Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Criminal Minds.

Because you all have been so kind, and patient... today I give you a double-header. Please enjoy!

Full Circle
Part 13

By N. J. Borba

As the BAU jet soared several thousand feet above the ground, the northwestern evening sky slipped into an eastern night sky. Gray clouds turned into hues of lavender, gold and orange, which slowly became dark blue and then faded into an inky black horizon. Hotch was seated across from Morgan and noticed the unused headphones around his neck and the downward gaze. Neither one had said a word for hours, but Hotch couldn't stand to see the glum look on Derek's face any longer. They'd worked together for nearly ten years, but had only become closer the last four. The real turning point from boss and employee had shifted after Derek had taken over the reigns for a while. Hotch had seen the younger man on mostly equal footing ever since then, even as he'd returned to being the team leader.

"I understand that what Emily did was pretty horrible, keeping your daughter from you," Hotch dove straight into the heart of things, keeping his voice low. On a small plane words could travel a great distance. "But I'm guessing you didn't give her much reason to think she had a shot at a future with you," he bravely stated. Normally Hotch wasn't one to venture into such territory, but it seemed someone needed to slap Derek upside the head. And his mother wasn't around at the moment.

Morgan looked up and stared at the man for a second. He wasn't sure he'd heard his boss correctly, because it certainly wasn't the kind of conversation he'd expect from Hotch. But something within those words helped loosen the hold he had on his emotions and he found himself responding. "It's not even so much what she did. You're right, I wasn't ready to commit to her. I wasn't even ready to commit to Tamara. And..." he sighed. "I don't know if I'll ever be ready for those things. To be a good dad, or even a mediocre one. To be a husband, or even just to be a friend to her; a friend who I share custody of my child with."

"No one is ever really ready for those things, Morgan," Hotch shook his head, trying not to laugh at the younger man. For all his bravado on the job, Derek seemed to be scared by the prospect of creating a family. Hotch had to wonder if the death of Morgan's father at such a young age had any influence on his doubts about being a good dad. But he tried not to profile his friend. "No matter how hard we plan things, sometimes life just happens. And we all fake it till we make it, or we fall on our faces. But you'll never know if you can make it, if you don't even try. If you still love her, you should tell her. See where things go from there," Hotch concluded.

"And you really think it's that easy?" Derek was still leery.

"You have the power to make it that easy," Hotch replied. He'd heard the note of hesitation that remained in Morgan's tone. Something more potent needed to be done, and Hotch realized he held the key. "I loved Haley more than anything, but I let this job get in the way of our happiness." He took a shallow breath. "The bottom line is, you still have a chance to make things right. And you have no idea what I would give to have another chance to make things right with Haley."

Derek swallowed a lump in his throat. He knew how difficult the last several years had been on Hotch, raising his son alone. Emily was alive, she'd survived her ordeal. And his problems seemed miniscule in comparison to what Hotch probably felt every morning, facing another day without the true love of his life. Morgan sighed. "You're right again," he finally replied. "Emily and I have a lot to talk about."

"Don't just say that, Morgan. Don't keep putting it off, waiting for a more convenient time. Mean it, and do it," Hotch cautioned as they noticed JJ walking past them.

JJ caught a little of what had been said by Hotch. She had to agree that he was right as she made her way to the back of the plane with two paper cups of tea, one in each hand. She slipped into the seat across from Emily and handed one of the cups over to her. "Even though it doesn't seem you're going to be sleeping any time soon, I figured herb tea would be a better idea than coffee."

"Thanks," Emily held the warm cup between her hands and stared out at the dark void through the window. Her eyes returned to JJ a moment later. "I thought I'd be out like a light once we took off, but my head just won't shut down. And, I know Beth will be asleep by the time I get to my parent's place, but I'm still thinking about all the kisses I'm going to give her the second I see her."

