Thank you for all the reviews as always… I tried to respond to everyone, but I apologise if I missed anyone. This chapter is a bit shorter than normal…. I'm going away for a few days and wanted to get something out before I did. Hope you enjoy this one…..

It was eleven thirty and she sat on her sofa, foot tapping on the floor, rolling the dainty pendants of her necklace between her thumb and forefinger. She'd been home for just over an hour after getting the news from JJ and since then, she had picked up her cell and put it down well over ten times wanting to call her friend for some news, but stopped herself, knowing that JJ would call as soon as she knew anything for sure.

She had cleaned the kitchen, put away her freshly washed laundry and attempted to eat, but it was to no avail. In the end, she gave up, knowing that attempting to sleep would be futile, she turned on the gas fire and bedded into the sofa aimlessly flicking through the television channels, not noticing it was mute….

She almost jumped out of her skin as the cell began ringing out at her, JJ's face appearing on the screen.

"JJ?" She answered.

"Hey Em." The blonde's voice was low, and slow, but unreadable.

"So?"

"He's gonna be ok." JJ told her as a matter of fact.

Emily let out a long sigh and closed her eyes, momentarily forgetting her friend at the other end.

"Emily?"

"Sorry JJ." The older woman said, shaking herself back into the moment, "How is he?"

"He had some internal bleeding, not too much, but they've managed to stem it. Other than that he has a bit of a bump on the head, a broken ankle and a bruised ego." JJ lightly chuckled at the end, trying to make light of the situation in an attempt to calm her friend.

"So he's awake?"

"Yeah. He's a bit groggy, but he's able to talk."

"Can I talk to him?" She asked hurriedly.

"You can, but can I call you back when he's ready? The Doctor's in with him now just doing some tests."

"Sure." She said quietly, "Ok."

JJ smiled warmly at her friend's disappointment.

"I'll tell you what." The younger Agent continued, "I'll get Garcia's iPad. You can talk to him properly then… see what state he got himself in."

"Thanks JJ… and er, do you know why he crashed yet? Did he say?"

"No. We didn't ask him. The local cops had a look around but couldn't find anything obvious."

"Oh ok. I'll talk to you in a bit then."

"Hang on Em." JJ said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?" She asked in her gentle, soothing tone.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"Liar." JJ whispered, Emily hearing a smile in her friend's voice.

There was silence and JJ paused allowing Emily time….. Time to let it out. She didn't rush her. Put no pressure on her. Just waited. And after a while there it was – she heard the tiniest of sniffles from her friend at the other end of the line.

"It's ok Em." The blond said gently. "He's gonna be ok. And you two will be ok." She said firmly.

Another a long breath could be heard by JJ before Emily began; "We don't make things easy do we?"

A breathy chuckle escaped JJ's lips, "I wouldn't expect anything else from you two. But I promise you, I am here for you the whole way ok? Please don't forget that."

"I won't JJ. Thank you."

"Ok. Well I'm gonna go now, but I'll call you back soon."

"Ok. Talk to you in a bit."

"Bye Emily."

She let the hand holding her cell fall into her lap, rubbing her tired eyes with the other and slowly made her way to the bedroom. Too tired to do anything else, she stripped down and slid under the thick duvet, balancing the iPad on her lap awaiting the call.

She scrunched her eyes as the tablet rang out and opened them slowly, focusing on the screen. The time read 01:12.

As she coughed a little to clear her throat of the sleepiness, she tapped the answer button revealing Penelope Garcia's smiling face.

"Hey Pen." She said tiredly.

"Hey my beautiful baby making angel."

Emily let out a laboured laugh, "Where are you?" She asked.

"Tending to your grizzly man." She said, her eyes darting sidewards indicating his position next to her.

"Grizzly?"

"Yeah. Someone here thinks he's superman and can undergo surgery and be up and dancing within two hours."

The screen jerked all of a sudden and she heard Derek's gruff voice, "I do not." He spat, turning the screen to face himself, "I just don't need all of this fuss." He said, still looking at the techie.

Emily patiently waited, and after a second or two, he moved his head slowly to face her.

"Hey." His voice croaked and his eyelids slowly opened and closed.

