Author's Note: okay first of all…WHAT THE HELL DOES CBS THINK THEY ARE DOING THROWING JJ OFF THE SHOW! I'm disgusted. That's just…ridiculous. I don't even know what to say about it. I'm not going to be able to watch Criminal Minds anymore without her. She makes the show fantastic for so many people. And guess who my second favorite character is? Yup, Prentiss. Okay that's kind of a lie. JJ is my favorite, then all of the rest of the cast is second place. I like all of them, but seriously? Cut the freaking spin-off. I could go on for three more chapters about this, but I'll stop myself there. Oh my gosh. Ok. Sign the petition!
Also, I'm very sorry that this took so long. Every time I get on the computer I end up watching "Higher Ground" (with AJ Cook). It's so fantastic! Anyways, I've been all over the place lately, but I'm trying to really focus and keep this going because I personally like it and I want to see where it goes too! Ha! Thanks for the reviews and please keep them coming!
Chapter 4
Morgan walked over to Agent Daniels' desk ready to apologize. When Rick saw him he stumbled back in surprise, clearly afraid that Derek would hit him again. Once he got control of himself he huffed.
"Oh. It's you."
"Yes, it's me. Listen man, I'm really sorry that I punched you. That was completely out of line. I just thought that you were forcing yourself onto her or something because I've never seen you guys together. Like I said, I'm really sorry for the misunderstanding, and if you need anything I'm here to help," Morgan ended, rather pleased with himself.
Rick looked slightly shocked, but shook it off. "Yeah, alright. Accidents happen. Do you think that next time you could refrain from touching my nose? It's already been broken three times."
Derek rolled his eyes and laughed. "There won't be a next time, bud. I promise."
"Haha. Okay. Thanks for apologizing. I can't say I'm not scared of you anymore, but I think that I can get over it soon enough."
"Alright. I'll catch you later, man. Good lookin' out," Morgan said as he turned and walked away.
That was easy enough. Now I have to find a way to apologize to JJ. She must hate me. I called her stupid. I haven't called someone stupid since fourth grade. It is childish remark, but a mean one nonetheless.
When Derek had called JJ 'stupid', he insinuated more than just "a dumb person". He spat it out. She could hear what he really meant behind his elementary remark- whore. That word is a little excessive in this case. Just because she kissed random guys to make Derek jealous, or to thank them for presents, doesn't make her a whore. She didn't sleep with him or anything.
All JJ knew was that she hated Derek Morgan. What he said may have been immature and childish, but his words really hurt her. JJ was sick of his bullshit. If he was gonna get so mad about her kissing Rick then he should have at least had a good reason for punching him and insulting her. He obviously didn't like her if he thought she was stupid, so why did her kissing Agent Daniels bother him so much? She decided he was through with his games. She wouldn't talk to him anymore.
Once JJ had finished her workload for the night, she was eager to get out of her office and take a nice hot bath at home. She needed something to rid her mind of the events of the day. A bath and some Raspberry Vodka sounded like a good plan. As she walked out of her office, JJ saw Derek getting up to leave as well. She needed a plan to avoid coming in contact with him on her departure.
She tried to go the "walk fast and don't look at him" approach, but realized too late that he would beat her to the elevator. Needless to say, when he got on the elevator that JJ was going to go on, she was fuming. She was almost there when he stepped through the elevator doors, so she couldn't turn around and run the other way. That would be immature.
She took a deep breath and stepped in next to Derek. She could see him watching her. She expected him to start yelling at her again, or give her evil looks, but he did neither. He looked sad. He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't get it out. JJ tried to keep her eyes straight ahead. She would be ready to bolt as soon as the doors opened, but they were on a high floor, and it was a long way down.
Derek watched in surprise as JJ stepped in the elevator next to him. He didn't see her coming down to leave. She looked pissed. He couldn't blame her. He had treated her awful that morning. He hadn't planned what he was going to say yet, so he didn't want to jump the gun and say something stupid. He looked at her. He saw her tapping her toe and drumming her fingers on her hip. He watched as she sighed and leaned her head back. He could feel her eyes taking quick glances at him when he wasn't looking.
He felt like such an ass. He wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't find the words. He had already decided that his apology had to be special, and saying a quick sorry in the elevator wasn't special. He kept his mouth shut, and prayed that God would help her forgive him.
The elevator doors couldn't open soon enough. Both JJ and Derek wanted to just disappear on the spot right then, but unfortunately neither was a magician. When the doors opened JJ practically through herself out of the elevator and Morgan wasn't far behind her. He thought about grabbing her arm and winging his apology but decided against it.
