Across the Pond

Summary: On some days, they were painfully reminded of the 3700 miles between them.

Author's Note: Sort of sequel to In Mid Fall. Oh, and funny trivia; Lily Kershaw who sang the awesome song in the season finale is the daughter of CM-director Glenn Kershaw. Lots of talent in that family.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

–

It was three weeks since Emily left. There had been a wonderful night at Rossi's mansion with dinner and drinks, animated conversation and reminiscing, flowing tears and hysterical laughter. She had taken her time explaining to both Jack and Henry about London. Then there had been proper goodbyes, hugs and promises of Skype, FaceTime and direct flights across the pond. It was with heavy steps they'd parted that night, all of them painfully aware of that things wouldn't be the same anymore.

Barely a week later, she'd boarded her flight that would take her to the new chapter of her life. But as she looked down through the clouds at the maze of D.C streets, and instead of thinking of all the new things awaiting her, all she could think about was what she was leaving behind.

–

Monday was the first day at the BAU without Emily and it had Derek Morgan wanting to turn and leave the moment he arrived to Quantico, start over and come back in and find that it had all been some silly practical joke. But no. The emptiness of her desk made him retreat to his own office where he remained until he could go home the moment the clock struck five. As he sped down the hallway towards the elevator, he didn't dare glancing into the bullpen, knowing the reminder of Emily's absence was something he could do without for the moment.

He pressed the button for the ground floor and watched the numbers above the door. So was this how it was going to be from now on? Avoiding and ignoring until something burst? As the elevator dinged and he stepped out in the darkened lobby, he finally allowed himself to realize the extent of which he missed her.

This is gonna drive me crazy...

–

Stepping into the London Interpol office was like stepping into a whole new world. After her first day the nervousness was completely gone and for the first time in months, Emily felt like she could breathe again. Her new apartment was small but homey in central London. On the fifth floor, the buzz of the city didn't disturb her and the view was pretty impressive.

The first two weeks felt like mere seconds. There were moments when everything felt so overwhelming that all she wanted to do was pack her things and fly back to the States and into the comfort zone of the BAU. It was after these two weeks she came to doubt her decision for the first time. A short line scribbled with red ink in her calendar reminded her of Henry's upcoming birthday.

As she went to pick out a card and a gift, she recalled Henry's indignant face when she had informed him that she wouldn't make it to his party this year. The heartbroken look on the soon-to-be four year old's face was almost enough to skip back to D.C again.

On Henry's big day, Emily managed to catch JJ on Skype and wish the boy happy birthday face to face. The smile and wave as they hung up brought a wave of homesickness that Emily had never ever experienced before.

For a moment asking herself what the hell she was really doing here, she pulled out her phone and impulsively tapped three words before hitting send.

I miss you.

Making a quick calculation in her head, she realized Derek probably wouldn't read it for a good couple of hours. But she went to bed that night, feeling much lighter and much less lonely than she had only hours before.

–

Excusing himself from the late night briefing, Morgan discreetly slipped into the empty conference room. They had been out in Texas working another high-paced serial murder case, for almost five days. Exhaustion was wearing down on all of them but Derek found himself also distracted by thoughts of a certain former partner who happened to be across the world when he really needed her the most.

It was usually Emily who read his mood and lack of sleep the best, wordlessly offering cups of coffee and a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder even before he realized he needed it. Now he felt so worn out he wondered if the alarm would actually manage to wake him up in the morning. It was almost two a.m but he knew Emily was up early. It would be around 7 o'clock in London. On late nights, either lacking sleep or working cases, he had made a habit out of checking in on her.

He sunk down on a chair and opened the iMessage-conversation he kept with Emily. Thank God for free text messaging between iPhones. Tapping their standard conversation opener he stared down at the screen, anxiously waiting for her reply. It came barely a minute later.

Goodnight and good morning. I miss you, too.

Fifteen minutes and a short conversation later, he felt much better and they scheduled their weekly Skype-date. As he joined the team back out in the squad room he promptly ignored the knowing smirk from JJ. He knew he wasn't the only one iMessage:ing with Emily.

Damn women and their girl talk.

–

It was the first time he felt far away even if she could look straight into his eyes, that were at the moment brimming with tears. He'd managed to briefly describe their latest case. Cases involving children and sexual abuse always hit him hard, reminding him of his own childhood and how the innocence had been stolen from it, both by Carl Buford and his father's death.

