"Is he purposefully crossing state lines," Hotch's voice asked contemplatively to his team lazily gathered in the conference room later that night. "Or…." Letting his voice trail off into nothing, Hotch glanced around the room at each one of the tired agents. JJ had her head resting on her hand, trying to keep her eyes open. Emily had already succumbed to the tiredness that washed over them and was asleep with her head on the table. Reid, although sipping on a mug of coffee was yawning every few minutes. Garcia eyes were slowly fluttering closed as she drifted into slumber, but were opened wide every few seconds as she jerked herself awake, fighting sleep. Rossi's dipped lower onto his chest, reminding Hotch of how little sleep he'd actually gotten in the past week, working diligently on closing cases and keeping up on the paperwork as best he could. Knowing the new details of the case could easily wait until morning; Hotch closed his file and said:

"Go home. We'll look at this in the morning."

The rest of the team filed out of the room single file, except for a sleeping Prentiss. Derek watched the others disperse to their respective offices or desk in the bullpen to gather their belongings and leave for the night. Most of the lights in the bullpen were already off, with all agents except for Hotch's team had already left and the nightly cleaning crew had already finished their job for the night. Staying behind in the conference room, he gently shook his wife awake.

"Huh?" She moaned, barely opening her eyes.

"Go home, Emily," Derek ordered her, gently rubbing circles into her back.

Yawning, Emily shook her head, trying to wake herself up more. "What about you?" she asked him.

Shaking his head, Derek told her that he wasn't going home with her that night. "Take the car," he told her. "I'm going to head down to the gym." Emily nodded, her brain registering his words. Kissing her lightly on the forehead, he added, "I'll catch a cab home later."

The couple left the conference room after that in complete silence as they made their way down to the bullpen to grab their belongings and leave the BAU for what was left of the night. Few words were said as they exited the glass doors and wandered to the elevator bank. The rest seemed to have already left for the night. Reaching the ground level, Derek and Emily lightly kissed in parting before going their separate ways; she to a waiting vehicle in the car park and he to the gym.

Emily didn't blame Derek for not wanting to come home right away and sleep. He was on edge. This case had them both on edge. It didn't help that this case had them disagreeing and arguing with each other constantly. Derek needed to work off some of his steam. Emily understood that. While she knew that he loved her more than anything, he needed some space to himself at the moment. And although they were both worried about each other right now, barely wanting the other out of their sight, they respected the boundaries they so desperately needed right now. Derek would be home as soon as he was done bench pressing 250 at the gym.

Even traffic in the middle of the night in D.C. was busy. Emily was grateful that it wasn't as busy as it usually was; the trek home taking less time than it normally would. Parking the car in the driveway, instead of driving into the garage, Emily exited the vehicle and made sure to lock the doors using the key fob. Unlocking the front door and disarming the security features Derek had installed upon moving in, Emily dropped her bags in the front hall. Immediately Clooney and Sergio scrambled up to her in greeting. The black cat rubbed against her legs affectionately while Clooney nudged her hand with his nose, wanting to be petted. Patting the dog on the head, Emily trudged like a zombie to the sofa in the living room. Flopping face first onto the comfortably plush sofa, Emily didn't even bother kicking off her shoes before she allowed herself once again to enter the world of dreamland.

xXx

Keeping his breathing even as he was taught to do while doing any form of physical activity as a child, Derek Morgan doubled up is fists, keeping them in front of his face as if he were in the boxing ring, facing an opponent. With his feet shoulder width apart, he did a quick one two, punching the air, judging the distance to the bag. Hopping two steps forward, Derek once again punched the air. Feeling that he was ready, he sent his fist flying at the bag, pouring all of his strength, frustration, and anger into his punches.

