Chapter 8

"Where are Morgan and Garcia?" Reid asked to anyone listening.

"Do we really want to know the answer to that question?" Rossi asked him back.

Reid looked at him with a confused face before he recalled the very explicit dancing that occurred the night before. Rossi interrupted pulling Reid from his thoughts, "Does anyone know if anything happened last night?"

JJ laughed at him. "Dave, I had no idea you were such a gossip. Does it matter? They'll tell us when they are ready."

"I'm not trying to gossip. I just know we've been waiting on this a long time and we saw more progress last night than I've seen since I joined the team." Rossi defended himself.

"It appears as if everything is normal with them. Is that good or bad?" Kate wondered out loud. "Y'all have known them longer than I have."

JJ started to defend her friends when a lightbulb went off. She turned to face a very quiet Hotch. "Hotch, did you set all of this up to get them together?" Narrowing her eyes, "And if you did, is it because you've got this weekend in the pool?"

He chuckled slightly before lifting his head and looking at her with a slight smirk. "I might have been encouraged by the Director to make sure we had a good bonding weekend with plenty of time for our team to spend together given our recent caseload. And he may have asked me to let him know in advance when that weekend would be." Breaking into a grin, he added "I do not know who has this weekend in the pool. That would be a question for Agent Anderson, but I know who I'd put my money on."

Penelope never expected her whole world to shift when she kissed Derek. She never expected to lose sense of all space and time and be wholly consumed in him. However, that is exactly what happened. She couldn't concentrate on anything other than the immense pleasure coursing through her, as his hands roamed her body and his lips assaulted her own.

What had started as slow and sweet had morphed quickly into fast and filled with a decade of longing and want. As his hands moved up her torso under her shirt, she broke away as a gasp escaped her. Derek moved immediately to kiss and suck every available inch of skin from her jaw to the neckline of her shirt. Penelope threw her head back and she reveled in the feelings overtaking her body, a slight moan leaving her mouth unintentionally. She bit her bottom lip to contain the noise.

The slow return of oxygen to her lungs allowed her to think somewhat more clearly. "Derek, we've been here a long time. I think we need to stop. They are going to know something is….." Penelope tried finish her sentence, but Derek seemed to find a magic spot on her neck that made all logical thought leave her brain.

Derek growled into her neck. He wanted to keep going, but he knew she was right. "I know you're right, Baby Girl. But I'm going to need a minute to calm down."

"Sweetness, I don't think that's going to happen until I leave you alone." She smiled at him sweetly as she pulled back to examine his face. Using her hands, she stroked the sides of his cheeks as the love in her eyes filled his soul.

Derek had never seen such a love filled expression for himself. He almost couldn't believe that he'd run from this for so long. "I'm such a fool for waiting so long to tell you how I feel about you. How could I not see that you love me?"

Her smile continued as she almost whispered, "Because I couldn't let myself feel the depth of my love for you. I would have never survived if it wasn't returned." Not able to look into her eyes, "I also didn't think you were interested in me… physically. I'm not exactly your type."

Derek put his finger under her chin to lift her head. As her eyes met his, "Momma, you better believe that you've always been my type." To reassure her, he ground his hips into hers. She gasped feeling the very evident proof of his arousal.

She grinned at him, "I knew you wouldn't calm down until I left."

"Woman, don't laugh at my pain. Being close to you the rest of the night without being able to touch you is going to torture me."

"You better touch me, Hot Stuff! Otherwise we will look suspicious." She admonished him.

"I know, Baby Girl, but stopping is the problem." He flashed a lecherous grin at her.

"Ok… on that note, I'm going to go. It will give you a few minutes and try to prevent the 10,000 questions that I know are downstairs." Before she could pull away from him completely, he started to laugh. She looked back at him questioningly. "What's so funny, Hot Stuff?"

"I think you better reapply some make up and maybe… um… just do your thing, woman." He said gesturing to the mirror.

Penelope gasped when she turned around to see her disheveled self. She look every bit guilty of making out heavily with someone in a bathroom. Her lipstick was smeared all over her own face, her hair was a mess from his hands running through it. Her shirt was even twisted around. "Derek Morgan, I'm going to kick your ass! You gave me a hickey!"

He ducked his head and tried to back away from her chuckling as she swatted at his shoulder. "What am I going to do now? This cannot be covered up with my minimal makeup supplies in my purse!"

"Penelope, look at me." Derek's serious tone made her head snap towards him quickly. "I don't care who sees it or knows it. I love you. I want to be with you. I want to marry you. I want to give my momma those grandbabies with you. I want to live every day for the rest of my life with you."

It was only a split second before Penelope jumped back into his arms, kissing him with all of the passion and love she could manage. "I want that too, Derek. I love you. You have no idea how much I've always wanted that."

As Derek pulled away from their embrace, his lips pulled into a playful smile. "And if I happen to scare off other guys by putting hickeys on your neck until I can put a ring on your finger, I will be quite happy with that too."

Penelope couldn't help herself. All she could do was laugh. "Ok, well, then let me put myself back together. And if someone points it out, what would you have me say?"

"You can say whatever you want, goddess. I'm sure they will point it out. I'm happy to shout it from the rooftops. You're my girl, Penelope Garcia!"

