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Derek Morgan looked in the mirror. He looked like hell, which frightened him. Usually no matter what he tried to be strong even when weakness tempted him to fall, but tonight he couldn’t fight it.
Derek loved his job. Of course there were things that were unspeakable that made him wonder how could a human being inflict such violence and such terror on a innocent member of their peers. But at the end of the day…..his job saves countless of lives everyday just by a simple discovery on how the mind ticks. But there was the rare occasion……where he failed at his task.
He would feel pain, and feel failure at the terrible outcome but then he would remember….those heroic deeds that outnumbered the failures. But tonight he just couldn’t.
All he could see was Emily Prentiss’ face as she lied on the floor in the warehouse Ian Doyle had taken her. Her face began to lose its color and it’s light. He felt all the sensations of that moment. The sound of Emily’s harsh breathing and the sound of his voice screaming at the top of his lungs to get help. The feel of blood seeping beneath his fingertips. And the worst of it all…he couldn’t get the sight of red crimson blood staining his hands.
Emily was his best friend, his partner, and he sat there helpless as he watched her die. He would never forgive himself for failing to save her.
Tears finally escaped his eyes and dripped on the counter beneath him.
“Derek,” he heard a soft female voice say.
He turned and found himself face to face with Penelope Garcia, his long time friend whom he loved dearly. Her bright and bubbly personality always put a smile on his face even during the darkest of days. But tonight as she mourned the loss of her friend as he did, her aura lost its usual brightness. But Derek didn’t care. She was here and that’s all he needed.
He walked until he was face to face in front of her. His hand reached for her own, holding it comfortingly tight. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. It was nothing special….they shared better ones but it was enough to tell her “he was glad she was here.”
Finally…..he pulled her close…arms wrapping around in a protective hug. This wasn’t going to fix anything. Tomorrow they would have to deal with the fallout of this tragedy. But for now…..for this moment…..he could pretend to forget.