He was frustrated with Emily. All he ever wanted to do was protect the woman he loved more than life itself and she was being a pigheaded fool. He was angry that all he and Emily ever seemed to do now was fight. Their relationship had always been so solid. Now, he wasn't so sure. He was frustrated with this case and how little they had to go one. While new and more helpful information slowly came their way, ultimately they were miles away from catching the son of a bitch. He hated racism. Just because someone had darker skin than someone else didn't mean that they were any less of a person. He was proud to be biracial. In a way, it defined him as a person just like his career defined him. His career told others that he believed in justice and had a strong moral compass. When it came to right and wrong, he liked to believe that there was no gray area. The color of his skin told others that he was the product of an interracial couple. Anyone who ever had a deep and personal conversation with him would know that he was proud of his heritage and hated racism with such a passion. Because of that hate, there was a burning fire deep inside him during any case that involved racism. Now was no exception. He believed that there was only one race and that was the human race. Unfortunately not everyone saw it the same way he did. He hated this unsub whoever he was, targeting the interracial couples of D.C. Why should it matter if a white woman chose to marry a black man or a black woman choosing to marry a white man? Why should it? Who one falls in love with and chooses to marry should not matter to anyone but the person making the decision. Emily once told "Crazy Jane", "You don't choose who you fall in love with." If that is true, why did some heinous individuals decide to go after couples, biracial or not? Some cases caused him to hate his job, making him question why he just doesn't quit his job. This was one of those cases.

Breathes were difficult and labored when he stepped away from the punching bag. Leaning over, hands resting on his knees, Derek took slow, deep breaths. Perspiration dotted his forehead, but Derek wasn't sure if the drops trickling down his cheeks were beads of sweat or the result of salty tears flooding his eyes. Using his fingers to wipe away the tears fogging his vision, Derek took one more deep breath and continued on with his workout.

xXx

"Shit," an all too familiar voice sounded in the lobby of the Federal Building. Wanting to find the owner of the abrasive voice, Derek Morgan turned around to see his wife walking through the front doors, balancing two travel mugs of coffee in her hand. Brown steaming liquid tipped from one of the mugs, causing the mainly affable woman to curse like a sailor. Although she would have only gotten a couple hours of sleep, she looked well rested and ready to face the day, Derek mused, looking down at his own appearance. He was still dressed in his shorts and wife beater from his work out session the night before with his go back slung over his left shoulder. They had spent the night apart, giving them both room to think and process what was happening in their relationship.

"Hey," he called out to her in greeting, waiting for her.

Hearing Derek's voice, Emily looked around for the man. When she saw him, she smiled. "Hey," she replied, walking up to him. Kissing him briefly on the cheek, she handed him one of the travel mugs.

Derek thanked her for the morning coffee and the couple walked side by side in silence to the elevators. Sipping on her coffee, Emily patiently waited for Derek to press the button and call the elevator to their floor. A few seconds passed before the elevator doors dinged and opened. Derek allowed Emily to enter the elevator first and watched her stand off to the side, leaning against the handrail. Entering the elevator, Derek pressed the button for the sixth floor before moving to stand next to the woman.

"You didn't come home last night," she commented. Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper.

Normally, they tried to avoid this kind of talk outside of the Bureau except when they were in private and away from the listening ears of others. But being the only two patronizing the elevator, Emily found it a good time to talk to Derek. Her tone was not accusing, but the man in question sighed just the same, turning his head to look at her. She stared straight ahead, never looking his way.

"I'm sorry Emily," he apologized although technically he hadn't of done anything wrong. "I just needed to think about all this and the gym was the best place to do it."

He didn't need to apologize to her. She wasn't mad that he hadn't of come home. She understood why he had stayed up working out. Sometimes, they both needed their space and last night was one of those times. Picking her head up, she glanced sideways at him. "I'm not mad," she assured him, her voice quiet. Turning her body sideways so that she was facing him, she placed her hand on the side of his face, gently stroking his cheek. "I was just worried when I realized you hadn't of come home."

Face to face with Emily, Derek's dark eyes met hers. Normally they didn't worry about each other if one didn't come home right away. Upon keeping their secret, they never arrived to work together and hardly ever left together either. Because of the deep abiding trust they had in each other, neither one of them worried about one cheating or anything else. They knew they could take care of themselves in most situations. However, with an unsub that might or might not be coming after them, Derek and Emily found themselves worried about the other all the time. Living without the other was something both Derek and Emily were positive they could not do.

Since they were alone in the elevator, Derek softly kissed Emily's lips. His way of telling her that he was right there and wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. "I just want to protect you," he admitted, his strong hands cupping her face. She nodded in response, knowing his reasons for wanting to disclose their secret to the team.

