"I love you"
Chapter Three: We are just Two Lovers
05x18: The Fight

It was that time of the month again, or more like a week. It was the day when it was time to do all the paperwork. Case reports were always done after each case but there were always a lot more other things that needed to be filed and put away for records. Eden was sitting on the floor of Derek's office files spread out in front of her in a circle. Reid was perched at the table in the corner and Emily was sprawled on the couch with a stack of files next to her and some in her lap and sprawled on the couch. When Hotch first took his leave of absence, They would all pile into Derek's office to do their paperwork, it was less lonely, and doing it together made sure everything was done the right way. Derek was sitting at his desk. Reid got up to refill his cup of coffee looking at Eden's cup to see it was empty too and took hers as well.

Emily ran a hand over her face groaning.

"I hate this."

Eden and Derek laugh at her outburst, as she groans again getting up and muttering about going to the vending machine for a sugary snack. Leaving the couple alone in the room by themselves. Eden was lost in thought. Biting her bottom lip and twirling a strand of hair with her finger. She tended to twirl her hair when she was thinking to keep her grounded. She didn't realize how much lip-biting and hair-twirling had an effect on her boyfriend.

He was watching her while she worked, she was driving him crazy with the innocence she was portraying at this second. The tip of the iceberg would be the reading glasses and as soon as he spoke it into existence she picked them up off the floor in front of her and pulled them onto her eyes. He leaned forward, elbows perched on the desk in front of him. He opens his mouth to say something when Emily and Reid return. He hands Eden her coffee and she smiles up at him. Emily tosses down the many bags of snacks she has on the table. Tapping her chin to see what snack she wants to eat.        

"You know, I did make brownies."  Eden speaks up as everyone is looking at each other. Emily hurries out of the room quickly as everyone chuckles. She returns a few moments later with two brownies in a napkin in one hand and munching on a brownie in the other. Garcia is behind her munching on brownies as well. They enter the room with moans as Eden just chuckles at them.

"This brownie is yummier than Morgan." Garcia practically moans Eden laughs as Morgan feigns hurt clutching his hands over his chest.

"What is in this? Crack?" Emily asks as Eden cackles at their dramatics.

"I tend to steer clear of the illegal narcotics when I bake, it seems to dampen the mood."

They all laughed and went back to work. Eden was twirling her hair around and biting her lip when her phone pinged from next to her. She picked it up revealing a text from her boyfriend before looking at him who was pretending to be working. Her eyes went wide and she almost choked on her spit.

Derek Morgan sent her a sext in the middle of work. In this room filled with their coworkers/friends,  She said nothing thinking for a moment before getting up and leaving. She goes into the bathroom snapping a few risky photos from her lips down to her chest.

She bit her lip, pressing her boobs together and pulling down her shirt a bit to reveal some of her shoulder and chest before walking out and back into Derek's office. She flips through the photos trying to decide on which to send first and picks the last one and sends it going back to work as if nothing happened. She could tell he was turned on just from the fidgeting in his chair. She can't help but hold back a laugh silencing her phone so the others don't catch on to the fact that they are texting each other in the room.

The day was becoming too long. It was like it was dragging on and on like every second was an hour. The clock hand chirped, as they all worked quietly, they were determined to get this done, plus they kinda had to finish it. It was required, Hotch was a big stickler for having all the paperwork done, Derek couldn't take his mind off the images his girlfriend had sent him, and he was annoyed that the one day he was free, his office was full of people. It was driving him crazy that he couldn't kiss her at work, there wasn't a rule against co-workers dating unless he was her supervisor, which he wasn't, but also they weren't just dating he was in love with her. Eden Hunters made his life so much easier.

He always wanted a big family with lots of kids and a yard that was so big he could host BBQs and watch the kids play in the yard. He hadn't been with a woman with who he saw all those things coming true until now. He could see himself having a family with Eden and growing old with her. She was perfect, amazing even. Always putting others before herself, Eden was dealt a shitty hand. Life gave her no option but to fight. Yes, she was a skilled surgeon once and yes, she had all these amazing people around her who loved her and cherished her. But in a split second, she died. In a split second life came and wiped out all the people she ever loved, leaving her to pick up the pieces to deal with the hand she was dealt.  He couldn't Imagine a life without her in it.

