Hey all. I'm back. I just moved back up North after working in Atlanta for the summer. I truly never got my internet up and running- hence no updates. Now that I have my precious world connection back I am ready to rumble. To make up for lost time I decided to give you all a nice little chapter. This one, I have to say, has been one of my absolute favourites and I hope that it is yours as well. I hope that you all haven't forgotten me and will give me nice little reviews for me to read during my one week off between the next battery of graduate school stuff and my summer work.

Tata and Enjoy!


Derek sighed as he drew off his sunglasses. He had to turn in these reports and Hermione was working from home that day which meant that there he was parked outside of her row house in the pouring rain. This was not something that he wanted to do, but hell, how many times had he dropped off materials at Hotch's house? Pulling up his emergency brake (a force of habit), Derek opened the door and stepped out into the rain.

A few quick hops brought him over to the cobblestone walkway that led to her door. When he finally reached there he reached out to knock on the door when it opened and a man almost walked straight into him as he leaving. The two stared at each other. The other man was dark skinned, much darker than Morgan and he also was built large. Frankly he looked like a brick shit house. He looked Morgan up and down before yelling back into the house for Hermione and then nodding at Morgan.

"She'll be in the kitchen, go in before you get soaked." The man said, his voice a pleasant baritone with an accent that was distinctly European. A cross between English and Italian.

Morgan took and advice and entered the house. Seeing a stand on the side the held shoes Morgan toed off his sopping wet ones. His mother and sisters would never forgive him for messing another woman's house. The house itself was very pleasant and further warm. In the short time it had taken him from going between the car and the door he was absolutely soaked.

Hermione met him at the open archway to her kitchen as she dried her hands on a towel. "Morgan?" She both greeted and questioned.

From inside of his windbreaker Derek pulled out a packet of forms. Before he could say anything a loud buzzer was ringing in the house and they both turned to stare at the radio that was positioned in the corner of her living room.

"A flash flood warning has been given to the Metro DC and Georgetown areas. All residents are urged to stay indoors. All major highways have been secured until further notice."

Hermione sighed and tossed the hand towel back into the kitchen. "Well. I guess that means that you will be staying a bit longer." She walked passed him and headed towards the stairs. "Just leave the folder on the couch, we'll get you something dry to wear before we tackle anything else."

Morgan did as he was bid before following Hermione. They entered the second floor and Morgan heard a faint cough- a child's cough. With deliberate speed Hermione went towards a room at the end of the hall and went in, Morgan stood at the door and saw Hermione sit at the bed of a small pale child.

The freckles that stemmed from the bridge of her nose all the way to the sides of her face were stark against the paleness of her skin. Morgan took a step closer and saw that attached to the face with a mop of shocking red hair and cornflower blue eyes that were glazed with fever. With tenderness that Morgan wasn't sure Hermione's possessed she coaxed cough medicine into her daughter and soothed the youth back to sleep. When she stood and headed for the door, Morgan backed away and allowed Hermione to pull it softly shut behind her.

"Rose has been horribly sick the past few days, and so I've been working from home." She explained as they entered a room filled with large windows and bookshelves. At the end was a daybed type couch with storage drawers underneath it. An incoherent mumble later Hermione had dropped to her knees and was opening and closing the containers looking for something.

"How old is she?" Morgan asked curiously. He had not pinpointed this woman for a mother. It changed everything about how he profiled her. Instead of being so frigid and closed off, he could now see that she was hurt and was guarding herself.

Hermione flashed a smile up at him filled with the warmth of love for her child. "She just turned seven not too long ago. It's a good age."

Morgan nodded. "So, second grade?"

Hermione blushed and turned back around to sort through the clothes. "Ninth grade, actually."

Stunned Morgan took a moment to process. That would mean that she was skipping grades faster than Reid had. What were they? Super geniuses?

"That's impressive."

Hermione nodded but didn't respond. The room grew quiet before she made a sound of success and pulled out a soft brown shirt and a pair of dark jeans. "These should fit you, roughly. Blaise likes to leave some clothes here."

Morgan nodded, though he didn't pry and changed once Hermione had left the room. The pants he had originally thought would be too big, however as he pulled them on they seemed to form to his body. The shirt also had originally seemed too large, but it too fit once he put them on. Carrying his wet clothes out of the room he went downstairs and into the kitchen where he heard noise.

A kettle was on the stove and Hermione was pulling out mugs as he came in. Swiftly and with practice she took his clothes from him and brought them over into the section of the kitchen separated for the laundry by a double white painted door. Dumping them into the dryer she set the timer and closed the partisan.

Turning back to Morgan she asked, "Do you have any preference for hot drinks? I, myself, will be having some hot chocolate."

