title

By Fabrisse

Pairing: Emily Prentiss/Spencer Reid
Characters: Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid
Rating: FRAO
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Prompt: Spencer Reid has a tattoo, and Emily Prentiss finds out about it.
Author Note: This takes place immediately after "Solitary Man" lj user="madlori" mentioned tattoos and I offered to write her a story with one. Then she got inspired too. Mine's a few days late due to life interrupting. It's also nearly a PWP. *G* Happy (belated) Birthday, lj user="madlori".

The plane was quiet on the way back from Arizona. This one was at best a partial win, and they all knew it.

Emily was reading a novel. Hotch was writing reports, and Reid was going through his consultation stack. Morgan was listening to music, and JJ and Rossi were both sleeping.

Emily glanced up when Reid adjusted his leg for the third time. She could see tension cording his neck as he tried to find a comfortable position. He glanced at his watch and sighed.

Emily said, "What's the problem?"

"It looks like I'm going to miss my train home tonight." Reid kept his voice low.

"You're not far from me. I'll give you a lift." She thought for a moment. "I know you don't take painkillers, but isn't there something that can help you?" She nodded toward his leg.

"Not really. I took a full dose of the anti-inflammatory about an hour before getting on the plane which means I'm not due for another one until I'm at home."

"Tell you what, I'll come up to your apartment and get you settled in with an icepack." Emily smiled at him.

"You don't have to..."

"I don't, and I won't if you'd rather I didn't see the dirty dishes in your sink."

Reid chuffed a small laugh at that. "No, that's not a problem. I know the case was tough for you. I figured you'd want to get home and decompress."

"Laundry and TV were all I had planned. Wine might be in there somewhere, but frankly, I'll probably wait to the weekend for that."

Reid assessed her for a moment. "I'd appreciate some help, but I'm not sure I'll be great company."

"Don't worry about it. I'll get you set for the evening, and then wing it."

***

Emily noticed how drawn he looked as he let her in the front door. The apartment was a large studio with a bigger kitchen than she would have thought. "Let's get you that anti-inflammatory."

Reid nodded. "Actually, I need food with it." He motioned to the kitchen. "Delivery menus are on the fridge. Pick one and I'll call in the order. That is, if you'd like to stay."

Emily grinned. "Free food? See if you can get rid of me." She looked at him more closely. "Can you go lie down somewhere? Is there anything I can get you for your knee?"

"There's a wrap with pockets on the kitchen counter and blu-packs in the freezer. If you could put that together while I go to the bathroom… Look, would it bother you if I just lay down in bed while we waited for dinner to be delivered?"

"Not at all." She busied herself putting the packs into pockets. "I don't think I've seen one of these before."

Reid yelled from the other room. "My physical therapist's girlfriend makes them. It's been very helpful."

Emily took the wrap and a Thai menu into the room where Reid had disappeared. "Wouldn't this be better if you took off your trousers?"

Reid looked at her.

"Oh, come on, I saw you in a swimsuit that one time in Atlanta. Unless you go commando?" She seemed to perk up at the thought.

"No. It's just…" Reid slipped his pants off. "Actually before you hand me that, let me…" He opened a drawer, pulled out a strap, and wrapped it just under his knee, adjusting it until he sighed in relief. "That helps." He took the ice wrap from her and swathed his knee. "And that helps even more."

"Red underwear."

"JJ called at midnight, what a month ago? I grabbed my bag and it wasn't until I got on the plane that I remembered I hadn't finished folding my laundry. When I went to the local discount store, they had a choice of white underwear or comfortable underwear. I decided to go for comfort."

"What are the other colors?" Off his look, she rolled her eyes. "Come on, those things are always in multipacks."

"Black and something called French blue." Reid glared at her.

She smiled at him as he propped his leg on pillows. "Do you do this every night?"

"Most nights, but most nights it's just precautionary. I know I'll feel better in the morning, if I do cold, heat, cold, elevate my leg, and take an anti-inflammatory."

