geekystudmuffin | Regrets You Never Want To Have After A Bittersweet Parting (2/2), Rossi/Prentiss, NC-17

innerslytherin posting in

geekystudmuffin

Title: Regrets You Never Want To Have After A Bittersweet Parting (2/2)
Authors:

innerslytherin and

severity_softly
Pairing: Rossi/Prentiss
Rating: NC-17
WC: ~13,300
Summary: Things with Dave haven't smoothed over quite so well after Emily's pregnancy scare...and suddenly they may not have time left to make things right.

Notes: This fic is part of the What Happens In Vegas Universe. While it can be read as a stand-alone fic, it takes place after the other fics in the universe, and we feel that reading Why You Should Never Drink Too Much in Vegas and Things You Never Want to Hear After a One-Night-Stand in Vegas will add to your enjoyment of this fic.

This is the last fic in the series.

Part One

Dave decided not to question how Emily had explained her need for time off work while he was out on medical leave. While he didn't think she would have claimed a sudden family emergency in Azerbaijan or wherever her mother was these days, he also wasn't sure he wanted to think about Garcia and Morgan making jokes about their relationship just yet. It was far easier to enjoy the fact that she'd spent several days at his house with only a couple of trips to her apartment and the store.

She'd only gone back to work today, after he reassured her repeatedly that he was done with the dizzy spells and yes, he promised not to fall over and drown in the bathtub. He wouldn't admit it, but her fussing at him was comforting. He'd had a hard time letting her climb out of his bed this morning. He was sleeping better than he'd imagined possible and his bed, with Emily pressed warmly against him, was the most comfortable place in the world.

He'd made plans for the evening, of course. He'd put a roast in the Crockpot and picked out a nice bottle of wine, and two nights ago he'd done some secretive Internet shopping to find the perfect red silky thing.

Now all Emily had to do was actually come home from the BAU.

Home. God, he was in trouble if he was thinking of her coming over as coming home.

He couldn't bring himself to care, though, when he heard his door open a little earlier than he was expecting it to. She came into the front room, pulling off her coat, and looked at him. "You're cooking?" She looked half-way between telling him he shouldn't be doing it and being appreciative.

"Cooking is a generous term for it," he said. "I cut up some vegetables and put them with a roast in the Crockpot. All I'm really doing now is getting ready to open the wine and set the table." He grinned. "Unless you want to eat on the couch."

"We've eaten on the couch all week," she said, and finally smiled and crossed the room to kiss him soundly. It had been nice, almost rewarding, in a sense, how the better he started to feel, the more fully he could kiss her and hold her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back, humming happily into it.

"It's been nice eating on the couch," Dave murmured when the kiss ended. He brushed his nose against her ear. "Maybe the table tonight, though. Mmm, the problem with the table is it's harder to kiss you." He kissed her again.

She grinned up at him after he pulled away. "I think you'll survive it," she breathed.

"Maybe," he said, smiling back at her. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and stroked his thumb over her cheek. "Dinner will be ready whenever you are."

"Okay," she murmured. "I'll just change, and I'll be right back."

He was pleased that Emily seemed to like his cooking, even if he really hadn't done much. He'd cheated on dessert and had a box of chocolates delivered along with the lingerie. When they'd finished their meal and were just lingering over their wine, he decided it was time to say as much.

"Dessert is in the bedroom," he said, giving her a little smirk.

One of her eyebrows lifted, but a devious smile crossed her face a moment later. "You're feeling up to... ah, dessert?"

"Frankly, I am dying for dessert," he said, a little thrill going through him at the expression on her face.

She bit her lower lip and slid out of her chair. "You're sure you're feeling better?" she asked, but she slid into his lap anyway, straddling him, and brushed her fingers through his hair.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and scooted her a little closer. "I'm feeling fantastic right now."

She laughed softly. "You know what I mean," she said, but she was obviously accepting that he was well enough by his making the offer in the first place, because rather than wait for an answer, she ducked her head to kiss him, first a teasing brush of lips, and then a hungrier kiss.

Dave hummed, tightening his arms around her. God, he had the most incredible woman in his arms. He met her hunger easily, but didn't allow it to get the best of him. He took his time exploring her mouth, relishing the fact that they had that time.

She made a pleased noise and shifted forward in his lap as much as she could, her fingers curling in his hair and then releasing. "Dave," she whispered, and then kissed him again as his fingertips barely brushed the small of her back under her shirt.