How long had it been since he had drank a hot chocolate? With a smile he felt his shoulders ease and some of his tension drain away. "I would like that, the hot chocolate if you don't mind." Hermione smiled at him and nodded. She grabbed a clear glass jar and popped off the top. Using the spoon that she had out the woman scooped lumps of the dark powder into the mugs and then closed the lid. She grabbed another smaller container and brought that over to the table.

As he sat, Morgan was amused to see that it was filled with tiny marshmallows. The kettle began to call and Hermione swiftly lifted the container and poured the appropriate liquid amount into the mugs. The mugs themselves were tall and a bit on the thin side. They were white with small petals of yellow that were carved into the heat blasted glass.

She set Morgan's on the table in front of him and was thoughtful enough to turn the handle towards his hand. She placed her own down at her seat and fetched him a spoon to stir with. Bussling over to the fridge she opened the unit and pulled out a small container of different types of sliced vegetables and another containing hummus.

After placing the food on the table she sat with a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry we don't have more manly snacks in the house." With a delicate hand she popped open the lid of marshmallows as added a few to her cup.

"No problem for me." Morgan replied as he grabbed a broccoli head and head and dipped it into the hummus. After he took a bite Morgan continued, "none of you all eat junk food?"

Hermione shrugged. "It's just Rose and I so I try to keep the bad snacks to a minimum."

Morgan tried to school his features but she caught his curious look.

"The man you left earlier is a friend of mine from our school days. He lives in the UK and often comes to the States, and more specifically to DC on business. Instead of paying ridiculous room rates, he stays in the study."

Morgan nodded. "So, you went to college together?"

Hermione gave a snorting laugh. "Oh, well before that. We both went to the same boarding school. We were eleven when we met for the first time."

Morgan nodded and couldn't help but pry. "So, Rose's father is not in the picture?"

Hermione sighed and lowered the mug from her lips rather than taking a sip. "I do like to keep my private life, private. However, I will tell you that no he's not in the picture. What I'll say is that we both served in combat together." She paused and put a small marshmallow between her lips and then sucked it in. Chewing thoughtfully she continued. "I was able to heal and he hasn't been able to."

Morgan was silent for a long time. "You didn't need to tell me that."

She shrugged. "I did, though. I know you and your team. Had I not told you, you all would have acted like there was some big secret and then have Miss Garcia do super spy searches on me." Morgan went to protest; however Hermione held up a hand. "You know it's true. And, further considering your line of work I consider it an occupational hazard that I'll need to share more with you all than a normal coworker would need to."

"C'mon. We're not that suspicious." Morgan cajoled while he fiddled with his spoon.

Hermione fixed him with an eyebrow-raised look. "You all are paranoid. But, it's fine. Search all you want. I'm a combat veteran, married once. Worked in politics. Graduated high school at eleven. Prodigy, genius, and I am still unable to do anything even mildly creative. My credit score is decent and I have one outstanding parking ticket."

Morgan laughed a little at the last part. Who knew miss stick-in-the-mud had a sense of humor? She met his eyes. "I am a rebel without a cause- parking meters fear me."

That got Morgan to laugh outright and the conversation fell easily from there. The highest energy moment of the entire meeting was when Morgan finally tasted the hot chocolate. According to him it was like no other hot chocolate he had ever tasted. Hermione admitted that her former mother-in-law (despite the familial issues) would periodically send over care packages to Hermione (mostly to Rose) and it would include some of her cooking (including the homemade hot chocolate).

By the time the storm had let up and the roads had been deemed safe both Hermione and Morgan felt as though they had made headway with each other (a formerly very distant person). After changing back into his own clothing Morgan left with much less stress sitting between his shoulders. Ever since Harry had gone away on that mysterious business trip, he had been worried sick about Penelope. Just sitting with Hermione, enjoying some light fare and very good hot chocolate had eased away the stress like nothing else had been able to.

The next morning Morgan arrived to find a small jar with a note on his desk. Opening the note (away from the prying eyes of his coworkers) Morgan smiled as he read in neat and tidy penmanship "Jar Contains: Ambrosia. Warning: Can be addictive. Take caution when consuming." Picking up the small container with his large hands Morgan cracked the lid slightly and breathed in. The heavenly aroma of the cocoa mixed wafted up and a smile hit his features.

"Team, we need to meet." Hotch said as he walked the upper platform of the bullpen and Morgan slipped the jar into the go-bag by his desk. That might just help if they needed to go somewhere for a case. He would have to find someway to thank Hermione.

Maybe she wasn't as bad as he originally thought.


Well? What did you think? Again, I absolutely adored this chapter. Very sweet the with beginnings of friendship (turning to possible romance? Who knows! Please, please, please review! In addition, if I were to write a real book, would any of you be interested in reading should I do self-publishing? Just a thought. I mean, if you like my style...

Cheers,

iBless!