As a wave of happiness washed over her, she almost couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. "Ok. Ignore it and go with my gut when asked. I can do that."

Kate leaned over to JJ, "Do you think we should go look for them?"

JJ sighed, "I honestly don't know. I'm sure they are fine and I definitely don't want to interrupt anything. Ugh! You're right. They have been gone a long time." As JJ started to get up from her chair, she heard Penelope walking out onto the deck carrying a tray of drinks. Derek was walking behind her carrying a tray of assorted desserts.

"Ok, my lovelies. It's time to finish off the desserts because I'm not bringing anything home." Penelope chirped happily to the group. "What movies are we watching tonight?"

"Well, Kitten, since we thought that you and Morgan ditched us, we haven't discussed movies." Rossi teased her.

"Well, SSA Rossi, Morgan and I were just talking inside when I decided to bring you refreshments. Forgive me for thinking of you." She retorted back.

"Ohhh… you've been SSA'd!" Derek howled as he laughed at the look on Rossi's face.

"Dave, I do believe you've been put in your place. Thank you, Penelope." Hotch interjected. "Maybe we should head inside and decide on a movie." Hotch ducked his head down as Penelope and Derek moved passed him into the house, not wanting them to see his smirk.

Once it was just himself, Reid and Rossi left, Reid asked "So we're just going to pretend we didn't see the giant hickey on her neck?"

Rossi and Hotch both answered at the same time, "Yes!"

"Ok, just making sure."

Penelope was sitting on one of the sofas in Rossi's media room with her legs curled up underneath her and her head resting on a pillow on the arm of the sofa. She had closed her eyes briefly, waiting for everyone to join her. The sooner the movie started, the sooner the movie ended. The sooner the movie ended, the sooner she and Derek could go home and continue what they had started upstairs in the bathroom.

She sighed contentedly thinking of a future with Derek. She was in a daze of happiness. She couldn't imagine anything better. Reveling in her thoughts of Derek, she didn't notice as Kate and JJ approached her.

"Garcie, are you asleep?" JJ questioned as she plopped down on the sofa next to her.

Penelope jumped a little but smiled at JJ. "No, I'm not asleep, but I am tired. Hangovers do not provide restful sleep. Combine that with my early wake-up call and I'm not sure if will make it through the movie."

"Why were you up so early?" Kate asked concerned as she sat down on the sofa next to JJ.

"Oh… uh….well, Sam called early and woke me up." Penelope wasn't sure if she should confess everything that had happened in the last 12 hours. With both pairs of eyes staring at her, waiting for the details, she figured it would all come out sooner or later. Penelope took a deep breath and continued, "Yeah and Derek answered my phone by mistake. Sam and I fought… again. He decided that I shouldn't see Derek outside of the office. I informed him he wasn't allowed to make that decision for me. And then he decided it was time for us to break up. Derek left, and I decided I needed to bake. It's been a long day."

JJ wasn't sure if she should show compassion or delight over her friend's breakup. She hadn't been able to read Penelope very well today. She went with compassion. "Oh Penelope, I'm so sorry!"

Penelope smiled sweetly at her friend, "Thank you, Jayje, but it's ok. It was inevitable. The last couple of months had been rough on us. And truthfully, I'm not sure we were 100% to begin with. I just hate for him to be hurt."

"What does Morgan think about this?" Kate asked quietly, chewing on bottom lip hoping she hasn't crossed a line by asking the question.

"What does Morgan think about what?" they heard from the doorway. All three women looked up to see Derek walking in holding a large bowl of popcorn. "Un-ass my seat, JJ."

JJ huffed and rolled her eyes playfully as she and Kate both moved down making room for Derek next to Penelope. "We were just wondering how you felt about Penelope's break up with Sam. You know….typical girl talk."

"Typical girl talk? Did you ask her how Reid felt about it? Or did you just ask about me?" Derek smirked at her.

"No, you jackass, because she didn't mention Reid being at her apartment this morning and answering her phone by mistake. But if you want to play it like that, I'll ask him too when he comes in." She retorted.

Being firmly put in his place, all he could do was laugh at himself and the situation. "Touché, Jayje. Touché." Pausing for a moment, he added with complete sincerity, "I never want my Baby Girl to be upset, but I also don't want her ever with someone who doesn't worship her like the goddess that she is, and Sam didn't even come close to doing that. So yeah, I'm happy they broke up."

"Well, alrighty then." Kate added seeing the giant smile on both Derek and Penelope's faces.

"Is Savannah still on call tonight?" JJ asked trying to change the subject.

"Actually I don't know. We broke up this morning, and I haven't talked to her since." Derek said plainly to JJ and Kate before he turned to Penelope and winked at her. Ignoring their wide eyed expressions, he put his arm around Penelope and moved her so that she was resting on his chest. "Pass the popcorn, Momma."

A/N: Hey, everyone! Thanks for sticking with me on this. I apologize for the delay. After the last chapter, while I sort of knew where I wanted to go, I internally battled doing the whole story justice, thus leading to a slight case of writer's block. Combine that with a grumpy 5 year old and our vacation over spring break, it lead to the too long break. I will be wrapping this up soon. My original idea about the story were really only for the karaoke, so I'm deciding how far I want to take this, but I don't think it's going to be too much farther.