The last thing Penelope saw before Morgan had dragged her out of the bar, was the confused expressions on JJ's, Reid's and Emily's faces. And who could blame them? It took a moment for Penelope to understand what exactly Derek Morgan was talking about. Or rather referring to.

When Morgan had pulled her out of the bar, Penelope wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Her thoughts ranged from him just telling her he decided on getting her home, after witnessing her drinking several Margaritas, to him pressing himself and her against the nearest wall after they left the bar and having his way with her. And if she could have had her way, it certainly would have been something closer to the wall and being pressed against it option than anything else. If his last statement to Emily, JJ and Reid was any indication she hoped to have that option rather soon. But maybe it was just again one of these moments they had been sharing often over the years. Moments when Morgan said something and got Penelope all worked up and fantasizing, just to drop a bucket of ice-cold reality onto her the next moment. She honestly wouldn't have been too surprised if that would be just another one of these. But then Morgan stopped in front of her, looking seriously at Penelope. As a matter of fact he looked so serious that for a moment Penelope was worried she was actually in trouble for something.

"I want to be that guy," she heard him saying, not sure at first what he was talking about.

"I'm… I'm sorry?" she asked.

"We both know that I am that guy. Not only because I am already your best friend… "

"Is that your best argument?" Penelope laughed, still not entirely sure whether he was serious or not. The shame with Morgan was that you could never be sure. That was just the type of guy he was – at least with her. He was always teasing, flirting, making jokes, having fun, being anything furthest away from serious. Okay, there were maybe a few conversations he had been serious, but they had been about really, really serious topics to start with. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, there had been just too many times when she had hoped they'd finally reached a stage in their friendship when he wanted the same thing she wanted, just to realize he didn't quite mean it the way she had hoped. That his 'I love you's were still beautiful, but hurt as hell when she realized once more that he loved her as a friend. That all his flirting, his inappropriate talking was nothing more than that – talking. Sometimes, she had to admit, she felt like she wanted to run into a wall, that's how frustrated she felt with him.

"I need arguments?" Morgan asked surprised, which actually made her laugh for a moment.

"What did you think? That I would just cast anyone?" she asked, deciding to play along and see in which frustration it would land her this time. It probably wasn't anything she hadn't been through one way or the other before.

"Cast?" Morgan asked with a small smile displaying on his lips. "Do I need to worry about competition here?"

"Maybe," Penelope answered mysteriously, and somehow she couldn't shake the feeling that this felt different than the other conversations she usually had with him. This had a different vibe to it, something that felt almost as if he wasn't playing and teasing this time. Well, not as much as usual anyways. He was Derek Morgan after all, he always had a certain amount of flirtation and teasing.

"Okay," he said, and for a moment Penelope worried this was again how they always had been. He would just turn around and walk away again, leaving her once more frustrated and maybe even slightly depressed. "But, whoever else you are thinking about, I would say it is a pretty safe bet to say I have the best qualifications…"

"Quali- Qualifications?" Penelope asked, now being slightly shocked. So many possibilities raced through her mind that moment, all of them being more than just inappropriate. But then again this as well was something that was more than normal. There wasn't a day when she didn't think of him inappropriately.

"Well, not only am I your best friend already, I also can do a lot more than talking. I might not have showed you much of that later quality, but trust me, I do."

"So you would consider yourself Prince Charming?" Penelope asked with a smirk.

Morgan let out a loud laugh at her question, shaking his head ferociously for a few moments.

"Trust me, baby girl, I am probably by far the furthest away from fairytale perfect, but isn't that what actually makes things so much better? The imperfection? Imperfection is messy and messy means dirty and trust me… dirty? Is good, very good," Morgan smiled at her and the way he said 'very good', in a low purr that almost sounded like a promise, Penelope felt as if reduced to a pile of goo. Derek Morgan surely knew how to play this, knew how to electrify the air and raise the bar, make the air crack with sexual tension.

"What makes you think I might want imperfection?" Penelope asked and was almost proud that she was able to form a coherent sentence.

"Because I know you. Probably better than anyone else out there. Which is another 'argument' for me, I already know you better than anyone," Morgan smiled and Penelope never felt like that in her life before. Despite the fact that he was still grinning and smirking, she felt like his 'arguments' weren't just for fun, but it felt indeed like he tried selling his qualities to her. And himself.

Time to find out, then, she thought to herself.

"Then I'd say you better start showing me what you got, Hot Stuff," Penelope smiled at him challengingly, just to be met with a challenging grin of his own. A moment later he made a step forward and leaned his head slowly towards her, kissing her lips softly.