Chapter 1

AN: This is a short (eight chapters, I think- that's uber short for me!) little thing that popped up awhile ago in my story-producing brain. I am going to let you decide, M or T, with this story. Remember: appearances can be deceiving! Enjoy!

It took twelve minutes and forty-five seconds to completely change a life. Derek was certain of that now, more than he'd ever been certain of anything before. It was amazing how quickly it happened, how he figured out exactly what he wanted in the space of a breath, and that he was going to lose it in just as short notice.

It started off a day like every other. Derek was teasing, flirting with Penelope in her office. He was sitting on the edge of her desk, smiling with the gorgeous redhead and laughing at one of her jokes. He looked around her lair, and suddenly noticed the picture she had of herself and Lynch was missing. He found himself staring at the empty spot, feeling a little perplexed.

"We broke up about a week ago."

He glanced over at her, eyebrows raised. That was a relatively big surprise. Penelope had been dating stupid Lynch for over two years. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Keeping it to myself for awhile." She shrugged, crinkling her nose. "Just didn't want to talk about it."

Derek immediately started to stiffen and frown. He wondered why she didn't tell him. The only reason he could think of would be to protect Lynch from a beating. He'd always said he'd kick the crap out of Lynch if he hurt her. "He didn't do anything terrible, did he?"

"Relax, my chocolate bodyguard," she said, giggling, knowing exactly where his mind went. "He always did things ridiculously, but nothing to cause this. It was my decision to end it."

"Well, it's about time, momma," he said, grinning. He felt that completely in his heart. Penelope was a thousand times too good for Lynch; he told her that often.

"Thanks." She glanced up at the clock on the wall, and looked at him regretfully. "Oh, Derek. You need to go. It's almost time to go home, and I have to get out of here on time, so I better get back to work." She turned to start typing again.

Derek watched her for a moment, watched her tapping away at her keyboard, her bejeweled fingers moving quickly and efficiently. He really didn't want to leave. The best times were always when he was with Penelope. A lot of feelings stirred up in him, as they always did when he was looking at her.

Truth be known, he cared about Penelope more than any other person in the BAU, probably more than any other person in the world. He truly loved her. She was his best friend, his confidant, and his partner in crime. She was the Bonnie to his Clyde, the ying to his yang. Just never quite the Juliet to his Romeo. He was very attracted to her, but never really acted on it because of her relationship with Lynch and their friendship status.

Not that he didn't flirt like mad with her and hope that she'd come his way eventually. He didn't want to rock the boat. Their friendship mattered a lot to him, and she seemed pretty damn happy with Lynch. He wouldn't have been a very good friend if he caused the breakup of a happy relationship. Besides, he didn't know how she really felt. It was a cowardly way to think, but with her... things were too important.

Add to that the fact he'd been down that road a bunch of times in their relationship, before Lynch even, where he thought he'd go for it, and he'd failed miserably each time.

However, now that she was single, he started rethinking that yet again. He was damned lonely; he wanted her and only her. He'd been single for a very, very long time now. He needed to get a move on, one way or the other. With that in mind, he asked her a question, "So, what would you think if we started going out? Just for fun, see what happens?"

He cringed. It was a roundabout, chicken shit way to proceed, but he couldn't do it any other way.

"A date?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows, teasing as usual. "Oh, we'd have fun on a date, mon cher, as hot as we are for each other."

A shiver of awareness ran through him inwardly. "Oh, hell, yes-"

"But it's a moot point," she interrupted. "You're going out with Crystal Langley, so there's no reason to speculate."

Derek paused for just a second. Crystal was a fun girl to date, but that was it. She was twenty-seven years old, an agent in counter terrorism, very smart, very pretty, but not anything he'd be serious about. Really, they were just friends. He'd drop her in a heartbeat for a chance with P. He was about to tell her that, when she continued.

"Anyway, I have a date, too." She shrugged. "So, really, it doesn't matter on that behalf, either."

"A date?" he asked, his brow knitting. A date? He was somewhat pissed now. She just got around to telling him about leaving Lynch, and she already had a date?

She nodded. "Mmm hmm."

"Who?"

"Well," she said, blushing prettily and making Derek even more irritated. "You know-"

"Ah, Garcia, got a minute?" Reid questioned, popping his head in the doorway. "Are you- Oh, hi, Morgan."

"Hey, kid," Derek said, leaning back and grinning at the young genius. "Whatever you have to say, you better make it snappy. Miss Thing here has a date."

"I know," Reid said, smiling back.

Derek's smile left his face and he looked back at Penelope. "What the hell? Why am I the last person to know about your life suddenly?"

"Actually, you're the first," Reid said, amusement entering his eyes. Penelope echoed the look.

At this point, Derek was so confused, he wanted to throttle both of them. Then it hit him and his gut hit the floor. His voice actually croaked, and he swallowed the bitterness in his throat. "You two? Going out? Together?"