"Reid's got a thing for you." Derek teased as they made dinner that night. "He asked me the best way to ask you out."

"Oh no. I wasn't going for that."

He kissed the nape of her neck. "I know, but he's not exactly experienced in that area."

"What did you tell him?"

"That you were seeing someone, but he should still become friendly and get to know you." He wrapped his arms around her waist and began caressing her neck. "I told him that anything could happen."

"What? You think I'm going to walk away again?"

"It happened once."

"Because I felt smothered and that you didn't trust me to be able to take care of myself. You've changed that way of thinking now. I don't know how you did it, but you did it, and I'm happy." She turned around and kissed his lips. "Why? Do you want me to go out on a date with Spencer Reid?"

"I'd be curious as to how he'd treat you."

"You're jealous!" She laughed and kissed him. "There is nothing to be jealous about, Babe. I'm all yours." Kissing him again, she pulled away with a frown as she heard the phone ring, knowing it was going to be work related. "Hello."

"Hey Caroline. Is Morgan there?" Hotchner's voice came through the receiver.

"Yeah."

He was confused by her disappointment. "Caroline, you should be a pro at this by now."

"You think I would be, but I still don't like it." Kissing Derek one last time, she handed him the phone and returned to cooking.

"Have you ever been shot?" Spencer was asking one Monday morning as he sat and talked with Caroline in her office.

"Yes and I wouldn't recommend it.

He laughed. "I wasn't thinking that I wanted to get shot just to experience it."

"It sucks. Take it from me."

"What happened?"

"Which time? The first time, I was just grazed and the second time, the bullet went through my thigh and ended my field career unless they need a sniper or weapons expert."

Spencer stared at her in shock. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I've gotten over it." She sipped her coffee. "The first time, I was fresh out of the Marines and eager so I didn't take all the precautions I should have and allowed a suspect to get a round off before I could fire my weapon." Pulling up her sleeve, she showed him the scar on her upper arm. "The second, I could show you but they'd fire me for sexual harassment." She winked. "No, I was involved with a case with the BAU about three years ago and we were ambushed. We got faulty intelligence and even the best profile isn't going to stop a projectile traveling at twelve hundred feet per second." She shrugged. "It went into my thigh and just missed my artery. I got lucky that the other agents there thought fast and tied off the wound until the ambulance came."

"That's how you met Morgan?"

"Out of bounds, Agent Reid." Caroline said with authority, but lightly touched his hand. "Spence, my relationship with Derek is complicated and personal." She watched him nod and she took a deep breath, figuring it was time she told someone what had happened that fateful day. "Yeah, that's when Derek and I became close. He took off his belt, tied it around my leg, and stayed with me until the paramedics came. He saved my life."

"Did they catch the unsub who shot you?"

"The coroner did." She smiled. "I put a double tap in his heart. That guy wasn't getting away." She laughed until she saw Hotchner standing in the doorway. "I guess you've come to rescue Dr. Reid."

"More like I've come to rescue you." Hotchner smiled and walked into her office. "I was wondering if you would like to get back into the field for a little bit."

"Are you kidding?"

"I don't kid about stuff like this. Gideon has cleared you to be temporarily reassigned to our team while we're working on this case."

"What's going on?" Her smile was gone. Jason Gideon was the one who had reassigned her to a desk three years ago.

"There's a hostage situation in Annapolis and we've been asked to assist the Navel personnel."

"And you need a sniper." She nodded. "Good to know that I'm still needed for something." After checking her sidearm, she grabbed a key from her pocket and unlocked the cabinet behind her, pulling out the case with her long rifle. "Lock and load."

"Caroline," Gideon approached her as she readied her weapon, "you have a green light. If you find a shot that will take this guy down, do it."

"You don't want to try and talk him out?"

"He's been in there for almost twenty four hours." He eyed her carefully. "But that's not what this is about."

"Excuse me I have a job to do." She pushed by him and made her way up to the rooftop opposite the building. "Do I have a green light?" She asked into her radio, awaiting conformation from Hotchner before actually taking the beautiful shot she had lined up.

"No, position one. I repeat, red light. Gideon's in there."

Caroline looked through her sight and put Agent Gideon in her crosshairs, but quickly moved it. That wasn't who she was. She and Jason Gideon had had their moments, mostly they butted heads, which is probably why he wasted no time having her field status revoked after she got shot, but he respected her talent, her ability, and she knew that. That was what kept her from pulling the trigger, taking out both Gideon and the unsub. "Hotch, I've got the shot."

"Green light! Green light!"

With one squeeze of her trigger, she sent the .380 through the pane glass window and into the unsub's skull, dropping him in place. Not the neatest shot she'd ever taken, but she'd seen what she thought was a muzzle flash as she was lining up and she couldn't take the chance that the unsub had actually pulled the trigger.

"Good work, Agent James." Gideon leaned next to her on the car.

"Thank you." She dismantled her weapon, controlling her breathing.

"I would have thought you would have taken the shot earlier."

"I needed the green light from the Agent in charge."

"I thought I gave that to you."

"Before I knew all the players. Agent Gideon, telling me I have the green light before I'm in position would never hold up."

"How did it feel?"

"I only get a minor adrenaline rush that I'm able to control. It's my job."

"I mean to have me in your sight, to know that in a split second you had power over me."

"What? You're profiling me now?" She glared at him as she pulled her rifle case onto her shoulder.

"That's my job."

Derek looked over and read the body language between Gideon and Caroline, knowing their history, and he quickly intervened. "Everything alright here?"

"Yeah, fine. You boss is a real piece of work, Morgan." She walked away.