"Beautiful," he murmured when their lips parted. He kissed along her jaw and then down her neck, liking the way her breathing hitched in her chest as he brushed a sensitive spot. This was incredible. He loved this feeling, how they were unable to keep their hands off each other long enough to get out of the kitchen. And he loved that they could work together professionally. God, he just loved all of it.

"Mmm," she hummed, and shifted in a way he knew was completely intended to rub them both just the right way. Dave groaned against her skin and she bit her lower lip. "I sincerely hope this is really the first day you've felt up to this, because if you've been torturing me by letting me sleep next to you without touching for longer than necessary, I'll have to hurt you," she panted, then pulled back to smile at him, sliding back a little in his lap to get up.

He laughed and touched her cheek. "I promise." He kissed her again, then headed for the bedroom, lacing his fingers between hers. "I have something for you. We can call it a thank you gift for taking such good care of me." He grinned. "Or a late birthday present, since I didn't get you anything good last year." He'd actually given her a rather expensive bottle of Italian red, but he thought she would know what he meant. They hadn't been sleeping together last year at her birthday.

She rolled her eyes, just barely. "You spent too much money on my birthday, and just because there was no sex involved, doesn't mean it wasn't good." She kissed him as they walked, slipping her hands under his shirt. "You didn't have to buy me anything now, either. I wanted to take care of you."

He grinned. "Maybe it's a present for me, too," he admitted, and slid a hand in her hair to hold her still for a long kiss.

When he pulled away, she smirked. "Given you're taking me to the bedroom to give it to me, I had that part figured out already." She sounded amused and a little excited, though, and let him pull her along again after another kiss.

"I'm starting to get to like this Internet delivery thing," he murmured. "It's a lot easier than sneaking out in the middle of the night last night." He guided her over to the bed and pressed her gently down to sit on the edge. After a last, lingering kiss, he went to the closet and pulled out two boxes--one with the chocolate in it, the other with silk.

She lifted an eyebrow at him again. "Two?" She eyed him for a moment, and he wasn't sure what her expression meant, but her eyes were steady enough on his that he barely cared. "Which one first?" she asked. When he gestured to the box with the chocolate, she opened that one first, and grinned. "You are planning on feeding these to me, right?"

"Of course," he said, trying to sound insulted that she would doubt him. "You seem partial to raspberry, so I made sure the assortment had those in it, but I'm not sure what else you might like." He glanced at the hand-written list of chocolates. "We have rum, orange, dark, pure milk..."

She leaned over and kissed him, stopping the list. Her mouth was soft against his, but hungry anyway, and she curled a hand against his thigh. "I like anything chocolate," she said when she pulled away, then she made a face. "Except it's not very sexy to have caramel stuck in your teeth." She kissed him again, softly. "Thank you."

He hummed and glanced down. "There's another box."

"I know," she said. "I can thank you for each of them at a time, you know," she teased, and kissed him again.

"Mmm." He kissed her hungrily. "Are you going to thank me for every piece of chocolate like this?" He lifted one out of the box and held it to her lips.

She bit it in half and chewed, then kissed him again, taking the rest of the chocolate out of his hand while he was distracted. "Maybe," she whispered, "but you might get tired of hearing it." She held the other half of the chocolate up for him.

He took the chocolate and gave her an amused look. "I meant the kiss." He gave her a chocolate-tasting kiss.

She made a dismissive noise and deepened the kiss, then pulled away just enough to murmur a teasing, "You're distracting me. You think I'm even listening to you anymore?"

"You're not?" He grinned and picked up the other box. "Go on." He hoped it was okay. Lingerie was one of those things that could be difficult to get right. He'd tried to go with classy but sexy. He suspected Emily wouldn't have minded if he'd picked something with a corset and garters, but you never knew for sure.

"Okay," she said, and started on the other box. She looked slightly unsure, and Dave felt a pang of jealousy that that probably meant other men had bought her lingerie before and she knew just how difficult it was to get right. Or maybe she'd had a few bad experiences. She was going to like this, he reminded himself, and her lips curled up a little as she lifted the silky outfit out of the box.

The straps between her fingers, she inspected the baby doll top. It was red silk with black lace, and Dave could tell already it was going to look fantastic on her if she'd wear it. The box still held the matching panties, but she looked up at him and grinned. "I'll never understand why men dress women up just to undress them again," she said, but kissed him. "But I like it. Thank you." Her fingers curled around the panties as she kissed him again, and when she pulled away, she stood. "I suppose you want me to put it on."

