A/N: Hey. I got such great response for this story that I decided to update quickly. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the other. Please R&R! Thanks!

Disclaimer: Nope still don't own Criminal Minds.

Chapter 2: Just One More:

Emily let out a tired sigh as she put her empty glass down on the bar.

"Thanks Dave for the drink, but I think it's time to go home."

Rossi had invited her out for a drink. He had probably noticed how stressful her day was and how much she needed to unwind. It was review time for the BAU and her turn had been earlier that day. An hour of being grilled by Erin Strauss, the lady she'd failed to please by not providing any dirt on her boss. As if there was anything bad to say about the job Aaron Hotchner did; she was convinced the guy lived and breathed for his job. And her and her fellow co-workers always mused how they needed to set him up with a nice girl. But it wasn't like many of them were successful in the relationship department, anyways. Between them, there was her, a divorcee, a multiple divorcee, a shy genius, and the self proclaimed bachelor.

She tried hard not to think about that particular bachelor. It had been a tough month since their little one night stand. In fact, part of the stress she'd incurred today was due to how strained her relationship was, now, with Morgan. She was afraid it was beginning to become apparent to everyone else that something was up between the two.

"It was no problem, I could tell you could use one," Rossi said politely. "I can drive you home if you'd like."

She held up her keys. "Drove here, remember," she replied, smiling. She slipped off the bar stool and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Thanks for sitting here, listening to me rant. I know I shouldn't complain…"

He gave her hand a pat, cutting her off. "What are friends for?"

She said good night and made her way to the parking lot. She really had talk Rossi's ear off that night. He was a good listener and always had some insightful advice. Of course, she couldn't really talk about her Derek situation, but it still helped talking about everything else.

Climbing into her car, she resigned herself to going home and going straight to bed. And then maybe the next day she'd work up the courage to confront Derek and finally resolve things. And hopefully get back to normal.

Emily fluffed up her pillow ready to climb in and curl up in bed, when her phone rang suddenly. Briefly, she considered letting it go to voice mail, but then she thought, what if it's important.

She picked up the receiver and answered, "Hello?"

"Emily?" she heard Hotch's questioning voice.

"Yeah Hotch, it's me. What's up?" she asked, wondering what her boss was doing calling her so late.

"I'm here at JJ's…" he said tentatively.

He didn't sound good. Something was very wrong. "Is she ok? Is Henry?'

"It's Will," he replied with finality.

Emily listened in horror as Hotch gave the details. How Will was following a speeding car driven by a suspected murderer and how the driver had pulled a gun on the southern detective and finally how he didn't make it.

"Oh my God…" Emily whispered. "I'll come over right away. Should I come over right away?" She was so unsure of how to proceed.

"She finally fell asleep and Henry's in bed. I'll be here all night if she needs anything. But can you get here in the morning?"

"Sure, I'll be there first thing," she assured.

"Ok," was all he could say.

"Hey Hotch," she said quickly before he hung up. "If she wakes up before I get there, tell her… tell her I'm sorry."

"I will."

The phone clicked off a second later as she stared at it in horror. Not believing something so bad could happen to her good friend.

Now was the time to push all her troubles aside and help JJ out. She'd be there for her every step of the way.

Derek couldn't believe the phone call he'd just got. He slouched onto the couch and put his head into his hands. He couldn't stop thinking about how devastated JJ would be at that moment. She would need him and all her friends to step up to the plate now.

"Wow," he breathed out in disbelief. Wondering how a guy he had just hung out with the month before could be gone so suddenly. It really made you think about how short life really was, and how it wasn't worth it to hold grudges.

'Emily,' he couldn't help but think. He had really screwed things up with her since their night together. It's just that when she rejected him… it hurt.

But he could understand her point of view. Out of the whole team, other than maybe JJ, she was probably closest to Hotch in job mentality. In that the job really, really meant a lot to them. And having a relationship could potentially put their jobs at risk. He had just thought that after so long, that their time together meant she was ready to take that risk. But she wasn't. And how did he act? Like a big baby.

It was time to remedy that situation, starting now. He picked up the phone and dialled her number.

After a couple of rings she picked up. "Hello? Hotch?"

"No, it's me Emily," Morgan replied.

"Oh, Morgan, hi, I thought you might have been Hotch. He just phoned—"

"Yeah, he phoned here too. It's crazy, isn't it?"

"Definitely," Emily answered sadly. "It's unbelievable. We're going to need to be there for JJ and Henry."

"Yeah, that's why I'm calling. I'm heading there in the morning," Morgan started. "Do you want to hitch a ride?"

He wasn't surprised when she replied, "With you?"

He chuckled. "Yeah with me, who else?"

"I don't want to trouble you—" she started to protest.

"Em, it's no trouble, I'll be over by eight?" he said sincerely.

"Ok…" she agreed reluctantly.

"Try to get some sleep."

"Yeah, you too."

Derek hung up the phone. It was a start, but hopefully they'd be able to get back to themselves.

To say the ride over to JJ's house was awkward would have been an understatement. To Emily it seemed that neither of them could get out a word. Not even polite small talk.

