A/N: You guys have been really great with your lovely reviews. Here we go with the next chapter. Some SPOILERS for Exit Wounds and The Internet is Forever.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Criminal Minds. I'm just playing a little :)


Penelope sat in her office lost in thought. The team had not long arrived in Boise, and she knew that they would need the information she could provide as soon as possible. It was frustrating however, because she was trying to track the unsub through a bewildering array of proxy servers, trying to pinpoint where his signal might originate from. It was a time-consuming process, but she was narrowing it down one proxy at a time, moving across the globe. There were so many though!

The simultaneous ringing of two of her lines about fifteen minutes ago, as both Hotch and Morgan tried to reach her, made her mind drift back to their return from Alaska two weeks ago. After juggling both calls, telling Hotch that she had nothing tangible yet, and assuring Morgan that she was fine, she found herself remembering the trip home.

Flashback

As the team walked across the tarmac in Anchorage to the BAU jet, Morgan stopped for a moment to adjust the equipment on the luggage trolley he was pushing. Penelope walked on ahead, not noticing that Rossi had caught up with her until he spoke quietly next to her.

"Sorry about the wisecrack, Kitten. I wasn't trying to embarrass you."

"It's okay Sir." Even as she said the words, there was still the hint of a blush on Penelope's cheeks. Rossi just nodded at her and walked on, sparing her any further discomfiture. She was grateful. That man had the uncanny luck to be aware of some of her most private moments! Well at least this time he didn't see anything.

Penelope had really only been a little embarrassed by Rossi's comment. She was actually mostly grateful that it had removed the need for either her or Derek to say anything. She however, did not miss the looks thrown her way by JJ and Emily. She knew she would have a lot of explaining to do.

By the time all the equipment and bags were on board, Penelope was curled up on the long seat at the back of the plane. Her legs were tucked under her and her head was propped on one hand as she stared blankly ahead. She did look up though when Derek slid onto the seat next to her and slipped an arm around her shoulder to draw her closer to him.

Dropping a little kiss to her forehead, he asked quietly, "Everything okay?"

"Mmm, yes handsome. I'm just thinking a little too hard."

"It'll get better sweetheart, I promise." Derek murmured the words against her temple.

"It's better already." Penelope smiled, and then turned her head to look Derek in his eyes. "You're here."

There was sweet conviction in her voice, and Derek slowly leaned forward and kissed her lips gently. He didn't deepen the kiss, and Penelope knew he was mindful of the rest of the team casting covert glances at them.

Once they had taken off, they got the okay to turn their regular cell phones back on. The instant Penelope turned her phone on, it began to ring. She looked down at the display and simply pressed the button to ignore the call.

No sooner had she done that however, and dropped the phone onto the seat next to her, than it began to chime incessantly with the dual-tone chime of her text message indicator. When she looked at the screen in astonishment, it was to see an endless stream of text messages filling up the small display – all of them from Kevin.

When Derek squeezed her arm to get her attention, Penelope simply raised the offending piece of technology so that he could see. It was still chiming intently, and then the chimes were interrupted by the ring tone again. Once more, Penelope ignored the call. Seconds after she did, it began to ring again. By now, everyone was looking in their direction, and Penelope began to feel distinctly akin to a specimen under a microscope. It was not a pleasant feeling.

Derek had been watching her closely all the time. Suddenly, he reached over, took the ringing phone from her hand and never looking away from her eyes, shut the phone off. As the others turned back to their previous tasks, Derek spoke, so quietly that only she could hear him.

"You can deal with that when we get home." He laced his fingers through hers. "We'll do this however you want to baby – either I can be there when you talk to him, or not. But even if you don't want me in the room, I promise I'll be nearby. Okay?"

Penelope leaned her head on Derek's shoulder. "Thank you."

Derek cuddled her closer to him, one hand absentmindedly stroking her shoulder, while the other was still interlaced with her own. They were speaking quietly to each other for a while when a shadow fell over them. Penelope looked up to see JJ and Emily standing in front of them, identical wide grins on both their faces.

"Hey Morgan," Emily's grin got wider, if that was even humanly possible. "I think you need to go talk to Reid … or something."

Morgan looked up and raised one eyebrow at the raven-haired agent standing in front of them, one hand cocked jauntily on her hip.

"Go on … now would be nice." She smirked at him again and JJ and Penelope both giggled.

Morgan turned back to Penelope, unlacing his fingers from hers in order to tip her chin up slightly. His thumb stroked over her cheek.

"Okay Baby Girl, I'm gonna leave you to your girl talk."

Penelope saw the teasing glint in his eyes a split second before his lips caught hers in a deep, sweet and drugging kiss. Then he eased back, pressing gentle kisses to her swollen lips until she caught herself again. Derek grinned mischievously at her, reveling in her well-kissed mouth and rosy blush, then got up and walked to the front of the plane to drop into the seat opposite Reid. He was facing the back of the plane, though his line of sight was partially obscured.

The moment he was gone, JJ sat in the space next to Penelope and Emily took the vacant seat opposite. Both looked at her expectantly. For more than a few seconds, she couldn't even begin to speak. Derek's kisses certainly had a potent effect on her.

Never the most patient person, Emily spoke up.

"C'mon PG, we're dying here! Spill!"

"Yeah, spill." JJ echoed their friend, "And then I'll tell you all about our girl here and a certain agent with a sexy British accent."

"Hey!" Emily protested.

Amid a round of barely stifled giggles, the girls began to quietly pump Penelope for details.

As she began to share her happiness with her friends, Penelope chanced to glance to the front of the plane and felt her heart fill with warmth at the tender look on Derek's face as he watched her.

End Flashback