Chapter 3:

It's been a few months since Charlie joined the BAU – five months to the day to be exact and she finally feels like she's becoming part of the team. She's had girls nights with Prentiss, JJ, and Garcia and even went out with the team a few times too. Of course, the times she out with the team as a whole she had to watch Derek flirt, dance, and go home with different girls.

Charlie may not have been that bold when it came to the opposite sex but she wouldn't turn down a conversation with a cute guy if he approached which happened enough to get on Derek's nerves she knew. She knew she was attracted to him and him to her and even though she tries to ignore it, it's always there in the back of her mind, like right now.

Sure, the guy she was talking to at the bar was handsome and closer to her age – there only being a couple years difference – but seeing Derek out of the corner of her eye feeling up another girl was nerve-grating. Pulling her eyes back to the man in front of her she smiled at a compliment he gave her. She thanked God that he wasn't a profiler or he'd notice her eyes drifting every few minutes.

"So you said you're an FBI agent right?" The guy asked. His name was Marshal if she remembered correctly.

"Yes, I just joined the Behaviour Analysis Unit." Charlie replied, "I'm a profiler."

"A profiler?" He leaned forward, "Can you profile me?"

Charlie shook her head, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Awe come on."

"I try to keep my personal life separate from my professional life. It's easier that way." Charlie explained, "Besides, you're not a serial killer are you?"

They both laughed and he replied, "No but if I was I would probably keep that to myself wouldn't I?"

"You'd be surprised at how many serial killers actually admit being one." She said and decided to change the subject, "So what is it that you do?"

Marshal seemed slightly surprised at the change in topic but recovered and answered, "I'm a small business owner. You know that café three blocks from here called Treasure Your Treat? I own that. I opened it up two years ago with my best friend."

"I love that place! I've stopped in there a couple times on my way to work." She said, suddenly interested in hearing more, "Who comes up with all those tasty pastries?"

"I see you've got a sweet tooth." He laughed, "That would be my business partner Mindy. She comes up with the menu, I handle the finances."

"So you're the reason why I have to pay almost five bucks for that double chocolate turtle bar." She stated with a smirk.

Holding up his hands as if caught, he said, "I admit I'm guilty of that but we have to make a profit, it's part of the business."

They chatted some more, Charlie finally forgetting about what Derek was doing on the other side of the bar. They were only interrupted twice, once when JJ left and the other when Hotch and Rossi left; they both have kids to get home to. That left Prentiss, Garcia, Reid, and Derek to watch her flirt with the handsome Marshal Stone – they just exchanged cards.

"It was really great to meet you Charlie." He said as he stood, "But I have to get going. I have an early morning of investment meetings but I'd like to call you some time."

"I think I'd like that." She meant it too.

Once he was gone, she picked up her drink and practically floated over to the table that her coworkers were sitting at. She took a sip of her drink and slowly set it down as she noticed the looks from her coworkers.

"You're like the female version of Morgan." Reid said.

"Hardly. I don't objectify men the way he does women." Charlie avoided looking in Derek's direction while speaking.

"So you like that guy then?" Prentiss asked and Garcia leaned in closer, interested in Charlie's answer.

Charlie shrugged but couldn't stop the grin from forming, "We exchanged numbers. What about you Derek?" Charlie finally looked at him, "Get any numbers?" She didn't really want to know the answer but she didn't want to be the topic of conversation either.

"Actually no, I'm heading home alone tonight." He said curtly.

"Oh, to bad. She seemed nice." She said, hiding how elated she was at this news. She drank the rest of her drink and stood up, "Well, I'm heading home. Enjoy your day off tomorrow; I think we all deserve it."

After saying their goodbyes, Charlie left the bar and headed for the metro. She doesn't know why she was so happy Derek was heading home alone tonight, she shouldn't care. She wants to forget about her feelings for him and Marshal seems like a great guy.

When Charlie arrived at home, there were flowers left outside her apartment door. They were purple orchids and they smelled lovely. She read the card as she unlocked her door and walked into her apartment.

No flower should go unloved, especially one with your beauty.

- Saviour of Loneliness


Derek walked into the conference room to see everyone but Charlie already there. JJ had the PowerPoint set up ready for a presentation and Reid and Prentiss both looked annoyed that they were called in on their day off. They looked just as unhappy as he did. Rossi didn't seem to mind being here on a Sunday.

