A/N: I don't own Criminal Minds....and I think my mind is preoccupied with Derek Morgan...maybe I need to work on that...

The Different Sides of Heroism

Derek Morgan

Penelope Garcia would go so far as to say that Derek Morgan was a "Noir Hero", in fact she had even told him as much, although he didn't believe her. But she supposed that that was part of what made him so heroic: he didn't see what he did as heroics, he just did it. It was his gut reaction to save and protect, to treasure and to help.

From small things such as making her feel better with a cheeky nickname or a flirtatious comment to the big things like saving her life when Jason Clark Battle came back, he was an all round hero in her book. The little things he did he would brush away as nothing more than him being a friend, which was true – that was all he was being – but in being a true friend he did so much more than he even realised. He boosted her confidence; he made her feel safe, loved and protected. He could make her smile on even her darkest days and him and his comments encouraged her to be just as shameless in her flirting, helping to get her through the tough cases and the hellish nightmares.

To JJ, Morgan was the one that would do anything to protect them all. His first instinct was to protect the rest of the team before himself. She supposed it stemmed from his childhood, his need and want to protect people after his father had been snatched away from right in front of him when nobody stood by his side to help him protect the others in that small store. She didn't need to be a profiler to know that part of her friend was trying to live up to his father's memory, to make him proud. And she respected him for that. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that if she was ever in a situation that warranted it Morgan would do all that he could to protect her, and not just her, but Henry and Will as well.

Morgan was almost like a big brother to Reid, he was the one he never had and he undoubtedly looked up to him. Reid, although easily confused by Morgan's seeming irrationality, was a little bit in awe of the older profiler and his actions. He knew that part of those actions would be considered stupid by some and reckless by others, or even as actions that showed complete distrust in his colleagues, but Reid knew that Morgan would not change because of some harsh words. People could think what they liked; Morgan didn't care so long as his friends and his family were safe. That was all that really mattered, and Reid respected him for that, for his bravery and although he sometimes despaired of Morgan's seeing disregard for his own life he knew that when it came to crunch time Morgan would fight to the end, for both his family and himself. But aside from the big things, Morgan was a hero in his eyes for staying with him during the Anthrax poisoning, for being the one there at the hospital when he was recovering. That small thing made him a gleaming hero in Reid's eyes so much more than the big things. Morgan had cheered him up then, kept him company, and that was worth so much more than a life risking act.

To Emily, Morgan was the partner that she knew would always have her back. He was somewhat of a gentleman in that he would seem to be almost brotherly protective of her and JJ and she knew that whether it was a jerk at a bar or an UNSUB Morgan wouldn't let them flounder. He would come to their aid with whatever the situation warranted. He seemed to come out of nowhere half of the time. He knew that they could hold their own in anything and would hang back, let them do what they did best, but they all knew that he was hanging on the side lines waiting just in case he was needed. He was the same with them as he was with his family and that touched Emily greatly; after being the new addition to the team she had felt it was going to be hard to settle in, but Derek Morgan had helped her fit right in. They all had, but it helped that he had been a bit like the brother she had never had in order to make her feel like she truly was welcome and truly was a part of it.

Rossi felt that Morgan was reckless, feckless and shameless. And he respected him for it. As strange as it sounded he knew that Morgan was somewhat an echo of who he used to be and he could not criticize the man for it; that would be hypocritical after all. However, that didn't stop him from thinking that some of his actions, although heroic and brave, bordered on ridiculously stupid and showed that he still had some trust issues. But Rossi could see from the young man that his trust issues were deep seated and severe, something atrocious had happened in his past that was for sure, and part of the reason he did what he did stemmed from whatever had happened to him. Rossi didn't know what it was, and he would not go prodding into his life, that was not his concern. Although his trust issues were a player in how he acted, Rossi knew that most of the reason behind Morgan's reaction and his actions came from his heart not his head. It was his gut reaction to put himself in danger rather than his friends. The man had a big heart and although his ego could sometimes rival it in size he knew that ego did not drive him to protect.

Hotch knew that Morgan's past – his dad dying in front of him and then Carl Buford's abuse – was where his heroism had rooted from. He knew that because, in both cases, Morgan had felt so helpless he tried to protect those around him so that they would never ever have to feel like that. Never have to feel the complete and utter terror that he had felt. And Hotch could not knock that, the man had more reason that most to just give up and yet he had stayed strong, kept going on and had dedicated his life to stop things like that from ever happening again. That alone was a show of his true testament to his heroic nature in Hotch's opinion. However this didn't stop him from thinking that some of the actions Morgan performed didn't show his trust in his colleagues. He had told him so once, and although he would still stand by his call, he did realise that, had Morgan not driven that ambulance out of the hospital, none of them would be alive at this moment. And overall, that was a bigger impact that whether or not he trusted them as he should, because without him and how he had acted they would not be there, Jack would have no father and many families would be less a good member. At the time Hotch had flipped, he knew he had said some things that weren't strictly true, had hurt his fellow agent, but that was all swept under the carpet when Morgan had stayed at the BAU. He had admitted to himself then that maybe he had been wrong about Morgan. His heroics were not borne from distrust; they were borne of panic that his friends would die if he did not act.

Jack Hotchner idolised Derek Morgan almost as much as he did his daddy. Morgan was like a Knight of The Round Table who had slain the dragon and saved the Princess from the tallest tower. He was big and strong and he would play football with him and do silly games whenever he was in the office waiting on his daddy. Derek Morgan was one sixth of an elite crime fighting team of superheroes in Jack Hotchner's mind. They showed him that good guys won and he wanted to be just like them when he grew up, just like Derek, and just like his daddy.