"I sure as hell didn't buy it in my size," Dave joked, and grinned at her. He curled a hand at her waist to keep her from moving away yet. "Men dress women up just to undress them again because there's something incredibly sexy about being the one to take those things off you." He lifted his face for another kiss before she went.

She bent and brushed her lips to his, her hair swinging down and tickling his neck a little. "Mmm," she hummed, and pulled out of his hold to go to the master bath. "Why don't you put on something a little sexy for me?" she said as she went, her voice gently teasing. She shut the door of the bathroom behind her and then called, "And if I come out and you're laying there with just chocolates on your nipples, I'm taking this off."

Dave snorted with laughter and shook his head. He had it bad. He even loved her sense of humor. "Something a little sexy," he muttered, getting off the bed and going to his dresser. Black silk boxers would have to do, because they were the only thing he had that was remotely sexy.

He had just finished changing and putting his clothes in the hamper when the door opened. "Cover your eyes," Emily ordered from the bathroom.

"Hang on," he said, and went back to sit on the edge of the bed, then obeyed.

"Oh, I like those," she said, and he had to fight his instinct to open his eyes and look at her now that he could hear she was in the room. "You even took your socks off too. You're a special kind of guy."

He laughed again, quietly, but didn't respond.

"Okay," she breathed. "You can open them again."

He did, and she was standing in the middle of the room, her lower lip caught between her teeth. She looked unsure, and Dave wasn't sure he'd seen her look like that before. Of course, the first time they'd been together, she'd been drunk, and he'd never asked her to actually put herself on display before. Not really.

But she looked utterly gorgeous, her long, fair legs stretching all the way to the floor, the outfit perfectly accenting her curves. He gave her a little lopsided smile and made a gesture to get her to turn around, which she did, too quickly, and then twisted her hands together in front of her.

He shook his head in wonder, his smile strengthening. How did a guy like him get this lucky? Women like Emily Prentiss were rare and precious, and she wanted him. "That was not a catwalk turn," he teased, knowing that if she really looked at him, his emotions would be an open book.

She pursed her lips, and gave him a look, then turned again, this time slowly enough to glance at him over her shoulder as her back was to him. When he was facing him again, she curled her fingers into the bottom of the top in that natural gesture she always did with her suit coats. "Do you like it?"

"I like you in it," he said warmly. "You are gorgeous, Emily Prentiss." He let her see his gaze rake down her body and back up. "I'm the luckiest man in the world."

"Mmm," she hummed, and closed the gap between them to stand in front of him, her fingers sifting through his hair.

It was a little ridiculous, Dave thought, to get so damn emotional about a woman when he'd been married three times and had forgotten how many other romantic interludes he'd had. But he couldn't help it. Women were amazing creatures, and Emily was an amazing woman. He rested his hands on her hips, sliding his thumbs over the silky cloth and feeling her body heat through it. "I want to take my time undressing you," he murmured huskily.

"There's not really much left to take off," she said, and leaned down to kiss him, sliding her hands down his back.

"There's enough," he whispered against her lips. He stroked his hand down her hip to the end of the silk, tracing her skin along the hem. "God, you're beautiful. Come lie down, Em. I want to touch you."

She nodded and climbed onto the bed, giving him another great look at her ass, which had probably been unintentional. She pulled him down next to her once she settled, kissing him again. Her hand slid down his chest and teased over his stomach. "Touching is the point, isn't it?" she murmured. "You're so sexy."

He traced a finger across her bottom lip. "What the hell do you see in me?" he murmured. "I've got a good fifteen years on you. How did I get lucky enough to have you in my life?" His fingers stroked teasingly down her throat to trace along the top of the camisole. He loved the way she shivered under his touch. Just knowing he could make her feel like this was a rush.

She let out a breathy laugh, sliding her hand into his hair as his lips moved over the top of one full breast, teasing brushes of his lips, and tongue, and goatee. "I told you, you're sexy," she murmured. "Smart. And funny... God," she panted. "And strong, and you're going to be a fucking tease, aren't you?"

"That's one of the reasons I'm lucky?" he murmured, grinning. He let his tongue flicker out in one deliberate lick along the top of the silk, then lifted his head to look at her. "I told you, I want to take my time undressing you. I want to appreciate this thing on you before I take it off."

