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Originally published on ff.net on 08/02/11

A/N: Hey all! Here's a short little Emily/Morgan one-shot. This was done for the pick your pair challenge over at DaisyAngel's Country Song Prompt Challenge Forum (on ff.net). My song was Who are you when I'm not looking? by Blake Shelton.

This story takes little excerpts from a number of episodes: Season 2 Episode 16, Fear and Loathing; Season 2, Episode 22, Legacy; and Season 3, Episode 15, A Higher Power. Nothing real spoiler-y, but warning you just in case you haven't seen them.

Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Who Are You?


The first time Emily suspected that there was more to Derek Morgan than met the eye was when she'd let it slip that she was a geek in disguise, only to find out that Derek was hiding something as well.

"Guy has a problem with Kurt Vonnegut?

"You know Kilgore Trout?"

"I read Slaughterhouse-Five when I was twelve and it blew my mind…Seriously, I couldn't get enough, so I just kept going and I read them all."

That brief exchange was imprinted in her memory. It was one of the first times Emily began to see the human side to the kicking ass machine that was Derek Morgan. It was also, in her opinion, the moment that really solidified Derek's coolness.

The second time Emily knew that her partner was more than just a pretty face, that he had true wholesome substance was during her first year with the BAU, a case in Kansas City involving homeless people. Of course, they were together, patrolling the streets for clues, when out of nowhere his caring and compassionate side hit her.

"Be careful, you hear me? The world needs all of its beautiful ladies, and that means you, too, Mona."

It was a moment that made Emily realize that she was working with no ordinary man. Derek Morgan truly was, as she'd told him that night, a good guy. He did make everyone around him feel good. Emily, for one, had always felt safe around the man, and from that point on she realized why. That moment out on the dark streets of Kansas City was the first moment that she felt a spark in the vicinity of her heart for the tall, dark and handsome man.

It was after that moment that Emily really began to pay attention to Derek. There was another side to him. One you would miss if you weren't looking too closely. And Emily realized that night that she didn't want to miss out on a minute of what he had to offer. From then on Emily waited for those moments where she'd see that different, hidden side of him. That side that only showed when you least expected it, when you weren't looking.

Sometimes those little surprises came in the form of new facts about what he liked to do. Like the fact that he enjoyed Vonnegut novels. Or…

"I put them in all my properties, especially the bathroom and kitchen…"

"Properties?"

"Yeah."

"How many properties?"

"Four."

For some reason she'd never pictured him as a handyman type. She never suspected him to be an avid flipper. It just hadn't fit into the image of him that she'd had in her mind: clean, tidy, put together. But when he explained to her why he owned so many properties it made sense, he made sense.

"… Sometimes I just wonder… if we're actually changing anything."

"Do you know why I have four properties?"

"Tell me."

"If I'm not kicking down doors, I'm smashing down walls. At the end of the day, they both make me feel like I'm changing something… for the better."

Now, as she watched him take a sip of his drink, she listened to the quiet music in the background; the words of the song 'Who are you when I'm not looking?' ironic because that's exactly what she was thinking at the moment.

She realized she wanted an answer to that question. But, Derek Morgan had many facets to him, as she'd learned throughout the years. And she knew she'd probably spend the rest of her life trying to get an answer to that question. But she knew, as he glanced up to smile at her, she was more than willing to get to the bottom of Derek Morgan.


Hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think! Thanks!

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