Chapter 3

AN: Yay! I got home earlier than expected, so I get to post earlier than expected. Thank you so much for the reviews. I really appreciate it; they make me smile, especially when my day has been rotten!... BTW, I don't own the song here, either. Def Leppard does.

Derek Morgan was just about at Club Vogue, the current locale of his beautiful and bodacious Baby Girl. She was watching naked men and drinking.

He wasn't too thrilled about that.

There were many good reasons he wasn't keen on it. It was expensive to drink in a club, he wasn't there to protect her, and, well… If she wanted a close up of some man with muscles, he'd be more than happy to take it off for her.

He sighed. That wasn't his job, although he'd been applying extra hard for that job ever since they returned from Alaska. She kinda loved him again, in spite of her still having Lynch, and for Derek… there was no kinda about it. It was plain as day; he simply loved her, had loved her for a long time.

Their timing was just always a hair off.

In Alaska, he could feel the tide turn. From the night he'd held her after she saw the murder, to when he had held her in the backyard of the lodge before they'd left, he could feel the electric intensity of their feelings for each other. He'd even held her hand the entire way home in the airplanes. Looking back, he knew: it was a definite deep love he was feeling. He thought maybe she did, too; that maybe, just maybe, she knew they were meant to be.

Unfortunately, Lynch had been there to pick her up at the airport. It had been only then that she'd removed her hand from his. She'd even glanced back at him with a huge amount of regret on her face; he always could read her like a book. When she'd stepped away that time, however, she'd taken an even bigger chunk of his heart with her.

Other cases happened, life moved on, and he'd had to deal with work and life before he could try to do anything else. It had been a month now since they'd returned, and he'd decided he was tired of waiting. He was done waiting for the perfect moment; he'd learned the hard way that the moment might never come.

This time, he was going to get his girl, no matter what it took.

He was going to do it, he was going to claim his woman, and tonight, surrounded by drunken tech girls and rowdy music... that would work. It was going to work. It was going to be perfect.

It had to be.

If it wasn't perfect timing, that was okay; he'd make it perfect.

Pulling up in front of the club, Derek saw Penelope, eight other TAs and a huge blonde stripper with long hair like Fabio, sitting out front. The bride-to-be (Derek assumed she was the future bride; she was wearing a penis crown with a veil), was sitting on the ground, between the legs of the stripper, swaying rather drunkenly.

"Hey Morgan!" one of the tech girls called out. He recognized her from Penelope's lair the other day. He had no idea what her name was. "Is there room in there for Thor?"

"Sorry, girls, there's only room for nine," he said, sighing dramatically. He looked down and saw that Thor was wearing a very tight, and from the looks of the front, probably stuffed, leopard print g-string. "I am afraid Thor is going to have to hitchhike in his skivies."

"Don't...*hic*... worry, Thor," the would be bride slurred sympathetically, reaching to pat Thor's thigh and missing by a mile, patting his package instead, making the not-so-Scandinavian Viking jump. "Someone'll stop and give you a…*hic*…ride."

Derek laughed; she must've patted harder than it looked!

"God knows I would! I'd take him for a ride any day!" another tech girl crowed, then the giggling group of girls burst into laughter.

"It's alright, ya'll," Thor said with his deep Southern accent, shrugging. "I got a ride out back."

Everyone cheered and clapped at the good news, then gave a quick hug to Thor, along with many kisses on his facial cheeks.

Derek wouldn't have been surprised if some of them kissed the other ones, too!

"Okay, everyone in," Derek announced with a smirk, and the girls started climbing into the SUV.

Penelope put her foot up on the back bumper, but Derek lassoed her around the waist. "Hey, sit up front with me, okay?"

"Sure." She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Hot Stuff."

He arched a brow and grinned at her. "Oh, come on, Baby Girl. You saw hotter stuff than me tonight in there! I think I lost my title!"

"Never," she said, grinning back at him.

He winked, and shut her door, then climbed back in. "Ready, ladies?"

"Hell, yes!" one of them crowed, and the group started laughing loudly again.

He started the SUV and was off. Penelope had given him the addresses of the tech girls on Friday. He had them all programmed into the GPS. He figured they'd be too drunk to even know how to get to their own houses, so this way, he didn't have to ask and hunt around.

As he continued driving, one of the women yelled, "Hey! Turn that song up!"

He complied, turning up the tune with the recognizable raunchy lyrics and beat.

"Pour some sugar on me!"the women sang with, dancing in their seats. He laughed, looking in his rearview mirror at some of them shaking it. He winked over at Penelope, who was beaming at him.

"Hey, Morgan! This is a stripping song. Take it off!" One of the bawdier girls called out.

He shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart. I only do private shows."

"Aw, man! Wanna do one for me?" the same girl yelled.

"Oh, yeah!" another crowed. "That would rock, you good lookin' thing, you!"

"He's fine," the bride-to-be (Derek had no idea what her name was..) slurred, not quite drunk enough not to appreciate a handsome man.

"Built like a brick shithouse!" another responded.

Derek had to stifle a laugh. He looked over at Penelope, who blushed beet red.

"D, I'm so sorry," she whispered quietly, obviously mortified at the display her friends were making of themselves.

He reached over and squeezed her cheek gently, before pulling in front of the first house. "Here's Nicole's stop. Have a nice night, sweetheart."

One of the techs got out and staggered to her front door.

The next few went along just fine, with flirts for Derek being hollered out. Derek was eating it up. He was going to show them a good night, and have some fun while he was at it. He'd wink at Penelope, to show her it was all in good fun, and she'd wink back and giggle at his responses.

Currently, the loudest one, whom Derek learned was Sherri, said, "C'mon. One little strip, Morgan. I bet you're even wearing undies like Thor!"

"Hell, no," he said with a smirk. He thought what a difference a little alcohol made with that girl; she could barely talk in Pen's office.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Not enough fabric; I need something bigger than that, honey."

The girls all hooted and clapped. Some even whistled.

Sherri was the last one out. She smiled and saluted Derek. "You're a good man, Agent Morgan."

"In more ways than one," he said, making the girl visibly shiver.

She leaned in Penelope's window and whispered loudly, "I'd jump him, if I were you!"

Derek watched Penelope turn beet red yet again, as her friend started her walk up to the house.

At last, the women were gone. He was looking forward to time alone with Penelope, the only one the flirting mattered with.

And now he finally got it.