Five years. It's been five years since Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan met. Yet it's amazing how much can change in just five years. How much you can find out about a person, how many secrets of theirs you could discover, how close you can really get. The changes are subtle at first, but then one day you look back and are shocked at how different things are, how much that one person influenced your life. For Derek and Emily, all the changes seemed to happen in the same place.

2.16, Fear and Loathing

Morgan and Prentiss found themselves alone at the new diner. Derek had invited the whole team out after a tough case but somehow, all of them, except for Emily, managed to back out. So there they were, sitting across from each other, neither knowing what to say because for the first time they had a chance to talk about something non work related.

There was some smalltalk, about Kurt Vonnegut, about the last case, and then they settled into silence. Emily would've thought it would be awkward – that this whole dinner would be awkward, considering she'd only known the man for a couple of weeks.

And yet somehow, it wasn't. There was something about Morgan that made her feel calm – his presence was comforting and warm. It was like she'd known him her whole life. So that's why the long silence they shared felt comfortable, until his question broke it and made her guard go back up again.

"Hey Prentiss, you ever been married?"

Emily was stunned by the question, but tried not to let it show. She'd liked Morgan, but she couldn't help the little voice in her mind telling her that here it was, the sign that he was a complete douchebag, just like the rest.

"Why are you asking?"

"Well, if you're gonna be my partner, I've gotta have some dirty laundry on you.", he said, cracking a smile again. And Emily pushed that little voice inside her down, because he was joking. He was just flirting and kidding, and she took everything too fucking seriously.

"Nope, never married. No boyfriend either.", she said, deciding to play his game, but on her own terms.

She leaned closer to him across the table, until her face was inches away from his and bit her lip, trying to be as seductive as possible. She saw him swallow and his pupils dilate a little, and that's when she pulled back, smiling.

"Ohhhh, you are a tease, Prentiss. I like you already.", he said trying to pick up the shreds of his dignity off the floor as she laughed. But secretly, this comment meant everything to Emily. I like you already. It meant acceptance – something she'd craved her whole life. And that night, for the first time, she could really imagine a future with the team.

3.03, Scared to Death

By this time, it was always just them at the diner. The rest of the team never asked to come because this had turned into their thing, just the two of them. After a hard case, this is where they would go.

"So, Gideon's really gone?", Emily said, shaking her head. It amazed her sometimes how quickly someone can fall out of your life. One day they're there, the next they're just gone.

"Yeah, I guess he is. Damn, I understand why, but he at least owes Reid an explanation. The kid looked up to him."

Prentiss didn't know how to respond, so she just looked down at her pancakes, cutting them into a million little pieces. After a couple of minutes, she felt Morgan looking at her.

"I never got to tell you, but I respect what you did. With Strauss, and Hotch, and resigning. I've got to admit, at first I was pissed, but now I get it. But I wanna know why. You could've easily told her things about Hotch and stayed on the team – this is not an easy job to get. Why'd you resign?"

Prentiss' eyes widened; she couldn't hide that she was surprised by the question. But she had an answer, nonetheless. She was going to give him the truth, absolutely, because that's what he deserved.

"Strauss was threatening me with politics. I think politics makes people distrustful, and it tears families apart. Yeah, I wanted this job and I worked my ass of to get here, but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of giving in to her little deal just to keep this job.", she paused. "Besides, this team, you're like a family. And what kind of person would I be to try to tear this family apart for my own selfish needs? You're all... so amazing, and honestly, I hoped to be part of the family someday. But I would rather quit and go out with dignity than go and tell Strauss a bunch of political bullshit that she wants to hear just to throw the best team leader I've ever had under the bus."

Morgan paused for a second, taking it in. And yet again, he found himself being amazed by her – he swore she was braver than most of the men he knew.

"You're pretty extraordinary, you know that?", he responded, meaning it more than she would ever know.

Emily just smiled and looked down, suddenly a bit embarrassed.

"And Emily? You already are.", he added "a part of this family I mean."

Emily looked into his eyes, seeing the truth projected there, and suddenly, she smiled, and everything didn't feel so bad. Gideon leaving didn't feel like the end of the world, and her days with Doyle just felt like a hazy memory. Because now, she belonged. She had a family who would help her through anything – and that was something Emily Prentiss had never had before.

