Sinking Fast-Ch 17

A few hours later after everybody's statements had been taken care of Mark and Marcie looked at their friends both old and new and Mark said, "after the last 36 hours how about we all head back to our place and enjoy a nice quiet night"? Hotch looked at his team and they all nodded their heads yes, he grinned and said, "we would be honored to spend the evening with you my friend"

Mark shook hands with everybody and said, "well then, shall we"? and everybody smiled and followed the happy, smiling couple out of the police station and headed toward their cars. Derek opened the passenger side door and said, "allow me beautiful", she kissed him gently on the lips and said, "thank you kind sir", he winked at her and said, "anything for you baby girl" as she slid into her seat and put on her seat belt,

He then walked around to the drivers side and climbed in behind the wheel and said, "well then sweetness, here we go" as he started the car and pulled away from the curb, falling in line behind the others. On the way back home Marcie had called and asked the staff to prepare a delicious dinner and told them how many people would be coming and about how long it would take so they weren't surprised when dinner was ready and sitting on the table when they walked through the door

As they walked through the front door a delicious aroma filled their noses and Penelope said, "smells like John and Jonna have made something amazing for us again tonight" and Marcie grinned and said, "I asked them to fix a few of your favorites after the past couple of days" and Penelope grinned and said, "after everything we've been through, a night together with family and friends is just what the doctor ordered".

Marcie grinned and said, "I totally agree" as she led Penelope, Derek and the others into their large dining room, as they pulled up their seats and sat down they couldn't help but smile. They were smiling because somehow they had managed to not only find Derek and Penelope but bring them both home safely, plus find, save and bring home safely Mark and Marcie.

They all laughed and talked while they ate, Marcie made Penelope promise that she would call and come by for visits as often as she could, to which the blonde happily agreed. Derek reached under the table and took Penelope's hand in his and gently squeezed it, when she looked at him he winked at her causing her to blush and grin at the same time.

JJ and Emily couldn't miss the smile on both of their faces, it was obvious to anybody with eyes how much they liked each other and the girls knew that it would only be a matter of time before they would be welcoming her into their family as Mrs. Derek Morgan", a fact that would please not only them but Derek's mom Fran Morgan Rossi and his two sisters.

When dinner was over Mark said, "do you have a place to stay for the night"?, Hotch said, "to be honest, we never really thought about anything but finding Derek so no, no we don't". Marcie grinned and said, "well you do now, unlike our apartment in town our home here has 15 bedrooms so their is plenty of room for you to stay here and each bedroom has it's own bathroom so you will have plenty of room and time to rest and relax"

Hotch said, "thank you my friend, we happily accept" and Mark intertwined fingers with his wife and said, "if it hadn't been for you and your amazing team, both me and my wife, along with Derek and Penelope wouldn't have made it, so it is us that owe you, we owe you all so so much" and Derek said, "no, no you don't, you don't owe us anything, we are just glad that things worked out the way they did" and everybody smiled and nodded their heads yes in agreement.

As they all walked out of the dining room and headed upstairs to get acquainted with their rooms Derek intertwined fingers with Penelope and pulled her aside, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. He then leaned in and brushed his lips gently against hers, she moaned as he deepened the kiss, as their tongues battled for control she wrapped her arms tight around his waist and held on to the most amazing man she had ever met.

When they pulled apart and continued their way down the hall toward their rooms neither of them could wait to see what else life had in store for them but they knew that whatever it was they would do it and face it together.