"We don't have the same name," Emily reminded him. She had not taken on the Morgan name like he had originally wanted her to when they were married; having argued it would be easier if she kept the Prentiss name to keep their secret from the team. "Besides we didn't introduce ourselves as a couple." She had a point, Derek mused. In the self-defense classes they had taught at the couple retreat, they had introduced themselves as SSA Emily Prentiss and SSA Derek Morgan. There was no mention of them being married to each other or even working so closely together within the FBI. "There's nothing to worry about." She kissed him again.

"I don't want to fight with you anymore," Derek whispered against her lips. "I love you, Emily," he breathed before passionately kissing her.

"I love you too," she replied once the kiss had ended. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Pulling away from each other Emily followed Derek out of the elevator. She made her way to the bullpen while he wandered to the bathroom to change into his work clothes.

xXx

That morning the whole team gathered in the conference room to discuss the case. When Morgan had changed his clothes and entered the conference room, the others were already gathered and waiting on him. Without interrupting, he slid into the empty seat next to Reid.

"Somebody looks a little tired," Garcia commented on his features.

"What's her name?" Rossi asked him with a smirk upon his face.

"Gross," Emily commented.

Watching Emily's facial expressions in reaction to Rossi's snarky comments about Derek's dating behavior; the wheels in Reid's head began to turn. "Most women don't care about a man's dating habits unless they are physically attracted to said man," the genius explained to Emily with a knowing smile upon his visage.

Feigning disgust at Reid's comment, Emily pretended to gag, sticking her finger in her mouth.

Before anymore demeaning comments could be made, Hotch's infamous let's get to work signature glare flashed around the table causing each agent to hold back any snarky comments and focus on the case at hand.

"He could be crossing state lines to avoid detection," Emily piped up, immediately switching her focus from picking on Derek to working the case. Glancing across the table, she met Derek's eye.

"In which case there might be similar unsolved homicides in other states," Derek added.

"Were they abducted from their home though?" Rossi asked, tapping his pen against the file. "Where they lived might have nothing to do with the case if they were staying in the D.C. area and the unsub knew."

Garcia nodded, understanding what the profilers were saying, tapping away at her computer keyboard.

Hotch began to bark out orders to his team, telling JJ that he wanted the profile of this man across the country on the 10:00 news and Rossi and Reid to manage the tip line. Glancing in Emily's direction, Hotch said with no change of emotion evident in his tone, "And if Prentiss can tolerate to be in the same room as Morgan without gagging I want the two of them to narrow down the list of suspects Garcia's come up with."

"Was that a joke?" JJ asked, surprised.

"Oh, so you aren't a complete stick in the mud," Rossi commented, earning giggles from the others.

While it was a known fact that their fearless leader had a sense of humor that didn't surface very often, they all liked to give him a hard time about it. Hotch ignored their comments as he told them to get to work. Not another word was said as they dispersed to do his bidding.

xXx

Rossi watched the young genius fiddling with a Rubik's Cube as they managed the tip line. Waiting around for something to happen was the worst part of the job. And Rossi hated waiting around. He preferred to be out doing something instead of sitting around. Ex-wife number three always said that he didn't know how to relax without some scotch. The truth was he did like his scotch and he could relax without it. He just hated feeling invalid when he knew he could be doing something. That's why he hated retirement.

At least his young companion was keeping himself amused as he timed himself to see how long it would take him to solve the puzzle in his hand. Sticking his tongue out in concentration, Reid twisted one part after another, diligently working hard to solve the puzzle. He seemed to be lost in his own world as he worked, forgetting completely of Rossi's presence. Within a minute, Reid had the cube solved and placed it down on his desk.

"You really think they're attracted to each other?" Rossi asked out of the blue.

"Who?"

"Morgan and Prentiss."

Reid shrugged, thinking of how to answer the older man's question. Taking a deep breath, he shrugged his slim shoulders. "I think they've been attracted to each other since Emily first joined the team," Reid commented. "In fact, statistics show that dating relationships typically last longer and are more meaningful when the people involved were just friends first." He continued rattling off statistics on office relationships. "About 1in 5 co-workers will at some point date." Rossi nodded his head, understanding what Reid was telling him. "And 4 out 10 office relationships result in marriage."

None of that really answered his question, Rossi mused, but there really was no stopping Reid when he started rambling off statistics. Even when he was stopped, he always managed to finish telling them sometime later. Rolling his eyes, the proud Italian remarked, "What you actually think they'll get married?"

"No," Reid said, shaking his head. "I'm just saying it's a possibility."