3.08, Lucky

Derek Morgan sat alone in the empty diner, staring down at his own hands, thinking of Garcia. God, how could he let that happen to her? He'd promised he'd keep her safe, and now look what had happened.

He heard the click of heels approach and looked up to see Emily sitting down on the other side of the booth. "I knew I'd find you here."

"How's Penelope?", he choked out, each word feeling like acid in his throat.

"She's good, resting. We can't see her until tomorrow though. How are you holding up?", she said gently.

"I could've stopped this.", he looked up at her, needing to get it out, needing to tell someone. "I was thinking about going to Garcia's place to make up with her, but then I'd gone in that stupid church, and the only damn reason I went was to pray for the first time after what that man did to me twenty years ago. Somehow my whole life, all the mistakes come back to him and what happened... And I can't help thinking that there was something I could've done to stop him, to stop all this."

Prentiss looked in his tear-filled eyes, not quite sure if the last sentence was about Carl Buford or Penelope's shooter. But it didn't matter. Up until now, he'd been her rock. He'd always been the one comforting her – now it was time to turn the tables. She couldn't bare to see him hurting like this.

"Derek, listen to me.", she said, reaching and grabbing his hands across the table. "What Carl did to you – it was terrible. It was not your fault, and you know very well that there's nothing you could've done to stop him. But he did something great too – he made you the man you are today; one of the best men I know, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. The kind of man who's not going to give up until he finds Penelope's shooter, and the one who's going to be at her side when she wakes up, holding her hand. He did take a lot from you, but he made you who you are. And if you ask me, that's pretty damn great.", she said, giving him a weak smile and squeezing his hand before getting up again, leaving him to himself. She was never one to impose her company.

"Thank you.", he said, giving her one last squeeze of her hand before letting go.

She nodded and gave him a tight-lipped smile, all the confirmation he would ever need that she was here for him, always.

4.03, Minimal Loss

That day, the ride to the diner was silent. He hadn't even asked her if she wanted to go – hell, she probably didn't, but there was no way he was letting her out of his sight now. And besides, he needed to talk. And the familiar diner seemed to be the only place that he could.

They walked in and sat down at their regular booth, both staring blankly at the menu that they had seen a thousand times before.

"Emily... what were you thinking?", he said quietly, still not looking her in the eyes.

She looked up, not angry, because she expected this from him.

"I was thinking that I couldn't let Reid die or be tortured by that man.", she said simply, and he cringed at the idea. He realized he'd never thanked her for keeping Spencer safe. He'd failed at that too – protecting Reid, somehow, seemed like his responsibility.

"Thank you. The kid couldn't have handled that, not after Tobias."

She just nodded, going back to stare aimlessly at the menu. After a couple of minutes, Morgan spoke again, and it seemed like it was taking all his effort to get the words out.

"I just... I spent the whole time wishing it was me in there instead of you. I still wish it would've been.", he said, his expression pained as he looked at the bruises coloring her face.

She breathed in, the air slightly hitching in her chest, and let out an exasperated sigh.

"If it was you in there Morgan, I would have spent the whole time wishing it was me. Two sides of the same coin. And this - what I did, how is this any less reckless than you driving off in that ambulance in New York?", she said, her voice rising up half an octave as memories forced themselves to the surface.

"Emily... you know that's what I had to do."

"And you know that I had to do this.", she said, absolution in her voice. And he understood, maybe too well. And there, then, they reached an unspoken agreement that they were even. "Besides, I'm okay. This is nothing."

He looked into her eyes, saw some flicker of uncertainty there, and he automatically knew.

"How are you really?", he said, voice low, hand reaching out to her across the table.

She shook her head and looked down at her lap for what seemed like forever. He didn't rush her though, and when she looked up, there were tears in her eyes.

"There'll be some damage. But I'll be alright."

"How 'bout I drive you home?", he offered, knowing that this offer was usually rejected.

But this time, she accepted. He drove her home and settled in on her couch, because it felt oh-so wrong to leave her alone on a night like this. He woke up in the middle of the night to her screaming and went in her room and turned on Friends and joked with her until she drifted off again.

That night, he was her anchor; something to hold on to when the world was drifting apart.

4.09, 52 Pickup

That night, Emily looked different walking into the diner. First off, she had much more makeup on than usual. Also, her hair was eloquently framed around her face, not down straight how she usually wore it. She had changed out of her dress, but she was still sporting the three inch pumps she had worn that night.

