Author Note – I decided to take a little break from Emily's side of the story.

Second chances – chapter nine

Standing in the middle of Heathrow departure lounge, Emily was reminded of ten months ago standing in Dulles airport. Only this time Morgan was the one leaving.

Hearing his flight being called, Morgan turned to pick up his bag. Looking at Emily, he found her eyes full of sadness, reminding him of the night of the wedding. Closing the space between them, he kissed her. Pulling back to rest his forehead on hers, he took a deep breath. "I'll call you when I get home," he told her, touching his lips to hers again. "I'm going to miss waking up next to you," Morgan admitted.

"Hopefully I can get some time to come home soon," she said. "I'm going to miss you." The flight was called again, and Morgan pulled away letting his hand linger in hers as he tried to hold on as long as he could. She tightened her hold as she tugged him back to her, kissing him again. "In case we don't get a chance to do that again." Emily told him, his eyes lighting up with recognition as she repeated his words from almost a year ago.

"This is going to be hard, isn't it?" He asked and she nodded. His flight was called again, and he groaned. "I really have to go." Breaking away from her completely, he shouldered his bag and turned to walk to the gate. Looking back at her from where he stood in line to get his ticket checked, he found Emily watching him with watering eyes. Morgan raised his hand to give a small wave, and she smiled, raising her hand too.

Arriving back at the BAU on Monday morning, Morgan passed Rossi in the kitchenette as he reached for his cup on the shelf.

"Welcome home, Morgan." Rossi greeted him. "Good vacation?"

Morgan couldn't hide his smile as he thought back to his time with Emily. "Very good," Morgan said with a nod of his head.

Rossi nodded with him, a smile on his face, twinkle in his eye. "How's Emily?"

Morgan looked him in the eye, realising the older man had an idea of the true purpose of his trip. "Very good," he repeated before adding, a little sadly. "London suits her."

Rossi watched him for a moment before his smile became sympathetic as he began to walk towards his office. "Seems like London suits you too," he told him with a wink.

Morgan turned back to the counter as he waited for the kettle to boil. "It does," he mumbled. Morgan liked London and the calming effect it had on him and Emily, but neither of them were ready for talks of the where they may live in the future. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out he saw Emily's face, the picture he had taken of her as she sat on her window seat, looking relaxed as she looked out over the London skyline.

'Send my love to everyone, talk to you later, Em x' He smiled as her read her message, not noticing Penelope coming up behind him.

"What's that smile for? You just got back from vacation, you shouldn't be that happy," she told him with a kiss on the cheek. "Welcome home Hot Stuff. How's Emily?"

"Hey, Baby Girl. Emily is great. She sends her love, as well as gifts," he told her shaking the bag in his hand. Her gaze shifted towards the bag, before looking back at his face.

"I miss her; did she say anything about when she could come home for a visit?" Her expression was hopeful. If Penelope noticed the sparkle leaving his eyes, she didn't mention it.

Part of Morgan wanted to tell her everything, to tell everyone, but he and Emily needed time to get used to the change in their relationship before everyone else got involved. Morgan had always confided in Penelope and felt bad that he was keeping this wonderful secret from her. Looking at Penelope he shook his head as he told her sadly, "Not yet, she's crazy busy over there." Which was the truth; Emily had mentioned an operation they were going to be starting. She had no idea when she would get time for a visit. Morgan's heart deflated as he realised just how hard long distance was going to be.

The light left her eyes as his words sunk in. "But she hasn't had any vacation time at all," Penelope started. "I get that with our jobs we don't get much time, but nearly a year without vacation?"

"Baby girl, you know that she would love to come home for a visit, but with all the recent attacks on British soil there's no way she can get time off, may be in a few months."

"I know, I know, I just really miss her." Penelope told him as she made her own coffee. Feeling the same he turned so he leant against the counter, his gaze wondering over the bullpen, finally falling on Reid's empty chair. Morgan wanted to speak to him and wondered where he was.

"How's everything been here?" He asked casually.

