Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters. Some "guest stars" are based on or named after people in my life while others are totally made up, as are some places and events.

Disclaimer 2: Keeping the "M" rating. Some potential triggers here and potentially later. You have been warned.

Chapter 21

Penelope heard a thud and the wires tugged against her. "Derek?" she whispered through her tears. She turned and saw one of Derek's hands fall to the ground at the edge of her peripheral vision. The post blocked the rest of her view and from her position all she could see was Derek's hand moving slightly, then going still. "Derek?" she called again, louder this time. "Derek, answer me!"

"He can't answer," Ford said as he came up from behind and towered over her.

"Where did... what did you do to him?" she cried. "Derek, wake up, please! Derek!"

Ford knelt down and slapped Penelope across the face, causing her to cry out. "Shut up, bitch," he snarled as blood trickled out of her split lip.

"Hey!" Montgomery roared as he stepped into view. "What did you do to her?" He shoved Ford away from Penelope. He took a wad of tissue from his pocket and wiped her chin, then held it against her mouth to stop the bleeding.

Ford shrugged and touched his broken nose. "I should do worse for what she did to me, and besides, she needs to learn to keep her mouth shut."

"Keep quiet," Montgomery warned as he unwound the wires from around her, caressing her flesh as he went. "Or we'll kill Derek right here."

Penelope's eyes widened as she watched Ford drag Derek's unconscious body around. He dug around in Derek's pockets, pulling out his wallet, knife, phone, and keys, then removing his gun from the holster on his belt and the gun strapped to his ankle. He dropped the phone on the ground, then smashed it with his shoe. Montgomery tossed him the cooler and picked up the pieces of the broken phone and put them and the rest of Derek's things inside it. Ford closed the cooler and left the building. Montgomery quickly cuffed Derek's hands behind his back, then taped his ankles together. He walked over to Penelope and took a phone out of his pocket. He took several pictures: some close-up, some far, some of her face, and some of her curves. He grinned as he looked through the pictures. His smile widened as he once again knelt in front of her. He caressed her hair and then her cheek and was tracing her collarbone when they heard a vehicle with a loud muffler. He pouted and sighed with dramatic regret and stood back up. "Later, honey," he whispered with barely-contained lust.

Ford came back in and together the fugitives lifted Derek and, carrying him in between them, left. Montgomery returned moments later and released Penelope from the post before recuffing her hands behind her back. He pulled her to her feet and quickly swung her up and over his shoulder. Penelope grunted in pain as she was jolted around harshly. She whimpered as she felt Montgomery's hands once again roam her body.

Penelope shivered as the child outside air assaulted her. She was carried to a large van and shoved roughly into the back. The inside of the van was warm and a soft blanket covered the floor. Derek was still unconscious and laying on his stomach . Penelope jumped as the back doors were slammed shut. She moved herself inch by inch until she was laying next to her love. She willed and prayed for him to wake up and soon.

"Hotchner," Hotch barked into the receiver. He had literally just put the SUV in park in front of Derek's house when his phone rang.

"Agent Hotchner, sir... I found something way weird. Penelope's phones were finally delivered a few minutes ago and she received from an unknown number," Kevin announced.

"O...K..." Hotch replied, confused. "What's your point?"

"Sir, the same number sent the same message to all four phones at the same time."

"Do you know who sent them?"

"Yes, Sir. Agent Morgan sent them."

"What do they say? Never mind, forward the message to me."

Hotch hung up and walked quickly to where the rest of the team stood on the front porch. JJ was swiping furiously on a phone- Morgan's phone. Reid quickly explained where they found it and Hotch relayed what Kevin told him and read the forwarded text out loud:

* 2406 Denney St. Leave your phone here. Take this one with you. Take your car. No FBI vehicles. No GPS. No friends or your "Baby Girl" dies. Hurry up. The clock is ticking. *

"Let's go." Hotch ordered.

Pain flared through Derek's head as he struggled to open his eyes. He groaned and closed his eyes again.

"Oh, my God... Derek, are you awake?" a soft, familiar voice whispered. "Are you OK?"

Penelope! Derek's eyes flew open again and he ignored the pain as he turned his head towards her voice. His eyes focused and he saw her face was inches from his. "Yeah, I'm OK, Baby Girl," he whispered back. He quickly took stock of their situation. He was laying on his stomach and his hands were trapped behind his back. He tested the bonds and felt the metal of handcuffs digging into his wrists. He tested his feet and realized they were tied tightly together at the ankle. The surface he was on was hard although a soft blanket provided a thin barrier between him and the ground. He felt the vibrations of tires rolling on smooth pavement and knew they were in a vehicle.

He forced himself to turn on his side to look at Penelope properly. Rage boiled within him when he saw the dried blood on her chin and the cut on her lip. "Did one of them hit you?" he asked. Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to her back and nodded.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "This is all my fault."

"No, Baby Girl," he soothed. "You did nothing wrong." He drew himself up higher. She was still wearing the revealing nightie, and although the vehicle was quite warm, she shook. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Penelope closed her eyes and tears oozed out of them. She remembered how Montgomery's hands roamed her curves again as he removed all the wires from around her before finally freeing her from the post. She could still feel his hands all over her as he had cuffed her hands behind her back and carried her to the back of a van. "No," she finally answered. "They haven't hurt me."

Derek knew she was withholding something but didn't press her. He tried his best to keep her calm and asked her to go over everything that happened. Penelope calmed down a little as she focused on everything she could remember. She was surprised she remembered as much as she did.

"They got me outside my building. I had just gotten some groceries. I was just turning into the parking lot and was rear-ended. I didn't have time to do anything before I was pulled from Esther and thrown to the ground. Then something hit my head and I passed out." She shuddered. "When I woke up there was a wooden box stuck on my head. It was locked on and chained to a wall. Then someone touched me. I managed to kick him. I couldn't see or hear anything but somehow I managed to kick him. I was Ford. I broke his nose."

