One In A Million.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

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"Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans." -John Lennon.

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Emily Prentiss walked into her tastefully decorated DC condominium. She was tired. She threw down her purse, stretched and flopped down on her off-white sofa with the perfectly accented throw cushions. She surveyed the beautiful room around her with the gorgeous view of the Capital building and felt nothing. This room didn't feel like her home. She had let her Mother bully her into using her decorator and as a result this place practically screamed of her Mother, right from the carefully chosen object du art, to the pattern of the tile on her kitchen floor.

"Screw it!" she thought. She got up, grabbed a bottle of 50-year-old Scotch off the bar and headed to her bedroom. The one room in the house that was truly her's. She poured herself a nice healthly tumbler and undressed. She pulled off her working clothes and tossed them into a corner. She removed her bra and pulled on a tank top and a pair of shorts. Emilly settled herself at the top of her bed and clicked on her large screen TV. Her bedroom was her Haven, her sanctuary. Bookcases lined the walls, filled with DVDS, ranging from old classics to the latest releases, other shelves held books, giant tomes and paperbacks and magazines, plus there was her bizarre collection of antique fishing lures that took up an entire shelf. Her mother thought the room was vulgar and common. This made Emily love it all the more.

She relaxed back on her pillows and sipped her Scotch. It had been a hard week, a hard month really if you counted herself and her colleague Dr Spencer Reid being held hostage by a cult leader named Ben Cyrus in Colorado. She was over that though. Cyrus had beaten her, but the bruises had faded, the cuts healed. Hell!, she barely even thought of Ben Cyrus anymore. Danger and the possibility of getting hurt was all part and parcel of the job. She knew what she was getting into when she joined the Bureau. Emily could manage to put almost any case figuratively into its own little box and file it away forever. So why was she so anxious? It started two weeks ago when an unsub turned out to be an abusive husband whose abuse of his 'mere wife' didn't satisfy him anymore and he started dating innocent young women for the sole purpose of beating them senseless... He was a vile piece of dirt, yet how was he any different than Ben Cyrus? When JJ began the slide show explaining the case, Emily's stomach began to twist and turn, her head felt light and her heart started to beat uncontrollably. She thought she might pass out for a moment, but she managed to contain her feelings of panic and soldier on. This unsub was unrepentant, worse than Cyrus really, for Cyrus's acts of violence against her could be filed away, maybe even forgotten, but the beatings inflicted by a person you loved or who claimed to love you were the ultimate act of betrayal.

Emily downed her Scotch and poured another. Soon she felt the warm satisfying buzz of her second glass. She stretched out her legs in front of her and closed her eyes. Unfortunately she hadn't had enough to drink, for the Scotch didn't erase the faces of the bruised and battered women she had seen on JJ's screen. They were all young , educated and beautiful, perhaps each one thinking they had found their Prince charming or their Mr Right, not some sad sick sadistic bastard waiting patiently until he could beat out the last bit of innocence left in their bodies.

Emily frowned. Why was she still obsessing over this one case? She'd seen worse. She shook herself and sat up.

"I can take it, I always could."

Just then the doorbell rang. She was grateful for this interuption of her thoughts. She bounced clumsily off her bed and half walked half staggered to her front door.

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Spencer Reid stood in the hallway outside of Emily Prentiss's Condo. He felt a little nervous coming here unannounced. He pressed the buzzer again. He felt fairly certain she was home; he could hear the muted sounds of a TV playing inside.

Spencer was worried about her. She had been strangely quiet these last few days. This last case had really seemed to affect her, her demeanor was different. He really wanted to help; he hadn't been able to help Elle. He was certainly going to try and help Emily. Spencer heard the soft sounds of footsteps on the other side of the door.

Emily Prentiss peaked throught the peephole of her front door. She recognized the familiar face of her colleague Spencer Reid.

"Oh great, Bambi's here," she thought. "I wonder what he wants." She opened the door.

"Hi Reid," she said, her tumbler of Scotch still in her hand.

Spencer noted her drink and glassy eyes."May I come in?"

"Sure, c'mon in," She opened the door wider and made a wide sweeping gesture with her hands, nearly spilling her Scotch. She was getting a warm numb feeling from the booze and she liked it.

"So Reid, wouldya like a drink?" she held up her glass.

