Home of Derek Morgan – Evening

Derek longed for a case, a long difficult case out of town. His heart felt heavy as he looked down at the picture frame. He ran his finger across the two figures smiling back at him. Those were happier times that seemed so long ago, but it wasn't. Derek was finding it hard to breathe as their last night together played on a loop in his head. So many plans, so much attention to the details of a night that was supposed to be the best night of his life. He still didn't know how things had gone so wrong.

Then he saw the tiny black box sitting just to the right of where the picture of the happy couple sat. Placing the picture back in its place, he exhaled. It was still hard to breathe, still hard to believe that he had lost her.

Flashback...

He saw the anger in her eyes before he heard the questions that came at him one after the other. She was hurt and confused, and he had no way or chance to convince her that it was all a misunderstanding.

He'd been with a lot of women and Penelope knew that. In fact, throughout their friendship, she'd seen him date countless women, but none of them had been invited back to his place; none of them. Derek had assured her of that, not that it should have mattered but it was one of the things he'd used to prove to her that she was the one and only woman for him. Then why was she standing in front of him, close enough for him to feel the heat radiating from her body. In her hands, dangling from a well-manicured index finger was a pair of very small lacy panties.

"Derek?"

"W-where did you..."

"Who is she!" Penelope shouted.

"Nobody, I swear!"

"Oh, so that's what you call your...your...hookups?"

The tears streaming down her face now and hitching sounds as she breathed broke him.

"Penelope, I didn't do anything! There was no one here, please you have to believe me!"

"I don't have to believe anything Derek! These obviously don't fit me, so again, who is she?"

...and then she was gone.

Derek watched as Penelope hysterically packed her things, enough to fit in her go-bag and leave, slamming the door behind her. He'd followed her from room to room pleading for her to listen, to allow him to explain. But how could he ever explain the panties, the proof that he'd broken her trust and brought another woman into their sacred space.

Flashback ends.

But he hadn't. He'd never shared his space in an intimate way with another woman except Penelope. He had no clue how the panties had gotten into his home, his bedroom. Penelope believed the worst. He saw it in her eyes, all the work the two of them had done to convince themselves that they could work as more than friends, as a couple, now was destroyed and there was nothing he could do to fix it. His past life, in and out of relationships, one-night stands and drunken nights in bars trying to numb the pain of difficult cases and past hurts, had stopped by to say, hello. How could he think that he deserved a life of happiness when his life, his childhood had been filled with so much pain.

He could hear the demons of his past laughing at him now, screaming, "I told you so," at the top of their lungs. Carl's voice was the loudest, "don't worry, D, I still love you!"

Home of Penelope Garcia –

Penelope was still living out of her go-bag. Even though she had been back for three weeks, she couldn't bring herself to unpack. Her heart ached and she'd cried more tears than she'd ever cried before. She felt like a failure and an idiot for thinking that she and Derek could be more than friends.

Penelope believed everything he'd told her; that he loved her and that she had been the only woman who had ever slept in his bed. It was a lie, all of it. Now she was back in her small apartment that no longer felt like home.

Flashback...

She had noticed something different about Derek all day, he was distracted and nervous. Every time she asked, he'd assure her that everything was okay. She didn't believe him and discovering the small panties in his bedroom meant that a smaller, daintier woman was indeed Derek's preference. Humiliation didn't come close to describing how she felt.

Something pink and lacy caught her eye as she rounded the bed from the bathroom. Derek was a neat freak so to see something out of place was odd. The dainty cloth beckoned her, the closer she got, a sickness seemed to hit her like a ton of bad fish.

"Oh my god!"

She gasped as she pulled what turned out to be a pair of panties from under the bed. Her anger overwhelmed her, scared her as she rushed toward the front room were Derek sat waiting for her to return. His eyes widened jumping to his feet as she approached him shaking the tiny powerful evidence, proving that she had been right about him along.

"Derek?" Her voice trembled.

She watched him, head shaking no, wondering how he had screwed up, wondering how he'd gotten caught.

"Baby Girl, let me explain...it was nothing!"

"Who is she, Derek? Who is the skinny b...?"

"I don't know where they came from, please you have to believe me! I'd never cheat on you!"

"Then how?"

The panties, dangling on her finger swung back and forth between them. Penelope was done, beyond hurt and betrayed. Without another word, she turned and headed back toward the bedroom, packed her go-bag and with a warning that she would be back for the rest of her things, she left him, still pleading for a chance to explain.

Flashback ends.

Sam had begun calling her shortly after her breakup with Derek. She wondered how he had found out; he sounded incredibly chipper as he shamelessly asked her out for dinner. She declined. Sam was nice, he'd always been kind and smart enough not to make the same mistakes Kevin had. Still, he had seen himself as a step up from Kevin and he was, but it wasn't enough to win her heart. Now Penelope was again running from the doubts of the past that told her that a man like Derek Morgan would never want anyone who looked like her.

Home of Tamara Barnes –

Tamara had made plans to hang out with Derek. The two had met during a murder case that had taken the life of her brother. Tamara saw something special in the FBI agent and for a while she thought he had too. Derek had kept in contact, playing the hero for a while but the demands of his job seemed to pull him away. Still, she thought of him often and managed to keep track of him from afar.

Tamara had gotten up the nerve to reach out to him a few months back and he seemed happy to hear from her. Their call was short and sweet, and Tamara was disappointed to hear a familiar voice in the background. She'd waited too long, and she felt defeated as he cut their call short as the woman's voice grew closer. Then three weeks ago she heard from him again, wanting to meet for a drink and she agreed.

Flashback...

"What's wrong, you look so sad, Derek?"

Derek looked across the table, second thoughts in his eyes as he motioned toward the bartender. He'd asked her out yet, he hadn't said more than a half dozen words since they arrived.

"Maybe this was a bad idea, I'm sorry Tamara." He stood to leave.

Tamara placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

"No, please, not yet. Talk to me."

Derek settled back into his seat as the bartender placed another drink in front of him.

"I shouldn't pull you into my drama...I'm sorry."

"Listen to me, you were there for me during the worst time in my life. If it weren't for you, I don't think I would have survived it. Now, let me be here for you."

"Tamara I..."

"I know, I know, you're in love with Penelope but it doesn't mean we can't be friends, does it?"

He smiled slightly glancing at the fresh drink in front of him.

"No, I guess not."

Tamara smiled and lifted her drink.

"No strings?" She offered.

"No strings." He agreed.