"Hi." She replied, barely audible upon seeing his tired, beat up face.

She watched as he half smiled, immediately followed by a slight grimace.

"You in a lot of pain?" She asked.

He shook his head gently, "Nothing I can't handle. I've had worse." He told her, attempting a wink.

She swallowed and took a breath before continuing, "So what happened?" She asked gently.

He shrugged, "A cat ran in the road and I swerved."

"A cat?" She said unconvinced.

He shifted a little awkwardly attempting to get more comfortable, "Yeah. Must have hit some mud or something and skidded."

JJ frowned at the explanation, but Garcia remained oblivious, all her attention on her friend clearly in some discomfort.

"Oh well." Emily started, "I just knew something would get in the way of our break." She sighed defeated.

"I can still come." Derek quickly responded.

"Er I don't think so." Garcia interrupted, "The doctors said you need bed rest."

"I can have bed rest in London." He stated, with a quick raise of the brow and half a smirk.

But when no response came to his attempt at suggestiveness, he looked around to the three women in turn, all of which had an unimpressed look that would turn milk sour. "Gees you three need to lighten up." He continued, with a shake of the head.

"And you need to be realistic, Morgan." JJ told him.

As he was about to protest once again, his attention, along with the two blondes was drawn to the other side of the room.

"Ah Doctor." Garcia gleefully greeted, "Your timing is impeccable."

The tall fair haired man looked at them all with confusion, "Really?" He said with a smile.

"Yes. Could you please tell this one here." She began, pointing at Morgan, "Whether or not it is ok to fly."

The Doctor looked from the techie to Morgan and chuckled, "Flying? No chance." He shook his head, "Not for at least four weeks. And then you need to be given the all clear by a Doctor."

"But I'll be fine." The dark profiler argued, "It's not like I have to do anything."

"It's the pressure in the cabin once you're at altitude. It's too dangerous with internal bleeding. You could set if off again."

Hearing everything, Emily watched as Derek's head fell back against the pillow and he closed his eyes in frustration.

"Hey Derek." She whispered, "Look at me."

He opened his eyes, a wounded stare glaring back at her.

"It's ok." She attempted to reassure.

He shook his head, "No it's not. I've ruined it."

"It's not your fault."

"Whatever." He began defeated, "It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Fact is, I don't get to come over." He paused, letting out a sigh, "I really wanted to see you."

"Me too." She whispered, "We'll sort something out soon. I promise."

"Yeah." He uttered, his face downtrodden. "I'm sorry Emily."

"Don't be sorry. Just get better ok? Do what the Doctor's say."

Has he looked at her she saw his eyes smile and a small chuckle fall from his mouth.

"What?" She asked.

"This coming from the worse patient known to medicine."

She gave a slightly embarrassed smile, "Well we're not talking about me. Just do what they say."

"Yes ma'am." He winked.

She gave a quick raise of the brow, their private joke lost on the audience they had forgotten they had.

"Well, I should go now. I'm back in work first thing." She told him.

"Ok baby. Get some rest and call me tomorrow."

"Bye Derek." She whispered, "Bye JJ. Bye Garcia." She called out.

"Bye Emily." They both sang out in unison.

"I love you." She mouthed towards him.

"Love you two." He whispered, kissing the tip of two of his fingers then placing them to the screen.

~~CM~~

"Ok guys." Emily puffed, rushing into the briefing room. "Sorry I'm late. Late night."

She sat down at the head of the table, her team looking back to her.

"Right." She said with a tired smile, "Let's get on with it. Hannah, how is the intelligence report coming on?"

"Fine." The younger, blond officer answered, "Just need to finish collating Alex and Martin's intel and it's ready to go."

"Where are they?" Daniel asked.

"They called me half hour ago." Emily told him, "They've got one last lead to follow up. They'll be back in later this morning."

Daniel nodded in understanding.

"Ok." The brunette smiled, turning to the officer at the other side of the table, "Are the safe houses all set up for the next phase Justin?"

"Yep." The fair haired man said, leaning back in his chair, "As soon as we're ready to go, it's just one phone call."

