"Hey, already ended your night?" Derek asked when Emily went into the house
"Actually...it is never initiated" she answered sinking onto the couch
"Come here..." pulling her into a hug and running his fingers through his woman's black hair "...do you wanna talk about?"
"There isn't that much to say. I was sitting in my car for two hours outside the restaurant waiting for my father who never showed up, such a classic! I'm so angry with him right now...and with me, why am I always fooled by him?"
"Honey, calm down now. I'm quite sure that there is a logical explanation for this"
"It required too much effort to call to inform me?"
"I know, you're perfectly right, I hate it too when he teases you in this way but, from what I see, now you have two possibilities: you can stay angry all night or we think of a backup plan, something to do together. What do you think?"
"I think that I love you!"
"I love you too! Wait a minute...if you waited for your father for two hours outside the restaurant that means that you didn't eat"
"Keep going Sherlock..." she commented sarcastically
"I'll make you something, what do you wanna eat? Or I can go out and buy something..." Morgan enunciated trying to get up off the couch but she stopped him taking the edge of his shirt
"Thank you, I'm not hungry. Why don't we focus on our night instead?"
"That's my girl!" the man expressed happy giving her a soft kiss on her lips
"What are watching?" Prentiss asked pointing with the head the television
"An old Bears game...so, do you wanna watch a movie?"
She nodded, meanwhile he was looking for something to see on tv
"Whoa, stop there. 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' is about to begin, do we see it?"
"I never thought that you were the kind of girl to watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'..."
"Are you kidding? This movie is a cult. So? Do we watch it?"
"Yeah, okay" Derek accepted, glad to see again a smile on his girlfriend's face
"Thanks! I'm going to do some popcorn"
They watched the movie, Derek lied on his back on the sofa and Emily lied on him. When the credits began, Prentiss raised her head to look Morgan in his eyes better:
"I can't believe you've never seen it"
"Baby, in case you hadn't ever noticed, I'm not a proper fan of these kind of movies. But you were right, it was very beautiful. And then Audrey Hepburn looks a bit like you..."
"Yeah, sure" she rolled her eyes
"I'm serious, silly girl! You are both practically perfect"
"Stop it"
"Oh, look, you're blushing..." he sweetly teased her while Emily hid her face in the crook of his neck, slightly embarrassed "...really, I'm not kidding! Just look at you: you are gorgeous, funny, sexy, smart and you can kick my ass...one of the main reasons why my mom loves you!"
"Thanks, sometimes I forget that you are a hopeless romantic..."
"It's all your merit"
"I'm such a lucky girl..." she whispered giving him a deeply kiss
They were still immersed in the kiss when a text came to both their cells and that meant only one thing: they had a case.
/ M&P /
When the couple entered the round table room, the whole team turned to look at them as if they were seeing their colleagues for the first time. Immediately, Prentiss moved her gaze to Morgan, in a mixture of embarrassment and concern. The only time that the team looked at them in that way it was a couple of months ago, when Emily's hair were a more than clear evidence of her fun morning session with Derek. But this time they were interrupted even before that the kiss, already hot on its own, could go beyond, so no one of the two Federals understood the reason behind these looks.
"Morgan, Prentiss, have a seat. We got a case. Few hours ago, was found a dead body in a car with Maryland license plate stopped near by Burke..." Hotch put them aware "...the driver has been arrested whose alcohol level was well above average. He is already in the interrogation room"
"Hotch, forgive me if I would, if we already have the culprit I really don't understand the reason for the call..." the brunette profiler said, sure to speak also for her boyfriend "...and above all I do not understand why you are looking at me in this way..."
"Prentiss..." the unit chief continued "...the man who was driving is Douglas Prentiss, your father"
Emily moved her lips a couple of times in an attempt to say something but no sound came out of her mouth. Derek took advantage of the situation to talk to the woman's place:
"Are we sure? I mean, are we sure that he is the responsible?"