"This better be good. I was looking forward to this day off." Derek said.

"Don't worry, this one is local." Hotch said and motioned for JJ to continue.

JJ flipped the slide to the first picture, "There is a serial killer in D.C. Four girls, all brunettes between the ages of 21 and 25 have been found strangled in there home in the past two months."

"Hang on, shouldn't Charlie be here?" Derek asked.

"No one was able to reach her." Rossi said, "We'll send someone to get her after and fill her in."

Derek nodded and turned to the screen that showed pictures of all four girls, "Aside from the brown hair and age, do the victims have anything else in common?"

"They all were single women who live alone and when they were found, loud music would be playing from their apartment. They also found purple orchids in each of the victims' homes. They were all placed near the living room windows." JJ said, flipping the slide to a bouquet of purple orchids from the crime scenes.

"The latest crime scene is in Seven Corners. Prentiss, Reid, you're with me. Morgan you go pick up Macy." Hotch instructed.

"Rossi and I will head down to the precinct to speak to the detective on the case." JJ informed.

They all left their separate ways and while Derek was driving to Charlie's house, he tried to phone her but still didn't get an answer. He closed his phone and threw it in the seat next to him. What good was a phone if she wasn't going to answer it?

He pulled up to her apartment building and went up to her floor. As he got closer to her door he heard loud music playing from within and his blood ran cold. 'All of them were brunettes, were single and lived alone, and when they were found, loud music was playing in their homes.' He remembered JJ saying.

Not hesitating a single moment, he withdrew his gun and kicked the door open, "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Charlie screamed as someone kicked down the door. She quickly reached for her gun and pointed it at her assailant but lowered it immediately when she that it was Derek.

"Is this your idea of a sick joke!" She yelled over the music as she went and turned it down, "What is your problem?" She snapped.

"Sorry," Derek said as he put his gun away, "I thought-"

"You thought?" Charlie asked incredulously, "You didn't think! Look at my door? You're going to fix that!"

Derek looked at the door and sighed. It was practically coming off its hinges. It was ebony as well, a very expensive black wood. He turned back to Charlie to see she was still in her pyjamas and a basket of half folded laundry behind her.

"Where's your phone? Don't you answer it?" Derek finally asked.

"It's in my room charging on my night table. Why? What's it to you?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"We have a case. I'll brief you on the way to the precinct." Derek said, "Hurry up and change."

Letting her arms fall, Charlie let out a defeated sigh, "Alright. Just wait a moment."

She walked into her room and shut the door behind her, leaving Derek alone. He took this opportunity to look around. He looked at the pictures she had on the wall. There were a lot of her brother and her mother. There was also one of her brother holding a little boy – his son most likely. There were no pictures of her father though.

He continued to look around her apartment when something caught his eye. He walked into the kitchen and looked into the garbage can to see a bouquet of purple orchids and for the second time that morning his blood ran cold.

He heard her open her bedroom door and walk down the hall toward him and he turned to her, a grim look on his face. She was just finishing putting her hair in a ponytail, not having enough time to do anything else with it, and looked up at him.

"What is it?" She asked, sensing something was wrong.

"Who gave you those flowers?" He asked.

Sighing, she shook her head, "Is that what this is about? You're jealous? You really need to get ov-"

"Who game them to you Charlie?!" Derek demanded, holding her by the shoulders now, making her look at him.

"I don't know!" Charlie shouted.

Derek let go of her and she immediately backed up a bit, "What do you mean you don't know?"

She walked over to the little table by her door and picked up the card that came with the flowers, "I came home last night and they were sitting at my door. They came with this." She handed over the card, "I thought it was kind of creepy so I threw them out."

He read the card and then looked into her eyes, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Why would I tell anyone?" She was confused.

"We have to go." Derek said abruptly and started looking around the apartment for anything out of the ordinary. It was hard though since he's never been here before, "And pack a bag, you wont be staying here tonight. I'll explain everything on the way."

The urgent tone in his voice told Charlie not to argue so she ran to her room and grabbed her go bag. She strapped her gun to her waist, grabbed her phone and key, then left her room.

"Would you please explain to me what's going on now?" Charlie asked once they started driving.

Derek explained everything about the case and what they knew. The more he told the more Charlie turned white at the realisation she was now a target. It explained why Derek rammed into her apartment, gun ready and his anxiety when he saw the flowers. She felt the same way, now that she knew about the case.