"Ok. Well thanks for all your hard work over the last couple of weeks. If we can finish all this paperwork in the next couple of days, we all get that week off ready to start the next phase in the new year so I suggest we get on with it."

A loud exhale of breath could be heard from across the room and Emily smiled as Justin slumped in his chair.

"Thank god for that." He said, "I never thought I'd be getting any time with my kids this Christmas."

"Lucky you." Hannah responded, a little sulkiness in her voice.

"What's up with you?" Justin asked her.

"Steven is making me go to his parent's place in the country." She shook her head, "Ugh… My idea of living hell."

"What would you rather be doing?" Emily asked chuckling, the younger woman reminding her of herself a little.

"Er partying of course." She said with a childlike tone, "We live in one of the best cities in the world and he wants to spend New Years at one with nature." She said with a roll of the eyes.

Emily laughed as Justin sat forward and leant his elbows on the table, "So what about you Daniel. What you up to?"

He shrugged, "Probably just go over to my mate's place."

"Have you seriously not got yourself a woman yet?" Justin replied with an unimpressed shake of the head, "How long's it been since Katy?"

"End of conversation Justin." Daniel said with a raise of the brow, pointing to the door.

The two younger officers laughed and stood up, continuing their banter as they left the room.

Once they were out of earshot, Daniel looked at his boss who was straightening up her files.

"How's Derek?" He asked, catching her eye and giving her a warm smile.

She nodded, "Yeah. He's gonna be ok."

"That's good. So why don't you look so happy?"

"He can't come over. He's not allowed to fly." She explained.

"Well, we've got a week off. Can't you go over?"

She shook her head, "No flights on Thursday through Saturday. All booked up for the New Year. Going any later than that would be pointless."

"Did you check flights for the next two days?" He asked.

She frowned, "I can't. We're working."

"Emily. All we're doing is paperwork. You don't need to be here to do that. Check the flights." He insisted.

"I can't do that."

"Yes you can. You can sign reports off on email. If we need any signatures, I can do it as acting unit head."

"I dunno." She said with a little trepidation.

"Here." He said pushing his laptop towards. "Look at flights for the next couple of days. Once we get into the next phase of this, you won't be able to go for another few weeks."

She took a breath and her chest rose before a small grateful smile formed on her lips, "Thanks." She uttered.

~~CM~~

The following day, she stood over the sink, splashing cold water over her freshly clean skin, massaging her cheeks and then her tired eyes. She dabbed her face dry with the dark brown, fluffy bath towel and then tiptoed into the bedroom, freshly showered, wearing an above the knee length ivory silk slip.

Feeling her presence, he turned his head to face the doorway and opened his eyes.

"Hey. What you got there?" He asked, spying a large brown bag dangling from her fingers.

She smiled, but did not answering, just continuing to stare him in the eyes as she made her way to the bed and crawled onto it, kneeling next to him.

"Well?" He raised his brow.

"Presents." She said holding up the bag in front of her.

His smile formed into a grin, and he slowly took the bag from her, balancing the handle on one finger and putting it back down on the bed next to her, earning a frown.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to open them." She told him.

"After." He whispered.

"After what?" She asked with a raise of her brow.

He didn't answer, just placed one hand on both of her hips, letting his hands trace along the silk fabric, the whole time his eyes not wavering from hers.

Placing her hands atop his, she held them in place, "Uh uh." She shook her head, "We can't do that. You're not well." She said with a wry smile.

He widened eyes, giving her the look of a puppy waiting for it's dinner.

"No." She said firmly, shaking her head. "The Doctor said…."

"C'mon on." He uttered, "I know you'll be gentle."

H then winked, edging himself a little closer.

She gave a small chuckle and then released her grip of his hands, reaching for the bag once again.

"Presents first." She told him, offering the bag.

"Ok." He sighed, "If you insist."

She watched as he reached in and pulled out two very different shaped parcels, both wrapped in glossy red paper.

"Which one first?" He asked.

"The bigger one." She said, nodding towards the soft, square shaped gift.

He took care pealing the paper apart at the seams and she held back telling him to just rip it open.

When eventually the package was unwrapped, he smiled at what he saw, "The new Bears jersey?" He said, without having to unfold the material, recognising the emblem straight away.

