chapter three / season three episode two.

IF THERE WAS ONE THING AMELIA LEVINE HATED IT WOULD BE WAKING UP WHEN SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO. By that, Amelia means she doesn't mind waking up when her alarms blares because she knows she's supposed to be awake and getting ready for the day.

Amelia, however, doesn't like when her phone starts ringing at five o'clock in the morning and the source of the disturbance comes from a Penelope Garcia, who in the past two weeks had been making Amelia laugh like no tomorrow and truly make the new agent appreciate a kind heart. (Even if Penelope would argue it was Amelia who had the kind heart)

"Penelope Garcia." Amelia croaked out, her tone telling the tech analyst that she was not happy at all to be up this early. (Early, meaning an hour before Amelia's alarm was meant to go off to start getting ready for work but that hour made the difference)

Penelope giggled nervously, "Morning, Amelia...!"

The only upside to this call was that it was Penelope and not Amelia's parents! Because the agent's Mom and Dad had not yet called and they should've received their letter by now.

It wasn't that Amelia's parents were terrible, goodness no! In Amelia's eyes they were far from that, they loved her and they provided her with all they needed to and more. She had felt somewhat safe under her roof and knew what a Mom and Dad's love felt like (supposedly), and the Levine would always be grateful for that. It was just that Amelia's parents lacked support for their daughter's career choices, to they point they'd even made a rule in the house that stated: Amelia is to not discuss a future in the FBI or the police.

It was the first rule Amelia ever defied. One she still didn't listen to today, and the message was still written on the whiteboard in the kitchen.

If Amelia wished for one thing, it would be that her parents were proud of her for achieving her dream, but she knew that not even a hundred shooting stars or fallen eyelashes could grant that wish.

So, she'd settled for Jason who never failed to tell her how proud he was. (Jason who had she had not seen in two weeks due to taking some more personal time off, which Amelia was glad about)

"You wouldn't happen to be with Gideon right now would you?"

Amelia huffed, rolling over in her bed, "No, Penelope."

"And he's not at his apartment?"

"No, he's not been there for the past two weeks."

The tech analyst hummed, "Odd. Okay, thank you for picking up, my lovely! See you soon!"

Even half asleep, Amelia's eyebrows furrowed, "Penelope, it's 5am why aren't you asleep and why are you trying to track Jason down?"

Garcia stumbled over her words, "There was this... bird! Yeah, a bird outside my window and it would not stop making those birds sounds, you know? And Gideon just hasn't answered my texts in twenty-four hours so I'm just trying to get in contact with him."

"Penelope," Amelia said, "If there was a bird outside your window you'd take a picture with it, even if it was 5am. So, what's the real reason you are up at 5am and stressing over Jason when you know he takes about twenty-six hours to reply to a text message."

Penelope groaned, "Are you profiling me over the phone?"

"No," Amelia laughed quietly and tugged the duvet around her tighter, "I just know a lot about you in two weeks, so tell me the truth."

"Fine!" The blonde relented after little to no fight, "I'm worried about Hotch and Gideon. Because, what happens if Hotch gets fired? It wouldn't surprise me, I mean Strauss has been looking for this opportunity since... since like forever! And Gideon..."

"Oh, poor Gideon! He's lost so much lately, I can't stand to see him lose Hotch as well."

"Penelope."

"And you know what, they are good agents and even better people! Strauss just has a vendetta and Gideon must've done something terrible in his past life to have this happen to him. Sometimes I just want to make all the bad disappear from their lives and we're all sipping mojitos on the beach!" Penelope exclaimed, causing Amelia to wince and pull the phone away from her ear.

"Penelope, I get that you're scared for team but everything is going to work out, okay? Hotchner is coming in today and there's no way that Strauss fires him, she can't, and if she does I will take to the streets to protest with you. But, Gideon just needs time to heal and the best we can do is just be there to support him and not get worried when he doesn't respond in twenty-four hours." Amelia told the tech analyst, "And then, in a couple of years time when Hotchner has nearly been fired about six times and Gideon feels like himself again we'll drink mojitos with everyone."

"On a beach?" Penelope asked.

"On a beach," Amelia reassured, "And I'll tell them all about this phone call and they'll all smoosh your cheeks and give you kisses."

Penelope scoffed, "You better not embarrass me."

Amelia laughed. "I'm definitely going to embarrass you, Penelope." That's what friends are for.

