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calliopes_museAnyhoo, on to the ending...for now.
Title: The Unexpected - Epilogue
Fandom: WMC/CM Crossover
Pairing: Emily/Cindy; Cindy/Lindsay and Emily/JJ implied.
Rating: NC-17 (sorry, couldn’t help it! I had to have them go out with a bang…so to speak. *wg*)
Disclaimer: Don’t own a damn thing so don’t sue.
Warnings: This is un-beta’d. All mistakes are mine.
AN: Thanks to everyone who has been following and reading this fic. It was so much fun that I think this x-over will be reappearing at some point in the future. It really took on a life of its own. This is an epilogue to clean up the loose ends. Being slightly superstitous, I didn’t want to call this “Chapter 13,” but it’s long enough to be that, I think.
AN2: Don’t forget this fic was nominated for Best Crossover at the 2008 Criminal Minds FanFic Awards. If you really liked it, I’m pimping for another vote or two here. I have no shame!!!
Emily leaned against Cindy’s bed, brushing the back of her fingers gently against her cheek. With a sigh, Cindy stirred and smiled when she saw the beautiful woman standing next to her bed.
“Hey you. How are you feeling?”
“Like some crazed woman whacked me in the head with a cane,” Emily smiled and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, flinching at the sharp pain in her ribs. Cindy took Emily’s hand in hers, reassured by the warmth.
“I have good news.”
“Really?” Cindy groggily mumbled, the pain killers kicking back in.
“You get to go home tomorrow.”
Cindy fought to keep her eyes open, “Oh goodie. I get to see my surprise.”
Emily smiled and leaned over to place a kiss on her forehead, “Sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Cindy sighed in her half-sleep, “Mmmmm, even better.”
Stepping from the room, Emily ran her long fingers through her hair. Even though the ordeal was over, she still felt overwhelmed and it was only partially due to killers and life-threatening situations. This fiesty redhead had swept into Emily’s life and turned it upside down, in a frighteningly wonderful way. Emily looked down at her hands and could still feel the ghost of Trish’s head in them and the distinctive snapping sound echoing in her ears. She closed her eyes tight at the memory, seeing those same hands caressing the curves of Cindy’s neck and feeling the warmth between her legs.
Emily slid down the wall, cradling her head in her arms. Fears and images from past nightmares flooded her mind, thoughts that kicked in a raw survival instinct that Emily thought was no longer needed. In split seconds, she let the animal in her take over and it terrified her.
“Em?” She looked up shocked at JJ. “How is she?”
Emily stood, not sure how to handle JJ’s genuine concern, “She’s going to be fine. She’s getting discharged tomorrow.”
“Good,” JJ looked down at her feet, “How about you?”
“Nothing that won’t heal.”
JJ tilted her head to the side, “You sure? You looked kind of upset.”
Emily rubbed the space between her eyes, offering a half-smile, “You know how it is after a case, especially when some nut wants to end your life. It takes a little time.”
JJ silently nodded, remembering the demons that still chase her from running into that barn after Reid. The silence became unsettling.
Emily motioned back to Cindy’s room, “Well, I better…”
“Emily.” She turned back to face JJ, who was struggling with the right thing to say. “I’m…I’m really sorry. For everything. I was an idiot, and I made a stupid mistake. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Emily felt like she should say something, but she wasn’t sure what. Saying “it’s okay” would be a lie, because it’s wasn’t and still isn’t. She couldn’t say she understood because she didn’t. Instead, she said nothing.
“I ended it with Will, and before you start thinking what I probably think you’re thinking, I’m not telling you this to win you back. I wish I could win you back, but you deserve better than what I gave you.” JJ walked to the glass so she could see Cindy better, then turned to face Emily. “She risked it all for you. She put her own life on the line for you. To hell with the consequences and to hell with what anyone thought. That’s the kind of love you deserve, Emily. I couldn’t even risk being honest with myself, much less anyone else.”
Emily stared at her former lover, shocked at the admission. “JJ…”
“Don’t. It’s okay.” JJ took a deep breath. “I’ve decided to take some time off. I need to get my head together. I’m not good for the team right now…Hotch agrees.”
Emily shook her head in disbelief, “Jennifer, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. It’s okay…really.” JJ suddenly reached up to take Emily in a hug, surprising the other woman. She had no time to react before JJ pulled away and quickly walked off. Emily stared at the retreating form of the blonde before she disappeared in the crowd of people down the hall.
********
Emily woke to a soft tap on the shoulder. She had fallen asleep in a chair next to Cindy’s bed, her sore body protesting the unnatural position she had been in for hours as she tried to move.
“Detective?” Lindsay stuffed her hands into her back pocket in what Emily was learning was a nervous gesture.
“I can take over for a while if you want to get up and move around.”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” Emily stood and started to brush past the other woman. She barely caught the murmur from Lindsay.
“What?”
“I said, don’t hurt her.” They stared at each other, a silent message passing between them.