A smile bloomed on JJ's face as she remembered another plane ride years ago, in which she'd told Emily that she thought her and kids were a good idea. "I know. No matter what time of day it is when I get home after a case, I always give Henry the biggest hug and kiss possible."

Emily grinned too. "Henry is what, four now?"

"He'll be five in November." JJ shook her head. "How that happened, I do not know," she chuckled. "Oh, hey... I'm not sure how long you and Beth will be staying back east but you should definitely bring her over at some point to meet Henry. I think they'd have fun playing together. He's really into trains right now, and Will seems happy to feed that addiction. I swear they come home every other day with some new object for their railroad. Mini-houses to place along the tracks, and trees, people..." she laughed again. "It's quite a production they've got going on."

"Seeing that sounds like a hard offer to resist," Emily also thought it would be fun for Beth to know the children of some of the best friends she'd ever had. "Just so you know, though, Beth has been in this stingy phase lately. Which pretty much means that sharing toys is low on her priority list."

"Oh, yeah," JJ nodded. "Henry went through that stage too. Didn't grow out of it until he was about three and a half years old. And trust me, when they say terrible twos, they should really tell you that it lasts into age three and four."

Emily sighed. "Great," she cringed a little at the thought.

"Beth is really sweet, though," JJ added. "She even called Reid, weed, when we were in Seattle." They both had a chuckle at that, but JJ grew serious again, seeing if she could add to Hotch's attempts with Morgan. "When we first arrived at your place on Tuesday, she was firmly latched on to Derek. It was pretty obvious how happy she was to see him, and the feeling was mutual. Derek barely put her down the whole time we were there. And Beth cried when we all left to go interview Philip Kupfer. She was so sad to see him go, but I'm not sure who that separation hurt more, her or Derek."

JJ's words hit their intended target and fresh tears welled in the corner of Emily's eyes, just when she thought the well had run dry. "She loves her daddy, and she shouldn't have to choose between us," Emily whispered.

Her eyes once more sought out the black void beyond the plane's window. She made silent promises as she stared at the blinking white light on the end of the wing. Once she'd held her baby girl again, and as soon as her head stopped feeling like a teeter-totter, Emily vowed that they would finally have that talk they kept putting off. They'd finally figure out how to do what was best for their daughter. And they would finally get their feelings out in the open, even if it killed them.

xxx

It was just after ten o'clock eastern time when they landed at the small airstrip in Quantico, near the BAU headquarters. Emily got to her feet and stretched her sore muscles. She could see Morgan rubbing his bruised shoulder and hoped he wasn't hurting too badly. It seemed he was never far from her thoughts. Emily picked up her tote bag and the lightweight jacket she'd brought along. Despite her claim of not needing anything, she'd thrown on shoes and grabbed the small bag she kept close for emergencies. It was her non-FBI version of a ready bag. And JJ had steered her toward the purse they'd recovered from her car, so she'd have proper ID for traveling. With those few items in hand, Emily proceeded toward the exit. Everyone else had already gone, aside from Derek. He stood waiting by the door for her.

"I can give you a lift to your parent's house," he offered.

Emily flashed a tired smile. "Thanks, but I know you're tired too. And injured. I can just take a cab."

Morgan tried not to let her dismissal bother him. He couldn't blame her, recalling the way he'd pushed her away earlier after that kiss in her bedroom. They certainly seemed to be getting good at the game of tug-a-war. "Really, it's no trouble. And, well... I guess it's kind of a selfish offer, because I'd really like to sneak a peak at Beth tonight before I head home," he admitted. "Seeing her with Garcia was good, but..."

"The real thing will be better," Emily concluded as she started down the steps, Derek following at her heels.