What was she thinking, accepting a ride over from him? It hadn't been necessary; she had her own car, after all.

But as she glanced over at him, after thinking he had been watching her, but not catching him, she knew what she was thinking. She had believed his phone call was an attempt to let bygones be bygones. Now, as they pulled up into JJ's driveway, only Hotch's car in sight, she had to wonder what the motive really was for his call. Because there definitely wasn't any patching up going on between them. Actually there was nothing going on at the moment, and she was sort of relieved to have arrived at her grieving friend's house.

He was an idiot, Morgan mused while sitting down on JJ's couch, and the entire team huddled around the bereaved blonde. He was an idiot for two reasons.

Number 1: he had sat the entire ride over with Emily in silence. And he had to wonder, who does that?

He had to admit he hadn't thought it through when he'd phoned her up and offered her a ride. He vaguely thought that it would go back to normal between them and they'd start talking about some geeky guilty pleasure they both secretly coveted.

But that hadn't happened. For that to happen words would have had to been exchanged.

Reason number 2 for being an idiot: his friend had just lost her fiancé and he was sitting there eyeing Emily and wondering about his own issues when JJ really needed him.

No, things were far from normal, and they weren't gong to be for awhile.

It had been a long exhausting week, emotionally and physically, consisting of long nights, phone calls, and take out. All in hopes of putting together Will's funeral, without JJ ever having to lift a finger.

Emily looked at the grim faces seated in JJ's living room, she could tell that Will's death, and ultimately JJ's suffering, had taken its toll on the family of profilers.

JJ herself was no where in sight, but Emily knew from Hotch that she was spending some time alone with Henry before people started to arrive for the wake.

Emily listened as everyone wondered if JJ could get over this tragedy.

"I don't think you ever do," Rossi put in his two cents about grief and losing a loved one. "Something as final as death, I don't think we ever truly accept. There's always a part of man that wishes things were otherwise."

Emily took in Rossi's words. The man always knew how to be straightforward. He wasn't one to mess about with feelings. Sometimes she admired him for that and sometimes she pitied him. Right now she could possibly admire it. Because the feelings she was having because of JJ's torment were becoming unbearable.

"She's going to need us," Emily responded. And she would do whatever she could to lessen her friend's pain.

"And we'll be there for her," Hotch assured.

The silence was getting too heavy for Emily's liking, any longer in that room and she was bound to cry. And she wasn't the crying type.

"I'm going to check on the caterers in the kitchen," she quickly told the group, getting up to leave; she was startled by what Morgan said next.

"I'll help you out."

Emily ignored him as she went around the kitchen making sure everything was prepared for the guests that were set to arrive at any moment. She didn't want anything out of place or unready, because when JJ came out of the nursery she didn't want her friend to worry about a thing.

But as she spoke to one server to the next, with Derek hovering, she suddenly couldn't take it anymore.

"Derek, what?" she said more rudely than necessary. "Do you want to say something?"

He looked ready to shake his head, but then he said, "Yeah, can we um… talk outside?"

She wanted to say no, spending any time alone with Derek lately was just plain awkward. Gone were the days where they talked easily about nothing. The puppy dog eyes he was flashing, however, told her she couldn't say no.

"Ok…" she answered tentatively.

They exited the house through the French doors that led to a terrace outside JJ's kitchen. Once outside silence ensued.

"Derek what do you want from me?" she pleaded.

He gave her an intense look as if to check if she really didn't know. She didn't.

"Well, I wanted a chance," he said forthright. "A chance to see what could have been between us."

He wanted there to be something between them? That was news to her. Ok, it wasn't really; he had hinted at it after their one night. But she had chalked it up to drunkenness or guilt. Maybe he actually did want something real. But…

"Derek, our jobs—" she began to protest.

"No," he cut her off. "That's not what I want anymore. What I want is for things to go back to normal. Can we do that?"

What? she thought. He didn't want her anymore? She was so confused and disappointed, strangely. She was hearing the words she had wanted to hear but they didn't seem like they were the right words anymore.

"I'd like that," she said slowly, feeling heaviness in her chest.

"Good," he said with finality.

'Oh,' she thought. 'I am an idiot.'

Emily led the way up to her apartment with Morgan following. He had insisted on walking her up to her apartment, not taking no for an answer, after driving her home from the wake.

Reaching her door, she unlocked it, turning around to say good bye. "Thanks for the ride home," she told him sincerely.

Lately, she'd taken to hitching rides with Rossi mostly, but once in a while Morgan offered as well. All were usually headed in the same direction anyways, planning Will's funeral together.

"No problem," Morgan answered.

She stepped inside holding the door open. Hesitantly, she said, "Do you want to come in… for a drink or coffee?"

She was sure he was going to say no. Why wouldn't he? She had shot him down a couple of times, how could he still want anything to do with her other than as cordial colleagues.

"Uh… sure," he said after a moment's deliberation. "Coffee sounds good."

"Ok," she said unsurely, as he walked inside taking in her spacious open floor plan apartment.

She heard him whistle and she smiled. "Nice apartment you got here."

"Thanks," she replied.