“I don’t intend to.”
“Good.” Emily watched as Lindsay sat in the chair and took Cindy’s hand in her own. The easy familiarity of it struck a chord in Emily. She made a mental note to ask Cindy about it later before leaving to take a quick walk.
*******
The next morning, Jill and Claire joined Lindsay in seeing Cindy home from the hospital.
“Hey guys!!!” Cindy was feeling much better. She had even managed to walk from the bed to the bathroom without her head spinning. Emily was on the other side of the room packing their bags to leave.
“Hey squirt!” Jill was the first to hug her friend. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better.”
Cindy hugged her back, “Oh, believe me, me too!”
Claire wiped a tear from her face before giving in to the urge too, “Oh come here, you!” She whispered in Cindy’s ear, “Don’t ever scare me like that again, got it?”
“I can’t make promises like that,” Cindy pulled back from the hug.
“Don’t make me ground you and put you in time out!” Cindy saluted Claire.
“Yes, ma’am!”
Claire nodded with approval, “Damn right.”
The nurse bustled into the room, breaking up the merriment, “We have to do one last check on you, Ms. Thomas, and if all’s good then we’ll have some paperwork for you to sign.”
The nurse looked over her glasses at the women in the room, effectively dismissing all of them. When Emily made no move to leave, “Ma’am, you’ll need to leave.”
“It’s okay,” Cindy smirked at Emily, a small blush coming to her face, “She’s my girlfriend. She can stay.”
Emily fought back her own smirk at the huff from the nurse, “Very well then.”
Lindsay shuffled her friends out of the room, “Come on, mother hens, let’s go.” Cindy giggled at the sound of Jill doing chicken sounds down the hall and Claire joining in.
********
By lunch time, Emily was pulling Cindy’s car to the curb and racing around to open the door. Cindy slowly got out of the car, the pain in her legs making walking a difficult process. It didn’t help that the painkillers were wearing off. Thank God Emily stopped at the pharmacy on the way home! There was a little pill with a powerful punch with her name on it in the white bag in her hand. Cindy clutched the bag closer to her as she took her first steps up to her apartment.
Once inside, Cindy flopped down on the couch and immediately tore into the bag. Emily went to the kitchen, pausing with a smile at the gift still sitting there, before returning with a glass of water. Cindy downed the pill and the liquid without taking a breath.
Emily sat down next to her, wrapping her arms silently around the redhead. A few minutes later, both were sound asleep with Cindy curled up against Emily, her arm snuggly around her waist. When Cindy finally stirred, it was dark outside, moonlight streaming in through the windows, settling on Emily’s face.
She traced the outline of Emily’s lips with her finger before reaching up to kiss the other woman, “Mmmmm, that’s a nice way to wake up.”
“Yeah, it is,” Cindy smiled. “I never did thank you for saving me.”
“Actually, you saved me.”
Cindy buried her head in Emily’s neck, “Augh, and I failed miserably!”
“No, you didn’t. You have saved me.” Emily looked in wonder at Cindy. “You amaze me.”
The romantic words stirred a memory for Cindy, “Hey.” She pushed off of Emily, “I haven’t seen my surprise yet!” Cindy hobbled slightly as she headed for the kitchen. Emily was close behind.
“Oh my God, Emily!” Cindy had her hand over her mouth as she held the paper in one hand and a set of keys in the other.
“It just seemed like you. I hope I was right.” Emily shrugged as she walked further into the kitchen and wrapped an arm around Cindy’s waist. “After the other night, I just knew I needed to get away with your for a little while, get away from all the madness, just the two of us.”
Cindy stared at the paper and then back up at Emily before throwing her arms around her neck, “Are you kidding?! A week at a private lodge in Tahoe?! No woman in her right mind would turn that down!”
Emily laughed and pulled back to kiss Cindy solidly on the lips, “And the best news is that there isn’t another cabin anywhere. There’s a hot tub, great views, and lots and lots of privacy.”
Cindy licked her lips, “Oh, I’m liking the sound of this more and more. I have so many wicked thoughts running through my head right now!”
Emily moaned at the thought, kissing Cindy deeply, the desire for more warring with her urge to be gentle with her. Emily let her hands brush over Cindy’s breasts, making the smaller woman gasp. Cindy bit her lip, trying not to squeeze Emily’s sore ribs.
“Emily…I want you. There’s so much I want with you, and I don’t want to waste time.”
“I know. Me too, but I don’t want to hurt you. Maybe we need to wait.” Emily wasn’t even sure what to do with her hands anymore. She settled for resting them on the counter behind Cindy.
“I have an idea,” Cindy ached at the thought. It wasn’t something they had the chance to do the other night, and pain or not, she didn’t think there was a thing Emily could say to talk her out of it now. She took Emily’s hand and walked her to the bedroom. Guiding her to the bed, she stripped and stretched out on the bed. Emily took in the skin glowing in the moonlight. She licked her lips at what she knew she wanted.
“Are you sure?”