"Well, the clues lead us in that direction but there are some things that do not add up, such as being found drunk in a machine that contains a corpse... Prentiss, if you have no objection I would like to exclude yourself from the investigations, you could stay here but you can't talk with your father or being involved in the case. What about you Morgan? Do you want to be part of the investigation or want to be left out you too?"
"Hotch, may I talk for a moment with Emily? I'd like to know also her opinion"
"Fine. I can give you 10 minutes, then I would like to know your decision. For the rest of us, begin to put us on work."
When part of the team left the room, the brunette profiler and her dark partner closed the doors and the curtains of the room to have more privacy and talk quietly.
"So..." the man said sitting next to his lover and taking her hand in his "...what do you want me to do?"
"Derek, you're an adult, you can choose on your own. Nothing of what you will do or you will find can change the reality of the facts"
"Are you talking about your father or about us?"
"Both. If investigating you discover that my father is guilty I will accept it, and nothing of that can never change the fact that I love you"
"I love you too, don't matter what this stuff will bring! But anytime you want me to leave the case you have to tell me, ok?"
"Alright"
"Good. What do you think about this matter?"
"I don't know...I mean, I really hope that my father is a stranger to all this, but the truth is that I don't know him well enough to take sides completely in his favor. Could you do something for me? Could you find the truth, whatever it will be I will get through it"
"We will..." he pointed out "...we will get through it, together! Now, do you wanna go home?"
"I'd like to stay. Could you..." she looked down, afraid of what she was about to ask
"Don't worry, whatever you want to know I will tell you"
"Thanks" Emily said giving him a quick kiss, respectful to the place where they were.
They broke apart just in time when Hotch entered the room to remember Derek that the time was run out and he had to know what decision was taken.
"We agreed that I'm in" Derek answered immediately
"Fine. Morgan, now you go and talk to the suspect"
Instantly the dark Agent turned to his girlfriend, he wanted to know how she reacted to the use of the word 'suspected' referring to her father.
"No, Derek, it's okay, he is a suspected"
Heading towards the bullpen, before Morgan went to talk with Douglas Prentiss, he whispered to Emily:
"Do you want me to tell your father something?"
"Nope, actually I'd like to talk with him for a while, face to face, I must say only one thing to him...is it too much to ask?"
"Okay, listen, wait in my office. I'll convince the Agent guard which I must bring him into the bathroom and took your father to make him to talk with you but, Em, no more than a couple of minutes"
"They will be enough. Thank you, you are so kind to me"
"Baby, anything you want!"
When Morgan entered in the interrogation room, sitting on the chair in front of the one where Douglas Prentiss was sitting, introduced himself to the other man:
"Mr. Douglas Prentiss, I'm SSA Derek Morgan"
"Derek Morgan? Are you Emily's boyfriend?"
"Yes, I am. But for now I'm only Agent Morgan"
"Got it. Listen, Agent Morgan, I want you to say Emily that I'm completely innocent. I swear!"
"Mr. Prentiss..." the Federal wasn't sure about how call the man, yes, he was accused of murder but, after all, he was always his girlfriend's father "...do you must use the toilet, don't you?" giving him a precise look hinting that he had something in his mind
"Oh, yeah, I really need to use the toilet"
"Agent Sullivan?" the profiler, opening the room's door, spoke with the official who was charge of supervise "I have to accompany to the bathroom, we will spend only 2 or 3 minutes. We can go, right?"
"You just take him in the bathroom, isn't it?"
"Yeah, sure! Where do you want us to go, in a striptease club?"
"Funny! Ok, go. But, Morgan, I will clock you!"
In record time, Derek and Douglas reach out the room where Emily was waiting for them. When the Federal came in his office, he found his colleague who was dreamily staring at the photos of their vacation in Mexico, few month before, which Derek kept on his desk, a little quickly distraction from her concerns.