Emily nodded and handed him his phone. "But tonight you need it. I hope Thai's okay."

Reid nodded and called in the order.

When he was done, Emily said, "Now what can I do to help until they get here with the food?"

"Bring me my satchel, and go pick out something to watch from my DVD shelves."

She looked around. "No TV."

"My satchel has my laptop."

"And your laptop has a DVD player. See, it's not just Garcia who's tech savvy."

When the phone rang, Reid let the delivery man in and asked Emily if she'd mind answering the door. He'd already covered the tip in the initial order.

She did as he asked and served up the food, too.

"I'll meet you in the living room," he called from the bedroom.

Emily poked her head in. "You'll do no such thing. I can tell you need to rest your leg."

Reid glowered at her, playfully. "In that case, can you bring in the sofa cushions?"

She smiled broadly. "I can indeed." She came back a moment or two later and flung them at him before going to get the food from the kitchen.

He was stretching out his leg, moving his ankle in circles, and slowly bending and straightening his knee.

"You have a tattoo," Emily said staring at his ankle.

Reid held up two fingers. "They're the same thing."

"Where's the other one?"

Reid pointed to his left shoulder and took his bowl of food from her.

Emily sat at the other end of the futon and slewed her eyes to look more closely at the tattoo on his ankle. "It's your FBI badge. Why?"

"Nightmares."

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to, but what kinds of nightmares?"

Reid took another bite of food to think it over. "Tobias, or actually Charles, had me digging my own grave. I've been dreaming about that -- dreaming about dying and my body never being identified. I know it's just skin deep, but there's a chance that my FBI number could help solve my murder."

She stared at him for a moment.

Before she could say anything, he said, "I know it's irrational, but it's not unusual. A mistake at the emergency room, the secrecy around having had anthrax means I'm dealing with a physical problem that shouldn't have lasted as long as it did, so my subconscious is manifesting nightmares based on my experiences to deal with it."

"Mistake at the emergency room?"

"They were in a rush and didn't notice the bullet had chipped part of the bone. The bone fragment lodged and caused most of the problems I've had. Doctor Kimura told me I should also have had IV antibiotics rather than oral because my immune system was still compromised." Reid shrugged.

"And no pain killers."

"Other than the tattoos. And the Thai food. And the videos."

Emily's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. "I have a tattoo. I'm having a hard time believing it's a pain killer."

"The reason opiates work is because they stimulate the same centers of the brain as …"

"Endorphins. I doubt I'd jog if it weren't for the runner's high." She grinned at him.

"Exercise, at least to that extent, is out for me, although some of my PT sessions definitely help with the pain. But the kind of pain that needles give a person are more likely to stimulate endorphin production. There's speculation and some early experiments into acupuncture and endorphin release."

She assessed him for a moment. "May I have a bite of your food?"

Reid grinned and held his bowl out to her.

Emily took a bite and gasped. "Milk?"

"There's some in the fridge."

When she came back a moment later, she sat beside him. "So the capsaicin in the Thai food…"

"I usually order Thai on the nights when I'm having the most pain."

"Videos. You mentioned videos, and you asked me to pick something out." She started to get up.

"Finish your dinner. You're welcome to stay and watch something with me."

"Is it time to switch to heat on your knee?"

Reid checked the clock and put down his food to unwrap his knee. "Heat in ten to twenty minutes."

"Just so you know, I'm staying through the whole hot and cold thing. I figure if you don't have to get up, it'll help you."

He said, "I'll still have to get up and brush my teeth at some point, but it's nice to have someone here."

"Any reason it has to be a comedy?" Emily asked.

"Studies have shown that ten minutes of laughter can add two hours of sleep for someone experiencing pain."

"Endorphins again. Orgasm is supposed to release a few of those, too," she said playfully.

He refused to be drawn out. "I've heard that."

"Did I see a dessert in the bag?"

"It's coconut rice pudding."

Emily noticed the analytical look in Reid's eye. "What?"

"You're so curious about my tats. Where's yours?"

