Morgan wasn't stupid. There were people in his hometown who liked to sneer at what he did for a living. They thought he was somehow less than, because he chose to use his brain to fight criminals instead of relying on nightstick, fists and gun. The fact that he actually did carry a gun seemed irrelevant to his detractors, because all they saw was that Morgan preferred to talk first instead of shooting.
What they didn't see was how good he was at what he did. Sure, there were mistakes made, but he chalked that up to being a human being and not some profiling robot.
Morgan wasn't stupid and he wasn't blind, and he could see that there was something happening between his partner and the team's media liaison. As subtle as they tried to be, he could see the looks they gave each other, the small touches they thought they were hiding, and the smiles they wore so much more frequently. And he hadn't forgotten the afternoon not so long ago when Emily had burst into tears while favoring him with the most dazzling smile he'd ever seen on her face.
A lesser man with a lesser brain might have put two and two together and come up with six – might have assumed that the two of them had found love outside of the team at around the same time. But Derek Morgan was a profiler, and a good one at that. And even he had to admit it wouldn't take a profiler to see what was growing between the two women.
Morgan was a man who was given to teasing, good natured ribbing and smart remarks, but for once in his life he didn't bother to bust any of his usual banter out. Instead, he left work one afternoon and headed for the nearest gift shop. He picked out two generic cards from the stand – the kind that were meant to have messages written in them, as opposed to having some mass market platitude. In each, he wrote the same short message.
"Congratulations. You're beautiful together – too beautiful to hide any longer. But if anyone finds out, it won't be from me. I love you both. Derek."
Garcia was the type of person who prided herself on always being the first to know everything that went on in their little family. What she wasn't told, she could easily find out by hacking into security video, or by delving into personal records and credit card bills. She liked to use her powers only for good, but she knew that she was only human and sometimes even with the best of intentions she slipped and "did a thing".
She'd known since the first morning that there was something between Emily and JJ. She'd been the first person to call them out on it, even if they'd brushed off her questions as if she were crazy for asking them. Hearing JJ's confession had only been a surprise because she had expected to have to dig for it, to probe and poke and pry until JJ confessed. That she came to the lair to blurt it out had been half of the surprise. The depth and beauty of her emotion was the other half. Garcia hadn't expected that her friend would fall so hard and so fast for the dark haired beauty.
Garcia was straight, and unashamedly so, but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't cast her eyes over Emily Prentiss' very appealing form once or twice. The same went for JJ, though being blond, JJ was less Garcia's type – she loved her dark and dangerous agents a little too much to change. So Garcia could definitely see what each of her friends saw in the other, physically. What had really touched her heart was the smallest of their interactions, like the way Emily would rest her hand on the small of JJ's back as they walked, or the adoring look in JJ's eye as she sat and watched Emily pace and profile Unsubs. There was a closeness and intimacy there that went far beyond just "knocking boots".
There had been a moment, a dark, selfish, small moment when Garcia had felt sick with jealousy over the relationship her two best friends were embarking upon. She'd worried, for all of five minutes, that now the two of them had each other they'd have no need for her. She'd spent those five minutes variously picturing herself in the place of either JJ or Emily, before admitting that it would never work because both of them lacked a certain something, as potential life partners for the omniscient Penelope Garcia.
She'd been ashamed of herself immediately following those thoughts. And while JJ and Emily might not have exactly gone out of their way to spend as much time with Garcia as they did with each other, Garcia had to admit that honestly, nothing had changed in their friendships. The longer things went on, and the more each of them came to her individually to talk, to gush about the other, to share their secrets with her, the more secure she felt.
JJ and Emily together was a good thing, and Garcia was ready to take on anyone who dared say otherwise.
Reid was smart, and he knew it. He'd always been smart, and he'd always known it. He had four PhDs, two BAs, and an eidetic memory. Once, when he'd said this, Morgan had started singing to him. "And a partridge in a pear tree!"
Reid had laughed, but it wasn't until later that he'd had a chance to get on his computer and check out the significance of the line. It was only then that he got the joke.
Anyway, Reid was good with chemistry, and science, and words, but he wasn't so very good with people. The other members of the BAU team were perhaps the closest friends he'd ever had, and it wasn't because of anything he had done. For whatever reason, he was lucky enough that these people genuinely liked him. Morgan saw him as a little brother. Gideon had treated him almost like a son or a favored nephew. Emily, JJ and Garcia were all his big sisters, and Hotch was…
Well, Hotch was Hotch.