Her lips were parted, and she was looking at him with lust in her eyes. "You almost kill yourself, and I have to wait this long, and now this?" she said, but she could tell she liked it by the tone of her voice. She pulled him up for another kiss, and he returned it with hunger until she whimpered and moved to slide a leg around him.

Then he hummed and stroked his hand down from her hip along her leg, relishing the smooth slide of her skin, but being firm about lowering her leg back to the bed. "Patience," he admonished. "How can you complain when what I want most to do right now is appreciate your magnificent body?" He grinned and kissed her again, then kissed the hollow of her throat. "Don't think that I don't realize how rare it is to have a woman who's both intelligent and beautiful in my bed."

Her breath hitched at the feel of his words against her skin. "I think that's your own doing, then," she breathed. "You could have almost any woman you want."

He chuckled softly. "It's the keeping that's hard," he said, nibbling lightly along her jaw. "You must be a glutton for punishment." His hand slid down her side, brushing the curve of her breast, tracing ribs, then curling at her hip. "Because you're still here." He lifted his head to kiss her mouth again with gentle passion.

"Oh God, this is anything but punishment," she groaned when the kiss broke, smoothing her hand over his chest again, brushing a thumb over his nipple. "Torture, maybe..."

"Emily," he breathed, letting his fingers slide back up, just under the lower edge of the babydoll. God, she was enthralling. He shifted down to mouth along the top of the silk, then further to replace his hand on her hip with his mouth.

She made a wordless noise of pleasure, one hand burying itself in his hair as the other stroked over the top of his back. He bit the fabric over her hip and gave it a little snap, and she jumped slightly, but then melted again when he started planting open-mouthed kissed just over the top of her panties.

He breathed in the scent of her skin, sliding one hand up to cup a breast, stroking his thumb over her nipple through the thin fabric. God, she was wonderful. He was achingly hard for her, but he loved making her feel like this, taking the time to show that he wanted to put her pleasure ahead of his own.

"God," she panted, her hand covering hers on her breast, her fingers curving over his. She encouraged him to squeeze gently and he obliged, then slid his hand up to brush one of the straps off her shoulder. When he slid up to kiss along the newly exposed skin, she wrapped a leg around him and pulled their hips together, drawing noises of need from both of them. "Want you," she whispered.

"Yes," he groaned, "God, Emily, need you so much." He kissed her hungrily and rolled his hips against hers, sending another rush of want through him.

"Fuck," she hissed, and shifted against him again, arching and pushing her head back into the pillow, exposing a long line of neck Dave couldn't help but lick. She groaned and slid her hands down his back and inside his boxers to squeeze his ass. "Please."

He smiled breathlessly and shifted to reach for the condoms in his bedside table. "So wonderful," he murmured, fumbling with the box.

"Mmm," she hummed in reply, pausing for a moment to let him focus on finding the box, and then kissing along his jaw when he put it on the bed next to them. Her hands pushed at his boxers, working them off his hips.

He returned the favor by slipping her panties off, then pulled back to get his boxers off entirely. "God, Emily," he panted, tearing open a packet and rolling the condom on. He had a feeling he'd be hypervigilant about condoms for the rest of his life, thanks to their first time. He took a breath, forcing himself to calm a little, then slid a hand up her belly, pushing the camisole up to bare a milky expanse of skin.

He followed his hand with lips and tongue. She squirmed a little as he passed her belly button, and he looked up to see her smiling, but breathless. "Dave," she said, her voice wanting and insistent.

His eyes narrowed in amusement but he just lifted his head, mouthing teasingly at a silk-clad breast. He knew she was getting impatient. He was too. But he wanted to push them a little further. He sucked lightly at her nipple, soaking the cloth.

She gasped softly, her fingers curling in his hair again, this time tighter than before, but he didn't let her tug him away. Instead, he bit at the hardening nub under the slick fabric, and she gasped again, her body arching under his.

"God! Dave!" she panted.

He hummed, pleased at that reaction, and slid a hand down to tease along her inner thigh. He was aching to be inside her, but he wanted them both desperate for each other. Not that either of them had far to go. He bit gently again, sucking hard.

She whimpered, bending her knee to lift her leg and open herself to him more. He teased the crease of the thigh, making her beg softly, and then slid his hand back to push her knee out farther. God, she was so open and ready for him. He wanted to surge into her now.

