Oh, hey YOU. Okay, I really hope I did this some justice...I scoured @eldrai's blog for inspiration and cues. It got long, way out of control, and it was partially inspired by a scene at the end of 10x05 - Boxed In on the jet and of course I took a lot of inspiration from Lo-Fi/Mayhem too. But this jet scene...

Something about everyone sleeping, and how close to home that case was for Hotch, and the way Morgan stands up there to look at him in the dark but gives him space...ANYWAY. I hope this is okay. <3

4.1k words | Hotch/Morgan | Derek figures out how to help when Hotch has a meltdown.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and stared hard at the file, willing the words back into focus. He could finish the whole thing before they landed, and with any luck, he could keep the noise at bay. Or keep them from noticing when it got too loud. The pressure built in his chest and his pen worked faster.

Sometimes it caught him off guard, things fell into place too quickly for him to perform his carefully curated damage control. And sometimes it was a slow burn, a gradual undoing of the threads that kept him in one piece. A pot of water coming to a low, rolling boil over dying embers. When he looked at Mary and told her she couldn't blame herself for what her son did, something had hitched in his chest. Some little warning bell, an alarm. He was seasoned enough to know his triggers, so he trained his eyes on his feet and walked one foot in front of the other toward the vehicle. His job here was done.

This was a slow burn, he recognized it, but he could put it out before it became a blazing fire.