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Here's the next installment! Thank you bunches for all the reviews! I love them all :)
Derek was grinding his jaw the entire time the team was prepping in the station near where the witness had seen Penelope. His anxiety was boiling in his blood, making him shake with rage and frighten anyone who came within ten feet of him. When he got his hands on the man who took Penelope, he would kill him; he was certain of that. At the moment he was strapping his bullet-proof vest on. Reid and JJ were already staking out the house where Officer Daniels directed them and so far the coast was clear.
"Morgan, are you going to be okay?"
He turned around to look at Hotch, who had his arms crossed over his vest-covered chest. "Yeah, Hotch," he growled. "Peachy." Rubbing his head and sighing, he apologized, "Sorry man. I just – I just want her back."
"Well then, let's go get her," Hotch said.
XXXXX
After Penelope and Joe returned inside, they spent several hours playing cards. She continued to talk to him, her conversation consisting of Derek. The nice thing about talking to Joe was he just let her babble. There was no interrupting, no insertion of opinion. He didn't judge, either.
Since they'd embarked outside, he'd livened up a bit, smiling more and saying little things in agreement.
As they were shuffling the deck again, a vicious tempo of pounding down steps followed by banging on the door sounded. Penelope jumped at first and thought maybe the police had shown up. At first her heart leapt with excitement, thinking she would be freed.
"Joe!" Zoe screamed.
Elation turned to fear in less than a second for Penelope. Joe's face dropped and he rose immediately to unlock the door. Zoe stomped in, vehement rage written all over her normally flawless features.
"You let her out!" she hollered, getting close to Joe's face. Instantly he shrank back and she continued to yell at him. "You stupid, pathetic moron! I specifically told you not to let her out of this room!" Penelope winced as she screamed at Joe. "Now her precious team is on our trail and we have to leave!" Turning to Penelope, she hissed, "He's never going to find you."
Glaring at Zoe, she replied, "It's over, Zoe. If the BAU is on their way, you'll go down. Just like any of the other crazy people we hunt down."
"Not if I can help it," Zoe hissed malevolently.
XXXXX
Reid and J had been watching the typical looking house Officer Daniels had given them the address to. Everything was quiet on the street, as it was the middle of the day and most people were at work or school. No activity whatsoever.
"This is way too out in the open for someone to successfully hide another person," Reid said, his brow furrowed in concentration and confusion. "How could no one have seen her for months? She's not a child either, she's a grown woman."
JJ shook her head. "She's pregnant. That's leverage for him to keep her quiet. Threatening her with a beating would easily subdue her."
A car had started to pull down the street and Reid patted JJ's shoulder as it slowed down to turn into the house's driveway. "JJ," he said. "Someone's pulling in." He nodded in the direction of the black car that was now parked in the drive.
"Why do I feel like I've seen that car before?" JJ pondered aloud. The sleek black car did look eerily familiar and when the driver exited the car, looking furious and in a rage, she gasped. "Oh my God," she said, pulling out her phone as the woman entered the house, slamming the door behind her. "Reid, we need to call Morgan! That's Zoe." She punched her speed dial and waited until she heard Morgan's gruff voice.
"Yeah, JJ. Got anything?"
"You're bitch of an ex-girlfriend," she growled angrily. Her voice clearly wanted blood. "She took Penelope. It was her all along."
"We'll be there in five minutes," he roared. "If she even tries to leave, stop her!"
XXXXX
Zoe reached behind her and held up a gun that she pulled from the back of her jeans. She pointed it at Penelope. "We're going to leave, now," she said. "Joe, hold her still while we take her up."
Joe faltered. "Zoe, please," he begged. "I don't want to her. She's my friend." His face was desperate as he looked at his sister.
Laughing wickedly, Zoe scoffed, "She played you, you dimwit! No one but me cares about you. She doesn't care about you."
"That's not true!" Penelope cried at Zoe. "You're the one playing him, you selfish bitch. You use him to do your dirty work that you're not brave enough to do yourself."
Joe looked conflicted, but reluctantly he grabbed hold of Penelope's arms roughly. "I'm sorry," he whispered sorrowfully, pulling her out the door. She struggled the entire way upstairs, trying to pull away from his grasp. "Please don't struggle," Joe said softly. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Let me go!" she said. "When my team gets here, I won't be able to stop Derek from hurting you. And I don't want him to. Joe, we're friends! Don't do this to me."
