Title: Set the Record Straight
By: protejerinnocencia
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Gideon and Morgan have a heart to heart after 2.12 Profiler, Profiled.

***

The car moved slowly through the streets as they neared the airport. Morgan looked out the window, not wanting to acknowledge his colleagues at the moment. They'd dug deep and had really hurt him. He had never wanted any of them to know his secret. He didn't want the sad, pitying looks or the gentle hands on his shoulder signaling that they were there for him. Morgan was drawn from his brooding when the car came to a final halt and doors opened. He followed them like a drone. He stepped onto the plane and grabbed a seat as secluded from the others as he could get.

Gideon watched the young man walk away to the back of the plane. He sat down at the table near the agent but did not try to make any sort of contact. He knew Derek wasn't ready to talk just yet.

"Jason," Hotch spoke softly.

"What?" Gideon looked up.

"I'm going to talk to him," Hotch informed his colleague, indicating Morgan.

"No…let him be. He needs it. Put yourself in his position. Would you really want to be talking to us when we just found out the one thing you tried so hard to keep secret?" Gideon posed. Hotch let out a breath and took a seat next to Reid.

Morgan had fallen asleep and only woke when he felt the seat next to him shift. He opened one eye to see Gideon sitting next to him. Derek turned his gaze away from his superior.

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered.

"It won't leave the unit," Gideon stated softly.

"It wasn't supposed to leave my head," the Chicago native grumbled.

"Derek…it helped catch the real unsub," Gideon commented.

"It was none of your business," Derek spat.

"Maybe not but we know now."

"I don't need pity, Gideon," Morgan mumbled.

"I'm not pitying you. And no one else in the unit will either," Gideon promised.

"It was the one part of me I just wanted to forget," he whispered, fighting off tears.

"It makes you who you are. It makes you a great profiler," Gideon pressed.

"I should have turned that son-of-a-bitch in years ago," Morgan muttered darkly to himself.

"You were scared. You didn't want to lose all you had," Gideon commented.

"Man…don't profile me. I've had enough of that from Hotch," Derek accused.

"I wasn't profiling. I was making an observation."

The two fell into silence as Morgan's arms fell across his chest, lost in his thoughts again. He should have said no. He should have told someone. He shouldn't have been so afraid. Gideon was right. He was scared to lose the future he'd gained from that bastard.

"I lived for fifteen years with that weighing on my heart," he spoke softly, breaking the silence.

"I guess….it's just strange not having it there," he added.

"I understand. And look what you've done for who knows how many children. You saved their lives," Gideon remarked.

"Not Dameon's," Derek muttered, letting a tear slide down his cheek before wiping it away. Just then the landing gear began to grind as it was lowered, signaling they were back in Virginia. They were back where the record was put behind them, left in Chicago.