Thank you so much for your reviews and alerts for this story! I really appreciate you reading and taking the time to comment!
This chapter took me a while to write... But it's done now :) Although there will be more.
I just uploaded this chapter and then deleted it again because I had forgotten to edit it. I hope that didn't confuse anybody :)
Anyways, have fun with this!
Disclaimer: Still not mine at all.
It couldn't be her.
It just couldn't.
It was only Monday noon, she wasn't supposed to be back until Tuesday night.
And he was supposed to have twenty-four hours left to live. He didn't want to give up his life yet. He at least wanted a really good last supper tonight. But, apparently, he would have to face her wrath now. To its full extend. And it wasn't going to be pretty, that was the only thing he was sure of right now.
"Hey, Sweetie. Come here."
Garcia woke him from his thoughts as she jumped up and pulled her dark-haired friend into a hug. JJ quickly followed suit and held on to Emily's left hand.
"How are you?" she asked with concern edged on her face.
Emily nodded at her and smiled slightly. "I'm ok. I guess. I don't really know... It's weird." She shrugged and turned to her left toward Morgan.
"Hey, what's wrong? You look awful, did you just attend a funeral, too?"
Morgan's eyes drifted to the floor as he shifted on his feet. "Um, no." But I might soon and it'll probably be my own.
Emily's eyes grew hesitant when JJ drew her attention again. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow."
"I was originally, but my aunt talked my grandma into staying with her for a few days and they left this morning. That was probably a good idea, I'm not very good at consoling grieving people. And I didn't wanna sit at home and stare holes in my walls."
She chuckled slightly when she spoke but all three of them could tell that she didn't actually feel like laughing yet.
"Well, we're happy you're back," JJ said softly only to send an icy glare towards Morgan. When she saw him stare at their friend she slapped him hard on the should. "Right, Derek?"
"Um, sure... I'm... I..."
When he looked up he found JJ still glaring. Garcia looked slightly hopeful. Emily looked many different things. Skeptical, probably at the scene that had just played out in front of her. But most of all he saw sadness. She looked pale and tired and plain exhausted.
And all he could do was add to that.
"Emily, I..." Oh man... "God, I can't do this..." He turned around and started to pace.
The girls took that as their cue. "Alright, we'll leave you guys to it," Garcia said as she once again wrapped her arms around her confused friend. "Let us know if you need anything. We love you!"
"Thanks, guys. I love you, too." She smiled as JJ squeezed her shoulder lightly and before she knew it the door was closed and the only person left besides her was an obviously agitated Morgan.
"God, I can't do this..." he murmured again.
"Do what?"
Silence.
A very uncomfortable silence.
"Morgan...?" she inquired slowly.
He could tell that she was getting scared by the way he was acting. So he turned around.
It was now or never.
"I, um, went to feed Mr. Bubbles last night and..."
"I know and I wanna thank you so much for doing that. I hope you didn't have to go through too much trouble for me. I can't wait to see him again. I think it's exactly what I need today."
Man, she had no idea how much harder she was making this for him.
"Em, there's something I need to tell you... And you should probably sit down for that."
"Actually, I think I'll stay where I am. Derek, what's wrong?"
She tentatively took a step forward and reached her hand out but winced slightly when he shyed away. Instead, she watched him cover half of his face with his hands.
"Derek, you're scaring me. Would you please just talk to me?"
He knew he didn't deserve her concern. So he didn't think he should be on the receiving end of it any longer.
"Em, I screwed up. Royally. And after you hear what I'm about to tell you you will hate me in a way you have never thought possible. And you will definitely have every right to do so."
He saw her frown and took a deep breath.
"So here it goes. I... um... decided to do you a favor and cleaned the fish tank. I know you told me now to and I really shouldn't have."
"Derek, what did you do? Did you break it or something? Because that's nothing you should be too worried about, I was gonna get him a new one soon anyways."
"No, no, it wasn't that. Although I really wish it was," he muttered.
It was now or never. So he squared his shoulders. looked up at her and ripped off the metaphorical bandaid.
"Mr. Bubbles won't be there when you get home tonight."
"What do you mean?"
"Emily, I killed him."
There it was.
The one thing to say that could change his life. The line that left him completely at her mercy.
And the complete silence that filled the room and crept up the walls didn't help his dread of what was about to come. He couldn't tell what she was thinking at the moment.
Until she burst out laughing. And he found the deer-in-the-headlights-look plastered on his own face.
"That's hilarious, Derek!" Emily said after about ten seconds, still trying to catch her breath.
"What? Why?" He looked somewhat dumbfounded.
"Because I know you wouldn't do something like that. You wouldn't kill a fish, you're too nice to do that." She nudged his upper arm to let him know that she had caught on to his joke.
But his look stayed fixed.
"Am I right?" she asked carefully.
"Em..."
"Oh my god..." And with that her face fell and she covered her mouth with both her hands. Only a muffled "You didn't" came out for him to hear.
"I don't hear anything. Do you think she ripped his head off?"
JJ shot Garcia a look that clearly asked if she was kidding. "Garcia, she won't do that. They will talk about it, he will apologize, she will give him the silent treatment for a few hours and this afternoon he'll bring her coffee and things will be fine."
At least that's what she tried to convince herself of.
"Promise...?" Garcia asked, her voice laced with fear and hesitation.
"Promise."
And JJ truly believed it.
Until the door was swung open and out stormed an overly pissed Emily Prentiss with a frantic Derek Morgan right at her heels.
"Em, I am so sorry! Please, you have to believe me! If I had the chance I would turn back the clock and you know that! I would never have done anything like that intentionally! I-"
"Derek, don't!" Emily yelled, spinning around to face him. She was oblivious to the other agents and security officers who had stopped whatever they had been doing to enjoy the show.
But even if she had noticed them, she wouldn't have cared. That's how livid she was.
"You don't have any idea what you did," she hissed through gritted teeth.
"Em, please, I-"
"No! You do not get to talk to me right now."
She was having a hard time ignoring the pain and devastation written all over his face but she knew that she sported the same look. And she had every right to.
She ran her hands through her hair and clutched the ends of the strands.
She needed to get away from this.
Emily turned to the girls. "Can you tell Hotch that I left? I think he saw me on my way in."
"Sure," JJ whispered while Garcia nodded quietly next to her.
"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."
All three of them could clearly see the tears in her eyes. They knew she was about to lose it.
"Em, I'm begging you! You have to-"
"I don't have to do anything, Derek Morgan."
And the last thing he saw in her eyes before she made her way to the elevator was sheer disappointment.
"Goodbye."
There it is. I have yet to decide how long the silent treatment is going to last...
Feel free to drop me a comment! I'm always happy to know what you think :)
See you next chapter!