Author's Note: I'm not having a good night and I needed a distraction. So I decided to write my first ever Criminal Minds ficcie. If this is the first time you're reading anything by me, check out my profile! For the record, I am always a HEA (Happily Ever After) girl! Since I'm the one writing this angsty little thing, I shall spare you all a note from my muse and keep him locked in his cage!
Disclaimer: If I owned Criminal Minds, the BAU's dress code would include being shirtless for one SSA Derek Morgan.
Beta: You will rarely see one from me at all. I always reread before I post but none of my old B-girls are around anymore and I don't have the patience to find a new one.
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Derek Morgan was not in a good mood. Okay, that was probably the understatement of the year. He was in a piss poor mood.
It had been one of those cases. The ones where the UNSUB was targeting kids always hit them all hard. This one had been bad. They'd been called in after victim number two and hadn't managed to figure out who the guy was until the body of victim five was found. When they finally caught up to him the body count was at eight and there was a little boy still in critical condition who might not make it.
If he was being honest, Morgan was pissed at himself. He felt that he should have picked up on more clues. That he should have been able to save at least the last few boys. And he definitely felt that JJ's injury had been his fault. If he'd been a little faster getting out of the SUV, he would have beaten JJ to the UNSUB and she wouldn't have gotten stabbed.
Luckily, she'd been practicing hand to hand combat with him as she was spending more time in the field since becoming a profiler. She had managed to twist the UNSUB's grip and, as a result, had taken the blade in the shoulder instead of the chest. The wound hadn't been terribly deep, but did require stitches.
The plane ride home from Arizona had been exceptionally quiet. No one had talked or joked. And it wasn't because they had been sleeping either. JJ had been the only one who had managed that, a phenomenon courtesy of prescription painkillers. They had all finished their reports long before touching down.
As usual, Hotch had called Jessica as soon as they were in the air. He'd let her know he would be home by the time Jack woke in the morning. JJ had made the same call to Will and Henry. Morgan, however, had skipped his usual call to Garcia. He couldn't handle her perkiness just then. Or worse, her sympathy. Rossi had seemed to get it and called their tech analyst for him.
Once back in Quantico, Morgan had volunteered to print everyone's reports and file the required paperwork. Rossi had offered his help, but Derek declined, asking him to take Reid home instead. A sharp glare had kept Blake from making the same gesture. It was late Thursday night. Landing time automatically afforded them Friday off, which meant they had a three day weekend, and most of the rest of the team had already had plans of some sort for Saturday. As for Morgan, he really just wanted peace and quiet.
Since it was nearly 2am when he'd dragged into his office, the entire floor of the building was deserted. In the silence he'd managed to get the team's housekeeping done in record time. He had also caught up on his emails while he'd been at the computer anyway, just to ensure he would have the next three days to himself with no work.
Now it was 3:15am and Derek was standing in the parking garage next to his SUV, which refused to start. The vehicle had been acting out of the ordinary Monday morning, but he hadn't gotten to take it to be looked at because they'd left for Phoenix. He should have asked Garcia to take care of it, but it just hadn't been on his mind.
He slammed the back hatch of the vehicle and cursed audibly. Now he was going to have to call a cab and wait.
That thought had him considering the couch in the bullpen when he heard the sharp click of heels on the concrete of the garage. Before he could turn around, her voice covered the sound of her steps.
"Hey there, Hot Stuff. What are you still doing here?"
He hadn't wanted to talk to her earlier, but now he was grateful for the sound of Garcia's voice. "Hey yourself Baby Girl. Damn car won't start. You?"
Derek sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. She immediately snaked her free arm around his waist, the other hand holding her large bag. "I was helping out another team. Need a ride home?"
"That would be great, sweetness." Derek hauled his go bag back out of the SUV, shut the door, and locked it before following her across the garage.
They walked to her car in silence. That was part of what made his relationship with her so special. While they never ran out of things to talk about, they could just be quiet together without it being uncomfortable.
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Derek woke with a start. It took him a moment to realize that it was the sudden loss of noise from the car's engine that had hurtled him back into consciousness.
"Welcome back to the land of the living. You were some kind of asleep. You didn't even noticed we stopped for food."
He noticed the fast food bags between them and shook his head. "That's probably the most sleep I'll get tonight."
