Chapter 1

"Morgan, are you sure this is okay?" Emily asked, uncertain if the arrangement would work.

"Yes, I'm sure," he sighed, assuring her. "Besides if you don't come with me what are you going to do for two weeks? Watch 'Buffy' re-runs?"

Things had been crazy back at Quantico. They had been working for months without any decent breaks in between; it was as if there had been a sudden increase of psychotic killers and they had decided that they would terrorize the different states one after another. Thankfully, Strauss had grown a heart, and gave the team two weeks of vacation.

Hotch was going to take Jack to Disneyland, finally fulfilling his promise. JJ and Will are taking Henry back to her parents' place. Rossi said he was going to take Mudgie hunting. Garcia was going to spend her time with Kevin. Austin is in town and Reid is going show her around. Morgan was going back to Chicago to visit his family. But Emily has nowhere to go, so Morgan had invited her to go back to Chicago with him.

Emily was hesitant about going back to Chicago with him, she didn't want to intrude. "No..." she lied, that was exactly what she was going to do. She paused to think of something else, "I could --"

Cutting her off, Morgan said, "Reading 'Mother Night' for the hundredth time and eating leftover pizza is not the way to enjoy your vacation."

"Fine," she sighed. He smiled, picking up her suitcase and heading towards the ticket counter. She raised an eyebrow at the unexpected chivalry.

"What? I'm a gentleman, you know."

She gave an unladylike snort of laughter, "Sure you are…" she teased.

******

Stepping into an empty house, Morgan sighed, "I told them I was going to come home but there is no one to welcome me back..."

"What were you expecting? A royal ball for your highness?" Emily teased. She looked around and smiled. This feels like home, photo frames covering the walls, the sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies in the air, and the little curios on the shelf.

"I like her," Sarah declared smiling, coming down from the stairs with Desiree. "Welcome home, brother. We're here but there's no royal ball for you."

"Hi Sarah," he smiled and hugged them, "Desiree." His smile widened when he saw his mother.

They exchanged a hug, "Hello honey," his mother smiled. Emily stepped back and watched the happy reunion, but felt a small ache inside her heart, knowing that her own mother would never be this glad to see her.

"Guys, this is Emily," he introduced.

"Agent Prentiss. We met when…" Emily trailed off.

"It's nice to see you again," Mrs. Morgan said, pulling Emily into a hug.

"You too," Emily agreed.

"Go put your bags in your room," Mrs. Morgan instructed, they nodded and proceeded up the stairs.

"Hey Emily," Sarah called, "When you're done come down, we can show you pictures of Derek when he was kid."

Morgan's face paled when he heard that, "Sarah!"

Ignoring him, Desiree continued, "Did he ever tell you that he was really short?"

"No, not really," Emily laughed and turned to Morgan, "I can't wait to see the pictures."

"I should have left you at home with 'Buffy' and leftover pizzas," he frowned.

She chortled, "Too late now."