She used her powers for good and not evil. She could've stayed in Seattle being bitter and pining over a man who was long gone. Not wanting to Date or experience love again. Being this cold person, who didn't care about feelings or what anyone had to say. But she didn't, she decided to take control of her life. To pick up the cards and deal a new hand for herself. Whether it be here or somewhere else. It made it so much easier that everyone loved her. His mom adored her, especially the fact that she could bake and cook. She was a keeper for sure. His sisters loved her, she was funny, smart, kind, sassy, and stubborn. All the traits he needed in a woman and all the traits he got in a woman. At this point, he was confused as to why they had been sneaking around for months. Why didn't they just tell everyone? He for sure wanted to shout it from the rooftops everywhere he went. It was mutually agreed upon thing, no one said they wanted it to be a secret they just got so caught up in loving each other they forgot there was an entire world out there to love them as well.  What was really weird was that the team of profilers hadn't figured it out. Emily and JJ were still trying to hook her up with different guys every time they went out and Garcia would hint to the other how cute they would be as a couple. He watches as everyone from the team was now in his office chatting, Eden was talking with JJ about something, flicking her hands about wildly when she talked, Hotch was talking with Reid, Garcia, Emily, and Rossi, at the table while Emily shoved her face with more of Eden's Brownies. He gets up from his chair walking over to his girlfriend who smiles up at him and cups her face planting the biggest kiss on her lips, in front of his entire team. Because he loved her and she was too perfect to be a secret.

Eden was content with her life currently after Morgan kissed her in his office a few weeks ago, and everyone immediately had questions. All the women surrounded her as a swarm of bees and all the men surrounded him, they had questions, but were all excited. When did this happen, why did it happen, and for how long? They had been going out for so long that they lost track of time, honestly, they didn't keep track of any of that. Too busy consumed with each other's love, to keep track of anything. If they weren't working they were with each other. Eden was begging to think that Derek should just get rid of his apartment, I mean he practically lived at her place. They developed a routine, every morning Eden would go for a morning run when she got back Derek would be awake and they would go sparring or work out and then shower, depending on the time they would either go to work or have breakfast. Every morning was different though, sometimes Eden didn't want to get out of bed, and Derek would just cuddle with her until they had to leave or until she was ready to get up and other times, she would leave really early to squeeze in her run and make time to surprise Derek with a pastry in bed or breakfast.

Eden would have episodes where she was really happy, everything was amazing or she was really sad and depressed and Derek would always be there for her. Even when she didn't want to go to  work, where she would lay in bed in the dark under all the blankets for days until she was ready to come out and that was totally fine. He let her feel however she wanted, her feelings and emotions were valid. They hadn't quite said I love you yet, but there was no rush neither of them was thinking about breaking up anytime soon or ever really. There was a case and they had three days to solve it.

Mother Teresa said, "I have found the paradox "That if you love until it hurts, "There can be no more hurt, only more love."

Eden sat next to her boyfriend on the couch with a file in her lap as Rossi walked back from the coffee machine.

"What do we know about the past years' victims?"

"The Tenderloin district is a high concentration Of drug addicts and homeless people. All the victims have been transients."

" So this unsub's choosing easy targets that won't be missed. He's not concerned with the challenge of the hunt. All these victims are part of a larger plan." Eden sits up from her spot on the couch with the file open in her lap. Her back against the arm of the couch legs sprawled out in front of her.

"Which he executes in the same few days every year."

"Reid, did you find any significance to the dates?" Hotch asks

" Nothing historical."

" It's gotta be personal for the unsub. Jj, Eden, and Reid hit the San Francisco P. D. Rossi and Prentiss to the dump site. Morgan and I'll go to the coroner's office. Nobody should expect to get a lot of sleep for the next 3 days." Hotch continues

"What about Cooper's team? You said he had a theory."

Hotch sighs nodding slightly. "He believes that whoever is murdering these homeless men Is also abducting fathers and daughters And killing them once the transients are disposed of."

"So then we'll investigate the dead men, And his team can see if there is A missing father and daughter."

"Why isn't his team on the jet now?" Emily closes her file.