Derek was out of the car, bag in hand when he noticed she was still sitting in the driver's seat. "You gonna come in and eat that with me or what?"
He didn't wait for a response. He knew better than that. By the time he'd gotten his front door unlocked, she was right behind him. As he swung open the door, he pitched his back to the side and stuck his right hand down, snagging Clooney by the collar before he could hurtle himself into Garcia.
He dragged the dog through to the door that led to the fenced back yard and shoved him out. By the time he made it back to his living room, she was settled on his couch, fishing food out of the bags.
They maintained their silence as they ate, bagged up the trash, and he let Clooney back in. The dog made a beeline for Garcia and he rolled his eyes. The dog was well trained but his best friend allowed the pup to get away with anything.
He finally convinced the excited pooch to settle on his bed in the corner and settled back on the seat next to Garcia. After a few more minutes the silence shifted into the realm of awkward. Another minute later, she was the one to break it.
"You didn't call me from the jet."
It was technically a statement, but Morgan knew it required a response. "I'm sorry Sweetness. I wasn't in the mood to talk. Knowing me, I would have just bitten your head off."
Her hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Angel Face, I would have known you didn't mean it. You know I just want you to talk to me."
Derek shoved to his feet and paced slowly back and forth in his living room. "You want me to talk? Should we start with the fact that this guy killed six kids under my nose, P? Or the fact that I let JJ get stabbed?"
In an instant she was standing immediately in front of him, a tight scowl on her face. "Listen here Agent Morgan: neither of those things are your fault. They are both the fault of a sick, twisted, disgusting excuse for a man. A man that is sitting in a cell right now because of you. You did everything your sexy self could possibly do. And you got him."
Derek shook his head. "Not soon enough. I should have had him before…"
She shoved a perfectly polished fingernail into his chest. "Do not start that. If you're going to blame yourself you'll have to take the rest of the team down with you. Every last one of us. So if it's your fault that JJ got stabbed then it's mine too."
His heart slammed into his stomach and he pulled her against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I didn't mean that, P. You know I didn't mean that right?"
"I know Sweet Cheeks. Just thought you needed a little perspective."
Morgan loosened the hug enough to press his forehead against hers. "Thanks Baby Girl. What would I do without my God-given Solace?"
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Well let's just hope you never have to figure that one out Hot Stuff."
After another minute she squeezed him tightly then pushed back. "Off to bed with you. I'm going to borrow your couch for a few hours."
Morgan opened his mouth to argue that she should take his bed but the look on her face shut him up. That was another argument he'd never win. He rolled his eyes and headed for his room to pull out the old pair of sweats she always borrowed when she stayed.
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It was no longer completely dark in his bed room. Derek checked the time on the clock that sat on his nightstand. It was 6am. He had been tossing and turning on his bed for nearly two hours. With a sigh, he pulled a pillow over his face.
This is what he hated the most about the way his mind worked. When he was completely exhausted is when he couldn't sleep. His head was going a million miles a minute, that is, until it would come screeching to a halt on the face of that last little boy. Or the image of JJ, blood streaming from her shoulder.
He shot up with a start when his bedroom door creaked. In the dimness, he could make out her shape in the doorway. "Babygirl?"
She walked quietly over to his bed and climbed in next to him. He turned to face her, bringing his face just inches from hers. It wasn't until she was that close that he noticed the tears on her cheeks. He raised one hand to wipe them gently away with his thumb. "What's wrong, Angel?"
"Nothing. Bad dream. I just needed to make sure you were okay."
He studied her face for a moment. He believed her. She had seemed to stop crying once he'd touched her. He heaved another sigh. "Awake, but okay. You want to stay here?"
She nodded and he felt relieved. "Good. Cause honestly, right now, I could use some of my solace."
Derek rolled onto his back and stretched out his arm. She didn't hesitate to curl up at his side, head on his shoulder and hand on his chest. He bent his own arm, his hand covering the one on his chest.
Finally, his mind settled and he slept.
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AN: I'm kind of pleased with how this developed. But my stupid muse is prattling on from inside his cage. He is insisting that this should be a multi-chapter fluff piece. So I need opinions. Should I leave this as a standalone piece or add to it? Let me know in comments or PMs.