Frozen Dawn, 2/3
Title: Frozen Dawn
Rating: PGish
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Characters/Pairing: Rossi/Prentiss
Genre: Romance
Summary: Emily drags Dave out into a cold Alaskan night.
Part Two
‘I think I’m going to head back,’ Reid announced, his teeth chattering wildly. Emily wasn’t at all surprised - he was used to desert weather, not taiga weather. While she was happy to stay out longer, the last thing they needed was for Reid to get lost on the way back to the motel, eidetic memory or not. With one last wistful glance towards the sky, they started to trudge through the snow.
It wasn't a long walk, compared to some that Emily had been on. It was a multi-day hike up a mountain to get to her grandfather's cabin in the French Alps. A couple of miles through the snow, she could deal with.
Of course, a couple of miles through the snow at one o’clock in the morning was a little more daunting. She was exhausted, but at the same time knew that sleep was still a long way off.
By the time they made it back to the motel, it was almost two. To say it was a small town seemed almost an overstatement. The woods seemed to overshadow the buildings, swallowing the town in the depths of the wilderness. One day it might be nice to live in a place like this.
‘We’re going to stay out a little longer,’ Rossi told Reid, who gave a small, almost knowing smile. At first, Emily had felt a little guilty that she had spent the entire night by Rossi’s side, when it was Reid that had invited her out in the first place. Now, though, she knew that he would have quite happily gone alone were it not a) below freezing, b) the middle of nowhere, Alaska, and c) the middle of the night.
Even then, it was something he did to appease the rest of the team. Emily didn’t blame him; she knew how protective they could all get. Hell, she wouldn’t be surprised if Morgan got up in arms once he discovered where they’d been.
‘Well, good night,’ Reid replied, shivering. He’d wrapped up well enough to avoid hypothermia, so Emily felt safe enough in letting him make his own way up to his room. Once satisfied that he was not going to get eaten by a yeti, she crouched to the ground.
‘Everything okay?’ Rossi asked, voice suddenly taken on a tone of concern. She almost felt bad for taking advantage of his protectiveness when the snowball hit him in the chest. He gave a surprised grunt, the worry quickly turning to amusement.
‘Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?’ He dived out of the way of her second snowball, showing remarkable agility. ‘You really think you can beat me, Prentiss? I grew up with five brothers.’
'Well that explains a lot,' she said, laughing. Overwhelmed by a sudden bout of mischievousness, she grabbed his coat and pulled him down into the snow.
'Jesus Christ, Emily. Some of us have back problems.' Despite the annoyance in his voice, he was smiling. Holding her cheeks in glove-clad hands, he pressed a long, deep kiss to her lips.
'You're pretty spry for a guy with back problems,' Emily said. 'I guess you're probably not interested in a different kind of recreational activity.'
'I thought you knew by now that that kind of recreational activity is an analgesic.'
'I suppose we'll have to test that.' It would have been tempting to simply strip down and do it right there, at the edge of the woods, but neither of them were quite insane enough to actually try it.
Frostbite, hypothermia, and the fact that any member of the team could look out the window of their motel room and see them buck naked in the snow, were the main reasons. Given time, Emily was sure she could have added more to the list.
If there was one thing the weather was good for, it was stopping friskiness in its tracks. They didn't even need a cold shower.
'I'm so wet,' Emily said, laughing, as Rossi pulled her up from the ground. He raised an eyebrow. 'From the snow,' she explained, feeling a slight flush in her cheeks. The wind came on again with a sudden fury. Reid definitely had the right idea in going back to the motel as quickly as possible.
The town was dark, save for a twenty-four hour diner across the street from the motel. Emily wasn't sure how much business a twenty-four hour diner would get in this part of the world, but was apparently enough to stay open.
'Hot chocolate?' Rossi suggested, and Emily found herself immediately salivating at the thought. It would give them a chance to ward off the chill properly before trying to sleep.
Hand in hand, they made their way across the street.