"How do you even know Gideon? I've bet you've got hundreds of stories you could tell to embarrass him instead." Penelope suggested.

Amelia smiled - and even Penelope knew she was smiling at the memory. "It's a funny story, actually," Amelia said as she prepared herself to twist the story so that Penelope could make a scene out of it, "I was actually going to someone's book signing and I'm wearing this white crisp shirt and here comes Gideon, with a piping hot cup of coffee all down my new shirt!"

Penelope gasped while Amelia smiled, knowing the blonde would no doubt scold Jason for something Amelia had done.

"That's terrible!"

"I know!"

As the two continued to talk and giggle about the ways Penelope would get Jason back, Amelia realized she still didn't like early morning wake ups but she figured she could let it slide if it was Penelope.

The new agent would no doubt have a different opinion when she crashes later on in the day but for now, she didn't mind spending an extra hour in the morning talking to Penelope.

It had been the perfect way to start the day.

✺

Talking to Penelope had been an amazing start to the day and Amelia had walked into the office with a bigger smile than usual but it was quickly replaced with nerves when she remembered that Agent Hotchner was supposed to be coming back today for a meeting to discuss his place in the BAU.

You see, Amelia had been just a little nervous with the idea swirling in her head that she may have taken part in Agent Hotchner's suspension without pay. (So much so that she had refused to call him anything other than Agent Hotchner out of guilt)

Amelia wanted him to come back to his rightful position but she also didn't want him to come back and hate her guts.

(Aaron hadn't even thought about Amelia playing a part in his suspension, he was just a little bit concerned he'd scared her)

The moment she stepped into the office and her smile dropped, Derek followed her to her desk with a cup of coffee in hand, "Good morning sunshine."

Amelia looked up at him, exchanging a smile that wasn't quite as bright as when she first walked in, "Morning, did you have a good night?"

Derek scoffed, "If you call a good night Penelope calling you every five minutes then yeah, sure."

Amelia swatted him on the arm, "Hey! That's my idea of a perfect night."

He rolled his eyes as they approached Amelia's desk, "Yeah, sorry, forgot you two were BFFs now. I've been pushed aside."

Amelia stopped whatever she was doing and furrowed her eyebrows. That wasn't what she had meant to do at all! She had just thought Penelope was the sweetest person and they had gotten on like a house on fire... Amelia had never meant to take Derek's place.

She should've known you can only have one best friend.

Amelia would have to give that spot back to Derek immediately.

"It's alright with me though, as long as it's you she's calling at sunrise and not me." Derek said after he noticed how she'd frozen up after his last statement.

The new agent was all sorts of a mystery to him. Well, a semi-mystery, considering him and Garcia had looked through her file and saw nothing but an amazing career path, excellent write ups by her superiors, evidence of a happy home and a brilliant education. (And a few sealed files Penelope was still working on...)

Yet, to Derek there was more to Amelia than what she showed. She smiled every morning, even if she looked like she was running on coffee, she'd ask you how your night was, ask if you were okay and clearly put your needs above hers once she saw you. It was sweet, it was nice to be cared for but Derek hoped she wasn't running herself into the ground while looking after others.

While she might do all these kind things for others there was still the odd thing she'd freeze up at; whenever anyone mentioned drinks one Friday night when the team was all back together, or half way through the jet ride back home she'd stop laughing and her face would drop as if she realized something and then excuse herself to the back of the plane to sit with Spencer and read books quietly with minimal talking would be just two examples. Derek wasn't blind, he could tell Amelia closed herself off while still trying to show she cared for others and wanted to make them happy while pushing her own happiness miles and miles away.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but Derek was going to make sure Amelia felt like she didn't have to distance herself far away. He wanted her to spend the whole plane ride laughing and not hide away when she got too close to friendship.

He'd started that with making her a cup of coffee this morning, "Here. Your coffee with its eighty packets of sugar."

Amelia took the cup from him, "Thank you," she smiled sincerely, "But, eighty packets is an exaggeration it's more like seventy-nine."

"Oh, because that makes it better!" Derek laughed, observing the emptiness of her desk.

A pot filled of bright pens, that reminded him of Garcia's desk, a stack of paper that had been neatly organized, pastel highlighters scattered about, case files and one picture.

No it was not a picture of family.

It was a picture of Derek photoshopped as a seahorse. The man had so far been far too afraid to ask how Amelia and Penelope had come up with that one.

He scoffed, picking up the pink glittery frame, "I still don't understand this picture."