She walked into the kitchen going for her state of the art cappuccino machine. "Come over here and have a seat."

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, settle on to one of her bar stools.

"What is that?" Morgan questioned.

"What?" she asked turning around to see what he was talking about.

He pointed warily at her coffee machine. "That?"

"This is a coffee machine," she informed.

"Nah uh," he scoffed. "The thing we use at work is a coffee machine, that's like some expensive piece of art."

She laughed. "Derek, that stuff we drink at work is like mud compared to this. This is the real deal."

With that claim she poured him a frothy drink and waited while he took a sip.

"Well?" she asked, amused.

"I bow down to your mighty coffee machine," he relented.

Emily laughed at his antics, as she came around to sit on the stool next to him.

Silence ensued once again, but for once in a really long time it wasn't awkward. And she had to believe it was because of their agreement to go back to normal.

She let out a sigh. Normal was definitely better than the cold shoulder, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was something even better.

"What's up?" he asked perceptively.

She looked at him startled, he was watching her concernedly. "Nothing… well actually… JJ… I just wish this didn't happen to her."

"Me too... I can't believe it. Will was a good guy, he didn't deserve this. And Henry doesn't deserve to grow up without a father."

"Henry…" she breathed out. "Don't remind me, every time I think about him my heart starts to hurt."

He reached a hand out and gave her shoulder a calming rub. "We'll be there for him. We'll help JJ out," he assured.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm so glad Hotch was there tonight at the wake, though. When JJ…"

She trailed off remembering the scene vividly. Everything had been going fine until they had brought out a picture of Will and everyone began to tell little anecdotes about him. JJ couldn't handle it and broke down. Only Hotch was able to calm her down, holding her tightly in his arms.

Morgan nodded. "I have a feeling he won't be leaving her side for awhile."

"That's good," she said shakily.

"Hey, hey, don't cry," Morgan said tenderly.

She hadn't known she was until he'd pointed it out. Now she felt the tears sliding down her face. She wiped at them embarrassingly. "Sorry," she sniffled. "I know it's stupid for me to cry…"

"It's not stupid," Morgan denied. "It's been a sad week…"

She nodded still trying to get her tears under control, but she couldn't. Everything this past month just seemed to build up until now. Her troubles with Derek, the stresses at work, and finally Will's death, she was crying for it all. And in front of the one person she never wanted to look weak in front of.

Emily covered her face in her hands, needing some way to hide from him. She continued to let the tears flow, hoping that they'd run out sooner rather than later.

She felt Morgan's hesitant touch on her shoulder. "Hey…" he said soothingly. "Somehow it'll all be all right in the end…"

His hand went up to stroke her hair and then they were pulling at her hands, she shook her head in protest. But he managed to get them off.

She looked at him through blurry eyes. He was looking at her tenderly and not pityingly.

Her hands were still in his and he pulled on them. "Come here," he said forlornly. He pulled her straight into his arms, putting her two hands behind his back. He hugged her tight and she settled into him, her head resting at the crook of his neck.

Emily continued to cry while listening to Derek attempt to comfort her. At one point she heard him murmur something like, "Dave was right," but she wasn't sure if she had heard correctly.

Eventually, the sobs died down and all that was left in her were a few errant tears. She pulled away from him, noting his wet shoulder.

"I am so sorry Derek," she apologized. "I did not mean to break down on you like that."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize Em, I'm glad I was here for you… I hate it when you're sad."

She held her breath and could only watch as Derek reached a hand to wipe a falling tear. His other hand came up to catch a tear on her other cheek.

"Damn," he murmured. "You're even beautiful when you cry."

Suddenly her face felt very hot between his two hands. But he let go a second later…only to replace the touch of his hand on her cheek with that of his lips. Kissing her tears away.

"But," he continued to whisper. "I hate it when you're sad… don't be sad anymore."

Looking into his eyes, Emily could tell what he was about to do next. And she found no will, no urge to stop him in the slightest.

Derek began to lean into her and she could count the milliseconds before his lips touched her in a feather light kiss. He pulled back to gauge her reaction, but suddenly it was her hands on his face pulling him back.

This time the touch was more urgent; there was an underlying need to the kiss. Her lips parted at his urging and she felt his tongue graze her lips before slipping in and intensifying the kiss.

After what seemed like forever the pair pulled back, breath coming out rapidly, to watch each other.

Morgan's hand came up to caress her cheek. 'You… must be tired," he said slowly. "I'm going to go."

She didn't say anything; she was still caught up in the previous moment, wondering what it had meant. She walked with him to her door about to let him go.

"Derek," she called out as he was out her door down the hall. "Wait."

She met him outside her door and threw her arms around him for one more kiss.

Well there's the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed. As always leave me a review and let me know what you think, good, bad, or otherwise. I take it all.

Thanks to all those who reviewed: beth; kyw0202; Confetti Leaves (I agree, there definitely aren't enough.); b9je (hey, yeah I'm starting to kind of like the Emily/Rossi pairing too. Maybe I'll give one a shot in the near future); and ForeverMeansAlways.

See ya all soon!