A/N: I'm so, so sorry for this late update! I promise I'll try and work faster on the next update! In the meantime, I wrote a one-shot and a Hotch/Garcia story about "the thing" she did to get their iPads, so I hope at least it's not entirely bad you had to wait so long ;) Also, if you have fic requests (drabbles) for me, please head over to my livejournal (agirlnamedluna) and fill out the alphabet meme :) (just a few posts down the page – the A-Z MultiFandom meme). You can sign in with OpenId, but you can also comment anonymously (just sign the comment then please).
This is entirely unbeta'ed, like 99% of my work, so all mistakes are mine. I'm on a shaky connection at my in-laws, so I'm trying here ;)
Also, so sorry for not getting back to comments yet! I will, ASAP. Life just got in the way this week. I won't let it happen again ;)
Disclaimer: none of this belongs to me!
The bar was packed, much like it had been the week before. The team was fortunate enough to have found a table, so they could all sit together. Normally they ended up splitting up pretty quickly while still keeping somewhat together, but tonight they were all perched on their bar stools, looking up expectantly at Morgan and Garcia, who were all in all rather oblivious to their public's attention.
At first, after her initial burst of courage when she had told the team sideways they were dating, Penelope had been hesitant about joining them at the bar. She felt nervous, even though she knew her friends weren't going to judge, they were still going to grill her, especially Prentiss and JJ who were a lot less tactful when it came to her love-life than when it came to their jobs.
"What if they don't approve?" She asked it so earnestly, Morgan stopped for a moment, and looked at her with big eyes.
"Who?" He sounded incredulous, and wanted to check whether they were really talking about the same team, their friends, the people who would support them through everything and anything?
"Well..." Penelope hesitated, not really wanting to discuss everything that had been nagging at the back of her head for the past week now.
"What is it, baby?" He was already at the door, but instead closed it again, and turned back to her, cupping her face in his hands.
"What if Hotch and Rossi disapprove? What if they question your work ethic? What if JJ and Prentiss think I went too quickly from one relationship to another? What will Strauss say? The whole tech department will think I cheated on Kevin, they like him there and half of them are jealous I get my own unit!" Derek chuckled, Penelope was adorable when she was rambling, which earned him a swat on the chest.
"Honey,..." He shook his head, still chuckling, and he noticed she smiled back at him, realising who she was talking about, "Our team will be happy for us, we'll deal with Strauss on Monday, and the tech department can keep Kevin, don't you think?"
Penelope nodded, grabbed her bags and followed him to the elevators.
Now, finally, Derek was able to pull his Baby Girl in his arms while they were out at the bar, instead of going off to dance, and he was doing just that, when they heard a throat clear, so they both looked up at Emily with an expectant look on her face. Morgan grinned, shaking his head, waving his index finger in front of her, letting her know without a doubt he wasn't going to spill anything.
"Oh come on," she whined, looking behind her for back-up, but she was only met with Reid's beaming smile (he knew), Hotch and Rossi acting as if they didn't care, and JJ who was just as disappointed as she was.
"No way, Prentiss, I am not sharing anything about my love life with you!" Morgan told her, mock-sternly, he knew she had always had a healthy interest in what he did outside the job, but while they had had flirted a little when they first got to know each other, that was really where it stopped. Besides being partnered up a lot while out in the field,they didn't always share a whole lot together, at least not about their love lives. Somehow, he wanted to keep that a secret from her, just like she kept a lot from the team, at least in the beginning. His former teammate, Elle, had been a totally different type. She was just as much a predator as he was, and they had gotten along fabulously. With Emily too, just … differently.
Prentiss sighed, admitting defeat when Morgan wrapped his arms about Penelope, but she soon looked expectantly at her best friend.
"Lunch tomorrow?" She asked, unable to hide the hopeful tone in her voice, and everyone laughed.
"You're so out of luck, Emily," Morgan answered again, speaking for Penelope, he normally wouldn't do this but he still had a surprise to deliver and he wanted to properly love on his woman all weekend, "but I have plans for my sweetheart."
"You sap!" Prentiss retorted, crunching her face in fake disgust, but Morgan just laughed. He couldn't believe how right this felt, how lucky he was. Ten days ago, he thought he'd forever be standing on the sidelines, watching how another man everything he ever dreamed of. Just six hours ago, he thought he'd lost the love of his life after getting a taste of heaven for a week.
"Okay, how about Sunday?" JJ joined in, eager herself to get Garcia to spill the details. "Monday?" she continued, when she saw Morgan shake his head again.
"You owe me, remember Mick?" Prentiss glared, remembering well enough when JJ and Garcia had grilled her until she admitted having a crush on him, and made her call him back after he left several messages on her answering machine.
"We have a date for Monday," Penelope finally agreed with her girlfriends, giving Derek a comforting caress on the arm when he pouted. "Sorry hot stuff, she has a point!"
"I'm going for drinks," Hotch announced, now that that was settled, taking Reid with him to help him carry, "Same as usual?" He was met by 5 nods, and made his way to the bar, as they all got ready to kick off a good night of relaxing.
