DADDY ISSUES

PROMPT: High Risk Behaviours (Dawson's Creek)

"Hi Daddy."

Derek Morgan knew that tone of voice. She'd inherited it from her mother, no question about it. It meant that he'd done something very wrong. He searched his brain furitively as he slowly turned his desk chair to face the office door. His sixteen-year-old daughter stood there, a wide smile on her face. But the smile was extremely deceptive.

She was more than pissed off.

Gabriella Garcia-Morgan was angry.

And he had absolutely no idea what he'd done.

Derek swallowed. "He Ellie. How was school?"

Gabi shrugged. "Kyle dumped me."

Kyle was the first boy Gabi had brought home. By far not the first one she'd dated, but the first one she'd brought home. She'd been excited about it. This was the first relationship that had lasted longer than a couple of months.

"Did you want to talk about it?"

Gabi's smile grew. "Actually, Daddy, yes." And she plopped down into his wife's chair. "He told me why he dumped me."

Oh.

"Ellie-"

"He dumped me because, now hold on, let me get the words right… because my father threatened to shoot him after ensuring he'd never had children if he ever hurt me."

"Sweetheart-"

"And that was after he informed me that you had looked him up." Her voice was rising, her face controrting with the anger.

"I'm just looking after you," Derek finally interjected.

Gabi's eyebrow went up and Derek knew that his words had done nothing to soothe her anger or help his cause. "No, Dad, you weren't. You interfered."

"All I did was talk to the guy," Derek defended.

"No, you scared the hell out of him," Gabi snapped back.

"Gabriella! Language!"

Gabi ignored his admonishment. "An more than that, you scared him so bad that you screwed up my relationship. You stepped on my toes, you interfered in my life."

"To protect you."

"Well then you failed," Gabi replied. "Because guess what, Dad, I'm not a kid anymore! You can't 'step in' to 'protect' me."

"You're always going to be my baby girl, Ellie, and I'm always going to protect you," Derek answered, using the firm voice that told his children not to argue.

Gabi sat still for a moment before letting out a frustrated scream, even going as far as to stop her foot before storming out of the office.

Derek watched her go, leaning back in his chair. He'd done the right thing in talking to the boy. It was his job as a father to ensure his daughter wasn't going to get hurt. And he remembered himself as a teenager. That was the last thing he wanted for his little girl to go through. She was a beautiful, intelligent, witty young woman in his totally unbiased opinion, and if she was going to be treated like he'd admittedly treated a few – okay, more than a few – of his own past flings, he damned well wanted to help the young man realize the error of his ways.

Plus, it wasn't his fault the guy ran. If the guy really cared for his baby girl, he wouldn't have ended the relationship. It was exactly that kind of thing that he intended to protect her from. If the guy's life was more important than his daughter's happiness, then, really, he wasn't worth Gabi's time.

"Derek Morgan get down here!"

That was the moment Derek knew he was in a whole lot of trouble. This wouldn't be the first time he and Penelope had disagreed on their very differing parenting styles. It was that time of Gabi's life.

Penelope was in the kitchen. Regularly, he cooked because he was just better at it, but she'd been picking up some serious domestic slack as he tried to settle into his new BAU Unit Chief job.

"You talked to your daughter's boyfriend?" Penelope demanded. "And choose your words carefully, Derek."

But this time, he wasn't going to back down. This time, he'd done the right thing. "I did."

Silence fell.

"That's it?" she said after a few moments.

"Of course I talked to him, Pen. She brought him home, it was a serious relationship."

"She's sixteen, Derek," Penelope replied. "She's going to have serious relationships and for Pete's sake, she's going to get hurt."

Okay, so she had pegged all of his issues in one go, but that didn't make him wrong. "That doesn't mean I can't try and protect her."

Her arms fell from her hips, a small smile curling at the corners of her mouth. "Derek, she's old enough to make her own mistakes, especially here."

Derek shook his head. "I was a young kid once, too, Mama. I know the guys that are out there."

"You were one of them."

"Exactly my point," he replied.

"Derek," Penelope said, her voice oozing tolerance. "I understand, as a parent, the instinct to protect, and I know how hard it is to think that Gabi is actually growing up. She's my first baby too, but this is a natural course of life."