She tugged his hair a little harder, and he grunted and only moved to mouth at the fabric covering her other breast, his tongue working with the texture of the silk. He loved the way her breath was tightening and her other nipple was coming to attention. He tried to focus on control, but it was becoming harder and harder.

She whimpered and he let his thumb brush against her folds, then drew back. "Fuck," she hissed, her fingers tugging sharply at his hair, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to push them any further. God, he couldn't. He groaned and lifted his head, kissing her hungrily as he positioned himself.

He didn't waste time sliding into her, relishing the soft warmth of her around his cock, and she gasped, arching a little. She held him in the kiss, moaning softly against his mouth as he thrust again, setting a gentle rhythm. One of her hands stayed in his hair, the other sliding down to grab his ass. He knew she was trying to hurry him, and he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to be too patient. God, she felt good.

He made a hungry noise into the kiss and thrust harder once, a second time, and then tried to pull himself back to the slower pace.

She broke the kiss a moment later, gasping and panting. "Yes," she breathed. "Dave!" Her nails dragged lightly up his back and he bucked against her automatically, pushing a little moan from her as she slid a leg over his hip.

"God!" he gasped. "So good, Emily." He stared down at her, a thrill going through him at how disheveled she looked. He slid a hand between them, searching until she gasped and arched against him. Smiling faintly, he kept working there, circling his thumb slowly over her clit.

She made a wordless sound of pleasure and rolled her hips up to meet his next thrust, her body trembling with need under his. When she shifted and arched under him again, his fixed his mouth to her neck, sucking and licking and biting, until her moans and whimpers didn't stop. Then he let his body go and take what it wanted, seeking release.

Her nails dug into his skin, just enough to send an extra thrill of sensation through him as he felt his own arousal building inside him. "Emily, Emily," he panted, trembling with exertion and need, and then he was coming, stilling inside her with a groan and panting against her neck.

She murmured something he didn't quite hear, something breathy against his hair, and he slid his hand away from her to curl against her hip. She wasn't done, but it took him a moment to regain the ability to move enough to slide down her body.

He ducked his head to taste her, and he was spent, but still able to groan in appreciation of that. Then he spread her with two fingertips and mouthed gently at the little swell of flesh between her lips until she was thrashing and rocking against him, gasping for air. He couldn't take his eyes off her until she finally cried out, her fingers tight in his hair, and then slumped breathless against the mattress.

He shifted up and propped himself on one elbow, looking down at her warmly. God, she was beautiful. He traced his fingers down her cheek and neck, then down her side. After a minute he lay down next to her, wrapping his arms around her and listening to their breathing as it slowly calmed. He pressed his face to her hair and drank in the smell of her shampoo and a lingering trace of perfume. He wondered what it was, besides enticing. He had fallen so hard.

Emily shifted into his arms, snuggling against him and kissing him softly. "Dave." She smiled and kissed him again. "Let me go a second," she ordered, and when he obeyed, she wriggled out of the wrinkled lingerie, then snuggled against him again. "Wet silk gets cold fast."

He laughed and pulled a blanket up over them. "You're so amazing," he murmured.

She hummed an affectionate noise and kissed his throat. "So are you."

"Hmm. We've come a long way from cold, distant and lonely," he teased. It hadn't been funny at the time; her words had stung when he'd heard her joining Morgan and Reid in profiling his office. But he couldn't deny his introduction to the team had been less than ideal.

She pulled back to look at him and she was frowning in confusion. He just smiled at her a moment until the memory sunk back into place. She made a funny sort of expression, like she wasn't sure what to say, then finally said, "It was a base coat. Had I known that..." She smiled faintly and bit his jaw as she settled back against him.

He grinned and ran his fingers through her hair affectionately. "I hope you like the final color better." Blue was his favorite color, though he had a feeling she was going to come back with something about conservatism, power, and intelligence.

Or maybe not. "You look fantastic in blue," she whispered, and kissed the spot where her teeth had just been.

"Mmm. You look fantastic in everything." He glanced at her. "And in nothing, for that matter."

She laughed and snuggled closer to him, tugging the covers up over her shoulders all the way. When she settled again, she sighed and relaxed.

Dave relaxed too, enjoying the way her curves pressed warmly against him. He closed his eyes, drifting sleepily for a while without actually falling asleep. After a time, he shifted and drew in a long breath. "How was work?" he asked quietly, once he'd made sure she was awake.

"Mmm?" she hummed sleepily. "Fine." She didn't sound like she had really thought about it.