The fact that all these very different, very normal but very exceptional people had taken Reid under their wing and made him their own, gave him a sense of belonging that he'd never in his life felt before. And so, with all the career paths and options open to him, that was largely why he stayed in the FBI: because he liked the feeling of being loved.
There was something weird going on lately, though. He might not have been the most socially perceptive of the team, but even he could see something was up. Emily and JJ were smiling a lot more, and spent a large percentage of their time either close together, or pretending they didn't want to be closer together.
He hadn't known how to feel about that. He'd gone out on one date with JJ, and for a that evening, sitting in the stands next to a beautiful girl, he'd felt normal. He'd spent more time watching the blond than the game, which he'd only understood in the abstract. JJ excited was a sight to behold. She glowed, a flush coloring her cheeks, her eyes lit up and sparkling. It was one of Reid's greatest regrets that all he did that night was linger a little too long hugging her goodnight, instead of kissing her like he wanted to.
Ironically though, it was this one "date" with JJ that had helped put the recent events into context. That excited, exhilarated look JJ had had at the Redskins game was the same look she wore now whenever she caught sight of Emily. And it didn't take four PHDs, two BAs, an eidetic memory (and a partridge in a pear tree) to figure out why that was.
Reid waited for his chance, standing alone in the corridor until she walked his way. He waved awkwardly, getting her attention, and motioned her off to the side, just in case anyone wanted to walk past. (They didn't.) For a moment, he was lost for words, so he gave up on them and did something rather unlike him. He reached out awkwardly and hugged JJ. "I can see you're happy with her," he said, missing the surprised look on her face as her head rested on his shoulder. "Your happiness is important to me, because you're important to me."
He pulled away, embarrassed, and shrugged before hurrying back to the bull pen. He didn't stick around long enough to see JJ smile.
Sometimes it amused Hotch, the number of things his agents honestly thought they could keep from him. He might not have been psychic, or a mind reader, but one didn't just become the leader of the Behavioral Analysis Unit without knowing how to read people.
Right now, he knew that Reid was on his fourth coffee of the day, despite being told by both Prentiss and Garcia that two had been enough, and three had been getting on their nerves. He spotted Gideon out of the corner of his eye flexing his wrists, and knew that despite anything the older man said, his age was starting to wear on him just a little, and the constant report writing and typing was beginning to hamper his ability to wield his gun for long periods of time effectively.
He'd been the one to spot that Chief Strauss favored her son over her daughters, and he'd actually smiled to himself at the idea that he'd got one over on her without breaking professionalism for a moment. He'd been the one to call out that arrogant lawyer who had Hotch on the stand, and based on what? He'd had the man's entire life mapped out by the color of his socks, the soles of his shoes, and the fact that his Blackberry was buzzing every twenty minutes.
No, it was essentially useless to try to hide anything from Aaron Hotchner, at least for long. He'd been slightly upset with himself that he couldn't quite pinpoint the moment when the freight train that was JJ and Prentiss' friendship blew through half a dozen stations and screeched to a halt in "Love", but he chalked that one up to experience. Truthfully, he'd pegged the two of them as straight, though he'd raised his eyebrow at Prentiss once or twice. Based on that assumption, he decided he could let his lack of awareness over their relationship slide. His profile had been off, and so he'd missed it. He wouldn't make that mistake twice.
Hotch wasn't an ogre, for all he admitted that he could be a drill sergeant. He knew better than anyone that what his agents needed to be effective was balance and stability in their lives. He couldn't offer them stability, because that was the job, and there was nothing he could do about that. None of them would have taken him up on it anyway. Balance, he'd never been very good at. His failed marriage could attest to that. So he really had no problem that JJ and Prentiss had embarked upon this… whatever it was. They were happier and much better rested. They smiled more. They seemed… healthier, even. They had found their balance.
Hotch had failed at his own balance but he had made himself a promise that he wouldn't fail again. Two of his family – and yes, he considered them all family – were happy, and he would protect that no matter what. There might have been rules about fraternization, but as long as they kept it out of the field, he had no issue with them brushing hands as they delivered file folders to each other, or exchanging shy smiles as they passed each other in the corridors. Discreetly, he met with each of them, and made it clear that he knew about their relationship, and that he not only approved, but was prepared to fight for their right to keep their love and their jobs. Their ability to be professional had not slipped in the slightest, and it was his opinion that their happiness was actually enabling them to be even better at their jobs.
Emily and JJ's love was beautiful, and Hotch had seen enough ugly in his life to appreciate a little beauty when he saw it.