" Because the director wouldn't authorize Them to join the investigation."

" They're working against the director's orders?" Rossi asks.

" We need to concentrate on the dead men Abducted from the tenderloin. Cooper's team can help determine If there's a missing father and daughter And whether it's connected to our case."

" Or you could get in serious hot water If the director thinks you're helping to defy her." Eden sits up, arms crossed over her chest sending a pointed stare to her boss. The thing about Eden was she didn't keep her mouth shut about anything unless it was a secret.

"No, Hotch is right. I've known Sam Cooper for 20 years, And I've never seen him defy an order. If he feels this strongly about a hunch, We need to help him however we can." Rossi speaks up as everyone nods. Hotch wasn't upset about what Eden said, she was concerned about him, she didn't want him to lose his job because she loved him, he was her friend.

When they arrived everyone split up to their designated areas with anyone else they were assigned.

Jj and Eden had been talking, The blonde woman had been trying to grill her on how the two kept their relationship secret. But also trying to see if she was happy which she was, Derek Morgan was the greatest man alive, and he was literally sculpted by Picasso himself, that man should be displayed in Museums. He was sweet, loving, kind, funny, stubborn, and smart. 

Crime Scene, Presidio Park

Eden got a call about another Body and Hotch sent her and Emily along with some British Guy from Cooper's team to go check it out. The British guy was flirting with the two women the moment he saw them. The trio piled out of the car.

"So how does a Brit..."

" A handsome Brit." he smiles cheekily at the raven-haired woman while Eden just rolls her eyes. He wasn't really her type.

" How does a Brit end up in the FBI?"

" It's pretty simple. Cooper and I bumped into each other a few times. 10 months ago, they told him he could handpick a new team. He called. I came. Passport didn't matter."

" Huh. So, is it true That no one in the British special forces Is allowed to admit they're in it?" Emily stops midway arms crossed over her body forming a fist a playful smile on her face.

" I don't know. I'd have to ask around about that one."

Emily chuckles "You know, there's a lot of rumors about your boss."

" Yeah?"

"One I heard was when he left the bau, He was doing psychological ops overseas." She quipped earning a wide-eyed look from Eden.

" Well, I've never been big on rumors."

Emily rolls her eyes. "So I don't suppose you're gonna tell me Just where you two bumped into each other."

"I'll tell you I trust the man with my life. I'll tell you I'd die for the man." He says nothing more and  walks towards the body as Eden hits Emily in the arm.

"You are being so pushy. Be nice we are working together not against, and do me a favor and sleep with him because fuck, the tension between you too is stressing me out." she pulls on gloves and walks over to the body followed  By Emily.

"So the tenderloin is full of junkies Who would be easy to control, But the first victim had no drugs in his system, And this geezer, he looks pretty healthy, too, Except for the whole dead thing." he lifts up the victim's hand looking at it. " There's the skin under his nails. Didn't the first victim have scratch marks on his chest?"

" Yeah. and I think I know what's happening. I mean We assumed he fought back against the unsub, But these victims might actually be fighting each other." Eden stands up pulling off her gloves. As does everyone else and they begin walking away.

" Exactly."

"I take it you're about to wow me with a theory." Emily pulls off her gloves following the British man and the blonde over to a trash can and tossing them.

" The first victim is dumped before the fathers and daughters are taken. Why?"

Emily shrugs. " Because he wants to send a message to the wife That he means business, make sure she doesn't call the police."

"And it also sends a message to the prisoners he already has....."

" You lose a fight, you die." Eden finishes his sentence for him as he turns to the blonde, surprised in how smart she was.

" What do those welts look like to you?"

Emily thinks for a moment. " My guess...they're wounds from rubber bullets."

" Like they use to control rioters or prison inmates."

" Ok." Emily presses her fingers together so the pads of each finger are touching together.

" I think the unsub's been locked up. It's where he's learned to control his own prisoners."

"Well, if he's learned how to dominate them, Why are they fighting each other?"

" It has to be part of his plan... To watch them beat the hell out of each other....." Eden interrupts him again, finishing his sentence.

"And then the loser is executed." Emily nods understanding what is going on and pulls out her phone.