Amelia sipped from her coffee before answering, "You aren't supposed to, you see it's an inside joke between me and Penelope. Not you, me and Penelope."

Amelia spoke and then quickly cut herself off. That was too far. She should apologize and give Derek his best friend back, and she should stay far away from anyone and everyone.

Shouldn't she?

Derek, to her surprise, laughed, "In all honesty, sunshine, I'm not sure I want to know this inside joke between you and Garcia."

"You can if you're desperate—"

"Believe me, Amelia, I don't want to know." Derek assured, placing the frame back down onto the desk and making sure it was exactly how he found it.

"Are you sure?—"

"I'm sure," he nodded, "Come on, if we don't get to the room soon JJ will start shouting and sending us to the naughty step."

Derek began making his way up the stairs but Amelia stood with furrowed eyebrows, he continued walking even though he realized Amelia wasn't following, "I'm kidding, sunshine! She just grounds us for three days."

"See, now I know you're joking." Amelia said as she caught up with the man.

"That's what you like to think." He teased and made his way into the BAU room. The smile Amelia had created instantly dropped when she noticed the amount of missing people in the room.

"What? No Hotch, now no Gideon?"

Maybe Penelope had a sixth sense after all...

"No, no yet." JJ confirmed, craning her neck to speak to Amelia, "When was the last time you spoke to him? Spence was waiting with a game of chess and he never turned up."

"I text him about roughly twenty hours ago, so another six hours and then it's concerning. But, not turning up for chess is pretty concerning." Amelia frowned, it was unlike Gideon to not turn up to one of his and Spencer's chess dates, "I can text him again and ring him in a few hours if he doesn't turn up."

JJ nodded in agreement as she continued to pass out folders.

"You know these guys have been out for two weeks, the least they could do is be on time." Derek commented, sitting down in a chair beside Amelia and JJ.

The latest addition to the BAU typed out a message to Gideon rapidly and sent it out in no time at all.

Derek raised his eyebrows.

"What are you looking at, Grandpa? Just 'cause it takes you ten minutes to type out a message." Amelia teased with a smile, JJ and Spencer stifling their laughter.

Derek's face fell. "Watch your tone, young lady."

Amelia scoffed, "Were you replaced with an eighty year old man this morning?"

Derek rolled his eyes, turning the position of his chair so that he could no longer see Amelia.

As a retort, the agent decided to kick the legs of his chair as they all opened the folders in-front of them.

Amelia's eyebrows furrowed as she noticed the empty seat next to her, "Where's Emily?"

JJ shrugged, "Her phone keeps going straight to voicemail."

"Well, this room just keeps getting smaller and smaller, doesn't it?" Derek queried, twisting round in his seat to glare at Amelia, "Stop that, you."

Amelia smiled.

"Should we wait 15 minutes?"

"We can just brief them on the plane." JJ told them.

"Why not just have Little Miss Texter over here mass text them?" Derek questioned with a roll of his eyes.

"Jealousy is a disease, Derek."

JJ rolled her eyes, sick of the children fighting, "Do you two need to be separated?" The adults in question shook their heads, "Good, because right now a police force in Milwaukee needs our help."

Four women appeared on the screen, "They've had four murders over the past three weeks and, in addition, another woman has been missing the last two days," another picture popped up on the screen, "They've all been women in their thirties, all married with children."

"Any connections between these victims?" Derek asked.

JJ shook her head, "Just that they've all been abducted from the area of Wauwatosa, all from very public places, but there's no witnesses."

"How do we know it's the same killer?" Amelia wondered.

"Well, for starters, all the bodies have been dumped in the city's Third Ward." The bodies flashed upon the screen, all chucked aside on the kerb, "And there's this,"

Derek sat forward in his chair while Amelia sighed.

"Is that what I think it is?" Spencer asked even if he didn't need to know the answer.

"All the hearts have been cut from their bodies." At JJ's confirmation, Derek closed his eyes.

Milwaukee... here we come! (Even if half the team is missing)

✺

"He patted me on the arm and said: it's been a privilege!" Derek exclaimed as he mocked Agent Hotchner's voice.

The BAU team were currently sat on the jet, waiting for it to take off as they listened to Derek rant and complain about their unit chief, who was actually no longer going to be their unit chief.

Spencer and JJ had joined in on the shock, making passing comments as they went to make themselves cups of coffee and whatnot.