"Good job, Baby," Derek praised.

"Later, they both grabbed me at the same time. I fought them but they still tied my ankles and cuffed me. They blindfolded and gagged me and took me outside. It wasn't a far walk at all. They cuffed me to that post and I... I... thought it was a real bomb. They kept me blindfolded and didn't take it off until they were done. I thought they left. I watched them leave... before you came."

"It's OK, Sweetheart. They probably snuck in behind you and hid. You couldn't see what was happening behind you."

Penelope shrugged as best as she could considering getting her hands were restrained behind her back.

Derek looked up to the cab area of the van. He had no idea if Montgomery and Ford could hear him but he needed to act quickly. He brought himself closer to Penelope and whispered in her ear. "Did they take my things?"

"Yes," Penelope whispered back. "Your guns, wallet, knife, and phone."

"Did they destroy the phone?" Derek continued.

"Yes. Ford smashed it, then took all the pieces and your other stuff while Montgomery cuffed you. They carried you to the van, then came back for me."

"Penelope, I need your help. The team knows where I was going. No time to explain, just trust me. I took the GPS chip from the phone the kidnappers left for me and put it in my right shoe. I think I can get my shoe off but I need you to get the chip, hide it, and then help me put my shoe back on."

"I'll do the best I can."

Derek took a deep breath, shoved himself into a sitting position, then rose to his knees. He pushed his foot against the floor until his shoe off and Penelope saw the chip fall out, then turned herself away from him. She felt around with her cuffed hands for a few seconds before finding the chip. She grabbed it and pushed it into her palm. She held it tightly in her left hand then used her right hand and, listening to Derek's instructions, pushed his shoe and held it in place. She watched as he slowly worked his foot back in.

Derek gritted his teeth and ignored the pain in his head. He exhaled loudly as his foot finally slipped back into the shoe. He quickly flipped himself back to his original position and scooted as close to Penelope as he could while she turned back to face him. He managed to tuck her head under his chin and kissed he top of her head. "Good job, Mama. We did it." He felt Penelope nod and try to move even closer to him.

"What should I do with the chip?" she whispered.

"Hang onto it as long as you can," he replied. "Drop it if you think they'll see it."

"Do you want to hang onto it?"

"No, you keep it. They will suspect me more than you." He felt her nod against him.

"Derek, I'm so scared," she confessed. Her voice cracked and he felt her trembling.

"Me, too."

"Derek..."

"Shh... It's going to be all right. Baby Girl, no matter what happens, I want you to know..." Derek stopped and tensed up when van suddenly lurched to a stop. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Penelope flinched as the van's back doors opened. She looked helplessly at Derek as he was pulled outside by the ankles. A few seconds later she sent herself being dragged out the same way.

Montgomery set Penelope up on her feet and whipped her around. He wrapped his forearm around her neck and stroked her hair.

"Don't touch her, you sick son of a bitch!" Derek yelled.

"Don't do anything stupid, Morgan. You don't want to make your girl here will suffer for it, do ya?" Ford stated as Montgomery bent down to cut the tape off her ankles and gripped her hair.

"Walk," Ford pushed Derek away from the van. Derek looked over and watched as they passed Penelope and Montgomery. Derek watched it off the corner of his eye. Montgomery held Penelope a few paces behind and off to the right.

"Stop." Ford ordered. He uncuffed Derek and forced him to turn around. He drew a gun from his pocket. "Don't try anything," he warned. He walked over to where Montgomery was standing with Penelope in front of him. Ford traced the barrel of the gun over her exposed belly. "or Baby Morgan here will be the first to die, then we'll all just sit here and watch pretty Penelope bleed out."

"I swear to God, if you hurt them..." Derek roared.

"You'll what?" Ford crowed as brought the gun up and carelessly doodled the barrel across her breasts before continuing up to caress her face with it. "Damn, Morgan... you sure know how to pick 'em! She is a beautiful woman, and smart as hell from what I've heard. I bet she's like a wildcat in the sack!"

"Dammit, leave her alone!" Derek snarled.

"Leave her alone? Why would we do that? She's so much fun to play with!" Ford traced the barrel of the gun along Penelope's lips. He laughed when Penelope whimpered in fear and walked back to Derek. He prodded Derek on the chest with it. "Turn around and walk to that hole," he ordered, using the gun to gesture the direction. Derek closed in his eyes for a second trying to think of a way to get both of them out, but was almost immediately drawn back by Penelope whimpering in pain. Montgomery had dragged her closer, keeping one arm wrapped around her neck and the other holding a gun to her head. The wind picked up and Penelope started to shake from the cold.

Derek walked to the edge of a large hole and peered inside. It was pitch dark and looked bottomless, like an abyss. "Turn around and say goodbye to your woman, Morgan, then turn back around," Ford whispered in his ear. Derek clenched his fists but turned around. His heart broke at his beloved's agonized expression and tear-streaked face.

"I love you, Baby Girl," he strangled out. "I always have." He closed his eyes and prayed for strength when she whimpered his name.

"Say goodbye, Penelope," Montgomery whispered in her ear.

"Derek..."

"It's OK, Baby Girl." Derek closed his eyes and turned to face the hole. Ford put the gun to the back of his head.

"DEREK!" she screamed as she saw Ford pull the trigger. BANG! She gasped and flinched as the gun fired. "DEREK!" she screamed again as she watched him fall over the edge of the abyss.

A/N: Don't forget, the Profiler's Choice Awards are taking place. Please submit your nominations before December 31, 2016. In case I don't see y'all before, have a very merry and blessed Christmas.

XOXO,

PitaCake