The latest case had taken them close to 2 weeks to resolve. As they headed to the airport to catch their plane, they sat in silence. It had been grueling. They had proven themselves in the end, but not without a little pushback from the locals.
"I hate small town cases" Morgan growled as he boarded the jet.
"It's all they know; they never want to believe it can be one of their own." Hotch replied.
"It doesn't make them any easier though." Emily said.
The plane ride lasted 3 hours and they were back in Quantico just in time to drop off the paperwork and call it a day. They each went straight for their desks, except for Hotch, Rossi and JJ who proceeded to go to their offices. Dropping off any reports they had they had agreed to meet in the lobby at 5:30.
"Hey did anyone call Garcia?" Reid asked.
"Yea, she'll meet us there, she had some updates she was finishing up on." Morgan replied.
"Ok then we are set, let's go." Emily said. "There's a glass of white wine with my name all over it!"
They arrived at Mike's place together and went straight to the back of the bar. They always sat in the back where they could see everything that was going on. Rossi's wife walked through the door 5 minutes after they arrived and they waved her over to the table. Morgan had taken everyone's drink request and was waiting at the bar getting the order filled.
"Look at them, it's like they go into these trances whenever he's around." Emily said as she pointed to Morgan at the bar and pointed out the women that surrounded him.
"Why are you so surprised?" JJ asked. "We all know what his reputation is."
"Now now JJ, that's totally unfair! He's not doing anything but ordering our drinks." Penelope said as she giggled.
"Hey, where did you come from?" JJ asked as she hugged her friend.
"I snuck in while you and Em were busy criticizing our boy over there." She replied.
"I was not criticizing him… I was simply making an observation." Emily said with a grin.
"So where's Kevin?" Hotch asked.
"He had some work to finish up, but he'll be meeting up with us as soon as he can." Penelope replied.
"Ok, gather around, I have drinks for everyone." Morgan shouted as he came towards the table followed by the barmaid with a tray full of drinks.
After handing out the drinks, Morgan walked over to Penelope and gave her a hug and kiss. "Baby girl, you are a site for sore eyes." He said as he grinned.
"I've missed you too handsome." Penelope said and smiled.
They had two more rounds of drinks by the time Kevin arrived. He said hello to everyone and sat down next to Penelope and placed his arm around her. They ordered another round of drinks but before they arrived Hotch stood up and called it a night. He was getting Jack in the morning and he wanted to be alert and ready for his 2 year old.
Rossi and his wife followed, and Kevin quickly stood up and tried to excuse himself and Penelope.
"I'm not ready to go yet Kevin, what's your rush?" Penelope asked
"Pen it's late and I'd like to go home." Kevin replied.
"But it's Friday!" She protested.
"And I'm tired; it's been a long week." Kevin said sounding a little agitated.
Everyone noticed the tension between them and exchanged looks.
"Can you drive me home later?" Penelope asked looking towards Morgan.
"Sure not a problem." Morgan replied. JJ and Emily looked at each other. They knew how Kevin felt when it came to Morgan. Penelope had told them about the constant arguments and Kevin's insecurity when it came to Morgan. They were both surprised that she would ask him and not them, especially knowing how Kevin felt.
Kevin, who was obviously upset, stood up and said goodnight to everyone and turned towards the door to leave. "I'll walk you out." Penelope said but he didn't respond he just nodded. She followed him out the door and as soon as they were out of sight he quickly turned towards Penelope and said "I don't need you to walk me anywhere, why don't you go back inside and play with your friends."
"What is wrong with you?" Penelope asked
"What's wrong with me? Penelope I sat there right next to you for almost 2 hours and you didn't even so much as say a word to me." Kevin said. "You spent the night talking to the girls and to Morgan."
"Kevin, I haven't seen them in two weeks." Penelope said but was quickly interrupted by Kevin when he said "yea I know, they've been on a case for that long and you've been staying at the office for that long, so guess what, you haven't seen me in the same amount of time."
Penelope was silent. She knew exactly where this was going. Kevin had very little tolerance for her connection with the team and they argued about it all the time. She had had several drinks and was in no position to get into it with him.
"You can't even come up with an excuse anymore Pen. They will always come first. HE will always come first." Kevin said almost growling.
"This is not about him." Penelope managed to say.
"It's ALWAYS about him. Why is it you turned to HIM for a ride home and not one of the girls?" Kevin questioned.
"Kevin" Penelope started to say but was again interrupted by Kevin. "Penelope, I'm not going to play second fiddle to anyone much less Derek Morgan. You can't have a relationship when there are 3 people in it." He said.