He cleared his throat, hoping he wouldn't have to come right out and ask if she'd told them where she'd been. "And...Hotch is fine?"

"Hmm? Yeah, yeah, why wouldn't he be?" she murmured, but she stopped talking very abruptly, then was silent a moment. "Ah, yeah, he's fine." Her tone was different that time, and he could tell she was talking about them now.

He held in a sigh. Sometimes getting other profilers to talk was like pulling teeth. Then again, he did the same thing himself. "And no one asked why you happened to take a couple of personal days right after I ended up in the hospital?"

She huffed a sigh against his neck. "Of course they asked."

He opened his mouth, then closed it again without speaking. Of course they asked. But he didn't want to know whatever excuse she'd made. It was stupid, he knew it was, but he wanted her to have told the truth. And he knew she couldn't, and he had no right to be hurt if she'd lied...but he didn't want to know. He stroked his fingers through her hair.

She didn't say anything for a long moment, but she didn't move for a long moment either. Finally, she stroked his side. "It's fine," she promised him. He wasn't sure if he liked that answer or hated it.

"Yeah." He stared up at the ceiling for a long while, running his fingers through her hair and over her shoulder. Let it go, he told himself. At some point he realized he'd tensed, and he forced himself to relax and breathe deeply. Finally, though, he sighed. "I think I'm gonna get a drink. You want anything?"

"Mmm," she hummed, and loosened her grip to let him go, though she was watching him closely. "You okay?"

"I'm great," he said, smiling at her. And it was true, even if he wished for things that couldn't happen. He kissed her tenderly and got up, tugging on his boxers and looking for his robe. "Wine? Water? Anything?"

"Whatever you're having," she murmured, and watched him go.

He'd been thinking about scotch, but that didn't really fit the whole romantic feel of the evening, so he poured them the rest of the wine. He took a couple of minutes to tidy up the kitchen, then headed back to the bedroom. He paused in the doorway to look at her, the way he had been doing every night, though he didn't think she'd noticed.

Well, until now.

She smiled, but she looked awkward again, the way she had when she'd first walked out in her lingerie. "What?" she asked, then lifted her hand to get him to come closer, like she felt more comfortable being looked at if they were touching.

He shook his head, smiling as he joined her in bed again. "You're beautiful. And I can't quite get over that..." He shrugged. "You're staying."

She tilted her head at him, her gaze discerning for a moment, but then she seemed to drop what she was thinking and pulled him closer, taking the second glass of wine. "I do have to go home eventually."

He huffed a laugh. "You know what I mean." He kissed her, not sure he should have brought it up. He adored Emily, but he felt like he was on uncertain ground with her, already wondering how long he would have her before their different desires in life made one of them walk away.

She smiled and kissed him. "I think we should finish this wine and then have sex again," she whispered.

He ignored the slight pang that she was changing the topic, and slid an arm around her. "You have some great ideas."

***

Emily had actually ended up going home the next day to pack her ready bag, and it was a good thing, because the team got called to Michigan and spent the next ten days there. Dave went back to work two weeks after his accident and not even Garcia had been there. He'd spent the weekend and Monday catching up on paperwork and taking Tylenol to fight a lingering headache, and looking forward to occasional phone calls, on the nights Emily didn't fall into bed the moment she got back to her hotel room.

Hotch had asked if he wanted to join them there, but it would have been a waste of taxpayer money, since Dave was already consulting on the phone and the rest of the team was doing fine. Still, it was weird, knocking around the BAU without the team there.

It was a relief when they showed up mid-afternoon Tuesday. Even if it was a short-lived relief.

"Hey, Rossi, glad you're feeling better." The team had come in while he was refilling his coffee, and Morgan was wearing a big shit-eating grin that made Dave want to look at Emily. He just turned his gaze back on his coffee.

"Thanks."

"Hey, Dave," she said casually, and he glanced up then and gave her a nod in greeting. It didn't really matter what she did: if she walked past them, the team would point out that she was avoiding him and should have been happy to see him if she hadn't when she'd been mysteriously off work. If she stopped, like she had, she was subjecting herself to be part of the teasing.

Dave didn't like either option, but a tiny part of him was proud that she didn't run from this.

"You're looking better than the last time I saw you," Hotch said, glancing at Morgan briefly, then back at Dave.

