She looked at the clock on the wall. It was 9:30PM and she had been there all day. The case had been rough on all of them. The images of those children was something she knew she'd never be able to erase from her mind. She leaned back in her chair, removed her glasses and closed her eyes. After a few minutes she decided she needed to go home. After every case she would wait for the team to return, but they were still in mid-flight and it would be at least 3 hours before the plane touched down. She sat up straight; put her glasses back on and one by one put her babies to bed. As she reached the last one she noticed she had an email message and clicked on it. The message was from Kevin and she immediately knew it wasn't going to be good. She was supposed to have had dinner with Kevin, a rain check she had promised from the last time she canceled. It had totally slipped her mind. The email simply said "Good Night".

Kevin had a very hard time understanding why she was so attached to her job. "Commitment is one thing Pen, but you go overboard. You are NOT on call 24/7 and you are NOT the only analyst they can use" he once said to her. She picked up her cell phone to call but thought twice about it. She knew that calling him at this hour and from the office would only lead into a two hour discussion about how she needed to set boundaries. She didn't have the energy or the desire to justify her reasoning. This wasn't just a job for her, this was an extension of the family she lost so long ago and desired so deep within. They depended on her, they counted on her but more important than that, THEY had always been there for her. She threw the phone in her purse, shutdown her email client and put the last baby to sleep.

She headed towards the door of her office and flipped the light switch off before closing the door. The only thing keeping her tired body going was the thought that her team would be back in the morning.

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The plane landed at 1AM. Even though they had managed to get some sleep on the ride back, the lack of sleep from the past couple of days had started to catch up with them. The van had dropped them off at Quantico and as they walked across the parking lot to enter the building, Derek couldn't help but notice that Penelope's car wasn't there. She always waited for them and he looked forward to seeing her after a case was done. She had a way of relaxing him and making him feel human and he needed that right now. Emily obviously noticed the disappointment in his face and said "What's wrong?" He shook his head slightly and replied "Nothing, just tired I guess." Emily left it alone but she sensed that there was more to it.

Emily knew Derek well enough to know that this case had taken its toll on him. Whenever the case involved children, he seemed to be the most affected. She wasn't sure if it was his protective side, the one that believed in helping the underdog, or if it was his childhood experiences that made him empathize with children, what she did know was that for the next couple of days or even weeks, he would be battling his own demons. She knew he would blame himself for not being able to save Charlie.

Derek walked over to his desk and placed his file on it. He had considered staying for a few hours to get a jump start on them but his brain was simply too cluttered with visuals he needed to fight off to accomplish anything. "Hey guys, I'm going to head out, I'm exhausted and it'll be useless for me to try to finish anything here tonight. " Derek said. From all corners of the bull pen came the usual "good nights" and "drive safe". Derek picked up his ready bag and headed towards the car.

Derek opened up his front door and turned on the lights. He had expected for Clooney to greet him at the door but quickly remembered that Penelope had taken him to her house while he was gone. "He's lonely when you leave!! He doesn't like being in the dark alone!" were her arguments. He couldn't help but chuckle at her excuses. Truth was she loved having Clooney over her house. He kept her company and she spoiled him rotten.

As exhausted as he was he knew he just wouldn't be able to get to sleep yet, he was too wound tight. He showered and headed to the living to watch TV. As he flipped through the channels he saw a picture of Charlie flash across the screen on one of the cable news channels. Derek closed his eyes, and leaned his head against the sofa, in the background the newscaster's voice was all that was heard giving the chilling details of Charlie's death.

He quickly got up, grabbed his jacket and his keys and walked out the door.

Penelope was sleeping but was woken up by a loud bang on the door. She put on a robe and went to the door. She peeked through the hole and when she saw who it was she opened the door quickly and said "What are you doing here?"

Kevin walked into the apartment without waiting to be asked. As he walked passed Penelope she sarcastically said "Oh no, I'm not doing anything, come on in!" as she waved her arm to the side mockingly.

