DISCLAIMER: I own nothing

A/N:Right, so this is for KricketWilliams, whom I promised a bit of romance to sit right next to "To Love and Lose"... so here's the beginning of a whole lotta love!

If there's any romantic moments you wanna see, let me know and I'll try my best to fit them in amongst what's going on in this pot of loving ;)

I hope you enjoy!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Holder of my Heart -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Garcia!" Derek called out; he'd watched her walk passed the bullpen for the umpteenth time that day as she worked and now as the day slowly clawed to an end he decided he needed to talk to her. Watching her turn on her leopard print stilettos she gave him a bright smile, "Hey Baby Girl."

"Hey Shug," She purred back and then looked him up and down, trying to make a connotation of what this surprise call was about, "What can I do for you, Handsome?"

"I need to talk to you," Derek started and all of a sudden the butterflies in his stomach morphed into nerves that were slowly creeping throughout his body. "In private."

"Oh," She sounded and slowly nodded, "Sure thing." She then turned and went towards her office. "Must be important."

"To me it is," Derek mumbled as he watched her key in the code to unlock her door and then followed her in and as though it were the first time ever being in Penelope's little cove, he smiled as he looked around and saw the photos of them together, the gifts he'd given her. He was as much a part of this office as she was.

"To you it is?" Penelope asked as she put the workload she had in her arms down on her desk and then turned back to Derek immediately seeing how pensive and troubled he looked. "What's up, Baby Boy?" Penelope asked as she quickly went back to be in front of her.

"You," He simply said and he saw some hurt register in Penelope's face, especially as her smile began to drop and confusion washed over her heavily. "I've tried so hard to not get like this, but I honestly don't know how much longer I can go without saying I love you."

"I love you too," Penelope said and a small smile graced her lips once more. It was the truth, ever since Emily's death and then her subsequent reincarnation they had become a lot closer than they ever had been. So much so that one night, Penelope decided that she needed to let Kevin go before she ruined his life furthermore. She couldn't live and sleep with one man and then spend mostly every waking moment with another and love it more.

Derek shook his head, "I'm in love with you. So much so that my heart can't take you looking at other men. I hate them for getting the attention that I would love to have. I love the way you call me endless nicknames, and how you look at me and I love how you fill my head every second of the day. I love the way you know when I'm hurting, and how you panic when something goes wrong out on the field. I love how you look after me when I don't think I need it. I am just whole heartedly in love with everything you give me, Penelope and I am done refusing to tell you. I have the right to share this as much as you have the wrong to know." He looked at her and quickly recounted himself now thinking he had done more bad than good at that admittance. "I understand if this is not what you want. It's your choice as much as it is mine."

"You think this is all one sided?" Penelope asked as Derek just stood before her, all of a sudden silent as a mouse. So unlike his normal self that it unnerved her some. She saw him begin to mentally hit himself at what had just transcended and she absolutely adored this side of Derek – the soft and sentimental, easily hurt by love side of Derek Morgan. She was grateful that she got to see it. It was another part of him that just caused her to fall deeper in love with him than she already was. "It's not. I just never made a move for several reasons."

"What?" Derek quickly asked, trying to understand this turn of events.

"I never wanted to ruin us. Especially seeing as your best thing in my life," She smiled meekly at him and looked down a little before looking back up. "You don't know how lucky I feel I am to have you in my life."

"Possibly as much as I do?" Derek mentioned and smiled at her.

"I never thought I was your type. The girls you go for are stunningly beautiful. I'm the complete opposite of them and I found that fact pretty superior and it scared me off ever telling you. I'm never going to be, I never want to be them. I'm always going to be me and I just assumed that wasn't what you wanted. Especially when you had a string of women that made you enjoy yourself."

"I never found a girl that felt right though," Derek admitted solemnly and regretful at his shameful past as a player and he was finding it hard to not touch her. To break this sentimental moment with a kiss, but he had vowed to hear Penelope first. He didn't want to give too much for it not to be returned to him. "No other girl was you," He admitted and looked her straight in the eyes. "None of the girls that pour themselves out to me are you, Penelope and I am so tired of having superficial, vain women when all along I had you there waiting. I made you think I ignored your beauty for what it was and for that I am truly sorry. Just understand that I am so in love with you that you're all my mind thinks about. When I see you my heart stops – each and every time like it's the first. Christ, I have been jealous of Kevin from the moment I saw you meet him. I'm not the jealous type." He paused for a moment, "Unless it involves you. You're worth getting jealous over because you are the best price to be had." He took her hand in his then, "I just hope you understand how much I love you now, Baby."

Penelope couldn't withhold the smile as her heart seemed to get that irregular beat in its rhythm that she always felt when she thought of Derek. She understood the full extent of Derek's love, it was hard to miss. She just felt it was her turn to give back to him what he had given her. He needed to now understand how much she loved him or at least get the ball rolling before she kissed him to prove the actual extent of love.

"I'll show you how much I really love you," Penelope commented and left her position in front of him to go to her desk and grab a photo. She held it up for him to see and he couldn't hide the smile as it spread across his face. It was the first ever photo of them two. "I keep this photo to remind me that I was lucky to have the start of something truly magical," Penelope told him and put the photo of them two down and picked up another. "This one because it was the best birthday I had ever been given since my parents died and this," She said as she replaced the photo and picked up another, "This one shows me that I had the best New Year's eve kiss ever that year."

Every poignant photo was of the pair of them.

"I should've made you mine that night," Derek told her tentatively, "I should've made you realise why that kiss was so passionate."

"Yeah," She begin with a teasing tone, "You shoulda." She smiled coyly then as she realised that the world around her was spinning, helping her and Derek's relationship evolve into something much more powerful than it had ever been.

"I realise now," Derek quickly said, hoping that that would suffice to at least gain him one kiss before reality set in and proved this was some vivid day dream. "If it's not too late that is."

"It's never too late until it's gone," Penelope calmed his wounded soul of his wrongdoing. "You're not too late."

Derek didn't need to be told twice. He didn't need Penelope to put it in writing or draw him up the instructions. He knew exactly what he needed to do at that.

Slowly, he took his hand and ran it up and along Penelope's jaw line, tilting her head to look at him, and even slower he leant in and kissed her, his hand now cupping the back of her head in the embrace. It didn't take long for Penelope to respond, and her hands ran up his arms and rested on his back, making him understand this moment wasn't supposed to end any time soon.

For once, Derek saw fireworks.

The dream never ended.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Holder of My Heart -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-