Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Criminal Minds.

Full Circle
Part 1

By N. J. Borba

Emily grabbed a file and shoved it into the open bag on her desk in the living room. She'd just flipped open a second file to scan the photos inside when she heard a knock at her door. That file was closed and pushed into her bag as well before she went to answer. According to her watch it was a little early for the person she was expecting, but not terribly so. Three feet from the door she felt something crunch beneath her feet. With an annoyed huff and a flourish, she swung the wooden door open and knelt down to clean up the small mess she'd come across on the floor.

On her hands and knees, staring at the floor, Emily welcomed her guest inside. "Hey, Silvia. You're early and I'm running a little late, as usual. Maybe you can help me..." her voice trialed off as she noticed the shoes that were standing in her open doorway; dark and manly. Definitely not anything her fifty year old next door neighbor lady would be wearing.

She jumped to her feet and faced the man standing in front of her. "Hello, Emily," he greeted her with an unreadable expression.

Her expression was very telling, though. Complete shock about summed it up perfectly. "Derek?" Emily's heartbeat thumped a noisy cadence in her head as she stared open-mouthed at him. "What are you... I wasn't... I mean I didn't..." She sighed and gave up on words, not sure what it was she wanted to say.

"What am I doing here?" he finished one of her thoughts. A shrug shifted both shoulders toward his ears. His face finally revealed some small emotion, caught half way between a smile and a scowl. "I don't know, I guess I was just curious as to why you took off three years ago without a word to me or anyone else on the team."

A lump resided high in her throat and Emily did her best to swallow it, but swallowing pride was difficult. "I thought it was best to leave after what we... what I did."

"You mean sleeping with me?" Derek wasn't about to dance around the issue. He'd been searching three years for an answer and now that she was standing in front of him, he planned to get one out of her. "Or maybe you meant the part where I woke up the next morning and you were gone?"

Emily clasped her hand tighter around the items she'd picked up off the floor a few seconds ago, practically crushing them against her palm. "It was just one night, Morgan."

He nodded, easily picking up on the way she'd switched to calling him Morgan. It was a dodge, and not a particularly good one. "Yeah, one night," he slowly breathed out the words as he continued to stand there in her open doorway, noticing that she looked even more beautiful than he remembered the last time he'd seen her. "One night in which I finally realized how much I cared about you. And then you were gone the next day, just gone. No note, no message... nothing."

She caught the undertone of irritation in his voice and grew defensive because of it. "Don't even try to make me out to be the bad guy in this, Derek. You..." Emily shook her head. "You were about to marry Tamara in two weeks," she reminded him. "I knew you were just confused and probably a little scared about taking that next step, so I left. I eliminated any doubt you might have had."

Derek scoffed. "Did you even hear what I just said?" he asked. "It wasn't doubt, Emily. It was denial. I clung to her because I didn't think I stood a chance with you, but that night..." Morgan took a deep breath. He'd practiced the words so many times over the last few years and suddenly they all seemed to slip away. All that was left was the truth. "You felt it too, I know you did."

"Of course I did," she replied without a second thought. "I felt it a long time before that night, but it wasn't right. We worked together and you always made it clear you weren't interested in anything serious, I didn't think you'd ever settle down. Then I watched you grow closer to Tamara and I admit that I was jealous and it lead me to do something very stupid that night. That's why I had to leave, for you. I wanted you to be happy and I thought she'd be the one to finally make that happen for you."

"I didn't marry her, Emily," he revealed. "I called it off and I looked for you. For three years I've been looking for you. Now that I've found you, we can start over." Derek wore a smile, a genuine one that relayed his desire to follow through on those words. "I don't want to argue about the past, it's not relevant any more. I just want to finally get on with my life... with you now."

"Oh, Derek," Emily sighed. She'd thought about seeing him again, a hundred times over, but she never imagined him saying the things he just had. "It's not that simple."

His smile faded and his whole face fell as he looked past her shoulder and around the house. Derek caught small glimpses of her new life. There was cozy furniture and framed pictures, a bunch that looked like they held images of a small child. "You're married, aren't you?" he bravely asked. "You have kids and a family; all the things I wasn't ready for, don't you?"

"Derek..." Emily began to answer his questions, but found she didn't need to when someone else came to join them.

"Mama," a soft, sweet voice called out.

Morgan spotted the little girl who'd snuck up on them. She wore a pink t-shirt and purple polka-dot leggings and clung to Emily's leg for dear life. Her hair was mused and big, dark eyes with long lashes drooped in a manner that made him guess she'd just woken up. She was also holding a large, stuffed bunny rabbit in her left hand that looked like it had been used as a pillow many times over. "I guess that's a pretty good confirmation," he concluded, smiling down at the girl.

Emily finally dumped her handful of Cheerios onto the nearby desk then bent down, scooped the girl up and kissed her cheek. "Hey, baby," she cooed to the child. "You didn't take a very long nap. Silvia was supposed to be here when you woke up." The girl didn't seem to care about her mother's words as much as she did Emily's shoulder. She laid her little head down, snuggling against Emily's chest and shoulder. Her eyelids closed as she started to fall asleep again.

Derek felt his three-year-long dream slip through his fingers as he watched Emily with the toddler. At the same time, he couldn't help noticed how cute the little girl was. With her fair skin and dark mop of hair she looked a lot like Emily. "I should probably go before I make an even bigger fool of myself," he announced as Emily moved closer to the door and him, toddler still in her arms. "I'm sorry if I intruded..." his words slowly tapered off as he stared at the child more closely. A sudden spark of recognition caused goose bumps to erupt along his arms. "Son of a..."

Emily watched as his eyes roamed her daughter's features. She knew what he was seeing, because it was what she'd seen the moment her little girl had been born. It would have been obvious to anyone who knew both father and daughter. "Derek, I wanted to..."

"How could you?" he didn't let her finished. "You should have told me."

In a matter of seconds she'd seen his face turn from shock and realization to instant love for his daughter, and then to a fiery rage. "You're angry," she stated the obvious.

"Damn right I am," Derek growled, doing his best to restrain the furious beast churning in his stomach. He stared at the little girl who had drifted back to sleep. In that second he wanted nothing more than to grab the child from Emily and run. But he shook his head and slowly took several steps backward. "I can't do this right now, otherwise I might end up saying some things I'll regret later." Morgan tore his eyes away from the child and turned his steely gaze on Emily. "We need to talk, though," he spoke through gritted teeth. "Maybe tonight or tomorrow morning," he suggested, hoping he'd be calmed down by then. "I know how to contact you now, expect a call."

She nodded a response, unsure of her voice. Both Emily and the toddler were startled as he slammed the door shut on them. Emily ran a hand over her daughter's downy-soft hair. "It's okay," she spoke in a soothing tone and placed a gentle kiss against the girl's cheek. "Normally Derek is a really good guy, but he's just a little upset right now," she whispered as the child settled down against her shoulder again. "Not Derek," she mumbled. "He's your daddy," Emily corrected herself. "And mama's sorry she made such a big mess of things, baby."

To Be Continued...