Emily sat quietly in her dark living room, balancing her laptop. For a moment they just sat in silence, Emily wishing desperately she could reach out and touch him, Derek wishing she was there, understanding without forcing him to talk about it. She always knew he preferred not to talk about it with words. Words made it worse.

In a low voice he'd revealed another piece of his childhood. Up until now, they'd mostly talked about work. Cases, Emily adjusting in London and the endless interviews of people applying for her vacant spot at the BAU. But tonight was all about dark memories, part of their pasts they wished they didn't have and how those 3700 miles felt like light years away.

Finally, they ended their conversation but not before Emily firmly telling him he was always welcome to London. Anytime. Always.

–

The weather was getting colder, a carpet of yellow and red leaves covering the streets of D.C. Derek angrily kicked his feet through the piles of dead leaves, sending them flying into the air before fluttering back down on the asphalt, still wet from the violent rainfall of the past week. He paced the entrance to the Emergency Room, fist clenching and nails digging into his palms.

It will be fine, he told himself. It would. It was nothing serious. A confrontation with an UnSub had granted Reid a visit to the Emergency Room. A bump on the head, light concussion and desk duty for a week. Nothing serious, they'd all been through far worse. But still, Derek felt responsible. To him, Reid would always be the baby brother to look out for. Today hadn't been an exception and Morgan had failed. He knew no one else blamed him, and he didn't really either. But it was an unsettling feeling, nonetheless.

Emily would have his head for this. She always got angry when he took the blame. She had almost shouted at him at a few occasions when he'd refused to admit that accidents did happen sometimes, especially in their line of work. And that he had to let it go. Speaking of the devil, he thought as his phone vibrated in his pocket and the screen lit up with Emily's name. All news travels fast it appeared since all it said was "Is Reid OK?"

Answering her, Derek almost knew the question that would come next, since it was either JJ or Garcia who'd told Emily about the current situation. "Are YOU ok?" Knowing he wasn't able to pull off a white lie even with her 3700 miles away, Derek sighed and tapped the FaceTime-icon.

Almost two hours later as they hung up, he glanced at the clock and realized that it was three a.m in London.

–

Emily had never ever regretted her decision. Up until now. October marked the month of her birthday and at the BAU birthdays had been a big deal. Garcia always made a fantastic and extremely colorful cake and had all the members come in one hour early to spend sixty minutes of laughter in the conference room before reality and another gruesome case called upon their attention.

This particular birthday was the worst so far, except for the one she'd spent locked up in Paris. Apparently, fate had decided she needed a reminder of Murphy's law because everything this morning that could go wrong had gone wrong, and by the time she came to the office it felt like she'd been up all day. Being chief definitely had its disadvantages. As the strict professionalism kept at the workplace. She had quickly learned that Interpol was not like the old days and nothing like the BAU.

After three incredibly dull meetings and five failed attempts at calling the plumber to fix the leak under her kitchen sink she'd been unfortunate enough to discover the same morning, it was finally lunch time. Escaping the office quickly, she ran across the street and around the corner to her favorite deli. It reminded her of her old favorite back in D.C. After spending a glorious hour to herself, checking happy birthday wishes from people who actually were aware of today's date, she felt much better.

In a much better mood, she stepped out of the elevator and walked the short distance to her office. She immediately spotted the FedEx-box through the glass partition. Feeling a rather silly smile almost split her face in two, she shook her head at herself. The single flower on top of the box revealed the sender.

She sat down behind her desk, still smiling and suddenly coming up with a handful of birthdays that had been far worse than this one.

–

Derek felt awful. Here he was, sitting across from a beautiful and talkative woman in one of his favorite bars in D.C. But he knew too well that he hadn't heard a single word coming out of her mouth since they entered the place. The impromptu date had been arranged by JJ of all people. The casual mentioning of an old high school friend coming to town had in some way led to his current situation. Dinner and drinks.

She was probably more interested than he was. Hell, even the guy in the bar had shown her more interest then Derek felt at the moment. He felt slightly guilty because no matter what, Derek Morgan was a gentleman. Even if one of his dates was incredibly bored, ranting about only God knows what, he was still a gentleman. Tonight he knew he'd barely said a word. The regular charm impossible to pull off.

And unfortunately, she was starting to notice his agitation. Giving him a long look that he pretended not to get, she kept on talking. Derek discreetly glanced at his watch. The weekly Skype-date with Emily was due in two hours. He knew she'd had a rough week and he had wanted to speak to her face to face the whole week. No way in hell he was going to miss out on it.