The airstrip was relatively quiet; the bulk of the day's activity long over. Several pole lights lit the area and a soft breeze blew across the tarmac as they descended. Emily felt a little cold, still not fully recovered from the bone soaking chill that had befallen her earlier in the day. It seemed like all of that had happened a lot longer ago than just fourteen hours ago. When they reached the ground, Emily realized she hadn't really given Derek a final answer to his offer. She was about to turn her attention to him when she caught sight of something in the distance. Emily was surprised to see her parents standing several yards away, and even more surprised to see the little girl in her father's arms. She watched as Beth clamored to be let down, and her father gave in. Then the child, clad in nothing more than her pink footy pajamas and with her toy duck in one hand, ran straight toward her and Derek.

Hotch and the others parted like the Red Sea to let the girl through, seeing that she was on a mission. Emily dropped her bag and scooped Beth up into her arms, feeling like she was in some sappy movie scene. She didn't care, letting the rest of the world fade away for a few seconds as she repeatedly kissed her daughter's cheeks, neck and any other area of exposed skin on the girl. "Do you know how much mama missed you, sweetie?" Emily asked.

"Mama hold," Beth cooed as she snuggled up with her stuffed duck under one arm and her head against Emily's shoulder.

Emily noticed the new toy. "Where did you get this cute little guy?" she asked, rubbing Beth's back with her right hand. "Have grandma and grandpa been spoiling you?"

Beth blinked up at her. "Daddy," she replied.

That answer surprised Emily, but she thought maybe Beth had just noticed that Morgan was standing beside them. She turned to Derek. "Did you find this for her?"

"I did. Apparently you need to do more internet shopping," he grinned, leaning in to kiss Beth atop her head.

"I guess so," she chuckled softly, impressed that he'd tracked down the special item for their daughter. The three of them moved toward the building where the team had joined her parents. Emily managed to hug both her parents, each with one-armed embraces to accommodate her little girl, who didn't seem like she planned on leaving Emily's side any time in the near future. She gently assured her mother that the injury to her head wasn't serious, and then expertly changed the subject. "How did you get authorization to meet me here?"

"Agent Hotchner arranged everything for us," Elizabeth informed her.

Emily caught Hotch's eye and knew he must have had it all planned since he offered for her to fly back with them. She smiled and watched his head nod, ever so slightly. It was all the thanks they needed to share. Beth's eyes were extremely droopy when she glanced over at the child again, but the girl seemed reluctant to actually fall asleep. "I can't believe she's managed to stay up this late."

"Well," Joseph Prentiss spoke up. "The plan was to leave her with Silvia tonight while we came to get you. But your mother made the mistake of telling Beth we were going to see you and she wouldn't fall asleep, so we brought her along," he shrugged.

"I guess I can't be too upset," Emily had to admit. As she'd suspected, holding the girl made a lot of things feel right again. "She'll probably be cranky tomorrow, but I'm glad to see her now."

Elizabeth laid a hand against her daughter's shoulder. "We should really get you both home," she said.

"Okay," Emily nodded and turned to find Morgan still glued beside Beth.

"We'll talk later, in a few days after you get some rest," Derek spoke up first, sensing that she wasn't sure how to handle the situation. He'd been hoping to chat a little on their way to her parent's place, but that plan had crashed and burned. "You both look exhausted," Morgan added, further insisting that they get going. But, before Emily could take a step away, he leaned in and kissed Beth again. "You be good, sweetheart. Take care of your mama," he instructed. His eyes fell upon Emily again. "Get some rest," he reiterated.

She nodded. "You too."

Morgan watched them all walk to their waiting car and soon enough the vehicle disappeared into the night. He turned around to find the four other members of his team standing in a line, facing him with morose looks. Almost like a firing squad about to perform their unpleasant execution duties. "You've spent the last three years trying to track her down..." Rossi began.

"And the last few days searching for her, hoping she was still alive..." Hotch added.

"Now you're just going to let her walk away?" Reid asked.

Derek sighed, but made up his own mind. "It's late, they're tired... I'm tired. And... after all this time, what difference is a few more days going to make?"

"Oh, I don't know..." JJ shrugged as she breezed past him toward their SUV. "Maybe all the difference in the world."

To Be Continued...