other as Aaron gasped in pleasure and Spencer breathed instructions.
Aaron's body was humming with desire. Spencer seemed to enjoy exploring ways to heighten that as much as Aaron did. They teased and touched and finally, finally consummated their love. As climax crashed through him, Aaron had to hold his breath to keep from crying his joy aloud. And then they were both spent, their bodies sated, their gazes alight on each other.
Aaron hadn't known such bliss in far too long a time.
Wrapped up in each other, they slipped into dreams.
***
Emily took Dave to bed when she thought the worst of his anguish was spent. She'd always known him for a passionate man, both physically and emotionally, but he'd surprised her tonight with the depth of his fear and stress. She'd held him and stroked his hair and whispered promises that she didn't think he heard. And when the storm was past, she took him to bed and used her hands and lips to make more promises, promises that she hoped he would feel.
It was slow and tender and reassuring, and he was too honestly exhausted to return the favor, but she didn't care. She wanted to take care of him tonight, and even though she enjoyed touching him and bringing him pleasure, her body wasn't really interested in receiving pleasure anyway. When he was spent, Emily wrapped herself gingerly in his arms and let him feel her closeness. She was battered and bruised, and her arm was throbbing, and the cramps had started finally--but at least they were the familiar cramps, so it couldn't be a miscarriage--but she would rather be in Dave's arms than anywhere else.
Dave was her shelter from the storm, her rope against a fall, and she had no trouble being that for him when he needed it. After all, that was what love was about.