"Em..." he spoke while a soft smile poked on his lips "...your father is here. You have only 2 minutes"
He moved from the entry to let the old man after which he close the front door behind him to allow a father and daughter talk without anyone seeing or disturb them.
"Emily, I swear to everything I more care about, I'm innocent!" Douglas said straightaway
"Dad, I'd like to believe you but facts lead us to believe the contrary. You should know that I am in favor of the truth. We will investigate on this and you must help us as much as possible, deal?"
"Deal" he replied. The old tried to say something more but the knock on the door by Morgan, dissuaded him from his will.
"I'm sorry but time is over" the athletic guy advised them.
Without any argue, Mr. Prentiss left the room to follow her daughter's boyfriend.
"Agent Sullivan..." the fed said as soon as he saw his colleague "...here we are! There was no reason to worry, it isn't so?"
When the two men had a seat on opposite sides of the table in the interrogation room, the younger man warned the suspect:
"Before to turn on the video camera, I want you to know that what I just did, I did just for Emily, because she asked me to see you. And then, even if I don't know you at all, I have to warn you: if you break the law I will let the justice do its duty, but if you hurt Emily I'll make you pay for it, even if it means losing my job. Got it?"
"To understand, I've understand, loud and clear. Let me say two words to me: I respect you like a Federal Agent but I don't want to allow anyone to teach me how to deal with my daughter, especially someone who is dating my daughter for how much? It is about five weeks? Or maybe six?"
"Actually... they are 2 years, 8 months and 10 days but, you know, who counts them? Plus, just for your information, we started living together 6 months ago... Do you have any ideas how much it took me to prove to Emily that she could trust me? And you know why? Because her father, the first man she had to trust on, has done nothing but disappoint her. Now, if you have no objection, I would like to start your interrogatory. Is it fine with you?"
"Ok, let's start and give an end to this crap" Mr. Prentiss said
"Good. So, Douglas Prentiss..." The Federal turned on the video camera and showing him a photo of the victim "...do you know this man?"
"Nope, I've never seen him in my life. Who is he?"
"He is Judd Hughes. And it's weird you don't know him because his body was found in the car you rented"
"The car I rented? No, I haven't rented any car. When I come in Virginia I always use the cab" Douglas pointed out, mentally retracing the events of the previous day. His memories about the day were pretty confused.
"First of all, Mr. Prentiss, there is someone who has some reason to hate you?"
"Considering also my ex-wife and Emily's jobs? Oh, yeah, I guess there might be some person who has more of a reason to hate me..."
"Okay. Let's proceed in order. When you came in DC?"
"Yesterday morning, early"
"Why you came?"
"For business..." then the older man stopped to analyze if say what was on the threshold of his lips, he opted for it "...and to see my daughter, because I really care about Emily!"
The Agent decided to avoid like the plague the last part of speech, pretending that it wasn't referred to him.
"What do you did later, after arriving in the city?"
"After leaving the airport, I immediately went to buy a present for Emily in a jewelry, I bought her a beautiful bracelet of her favourite colour: green"
"Blue" Morgan corrected him, he didn't even notice that he had spoken
"Sorry, what?"
"Blue, her favorite colour is blue!" Derek repeated
"Really?"
When he saw his daughter's life's man nodded, he realized, once more, how much he skipped about Emily's life.
"Well, the point is that I would never bought a gift for Emily if I didn't really wanted to see her, or not?"
"Mr. Prentiss, we are not here to the process 'Father of the year'. We are here to prove your innocence or your guilt for Judd Hughes' homicide. Let's go back again to yesterday, what -"
Derek's words were stopped when Hotch came into the little room.
"Morgan, could you come out for a while?"
"Sure, I'm coming"
In the corridor, the unit-chief gave the other Federal the scientific report of the evidences found in the car. The dark man read it twice before speak again:
"It's nearly impossible that on the bottle there are only Prentiss' fingerprints, this could be the proof that someone would have us believe that he is responsible for this murder"
"Exactly, now the question is: who is this 'someone'? Go back in there and try to find it out"
"Uhmm, Hotch...may I have a couple of minute before came back into the room? I would have...uhmm...something to do..."