She is probably even more pissed at me now since I didn't apologize in the elevator. I need to come up with something really good to make her like me again. I'll have a plan by tomorrow. Tonight I need to start planning and get a good night's sleep, because tomorrow will be a challenge.
Derek walked into his apartment and sat down on his couch. He begged his brain to come up with the perfect apology, but he came up blank. He just sat on his couch and kept thinking, but his mind kept wondering. He started thinking about what it would be like if him and JJ were a couple. He thought about the dates he would take her on. He thought about holding her hand and giving her hugs. He thought about kissing her. The only thing he didn't think enough about before he fell asleep was how he was going to apologize.
The next morning Derek woke up late, and he had to rush through his morning routine in order to get to work on time. He almost forgot about everything that happened the previous day with JJ and Rick. It wasn't until he was in his car on the way to the office that he realized he was screwed. He wanted to have a whole long speech planned out and maybe even some flowers or something, but instead he was just going to have to make it up on the spot and hope that she could find it in herself to forgive him.
When he walked into the BAU he saw that nobody was really there yet. He must've not been running as late as he thought. As usually, JJ was already there, up in her office. Derek took a deep breath and walked towards her office. He was even more nervous than when he thought Hotch was going to fire him. He slowly lifted his hand to her door and made two solid knocks on the wood.
"Come in," JJ said, clearly distracted by case files that needed attention.
Derek walked into the room and cleared his throat. JJ looked up and rolled her eyes when she saw that it was him. "What do you want Derek?"
"JJ, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have punched Rick, and I shouldn't have yelled at you. I guess I was just surprised that you were so desperate that you would –"
"Excuse me? Desperate? Is this what you call an apology Agent Morgan? Get the hell out of my office! Don't talk to me!" JJ yelled, her eyes flashing anger. If only looks could kill.
"I didn't mean it like that….I just, I just don't understand why you would kiss him. He's not your type at all…"
"What exactly is my type, Derek? Why the hell do you care who I kiss? You obviously don't like me like that, so why does it matter how I say thank you to my friends? Just back off!" she got out of her chair and opened the door in order for him to leave. Derek wasn't ready to leave though.
"JJ, I-"
"Just leave me alone, Derek!" and with that she pushed him out of her office and slammed the door.
Derek turned away from JJ's door to see the team watching him carefully. They all had curious looks on their faces. Of course they knew what had happened preceding day, but they didn't understand Derek and JJ's relationship. Hotch stood outside his office with another disappointed look on his face. He nodded his head and Derek knew that he needed to go talk to Hotch in his office.
Derek slumped down in the chair ready for a lecture.
"Morgan, I need to know that keeping you on this team is the right choice. I can't have you causing problems with other team members every day. I'm assuming this has to do with what happened yesterday. Do you want to tell me what made you punch and insult your co-workers?" Hotch asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Hotch I know this looks really bad, but I just can't talk about it right now. I apologized to Daniels yesterday. This morning I was trying to apologize to JJ, but it obviously didn't go very well. I'm sorry. I won't cause any more problems at work," Derek finished.
"Alright, I trust you. I talked to Strauss last night. We've decided that you may keep your position on this team, but you are suspended for three weeks. You will be here doing office work during that period, and I want you and JJ to work out whatever it is you need to. I do not want my team split into sides over whatever is happening in your personal lives."
"Thank you, sir. I will do my best," Derek stood up and made his way to the door.
"Derek."
"Yeah, Hotch?"
"Don't mess up again."
"I don't plan on it, sir. Thank you." Derek walked out of the office with mixed emotions. He was very relieved to know that he wasn't going to be fired, but he was really nervous about apologizing to JJ again. She seemed like she had made up her mind, and it did not include forgiving him.
Morgan knew that he still had to apologize to JJ, but he just couldn't find a right time or a way to do it. It had been a week since the incident. Derek hadn't seen JJ talking to Rick since the kiss, and she hadn't talked to him since she kicked him out of her office. The team (besides Derek) had gone on two cases since Derek had been suspended, leaving not much time for him to see JJ anyways.
She completely ignored him. When they had to be in the same room, JJ didn't even look in his direction. Derek hated it. He missed her so much. He knew that they had only been real friends for a short time, but what they had had been special. He missed talking to her. He missed seeing her smile at him. He missed walking her to her car. He missed seeing her let loose. He missed her.
He had to fix it. He had a plan.
*Okay, so once again I'm super sorry that this took so long. I don't know if I like this chapter very much, but I wanted to get something up and I had already spent a lot of time thinking about it. So please REVIEW to keep me going :)
Once again, SIGN THE PETITION!