"What makes you think..."

He grinned. "You obviously appreciate the art, and you said so."

"I'm going to pick out a comedy to watch." Emily walked toward the door.

"Are you embarrassed about where you have it?"

Emily wondered if she'd ever heard Reid tease before. It was cute. She looked over her shoulder at him, undid the button on her trousers, and bared her right butt-cheek for a quick moment.

"He did good work. It says, 'she thinks there's a picture of a mermaid back here.'"

Emily laughed. "I checked it out in the mirror before I left the shop. Am I putting the heat wrap in your microwave, too?"

"That would be nice." Reid reached for the crutches that were still beside the bed.

"You've been on a cane or even without one at the office."

He gave a wry smile. "You were right earlier. The best thing for tonight is to keep weight off it. So I use the crutches. By the way, you don't get to select tonight's comedy. We're watching Neptune's Daughter, Miss Mermaid."

After setting the bowls in the sink, she went out and looked at his video collection. There was lots of Star Trek, Firefly, Babylon 5, The 4400 and a whole collection of sci-fi movies of varying qualities, but the bookcase closest to his "bedroom" was filled with comedies. He had Harold Lloyd shorts, classic Disney and Warner Brothers' cartoons, and a couple of seasons of sitcoms. The title she was looking for caught her eye.

Emily shook her head as she brought everything with her. "Neptune's Daughter? I would not have picked you for a fan of swim musicals."

Reid got himself settled back on the bed and handed her some pillows to make her own nest while he set up his laptop at a good angle for both of them. "A girl I knew in grad school used to organize a serious movie night on the first Friday of every month and then had an alternating game day or movie marathon on the third Sunday. One of the Sundays it was bring your funniest favorites. I didn't have any -- I contributed to the sci-fi and foreign film marathons when they came around, though. Anyway, Molly had a comedy marathon day and I walked away with three that really cracked me up: His Girl Friday, How to Steal a Million, and Neptune's Daughter."

"I love His Girl Friday."

"I could see you as Hildy Johnson. You'd look great in those suits, and you're at least as determined as Rosalind Russell." He was about to hit start when he turned to her. "Why a mermaid?"

"It seemed a good visual metaphor for being caught between worlds. When I was a kid, I was never really part of the neighborhood. There was a new language to learn, new games. I either ended up at parties with other diplomats' kids, and we had to be as diplomatic as our parents were sometimes, or I was trying to fit in with a different culture. I'm not Italian, though I can fit in better than most Americans when I'm there. I'm not Ukrainian or Egyptian, either. But when I came back to the US for my last year of high school, I wasn't really American to the other kids. I didn't have the cultural references. I'd never seen a Scooby Doo cartoon. You know what it's like."

He nodded. "Different reasons, but yes. So does anyone else on the team know about it?"

"I don't think so. Even at the beach, it's covered." She settled back against the cushions and reached for her dessert. "Hit play."

He did.

***

Emily had seen Reid laugh, and, like Hotch, he had a wicked, if dry, sense of humor, but she'd never seen him cracking up like he did watching Red Skelton doing water ballet on dry land.

When the movie was over, she turned to him and said, "One last cold wrap?"

"I'd like that." He grabbed the crutches and swung himself up from the futon in a practiced move.

When he came back in, Emily had the ice wrap waiting. "It occurred to me, seeing how easily you handle your weight on the crutches, that we didn't really look after you."

Reid settled back and took the wrap from her. "I'm an adult. Closer to thirty than twenty-five. Taking care of myself is part of that. Although, it's been very nice having you here tonight."

"That's not what I meant. It's not that you can't take care of yourself, obviously you can and have, but that we're supposed to be a team, and where were we while you've been going through this?"

"Taking care of Hotch. Morgan said you looked like a German Shepherd protecting him."

"But we had two teammates down. I think we just looked out for one."

Reid's smile was easy. "I've been looking after myself since I was ten. Doing it legally since I was fourteen."

Emily did a double-take.

