Hotch glanced up from the file he was reading at the quiet knock on the door, not surprised to see Morgan stood in the doorway looking awkward. "Morgan."

"Hotch. Um, you got a minute?"

"Sure. Come on in. Close the door behind you, the others won't be back for a few minutes."

Morgan managed to smile. "Yeah, heh, Rossi said something about showing them something…"

Hotch nodded. It figured his old supervisor would make sure they weren't disturbed for a few minutes. "Good. Sit down then."

Morgan swallowed nervously, reminding himself that he'd messed up and he needed to face the man he looked up to eventually. Silence stretched out for a couple of minutes until Morgan cleared his throat and glanced away. "Look, Hotch… I…" He broke off, rubbing at the back of his clean shaven head while he tried to get his thoughts together. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost it like that. I thought I could just get under his skin and end all this if I went in there. I should have known he'd win…"

"Morgan, stop. He hasn't won anything. We are going to take this guy down, and we are going to win. You let him under your skin, but we'll get the last word. That said, I was appalled by your lack of professionalism tonight. Not just in that interrogation room, but faced with his lawyer. Morgan, what were you thinking? We can't talk to lawyers with our fists. We can't curse and swear at them. We might think they're the scum of the earth, but we have a job to do. This job isn't just profiling the bad guys, it's filled with politics and emotional mind fields. Most of the time, JJ and I can field the politics and the media, but I need the members of my team to make that job a little easier on us. I need you guys to step up. What if the media had happened to witness your lack of control tonight, mm?"

Morgan looked at his hands, internally cringing. "I could have ruined our chances of finding her… Hotch, I swear, it won't happen again… I… If you want me to sit this one out then I understand. I don't trust myself right now, so I understand that you don't trust me. I can't be a hero."

Garcia's earlier words on the phone echoed in his head and he grimaced. Damn, why did his Baby Girl have to know him so well? He was torn from his musings when Hotch cleared his throat, and realized he'd missed his boss' response.

"Did you hear me?"

"Uh…"

Hotch sighed. "Look, Derek, I know how much this is eating at you. I know you regret lying to your family, even though it was to protect them. I've been there. It tore Hayley and I's relationship apart because I couldn't be honest about this job, and I used that as an excuse. Don't make that mistake. You have a wonderful family who loves you. You'll get past this. But from now on, you better be honest, with them and with me. This team functions on honesty and teamwork. If I can't trust you to be honest with us then I can't afford to have you on the field. I understand that seems harsh, but it's the reality. I expect you to be honest and I won't stand by and let you disregard the core values of our team. From what I can tell, your family feel the same way. You need to be honest with them, even if you can't tell them anything. If you can't give them an answer, be honest about that. They'll respect that kind of heartfelt care far more than cloak-and-dagger protection."

Hotch waited for Morgan to nod sincerely before continuing, meeting his eye with steely resolve. "As for the incident with Ford… In future, if you can't control yourself or you feel your resolve slipping, you leave that room. Not after you've finished shouting, straightaway. You can always go back in and finish off later, but you can't take back doing something in the moment that you later regret. You are a great man and a fantastic profiler, and I do not want to see your career fall apart because of a rash moment of temper. That said, I think it's best to keep you out the interrogation room for a couple of cases, until I'm sure you can handle the pressure and that you're back on a level emotionally."

"Yes sir. I understand."

"Morgan, you're a highly valuable member of this team; both professionally as and a member of this family. I won't sit by and let our team fall apart. If you're struggling, with anything, you can always talk to me. I hope you realise that."

"I do, Hotch. I just forgot it for a while. Thank you, really. I mean it."

Hotch nodded, giving him a smile. "Alright, good. I think Garcia was looking for you, she said something about your Aunt asking to see you."

"My aunt? What did…?"

"What she does best. She told me I was to tell you that you better get your head out of its bubble and make the best of all her hard work or she'll 'kick your ass into a whole other world'. I think she means it. She's probably waiting for you outside, I think they thought I was going to kill you."

Morgan grinned, wincing and reaching a hand down towards his burning backside. "Mm, I think Rossi got that award tonight. I hope you two aren't going to get any ideas from this…"

"That depends."

Morgan looked at him in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, it depends if it worked. If I see an improvement, I could be convinced to take a less official view of these things. I guess time will tell, Dave always has been a little more fluid than the FBI would advise."

Morgan raised his eyebrows, chuckling at Aaron's returned stare. "Hey, maybe he'll tell me ithat/i story later too. I guess I better… Uh, shout me if you need me. I shouldn't be long. Thanks, boss."

Hotch offered him one of the rare smiles of their unit chief, letting it rise all the way to fill his eyes, nodding in dismissal. "Good luck. And Morgan, I promise you we'll find her. We won't rest until this case is finished."

Morgan nodded, blinking back grateful tears and went to find Garcia and his family. Hotch followed a few minutes later, watching with a smile as Morgan tearfully began to fix the rift with his family. He grinned as the younger profiler's Aunt scolded her nephew, all while hugging him fiercely. Garcia was in the fray too, ganging up on her favourite chocolate bear and providing him with a safety net as he faced his terrified family and explained his logic.

He became aware of a presence beside him and knew without looking that it was Rossi. Neither of them spoke, comfortable in the silence. They watched as another piece of the puzzle fell into place for Morgan and a little more of the tension left his shoulders. By the time he came back to them, he had a fresh cup of coffee and a determined glint in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

"Let's nail this son of a bitch." He determined, rolling his shoulders and stepping towards the whiteboard in the room showing them all their current leads. His team shared knowing smiles and moved across the room to help him. They had their criminal behaviour profiler back and they were ready to do what they did best.