Savior

Chapter 99

-xx-

Derek placed his glass of whiskey back down on the small table in his hotel room. After the rehearsal dinner, Cate's two brothers dispersed to their own rooms with their families. Brandon just left a few minutes ago to meet Jamie in their room.

He took a seat at the table and ran a hand over his face. He knew he should be getting some sleep; Derek had planned to meet with his groomsmen for a late breakfast before they all started to get ready at the vineyard.

His mind wandered back to David Rossi's words – they had dinner with Dave and Krystall the night before the trial started. Rossi explained that he wanted to make sure Cate was okay enough to take the stand, but figured dinner at his house would be more comfortable than at the BAU office.

Cate excused herself to the bathroom as Derek lifted his glass of whiskey to thank Dave. "I've watched you for the last twelve years," David began as he turned his attention to the black man sitting across the dining room table. "And I don't think I've ever seen you this content with your life."

"She has a big part to do with that," Derek replied as he gestured to the hallway Cate just walked down. "She makes me want to be better."

Dave nodded. "That's not something you would have said a few years ago," he said softly, mentioning the last woman Derek introduced to the team.

Derek let his head hang for a second at the mention of Savannah. "Cate is completely different," he bartered. "Even after every thing she has gone through – three years ago to just a few months ago – she looks for the best in people, Rossi."

"Is she going to be okay on the stand tomorrow?" the older agent asked as he took a sip from his own whiskey glass. "Or will she crack in front of Jade?"

Derek shrugged and sat back in his seat. "I want to tell you that she'll be fine," he answered.

"But," Dave urged. "I need to know so we can give her attorneys the go ahead to put her on the stand."

The black man turned away from his mentor as he thought about Dave's words. He knew they weren't coming from a bad place; he meant well and only wanted to help Cate's case. "She's the toughest woman I've ever met," Derek confessed. "She'll be fine up there."

Dave nodded. "Good," he replied. "Are you going to be okay?"

Derek licked his lips as he processed the question. He had been so focused on Cate and how she was handling everything that he never thought of himself. "I'll be good," he answered.

Rossi tapped his fingers against the table top as he watched the younger man across from him. "She needs you to be strong, Derek." They were the most honest words he had received in regards to the entire situation. "And I don't mean 'busting down doors and takin' out an unsub' strong."

"I know," Derek replied in a hushed voice. The two could hear Cate and Krystall laughing in the kitchen. "I'm handling it," he admitted. "I wish I could be better for her – to make all of this go away."

"And you're kicking yourself in the ass because you can't?" Rossi finished his sentence. Derek smirked at his words. "We've all been there, Derek." Dave sighed at the memory of his first wife, Carolyn. "Its how we follow through that matters."

Derek let the words linger across the table as the two women stepped back in from the kitchen. He was going to be a better man; he was going to be everything that Cate could have needed.

His phone buzzed on the table in front of him. The words on the screen caused his lips to curl in to a smile.

-xx-

"If I remember correctly, you yelled at me when I said tradition was insane." Cate rolled her eyes as Derek shut the door to the suite.

"I didn't 'yell' at you," she countered with a smirk crossing her lips. "But tradition is proving to be really lonely," she said softly.

Derek crossed the hotel room and took his future wife in to his arms. "We can't have you being lonely," he answered before pecking her lips.

"I thought you'd agree," she said with a chuckle. Her hands rested on his shoulders as she shook her curls out over her shoulder. "Stay tonight," she pleaded. "But just be out by nine am?"

Derek laughed. "What are we – teenagers who are afraid our parents will catch us sneaking around?"

Cate shrugged. "I will never hear the end of it," she replied. "You know how my mom is."

Derek lifted an eyebrow in the direction the brunette. "Where is Helena?" he asked with a glint in his eye. "I'll go let her know that I am taking my future wife to bed, and I will be here all night long."

She hung her head to the side and glared in his direction. "Shush you," she whispered harshly. "Or you can go right back downstairs."

"We may even be trying for that grand-baby, for all she knows," he said with a wink. "I overheard our mothers talking about grand-babies at dinner."

Cate closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Typical," she replied as she opened her blue orbs. "But I mean it – out by nine."

He laughed. "I'm hearing you loud and clear, baby," he answered. "But I'm here and you can't get rid of me now."

Cate lost all effort to pretend to be frustrated with him as a smile broke out across her face. Even just having Derek in the same room made her feel whole. "What are all the single ladies in the world going to do now that Derek Morgan is spoken for?" she mused with a smirk dancing across her lips.

His facial expressions matched hers. "I've been off the market for months now, Catie," he reminded her. "Since you agreed to go to dinner with me, no other woman has crossed my mind."

Her polished nails ran down the side of his neck softly. "What was it that JJ said?" she asked out loud as she racked her brain. "'The FBI's Most Eligible Bachelor' was it?"

He laughed at the nickname the blonde had given him years before. "Jen and Garcia used to call me that all the time," he admitted. He sighed contently as she ran her fingers across his fresh shave.

"Well, I apologize to all of those ladies, but you're all mine now."

Derek nodded and grinned down at her. "Damn straight I am," he answered before kissing her once more.

Cate could not help the shy smile on her lips. "As I am yours, my love," she replied as her eyes sparkled in Derek's direction.

He could only grin as he started to lead her backwards over towards the bed.

-xx-