"No Kevin, it's not about who's in this relationship, it's about you wanting to control me. Your issues with Derek are exactly that, YOUR issues. I won't be put in a position where I have to choose who I can be friends with and who my boyfriend might not approve of." She said, the anger in her voice more prominent.
"That's the problem here, it shouldn't be a matter of making a choice, and I should be the natural desire. I should be the one that you instinctively go to, but that's never going to happen. HE will always be your safety net." Kevin said and he started to walk away.
Inside the bar, Morgan and the girls kept looking towards the door, waiting for Penelope to walk back inside. The longer she took, the more concerned they seemed to get. "Should we go out there?" JJ asked.
"Let's give her a few more minutes; if she doesn't come back inside in 5 I'll go check." Morgan said.
"I don't think you should be the one to go outside, I'm sorry to say this but I think your part of the problem." Emily pointed out.
"What?? I didn't do anything!" Morgan protested.
"Derek, it's not that you did anything, it's just that… well your relationship with Penelope is a bit of a sore spot with Kevin." Emily said.
"He's jealous?" Morgan asked.
"That's an understatement!" JJ said. "He's very insecure when it comes to you. He has issues with all of us, but you are definitely his sore spot."
"That's crazy!!! He has nothing to be jealous about! Penelope's with him, she isn't the kind of girl that would play anybody." Derek said.
"Derek, it's not about her playing him, it's about her priorities, or should I say, what he thinks her priorities should be." Emily said.
"How come you two know all this? She's never said anything to me." Derek asked.
"Because every time you so much as think that someone is giving her a hard time, you go into protective mode. Derek, did you know that guys are afraid to even look at Penelope for fear that you'll get all up in their faces?" JJ said.
"Yea, Kevin thought twice about asking her out because of your reputation." Emily added.
Before Derek could answer, Emily pointed out that Penelope had walked back into the bar. They all noticed that she was upset. Morgan quickly got up as she reached the table and grabbed her arm.
"Everything ok Baby girl?" He asked as he helped her sit down.
Penelope simply nodded and looked over at Emily and JJ, giving them both the say it all look. They'd discussed Kevin's reaction to Derek on many nights and they both understood what she was trying to say.
"Baby girl is there anything I can do?" He asked.
"No gorgeous, it'll be fine. But thank you." She said forcing a smile.
Just then JJ excused herself. "I need to go to the little girl's room." She said.
"I'll go with you; I could definitely do with a little freshening up myself." Penelope said as she followed JJ.
"I'm sure there's going to be chatter in that room, you sure you don't want to join them?" Morgan said to Emily.
"Naaaa, I think there's going to be some chatter here as well." Emily said looking at Morgan.
"You know I want to pummel him right?" Morgan said.
"Look Derek, this is really none of my business but…" Emily started to say.
"But that's not going to stop you from telling me how you feel." Derek said finishing her sentence.
"No it's not. Have you ever asked yourself why?" Emily said.
"Why what Em?" He asked.
"Why so protective? Why do you play bodyguard? Why is everyone so afraid to go near her?" Emily said.
"What are you trying to say Em? Morgan asked sounding a little agitated.
"I just think you need to figure out why your priorities are what they are. We're all close but think about it, you only have one Baby girl." Emily said raising her eyebrow as she looked straight into Derek's eyes.
"We're best friends Em; we have been for a long time. We call each other all kinds of nicknames." He said, almost as if he were justifying himself.
Emily placed her hand on Derek's. "Hun, I'm not saying you shouldn't. I know she does as well, I'm just saying you... actually both of you need to step back and maybe re-evaluate what this all means." Emily said and gave Derek a sympathetic smile.
"We're just friends Em. Nothing more. I love Penelope and she loves me, but she's in love with Kevin. End of story." Derek said quickly standing up. "Do you want another drink?" He asked.
"Naaaa I'm good but thanks." She said.
Derek walked away and went to order another round of drinks. He replayed the conversation in his head as he waited. "Actually both of you need to step back and maybe re-evaluate what this all means"
"There's nothing to evaluate. The problem is people over analyze things and see things that aren't there." He thought to himself.
Derek went back to the table with the drinks just as JJ and Penelope had arrived. They stayed at the bar another 30 minutes finishing up their drinks when Penelope's phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she silenced the phone and placed it back in her purse. Derek knew it was Kevin, she had special ringtones for everyone and he knew what Kevin's ringtone was.
"Hey Baby girl, you ready to go?" He asked.
Penelope nodded and grabbed her purse. She hugged Emily and JJ and promised to call them. As they all got up to leave, Emily grabbed Derek's arm to say goodbye, as she reached over to kiss his cheek she whispered in his ear "remember that sometimes, we can't see the forest for the trees."