He said, "I was an emancipated minor. How do you think I got to grad school in another state without a parent or guardian to accompany me?"

"It makes sense. I'd just never thought about the logistics of it. Why did you wait until eighteen for your Mom, then? Sorry. That's prying." She yawned.

"Yes. It is. Emancipated minors are allowed to make decisions and contracts regarding their own lives, not other people's. I could have tried to have her declared incompetent, but until the last six months or so, she'd been coping, barely."

"I shouldn't have asked." Emily yawned again, and her breathing evened out quickly.

Reid smiled and pulled a blanket over her, letting her sleep. Half an hour later, she began to kick and talk. He put his laptop to one side and rested a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. "Emily, wake up."

She blinked a couple of times, "I'm sorry. Fell asleep. I should get going."

"You could stay here tonight. If you've been having nightmares, it might help to have someone who could wake you."

Emily assessed him, then nodded. "He shot himself. We barely got his daughter turned around in time. Not that she won't hear that noise for the rest of her life. You don't… never mind, of course you do."

"For me it's a shotgun blast and a girl telling her father to pull the trigger."

She patted his shoulder. "I also have the one where I shoot a colleague because he's deliberately blocking my shot."

"I had to. I couldn't see it happen again."

She rested her head against his shoulder a minute. "I know. If I'm staying, I should get my go bag out of the car."

"There's a toothbrush under the sink and a spare contact case."

"Make-up remover? Moisturizer?"

"I keep baby shampoo for the first one, and there's some 'Cosmetic Lad' in my medicine cabinet." He saw her look speculatively at him. "You can even borrow a t-shirt to sleep in." He nodded toward the bureau. "Top drawer, any of the ones on the right hand side."

She smiled at him and pulled out a t-shirt before going to the bathroom.

When she came out he said, "Leave the light on in the bathroom and close the door, if you wouldn't mind."

Emily looked puzzled.

"No one ever told you I'm scared of the dark? Yeah. I don't react well to it."

"I keep a nightlight in my room. I'd never admit to being scared of the dark. I'm a tough FBI agent, but I sleep with a nightlight." She piled the sofa pillows to one side of the bed and turned off the overhead before climbing in with him. "Thank you."

Reid lay down beside her. "I'm pretty sure that should be the other way around. You looked after me tonight."

"We looked after each other." Her voice was already slowing down, heavy with sleep.

They drifted off.

***

Several hours later, Reid picked up his crutches and went to the bathroom, as Emily was coming out.

"I hope I didn't wake you," she said.

His voice was gentle. "It's time for another anti-inflammatory."

She brushed his shoulder and nodded. He hoped Emily hadn't noticed his reaction to her gentle touch.

He got back into bed carefully a few minutes later and adjusted the blankets over himself.

She was propped up on one elbow peering at him. "I could help you with that." She chuckled. "I swear I can feel you blushing."

"Probably. You're an attractive woman. But I learned a long time ago that an erection doesn't have to equal an orgasm." He thought for a moment. "It's probably just as well I was too young to date in high school. I could never have given a convincing rendition of the 'blue balls' speech."

Emily threw her head back and laughed. "Who were you talking to about that?"

"Morgan. Just one of those evenings where he tries to get me to meet women. You should get him tipsy one night and ask him about it." Reid laughed, too.

Her hands pinned his shoulders and she moved closer to him. Looking him right in the eyes, she asked, "What if it's what I need tonight?" She pressed her mouth to his briefly.

"What about tomorrow?"

"We have the day off."

Reid put his hands on her shoulders. "Pick a day, then. You know what I mean."

"Yes. And I still think this is a good idea, if only because you need the endorphins."

He closed his eyes. "Contrary to Morgan's belief, I've had my share of one night stands, but they never start out that way. If we start something, I'm going to want more than the occasional sly look in the roundtable room and fond memories."

She stroked one finger down his nose until he opened them again. "I can't promise more than friends with occasional benefits, but I can promise I won't take it lightly."