"Quiet," she sighed. "Cold cases and regular consults. No need to go out of town though." Morgan nodded along with her words, glad they hadn't needed him. Penelope turned to the bullpen, following his gaze to Reid's chair, she remembered something. "Oh, Boy Wonder is waiting in your office for you; he wants your opinion on something."

Morgan looked towards his office. Sure enough he could see Reid sitting in the chair opposite the desk engrossed in the file open on his crossed legs. Opening the bag, he pulled out Penelope's gift; a mug with a pink sparkly union jack on it. Her eyes lit up with glee as she took it from him. "I love it, thank you." She quickly rinsed it under the tap before pouring her coffee into it.

"It was that or a cup with Prince William on it," he told her.

Penelope looked at him in mock annoyance. "You just don't want anybody to replace you as my Prince Charming." After looking at the mug, she brought her eyes back up to his face, smiling. "Don't worry, nobody could."

Strauss entered the bullpen, passing them with a stern glance as she strode towards Hotch's office. "That's not a happy Section Chief," Penelope muttered, sounding a little worried.

"Nope, uh, Baby Girl I better go and check what Reid wants my opinion on," Morgan told her gesturing towards his office.

"I need to get back to my sanctuary of the all-knowing." She told him as started to move, walking backwards towards the door, she waggled her finger at him as she spoke again. "I want to hear all the details of how Emily is and what London is like. Lunch?"

"Is on me Baby Girl," Morgan told her walking towards his office.

"There better be pictures," Penelope called out over her shoulder, as she turned to open the door. Morgan made a mental note to double check his phone for any incriminating pictures which may give them away.

Walking into his office, he put his go bag down by his desk as he greeted Reid. "Hey man, sorry I'm a little late."

"That's okay, I wanted your opinion on this, I think I found a link between a series of murders in Vegas and wanted a second opinion before going to Hotch." Morgan inwardly winced as he sat in his chair; Reid had been second guessing himself lately, something Morgan hoped would stop while he was away. Taking the offered file, he started to read. As always, Reid was right he just needed to get his confidence in himself back.

Reid watched him read the file for a minute before curiosity got the better of him. "How was London?" Reid's voice was hesitant, a little nervous that things may not have gone well. For once Morgan's body language didn't give him away; Reid couldn't detect any inflection in his voice to indicate how the trip had gone.

Looking up from the file, Morgan saw him glancing at the door. Following the gaze, he saw no one paying attention to them. Reid turned back to him, with expectant eyes. "I have no idea how to thank you," Morgan told him.

"This was my thank you to you. You helped me by giving me the opportunity to talk about Maeve freely without expectations." Reid said, his eyes shifting from side to side.

Morgan ignored the movement for a moment. "Still, if there's anything I can ever do to…" Reid held up a hand to stop him.

"We all deserve second chances, I'm happy that I could provide you with a chance at yours." There was a pang of jealousy that came over him, but he dismissed it. He was happy for his friends; hopefully in time he would be able to have another chance at love. "How's Emily?"

"Amazing," Morgan said, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face.

"So you've decided to have a long distance relationship?" Reid clarified.

"Yeah, about that, we uh, want to keep that to ourselves, for now anyway while we get used to it." Reid nodded in understanding; it was their story to tell not his. "Emily is hoping she will be able to take a long weekend in a couple of months so we can tell everyone else," Morgan explained. "I wanted to tell you, because without you, I don't think I would have ever taken that risk."

"I don't think it was much of a risk," Reid told him. "Emily feels the same way you do, you just didn't know it. I'm happy for you," Reid added quietly, his eyes shifting again, trying to avoid eye contact. Morgan frowned slightly at the movement.

"Are you still having dreams?" Morgan asked and Reid nodded.

"They're not nightmares, though," Reid was quick to tell him. "It's more everyday things; Maeve and I sit and talk about books. Or we met at the restaurant like we intended to and have the date we wanted. Sometimes we dance." He said with a small quirk of his lips, slightly embarrassed by the longing sound of his voice.

"Kid, you can't dance," Morgan replied with a smile of his own.

"In my dreams I can."