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Morgan's Interrogation

The door to the conference room opened suddenly, admitting their tech kitten. She stopped short when they all turned their eyes on her. "Sorry… I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to tell you sir that I'm suspended for two weeks starting now."

"What?"

Morgan bolted to his feet and was at Garcia's side in too long strides. "Don't worry about it baby-girl. I'll have a talk with her."

"You'll do no such thing." Hotch demanded in a quiet but dangerous tone.

"Hotch… God knows I'd do anything for this team and for you, but I'm not letting her get away with this." His dark eyes blazed back at Hotch, who'd climbed to his feet.

"Stop it." Reid said quietly. "I can't stand this." One long fingered hand pinched the bridge of his nose as though trying to stave off something terrible behind his eyes. "It's bad enough that JJ and Emily are gone. Are you going to let Strauss tear the rest of us apart?"

"Reid…"

"Don't start on him Morgan." Hotch ordered, his tone going up a notch. "He's right. We have to keep our heads. Strauss wants to divide us. We can't give her what she wants."

"Hotch is right." Rossi said. "I still have a trick or two up my sleeve when it comes to Erin Strauss. She won't know what hit her by the time I'm finished with her."

"Dave? Are you sure you want to do that?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, it's about time that woman got a taste of her own medicine.

"What are you planning to do?" Morgan asked.

He held Garcia in a tight embrace that seemed to calm him more than it did her. She was still shaking in his arms and tears meandered down her face to fall on the black dress with pink doves all over it, that she wore that day.

"You let me worry about that. We need to find out who put a bug in her ear."

Morgan and Garcia sat down next to each other with Reid on the other side of Morgan. Reid kept his gaze locked on Hotch while Seaver only stared in bewilderment at Rossi.

"I spoke to Strauss this morning. She said that someone had overheard a conversation in a bar about this team. Apparently, it was another agent, but I couldn't get Strauss to tell me the source of the rumors or gossip.

"So Strauss has stooges doing her bidding in cop bars around the city." Rossi said. "I can't say that surprises me."

"Why would someone want to hurt us like this?" Garcia asked as Morgan squeezed her hand.

"Why does anyone talk behind the back of another person? Envy, a desire for control or they're just plain mean," Reid interjected.

"Or they want something? Heaven knows that Strauss wants us out of the way. She hates you." Rossi directed at Hotch.

"I don't know why and it's not important right now. Morgan, you and Reid are going to have to talk to her. I'm sure she'll be summoning one of you at any moment."

The phone buzzed as if right on cue. Hotch took the call and the glower on his face deepened. "She wants to talk to you Morgan."

"Good." He rose to his feet. "I'm just in the mood."

Hotch stared at him.

"I promise I won't lose my temper." Morgan promised, but his eyes sparked with rage held barely in check.

"Don't do anything stupid stud-muffin." Garcia said a bit of the teasing tone in her voice.

He smiled at her, the smile he reserved for her and no one else. He wiped away a couple of stray tears from under her eyes with one of his thumbs. "I promise." He repeated and left the room.

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Strauss's office was set up to intimidate, but Morgan didn't intimidate easily. He approached the woman behind the desk with his fury held in tight check. She just looked up at him over her glasses with a face that was almost as unreadable as Hotch.

"Agent Morgan."

"Ma'am…"

"Sit down." She commanded.

He took the chair directly across from the Section Chief. She tapped a couple of buttons on her laptop and pulled off her glasses as he sat there staring at her.

"I'm sure Agent Hotchner has told you why you were called in here today."

"Yes."

Her mouth turned down at his clipped reply. "Is that all you have to say."

"Yes ma'am…"

"I don't appreciate the tone Agent Morgan."

He crossed his legs and leaned against one arm of the chair. "I don't appreciate accusations from a source you won't reveal." He said calmly.

"You're crossing the line Agent Morgan. You forget I have heard the way TA Garcia talks to you on the phone. I was under the impression her manner had improved. I hope you haven't manipulated the situation."