While, Amelia had remained quiet. She didn't know the unit chief as well as the others but she could still accept this was a major loss to the division, Agent Hotchner was a bit of a hardass but he was a good leader.

Amelia wished she'd found time to apologize to him before he'd made the decision to transfer. She actually hoped Strauss would deny it and come to her senses, but after their 'meeting' Amelia knew the woman would never admit to being too harsh on Hotchner.

All heads looked up and stopped their moping when they saw Strauss entering the plane and sitting down, with a sigh she had hoped wasn't audible.

Derek turned to Amelia with a look that screamed he was very unhappy. In return, Amelia handed him the packets of sugar.

Not only had Strauss joined them to lead them on this case, but Emily had also resigned - effective immediately - which caused both Amelia and Derek to sit at their seats with an unimpressed face that they didn't bother to hide from Strauss.

All this unhappiness before they'd even touched down, Amelia was sure her cheeks were going to hurt from all the smiling she was going to have to do to make up for it.

✺

A man who hated women, with little to no medical experience was running around Milwaukee during his psychological break and cutting the hearts out of women.

Fun, right?

It was not.

The officer's radios chattered in the background as the makeshift BAU team approached the scene, Derek led from the front while their supposed leader - Strauss - was further towards the back.

Amelia's fists stayed clenched at her side as they approached.

"You the FBI?" Wolynski, the detective on the scene, asked.

After introductions, Spencer started questioning the detective, "You worked the Jeffery Dhamer case?"

"Sixteen years ago," Wolynski confirmed, "You remember my name?"

"He remembers everything." JJ confirmed with a small smile.

"It's what he does." Derek added.

Amelia and Spencer shared a discreet fist bump when Strauss wasn't looking. "Our own boy genius."

"What can you tell us?" Strauss asked.

"A local merchant noticed her a few hours ago, but considering he didn't see her when he first came to work we figure that she was dumped between 7:50 and 8:05." He told them, "Same window as the others."

"All the bodies have been found in this area, right?" Derek asked, just to make sure.

"Wauwatosa is an upper-middle-class suburb, approximately fifteen minutes from here. All the women were abducted from there in the afternoon and turned up here in the morning, two days later." He informed them.

JJ looked out and past the crime scene tape, "All this foot traffic and no one saw anything?"

"Well, he wraps the bodies loosely, so they're not immediately recognized," The team, minus Strauss, approached the body, "eventually, the wrapping comes open. My guess is he had a van or a truck, something he can back up, so he's shielded when he makes the drop."

Derek crouched down beside the bloodied tarp, "No prints on whatever he wraps them in?"

The detective shook his head, "There have been traces of paint and wood stain. Most of its common stuff you'd get at a hardware store."

"He's trying to demean them, putting them out like trash." Spencer concluded.

"He might work or live around here," Amelia observed, looking around the area, "The reaction is something he'll enjoy."

The victim had been taken from a supermarket, in broad daylight, when she should've been picking her son up from school.

In broad daylight? Amelia wondered what must've enticed the woman to step away from the shop and towards the Unsub - it had to be something convincing (or someone)

"This is your fifth victim?" Strauss queried, in a tone that caused all heads to snap her way.

"Yes." The detective acknowledged with a sadness in his voice.

Strauss nodded, "You should've called us sooner."

"I thought we had a handle on it."

"Apparently not." Amelia squeezed her eyes shut at the response her section chief gave, the blonde certainly knew how to not make acquaintances with police forces.

Strauss being a terror with detectives was not going to make the case any better and considering they were down a unit chief, down a Gideon and down an Emily, Amelia feared it was only going to get worse.

✺

"Okay, but the unsub has to have something that coerces the women away from what their doing. He's either very persuasive or—"

"He's got a ruse of some sort." Spencer finished Amelia's theory as they made their way up the stairs into the police department after another woman went missing.

"Woman's name is Claire Thompson. Her husband tried to reach her on the cell phone, when she didn't pick up, he drove to the department store and her car's in the parking lot, but she's not inside."

JJ noticed the husband sat with another officer.

"JJ, take Strauss with you." Derek ordered, making Amelia's fists unclench when the blondes walked away.

"I had the department store uplink the security footage to your analyst in Quantico."

"Perfect." Derek nodded right as Amelia's phone pinged with a message from said analyst.

Amelia's eye widened at the text message asking to track Gideon's location, the response the brunette gave was a 'No' in capital letters, "Can I have a second? I'm gonna call Gideon before Penelope decides to invade his privacy."