Dave smiled crookedly at Hotch. "Feeling better, too," he said. "Thanks for taking care of things, Aaron." He glanced at the others. "Can't believe not even you stuck around to keep me company when I got back," he said to Garcia. "It was so quiet around here without you guys."

"Yeah, it was quiet around here without you, too," Morgan retorted. "Well, you and Prentiss."

Dave glanced over at Emily, raising his eyebrows.

She waved a hand dismissively at Morgan. "Please, I wasn't gone long. Besides, he makes a lot more noise than I do anyway. You probably barely missed me." She looked at Dave. "Your eye isn't blacked anymore," she pointed out.

Dave grinned. "Yeah, if only my truck looked as good." He glanced at JJ, who had only smiled at him without speaking. He had to wonder if she knew. Emily and JJ were close, not to mention the very quiet relationship JJ and Hotch had started shortly before Henry was born. "It's very good to see you here on a consistent basis again," he told her.

"Dave, I was back before your wreck," she pointed out, laughing.

He shrugged. "One case."

Garcia walked through the team and hugged him, which made him grunt, but pleased him, too. "We're glad you're back, too, sir," she said, and pinched his cheek. He made a face, and she pulled away to stick her finger in it. "Next time you scare us like that, you get a spanking."

Dave laughed. "Do I get to pick who from?" he asked, grinning.

He saw Morgan open his mouth, but thankfully, without skipping a beat, Hotch lifted his hands in mock surrender and said, "I'm out."

"Damn. Never mind, then," Dave said. He turned his grin on Reid, who rolled his eyes in long-suffering amusement at Morgan and Garcia's play, then stuck out a hand. Surprised, Dave shook it. Reid didn't do touching.

"It is good to have you back," Reid said, and Dave couldn't help feeling warmed. Spencer Reid didn't exactly make attachments easily, and it was nice to find out maybe Dave was one of those attachments now.

He glanced around and cleared his throat. "Don't you all have work to be doing? I know you're interrupting my scintillating and extremely important month-end reporting."

"Oh, well, you know how it is. We're all distracted by the shiny," Emily said, walking towards him. For a moment, he held a breath, but then she just leaned her hip against the counter near him (but not too close), facing it, and started to make her own coffee.

"Nice to know I'm shiny," he muttered, adding creamer to his coffee just to have an excuse to stay at the counter longer. He realized a moment later that everyone in the office probably knew he drank his coffee black. But Garcia had wrapped both arms around one of Morgan's arms and was tugging him away to his desk. Spencer followed them, hiding a smile badly. JJ and Hotch lingered for a moment.

"It is good to have you back," Hotch murmured quietly. He gave a faint smile, then turned to JJ. Dave could hear him asking something about the next case as they moved away.

"Well. That was subtle," he said dryly.

She glanced over at his coffee and snorted. "Yeah. Nice. And here I thought I'd be the one to blow it," she teased.

He raised his eyebrows. "I was talking about the way everyone just disappeared except you, but somehow it doesn't surprise me that this is actually all my fault," he retorted, amused.

She laughed quietly. "Well, you were obviously trying to linger. That's why they left."

"Oh, yes, obviously." He tasted the coffee and made a face, then dumped it out and poured a new cup. "I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing." He glanced sideways at her and then turned his attention back to his coffee. "It's possible I missed you."

She hummed quietly. "I wasn't gone that long," she murmured, unwrapping a stir stick and tossing the paper.

"Ah, so you didn't miss me," he said wisely. He knew that wasn't what she was saying.

"I did," she said, even more quietly than before. "You know, you're lucky. You get to go hide away in an office. I get to sit here and look at Morgan grin at me like that the rest of the day."

He chuckled. "I'd offer to let you hide out with me, but we both know what they would think about that." He sipped his coffee and grinned. "Not that I'd mind, but..." He moved away, fully expecting her to smack him for that comment.

Instead she just gave him a look. "That's a brilliant idea. Why don't we just go make out on Strauss' desk?" She shot a glare in the direction of Strauss' office, a tiny flick of her eyes, and Dave wondered if she even realized she'd done it. Then she looked back at her coffee. "I'm taking too long to make this," she pointed out.

Dave nodded. "Some day Morgan will understand how this feels," he murmured, looking at her. "Then we'll all get to pick on him for a change." He smiled faintly at her and headed for his office.

She followed just long enough to murmur, "I'll see you tonight?"

He glanced over his shoulder, his smile widening for just a moment. "I can't wait."