Pulling her out the front door and towards the car, he had tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry," he sobbed, pushing her towards Zoe's car.
Her hands clutched her stomach and she wiped her cheeks. "Please, Joe."
Suddenly a loud screeching and the wailing of sirens began to fill the street and several police cars and SUVs came racing down the road. Joe backed up, Penelope still tightly held in his grasp. The cars stopped abruptly and Hotch, Rossi, Derek appeared out of the cars, guns raised and aimed for Joe.
Penelope's heart leapt into her throat when she saw Derek and his face looked equally distressed when their eyes met. "Derek!" she cried, trying to shoot out towards him, but Joe still held her in his arms.
Derek tried to go towards her, but Rossi and Hotch grabbed him by the shoulders as he tried fighting them. "Let me the fuck go!" he cried.
Hotch stared at him hardly and he growled, "You're only going to get her hurt if you do this, Derek."
Zoe came sauntering out of the house, an evil smirk on her face. "Hello Agents," she purred. "Good to see you all again."
Derek roared at her, "You crazy fucking bitch! How dare you lay a hand on her!"
"That baby was supposed to be mine!" she screamed shrilly. "You were supposed to be mine. And you threw away our future for a one night stand that you claim to love."
"Joe, please," Penelope begged quietly. "Let me go to him."
"I can't," he choked. "Zoe would hate me forever."
Pushing Joe out of the way, Zoe shoved a gun to her belly and said, "If any of you come any closer, I'll pull the trigger and you'll lose your beloved child, Derek." Her face showed that she would definitely follow through with her threat. Penelope was now full out sobbing and Joe was slumped against the car, his head in his hands and tugging at his hair at the roots.
"Let me go!" Penelope wept.
Whispering in her ear, Zoe hissed, "Your baby is never going to see the light of day, you stupid whore."
Her final threat caused Penelope to let out a shriek of anger and she drove her elbow into the crazy bitch that threatened her child. Zoe fell back with a groan of pain. Not hesitating to rush forward, Penelope launched forward trying to get away.
But not before a deafening shot rang out through the air.
XXXXX
Derek's breathing stopped in his chest as he watched Zoe shoot her gun. But he didn't see a burst of crimson on Penelope's shirt and that's when he saw it. The man, Zoe's giant of a brother, had thrown himself in front of his sister's oncoming bullet. He'd saved Penelope. It was then that Zoe fell to the ground, shot by JJ's bullets.
Now Derek could rush forward to his love.
But Penelope had dropped to her knees, kneeling by Joe's limp form. The bullet had lodged in his neck, causing blood to spurt out of his throat. Sobbing, Penelope pulled his bleeding his head into her lap and moving his hair back. But after sputtering several times, he lifted his hand to her face and brought his hand down her cheek before his hand fell and his eyes closed. The air was filled with silence, save for Penelope's wailing. As men came to take Joe's body, Penelope remained on the ground, her head in her hands.
It was then that Derek went to her, knelt down next to her and wrapped her in his arms after so many months of not feeling her with him. She leaned against him as if he were only lifeline to the world and sobbed against his chest, staining his t-shirt with her tears.
"Shh," he murmured into her hair. "I've got you."
Pulling away slightly, she looked him in the eye and he felt his heart break at the agony he found there. "He was a good person, Derek," she said with a choked sob. "He didn't want to hurt me."
And Derek could see that she was right. The man had died to save her life. There was no way he could speak ill of him. Not then, not ever. Moving his hand to her face and holding it there, he murmured, "I know, Baby Girl."
Throwing her arms around his neck, she said in his ear, "You have no idea how much I've missed you. How much I missed your voice, and your arms." She grasped his hand then and moved it to her rounded belly where their child was and said, "How much I've wished you could see me as our baby grows inside of me."
Now there were tears in his eyes and couldn't stop them from falling. "And I've missed you," he whispered. "So, so much." Stroking her cheek with his thumb, he placed a soft kiss on her lips and added, "And from now on we're never going to be apart, no matter how much we scream and yell at each other."
With new sobs wracking her body, Penelope fell against his chest and cried her entire soul out where Derek was there to absorb it and help her through the pain of her much beloved friend.
Okay, so this chapter wasn't exactly happy. But Zoe's dead and Joe came through for Penelope in the end. I hope you guys liked it okay because it was a thrill to write, despite its sadness. Please review!