"We need to talk. We can't go on this way." Kevin said. "You always put everything before us. If it's not the job, it's the team, if it's not the team it's the job. It's always something!" He yelled.

Penelope closed the door to her apartment and quickly turned around. She was aggravated. "Kevin, it's 3 in the morning and I had just barely fallen asleep! YOU know how hard it is for me to sleep and I've had a very long week! Do we have to do this now??" Penelope said.

"When else do I get to see you? I can't talk to you in the office because you're afraid we'll get in trouble. I can't count on you keeping a date because YOUR team might need you at that precise moment in time. Lunch time is off limits because of course you have to have lunch with the girls or with Morgan. Hell we can't even go out for drinks after work because you're never out of work at a decent time, and on the rare occasions you actually leave on time, YOU have to go for drinks with YOUR team! The only time I know I can get your attention is when you're sleeping!!" He said. As Kevin spoke, the veins in his neck were prevalent. She could tell he was really upset but she was tired and as much as she tried to explain what her job meant to her, or what her responsibilities were, he was never willing to listen.

"Kevin, I know you're upset but I'm exhausted. I know if you and I talk right now, we are going to say things that we won't be able to take back. THIS is not the time. We can discuss this tommmm"

Kevin interrupted Penelope mid sentence and said "WHAT?? Tomorrow?? Is that before or after you meet with your team? I don't know shall we meet in the hallway on your way to chat with JJ?? No, maybe we can do it when you're on your way back from chatting with Morgan. You think you can spare let's say a minute or two for me??" Kevin said sarcastically.

"NOW LISTEN!" Penelope said as she stepped toward Kevin waving her finger practically in his face, "I have NO idea where this is coming from and quite frankly I have even less of a desire to try and find out! I work hard and I take my job very seriously. YES I have long hours! YES I'm dedicated to my team! And NO that isn't going to change! You knew what my life was like, you knew what my job entailed and you knew that THE TEAM as you put it is my family! You knew there NOTHING I wouldn't do for them." She yelled.

Kevin was hurt. This was not the reaction he was expecting to get from her. He thought once he expressed his feelings she would be compassionate, instead she seemed to negate his feelings altogether. He shook his head as in disbelief and staring right into her eyes he said "I always thought that maybe at some point in our relationship, there would be nothing you wouldn't do for us." Just then there was a knock at her door.

Penelope stared at the door for a minute then briefly looked up at the ceiling and said "this is a test right? It has to be." She quickly opened the door and without thinking she said "Is there a sign at some bathroom that says Penelope's opened all night??

"Is this a bad time? Derek said.

"Holy shit, not even when she's sleeping can I get her attention" Kevin said out loud.

"Oh shit, Kevin I'm sorry I uhh I had no idea you were here. I'm sorry I'll just go uhh I just wanted to uhh Man, this is awkward" Derek said as he turned to leave.

"Derek don't. Please, please don't leave. Come in, you're not interrupting anything. Are you ok?" Penelope said as she placed her hand on his arm to guide him inside. She closed the door behind him and asked if he wanted something to drink.

Kevin's jaw dropped. He stood there in disbelief. For the past 20 minutes they were having a full blown discussion about their relationship. She complained that she was too tired to do this, that she had to work in the morning, that they could talk tomorrow, but as soon as Morgan shows up she's more than eager for HIM to come in. Hell she even offered him a drink! He grabbed his jacket in a rush and walked towards the door.

"Kevin, we'll talk tomorrow ok?" Penelope said.

Kevin looked at Penelope but didn't respond; he opened the door and walked out.

"Baby girl, I should go it looks like you two need to talk and it's late, I'm not really sure why I came here." Derek said.

"No, please stay. You didn't interrupt anything that I didn't want interrupted. I'm glad you came. Now tell me, what's wrong Angel?" She asked as she grabbed his hand and led him to the couch.