"Fine, I'll pretend to not know that you're going to adjourn Prentiss on this"
"Thanks!"
"Babe..." Derek said reaching Emily in his office. When he found the woman sleeping on the couch, the smile on his face became even greater. She looks so cute and tiny cuddled on the sofa. Instinctively, as always when it came to his girlfriend, he took the blanket for when he slept in the office and gently covered her. As gently as he had put there, he couldn't prevent her to wake up when she felt the light weight of the blanket over her.
"Hey" she verbalized still sleeping, struggling to pretend that she had just closed her eyes, but she knew perfectly well that he would never have believed in that
"Hey sleeping beauty!" he told giving her a chaste kiss on her lips "Do you want me to call someone who take you home?"
"Nope, I'm awake" she informed him, sitting correctly and running her hands over her face more to convince herself that he "What are you doing here? Do you have some news?"
"Keep sleeping honey, you are tired. I'll inform you later"
"No, Derek, you promised me. Please, tell me"
"Ok...we need more evidence to demonstrate it but maybe we found a proof which shows that your father is a stranger to the facts. Now I need to know one thing: there might be someone who have something to settle with you or your mother and so he gets angry with your father?"
"Nope, rule it is, if anyone is upset with me or my mother I think he should know us well enough to know with who take revenge. I don't know about my mother, but if someone has troubles with me, he aims to take you to make me pay. It's quite sad to know but it's the truth" she said with a half smile
"Yeah, I figured it out. If you don't need anything else, I'll go back to your father to prove his innocence"
"No, go. I can't wait that all this is over!"
"Me too. Ok, I'm going now..." he told living the room, not before giving her another quick and simple kiss. When he was in the doorway, she turned to the woman and spoke to the woman:
"...and baby, try to sleep some more. I'll do my best to close this case as soon as possible".
"Mr. Prentiss..." the dark Federal entered the interrogation room to continue the interrogatory "...please, go ahead, continue to tell me about yesterday"
"Good. Where was I? Oh, right... So, after buying the gift for Emily, I met Bryan Holly to sign a contract and -"
"Wait, you just said Bryan Holly?" Morgan asked quickly flipping through pages of case file
"Yep, why?"
Douglas was about to repeat the question because the man in front of him seemed not to have heard him. When the profiler finally found what he was looking for, he paid attention back to Emily's father:
"Because Judd Hughes worked with Bryan Holly until 5 days ago when he resigned"
"Probably him too had some suspicions about Holly's activities..." the old man thought aloud
"Him too? What do you mean?"
"There was something that didn't convince me about Holly's business. How could, an auction house so small, afford so much luxury?"
"False works?"
"Probably...so I asked Holly to posticipate our meeting to contract signature so that I could have time to do some research on Holly and his business. Everything I found confirmed my hypothesis, now my impressions about his activity is even more founded. When we met at the bar I was intends to seek clarification but from here my memories become unclear..."
"If the truth is, this will help us greatly" the Agent exclaimed leaving the room direct to Garcia's office where the man instructed the technician to do some research on Holly and his activities.
"Emily's father has been right..." Penelope spoke vigorously, although it was almost dawn and she hadn't slept a wink, reaching the team in the round table room "...Holly Bryan has his hands in something unclean. And, in this year, an art collector committed suicide in quite mysterious circumstances plus, another one is literally vanished from the face of the earth""
"Thanks, Garcia. This might be the logical explanation, when Holly's buyers realized that Bryan Holly has cheated them maybe they asked their money back and, when Holly knew he had been cornered the only solution he has found has been to eliminate the problem, in the real meaning of the word!" Rossi hypothesized and Morgan continued his speech:
"Now, he killed Hughes and has left that Prentiss was accused of the crime: quite smart, eliminate two problem with only one homicide"
"Ok..." Hotch instructed the Agents "...we are going to check with the White Collar section, meanwhile Morgan, you will do company to Prentiss...the father, I mean"
"Got it" Derek answered before returning from Douglas
"I got a good and a bad news for you..." Morgan began incoming where he spent the night "...which one you want first?"