Morgan suddenly began to laugh. "You don't know anything about my team. Why don't you tell me what you really want?"

"I want to see my agents acting professionally. I don't expect to hear the kinds of stories I've heard about you."

"We just lost Prentiss." He whipped around and moved to stand over her desk.

"Sit down Agent Morgan."

"We lost a member of our family." He leaned forward, putting his fists on the desk. "Why can't you see that?"

"The BAU isn't a family."

He stared at her for a minute. "I can see that you don't understand. We've been through hell and back together. We've lost Gideon, Elle, JJ and Prentiss. How much more do you want us to lose? Do you think we can do this job without caring for each other? Are we supposed to be stone?"

"Agent Morgan -"

"I don't want to hear it." Morgan spit out. "We do the best we can to get the job done. I'm sorry if you don't approve of our family relationship, but it isn't going to change."

"I see I can't talk to you rationally." She put down her pen. "You're walking a thin line around insubordination."

He sighed. "I don't want to argue with you about this. Garcia is my friend. We don't have the kind of relationship you think we do."

"What kind of relationship do you think I think you have?" She asked taking off her black framed glasses.

"You think I'd be stupid enough to engage in a physical relationship with a technical analyst. I care too much about her to ruin things for her at the Bureau."

"I value your position more than TA Garcia's position. You have the potential to be Unit Chief on a permanent basis at some point down the road. Don't do anything you'll regret."

He laughed again. "I don't want Hotch's job if that's what you're implying."

She actually smiled at him. "So you're telling me that you never entertained the idea of Unit Chief."

"Yes… I have considered it, but it's not in my plans right now."

"Alright Agent Morgan, please tell Dr. Reid I'd like to talk to him."

"That's all you're going to say."

She glared up at him. "I don't have to explain my motives to you."

"Who told you?" He asked abruptly. "Tell me… I have a right to know."

"I told you I want to talk to Dr. Reid.

"Fine…"

He left, barely able to keep from slamming her door. He wanted to punch the wall, angrier now, than when he'd gone into her room. If he could figure out what she was up to.

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Rossi stared at the door to his office. He expected that any moment, Strauss would have the audacity to call him into her office. He nearly laughed in disgust as he thought about her. She'd picked the exact right time to come after the team. They were still broken and hurting because of Emily's death. It was a good time to go in and punish them when they couldn't pull together.

He got up to pace just like Morgan in the conference room. He understood the younger man's rage. Erin Strauss had been a thorn in their sides for far too long.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. He spoke to the man on the other end for a long time, promising favors in the future for help. He shut the phone when his friend promised to get back to him quickly.

He started pacing while he waited because he couldn't just sit there. It was spinning out of control and he had no idea how to stop the spiral for any of them. He went back to his window and stared out again until his phone beeped.

"What did you find out?" He asked impatiently.

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Hotch stood looking down over the bullpen at Emily's desk. Was he wrong to let all of them believe her dead? He'd thought it was the best way. Ian Doyle was more dangerous than any un-sub they'd ever come up against. He couldn't risk more of his team. It was better this way. What kept him up at night wasn't the lie he told the team. What really kept him from sleeping with a clear conscience was the thought that one day JJ would tell him that Emily was dead for real. The thought of her out there without back up scared the hell out of him. There was nothing he could do. He was helpless, utterly helpless and the rage of it nearly consumed him, would consume him without Jack to keep him sane.

Now the team was fractured and ripe for attack from Strauss. If only he could find the person responsible for this new set of rumors, he could find some way to defend his employees from SC Strauss.

Someone knocked on his office door. "Come in."

David Rossi opened the door and stuck his head in. "I need to talk to you now."

"What's up Dave?"

His friend shut the door and faced him. The pain etched on his face had Hotch stopping in his tracks. "What is it Dave?" He asked again.

"I know who did this."