The Pitbull vs. The Pitiful

A/N: Here's another short Morcia story. It has some angst and some humor in it. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think. God bless and stay positive!

The team had just returned from a very difficult and long case this afternoon. They had been gone for almost two weeks. The whole gang decided they needed to blow off some steam. Everyone thought some drinks, good food and dancing would be the cure for what ails them.

With their paperwork caught up, they all met at Champagne Dreams. It was one of their favorite haunts that they loved to frequent. It was close to headquarters and the bartender most of the time took care of them. They had the best drinks and their buffalo wings were to die for.

So as Penelope sat there sipping on one of her favorite fruity drinks, she had a lot on her mind. Derek was up on the dance floor getting his groove thang on, while Hotch and JJ were playing darts. Rossi was flirting with a beautiful red-headed woman half his age. Emily had found a cute jock-type to pass the time away with. Which left Spencer engrossed in a conversation with a woman and two other guys. They were debating over the scientific errors in the original 'Star Trek' series or the lack thereof.

Derek was keeping a close eye on the woman who had stolen his heart years ago. He was worried, she didn't have any of her usual sparkle or liveliness. She obviously had something on her mind. He decided to give her a little more time to perk up before he would head over to her.

Penelope continued to ruminate in her own little world. She and Kevin had had another argument earlier in the day. She was at her wits end! It was the same argument that they always had. He had been more insistent lately about her spending all of her time with everyone else, except him. Which wasn't true in Penelope's mind. The biggest problem between them as Kevin saw it, was her relationship with Derek. He hated it and always made no effort to conceal that fact. He would throw that in her face every chance he got.

Penelope truly cared about Kevin, but he was suffocating her. She was in a quandary. She had always known that she had deep feelings for her best friend. She never wanted to admit to herself that she was hopelessly in love with Derek. She had convinced herself that he would never see her like that. She was just a too curvy, geeky, tech nerd and definitely was not his type. He always went for the beautiful, leggy, stick thin model types. She was far from that! She had given up the idea of them being together. They would never ever be anything, but just friends. However, she couldn't see a forever future with Kevin either.

So she sat there debating what to do. Penelope knew the right thing to do was to let Kevin down as easily as possible. He was a sweet man and she didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't be with him anymore and lead him on. Being alone, was better than living a lie for the rest of her life.

At that point, her phone went off again for the fifth time since they had arrived ninety minutes earlier. It was yet another text from Kevin whining to her about spending more time with him. He wanted her to drop everything and meet him. Again, she chose to ignore it as she picked the offending item up and threw it into her purse. She gulped her drink down quickly and blew out a deep breath.

Derek still had not taken his eyes off of his Goddess. He saw the frustration and sadness on her beautiful features. He couldn't' take it anymore and had to talk to her. He excused himself from his current nameless dance partner and began to walk away. The woman he was dancing with grabbed his arm. He looked down at her hand irritated and shrugged her off. She stood there as she placed her hands on her hips, scowled and huffed as she watched him leave her and walk over to another woman.

Derek made his way over to the table and plopped himself down in the seat across from his heart. He took a big swig of his beer and smiled at Penelope.

"Hey, Baby Girl! Everything alright with my favorite girl? You look upset, Mama."

"Hiya, Hot Stuff! I'm good, just a little tired, that's all." Penelope looked over at him and gave him a half-hearted smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Derek's expressive eyebrows shot up and he couldn't keep the concern off his handsome face. "Alright woman, spill it! I know when something is on that sexy mind of yours!"

Penelope laid her hands on his arm. "Really handsome, I'm fine. There is nothing to spill!"

Derek shook his head in disbelief. He knew her better than he knew himself. He knew she wasn't being honest with him. He decided not to push it and figured he would try to distract her. "You wanna dance, hot mama?"

Penelope knew it would be useless to try and hide something from Derek. Penelope sighed and grabbed her purse as she stood up. "Not tonight, Baby Boy! I am just gonna head home and take a nice hot bubble bath. I will see you tomorrow. Say my goodbyes to everybody."

Penelope leaned down and pecked him on the forehead and then proceeded to head for the door.

Derek was having none of that, he quickly threw some money on the table, waved at the rest of the team and rushed out the door after his Goddess.

He caught up to her as she was just opening up the door to her beloved Esther. He gently captured her arm and twirled her around to face him.

"Whoa there, woman! I am not letting you go anywhere until you talk to me. You know, I know you all too well. Please tell me what's wrong, Gorgeous!"

Penelope put her head down and stared at her feet. She was afraid and needed to get out of there before she said something that she couldn't take back. "It's nothing Derek, I just want to go home. I just have a few things on my mind."

He tenderly placed his fingers under her chin and guided her head up, so he could gaze right into her eyes. They looked so sad and full of doubts. After several seconds of just staring soulfully into each other's eyes. He decided speak up first.

"Nuh uh, baby! You really have me worried. You know you can tell me anything. Is this about Lynch?"

Derek never had any use for Kevin Lynch! He always felt and knew that that idiot would never be good enough for his favorite girl. Derek wished he could be honest with her and get the courage to tell her how he truly felt. He knew he was a coward, but he was afraid that Penelope would reject him. That would just kill him though if she did. He never felt he was good enough for her, he was a broken man who wasn't good enough for her either. His past would always make him feel that way. He never wanted to hurt her or lose her from his life. She was his best friend, his solace and the only woman he would ever truly love. So he had decided a long time ago to play it safe and just leave everything status quo.

Penelope's eyes went wide with fear. How could she tell Derek the truth? He would laugh at her. She didn't want to take a chance of pushing him away. She normally could talk to him about anything, but not this. She didn't want to tell him she was totally unhappy with Kevin and wanted a future with him, her boo.

A lone tear started to creep down her cheek. Now Derek was beside himself, he took one of his thumbs and softly brushed the tear away. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, they were both startled by the sound of the cocking of a gun.

TBC