When Wednesday came around, Morgan went back to work, leaving Spencer alone with Parker again. Spencer didn't mind this time, because after this he only had another week and a half with her before he had to go back to work himself. He'd had a successful test run at the daycare on Monday, and had even left her there for a few hours on Tuesday. He was extremely proud of himself for how well he was handling the situation, considering she was his entire world.

While Parker was taking a nap, he lounged on the couch with a comfortable blanket reading a book. His phone started ringing and he sighed, tucking his bookmark in and answering it.

"Hello?"

"You two having fun?"

"I'm having a blast. Parker's fast asleep and I'm getting some reading done."

"Let me guess. Parenting for Dummies?"

"You're not funny, Derek Morgan."

"Full name? That's harsh."

"Stop deserving it."

He dramatically sighed. "Fine."

Spencer smiled, shaking his head. "What's going on?"

"Why would something be going on?"

"Because you've already done your 'calling you to say I'm checking on you but I really want to know what Parker's up to' call for the day, so something has to be going on for you to be calling again."

"What did I say about profiling me?"

"Stop being so easy to profile."

"I just called to tell you that we have a case."

Spencer sighed, chewing on his lip. "How bad and how far?"

"It's pretty bad and it's right in Alabama. I'll call you tonight."

"Be careful. Please. Promise me."

"I promise I'll be careful."

"Don't be reckless and don't be stupid."

"I won't. Tell Parker I love her."

"I will when she wakes up. I love you."

"I love you too. Hopefully I'll see you soon."

"Hope so. Bye, Spencer."

Spencer hung up the phone, setting it beside him and picking up his book again.

That night, Spencer sat on his bed with Parker leaned against several pillows, reading to her. He couldn't help but smile when her face lit up as he read the words. He also enjoyed watching her get excited at seeing the pages, even though he knew she didn't really understand. Every few pages, he'd lean over, kissing her forehead. When his phone started ringing, he set the book down, answering it and putting it on speaker phone.

"Derek, you're on speaker with Parker in the room, behave."

"If you say so. How's my pretty little girl doing?"

"We're having reading time and she's loving it."

"Is she, or are you pretending that she is so you can read?"

"Judging by the big smile on her face, she's enjoying herself."

He smiled. "So you two are doing okay?"

"We're doing fine. Tomorrow we're going to the park and then we're going to see Catherine again to confirm that she can start at the daycare center next Monday when I go back to work."

"Are you ready for it?"

"To go back to work? Yes. To leave Parker for several hours at a time? We'll see how it goes."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. Did you leave her again today?"

"For three hours. It was weird, I wasn't sure what to do with the peace and quiet. I ended up going to the park and reading so I'd be able to hear some background noise. Not having her baby monitor right next to me was especially awkward."

"I'm sure the background noise of the BAU will suffice."

"Let's hope so." Spencer gasped loudly. "Great job, Parker!"

"What happened? What'd I miss?"

"She just rolled onto her left side all on her own! You did it!"

"Wish I could've been there to see it. Let's hope I get a few firsts for myself."

"Oh, we have plenty of them to go. Any luck yet?"

"Not yet. Looks like this one could be a while."

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will. Love you. And I love you Parker."

Spencer smiled. "We love you too, Papa."

Morgan hung up the phone, sighing.

"So what'd you miss?" JJ asked, setting his food in front of him.

"She rolled over on her own while Spencer was reading to her."

"Did he celebrate it?"

He nodded.

"Good. That means she'll do it again since she was praised for it. You'll see it eventually."

"It really does suck being away from her."

"It does, but just remember. Catch the bad guy so they can't get her."

He nodded again, opening up his tray.

It had been three days and Morgan still wasn't home. Spencer knew that it was his job and he needed to be there, but it didn't make the situation suck any less. He had sent video messages to him every day that he was gone, and Morgan returned the favor with videos of himself to Parker. He did believe that the worst part of being alone was not being able to use his chest as a pillow, as he'd grown accustomed to it.

Meanwhile, on the case, Garcia had just successfully located the unsub's home address. They were all putting on their vests and preparing to take the drive. Hotch looked over at Morgan.

"I want you to stay outside on this one, in case he tries to sneak out of a window."