"When you're done come straight over, I'm gonna call her right now." Derek told her, leaving and following the lead detective when Amelia nodded.

Amelia's finger lingered over the call button. Could he just be asleep? No. That didn't seem like Gideon. Had his phone fallen between the cushions of his sofa and somehow been turned onto silent...? That seemed possible.

She pressed call and hated every time the phone rung, the agent wished there was an option for her to play music at this point and not have to listen to the ringing.

"This is Jason Gideon," the answering machine spoke the automated message that Amelia had heard multiple times in the past few hours, and she wished he'd sounded a bit more happy in his voicemail - but then again, he had spent fifty minutes trying to figure out how to make one, so he was probably tired.

"Jason, it's me, Amelia, you would've known that, whoops! Can you give me a call back? We just want to make sure you're okay." Amelia frowned, she knew Jason wasn't okay but she wanted to know he was safe. "Yeah, just call me back, please."

She didn't hang up the voicemail yet as she made her way towards the desk the rest of the BAU were crowded around, "If you don't I'll just turn up at the cabin or something like that, you know I will."

Amelia tried to laugh in an attempt to calm her nerves and worries about her friend, but also if he was listening to make him feel a little better.

A laugh could go a long way, Amelia was sure of it.

She ended the voicemail and clenched her fists again when she saw Strauss, Amelia instead of focusing on her nerves around her superior focused her nerves on the security footage and Spencer's eyes immediately met hers.

"Amelia mentioned something about a something that enticed these women away from their daily tasks." The doctor's eyebrow furrowed.

Amelia shook her head watching the woman being led away by the boy, "It was never a something, it was a someone."

"That's not Claire's child, she has a two year old daughter." JJ spoke with a furrowed eyebrow trying to figure out the connection between the victim and the boy.

Amelia felt her stomach twist, "It's a ruse." Spencer's face fell in realization, "The unsub uses a kid who looks lost and that's how he lures the victims in."

"With a child." JJ muttered, disgust soaking every word.

"I'll get a list of missing kids and see if we can make out any resemblance to any of them."

Amelia shook her head at the detective's words, "You're not going to need that list." Derek nodded in agreement.

"She's right, it's agrees with something Hotch said." Strauss' eyebrows raised, Derek didn't pay attention, "All of the abductions and disposals were timed around school. He thought the Unsub might work in the system. What if this guy's actually using his own son to lure his victims?"

Amelia felt sick at the confirmation. She'd seen a lot of things in her time and even predicted a few but she never could've predicted this.

She knew profiling was to get ahead of the curve, figure out the way and try to stop the unsub before they can cause anymore harm but Amelia wasn't sure she was going to be able to wrap her head around the why of this particular unsub.

✺

The unsub lives in Wauwatosa, or the third ward, his vehicle blended in around the district with a company logo perhaps, he's known in the area and used to hard labor with a possible case of borderline personality - that was the profile summed up.

The profile Derek and Spencer had mostly delivered between the two of them, Amelia had chipped in here and there but hadn't felt like stepping on either of their toes, so she spoke about roughly three sentences.

Derek could tell she had wanted to say more, but he knew her fears and nerves had gotten the better of her.

The moment the police dispersed, Derek trailed after Amelia out of the bullpen.

Her phone was raised to her ear, no doubt calling the same number she had done earlier and the number they'd all been trying to track down all day.

"Levine!" Derek called when they turned down a corridor with very few officers in.

Amelia hung up the voicemail and turned round to Derek with wide eyes, she hoped he wasn't mad.

"Did he pick up?" Obviously not, Derek. The question he had asked was stupid and pointless, really, but this could be his one way in with Amelia - and he'd have to fill it with many reassurances and trying to calm her nerves about Gideon and the job just in general.

Amelia shook her head, sitting down on one of the plastic blue chairs in the hallway, "I like to think he's just dropped his phone down the toilet, or in-between the couch cushions but I don't know. He's not okay, and we all know it but I just want to know he's okay. Not like, 'okay okay' but safe and he's at home."

Derek nodded, sitting down beside her, "I get you. Reid hadn't stopped calling him either. I've left voicemails every other hour and only God knows what Garcia's left in his inbox."

Amelia laughed, it was quiet and short and if they hadn't of been the only two in the corridor Derek was sure he would've missed it.

