Author Note – This chapter had me stumped, I think I looked at a blank screen for about two days before I wrote anything and the stuff I started to write I wasn't fond of, so I revisited the start of my stories to get inspiration, where it was just Morgan and Spencer talking. There's a bit of angst here, and a time and space jump.

Second Chances – chapter fifteen

February 2014

Morgan leant his head on the back of his chair, closing his eyes as he put his phone away. He heard the hesitant footsteps getting closer to his door. Hearing them stop at the open doorway, a tentative knock followed. Morgan knew the person at his door was watching him, cataloguing his movements.

He rolled his head to the side. Allowing his eyes to open, Morgan locked gazes with Spencer. Morgan gestured for him to cross the threshold. Pausing before he entered the office Spencer took the sight in before him. He took a small step, speaking as he did so. "Are you okay?" Spencer asked gently.

Morgan sighed before answering. "Not really." He breathed heavily for a minute before continuing. "It's Valentine's day, Kid. Now I've never been one to celebrate that kind of thing and neither has Emily." His eyes closed again. "But we're so damn busy at the moment; all we get is a five minute phone call."

Spencer gulped as he nodded his head in understanding. "I'm not as good with emotions as I am with behaviour, so I fall back on facts and statistics to help me deal with those situations. Did you know there are a hundred and ninety six million roses produced for Valentine's Day?"

"Emily doesn't like roses, she prefers gerberas or daisies." Spencer looked at him expectantly. "It was a couple of weeks after JJ left, and Emily and Penelope were meeting JJ to go shopping. I was in the florist when I saw them looking at the displays outside," Morgan's lips lifted slightly at the memory. "Baby Girl was pointing at these bright red roses. While Emily stood there shaking her head, laughing at whatever she was saying. Penelope turned to her, obviously asking which her favourite were and Em turned and pointed at the gerberas."

"Did you approach them?"

"Nah," Morgan said as he recalled the reason he was at the florist. "Uh at the time, I was trying to deny any and all feelings I had for Emily; it felt wrong to tell her I was picking up flowers for a date. So I waited till they left to leave." Morgan groaned as he realised something. "I forgot to send her flowers today."

"As you said before, Emily doesn't acknowledge things like Valentine's day. I don't think receiving flowers on a day she doesn't recognise as important would matter to her. To her receiving flowers would mean more to her on a day that was significant to both of you."

Morgan nodded his head, realising Spencer was right. Still he would be apologising to Emily when he spoke to her tomorrow. "For someone who doesn't deal well with emotions, you do a pretty good job."

"I think dealing with my feelings towards Maeve's death has helped."

Morgan nodded along with Spencer's statement. They had been going to the group sessions together for eight months and he was doing well, slowly gaining his confidence back. Morgan had spoken a few times when he was dealing with the fallout from Buford. The nightmares were finally fading away.

"When Maeve died, I stopped doing things that I associated with my routine with her. I would talk to her on Sunday morning and then go to the park to play chess. The only game I played since her death was with Emily." Spencer took a deep breath. "I'm going to start going to the park, I may not play for a while yet, but it's a start."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Morgan asked.

"No," Spencer stated. "I'm grateful for everything you've done for me, but I need to do this part on my own. I still want to carry on the group sessions though, if you still want to come."

Morgan leant forward, clasping his hands on the desk in front of him. "Of course, you know that I'm always here to listen, don't you?"

"I know, the same goes for you. Whenever you need to talk." Spencer's lip quirked slightly as he thought of something. "Who'd of thought that I would be giving Derek Morgan relationship advice?"

Morgan cracked a smile. "Don't get a head of yourself Kid." The quirk developed into a full blown smile. "Thanks."

…..

April 2014

There was a bunch of gerbera daisies waiting for her on her desk when she re-entered after her meeting with the prosecutors. She smiled sadly at them, there was no card but Emily knew who had sent them. A year ago today, Morgan had arrived in London. A year ago today they had made love for the first time.

They had both been so busy and were unable to celebrate their one year anniversary together. Emily felt the need to call him, but he was in Detroit on a case and she would wait for him to contact her. The terror cell was going to be put on trial the next week, and she was working with prosecution for the court case.

Morgan had been called away on a case on New Year's Day, before Emily had gotten on the plane to return. They didn't have much chance to say goodbye. Commitments at Interpol had meant she hadn't been home since the New Year, as Easter wanted her to focus on the interrogations using her profiling techniques because all of Interpol's interrogators had come up with nothing.

Emily had realised that three of the four wouldn't talk. However, one of them had broken their silence and made a deal in exchange for solitary confinement, leading Emily's team to a few other cells around Europe, but nothing on the American cells which the FBI were investigating. Emily had hated the fact they had to make the deal, but Easter had been the one to make that decision.

Emily sat slumped in her chair looking at the flowers, picking one out to smell it. She couldn't recall telling Morgan they were her favourite, but Pen or JJ may have told him. A knock on her door made her look up to see Amy stood in her doorway, smiling sadly.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You're talking to someone who knows what today is."

Emily put the flower back in the vase, her finger lingering on a petal. Looking up at Amy, she saw nothing but support in her eyes. "I miss him; we haven't been in the same room for four months, and we can't be together today." Amy sat opposite her. "I wasn't naïve when we started this; I knew it was going to be difficult. But I have never been in a relationship that has lasted this long, nor have I ever been with someone who knows me as well as Morgan does. Sometimes it gets overwhelming."