He shook his head no. She studied him standing opposite her, his long lean frame, his hands stuffed in his pockets, rocking slightly on his heels. He stared into her eyes saying nothing. She stared back at him,

"Hmm, he's got really pretty eyes," she thought "Whoa! Where did that come from?" Emily knew that recently she had begun to think of Reid as attractive. She really hadn't noticed him before and now she couldn't stop noticing. "It must be the Scotch" she reasoned.

She broke the silence, "I was in my room watching TV. Come!" She spun on her heel and walked back to her bedroom, Reid followed.

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Emily hopped back up onto her bed and stared at the weather channel. Reid stood in the doorway a few seconds, taking in the scene.

"Nice room, Emily." He had to suppress a smile when he saw the complete Star Trek collection taking up an entire bottom shelf of her bookcase. Emily smiled at him and patted the bed. He walked over and sat down in front of her.

"Hey Reid, I can't see the TV"

He reached for the clicker and turned it off. "We can watch the weather later," He said dryly.

"Ok Ok. What is it? Why are you here?

Reid saw no purpose in beating around the bush, so he got straight to the point: "I'm worried about you, I thought maybe you needed to talk to someone" The words sounded eerily familiar. He shook off the feeling of deja vu.

"Why?" Emily looked at his solumn expression. She was surprised.

"Because..." Reid coughed, feeling a little uncomfortable. "...This last case was horrible. It seemed to especially upset you, it's just really unlike you... you know."

Emily gaped at him, wide eyed, "You're worried because a horrible case upset me? I see, next you'll be appalled that comedies make me laugh! Really Reid, maybe you and I are getting a little jaded"

Reid heard the edge in her voice, but he ignored her sarcasm and looked into her face. His voice was a whisper.

"Emily, I saw your eyes when JJ screened those battered women."

Emily took a deep breath. Her heart began to beat faster, her hands shook. "Damn him! Why did he have to insist on picking at these wounds"

"I dont think this is the time or the place, so why don't you run along "

He ignored that remark and continued, "Was it the girls Emily? Did they...remind you of someone?" He wasn't about to be pushed away this time.

She tried to steady her voice, "Those girls were so innocent"

"But we caught him Emily"

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. The ones that survived, they'll never trust again; they'll never be the same," She felt her anger starting to build. "Oh maybe some will, but maybe some will blame themselves. Maybe some will even have mothers who'll think that their daughters even brought it on themselves, or worse, be embarassed by a daughter who could be so stupid, who wont press charges because the scandal could be embarassing to their career! Surely this daughter must have done something to make a 'nice, handsome, successful man' behave so violently!" Emily was shaking now, her fist clenched. She glared at Reid. "THERE! YOU HAPPY NOW? I CAN FEEL, JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE."

Reid moved closer, his voice steady, "Emily, nobody deserves that kind of pain, do you understand me?" His eyes never left her face, even as he echoed her words, "Nobody, not ever. It's not your fault!"

She saw the understanding in his eyes and the pressure that was building up inside of her breached the surface. Her voice cracked and she struggled to stay in control, but it was not possible, years of pain, anger and resentment pushed it's way to the surface.

"Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! " and it was not Reid that she spoke these words to.

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It was like the silence before the storm. Emily drew her knees up to her chest and began to weep, not the quiet stifled weeping of mere sadness but the huge gasping sobs of a child that wracked her whole being, because they came from a place so deep and hidden. She covered her face with her hands, for this lack of control shamed and frightened her at the same time. It seemed like it was never going to stop. She glanced up at Reid for a moment and saw him reaching across the bed for her. With a strengh that surprised her, he put one arm under her knees and another around her back and pulled her onto his lap. He held her tightly and rocked her, all the while murmuring soothing words into her hair.

"It's Ok Emily, it's going to be alright." She made no attempt to resist him. She laid her cheek against his shoulder and wept some more. She wept because the well of pain seemed bottomless and because she couldn't remember anyone in her life comforting her this way, not ever.

It seemed like they remained like that ages. The only sounds heard were the shuddering sobs of a woman and the soft soothing words of the man who held her.

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Eventually her sobs subsided. Reid still held her, his lips pressed against her temple, his hand rubbing her back. She relaxed into his arms, letting herself enjoy the comfort he offered. She put her hand on his chest and felt where she had made his shirt wet with her tears.