"You never answered my question." Gideon spoke softly as they packed up a few minutes later.

"Because it's a mute point, Jason. I did the job I was brought here to do, the job that I am trained to do. Emotions have no bearing on my work."

"You're not denying that you lined up that shot, are you?" He smiled the sly smile that he had when he knew what the other person was thinking.

"No, I'm not." She turned to look at him. "Because I did have you in my crosshairs. I had my finger on the trigger, but I didn't take the shot. You want to know why? Because, even though we have never really seen eye to eye, I respect you. I respect your talent and I know that you respect mine. Even though I resent you for removing me from the BAU three years ago, I couldn't take the shot. If this means that you're going to bring me up on charges, then so be it. I'm not sorry I did it. I'm just glad that the unsub didn't put a round in you because I know from experience how painful that is."

"No, the shot you saw went into the wall behind me. He was just trying to intimidate and show his power." He nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, I'm not going to bring you up on charges. I have no way of knowing if what you said is true. And I do respect your talent, Agent James." He smiled his trademark half smile and walked away.

"Why do you let him do that to you?" Derek asked from behind her.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you let him get to you more than you should. He's damn good at pushing people's buttons when he wants to and he enjoys doing it with you."

"Because he knows that I'm a damn good field agent, Derek. Maybe I can't run the marathon anymore, but I still have the ability to be an asset to this team. The way he got rid of me wasn't called for."

"Gideon didn't ask to have you reassigned. I did." Hotchner's voice came from behind her. "I needed the team complete while you recovered and I made a judgment call. It was only supposed to be temporary. I never thought you would accept the desk job permanently."

"Why didn't you tell me, Hotch? Why did you let me believe it was Gideon for three years?" It didn't make any sense. Hotchner was the one agent from the BAU, besides Derek, that ever stopped by to see her, who ever stayed in touch.

"Jason wanted you to believe it was him. He was the one who suggested that Casey offer you the position as the head of ballistics. It was a promotion and it was what I thought was best."

"You were worried that I would go soft." She studied his eyes. "You were worried that I would hesitate going through a door?"

"Caroline, I didn't know and I had to make a judgment call. The brass asked if I thought you could still do your job in the field and I blinked."

She nodded. "At least I know now."

"CJ, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I trust your judgment. If you thought I couldn't do my job, than I couldn't do my job." There was a look of confusion on his face. "My beef with Gideon is that he never questioned me when I was on the BAU. Aaron, you had no problem calling me out for screwing up, being insubordinate, and just generally getting out of line. I respect that. Besides, you trained me. If anyone knows what I am and am not capable of, it's you."

"Gideon enjoyed pushing your buttons because he felt it made you better, that it still makes you better." He smiled. "Cut him some slack, Caroline. He knows what he's doing." She nodded and he walked away.

"Come here." Derek sensed her emotions, though she didn't show them outwardly, and pulled her into his embrace.

"I had no idea." She sighed. "I guess I had a lot of growing up to do."

"And you did it." He kissed the top of her head. "CJ, you are a damn good agent. You just do your best work away from Gideon."

She laughed and pulled away. "That's the truth."

Two weeks later, Derek walked into the firing range to find it empty. "Caroline?" Suddenly, he heard the sound of gunfire and walked into the rifle range. "That looks like fun."

The lecherous look on his face made her laugh. "I have my sniper qualifications next week so I thought I'd brush up."

"Because you aren't here everyday doing this."

"No, I'm in the firing range with agents like you, in the ballistics lab with my nose down the scope, or teaching new recruits how a gun in real life isn't like the movies. Even I have to practice you know."

"Actually, I didn't, but I do now." He sat down next to her before leaning down and kissing her. "I know, not proper firearms safety."

"Not proper work etiquette either, but I'll let you slide today." She kissed him again. "So, what brings you down here today?"

"Can't I just come and see my girl without having another reason?"

She laughed. "You never have before. Why start now?"

"You know me too well, CJ." He grinned and reached into his front pocket. "Can you run this bullet?"

"What do you need to know?" She stood up and secured her rifle before walking with him back into her lab.

"Everything."

"Was there a casing?"

"That would make it too easy for you." He grinned as she rolled her eyes.

"Very funny, Agent Morgan." She put the bullet under the microscope. "You want to wait? I can page you when I find something."

"I'll wait."

"Looking at me like that is not going to make the information flow any faster." She quipped after a minute.

"Maybe not, but it will certainly make my day a lot brighter." He raised his eyebrows at her with a grin. "Do you have something for me?"

"Not what you want to hear, but it's from a Smith and Wesson .357. Someone is either thinking they're Dirty Harry or else over-compensating for their shortcomings. Also, they don't take very good care of their gun." She motioned for him to take a look. "I thought that was an anomaly with the bullet, but then I realized that it's burned onto it. You're going to want to take this to trace." Putting it back into the evidence bag, she handed it back to him. "Is this still the stalker case?"

"No, this is a cold case that the brass wants solved since they think it's attributed to Mark Forma."

"The serial we put away four years ago?"

"One in the same. He was just awarded a new trial based on a technicality and we don't want him getting out."

"I should have taken him out while I had the chance."

"Gideon would have never allowed that." He kissed her quickly and smiled. "I'll see you later."

"No you won't, but I'll leave the porch light on." She waved and shook her head. She knew how he got when he worked a case like this. Four years ago, neither one of them had slept for 36 hours while they worked up the profile and then found Forma. The case had been intense and she knew that the pressure to keep him in jail was going to be even greater now, so she knew she wouldn't see Derek except for at work, but she was ready for it this time. She wasn't jealous of him this time.