A/N: I am trying to keep the inspiration up for this little story as I make my way to Season 11 of Criminal Minds. I currently just started Season 10, which leads me to further clarify that this nugget of fiction really doesn't take place after Blake leaves, Prentiss refusing to return, or anything like that. If I wanted to set it in a definitive place, I would call it Season 8.5, somewhere in the middle. This leaves us more non-canon possibilities, wink, wink.

Thanks to those who keep reviewing/following, I love it. In regards to some questions I got about Prentiss/my character listing and pairing, etc, I don't want to spoil any of the ideas that are roaming around in my mind - but that being said, she will be featured in some way at some point.

Just sit tight, bear with me (also bear with my horrendous case/profiling plot line), and hopefully, enjoy x

"Honey, I'm sorry, but I think you're overreacting here," Garcia said.

She sat with Morgan in her dimly lit "technical cave," she occupying her computer chair, while he leaned against the door, furrowing his defined brows.

He replied to her opinion with a disapproving look, ultimately letting out a defeated sigh.

"Hey, don't make me feel like the Big Bad Wolf here. Remember - it was your little routine that got my hopes up," Derek said.

Penelope let out a small laugh, "Like I had any inkling of who was walking through that door! I'm good, but not that good."

She swiveled around on her chair, and the travel cup from Emily, the one branded with the British flag, caught her eye. She let out a breath, reaching for the cup, and placing it in front of her.

Derek saw her wheels turning the same way that his were, "You know we were both crossing our fingers that it was her, baby girl."

"I do miss her...I miss her geekiness, I miss her being a badass. I miss -,"

"...everything about her," Derek finished her sentence for her.

Derek's tone of voice caught Penelope's attention. She had a knick for picking up little inflections, when words meant more that the person saying them actually intended them to mean. She figured it was some subconscious little glitch, one that her brilliant agents hadn't added to their profiling skills yet.

She swiveled back around to face him, "What was that?"

He looked caught off guard, "Whoa, what was what?"

Penelope pointed at him with her obnoxiously pink and fluffy pen, mocking an interrogator.

"Everything about her...," she mimicked, fluttering her eyelids.

"I didn't say it like that," Derek said defensively.

"Oh, but you did."

"Oh but I didn't," he mimicked back at her.

He waved a finger at her, "Now who's the profiler in this situation?"

She replied wittily, "You can't profile yourself when you're in denial."

He scoffed, "I think you're...oh yeah, what was it? Overreacting."

He smirked, pleased with himself.

She stood up, whacking him playfully on the arm with a stack of folders, "Get on your fancy jet before I get Angry Hotch all up in my office...he frightens my plush friends," she said gesturing to the small assortment of plush desk companions.

Derek put his hands up in "surrender" fashion, and turned around to walk out of the door, "I'm going, I'm going!

"And - I didn't say it like you think I said it!"

"Keep telling yourself that sweetie!"

She watched him walk down the hallway, as she smirked to herself and popped back into her office.

Reid threw his worn canvas bag on the leather seat next to him. Morgan strode to the seat across from him, looking a little preoccupied with his thoughts.

"If our unsub went to such specific lengths to leave a victim in a hospital parking lot, it has to be personal," Rossi said.

Hotch sat across from him, hunched over the case file, analyzing every single photo inside.

"So you're saying, if our second victim, the schoolteacher, ends up dead - it'll be at an elementary school?" Hotch asked.

"That's a pretty concise and consistent M.O., someone who wants their identity to be tied directly to these disappearances and murders," JJ added.

Reid cut in, "Every kill would contribute to a large map of victims, with destinations and dumpsites being directly linked to their respective careers. Which means, every time a new victim goes missing, you would match up her career with a location, and meet the unsub right there. It's too much of a plain sight complex."

Seaver, entering with a fresh cup of coffee, took the team by surprise, since they weren't used to hearing her voice.

"How do we know that this wasn't just one happenstance of a kill? I mean, our unsub probably could think of millions of other ways to inflict his misogynistic idea of power on them."

"This son of a bitch needs a reality check, that's a definite. Sexism, racism, homophobia: all curses of the human race," Derek said.

Rossi and Hotch resumed looking through the file, as Ashley gestured to the seat next to Spencer, where he had put down his bag, instinctively.

"Reserved?" She asked.

Morgan tilted his head, analyzing the awkward tension, chemistry, or whatever was lurking between the two agents. When Spencer pulled the canvas bag off of the chair a little too quickly, Morgan laughed to himself.

"Lover-Boy," Derek mouthed across the table at Spencer.

"Shut up," Reid replied aloud, by accident.

"I didn't -," Seaver started, looking up from putting a sugar in her coffee.

Reid quickly cut her off, "No, no, you were completely silent - I, uh - thought I heard someone call me a degrading name."

Ashley raised an eyebrow, nodding slowly, trying to conceal a giggle.

"False alarm!" He said, attempting a casual joke.

JJ looked back at Ashley and Spencer, then returned her attention to Rossi and Hotch.

"I think you did him a favor, Hotch," she said.

"Did who a favor?" he asked.

"Ah, you mean Boy Wonder getting a second chance," Rossi said.

"I was never aware they were a pair...," Hotch trailed.

"Garcia and I were rooting for it, I do remember that," JJ said. "But, knowing Spence, he never acted on it. I just think, I think it would be good for him. Maybe help him move on...,"

"From Maeve, you mean," Rossi finished.

Hotch sat back in his chair,"It's the hardest step. Someone new. Actually, it's the second hardest step."

JJ inquired, "And the first?"

"When you realize that she'll never be her," Hotch concluded.

The jet landed.

Was that short? I think so. Sorry about that, I'm just trying to go step-by-step with this one, and treat it like an episode before I go off the rails. Good news, I have outlined the case, so we can get right down to business and try to avoid as many road bumps as possible. I cannot WAIT to dig into Spencer's grief about Maeve/guilt about connecting with Seaver - so look forward to that. And, look forward to more Denial!Morgan/Prentiss, if that's what you're into. I was a little forward in this chapter with Morgan's "feelings" or "possible feelings," didn't really mean to, it just worked out that way.

There are SO many avenues planned for this adventure, I can't even choose between them or keep track, so it would be a huge help to me if you review and tell me where you would like to see these relationships go.

Maybe I'll agree x