"Pen, I was merely making sure she and this boy were on the same page," Derek defended.

"It is not your place to step in," she replied slowly, enunciating every word carefully. "She's only a few years away from getting out of the house to go to school. This is her issue."

Derek's mouth tightened. Penelope was never going to see his side. "How angry is she?"

"She went to AJ's," Penelope replied, turning back to dinner. "My assumption is that she's staying the night."

He hid the tinge of surprise. She was beyond pissed off. She was right angry. His daughter, his baby girl, seriously thought he'd really screwed up. And now his wife was irritated with him too. But he was simply doing his fatherly duty! They were just over-reacting.

They'd get over it.

Derek was surprised to see Hotch and Jack sharing coffee, a newspaper and what looked like case files when he pulled up to the Hotchner home.

"Morning," he called out.

Hotch waved his hand in getting. Jack echoed the movement.

"Coffee?" the once-Unit Chief called.

"Sure," Derek called back. He was in no hurry to be ignored by his daughter on the car ride home.

Jack and Hotch exchanged a look. It was Jack whose shoulders slumped.

"If I'm not back in ten minutes, send a rescue party," Jack requested.

Derek raised an eyebrow in question.

"We've been kicked out," Hotch explained. "By my wife, your daughter and my eldest daughter."

Well that explained why Jack was included and not Seth. It was Saturday, and though Jack no longer lived with his father and stepmother, he always came by for breakfast on Saturday. He was also Gabi's closest guy friend. Assuming they were kicked out of the house for defending Derek's position, Jack's over-protective streak would definitely put him on Gabi's bad side. Still, he had to check.

"What did you do?" Derek asked.

"Defended you," Hotch confirmed.

Derek shook his head. Okay, Gabi was furious. He leaned against the porch railing.

"I'd have done the same thing," Hotch offered. "The results would probably be the same."

It made the African-American feel better, that he wasn't the only one. "Em would yell at you?"

"Of course," Hotch replied. "As she often tells me, with my overprotective streak, the girls have to stick together." He paused. "I think they just want to make sure it doesn't result in trust issues."

Derek hadn't considered that. Of course, he didn't have Emily's past of trust issues. Neither did Penelope.

"Emily is just cautious," Hotch spoke up. "I don't actually believe that wanted to protect our children is going to result in hyper-protective adults."

That was what made Hotch and Emily work. Emily's past trust issues were well-known, most especially by her husband. If he was willing to give Emily the chance to make sure that the girls, his girls, had someone to go when they thought Daddy was being unfair, Hotch was going to let her do it.

"She's going to go through all of this to Seth in a few years because he's her baby boy. I'll get my turn to play her role."

Derek chuckled. When it passed, he met the eyes of the man who had taught him everything he knew. "They're really growing up aren't they?"

Hotch sighed as Jack finally returned passing, on the message that the pow-wow was over and breakfast was started, as he handed Derek the mug. Then Jack returned inside.

"Annie's in high school," Hotch said. "Katie's set to go in September."

Derek sipped his perfectly made coffee – he'd have to thank Emily – understanding exactly what Hotch was saying. Gabi's first day of high school had been an incredibly shock. He was actually glad he didn't have a second daughter. "They really are growing up."

"Is Gabi looking at colleges and universities?" Hotch asked.

Derek actually winced. "I'm not sure I want to know."

Hotch smiled, standing. He clapped a hand on the back of his long-term friend. "The only thing we can do is believe we've raised smart girls that know how to spot bad people, who trust in themselves and their feelings and trust in who they are. I can tell you, as much as I'll deny it when Annie's going through it, if only to justify my own actions, Gabi is that kind of smart, practical woman. She knows who she is and believes in herself. She's going to be fine."

Then he pushed the front door open. "Breakfast?"

Okay, so for those of you who follow "Northern Star", "Alive", or "When Everything", those are hopefully going to be updated by the end of the weekend. I'm going to finish the end of "Alive" in class this morning! Hopefully I'll type that up and have it posted by the end of the night.

Hope you guys enjoyed the glimpse into Pen and Derek's parenting as much as you like Em and Hotch's!