A/N: Your wonderful reviews are truly making me happy! Thank you again :) You're getting an early update today (it's 3 am for me), because I'll be out all day, and I wanted to post this chapter. Also, posting should be more regular from now, so thanks for sticking with this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Criminal Minds. I'm just playing a little :)

Chapter 10 - Discussions and Decisions

"Dave, can you come over here a moment?" Aaron Hotchner requested of his old friend.

"On my way." Rossi answered, already rising from his chair and hanging up the phone. As he walked the few steps to Hotch's office, he genuinely hoped they were not being called out on a case. He'd been looking forward to their first weekend stand-down in months.

"What's this about?" Rossi asked as he entered Hotch's office unannounced. "Please don't tell me we've got a case!"

"No, no case … but sit down, this might take a while." Since serious was Aaron Hotchner's usual expression, not much could usually be assumed from it. Rossi took a seat and waited.

"I just had a phone call from JJ." Hotch got to the point straight away. "She told Morgan and Prentiss about the real nature of Garcia's marriage."

"Ah, I see. How did that go over?"

"As expected. Prentiss is ready to fly off to New York, and Morgan is battling himself as we speak." Though they made it a practice not to profile each other, Hotch knew his team sometimes better than they knew themselves. "JJ had new information for me as well."

At the change in Hotch's tone, Rossi looked up sharply. "What's going on, Aaron?"

"Lynch walked out on her." There was true empathy in Hotch's voice – it was a pain he remembered well, despite how much time and circumstances had changed. "He also knowingly left her almost four months pregnant."

"Damn!" Rossi exclaimed, anger on Garcia's behalf rising swiftly, "I always knew he was weak … but I never expected this. I really thought he loved her."

"Apparently he has decided he loves his 'freedom' more." The disgust and derision that Hotch felt for Kevin Lynch was palpable.

"So what happens now?" Rossi asked. "Will she come home, do you think?"

"I don't know." Hotch said quietly. "She may feel she no longer has a place here. I know JJ has told her about Tanner."

"Yes, but JJ doesn't know that Sierra doesn't intend to stay." Rossi put in quickly. "Only you and I know she's headed back to the Academy in September."

It was true. Sierra Tanner had been quite up front with Hotch when she was first assigned to the team. Though it appeared to be a permanent assignment, she had told him what Chief Strauss already knew – when the FBI Academy took in new candidates for their fall program, she intended to be there, to complete the required coursework to be able to work in Forensic Counterintelligence.

"Interesting how things work out, isn't it?' Hotch said with a hint of a smile at Rossi's words. "New York will be down one Technical Analyst by September when Garcia has to go on mandatory maternity leave."

David Rossi smiled broadly as he considered the implications. "And at roughly the same time, Tanner will be leaving us, and the Academy will have just spilled out an entire batch of rookie agents and TAs requiring postings – a fact of which the New York office will be fully aware."

"Exactly." Hotch's smile actually widened for a fraction of a second as he watched emotions chase their way across his friend's face. "That gives us a little time to convince our lost sheep that she will be welcomed back into the flock with open arms."

"I never expected how much I would miss our Kitten's penchant for breaking the law!" Both men laughed at Rossi's statement.

Rossi was serious a moment later when he said, "I know I can get this past Erin. Garcia was the best we've ever had and she knows it. In the long run, Erin Strauss will do what's necessary to bring the solve rate up."

Hotch nodded in agreement. Then both men were quiet, each mulling the varied implications over in their minds.

Derek made it back to the BAU in record time. Once he had decided on the course of action, he felt as though there wasn't another moment to be wasted. He shifted impatiently from one foot to the other as the elevator made its way up. Suddenly, it seemed as though everything was moving too slowly for his liking.

Despite his urgency, however, there was something he had to make right before he could go rushing off to New York. With that thought in mind, he ignored the glass doors into the BAU when he came off the elevator. Instead, he made his way to JJ's office and knocked on the closed door. The moment he heard her soft command, he opened the door and walked in.

"Got a moment, JJ?" He was already speaking before she even lifted her eyes from the file in front of her.