It wasn't until they pulled into the FBI headquarters that she realised her surroundings. They were supposed to go to the DC precinct but she didn't even realise they drove for an extra twenty minutes to Quantico. She was about to ask why they came here instead but Derek was already on the phone.

"Hey Hotch, you should bring everything you've found to the BAU. I know who the next target is." Derek said, "It's Charlie which means this just became a federal case."

That answered her question. They got out of the car and when up to their floor and entered the bullpen. Garcia was there waiting.

"Are you okay?" She asked, "Hotch just called me."

"I'm still alive aren't I?" Charlie asked sarcastically and then realised who she snapped at, "Sorry Penelope. I'm just trying to let this all sink in."

She fell into her chair, dropping her go bag beside her and looked to the ceiling. Why me? She thought. Everything was going great in her life and now it's in danger. She vaguely head Derek talking to Garcia about seeing what flower shops in D.C sold purple orchids and getting a list of names of people who work at those shops. Charlie thought it was a futile attempt; hundreds of people were going to show up on the database and we had no way of narrowing down the suspect.

"You should ask the shops if they've sold more orchids than usual in the past two months and if they haven't, ask if they've sold bouquets around the dates that correspond with the victims deaths. Someone should collect video tapes from these shops as well." Charlie told them from her seat. They probably didn't even realise she was listening.

"Uh, right." Garcia said, "I'll get right to that then." She briskly walked back to her office to get started.

"If this guy isn't organised then we should find him pretty quickly right?" Charlie asked, tilting her head to the side to look at Derek.

"This guy is organised Charlie." Derek replied, "That's clearly displayed in his MO."

"Right. The orchids, the music, the strangulation." She reiterated exasperatedly.

Derek looked to Charlie and walked over to her desk, "What did you just say?" Charlie looked at him confused, "You said, music and then strangulation. Not the other way around."

"I know."

"Why did you say that?" Derek asked, leaning forward.

"It's what I would have done." Charlie said, "Turn up the music to drown out the noise of the victim struggling."

The rest of the team walked into the bullpen after that and headed straight to the conference room at Hotch's orders. Charlie followed her coworkers in the room, Derek close behind. They took a seat around the table started pulling out the information they've collected.

Prentiss laid out the pictures of the victims and Charlie got a lump in her throat. They were all strangled with a bare hand, meaning it was personal to the unsub, and it made her lightly grasp her own throat knowing that if she wasn't careful, she would be next.

"When we went to see the detective, he confirmed that all four victims were raped." Rossi said, "But there was internal tearing."

"They were raped after death?" Charlie asked, her gut sinking even more.

"There were trace amounts of rimantadine and ketamine in the victims system."

"A dissociative date rape drug." Derek said.

Charlie stood up and left the room quickly. She needed to get to the bathroom fast. She burst through the door and just made it to the first stall before she vomited in the toilet. The tears started immediately after and she flushed the toilet and sat on the floor. Before she saw the pictures she could act like it was any other case but seeing the pictures made it seem more real somehow. She kept seeing her own face when she looked at the four victims and it didn't help that they all looked eerily alike.

She heard the bathroom door open and quickly wiped at her face trying to hide the evidence of tears, though knowing it was futile. Even if she wiped the tears, her eyes would give her away. She didn't want to look weak in front of her team though so she tried to make an effort. Charlie took deep breaths and closed her eyes to control herself but immediately opened them when she saw her own lifeless body behind them.

"Charlie." JJ called when she was outside the stall door.

"Just a second." Charlie replied as she got to her feet and smoothed down her shirt. She wiped her eyes again, took a deep breath and opened the stall door.

JJ, playing the motherly figure Charlie needed right now, brought her into a hug, "Are you okay?" she asked.

Charlie nodded, "I'm fine, just needed to clear my head."

"No one expects you to be okay with this." JJ said softly.

Charlie pulled away from her and looked to the floor, "That's going to be me."

"No, it's not." JJ said, "It could have been you but we were able to find out you were a target in time."

"For how long though? You guys can't protect me forever." Charlie said as she went to the sink to wash her hands and rinse her mouth. She spat the water out and looked in the mirror; she looked horrible. Her eyes were red and cheeks flushed.

"We'll find him." JJ reassured, "In the mean time, you'll stay with one of us."

