A/N: I borrowed the beginning from The Big Game (2/14), but it doesn't chronologically fit. And Haley never existed.

"Just look at him. The way he moves. Like a cat..." Garcia said and licked her lips, not taking her eyes off Morgan dancing smoothly with some girl.

"Just make sure you don't kill the other gal with your glances!" Prentiss nudged her friend. "Go and grab him if it's getting too hard to watch." Hotch, who was silently drinking his beer, chuckled at the exchange between the two women. Or, for tonight, rather girls, he mused. But they had a point. Morgan was really a skilled dancer, he had to admit, although it was not unexpected. Certainly less unexpected than the fact that he wasn't that bad on the dancefloor himself, Hotch thought, a crooked smile on his face. He would be able to surprise the others, he was sure of that.

JJ was dancing as well. Kind of. Or rather ducking the advances of the guys she was playing darts with. Eventually, it became annoying. She made a halfhearted excuse and went over to Reid, who was immersed in discussing Star Trek with some fellow addicts and looked quite puzzled when she ruffled his hair and told him to come over. "Time to leave Mr Spock and hit the dance floor." she said. The response was even more puzzlement. She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation, took his hand and dragged him away towards the others. He squeaked in surprise but followed obediently.

"Those guys over there were getting too close for comfort" she explained when they joined Prentiss, Garcia and Hotch at the table. Reid still looked confused. They all laughed, when Garcia became more explicit: "JJ's fed up with stranger's hands on her buttocks, so you're her escape route!" "C'me on, my little escapist!" JJ set her beer down and grabbed Reid's hand again, "Let's dance!" and before Reid could react he was being dragged along again, much to the amusement of the remaining three. "He's really cute when he's so lost in ordinary social life" Prentiss commented on Reid's continuing puzzlement.

The current song finished, and Morgan came up to the table. "Genius 's getting dancing lessons?" he asked, head pointing in the direction of JJ and Reid on the dancefloor, where Reid's moves made JJ shake with laugther. "Yeah, but what about you? Outspent already?" Hotch inquired dryly. "Or was it Garcia, sending your girl some telepathic threats?" Garcia's head snapped in Hotch's direction and her face blushed heavily. "As if, man. That was only the warm-up." Morgan winked at Garcia furtively and looked back at Hotch. "Wait 'till you see the serious stuff!" He looked at Prentiss. "What 'bout you? Up to some sparring?" "Sure, but I hope it's not going to be as painful as you make it sound" she lauged, taking Morgan's outstretched hand and following him onto the dancefloor.

"You ok?" Hotch asked Garcia, having noticed her wistful look in Morgan's direction although it had only been there for a fraction of a second. "'course, why?" was the answer, but again, he didn't miss the hint of a sigh in her reply. "You know he's only teasing you. But if you're not easy with it, you have to tell him to stop it, ok?" Garcia turned her head back to Hotch, slightly blushing again. "Am I that obvious? Or is it just that rotten job of yours which makes you read me like a book?" Garcia sighed again, but her smile quickly returned. "I know he's only teasing, but I'd prefer dancing over teasing right now." She admitted. "Well, there I can help..." Hotch offered. Which earned him a quizzical look. "Hittin' the floor with boss man?" "You might be surprised." Hotch stated, face deadpan. He held out his hand to her "May I?"

Prentiss thoroughly enjoyed Morgan's attention and skills. He really moved like it was in his blood. It wasn't that often that you'd get a chance to dance with a man who really knows what he's doing. Emily loved ballroom dancing, but lately there wasn't nearly any chance for her to do it, be it for lack of time or lack of man, she thought ironically. What Morgan was doing didn't fit into any category she knew, but whatever it was, he was good at it, and she noticed that they were getting some more space on the dancefloor than others, together with some jealous glances from other patrons. It felt good, felt lively, defintively like something they should do more often to leave the haunting images of their work behind. And yes, Morgan's body felt good, too. She relished in the feeling of his body close to hers, guiding all their movements in fluid motions. All she had to do was lean into him and let him guide.

Meanwhile, Reid was making some progress, too. It turned out that part of his nerd dancing style had been fake, to pay JJ back for having been dragged to the floor in the first place. They both started to admire Morgan and Emily, slowly turning from dancers to audience, only softly moving to the rythm. Reid kept his arms around JJ, hands on her belly, forcing her to move in the same rhytm he did. To his surprise and pleasure she snuggled close to him, letting her moving be controlled by him and obviously perfectly content with the arrangement. If that was what being an excuse felt like, Reid was happy to be one whenever required.

