Sleepless Nights

An Emily Prentiss fanfic

When she was younger, there were certain nights were Emily Prentiss found it hard to sleep. She could toss and turn all night, change positions a hundred times, think a million thoughts but there was no way she would fall asleep.

Emily hated those nights. She would lie alone in her bed in her huge room in the Prentiss mansion of whatever country they were in at the present time. Maybe that was why she couldn't sleep, she found it difficult to adjust to a new house, a new room, a new language, a new culture, a new life.

Her life felt empty, just like half the rooms in the mansion. The house was too big for just the three of them and who knows how many servants. Emily never had a chance to make friends, and whenever she did they were snatched away from her like waking up from a dream.

That was why she was so thankful for the BAU. Sure she travelled a lot, but she always returned to the same place in the end. Home. She had a life at the BAU and for the first time Emily felt like she was actually alive. She had also made the two best friends anyone could hope for in Jennifer Jareau and Penelope Garcia.

Still, despite all that there was still some nights where Emily Prentiss could not sleep. She would lie in bed at four in the morning, cold, alone, and afraid, thinking of her childhood. If she couldn't sleep, she would walk into her parents bedroom and ask if she could sleep with them tonight. Most of the time the answer was no.

So little Emily would walk back into her dark bedroom feeling more alone than ever. For all she knew, the boogeyman could be hiding underneath her bed. She did not know what to do with herself. She had tried everything, counting sheep, turning the pillow over, hot cocoa, everything. Nothing worked.

That continued all her life. Eventually on those nights she would fall asleep, but she would fall asleep cold and alone. The fear usually disappeared, when she accepted that she wasn't going to fall asleep. Those nights would then end, being replaced by her usual sleeping patterns. Falling asleep quickly, no need to get up in the middle of the night to be reassured, but after a few months they came back. And so did the fear and loneliness.

Nowadays, when Emily can't sleep, she takes a deep breath and says to herself ''You will fall asleep. You're just not trying hard enough.'' It works, and she'll be fast asleep soon. Sure, the fear is still there, the fear of being too tired in the morning that she wont be able to focus on work, or even get out of the bed.

But the loneliness was gone. Because next to her on those cold sleepless nights lay another human being who stayed awake with her until she fell asleep. Mick Rawson knew how bad Emily could get when she couldn't sleep and he was there to put an arm around her and say that everything was going to be alright. Having him next to her was better than sleeping in her parents bed. And Emily knew that if there was ever a night where she couldn't sleep, he would be there, going through the same thing.