" Admit it. I'm starting to grow on you." He smiles cheekily at the two women as Eden rolls her eyes.

"Hotch, it's Emily. We have an idea about what he might be doing with the victims. We may be able to give the profile... Hold on a second."  as the Brit pulls out his own phone Emily and Eden watch."Hey, who are you calling?"

" If I'm right, there's somewhere else We need to be delivering that profile," he says pulling his phone back to his ear, while Eden sighs, it was going to be a long three days. Eden, Emily, and the Brit all meet up with Hotch and the Brit's boss, Cooper in Chinatown.

"The police department has the profile. They've tripled patrols in the tenderloin."

"You know what? I think we need profilers out here, too. He could be out there hunting for homeless men to fight the father." "He points to the Brit. " This kid, the best sniper I've ever seen. He could view a lot of ground from the rooftop."  As Emily just nods her head thinking about their previous Convo.

"So am I but you don't see me bragging about it." Eden sasses as Emily rolls her eyes with a playful smirk.

"Are you two  comfortable on the ground solo?" Hotch turns to the two women who practically scoff. They could handle their own and have proved it more times than any.

"Of course."

"Cooper's right. Maybe we can catch him Trying to abduct another victim." Hotch mutters as they all nod.

Tenderloin District

They all geared up with comms and drove to the Tenderloin District. Eden and Emily were scoping out the street while Mick, the Brit was on the rooftop.

" So, what are you wearing?"

" A gun." Eden hears the smirk on Emily's face and can't help but smile.

" Hey, Mick, explain something to me. How come I'm out on the street And you're sitting on your butt on some roof?"

" Well, you heard the man. Do you really want me to expound on my own prowess? It's undignified."

Eden laughs at that as does Emily. The two women dressed in casual attire. Dark jeans, Eden had on an Olive Zip up hoodie, her hair was messily curled having quickly combed through it, and Emily had on a powder purple zip-up jacket, both women wearing sneakers.

"Stay on your headset. All his victims are coming from this 4-Block radius." Eden says

"Ok, I've got something. I'm not sure if it's anything, But southeast corner. See the guy clocking the junkie?"

"You care to expand on that? All I see are guys clocking junkies." Emily replies.

" Gray shirt."

" Yeah, I got him." Emily's voice is heard over the comms as Eden spots the man from the other side of the street.

"I see him too." She takes off across the street as Emily walks after the guy. He of course starts running.

"Stay close. I'm on my way."

"Son of a. Hey FBI!" Eden takes off running.

"He's heading southbound. Fbi! Stop!"

The three of them begin running as he cuts through traffic, and now all of them are running trying to weave in between cars Eden swerves past a car and jumps over it onto the street trying to catch up to the man. She had been to San Francisco way too many times to count and decided to take a short cut cutting the man off in an Alley and tackling him against the wall. She pulls him up as Emily and Mick have their guns aimed at him.

" Stop!" Eden gets in his face.

" I didn't do anything!"

" Why were you following that man?" she asks.

" I knew that he was holding. I just wanted a fix." Mick pulls up the guy's sleeve seeing track marks and they holster their weapons " I don't distribute." He gulps as Mick punches the wall behind him.

Day Three

This was the last day to solve this case or the unsub would be cold for another year, so all hands were on Deck, after crashing out in the surveillance van in the Tenderloin District all Night, Eden and Emily changed and got ready, on no sleep heading to Copper's place with Mick, They entered while Rossi and some guy were leaving and walk up to Hotch.

"What we got?" Rossi asks.

" The profile says he's spent time in prison And probably lost a teenage daughter In a way that corresponds to the dates He abducts and kills his victims."

"We have the dates in question divided into 4 specific subsets."  Spencer points to one stack of Files first. "Uh, this group is teenage girls aged 13 to 16 Who were removed from their fathers' care." Then another.  "These are deaths of teenagers the same age. The remainder is men arrested for violent crimes And anyone serving a prison sentence during the same window."

"The stressors in here somewhere. Let's find something that looks promising So we can start running background checks." Cooper says Hotch's phone rings and he steps outside to answer and Cooper follows. They return quickly and everyone continues working.  As Hotch's phone rings again.

