"AHH, emily stop it!" emerson screeched and she waved away a cloud of flour. the substance was in her hair and all over the clothes that she was wearing. they had been trying to make cake pops for the past hour, but emily decided against it by starting a war. but the fun ended very soon when em's phone rang.

"prentiss," emily answered. "oh. great. is jones coming? oh okay. yeah, sure. i'll tell her.thanks. okay bye." she hung up and turned to emerson. "hotch needs me, jj, and reid at the station tonight. some case files need reviewing and no one else is picking up."

"oh, okay." both girls knew how afraid emerson was of being alone at night.

"i'm gonna call derek, see if you can stay with him until i get done."

"i- emily, no! i don't know the guy! i don't know what he's like or anything--"

"you'll be fine, em. besides, he's one of the most respectful guys that i have ever met, so i doubt you two won't get along."

emerson sat in silence for a moment. "why didn't they call me in?"

"hotch didn't want to stress you out by calling you in after your very first day of work," she told her. emerson frowned. she wanted to work. she wished he had called her in. then she wouldn't have to awkwardly sit with some guy that she barely knew. "quit worrying about it. you'll live."

"you owe me big time."

✧✧✧

"hey, come on in!" derek greeted emerson, opening the door wider so that she could walk in.

"thanks. i'm sorry, you really didn't have to let me stay with you. emily--"

"look, with what we do for a living, i don't blame you for not wanting to be home alone. i get it. plus i'm happy to have your company," he smiled warmly. she returned the gesture before taking her shoes off and setting them beside the door. she looked around the room in awe.

"it's beautiful in here. i must say though that it's quite big for just one person."

"eh, it's a bit roomy, i will say that. but there's more room for projects."

"so is that what you do in your free time?"

he laughed at the amused look on her face. "yeah i, uh, i like to buy and repair houses when i'm not working. there's a certain satisfaction to it."

"well, i'm glad that you have something set aside to do when you aren't on the job."

"psh, with what we do, i'm always on the job," he joked, the corners of his mouth pulling up into a smile, his eyes squinting. "now, miss jones, what would you like to-- are you even wearing pants?"

emerson looked down, regret creeping across her face. shit. "see, about that. we kinda left in a rush and i might have forgotten to clean up and put all of my clothes on--"

"woah woah woah, i knew there was something going in with you and prentiss," derek laughed, turning away and rubbings face. emerson's eyebrows furrowed, the girl obviously confused.

"what do y-- oh. oh! oh my god, no! ahaha, no no that came out wrong, i just meant that--"

"i'm just messing with you, jones."

"you have a serious problem with interrupting me, agent," emerson commented, smirking and turning around to find the bathroom.

"sorry. uh, do you want to take a shower? you can get all that flour out of your hair. only if you want. you don't have to, i just, i mean its just--"

"i would love to, thank you," she smiled, amused at his loss of words.

"now who's interrupting?"

"oh whatever, at least i don't stutter when i talk," she smirked.

"ohh, thats how you wanna play, huh?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"oh no no no, mister, you take another step towards me and i will cut you."

"oh will you now?"

"don't you test me, morgan, i can be ruthle-- AHH stop--" morgan slung emerson over his shoulder and started spinning. "put me down! morgan!" she laughed. then it hit her. "morgan stop, my shirt!"

her shirt had ridden up and was currently sitting just under her rib cage, leaving her stomach and underwear exposed.

"ahh, its just a little skin, you'll live," he chuckled, putting the crazy-haired girl down. her cheeks turned a furious shade of pink, and she covered her face.

"so, um, about that shower..." she stated, trying to change the atmosphere around her in any way that she could.

he smirked. "down the hall to the left. i'll bring you some clothes to change into."

she nodded and made her way down the hall. when she got in the room, she turned on the hot water and stripped, taking off em's flour-covered tee and dropping it on the floor, as well as her underwear. when the water was warm enough, she stepped in and let the water rush over her naked body. turning to get the shampoo, she quickly realized that derek morgan was just like every other guy. he was no different.

he had 3-in-1 soap. she was so telling emily about this later. she sighed and started washing herself. she began thinking, though. if derek is bald, why would he need 3-in-1 soap? couldn't he just use body wash? a knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts, so forcefully that she jumped and slipped in the tub, busting her ass.

"oww," she groaned. it hurt to move, so she just laid there, waiting for the pain to subside.

"jones, you good in there?" morgan questioned, concerned.

"help. i've fallen and i can't get up," she giggled, laughing at herself for the life alert reference. apparently, though, derek didn't realize that she was joking, because he quickly opened the door and walked in.

"i brought you some clothes. do you need help? are you okay?"

"ugh, yeah just give me a minute to recover feeling in my butt, bro."

derek laughed at emerson's comment. "okay, buddy. call me if you need anything."

"aye aye, captain." she stood up and finished washing herself and morgan walked back out, closing the door behind him. she got out of the shower and dried herself off before looking though the garments stacked on the counter. she slipped on the black t-shirt and then it hit her: she didn't have clean underwear. she unfolded the sweatpants and saw a pair of boxers lying underneath, neatly folded. she smiled.

after she had gotten completely dressed, she walked out to find derek leaning against the counter, talking on the phone.

"yeah, i'll tell her. no, really, don't worry, she can stay here. i won't. yes ma'am. i know, i know. okay. alright i'll tell her. okay. okay bye."

he hung up the phone and turned to emerson. "prentiss and reid are flying out to detroit tonight. she said she'll be back in the morning, but until then, she wanted to know if you were going back to her apartment or not."

she groaned, throwing her head back. "i mean, i can if she wants me to. i don't want to burden you--"

"oh please, you could never. i insist. i have plenty of room. i can sleep on the couch."

"god, no, i'm not gonna let you sleep on the couch in your own home," emerson scoffed. "if i'm gonna spend the night, i'm gonna be the one that sleeps on the couch."

"well, i'm sorry but i can't let you do that," derek stated, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter."

"derek morgan, you are a royal pain in my ass."