And, it's safe to say, everyone noticed.

She and Derek walked in and found their booth, ordering the usual meal.

There was some talk of the case, of Jordan, but then, out of nowhere came Derek's question.

"Have you seriously dated guys worse than Viper?", he almost burst out, and Emily was surprised, partly because it seemed so out of character for him to be so un-composed and partly because she had told that to Hotch, not Morgan.

Her confused face was enough to signal what she was thinking and he quickly answered.

"You had your earpiece on. We were testing it out."

She nodded, seeming to accept this explanation before moving on to answer the question. "Well, it's not like I can take my pick Morgan.", she said, a hint of accusation in her voice – implying, not so subtly, that not everyone was surrounded by suitors all the time like him.

Morgan's face changed from uncomfortable to completely dumbfounded in a matter of seconds. No, he thought to himself, she had to be playing up the modesty.

"What?", she said, confused by his shock.

"You really don't know?"

"Know what?", Emily seemed genuinely a little pissed now.

"The effect you have. Do you really not realize how many guys turn around when you walk into a room? God, Em, I bet you could get any guy you wanted.", he said, hoping she'd take it to heart.

Emily looked down into her lap, blushing slightly. God, what the hell was this? Emily Prentiss never had been one to blush.

"Yeah, sure Morgan."

He looked at her, hair falling ever so gently over her face, her porcelain skin shining, and he was completely mind-blown by the fact that she didn't believe him. And he swore, right then, to spend every day making her feel beautiful, no matter what it took.

"Hey, I'm serious. When I saw you in that club tonight, it took all the professionalism I could muster up not to hit on you.", he smirked. "Even Hotch looked a bit distracted, and you know how hard that is to do."

Emily looked up, smiling slightly. Maybe he was saying all of this just to make her feel better – maybe not. But that didn't matter, because he cared. She had someone who really cared how she felt, and that was what she'd needed all along.

She smiled wide, ready to turn back to their familiar ground of jokes and light flirting.

"Why didn't you? Hit on me, I mean?"

She was ready for a smile or a flirty comeback, but instead his face got serious.

"Because you, Emily Prentiss, are way too good for a damn pick-up line."

4.17, Demonology

Morgan looked through the diner window and sighed and the sad picture. There she was, just like he thought, alone, stirring a straw in her milkshake while tears gathered in her eyes.

He knew he probably shouldn't be intruding, but he couldn't leave her there like that, all alone. So he figured he'd go in and try to help, but he promised himself he'd leave at the first sign of her wanting him to. She needed her space, Morgan knew that.

"Are you okay?", he said, standing next to her.

She looked up, her hair still wet and sticking to her face, and shook her head. Morgan was a bit surprised – this was the first time she'd let him know that just maybe she wasn't alright, and he appreciated it more than she could know.

"No. Matthew helped me through one of.. one of the hardest times in my life. He was there for me when no one else was, despite his parents not liking me. And now he's gone... And I miss him Derek.", she said, a tear slipping down her cheek, her voice more broken than he'd ever heard.

"I know princess.", he said, because really, that's all you can say.

She shook her head and stood up, as if about to leave, to run away again, but he stopped her by pulling her into a hug.

At first, her body was tense but eventually she melted into him, and Derek swore he even heard a stifled sob escape into his shoulder.

"Shh, it'll be okay.", he said, whispering it into her hair. "Come on, sit down."

He pulled her into the booth next to him and ran his had up and down her arm as she leaned on his shoulder. For the first time he noticed how exhausted she looked, and realized she probably hadn't slept for days. He was about to say something about this, but she spoke first.

"You remind me a lot of Matthew, you know.", she said, her eyes not quite focused, as if she was replaying a memory.

"Huh... You know what the difference between me and him is though?"

She looked at him questionably.

"I'll never leave. Even if my parents don't like you.", he grinned, finally getting the smallest of smiles out of her.

"I'll always be right here.", he added, squeezing his arm around her.

"Thank you.", Emily whispered, more tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Always.", he finished, placing a kiss to her forehead as she stared off into the back of the diner, reliving some memory that he hoped he would get to hear about someday.

[Tell me how you liked it, part two will be up soon!]