Charlie sighed and nodded before opening the bathroom door to leave, JJ following behind. They went back to the conference room and Garcia was there telling everyone what she had found about the flower shops. There were five different flower shops that sold bouquets of purple orchids around the time of the victims' deaths but only three of the shops had surveillance.

"I'll go to the flower shops to get the tapes." Charlie volunteered.

"Actually Macy, Reid and Prentiss are going to go get the tapes. I want you to stay here and work on a geographical profile. Garcia will work with you. There's a map in her office already set up for you." Hotch instructed.

Charlie forced a smile, "Okay, sounds good."

She followed Garcia to her office and got started on the profile. She placed the points on the map according to their location and stepped back. It didn't make sense; the pattern was off.

"What was the order of the murders again?" Charlie asked.

"The first one was in Brookmont, the second in Hillcrest Heights, then Colesville and Seven Corners and you were the last in-"

"Landover." Charlie finished, "Pass me a marker."

Garcia passed her a marker and Charlie followed the path, connecting the dots. Garcia watch from her seat and watched in amazement as the lines connected to make a star. Why would it be a star though? Charlie thought as she tapped the bottom of her marker on her lip.

"Look up star signs." Charlie told Garcia.

Doing as she was told, Garcia started typing. All she seemed to find was zodiac signs and horoscopes. Charlie told her to check 'star meanings' but the only thing that came up was girls with star tattoos. As Charlie was thinking what else it could be, she drew an air circle around the star. When she realised what she was doing she took a closer look as she drew the air circle and then put her marker to the map to draw the circle around the star.

"It's not a star it's a pentagram – a symbol for wiccans. Type that in and see what comes up."

Garcia did one last check and, "Eureka. It says that the pentagram was a religious symbol used by the Babylonians and the Pythagoreans in ancient Greece. Today it's used by Neopagans. The pentagram is also a symbol of magic in some faiths."

"Like Wicca. Look that up."

"Okay….Wicca is modern day paganism, and was created in England in 1952. Apparently the religion is so diverse that depending on who talk too, it would vary from person to person."

"How much do you want to bet that this person uses sacrifice in his 'magic'?" Charlie said, "The question is, what spell he is trying to cast."

"Well, it says here that wiccans are centred around nature, and if I look that up it has the pentagrams with the five elements of nature at each point." Garcia said, "Each element has a subtitle that looks to be a character trait."

Charlie looked at the screen and her eyes widened. She told Garcia to print of the picture and then took down the map. She had to show the others right away. She stumbled out of the room as fast as she could and practically ran to the conference room where Derek, Hotch, and Rossi were. She placed the map down on the table and then placed the pentagram picture down beside it.

"We're looking for a Wiccan with a warped mind." She said, breathing heavily in anticipation.

"How did you figure this out." Rossi asked.

"That's not important. What's important is that we need the other cards that came with the flowers."

"Slow down there Charlie. Explain your reasoning." Derek said.

Charlie calmed her breathing and then went onto explain what she and Garcia found out. Then explained why she needed the cards.

"I was the last victim and my card said something about love. I bet all the other cards said something similar about each trait. Now there might be something small but subtle at each crime scene that would have indicated the elements as well; something that we may have missed. So we have to take a closer look at each crime scene and talk to the first responders of each crime scene."

"And you're sure about this?" Hotch asked as he took another look.

"Yes, I'm positive that each sacrifice is part of a spell or ritual of some sort." Charlie said, "And I'm also positive that he's going to try everything he can to finish it, including going after his last sacrifice." She finished, almost nervously. She broke down once already, she wasn't going to do it again, especially not in front of them.

"Alright then, we'll have Garcia look up registered Wiccans in the area. While waiting for Reid and Prentiss to get back, you and Morgan can study the crime scenes. Rossi and I will head to the police station and pick up the rest of the evidence."

"I know what you're doing Hotch." Charlie said.

"Then I'm sure you know why as well." Hotch said before leaving with Rossi.

Charlie sighed and flopped down in her chair and pulled some of the pictures to her, she looked at the pictures but wasn't really seeing them. She was bored of being stuck in the office for so long, she wasn't used to sitting around all day.

"We're just trying to protect you." Derek said, "Until this guy is caught you're safety is important." He took a seat beside her.

She threw the pictures on the table, "I know and I really do appreciate it."

"But?" Derek asked, sensing there was one in the somewhere. Why was she hesitating? He thought, "Talk to me Charlie."

