Potomac General – Late Evening -

Against his wishes Derek was whisked off to the hospital to be checked out. All he wanted was to see his children and to hold them in his arms. Penelope assured him that his children were safe and that every measure was being taken to keep them from harm's way. It was because he trusted her that he consented.

Penelope was relieved when Derek was given a clean bill of health. Miraculously, he had not further injured himself in the crash that he had caused. Beyond a few bruises and a mild concussion, he was well enough to be released. While she had waited for him to be examined, she called Fran to let her know that he had been found and that he was safe. She heard the children in the background playing and she heard Fran breathe a sigh of relief. It felt good to give her the news.

Just as Penelope ended the call and dropped the phone in her bag Derek's slow-moving body came in to view; he was gorgeous even in his banged-up condition, the man was gorgeous. He smiled, she melted as he pulled her into his arms.

"Hey Baby." He moaned.

"Ready to blow this popsicle stand?" She asked him.

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

Penelope pulled away slightly, enough to look into his eyes without breaking their connection. She searched his eyes; she had so many questions with no answers and she wondered if he trusted her enough with the answers. He wanted to go home, this she knew and so her questions would have to wait. Still, before they could go on, they would need to be honest with each other. These past few days and weeks made it hard for her to deny her feelings for him, and it scared her; she didn't want to be hurt but more importantly, she didn't want to hurt him.

His body ached but the thought of hurting the woman in his arms pained him more. She needed answers, she deserved answers, but he wondered what she would think of him if she knew who he really was. She had somehow found a way past the wall around his heart; he wasn't sure how she had done it, but he was knee-deep in his feelings for her and there was no way out.

Derek leaned down and planted a slow sensual kiss on her lips. His tongue begged for entrance into her mouth which she freely granted. The two stood in the middle of the emergency room hall, surely a spectacle for the medical staff and patients, but in that moment neither of them cared and until their bodies screamed for air, they kissed and spoke with those kisses everything that needed to be said for now.

BAU – Morning-

Penelope was still exhausted but here she was, large coffee in hand, riding the elevator up to the sixth floor. Hotch had summoned her in to talk before the rest of the team arrived. Stepping off of the elevator, she saw that Rossi had beat her in and was already in Hotch's office. She climbed the steps dreading the next few moments, not sure of what she would hear.

Hotch looked up and waved her inside. His face was grim because of a information he had received moments before. He needed to share the news with Penelope and eventually the rest of the team.

"What's with the long faces?" She asked glancing at Hotch, then Rossi and back to Hotch.

"The director of Agent Morgan's unit was found dead in his office this morning."

Penelope dropped into a chair nearby.

"What happened?"

"The coroner says the time of death was between nine-thirty and eleven last night." He answered.

"How?"

"One gunshot to the head at close range." Then... "Where's Agent Morgan?"

"Come on Hotch, surely you don't think he did this? He was fighting for his life at that time!"

"Where is he?" Hotch asked again.

"Hotch, Garcia is right; Morgan couldn't have done this!" Rossi added.

"That's not why I'm asking. Agent Morgan had help getting away from his captors and that's who I want to talk to!"

"I took him home to be with his children after he was released from the hospital."

"Dave, I need you to go and interview Agent Morgan."

Reluctantly, Dave stood and headed toward the door.

"Wait, I'm missing something here; what's really going on? What aren't you saying Hotch?"

Home of Derek Morgan –

Elle killed the engine and pulled her phone from her pocket and found his number. She needed to see him one last time. It was only a matter of time before Hotch came after her even though her former boss knew he didn't have a chance of catching her unless she wanted to be caught. Still, her need to relive the past, to see Derek one more time overruled her survival instincts.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket; he knew it was her, he knew she wouldn't leave without saying goodbye... not again...

Derek kissed his son's and daughter's forehead, whispered something to his sister and slipped out the back door. He met her at his back gate, out of sight of the man who had been assigned to keep watch over him and his family for the day.

"You know this is dangerous." He began.

"I know but I had to see you."

"Elle..."

"Don't; don't say anything." She began. "I convinced Delaney to let us...you go. So, you don't have to worry about being hunted down anymore."

Morgan searched her face; she had a gift of keeping the truth from reaching her eyes. Yet, he still knew she was keeping something from him.

"What did you do?" He asked not expecting an answer.

"Take care of yourself, Derek."

"Elle, what did you do?"

Then he saw something; she'd never let him see her cry, nothing ever seemed to come close enough to her heart to make her cry, but she was crying...she was actually crying. She wiped the tear away quickly, briefly looking away to hide the anger at the betrayal of her emotions.

"I wonder what would have happened if things had been different between us." She started.

"You could have stayed to find out." He answered.

"You didn't ask." She countered.

"Would it had mattered?"

Elle placed a soft kiss on his lips then closed her eyes, lingering for a moment before pulling away. He allowed his mind to wander to the what-if of her question and to their past together.

"I guess we'll never know now." She answered.

Then without another word, Elle turned and disappeared. He watched her skillfully make her exit without the agent across the street seeing her. He wondered where she would go and if he would see her again. She'd saved his life, like she had done so many times in the past. He owed her his life and his future, and he was grateful.

"Who was that daddy?"

Derek turned to see his small son behind him. The little boy was determined to not let his father out of his sight; he shouldn't have been surprised that he would have followed him out of the house. So, he lifted the boy in his arms and planted a kiss on his cheek while the boy waited for an answer.

"A friend; she's a friend."