Then she noticed it. The knot was gone, that huge giantic knot that had seemed to be growing in her stomach. The knot that felt like it got bigger every day as if each new case they worked on added another layer. Somehow it had been purged. She felt a lightness halfway between amazement and elation. She realized that this feeling was probably only temporary, but she wanted to enjoy this shift in her feelings.

"Reid," she said. Spencer looked down at her and she, without knowing why, because sometimes we never know why, turned her face towards his and kissed him hard on the mouth. This took him at unawares but he let it happen and returned the kiss with equal intensity. He parted his lips slightly and he felt her tongue run along the inside of his lower lip. She tasted of expensive Scotch, he tasted of coffee and cookies. An involuntary soft moan escaped from his lips. Needing no furthur encouragement, Emily turned in his lap, placed a leg on either side of his thighs, straddling him. This movement surprised him. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed himself away from her.

"Emily, this isn't right," his voice a little ragged and breathy " I didn't come here to... I mean you're vunerable right now and you've been drinking and... " He began stammering out reasons faster and faster.

True, she still felt the buzz of the Scotch, but she also felt something else, the desire to be touched and loved by a man whose hands were soft and gentle, hands that didn't know how to hurt and inflict pain.

She put her fingers over Reids mouth to silence him.

"Shh!" she whispered. She looked into his eyes. "This is what I want, right now this is what I want; and if I'm not mistaken, I think you want it too." She pressed her hips down hard into his lap, letting him know that she was aware of his physical response to her kiss.

Reid felt his face flush with embarassment. He cast his eyes downward, not sure of what to say. Prentiss began to slowly unbutton his shirt, when she reached the waistband of his pants, her fingers lingered there a few seconds. Then in one fluid motion she reached up and pushed his shirt back over his shoulders. He looked into her eyes

"Emily" he breathed. " It's just that I... I haven't ever..." He cast his eyes down again and swallowed nervously. "It's just that I don't want you to be disappointed"

Emily lifted his chin and made him look at her. "Reid...Spencer, why don't you let me worry about that." She placed her mouth over his and with firm yet gentle hands she pushed him back down onto the bed.

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Afterwards they lay on the bed facing each other, legs intertwined, the thin cotten sheet covering only their hips. It was still summer and still very warm. Reid smiled at Emily. She leaned close and kissed him tenderly on the lips, marvelling again how she could never have noticed how soft and full his mouth was. Emily snuggled closer. She pressed her face against his chest and inhaled the sweet scent of his skin. She slipped an arm around his waist and drew lazy circles on his back with her fingers. She felt happy.

Reid was speechless. He felt he had never seen or felt anything so beautiful. Emily was beautiful. Spencer wove his fingers through Emily's dark hair and cradled her head in his hands. He held her like this all night long, as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

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Spencer said he understood. He understood when she told him that last night could never happen again. Yes, he did understand, but she found it almost impossible to look into his large moist hazel eyes. It was like he could see right through her. She was holding his hands and her heart gave a slight lurch when he absent-mindedly stroked the side of her hand with his thumb. It was the same thing he had done on the plane that day coming back from Colorado. That innocent gesture that had seemed so oddly intimate.

"Yes Emily, I understand, " he said quietly and with that, he pulled his hands away, planted a soft kiss on her forehead and left.

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It was difficult at first, going to work and trying to behave as though nothing had happened between them. They took pains to avoid each other at first, not to make eye contact, fearing the electricity between them would be evident to everyone. But as the weeks passed it started to become easier. Their workload increased, they became more at ease with each other and soon they fell into old familiar rhythms of easy banter and only work-related topics. Emily began to feel herself slowly reconstuct those invisible walls around her. Sometimes she could almost make herself believe that night had never happened. She did not know that in only a matter of days, how impossible an idea that would become.

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One in a million...yes, that is what they had told her, the odds of it ever happening were one in a million.

"Well Dr Spencer Reid, I guess you are that one in a million," she said aloud to the empty room.

So for the fouth time on that cool Autumn morning as she stood barefoot on the cold tile of her bathroom floor, Emily opened her eyes and stared down at the little white wand she held in her hand. The plastic wand with the bright pink end and the tiny window with the unmistakable double solid pink lines that indicated...Positive...

"Yup, one in a million "

FIN

A/N: Hope you like it. Please read and review. This is my first fanfic so be gentle please.