=~==Baby, If You Were Mine==~=
They had been at the bar for several hours now, generally relaxing, finally being able to let off the steam of the job. Weeks like these, where they were in doing paperwork all week, and were out of the office at 5 on a Friday night with room to go out as a group, had become a rarity as the BAU had become more solicited than ever the last few years. Behavioural science had long been something a lot of local police officers scoffed upon, but some successes in the field were slowly bringing around the general feeling towards them and JJ had been more overworked than ever, trying to dispatch all the cases which ended up on her desk. And her chairs, her shelves, her floor, every available surface in her office, really. Entering it was something they did at their own risk these days, and Hotch wasn't even sure they single-handedly didn't negate the entire FBI building's fire insurance.
Emily was dancing with Mick, who had arrived by now too, by chance Team B had caught their UNSUB right after Penelope had given them his address, and he had hurried to meet them there. Reid was off entertaining a few friends about beer brewing, while Hotch, Rossi, JJ stayed at the table with Morgan and Garcia, talking about past cases, general gossip, child-rearing, computers, everything and anything they could come up with, sharing a good time and a lot more laughter than they had in a good while. For Morgan and Garcia, not much was different. They acted just like they always did, except they shared real kisses now, on the mouth, instead of everywhere but there.
Despite his arms around her however, there were still several girls coming up to him to ask him to dance. He politely declined them, pressing Penelope closer to him, silently reassuring him. He asked her repeatedly to dance with him instead, he had been trying to get her out on the dance floor for years now, but she always refused. He knew it was because she considered that she wasn't a very good dancer, and he was, and that she wasn't exactly the slim, lean type made to shake what nature gave her on the rhythm of the music while he was a statuesque God, but he also told her numerous times her reasons were nothing but excuses because she just didn't want him. Frankly, he didn't care about what anyone might think about them being a good match or not. For him, she was perfect, and that was what counted. He just wished she'd believe that wholeheartedly.
When it was his turn for another round, he slowly stood up, and pressed a long kiss on her lips, as if he was going to leave her for several weeks instead of coming back to her with a new drink in a few minutes, earning them cat calls from JJ and Rossi.
Finally, he let go of her and made his way to the bar, on the way there however he was suddenly stopped by Tara, the blonde he abruptly let go the week before when Penelope had come into the bar. She seemed to have forgotten or didn't care about the way he treated her – and he admitted, that under normal circumstances he'd never have done such a thing to a woman – because she quickly stopped him with a hand on his chest, coy smile on her lips.
"Back for more, Derek?" she asked with a husky voice, stepping closer to him, but he lightly pushed her away from him, holding her steady while he shot a quick look over his shoulder, back at the table where Emily and Rick had rejoined their group, and they were all looking at him with curiosity, wondering how he'd react, especially Penelope who seemed a little anxious, and he couldn't blame her. Last time she came in her he had been kissing this woman like it was going out of style, and her body language revealed that's not where it should have stopped according to her.
"Listen, Tara?" He looked back at her, trying to make his point as convincingly and quickly as possible. He wasn't drunk, he only had a couple of bears, but she had a few more so to see. "I'm here with my girlfriend. You see the gorgeous redhead there? That's her." He pointed at Penelope, making it well and truly clear to everyone at the table that he was telling her about the woman in his life.
"Oh, her," Tara scoffed, earning her a scowl from Derek, who just pushed her aside, not roughly but strong enough to make it clear he didn't appreciate her behaviour towards Penelope, who he now saw, was looking away, so he hurried back to the table, and snaked his arms around her from behind. "I love you, and only you," he whispered in her ear, making her smile, and the rest of the team resumed their conversation when they saw she seemed back to her old self, while he finally went to order a new round of drinks.
=~==Baby, If You Were Mine==~=
The evening was still in full swing, it was almost Midnight when Derek finally achieved what he had been after all these years. Finally, Penelope agreed to dance with him, convinced by his gentle insistence, and the fact that he hadn't once gone out to dance all the time they had been there. That was unheard of, and on top of that all of his drinking buddies had arrived too, teasing him about it after congratulating Morgan and Penelope on their new relationship status. Words like 'whipped', 'old man', and 'ready for the nursing home now" rang out, all in good fun, while Morgan took everything with a smile.
Just as he thought the evening couldn't get any more perfect, when he was gently swaying her to the music, his head buried in her neck while she pressed close to him, teasing him with butterfly kisses in his neck, holding him as close as humanly possible while his hands roamed over her back, down to her ass, and back up again – he didn't want to put on a free show in the bar, after all – just when he was lost in her scent, in the soft feeling of her hair tickling in his face, as he was contemplating begging all powers in the world to let this moment last forever, he felt her stiffen in his arms, and a minute later he registered the same whiny voice which had made him flee up the roof that same afternoon.
"Penny! I knew it! You cheating whore!"
A/N: I believe some of you were secretly hoping for a confrontation between Derek and Kevin. You might just convince me to write that next ;) Also, well, I guess Strauss was bumped up a chapter or two, but I think this story is drawing to an end :)