A/N: This one is particularly dear to me, as it involves my four favourite characters. I chose to write Morgan and Prentiss together, with an emphasis on Morgan's POV, and next chapter will be the reverse.

III. Coping

Derek Morgan has been working on perfecting the art of compartmentalizing ever since he joined the BAU. And after brutal cases such as this one, he thanks his lucky stars for that. Not that he has reached perfection yet, but it gets easier and easier to choose the time and place to deal with the aftermath of sheer psychological distress.

Which is his ultimate goal. He doesn't want to stop feeling like crap every time his notion of humanity is challenged. No, what he really wants is to feel like he at least controls who gets to witness him breakdown and where.

And he has learnt from the best. Well, the best at teaching, not exactly the best at doing. He envies both Hotch and Rossi's permanently controlled facial expressions and practically inexistent emotional outbursts, but he kinda frowns upon their off-work coping strategies: serial marriages and sleeping-where-one-works do not exactly a good life make.

But hey, after a tough case they are the least likely to fall apart, so in Derek's book they're doing alright.

He squints in the jet's direction and sees the staircase already there. He sighs. Someone's already there, which means his plan to relax for a little bit without four profilers and a very observant media liaison just went down the drain. Climbing up the stairs, however, he sees a very sleepy Prentiss sitting on the top step, her head leaning against the small wall.

"Emily?"

She looks a bit startled and yawns. "Hey."

Derek just stands there, looking bewildered. "Hey."

"D'you wanna sit?" She pats the floor next to her.

"Hmm… not that a seat that is cold, hard and probably damp from humidity doesn't sound appealing, but rumor has it there's a plane just behind you with cushioned seats and a heating system." He grins, and she just rolls her eyes.

"Well, if only I had thought of that before I decided to treat myself with a cold and some impressive back and neck pain."

Derek chuckles. "All the more reason… C'mon, what do you say, Princess?" He extends a hand to her, and she takes it, but instead of helping her up, she pulls him down next to her. "Ow. Damn… hard floor alright."

"Shush." She punches his shoulder playfully, and places a finger to her own lips. "Quiet down, you loud man."

"And you ain't seen nothing yet, Prentiss." He smirks, and relaxes, his back leaning against the wall. "So, apparently, not only do we have to pretend that this is the best place to hang out after a brutal case, but we also cannot make noise. Do I want to know why?"

Prentiss just smiles. "It depends on how well can you keep a secret."

Derek scrunches his nose. "I can keep a secret alright."

"Really?" She raises an eyebrow. "From Penelope, I mean?"

He looks less confident now, but he still manages a nod.

"Go. In and out in less than a minute. Quiet as a mouse. Don't ruin it." She motions for the semi-opened door.

Derek looks at her, intrigued by her almost affectionate smile, and carefully stands up. He tiptoes past the door, and just as he is about to enter the jet's main lounge, he sees what she means. He really, really sees what she means, and he instantly mirrors Emily's fond smile. He conceals himself a little better before inspecting the scene before his eyes a little more in-depth.

Derek allows his eyes to scan Hotch's sleeping form first, and then JJ's. They're both sleeping soundly on the jet's armless sofa, Hotch in a sitting position and JJ sleeping on her side with her head on his lap. He notices Hotch managed to cover her back with his own jacket, and one of his hands was holding one of hers. There's a stack of papers on the floor, which can only mean both of them attempted to do some kind of paperwork – as a necessity or an excuse Derek doesn't know – before falling asleep like that.

Exhaling deeply, he silently walks to where Emily is awaiting him with a knowing smile on her lips. He clears his throat and shrugs, not sure why he feels the need to justify his friends' actions. "It was a brutal case."

"Yes. Yes it was."

"And JJ was… I mean, it can't have been easy to hear about the unsub's past."

Emily nodded. "That level of detachment and sadism from such an early age… it can make even the sanest person wonder."

"Even more so when that person's about to bring a tiny little human into the world." Derek muses. "It's, huh… bound to cause some anxiety. And we all have our coping methods."

"True." Emily closes her eyes, the lack of sleep evident in her mumbled words. "I'm glad."

And he doesn't have to ask what she is glad about. Whatever may be happening in both his friends' personal lives, he, too, is glad they found a way to cope.

CMCMCM

And so as each member of the team arrived at the staircase, they would find the remaining profilers sitting on the steps – some sleeping, some playing on their phones – and they would be told the same story. And the kind-hearted, well-intentioned conspiracy bought Hotch and JJ two extra hours of sleep.

When the pilot came to the stairs to tell them it was finally time to go, each profiler made their way silently to the seats further away from the sleeping couple, to afford them some privacy. Morgan eyed Hotch – who got woken up by the buzz of take-off and was still clearly too drowsy to be able to react to what was happening – and smiled a small smile in his direction. Hotch caught it and relaxed back into his seat as Morgan mouthed Don't worry. Enjoy.

A/N: So? What did you guys think? I've had this image in my head for quite some time, and what really draws me towards these two characters is that they're both very noble and very stoic when it comes to personal relationships. Even JJ, who I would've thought would be more open when it comes to talking about her feelings, managed to surprise me with the whole Will situation.

I don't know, I just like them. ;) Hope you enjoyed it!

Next chapter, Prentiss!