Garcia and Hotch stood quiet for a moment, also admiring their colleagues. They looked decidedly hot, Prentiss with closed eyes, leaning into Morgan, letting him completely control all their movements and clinging to his body closely. Out of the blue, Hotch felt an unexpected bout of annoyance. When the current song faded, Derek and Emiliy broke apart for a moment, both sweating and happily smiling. Hotch's gaze was fixed on Emily. He wasn't sure anyone else noticed how dark her eyes had become, how much they showed her joy and calm as a result of dancing with Morgan.

Garcia certainly didn't notice Prentiss, as she had no eyes for anyone or anything in the room but Derek. When the DJ played the next song - one of Hotch's favourite tunes - Hotch leaned towards her, saying "Come on, let's show them how it's done. Trust me, I won't embarrass you." "You're the boss." Garcia smiled at him. It took her only a few moments until she realised that he hadn't exaggerated at all. He truly was a great dancer. Of course his style was totally different from Morgan, more traditional in a way, but obviously he'd been dancing a lot. Garcia looked up at him, and saw a Hotch she had never seen before. He looked calm, relaxed and totally at ease. Effortlessly guiding her over the dancefloor he smiled at her. "Did I promise too much?" Obviously not, since now it was their turn to draw the attention of the crowd. And that of their fellow coworkers.

The DJ played a slow track, and Morgan was holding Emily tightly in his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder, and wherever Morgan guided her, her eyes remained glued to Hotch and Garcia. Suddenly he turned in her direction, his eyes locked to hers. Emily felt her heartbeat double and a sudden tension built up inside her. "What's wrong?" a surprised Morgan asked. Turning her around he quickly detected what made her heart race. "He's not half bad a dancer, either." he noted, watching Garcia and Hotch some more. "You're all for exchanging partners, aren't you." he stated more that asked, turning back to Emily. "Sorry." she didn't manage to get out more than that, reluctantly focusing on Morgan instead of Hotch. "That's ok, I'd have had to move on soon anyway, otherwise my little blonde baby 'd probably rip my head off, as punishment for deliberate ignorance." He flashed her a perfect Morgan-smile. "Let's cool down for a bit and then I'll go to free up your Prince Charming." He laughed softly when Emily turned crimson at his comment. His hand lying lightly on the small of her back he steered her back to their table and went to the counter to get them some beer.

"That's an awful lot of daggers you're shooting his way." Garcia stated cheekily when she saw the look in Hotch's eyes as his glance followed Prentiss and Morgan away from the dancefloor. "Huh?" "It's ok, you know, hangin' around with you guys all day has a side effect of teaching us techies something about profiling, too." she said with an innocent smile. "I'm sorry. It's..." "No need to apologise, I fully get your point. We're in the same boat here, aren't we." "I guess so. Let's dance, then." was his reply. But not much longer did they dance. Hotch felt someone tap on his shoulder. It was Morgan. "Sorry, man, but now it's my time to enchant this beautiful lady with my dancing skills. You've had enough time to boast now." He grinned at Hotch, who gentlemanly kissed Garcias hand, "it was my pleasure, thank you so much", before handing over to Morgan. Garcia giggled like a schoolgirl, and Morgan grinned like the proverbial Cheshire cat.

Prentiss had been following the scene from back at their table. Morgan was sweet. It had been wonderful to dance with him, but if she was honest, she longed for the feeling of another body close to hers. Her beer clasped between her hands, she tried to control the nervousness rising inside her as she watched Hotch sidling up to the bar to get himself another drink. She caught his eye when he turned to the table and nearly didn't dare to blink until he was at her side. "It looks like the battle of who's the best dancers in here isn't won yet, what do you think?" He spoke before he'd had a chance to think. That was one hell of a line. He knew he was crap at small talk, so why did he never manage to keep his mouth shut before thinking. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have noticed. She was busy staring down the beer in her glass. He gently took it from her. "If you press it any more you'll squeeze the beer out of it." This got him a shy nod. Ok. He was about as nervous as he'd been in High School when he'd first asked out a girl, but obviously she was worse. He felt a mad urge to laugh out loud, but probably that wouldn't help matters. "Prentiss?" He asked, lifting her chin up to make her look at him. "What's wrong with you?" Her eyes fixed on his once again. Her voice was hoarse. "Dance with me, Hotch." was all she said before turning and walking away in the direction of the dancefloor.