"The good one"
"Uhmm...the good one is that my colleagues are going to arrest Bryan Holly. But the bad news is that you have to wait with me"
"We can spend the time knowing each other. You are my daughter boyfriend and I don't know absolutely nothing about you...well, except that you're a Federal Agent"
"Sincerely, I can say the same..."
After an initial exchange of information, not too personal, between the two men dropped an embarrassing silence, the one which more wait to break it and more it become heavy.
"So you love Emily, huh?" Douglas asked quickly, anything to break the muteness. Only after talking he realized how much his question was silly
"I could die for her!".
To dissolve the embarrassment that he felt, the Agent, forgetting for a second where and with who he was, pulled out the small box from his pocket and started turning it between his hands. Mr. Prentiss immediately knew what it was: a red velvet box only meant an engagement ring.
"Are you going to ask her?" indicating the case with a nod
"Yeah..." the young man gave a little laugh "...actually is more or less a week that I bring this with me. I know that with our job, the time is a luxury but I really don't know how to propose me!"
"Certainly you know Emily better than me, but if there's one thing I think I know about my daughter is that she loves simple things so, if it will be easy and between only the two of you everything is gonna be ok"
"I already knew it but thanks, really!"
"Now I've to consider you my son-in-law then"
"Emily hasn't accepted yet, wait"
"When are you going to ask her?"
"I think I waited long enough, I'm going to ask her at the end of the case"
"Ohh..."
"There is a problem?"
"No, it's just weird. I've just met you and I discovered that you're going to be my daughter's husband"
"You can't know it, what if Emily not accept?"
"She will, she loves you a lot, you can tell by the way she looks at you"
"How can you say that? You only saw her with me like 2 seconds..."
"It was enough, believe me!"
"Since you are to be cleared of all charges, what about to take what it's happened like a way to have a second chance, to retrieve your relationship with Emily" he hastened to change the subject, not knowing exactly what to say
"Will you two allow me to be part of your life?"
"I can't talk for Emily, but if it will be ok for her, sure, we will"
"Do you think it will be a long waiting? Get back Emily's trust, I mean"
"I can't know that, as I told you it isn't been so easy to prove her that she can totally count on me when we started dating..."
"Do you have any advice?"
"Oh, no, you can't ask me that. It's your daughter, you should know what to do. The only things I can say you is that Emily doesn't gives her trust for free, you must win it. And when, and if, you'l win her trust, don't betray it, for anything in the world!"
"I did it once already, I'm not stupid enough to repeat this mistake"
"I hope it"
"May I ask you something?" Douglas timidly asked
"If I can answer you..."
"Since you know my daughter better than I do, how is she...now?"
"Perfect!" Morgan began to talk, and in the way he did, Douglas realized that Emily was very lucky to find a man who loved her so much. And Derek himself, undertood he haven't ever talked about a woman in that way, with the same joy, affection, love, respect and care with which a child talk about is favourite toy "She is so amazing and surprising, when you think you couldn't love her most she does something, even extremely simple like blush at a compliment, and you love her more! She always makes me feel so lucky to receive love from someone like her...but she also could kick my ass, and it's better never forget that!"
"Yeah..." the other man laughed "...she must have taken it from her mother".
"Yeah, I think it. With due respect, despite Emily and Elizabeth continue to deny, they are very similar."
"Did you already meet Elizabeth?"
"Yep, sometimes. But like Emily's fiance only twice"
"Did Emily meet your family?"
"Sure, we go at my my mother's practically every festivity, work allowing..."
"And your mother likes her?"
"Sure, who doesn't? My mother loves Emily more than me, if it is possible."