Amy frowned. "Do you regret starting this side of your relationship with Derek?"

"No," Emily stated with certainty. "We both fought our feelings for a very long time, I lost count of the moments when we would share a look, and it felt like he could see the real me and I could see him, and we would it let pass because the bigger picture was more important. Sometimes I think for all that sacrifice he deserves so much more than this situation can offer him."

"You both do," Amy said sadly. She glanced at clock on the wall. "Why don't you take a walk, to clear your head? You've got a busy afternoon." She told her gently.

Emily shook her head, sighing. "I can't. I've got to go through this before the meeting this afternoon," she said indicating the file in front of her.

"Well, I've got to pop to the shop, can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm going to grab a cup of tea in a minute." Amy made her way to the door. "Oh and Amy," Amy turned to her. "Thank you, I'm just reacting to not seeing Morgan for four months."

Amy smiled sympathetically, tilting her head slightly. "Always."

'Always…' Emily felt the pang in her heart as her gaze drifted towards her phone, willing it to ring.

Hours later she opened her front door to the sound of music playing softly in her living room. Her hand moved to her hip to reach for her gun, only to realise she had taken it off before leaving the office. She could hear someone moving around in the living room. Her small dining table had been placed in front of the window seat, laid out with dinner for two, gerberas in a vase in the middle.

Walking into the room, she placed her bag and briefcase on the seat before shrugging off her coat. Emily reached out to stroke one of the petals. "You really thought I wouldn't be here today?" She heard him ask from behind her.

"I hoped, but everyone was telling me that you were on a case."

"Well I was supposed to be here yesterday, but we were still wrapping it up in Detroit so I asked Garcia to bump my ticket to a later flight. I almost missed it." He said as thought of the run he made after departing the BAU private jet to the departures desk to pick up his new ticket; making it just in time to his flight.

Finally turning to looking at Morgan, Emily smiled. "How did you get in?"

Morgan guiltily scratched the back of his head, looking down at the floor briefly before raising his eyes to hers. "Uh, Amy may have made a detour to the shop at lunch." Her smile got even wider at the mention of her friend, grateful she had a set of friends that cared about her enough to do this for her. "Dance with me?" Morgan asked, holding out his hand.

Emily accepted his hand and he pulled her to him. "Hi," she said, kissing him briefly. Emily's other hand coming to rest on his shoulder, while his free hand rested in the small of her back. "I never used to like surprises." She told him looking into his eyes.

"Happy anniversary," Morgan smiled at her. They were quiet as they swayed to the music, taking comfort in one another, trying to bridge the four month gap since they had last seen one another. Allowing the notes wash over her, Emily closed her eyes and leant her head on Morgan's shoulder, feeling his head coming to rest on hers lightly. It sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place it.

"What's this music?" Emily asked, not opening her eyes.

His fingers stroked her back, making her shiver. "The last time we danced to it, we were at JJ's wedding." Morgan told her quietly. Her thoughts immediately drifted to that night. "Thought we should change the meaning from goodbye to hello."

Emily responded by kissing his collarbone lightly. "It's getting harder to say goodbye." She felt him swallow, keeping his silence.

They continued to dance for a few minutes, the song changing into another. "What's wrong Emily?" For a moment, Emily thought about denying anything was wrong. But she knew it was pointless. Burrowing her face further into the crook of his neck, she started to speak, her words muffled. "I didn't quite catch that Princess."

Emily turned her head slightly as she repeated her words, "I've been having doubts."

"What about?" He asked frowning, trying to crane his neck to look at her face. When she kept her silence, he stepped back as he questioned again, "What about Emily?"

"Are you sure you don't want a normal woman? Someone with a nine to five job, who lives in the same country; someone who sees you at least a couple of times a week, instead of a couple of times a year." Morgan could see the apprehension in her eyes. Uncomfortable with the situation, Emily looked down at the floor.

"Normal is boring," he said as his hand lifted her chin, bringing her eyes back to his. "I want you, but we both made commitments that means the only contact we have for a few months are on the phone or through a webcam then I'm willing to do that." Emily thought about what he had to say for a moment.

"I know that, but there's a part of me that thought we would be able to spend more time together. I'm just reacting to not seeing you for a while." Morgan leant down to gently kiss her. "Hopefully after the trial I will be able to take some time off," she told him as she pulled back.

"Is it selfish that I want you all to myself for that time?" He asked giving her his most flirtatious smile, making her laugh.

"No, maybe we should just get away for a weekend or something. Somewhere neutral, nothing to do with work or our homes," Emily suggested.

Morgan's smile turned into a smirk as he suddenly grasped her hand and twirled her back to him, making her laugh in surprise. "You know what I've always wanted to know about?" Emily shook her head. "Sin to Win," he said as her eyes widened in recognition. "With our promise of being honest with one another, I should be allowed to know what happens on those weekends."

Emily laughed again. "Okay, I'll take you to Atlantic City with me," she kissed him again, deeper this time. She leant her head against his shoulder again. "We'll be okay," she whispered into his neck. Morgan responded by tightening his hold on her.