"Derek!" Surprise, shame and – she couldn't deny it – even a little anxiety fought for prominence in her expression.

"Relax, JJ." Derek said gently, forcing himself to listen to his own words, and loosen the tense stance he was sure he was presenting. "I'm not here to chew you out."

JJ gave a nervous little laugh, and Derek grinned slightly before he continued, "In fact, I'm really here to apologize."

At her look of stunned surprise, Derek couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him. He became serious again when he said, "I really am sorry JJ. I shouldn't have snapped at you, or walked out on you."

"Derek … I understand … really, I do." JJ's blue eyes pierced his own, and in that moment he understood the burden she had been under for a long time, and the risk she had taken to tell them about her continuing relationship with Penelope over the last year.

"JJ … thank you for what you did." Derek's sincerity couldn't be doubted. "For everything you did, for all of us."

"You're welcome, Derek." She favored him with a soft smile. As he turned to leave, she spoke again.

"Derek."

His hand on the doorknob, Derek turned from the door and looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"There's something else you need to know."

He waited quietly, but his eyes encouraged her to continue. It was different from the earlier conversation. Though he hadn't totally forgiven her, JJ understood that his apology was as much as he could offer right now. Still, she felt much easier giving him this information now.

"She's pregnant, Derek. Four months already."

JJ watched his jaw constrict and his grip on the doorknob tighten in response. She also saw the instant the rage flared in his eyes, and knew a moment of immense gratitude that she wasn't on the receiving end.

"That bastard had to know that, didn't he?" The words were gritted out past clenched teeth, as Derek's eyes darkened even further.

JJ met his gaze levelly. "Yes, Kevin knew."

"Fucking prick!" Derek hissed the words under his breath as he left the office.

JJ watched him leave and close the door behind him. She sighed in relief. Knowing Derek as she did, it was plain to see that he still cared deeply for their friend. JJ figured it would take him some time to come to terms with everything he had learnt, but she was confident that he would be right there at the front of the line the moment Penelope decided to accept help.

Pen could protest however much she wanted. JJ had done pregnant and it was hard enough with someone by your side to help. Doing it alone when it was unnecessary was just pointless and she would do everything in her power to stop that happening to her best friend. Whether Penelope liked it or not, she needed them – all of them – but especially Derek. And, though JJ was no profiler, she didn't need to be to see that Derek needed Penelope too.

Derek left JJ's office and entered the bullpen in a daze. For the second time that day, he did not hear when Reid called out to him. The latter watched Derek walk past the desks heading for the office of the one other person he had to talk to before he could leave. Taking the steps up to the catwalk two at a time, he knocked on Hotch's door and once more waited for an invitation to enter.

When it came, Derek walked in, his entire purpose focused on his Unit Chief, barely noticing Rossi in one of the chairs facing Hotch's desk. The senior agent watched the young man intently.

"Morgan, is everything all right?" Hotch asked, leaning forward in his chair as he took in the tense demeanor of his agent.

Derek fought to shake off the flood of emotions that had engulfed him at his latest discovery about Penelope. He focused on Hotch, the only remaining sign of his feelings was his two-handed grip on the back of the unoccupied chair in front of him.

"As all right as it can be Hotch." He almost brushed off the question. "I know we're on stand-down this weekend, but I just need to let you know I'll be out of town for the three days. In case we get called out, I won't be here."

"Derek, are you sure you're okay?" Hotch pushed. "This is an unexpected trip, isn't it?"

"I'm fine." Derek stressed the word, knowing he still simply couldn't explain it to anyone. "I … it's just something I need to do."

"Then I won't keep you. I'll just repeat my earlier statement; I am here if you need any assistance."

"I know, man. Thanks." Derek turned and left, not sure how much Hotch knew, but grateful for the man's understanding nevertheless.

Watching Derek leave in silence, Rossi turned back to Hotch. "I'm guessing our young friend is bound for New York this weekend."

"I'm with you on that." Hotch replied evenly. "And we may just have to wait and see how that decision impacts her choices."