"But…I'm afraid," She avoided eye contact, "and I don't want to hide in fear, I want to use it to catch this guy."

Derek brought his hand to her cheek and cupped it, turning her head to face him. He wanted to see her eyes. He's never seen her like this – this vulnerable – and he was glad he was witnessing this side of her now. He knows that she and JJ talked when they were in the bathroom earlier but he wants to be the one to talk to her like that.

"It's okay to be afraid." Derek said when she finally met his eyes.

"I'm weak." She whispered.

"No, you're not. You're human and you're a great agent." He said.

She smiled a little, "You think so?"

"Yeah, I do. And anytime you want to talk I'm there." He said, moving his hand from her cheek down to her neck, shoulder and then arm. He gave Charlie's hand a squeeze before he let go.

They got to work right after that, studying the pictures of each crime scene. They needed to find something for earth, fire, water, and spirit but the pictures didn't have anything obvious. Charlie rubbed her eyes and tried to refocus but a yawn broke from her lips.

"You're tired." Derek stated.

"We've been at this for awhile." Charlie replied.

Reid and Prentiss walked through the door at the moment. They were each holding a bag of Chinese food and Reid set a smaller bag on the table, presumably holding the tapes.

"We figured you guys would be hungry. Hotch and Rossi are on their way back as well." Prentiss said.

"You're a life saver." Charlie said as she dug into the bags, "Kung pow and sweet & sour pork, chicken balls, steamed rice, chow mien, pork friend rice, chop suey. You guys went all out."

"I'll go get Garcia." Reid said and left.

"No JJ?" Charlie asked as she set everything out.

Prentiss shook her head, "No, she went home to Will and Henry. She'll be back in the morning."

"I suppose we'll all be going home for the night soon after dinner." Charlie stated.

"Not you, you're staying at mine for the night." Derek said, nudging her aside as he picked out his dishes.

"Casa Morgan…sounds fun." It came out sarcastic but she was secretly being sincere.

By the smirk Derek had, he knew it too, "Hey now, don't knock it."


Rossi and Hotch came and they all had dinner. While they ate, they debriefed so that they were all up to date on any new information and then called it a night. The good thing about not being out of state for this case is that they could all go home and sleep, aside from Charlie that is. Not that she could go home even if she wasn't a target since Derek broke down her door.

He pulled into a driveway of a nice, red bricked, back split suburban home. The grass was well taken care of meaning he hired a gardener since he wasn't home enough to care for it himself. There was a hedge separating his property from his neighbour indicating that he liked his privacy. They got out of the car and lights automatically came on meaning he's cautious of his surroundings; he wants to be alerted of anyone coming near his property. This means he probably has a high tech security system.

"You know the rule, no inner team profiling." Derek said as he walked ahead to his front door.

"I wasn't." Charlie tried.

"You were, you have the same look on your face whenever you profile something. You do it a lot actually." Derek said as he unlocked the door.

He ushered her inside and quickly made his way to the alarm to type in the code to disarm it. Once the door was closed and locked again, he turned it back on. A bark was heard and a German Sheppard came into the foyer as Derek turned on the light.

"You have a dog?" Charlie asked as she knelt down to the dogs level to pet him.

"His name is Cloonie. He's a retired police dog that I adopted." Derek said, throwing his car keys on a side table, "So how about a tour?"

Getting back to her feet, Charlie followed Derek through the house. He brought her to the living room, then the kitchen was open concept – only separated by the back of his couch – both were rather large. He brought me down a wide hallway where there were two doors on the left and two on the right. The first on the left was a spacious bathroom with a stand up shower and Jacuzzi.

The door across and beside the bathroom were spare bedrooms, Derek said I could choose either of them to stay in. The last door on the right was the master bedroom that was the size of the living room; he even had his own sitting area complete with a brown leather loveseat by a corner fireplace. Attached was an ensuite the same size as the other bathroom.

"This is not what I pictured as a bachelor pad." Charlie said as she turned to him.

He laughed, "Well I'm hardly a bachelor anymore. That ship sailed when I turned thirty."

"You're thirty-five years old, single and live alone. You're a bachelor no matter what age you are."

"Alright, well which room do you want?" He asked.

"I'll take the one across the hall." She said and went across the hall, "Why do you need such a big house for just you?" She asked as she set her bag down and unzipped it.