"Ok. Got it. Good work, Morgan. The McBride family went to a therapy center in the Tenderloin. The place also did evaluations for social services."

" We profiled that the unsub may have had his daughter taken away from him." Eden says.

" If he was processed in the same place, Then he would know how to target the fathers and daughters. Can I talk to your analyst?" He hands the file over to Eden and walks over to Hotch.

" Sure."  Hotch pressed a button on his phone, handing it over to Cooper before going back to work.

" All right, my tribe, I have a list of parents Evaluated by social services, Who ended up losing custody, But as Cooper predicted, it is a lengthy tale of woe."

" We'll use it to cross against the teenage girls Who died on some of the dates in question. I'm gonna start reading names. You tell me if they're on your list. Maria Salter, Carla Denny. Joyce Collard, dawn sparrow... " Cooper's phone rings and he answers.

"Right. Sounds like a possibility. Thanks, Prophet." Cooper tucks his phone in His pocket.

"  We have a name, A John Vincent Bell."

" One of the girls who died was named Mandy Bell," Eden speaks up from next to Reid.

" Garcia, run the name John Vincent Bell Against the family therapy list."

" Uh, shazam. Bell and his wife divorced. Then the wife died, And Bell was declared incompetent to have custody of the daughter Due to a host of mental health issues."

"They got that one right." Mick comments

" Oh, lord. And then, when social service agents Showed up to remove the girl, Bell beat one of them to death, Was given 7 years for manslaughter. "

"Yeah. During this time, his daughter Was in a car accident. Looks like she survived 3 days on life support, But eventually died of brain injuries."

" Ok, so Bell is making these men fight to the death Just like he did. He's trying to prove he did what any father would do." Emily leers as everyone looks around the room.

"Do we have an address?"

" Uh, the only listing I have is a gym On hall Street in the tenderloin. It belongs to Bell's family. It hasn't been operational for years."

"We got him." Hotch turns to Cooper who smiles as they all gather their coats and head out.

Everything was happening fast, one minute they were clearing the building and the next they found the father badly beaten and no trace of his daughter Jane. They call Morgan and tell him to gear up and they all split into different teams, Morgan, Gina, and Eden, in one team, Reid Hotch and Emily in the Other, and Prophet and Rossi together. While Cooper was in a helicopter.

"I need everybody on their radios. I'm gonna be your eyes." Cooper's voice is heard over the radio as Eden holds onto tightly trying not to vomit, from Gina's driving, she could tell since she arrived that she was attracted to Morgan, who wasn't reciprocating any feelings back.

"We got a visual. Turk and Franklin. Southeast corner."

" We're 2 blocks away."  Morgan turns to Gina who doesn't say anything, just presses her foot on the gas more.

"Everyone, be advised... He's going to the roof. He's going to the roof."

They arrive there and get out of the car seeing Emily, they all run into the parking garage, Guns aimed about.

"He's heading for the east corner. We got him trapped."

They run faster. Eden starts running past Derek and up the stairs arriving first, they try to talk him down and he jumps as they holster their weapons. Gina checks on Jane while Eden and Emily lean over to see where John jumped only he was laying there very much alive on the side of an inclined part of the roof about to shoot Eden and Emily when two shots rang through the air Derek runs over gun raised and they look up on the roof across the street, seeing Mic. They all went back to where Cooper's Team was set up for beers.

Derek finally got a moment to kiss his girlfriend which he did in front of everyone Gina immediately stopped flirting with Derek and Reid groaned which made everyone laugh. JJ, Derek, Eden, and Mic were all talking when Emily handed Mic a beer.

"Thank you," she says

"You guys wanna watch out for this one? She's gonna have a hard time getting over me."

" Like kicking a virus." She smirks, cracking open her third beer of the night.

" You know, I could have just missed."

"With your ego? Not a chance." They clinked their beers together as Eden, JJ, and Derek watched the two flirt.

"A toast!" Cooper yells as everyone puts their beers in the air. Cheering, in the end, Eden and Derek cuddled up on the jet that night, and he grabbed onto her ankle pulling her feet into his lap and rubbing them. Which causes her to moan, in satisfaction.

"Derek Morgan, mm,  I love you." She smiles as he turns, realizing what she just said.

"I love you too."