It was another two days before the UNSUB resurfaced. During that time Penelope made very little contact with the team. She only appeared with updates when needed. She knew she caused all this animosity by running away. She had placed a wedge between everyone, she just hoped everything could be repaired.
The night Derek found out Penelope was there he had a long talk with Hotch and Rossi. Both man apologized for the way they had been treating him. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't fair to treat him the way they had been. They agreed that him and Penelope needed to have a face to face conversation and the outcome didn't matter, it just needed to happen. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't be angry with his team, they were just doing what she asked. They were ultimately doing what he always had… Protecting her.
The team was sitting around the table frustrated. They had been trying everything they could and were getting nowhere. Morgan was at his breaking point.
"Hotch, I can't do this anymore, I need to talk to her. She walks in here and doesn't even look at me." Morgan was bouncing his leg.
"Morgan, I know it's hard but-"
Garcia came running in. "I found him! His credit card was just used at a Chinese takeout place about ten minutes from here. I just sent the address to your phones. Go my fine furry heroes!"
She watched them leave. Over the past two days they'd figured out that the original UNSUB was dying and he needed a predecessor. He was linked to murders all over the United States. He never lay dormant he moved from place to place. She knew if they were able to catch his predecessor the case would be over and she would be forced to speak with Derek and that scared her.
It took six hours of Morgan and Randy integrating the suspect for him to break. He talked about how he saved his victims. He informed them about the rest of the bodies and how Master taught him how to pick his prey.
Morgan was walking by Garcia's office to fishing his paperwork when he heard Randy.
"Baby, I know you were looking forward to the cookout. Maybe we can set it back up for this Saturday? We can host it together, your place would be perfect."
"Yeah Randy, that's fine. The team will still be here then. They were planning on staying a couple of days once the case is over."
"Can you finally tell me what's going on with you and Morgan?" He heard Penelope sigh while he leaned against the wall to listen.
"Have you ever been so in love it kills you? I fell in love with someone I was never supposed too. At first I was fine loving him from afar but then he got a serious girlfriend… like moving in together serious. I tried to be happy for him but it started haunting me. I knew it was only a matter of time before he asked her to marry him. The thought of it actually haunted my dreams. It got so bad I didn't want to go into work in fear of him announcing his engagement. Einstein had it right…Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So I decided to leave. I was so broken, still am."
"Oh Penelope."
"I saw him in the lobby the first day, he was joking with Reid. I felt like the progress I'd made just dissolved. He sounded happy, I wasn't expecting him to be broken because I left, but I didn't expect it not to faze him at all."
There was a pause. "I needed to leave; I needed to learn how to live without him. I thought I was doing pretty well until this case came up. Who was I kidding? That man owned me from the first time he called me "Baby Girl" my heart belonged to him, always has always will. It's hard to live your life and try to love when your heart belongs to someone else."
"I'm sorry Penelope. I do know what you're feeling. My first wife invoked all of those feelings in me. When she died, apart of me died with her. We were high school sweethearts. Everyone said we wouldn't last, and that we weren't supposed to be together. I was the head of the football team and she was in band. She made me be a better person; she made me who I am today. When she was diagnosed with cancer we did everything we could to save her but the cancer won. "
"Randy, I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's not something I like to talk about. I hurt everyday for Caroline; she was my one. When she was in the room I would hurt because I knew she would have to leave soon. When she wasn't around I couldn't breath. People would tell me that she wasn't in my league and I need to have a "model" they were wrong. I wasn't in her league. She was the most loving person I ever met. You don't find love like that more than once in your life. Like the love you have for Derek. You know, Penelope, I see a lot of her in you."
"Randy…" Morgan knew she was giving him a hug.
"It's okay, Penelope. I'm just glad I got to experience love that deep."
"It's a once in a lifetime kind of love. Once you've experienced it nothing else compares. That's why I needed to leave. I'll never feel that deep of a love for another. I needed to at least attempt to move on. Even if I can never love another like I love Derek Morgan I at least need to try."
"What do they say, "It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all"?"
"What do they know? Let them have their heart damaged beyond repair and then come talk to me."
Morgan could hear him laugh, "Come on Sweet Thing, the team is probably done. You've got the next week off. Once you come back it'll be back to boring old unsolved cases with just Dan and I."
Morgan quickly moved away from her office. He needed to see her tonight. He needed to tell her the truth….
"Hey Reid, I know I'm not your favorite person but I really need to talk to you." Morgan sat down next to Reid in the office. "I need to see her tonight, alone."
"I don't know, Morgan." Derek stopped him from saying anything else. "You want me to admit it fine. I am in love with her. I'm so in love with her that I died when she left. I pushed her away when I met Savanna and I regret ever second of that. I figured out I'd push he away when she needed me in fear of crossing the line. I never wanted to admit to myself that I was in love with her. I never thought she could loved me."
"How could you not know, Morgan? Everyone knows the way she feels about you. It's in the way she looks at you. I think you always knew you were in love with her but just too scared to admit it, and because of your cowardice she left. I need to make sure you won't cause her anymore harm. I've been trying to put her back together. I don't want you to say you love her just to get her back when you really don't feel that way."
"How could I not feel that way, Reid? She's the most caring, kindhearted, beautiful person I have ever met. Let me fix this, let me show her I love her." He was pleading with Reid.
Reid believed him; he always knew Morgan was in love with Penelope. He just never admitted to himself. "Alright Morgan she's at home now. Dan told her to take off about an hour ago." He handed Morgan his key. "Don't let me regret giving you this. Rossi and I won't be leaving here for a while so you should have all the time you need to talk. Just talk to her Morgan, don't do anything stupid she's still broken." He wrote down the address and handed it to him. He looked back at Morgan with a smile, "Bring her home."