"Come on, Hotch. I'd be much better going into the house and getting him."

"You're emotional about leaving your daughter and I'm not going to have you get hurt by the unsub by going into the house. Stay outside."

"But Hotch-"

"You're not going into the house. That's final."

Morgan sighed, leaning back on the passenger seat as Hotch turned on the siren and started driving. "Rossi, you'll come inside with me. Prentiss, stay outside with Morgan."

Prentiss leaned over, patting Morgan's arm.

When they arrived at the unsub's home, Morgan had had enough. He got out of the car, running toward the house.

"MORGAN." Hotch called after him. He brushed it off and made his way inside. After a minute with no response from him or the unsub, Hotch could feel that something was wrong. He pressed his hand against his ear piece. "Morgan?" Again, no response. He looked over at Rossi, nodded, and they both ran inside the house.

Spencer groaned when his phone started ringing at 3 in the morning. Guessing that it was Morgan calling to say he was on his way home, he ignored it. He also ignored the second and the third call. When the house phone started ringing minutes later, he groaned, reaching over and answering it.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? She's sleeping."

"Spence…" JJ said softly. He could sense nerves in her voice. He sat up in bed immediately.

"JJ? What is it?"

"Spence, it's Derek…"

He sighed, burying his head in his hand, biting his lip.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

She sniffed. He could tell she had been crying. "Spence, he's in the hospital. He went into the unsub's house after Hotch told him not to and something happened."

He rubbed his forehead. "How bad is he?"

"He was stabbed a few times. Luckily he was wearing his vest so it wasn't as bad as it could've been. He's out of surgery and they're waiting for him to wake up."

"…He went against Hotch? He promised me he'd be safe. He promised Parker he'd come home intact. He promised, JJ."

"I know, Spence. But you know him, he's stubborn."

He wiped his eyes, sniffing. "Can you call me when he wakes up? Please? I can't get there. It's too far to drive and I can't fly with Parker yet."

"Of course."

"He's going to be okay, right?"

"He's going to have a full recovery, but I don't think that includes the new asshole that Hotch is going to tear him."

"Hotch needs to get in line."

He tried to get back to sleep after he hung up with JJ, but it was useless. He needed the confirmation that Morgan was alive and well before he planned how he was going to slowly kill him for disobeying not only Hotch's orders, but his as well. He finally got a phone call at 6:19.

"JJ?"

"He's awake. Once the hospital releases him, we're going to fly home."

"Thank god."

"He wants to talk to you."

"After that heart attack he gave me? He can wait until he gets home."

"He wants to know if Parker's awake."

"She's not, and even if she were, he wouldn't be able to talk to her either."

"Spence."

"No. After he let an unsub empty a clip at him, he promised me he wouldn't do anything stupid. I think disobeying Hotch and getting himself multiple stab wounds counts as something stupid."

"Do you want me to call when we land? I'm going to drive him home."

"Can you take Parker for a couple hours? I know you're just getting home and if you can't I understand."

"I had plans with Pen, but if you and Morgan need to talk, we can change it so she can come along?"

He sighed. "Thanks, Jayje."

"Get some sleep while you can. Please?"

"I'll try."

He laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be feeling at this very point, whether it was upset, angry, relieved, happy, or downright pissed off. He was feeling every single one at the same time and it was aggravating him beyond belief. Luckily, he eventually dozed off.

That afternoon, he got a phone call from JJ that they were landing and she would be there to pick up Parker in twenty minutes. He quickly packed her diaper bag and set her carriage by the door. When he saw JJ's car pull up, he buckled Parker into her carrier and kissed her forehead.

"You're going to spend some time with Aunt JJ and Aunt Penny. I hope you girls have fun, because Papa and I need to have boring adult talk that's going to be a lot less entertaining."

He put a blanket over her and fixed her beanie as JJ knocked on the door. He picked up the carrier and walked over. When Morgan eased his way inside and sat on the couch, Spencer ignored him. JJ grabbed the carriage and the diaper bag and Spencer walked her down to the car. He set Parker in the carseat and turned to her.

"How? How could he be so stupid, Jayje?"

She shrugged. "I really wish I had an answer for this one."

He sighed, hugging her and resting his head on her shoulder. "Wish me luck."

