Emily sighed as she unlocked the front door of Aaron’s house, dropping her weekend duffle to the floor just inside. He’d called on her way home, inviting her for dinner. Emily always preferred eating with someone else than eating alone. She’d just closed the door when a small whirlwind impacted the back of her knees. If it wasn’t for her quick reflexes, she’d have smashed into the door.
“Hey Buddy,” she greeted, lifting Jack into her arms.
“Hiya,” the small child responded enthusiastically, placing a smacking kiss on her cheek.
Emily laughed. “How was your weekend,” she asked formally as she made her way towards the kitchen.
“We played ball,” Jack answered happily as Emily set him down just inside the kitchen door.
She smiled at Aaron at the sink, trying not to show her worry or concern. Penelope’s unplanned pregnancy and her absolute promise to the woman to keep it a secret had her fussing more than usual. “Hey.”
“You sound more exhausted,” he said, slight concern colouring his voice.
“Lethargy,” Emily answered smoothly. “I’m so relaxed I’m tired.” She knew he didn’t believe it. Even so, she approached, nestling herself against his side. “Do I have work-appropriate clothes here?”
“In the closet,” he murmured against her hair, kissing her head. Much to his surprise he’d really missed her. And she’d only been gone two days.
Their relationship had changed in Tuscon, almost to both agents’ surprise and relief. They weren’t sure it was even possible for their relationship to so much as shift, let alone change and they’d been a little afraid of being stuck in a rut, not going forward, not going backwards. After all, they were perfectly content, happy in the place they were in. Then he’d almost been shot and something had altered between them again.
It was almost imperceptible to outsiders, even to their team of behaviouralists. Where he’d been overprotective, almost overbearing around other men, it was almost like he trusted her more. Emily wasn’t paranoid enough to think that he hadn’t trusted her before, but the point was still there. It was as if he really understood how important her independence was while simultaneously understanding that he was important to her too.
There was a new level of comfort in their relationship that they both revelled in. They’d discovered that as much as they didn’t like fighting, it released pent up tension and also served to expose other seemingly inconsequential issues. What really balanced them, however, was how easy things seemed to come. They’d often battled between his traditionalistic views and her less than conventional ideology, but Emily also had the uncanny ability to keep Aaron on his toes. It felt like it had been a long time since a woman had been able to do that.
Aaron looked down at his regular and arguably most beloved house guest. Something was stirring in him, clamouring to get free in the peaceful contentment of that moment. Then, with the soft press of her lips to the corner of his mouth, her warmth was gone.
She turned to Jack. “Hey Bud, want to help me set the table?”
As Aaron watched his son and his Emily go about setting the table for dinner he realized whatever little itch had been in the back of his mind was gone.
Derek, has had become his habit over the last six weeks or so, was one of the first into their unit bullpen. He sighed almost morosely as he set his things down and hit the coffee maker. He wasn’t surprised to see Emily come in next. She and Hotch were always the first ones in and often spent that early morning time holed up in Hotch’s office.
So her whack to the back of the head and accompanying glare definitely took him by surprise.
“Hey!” he exclaimed indignantly.
Emily rolled her narrowed eyes. “Be glad all I did was hit you, idiot.”
Derek raised an eyebrow. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done something she found idiotic. Their sibling-like dynamics often garnered such a reaction. “Is this about Belinda from Finance?”
The brunette gaped at him for a moment. Then, in pure early morning Emily fashion, her anger was gone, replaced by indifference. “JJ, Pen and I went to a spa this weekend.”
A lightbulb clicked on at the measured casualness of the comment and he felt his heart constrict painfully. “She told you.”
“See why you’re lucky to get off with merely a whack to the back of the head?” Emily asked, venom underlying the almost cheerful tone.
Derek groaned.
Emily huffed. She was still his friend, a sister, so her heart went out to his obvious understanding of his stupidity. “What were you thinking?”
“I’m not sure.”
“If you were looking for someone…”
“I know.”
He’d had six weeks, so Emily figured he’d had plenty of time to analyze and kick himself. “Why did you leave.”