"Emily always knew how to be loved as much as to be respected"
"It's one of her quality that my mother most loves, when she talks with Emily by phone, she always tell her to kick my ass if I don't treat her as I must do"
"And I guess Emily love her as well, right?"
"Exact, she's like my mother on this, it's hard don't love them"
"I hope to have the chance to know you as much to have an opinion on you, like Emily's boyfriend not like agent..."
"I wish it too. What's this opinion? That I'm such an asshole?"
"Nope, actually my opinion on you like an Agent is the same like a man: you would do anything to protect what you love!"
"That's where Emily's profiling capacity came from..."
This little moment were interrupted by Hotch arrival:
"We took Holly under arrest, the White Collar section is carrying him here right now. Mr. Prentiss, we need you to verify Holly's statements; Morgan, you are free to go for now"
"When can I see Emily?"
"When this case will be over..." Morgan answered "...but I'm going to her now, want me to say something to her?"
"Can you tell her that I'm innocent?"
"Sure, I will"
Before that Douglas left the room, he turned to the dark agent and added:
"Agent Morgan, the case is nearly ended, do you wanna wait more? Remember what we just said..."
"Yeah, thanks. You too!"
"You can bet on it..." Douglas ended going out of the room and leaving Morgan alone with JJ and the curious look on her face
"What?" Derek enquired as soon as noticed the way in which the blonde profiler were looking at him
"What were you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing, men's stuff..."
/ M&P /
"I'm so glad that the case is over...can we going to sleep now?" Emily asked when the couple arrived home
"Em, I must talk to you about something but I need all your attention so, if you are too tired we can talk about tomorrow about that"
"Is it about my dad?"
"Nope, it's about us. Let's sit on the couch..."
"Is it a good thing?"
"Yeah, totally...at least I guess so, it depends on you"
"Derek, may I say something before, before to know what you want to say?"
"Sure, just speak"
"Okay...so...when I was a kid I looked at my father and I thought that he would always be there with me but, then, a day, I woke up and he had gone leaving me with a word, 'sorry' wrote on a sheet. For months and months I barely slept, I kept asking myself if he had left me because of something I had done -"
"I wasn't a good daughter at all, Derek! But let me finish..."
"Ok, I'm sorry. Keep talking..."
"But more than that I wondered if I could do something to not make it go away from me. Tonight, when we talked after knowing that my father was arrested, for a while, only for a little while, I felt in the same way but about my future, our future!"
"Em, baby, I'll never leave you. You already know that, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do. But, Derek, seriously, let me finish, I wouldn't wish the courage to abandon me before I finish speaking..." she chided him gently "...so I though, if you agree, why don't we make it permanent? I mean..." a deep breath before continue "...why don't we get married?"
Derek couldn't help but laugh, this is exactly what he meant when he told Douglas Prentiss that when you think that you can't love her more she does something that takes you to love her more.
"This is not exactly the reaction I expected..." she said bitter
"I'm sorry, baby..." the man spoke trying to control himself by laugh and jump for joy "...its just that is a week that carry this all around the country waiting for the right moment to ask you this..." he explained himself removing the little red box from his poket and opening it in front of her "...but a proposal is more official with an engagment ring!"
"So does it mean that we are going to get married?"
"If you didn't change your mind, yes"
"I will never change my mind on this"
"That's great! But remember this in 40 years, when I'll be become a boring husband..."
"40 years? So long? I thought to ask the divorce in 20 or 25 years..." she teased him
"Give me your hand, crazy girl..." he tell sliding the ring on her ring finger "...you're going to be an amazing wife, Mrs. Prentiss"
"Actually, Mrs. Prentiss-Morgan. I don't wanna lose my last name, and all that it has brought, but I also want you to be part of me, even more. I love you""Actually, Mrs. Prentiss-Morgan. I don't wanna lose my last name, and all that it has brought, but I also want you to be part of me, even more. I love you"
"I love you too"
I hope you liked it! :))