She hugged him and rubbed his back. "Good luck."

He walked back inside, closing the door and leaning against it. He looked over at Morgan who had a bandage on his arm and another poking out from under his tank top. He had nothing to say, so he just stared at him.

"…Hello to you too?"

"Don't."

Morgan raised his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You lied to me. And you lied to your daughter."

"Pretty Boy."

"NO. You're not getting out of this with a nickname or a wink or a smile. You messed up this time."

"I was doing my job."

"Oh, were you?"

"Yes, I was."

"Because what I heard from the people that were there? You directly disobeyed your superior's orders in the field. You completely ignored the fact that you promised me you wouldn't do anything stupid. You ran into a house knowing the unsub had several guns and knives in his possession. What did you think was going to happen? You'd just run in and be the hero again? It doesn't always work like that."

"I knew that I was the best option to get the guy."

"Were you? Last I checked, Hotch and Rossi have much more experience than you do. You're not allowed to just make the call that you can do whatever you want."

"That's not what I was thinking."

"Then feel free to enlighten me, because from what I see, you're an idiot."

Morgan got up. "I saw Hotch panicking, even though he wasn't showing it, and I knew somebody had to take the reins. Not my best decision, but I did it. And the guy's in custody, isn't he?"

"Yeah, after he dug a knife into you four times. I don't consider that a win. Did you even think about it before you did it? What if he'd killed you? You'd be okay leaving Parker behind?"

"Of course I wouldn't. I wouldn't have gotten myself killed."

"In case you haven't noticed, Derek, we don't make the decision what happens once we're in the presence of the unsub. They know what's going to happen and we just have to hope it doesn't involve a dead FBI agent."

Morgan rolled his eyes. "But I'm fine."

"No. You're not fine. Don't even start."

He walked over. "The important thing is that I'm still here." He leaned in to kiss Spencer, who quickly turned away from him.

"You lied to me. You lied to her. You broke your promises. You think everything's going to be fine after that?"

"What do you WANT here, Spencer? I can't go back and change what I did. Last I checked, I'm not the only one who makes decisions without considering everyone involved." Spencer nearly jumped at the raising of Morgan's voice, and felt himself getting upset.

"EXCUSE me?"

"Let's see, about 11 months ago now? I'm sorry, 8 months ago. You found out you were having my kid and you didn't have the decency to tell me. You're talking about affecting everyone involved in a situation? I think that counts as a pretty big thing to keep from somebody."

Spencer could feel the rage boiling inside of him. "I did that for you. I saved your job. I saved BOTH of our jobs. I saved you having a social life and not feeling like you were tied down to something. And know what? Given the choice, I'd do it all over again the same exact way."

"Of course you would, because the other person involved only matters when you're the victim, right?"

"No, it matters when someone's a complete idiot and puts his family on the line so he could have ten minutes of glory from his superior. You didn't think about me and you didn't think about Parker. You only did what you do best. You thought about yourself."

"Well you know what? Somebody has to."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just forget it." Morgan walked over, grabbing his car keys.

"Where are you going?"

"A drive."

"You're not leaving."

"Watch me."

Morgan slipped out the door, slamming it behind him.

Spencer looked down at Clooney, who was cowering in a corner. He bit his lip, holding back his tears and squatting down beside Clooney, patting him. "It's okay. We're not mad at you. I promise." He scratched behind his ears, and when the dog had finally calmed down, he walked to his bedroom. He grabbed his go bag out of his closet, quickly throwing in some clothes and books. He also took his phone off the charger and stuffed it in his pocket. He then went to Parker's room, packing several outfits and toys, along with diapers and wipes.

Garcia and JJ were enjoying some girls only time with Parker in Garcia's apartment. She was currently watching JJ play a constant game of peek-a-boo. When she heard a knock on the door, she got up, walking over. After checking the peephole, she raised an eyebrow, opening the door.

"…Hey, Reid."

He bit his lip, sniffling. "Can Parker and I stay with you a few days?"

She took his bags, setting them down, and pulled him into a hug. He buried his head into her shoulder, crying. JJ looked over and seeing Spencer upset, knew exactly what had happened. She kept a straight face and continued to keep Parker occupied as Garcia did her best to calm him down.