The man was worried; worried about Gideon, worried about Spencer, worried about Amelia, worried about Hotch, and don't get Derek started on his worries about a BAU vs PD all out war because Strauss can't keep in line (Derek would join the PD team just to really piss the section chief off)

While the case was the main priority and the team had stuck to that (only sneaking out when tasks had been completed to check on Gideon) they all had the nagging feeling that there was something missing from their team, all of them scared to admit their fears that they might not all be back in the office when they return to Quantico.

And even if they'd all been in the BAU for varying lengths of time, none of them wanted that. None of them wanted that change. Even if there were bad cases, personal cases, bad days or anything like that the team was still a team, a team that came together like no other and were truly something special.

If Derek wanted anything to come out of this case, it would be three things: they catch the unsub, being the first, Amelia feeling like she belonged to this something special, being the second, and everyone being sat round that round table, being the third. To Derek, they were all achievable if they all worked hard enough.

He sighed, casting a glance in Amelia's direction, "You're worried, and I know you are Amelia, so if you wanna step out at any moment, you can. I'll cover for you, and I'll get the others to do the same—"

"I'm okay here," She told him, her thumb rubbing against the pad of the index finger, (Derek had seen that before) "The case distracts me from the fact we don't know where Jason is but when this case is over," he couldn't tell if she scoffed, or laughed, "I don't know what's going to happen or be found out when we get home."

It felt odd calling Virginia her home. She'd only been there for three weeks.

Amelia shouldn't call it her home, knowing her luck she'd only jinx it and end up in another state by next week.

"When we get back to Virginia—" She corrected herself and Derek's eyebrows furrowed at the correction.

"We'll work that out when it comes to it, okay?" Derek asked, telling her that in some way or form he'd be there for her when they get back, no matter the situation.

Derek shouldn't be so kind to her, Amelia thought. She'd had the nerve to steal his best friend and now he would happily sit here and offer her comfort in advance.

She'd have to stop him.

She shook her head, "You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine."

Amelia was probably not going to be fine but that wasn't Derek's problem: Amelia was Amelia's problem.

Derek nearly laughed, "You're apart of this team, Amelia, we're going to worry about you now."

For a man who had not been so trusting in his life, he wanted to trust Amelia, he knew she wouldn't cause him harm. Amelia was probably only ever going to cause Derek Morgan stress and a new reason to smile.

Not only did he want to trust Amelia, he wanted Amelia to trust him.

Amelia shook her head again and Derek stopped her from speaking, "Amelia, you've got an incredible record, incredible write ups and incredible attitude towards working. We are not going to bully you, or ignore you to the point you request a transfer. I cannot think of one person in this unit who does not want you here."

Amelia could name one.

"You are something here. And when you become a something to us, we don't let you hide away." Derek told her, watching her every move, "And, you, Amelia..."

"You don't think you belong here, you're afraid to step on toes in the profile and you're scared to show us what you can do." Amelia avoided his eye contact, "But, I don't think there's a better person that could've ended up in the BAU. And Garcia? Oh, that crazy lady won't shut up about you."

He laughed, and Amelia sighed, "Prentiss? She can't wait to take you out for a round of shots. JJ's trying to find the best way to separate you from me so that there isn't so much bickering and Reid, Reid is compiling a checklist of books for you to read on how to play chess after you confessed you didn't know how."

He was telling her all of these things and Amelia loved it, she loved that people wanted to interact with her this way, they wanted to make her a valued person in their lives. But, Amelia also hated that people wanted her in their lives.

Normally, she wouldn't let people let her in. It had happened once, and it had ended badly, in blood, sweat and tears to be exact.

Amelia wanted to let the BAU be the people she laughed the loudest with, she wanted to show them the side people didn't often see, the side past the smiles and quiet laughs.

It would be nice, she'd thought about it in the past two weeks.

But, she wasn't sure she could. There was something so frightening about it, that no matter how much Derek's words warmed her heart she couldn't let herself be valued in other people's lives.

Derek seemed insistent though, "And I want you to know that even if you try to push me away from this, it will not work." He smiled, "I want the BAU to be your place as much as it is mine, as much as it is Hotch's or JJ's."

"I'm gonna make you feel like your someone here, and you're gonna mean something to everyone here, I don't doubt that."

She chuckled quietly and squeezed her eyes shut, "You're persistent you know that, right?"

"I've been told, but then again I've been told you're quite persistent yourself."