Her emphasis didn’t go unnoticed. “She deserves better.”
Emily raised an eyebrow. “Because…”
Derek let out an irritated sound, averting his eyes. It had taken a lot for him to open up to Emily, especially in the beginning, but she had yet to betray any of his secrets. She and Reid were the only ones who he’d explicitly told about his nightmares. She was the only one who knew they still existed. “She deserves someone untainted, Em. She deserves someone bright, happy… normal.”
“You make yourself sound like some sort of monster.”
That was the other thing that made Emily such a good confidant. She didn’t pull punches, didn’t offer sympathy where she didn’t think he deserved it. “I’m just not what she needs.”
“But you are what she wants.” She paused when her words didn’t bring a reaction. “Shouldn’t it be her choice to make, anyway?”
He glanced over at her as she leaned against the counter beside him, hands propped on the linoleum. “My life is my work. I see some of the most gruesome things a person can do to another person. I have violent nightmares about rape and death. Is that really something you’d subject another person to?”
Emily pursed her lips at the overdramatic representation of his life. “Don’t I already?” she replied logically.
“You and Hotch are different.”
“Are we, really?”
Derek looked at her with a ‘duh’ expression.
“How are we that different?” she asked softly. “Pen sees things too. She knows what we tackle, knows that it’s brutal and disgusting and worse than nightmarish.”
He growled. Sometimes he hated how right she could be. “But I…”
“You nothing,” Emily interrupted quietly. “At the very least, she’s your best friend and you guys miss each other. It’s driving us crazy. It’s driving her crazy.”
Derek flinched. He’d seen Penelope, heard how down her voice was over her speaker phone during cases. It was killing him that she was so upset and that had been another reason he’d continued to keep his distance. “Em…”
Her anger was back, that fury that she kept so carefully under wraps. It rarely came out to play. “Don’t you ‘Em’ me, Derek Morgan. I just spent a weekend with a crushed woman because one night the man she’s been in love with since she met him helped her through an emotional time and then left without a word, a note, an acknowledgement of what had happened. Whether you regret it or not you owe Pen an explanation,” she hissed.
Derek took an involuntary step back. “It’s not that easy.”
“I’m sorry is too hard to say?”
Derek rolled his eyes. It was hard for him to admit he’d made this much of a monumental mistake but it had been floating around in the back of his head since his mind had processed the events of that night. “Em… We didn’t… I forgot…”
Emily knew exactly what he meant “ the evidence of that was currently growing inside Penelope’s stomach “ but counted to three in her head before she reacted, hoping Derek wouldn’t see the knowledge she already had. “You forgot protection?”
She sounded so shocked that Derek’s nerves increased tenfold. “I…”
The brunette took careful hold of the emotions she’d temporarily let go. Technically, she’d promised Penelope that she wouldn’t say a word to Derek, but the opportunity was too brilliant to pass up. It served to help her dispel some of her frustration with him and help him see what he was putting Pen through at the same time. Penelope wasn’t the only one who could effectively meddle in relationships. “Derek, you need to talk to her.”
“How?” he hissed. “I don’t want to put her in a bad position.”
Emily raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to be with her?”
“Emily…”
“It’s a simple yes or no question!”
Derek sighed. “Yes.”
“Do you miss her?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’re just being stubborn.”
“What if she…”
“Have you even been listening to me?” Emily questioned in exasperation. “Penelope. Wants. You.”
“She deserves better.” He started to walk away, hoping it would end the torturing conversation.
Emily virtually growled. “You certainly are two peas in a pod.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, not turning to face her.
“She thinks you’re too good for her, that you don’t want her,” Emily responded baldly. “She thinks you’re too hot, too smooth, too fantastic to want someone like her.”
That froze Derek in his tracks. “You’re kidding me.”
Emily scoffed. “In this situation, I don’t think that’s even possible.” Then she brushed by Derek, coffee cup forgotten, on her way back to Hotch’s office.
Derek had no doubt it was because she was so aggravated with him. But her goal had been successful. She’d managed to give him some serious food for thought. Now what was he going to do?