"I just wanted to make sure I had enough space for me family for when they visit." He replied as he leaned on the threshold.

"You never want to settle down." Charlie said, her back still to him.

He knew it wasn't a question but he felt he still needed to respond, "I never thought it was possible with a career like ours. Hotch tried and look how that turned out for him. He's a divorced, single father, whose ex-wife was killed by a serial killer who wanted revenge."

"Look at how well it turned out for JJ." Charlie countered.

"It wasn't without its challenges."

"But that would make it all the more worth it." Charlie said and started riffling through stuff as if searching for something. She paused when Derek stepped up beside her but resumed again.

"And you see yourself settling down in the future?" Derek asked.

"If the right person comes along." She said quietly, stopping her movements when she couldn't find what she was looking for, "I want to find someone to share my life with, I want children and one day, grandchildren."

"And Marshal Stone. He could be that guy?"

She could feel Derek's eyes on her but refused to them, "Probably not but it's worth a try right?"

He didn't answer. He just looked at her, willing her to look back. It pleased and annoyed him all at the same time. He's glad that she didn't think of Marshal long term but why would she bother with him then? He wished that she was a little easier to read.

"Do you have anything I could use as pyjamas?" Charlie asked, breaking him from his thoughts. Only then did he realise she was finally looking at him.

"Of course." He replied and went into his room.

He gave her a blue t-shirt and a pair of his boxers, knowing they would be the closest fit. She shut the door to her temporary room and started to change. She heard Derek mention he was going to shower and left her to her own devices.

When she was done changing she left the room and went toward the living room. When she walked through the kitchen she noticed a door off to the side and opened it. There was another room that Derek didn't show her. There were about three steps leading down to an office space. There was a desk in the corner and book shelves all around that were filled. There was also a small table in the centre of the room ridden with books. The room was a mess.

She stepped into the room and started looking at all his books. There were many about psychology, criminology, victimology, behavioural sciences, etc. but there were also some fictional books as well. He had all of Kurt Vonnegut's books and took one out to look at it. It was old and looked like it was read a lot, more so than the other, indicating it was his favourite of the serious.

"What did I say about profiling teammates?"

The sudden voice made her jump and turn to him. He was in plaid pyjama pants and a t-shirt that looked similar to her own but white. He was leaning up against the threshold and judging by his relaxed state, he's been there for a couple minutes.

"Sorry for snooping." Charlie said, putting the book back right away, "I was just curious. You didn't show me what was behind this door."

"I didn't show you because of the mess. I didn't want you to know I was a closet slob." Derek said and walked over to her, taking out Slaughter House Five again and handing it to her, "You can borrow this if you like. It's a good read."

She took it and held it to her chest, "Thank you and I don't think you're a slob. No one can be perfect in every aspect of their life."

"So how about a movie?" Derek asked, changing the subject before he said something that made them both uncomfortable.

"What movie were you thinking?" Charlie asked as she followed him into the living room.

After the movie they both went to their own room, Clooney staying in the living room on his bed by the side door. Charlie was tossing and turning for hours, not being able to sleep since every time she closed her eyes she could see her face on all of the dead victims. She also hadn't been alone all day and now that she was, she could feel the fear creeping up on her and she needed to get out of bed.

Not knowing what to do, she stood up and went to Derek's door. It was only open a crack and she knocked quietly, unsure if she wanted to wake Derek up or not. When he didn't answer she pushed the door open enough so that she could fit through and went inside his room. She walked over to his queen sized bed shook her head at what she was about to do.

She pulled the covered back and crawled in beside him. He startled awake at the sudden movement on his bed and sat up quickly. He relaxed slightly when he saw it was only Charlie but the concern could be seen in his sleepy eyes through the darkness.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I don't want to be alone." She said quietly.

He nodded and lay back down, pulling her down with him. He turned on his side and pulled Charlie toward his chest; only now had she realised he sleeps bare-chested.

As if reading her thoughts, he speaks, "I usually sleep naked but thought I should at least wear the pants while you're here."

She smacked his chest and he let out a tired chuckle while grabbing her hand, "Try and get some sleep Charlie. I'll protect you."

He may not have known it but those were the exact words Charlie wanted to hear then. Even though she knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, knowing Derek was there to protect her helped her mind calm and body relax. She was asleep in minutes. Derek smiled as her breathing evened out while she was in his arms.