As it often were when he was thinking about her, his phone placed on the table came to life and her name appeared on the screen. "See you in two hours. Can't wait." He smiled and for a moment he completely forgot about his company. But he realized her presence just a moment too late. She'd seen the message. And his home screen picture.

It was from JJ's wedding day. Thanks to the front camera on iPhone he'd managed a candid shot of himself and Emily on the dance floor, way past midnight. He distinctly remembered gently jabbing his fingers into her ribs, tickling her and making her face light up with laughter. The shot had gone off and after fooling her into believing he'd deleted it, he had set it as home screen picture the moment he got home that night.

Now he looked up at his date, whose eyebrows had furrowed slightly. She had clearly misinterpreted the text and Derek felt guilty for the feeling of relief washing over him. He would make it home in time to catch Emily on Skype, that was for sure.

A lame explanation, an awkward goodbye and a grouchy text from JJ later, he was finally back home and quickly typed in his Skype-password. Two minutes later he was telling Emily about his date, only telling her about the text and deciding against revealing keeping the picture. Hearing her laughter from the speaker on his laptop and seeing her bright smile on the screen he wished he could have captured that moment as he had with the picture on his phone.

–

Emily glanced at the clock on the wall of her living room for the seventh time in as many minutes. It was late Wednesday night, the usual time slot for her and Derek's weekly Skype-date. Neither of them ever missed a day. Or the time. He'd even managed a ten minute Skype-call from Texas, between profiling a serial killer and his potential victims. Emily knew they hadn't flown out of town and wasn't working any local, prioritized case. So why the hell was Derek still offline? It was a little after five p.m in D.C. He would at least be in his office. He never forgot. He was usually the one to text her with a playful threat of what would happen if she forgot him.

Now it was 10:23. He was over 20 minutes late. Something wasn't right. It wasn't that it was urgent. But she always looked forward to these calls. Seeing his face, his smile. Now imagining the worst, Emily checked her phone again. Nothing. Where the hell was he? If something had happened someone on the team would have notified her. She kept in touch with all of them. Not as regularly as with Morgan but often enough. Mostly JJ. And JJ knew about their frequent texting and carefully scheduled Skype-dates. She would call if something had happened.

She waited almost two hours before she went to bed. The morning after there was still nothing. With a lump in her throat, she got dressed for work. The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach remained all day.

–

Derek glanced at his watch. This was insane really. A rash act of spontaneity. Maybe even romantic, some would say. But many bridges had been crossed in these past weeks. Enough had been said and implicated for him to feel less agitated and more excited than a few hours before. Another glance at his watch. She would leave her office soon.

–

Checking her phone again, Emily found herself being hit by another wave of disappointment and worry. She'd sent three text messages this morning. One after lunch. Checked Skype since he obviously forgot about last night. Nothing. Just the red dot next to his name, mockingly telling her that he was offline. Out of reach.

The day had been slow. Incredibly slow and for the first time in a while, she was glad to leave the office the moment the clock struck five. She waved goodbye to her co-workers and stepped into the empty elevator.

She was still lost in her own thoughts as the elevator reached the ground floor and the doors slid open with a soft ding. In the slight chaos of people rushing from their offices, anxious to get home, she first didn't notice the familiar face at the end of the lobby. But when she lifted her eyes and they finally settled on his face, she first almost didn't make the connection.

But there he was. In the flesh. Derek Morgan lounging around in the Interpol lobby, duffle bag slung casually over his shoulder and looking incredibly out of place in his jeans and heavy boots. He didn't seem to care though, since his eyes was intently focused on her.

She stopped for a moment and suddenly, she wasn't aware of much else either. She briefly thought about all those silly movies she'd watched with Garcia. Tear filled reunions and surprise visits. She'd laughed then but now she actually understood the silly smile the woman always seemed to wear. How couldn't she, the same smile was currently plastered across her own face. Not much else registered in her mind as she walked with quick strides through the lobby.

She didn't notice the gawking looks from people passing her. The new chief, who usually was the definition of professionalism, smiling like a silly school girl. And the rather handsome man who'd paced the lobby for almost twenty five minutes.

She didn't notice their compassionate smiles either as she fell into his arms, holding him just as tight as she had the night they'd said goodbye. He hugged her back, holding her impossibly close as if making up for all those moments over the past months he'd desperately wished he could just hold her.

It wasn't until he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple and softly whispering against her ear that people passing by seemed awfully interested in them. She ducked her face, now trying to hide her smile. As he told her he would stay for a whole week, she didn't care if people stared.

This was going to be the best week in a very very long time.

–

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