Reid peered at her in the dim light for a moment. Then she felt his hand thread through her hair as he pulled her close for a kiss.

Emily wasn't sure what she'd expected, but it wasn't this slow sensuality. His mouth molded to hers, parting her lips, teasing her. When they parted, his teeth scraped gently against her throat, coaxing sounds that she couldn't believe came from her. His lips brushed hers, and Emily ground her hips against him as his tongue slid against hers, flicking her palate.

She reached down his body only to have his hand pull hers back up. He licked her palm and sucked each of her fingers until her back arched, and he leaned forward and suckled at her nipples through the t-shirt. "Oh, God."

"Want to taste you." His words sounded frantic as one hand slipped under her shirt and bared her breasts. His breath teased against the dampness, and she felt her nipples go hard as he flicked his tongue over them.

"Yes. How?"

Reid's hands skimmed under her panties. "Take them off."

"Take off your shirt."

He sat up enough to comply, dipped his head down to rub his face against her skin.

Emily pushed him back and let him slide her panties down her legs. His hands parted her thighs and tugged her forward until she was spread across his face, his mouth driving her wild as he teased her. She put her hands on the wall for support, holding herself over him as his arms clamped her thighs and held her in place.

She could feel her belly tightening as his tongue probed deeper and he mouthed her mons. One of his fingers teased the cleft of her ass and dragged her sweat up her spine. She came hard panting his name.

It took her a minute to come back to herself and lie down beside him. Emily kissed him roughly tasting her juices on his lips, running her hands over his chest, feeling his skin respond to her touch.

His hands were in her hair again, holding her tightly.

"Condom?" she whispered.

"You don't have to… "

Emily caught his earlobe between her teeth and worried at it until he mewled with pleasure. "I don't have to. I want to."

She tried to push his underwear down, but stopped when he hissed. She looked down his body and saw the waistband had caught on his erection. "Sorry about that," she said.

He lifted his hips and guided the boxer briefs down his legs.

Her hand slipped down over his sweat soaked skin. His chest looked hairless, but she could feel it against her breasts, teasing them with sensation.

Once Reid had the condom on, he said, "Sorry to make you do all the work."

Emily grinned. Already she could feel the tightening anticipation. She straddled him and helped guide him into her body. He was thick, and she had to consciously relax and accept him.

The muscles in his neck showed her how much stillness was costing him. He let her adjust as she took a little more of him inside.

Emily rocked her hips, easing down and sliding back up, slowly, shallowly, always trying to take him a bit deeper.

"Please move." Reid's voice broke as he said it, and Emily bounced a little on his thick cock.

"Like that?" she asked.

He sat up a little and kissed her breast. "Please. I've wanted you for so long."

She met his eyes. "Spencer?"

"You're a beautiful geek. What more could I want?" He grinned at her.

Emily brushed his forehead with her fingertips and began to ride him in earnest. She could see him clutching the sheets, trying to keep control as she ground her hips down around him.

He ran one hand down her body and found her clitoris, pressing and stroking until she found herself quivering around him, her second climax building. "Touch yourself," he said and propped himself on his elbows.

His hips thrust up into her; he held her eyes and let her see him break as his rhythm started to go ragged.

She knew they were both close, and sped up, trying to match him.

Spencer propped himself on one arm, changing his angle and causing her to gasp. Her hand quickened between her legs and his other hand stroked her thigh until he reached back and pressed his fingers against her mermaid. Somehow, that was all it took for her to break. He thrust deeply, and called her name as she collapsed against his chest.

Many languid kisses later, Emily found herself whimpering when Spencer withdrew from her body. "You're right. This can't be one night or just one time." She kissed his chest as she settled against him to go back to sleep.

"Well, the doctors say it will be another couple of months before I've fully healed."

Emily thought a minute and grinned. "So you'll need to release lots of endorphins."

"As long as I have a beautiful geek to help me." He dipped his head down for another kiss.

She nestled closer. "That can definitely be arranged."

~

end