"Yeah." She muttered, "But open it up."

He picked the fabric up by the shoulders, and as he did something fell into his lap.

"What's this?" He asked, reaching for the item.

She just nodded, encouraging him to examine it.

She saw him swallow hard as he realised what it was….. A miniature version of his dark blue jersey.

"Emily." He whispered, "This is awesome."

"Look at the back." She urged.

He turned the tiny garment around and smiled at the number '1' printed in white in the centre of the shirt and 'DADDY' in an arc written above it.

"Now have a look at yours." She directed.

He eyed her with a small suspicious smirk as he lifted his jersey up and turned it around.

"Singletary." He read. "He was number fifty." He told her.

"I got it right then…. Mike Singletary. He was your favourite player right?"

"Yeah he was." He muttered a little taken aback, "He was my hero growing up."

"I know." She began a little awkwardly, lightly biting down on her bottom lip, "And I know you're going to be this little one's hero." She said, placing a palm gently on her tummy, "That's why that says what it says." She nervously nodded towards the small jersey.

He smiled and took hold of one of her hands, "I love it Emily." He whispered.

"Well I just wanted you to know, that whether this is a little girl or little boy, I'm happy for you to inflict this or any other sport on our child."

"Inflict?" He laughed, "You hate the game that much eh?"

"Well I can't say I hate it. I don't know anything about football. You know that."

"Well may be I should just get you one of these too and we can drag you along with us."

"Nah ah." She uttered with a shake of the head, "The only time you're getting me in one of those, is when I'm wearing yours….." She paused, a wicked grin forming on her lips, "And nothing else." She winked, her voice low and like velvet.

"Oh really." He smiled, taking both her hands in his guiding her towards him.

"Yes. Really." She whispered as she straddled his hips.

He took hold of the dark blue jersey and held it in front of her, "How about we christen this one then?" He grinned.

She nodded slowly, "But gently." She said softly, gripping the hem of her silk slip and pulling it over her head, revealing her naked body all but a pair of cream lace panties.

He stared in wonder at her form. It was beautiful. Her ivory skin flawless, the old scar barely even noticeable to him anymore and the small bump seeming to make her even more beautiful. He ran his hands gently up her thighs and let them rest on her hips as she took the jersey from upon his chest and lifted her arms, sliding the jersey over them and onto her bare flesh.

Bending down, she paused, just a breath away from him and smiled, before letting their lips meet, kissing him softly and warmly.

"Wait a minute." His words muffled as their lips were still united, "I've got another present."

"After." She mumbled, not breaking the kiss, and closing her eyes as she felt his strong fingers trace their way along her skin and under the jersey.

She melted into him as he explored her body under the fabric and eventually came to rest at the top of her panties. As she felt him tug at the lace, she suddenly pulled away.

"What?" He asked, unable to hide his frustration.

"Hang on." She breathed quickly, manoeuvring herself off him and hopping off the bed. He frowned as she picked up the miniature jersey and quickly walked out of the room.

"What on earth are you doing?" He asked as she came back in the room hurriedly.

"It didn't feel right." She said, shaking her head, retaking her position sat upon him.

"What didn't feel right?"

She shrugged sheepishly earning a chuckle from him, "You didn't wanna do the deed with the baby's jersey in here did you?"

She pressed her lips together as she shook her head.

"Come here…." He whispered, pulling her down onto him slowly by her arms, "You're an adorable fool sometimes, you know that?" He winked.

Her face lit up as she lightly laughed, her eyes looking downward with a little embarrassment, but they quickly shot up as she felt his warm lips connect with hers.

Letting him taste her for just a few seconds, she pulled away from him and sat up straight, grasping the base of the jersey.

As she went to pull the material upwards, his hands fell upon her wrists, preventing them from moving any further.

"Uh uh." He uttered, with a slow shake of the head, "Leave that on."

"Really?" She murmured, with a quick raise of the brow.

"Yeah." He said, his hands wandering back underneath the fabric, "These however….." He concluded with a tug on the lace panties and a large grin…

Ok, I'm really sorry that was so short, but I hope it will do for a few days ;) Thanks for all your support.