Only you | Derek Morgan

Flattery will get you everywhere

D E R E K ' S P O V

"Tilt your head back slightly...good, now put the spoon on...wait... ah ha! you got it!"

If anyone walked into the bullpen right now, they probably wouldn't believe their eyes. Four adults who make a living hunting and catching serial killers...trying to balance spoons on the tip of their noses.

I don't know how this conversation came up, but it's somehow resulted in Emily, JJ, Layla and I all in a competition to see who can balance a spoon on their nose the longest.

"Your cheating!" Emily all but yells, waving her finger in my direction. "He's cheating!"

How is it possible to cheat in this scenario? "I am not!"

Layla snickers beside me, shooting Emily a teasing look. "Someone's competitive."

"Derek?"

I look up at the sound of Hotch's voice calling out to me and as a result my spoon falls off my face. He nudges his head towards his office to get me to follow him in before he closes the door behind him.

"Ah ha!" Emily shoots up from her seat. Her spoon falls off her nose too, but she's too focused on the fact that I lost. "You lose!"

"No, you lose." JJ says with a menacing smile, pointing between herself and Layla who are still balancing the spoons on their noses.

Emily huffs when she sinks back into her seat, waving a flippant hand. "That's a technicality."

My money is on you I mouth to Layla as I pass her desk and she winks back at me. Leaving them to it, I head up towards Hotch's office and walk through the door.

"My paperwork is done. You can't be mad." Well, my paperwork is almost done but he doesn't need to know that.

Hotch heaves an amused sigh when he takes a seat at his desk. "As long as the work is done, I don't care what you idiots get up to out there."

"Great." I sit down across the desk from him and he slides a case file over to me. "What's this?"

"I need you to go to Dallas in a couple weeks." Hotch says, nodding at the file. "To testify in the upcoming hearing."

I open the manila folder to find it's a file on a case we worked a few years back. Sometimes unsubs can get hearings for parole and I'm usually the one Hotch sends to testify on why they shouldn't get paroled. I like that Hotch trusts me enough to send me on jobs like this because if there's one thing I like its keeping these unsubs off the streets and making sure they stay in jail and pay for their crimes.

So after Hotch and I go over the schedule and the points of argument, I get up from my seat and head towards the door. I pause with my hand on the door knob. "Can I take the jet there?"

Hotch keeps his neutral expression. "Funny."

It was worth a shot. I'm not a snob, but the thought of a commercial flight after years of flying on the jet has me anything but excited.

I close his door behind me when I leave and head back down to my desk. Emily and JJ are huddled up, whispering and giggling with each other when I pass. They don't even look up as I sit down at my desk.