Amelia scoffed, knowing Jason had told him that. "I just... I don't like people feeling alone, or unhappy, I want to be there for them."

Cautiously, Derek placed his hand on her shoulder, she didn't tense and he didn't pull away, "Let someone do it for you, Amelia. Let all of us make you feel happy, and make sure you never feel alone."

She shouldn't.

But, it was so easy to listen to words fall from Derek Morgan's lips and realize how appealing they sounded.

She shouldn't.

"I can't... I can't be this open person you want me to be right now," she admitted, "It's not someone I've ever been, it's not something I'm used to. People wanting me as their friend, telling me I belong that's not something I know."

Derek nodded and listened as she spoke.

"And when I had someone who wanted me, who was my friend," Amelia sighed, "It didn't end well for them and it was my fault."

When Penelope Garcia had done her snooping on the latest agent it was no shock when she called Derek into her office when she found out horrifying information, and that information had been the one thing the pair kept between themselves.

Perhaps that's why Derek was so determined to not let Amelia slip into the cracks and have nobody.

He wouldn't let that happen.

Derek squeezed her shoulder, "Whatever happened, Amelia, I will tell you now, it was not your fault." (Derek knew for a fact it wasn't her fault) "I'll tell you everyday if I have to. And then I will spend everyday waiting for you to be ready, to be open to the idea of friends."

"I can't let you do that," Amelia shook her head, "I don't know how long it would take—"

"If it takes days, weeks, months maybe even years, I don't care, Sunshine, I'm gonna show you that you deserve this no matter how long it takes."

Amelia took a deep breath, trying to comprehend how someone was willing to do this for her. She was nothing out of the ordinary, she had basically been invisible for the majority of her life. But now, she was in the BAU with her dream job, where the dream life with friends and never ending laughter was touchable and Amelia found it being offered to her.

It might take a while, it might not. Amelia didn't know yet. But, she had been tempted, she was ready to challenge herself to this.

"Promise me that even if it gets hard, you aren't going to give up." There was defeated tone in her voice, as if afraid to admit that it had gotten hard before and she had failed.

Amelia had failed many times to try an open herself up, in high school she'd approach a group of girls and immediately turn the opposite direction when she worked herself up. Amelia didn't want that anymore.

She wanted to make new friends, she wanted to have more than one.

Amelia wasn't going to let herself give up this time.

Derek held his pinky out, "I don't plan on giving up, Sunshine, but if it brings you some comfort I'll put it on the pinky."

Amelia lips found themselves curving upwards, "So, if you do actually break this promise I get to chop your pinky off."

Amelia looped her pinky with his before he could argue.

"I'm glad I don't plan on it then." His eyebrows furrowed when he noticed the new color of polish on her nails.

He could've sworn they were a pastel blue yesterday, and now they were pastel yellow.

Amelia hid them from him in a clenched fist, and it suddenly hit him why she'd been doing that around Strauss all day.

He chuckled quietly, "You're been hiding your nails from Strauss, all day." Amelia furrowed her brows at his laughter, "I seriously thought the woman had like insulted you or something so you were fighting the urges to punch her."

"But, no you were just hiding your nails." Derek shook his head in disbelief, "Nice color, by the way."

"Thanks! Penelope chose it." She beamed.

"Strauss doesn't care about nail color, by the way." Amelia's face fell.

"So, I've been hiding them all day for no reason!"

Derek nearly laughed at her expression of shock, "Oh, if I had a camera right now."

Amelia swatted his arm, "It is so not funny! You could've told me sooner."

"It took me all day to realize!" He defended himself as he saw the woman prepare another fatal slap, "You are so not about to swat me for that."

"I'm thinking about it." She pondered before standing up, "I'm actually going to ask Reid if I should do it."

Derek stifled his laughter, "You think pretty boy is going to encourage violent behavior?"

"When it comes to you?" Amelia nodded, vigorously, "Oh, yeah."

He rolled his eyes but pointed in Reid's direction as the girl happily skipped away (and nearly bumped into six people in the process) Once she was gone from his line of sight, a smile tugged at his lips.

It may not have completed his second wish of this case but it told Derek that one day he could tick that box, and he didn't care how long it took.

Derek was going to make Amelia know that it had not been her fault for what had happened on that day of negotiations and that this was the place she belonged; where she could cause them no harm.

Now, Derek just had to work on solving this case and getting the BAU back together.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
when hotch takes over the bf duties from derek is the day i finally know peace