Cindy only nodded.
“Will you stop me if I hurt you?”
“You won’t. I trust you.” Emily let her eyes roam over Cindy’s body, relishing the gentle rise of her breasts, the soft curve of her hips, and the sight of curls already dampened and ready for her. She let Cindy watch as she stripped every piece of clothing off. The only thing remaining was the wrap around her ribs that kept her from being completely naked.
Kneeling between Cindy’s legs, she kissed the soft flesh, taking special care to gently brush her lips over the purplish marks across her thighs, as if doing so would erase the pain and memories. Slowly, she kissed her way closer to the destination. Cindy’s breathing became faster and Emily looked up at her watching for any signs of discomfort or pain. All she saw was Cindy biting her lip, her head thrown back, a hand buried in the pillow under her head.
Emily reached around to take Cindy’s free hand into her own, their fingers linking together easily, before dipping her head lower. The first touch pulled the air from Cindy’s lungs. She tightened her grip on the hand in hers, already overwhelmed with the sensations Emily was sending through her body. She chanced a glance down, amazed that the beautiful woman wasn’t a figment of her imagination.
“Emily,” Cindy whispered. When dark desire-filled eyes locked on hers, Cindy’s body instantly spasmed, her head slamming back into the pillow and her body arching. Emily kissed her way up Cindy’s body, bracing herself above her, letting her lips linger over Cindy’s. Her tongue flicked out playfully, tasting herself on Emily.
“Damn…,” Cindy quirked an eyebrow, “If it’s like that when we’re in pain and injured, imagine the damage we’ll do when we’re both better.”
“And for a whole week too!” Cindy laughed and nibbled at the tender spot under Emily’s ear.
“Hmmm, can we leave for Tahoe tonight?” Emily’s eyes rolled in the back of her head when Cindy hit a nerve.
“I’ll pack the bags.”
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 07:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:05 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for reading and keeping up with the story.
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Date: 2009-01-28 07:30 pm (UTC)It's nice to see that JJ has some good sense after all. Maybe some time off will do her good.
And the ending was just wow!
And just so you know. I already sent my votes in *g* And I did vote for you. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 09:29 pm (UTC)Pretty please! With cherry on top!
(Only one more week to vote, I'm really curious what stories will win and if some femslash will be among the winners; besides in the category femslash of course. Duh!)
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Date: 2009-01-28 07:57 pm (UTC)xxx
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Date: 2009-01-30 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 11:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-01 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 01:22 am (UTC)thanks for the story.. really good
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Date: 2009-01-30 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:23 pm (UTC)for me Lindsay only had friendly feelings and care about Cindy a whole lot.. but yes.. Lindsay is strong in almost everything just not heart issues.. i hope you do make a sequel of that.. would be really great.. thanks again
no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 06:55 pm (UTC)~Amanda
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Date: 2009-01-30 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 09:53 pm (UTC)While I do love crossovers, I usually really can't adjust to my fav couples being spilt, and I want them to run back into there correct order(OCD I know). I don't think that happened once in this fic, you wrote the pairing so naturally, by the end they were practically OTP (JJ & Lindsay who?), and dealt with the other characters feelings so well that even when they were hurt/upset they didn't come off as jilted.
Oh and I loved Jill, Claire and Garcia!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:22 pm (UTC)Oh, and Jill, Claire, and Garcia are made of win! Writing their scenes were some of my favorite parts. :)
Actual Constructive Feedback - Shocking, I know!
Date: 2009-01-30 06:28 pm (UTC)Second. I know that I am usually known for my smartass comments, but when I come across a true brilliant piece of writing, I usally leave real feedback at the end. So, since this most certainly falls in that category, you are stuck with something that will not qualify as snarky.
Okay... On to the feedback...
The first thing that stands out to me about this is the ease and confidence with which you handled a crossover situation. Crossovers are not easy to pull off, and if there is any sort of hesitancy on the writer's part, it will shatter the illusion of congruency for the reader. You have taken these two worlds and combined them seamlessly, creating fluent interactions for which the reader to base her foundation of belief upon. That, alone, would make this fic praiseworthy.
Another one of the most important facets of any fic based on an already established fandom is the author's ability to maintain accurate characterizations for the players in the story. Realizing that anything femslash is in fact out of character, and setting that information aside, the mannerisms, speech patterns, personalities, and other such recognizable traits must be adhered to in order to be faithful to the characters that the readers expect to identify with. In this series, you have been able to demonstrate your exceptional capability to achieve this for not only one fandom full of characters, but for two. Your characters and their interactions are believeable and real and filled with the depth and emotion that we, as readers, would expect from them.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for presenting this piece with such care and not slopping through it just for the sake of throwing it out there. I am very grateful that you found us worthy to share it with, and will certainly hold on to the prospect of the future fics of this nature that you are considering. I look forward to the next tale that you spin for us!
p.s. The smut was awesome, too! (I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't say SOMETHING like that! *lol*)