A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
The rest of the drive from the airport was quiet. As they turned onto Hotch's block, Derek though he saw Emily's car pulling away from the house in the opposite direction. He looked over at Penelope, hoping to confirm what he saw only to find that she was staring blankly out the passenger window.
"Baby girl, relax." He said.
She turned to him and smiled and took a deep breath. "I'm trying to. I'm sorry." She said.
"No apology necessary sweetheart, it comes with the territory." He said and smiled.
They parked the truck in front of Hotch's house and walked down his walkway towards the door. Just as Derek was about knock on the door, it opened. Hotch was talking on the phone and gestured for them to come in.
"Dave I need you to handle this if you can. You know very well that she's not going to be receptive to me at all." Hotch said. "That doesn't apply here and we both know it. I'm not going to allow her to take advantage of this. I'll go above her if need be." He continued. "Thanks, I'll wait for your call." And with that he hung up.
Turning to face Derek and Penelope, they could both tell that their news had somehow already gotten to Hotch. "So how much trouble are we in?" Penelope asked without looking at Hotch, she couldn't bare to look him in the eyes.
"Is there something you two want to tell me that I may not already know?" Hotch asked with a serious tone.
"Hotch; I think you should know that our coming here was to tell you first. We didn't want you finding out before we had a chance to explain." Derek said almost apologetically. "I'm not sure what's happening or who knows about us, but we haven't been flaunting anything about town."
"There's been a complaint filed against you two with Strauss." Hotch explained. "She called right after I hung up with you two. "
"How the hell did she find out?" Derek yelled. "What does she have people following us around?"
"No, she has something better than that. She has an employee filing charges. I'll give you both 3 guesses but the first two don't count." He said sarcastically.
"Who the hell would …." And before he could finish the sentence Penelope said in a low voice, sounding almost defeated. "Kevin."
"He went to Strauss this morning and filed a complaint against you both. Said that he had proof that you both violated the Frat Rule. I talked to Rossi just before you both got here and he's going to talk to Strauss to find out what's going on. In the meantime, I need you both to stay away from Lynch." Hotch said.
Derek was about to protest when Hotch looked him dead on and repeated himself "Stay away from Lynch. That's an order!" he said. "How long has this been going on?" Hotch asked.
"It just happened Hotch. We got together in Chicago. Kevin called while I was there, he knew I was with Derek and he had some issues with it. Words got a bit heated and I basically broke it off with Kevin. He did say I was making a huge mistake, I guess he meant that as a threat. "Penelope explained.
"Hotch you know there was nothing going on between us prior to that." Derek said. "We would have come to you first if there was." He insisted.
"Listen, contrary to what you both might think right now, I'm not upset at either one of you. I am upset with Strauss because we all know she'll use this and I'm upset at Lynch because his running to her had nothing to do with his feelings for Penelope. On the contrary, he was only setting out to hurt you both. Having said that, with regards to you two getting together I will say this one time and one time only. It's about time!" He said and smiled.
Penelope, who had been intently watching Hotch and bracing for the lecture on the no Frat Rule was taken by total surprise at his reply. She smiled at Hotch and said thank you.
"Penelope, our whole team watched you two dance around each other for 5 years now. We all knew it would happen eventually we just never thought it would take this long. My God you two are slow." Hotch said exasperated.
"What about Strauss. I don't want to cause this team any trouble because of our relationship. I'll quit before she can manipulate this to her advantage." Derek said.
"Derek, there's nothing she can do about it. She'll try to push this as far as she can but bottom line, Penelope and you and not in the same department. The no Frat Rule doesn't apply." Hotch said with conviction. "No one is quitting over this." He looked at Penelope, whose mouth was trying to form some words and quickly nipped that in the bud. "Is this what you two wanted to discuss tonight as well?" Hotch asked.
"We wanted to let the team know but felt we needed to talk to you first." Derek explained.
"I'll pretend to be surprised." He said and smiled.
"Thanks Hotch" Derek said and extended his hand to shake Hotch's.
Penelope walked over to Hotch and gave him a hug. "Thank you Sir." She said.
"Penelope, we just hugged, don't you think you could call me Hotch now?" He said and smiled at her.
Blushing, she looked at him and smiled. "Yes Si… err Hotch."
Derek and Hotch laughed.
"Sorry, old habits and all that." She said.
"Derek." Hotch said. "I do need for you to stay away from Lynch. Do not give him any reason to provoke another complaint filing. Is that clear?" Hotch said.
Derek nodded. He didn't like it very much but he knew that Hotch was right.
"That goes for you too Penelope. Let's give Rossi time to work his magic before you go anywhere near him." Hotch said. Penelope nodded. Deep down she knew Hotch was right. As much as she wanted to rip into Kevin, she had to wait.
Derek wrapped his arm around Penelope and walked out the door. He knew what she was thinking but there was no way he would let her near Lynch by herself now. Not after the stunt he had pulled.
Once inside the car, Derek turned to Penelope and said "I'd rather you stayed at my house tonight Baby, I don't want to give him so much as an opportunity to corner you alone."
Penelope nodded, if truth be told, she would feel safer with Derek than in her apartment by herself. "Can we swing by to get some of my clothes?" She asked.
"That's exactly where I'm headed first. We'll pick up Clooney afterwards." Derek said.
"Don't forget we need to get ready for tonight too. What time is everyone coming over?" Penelope asked.
"I told them to be there by 6. That means we have all day." He said looking over at her and grinning.
"What will we do?" Penelope said grinning right back at him.
Two hours after leaving Hotch's house, Penelope and Derek drove up to Derek's home. They had picked up clothes from Penelope's home, stopped by the market to get what they needed for the get together and picked up Clooney from the Kennel. Once inside the house, Penelope proceeded to put away the groceries while Derek put down fresh water and food for Clooney.
"Baby girl, I'm going to clear up a couple of draws for you in my room and make some room in the closet." Derek said.
"Angel I have draws already in the spare room. That's all I need." She said.
"Baby, I don't want you in the spare room; I want you in our room with me." Derek said as he walked over towards her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.
The way he called it "our" room hadn't gone unnoticed by Penelope. Looking up at him and smiling she still couldn't believe that it was all really happening. She knew they still had a lot of hurdles to get past but for right now, for the moment, she was going to enjoy the feel of his arms around her and the idea that they were a couple. Getting on her tippy toes, she reached up and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "You do realize that wooing me this way isn't going to get you out of helping me set up for tonight right?" She asked as leaned in and started to place gentle kisses on his neck.
A low growl escaped Derek's throat. "I'm not trying to get out of anything but if you keep this up, I will be trying to get "into" something soon." He said as he grabbed her hips tightly and pulled her against him. His hands wandering over her butt and squeezing it gently he leaned into her and nibbled on her ear as he whispered "Ready to make another memory tonight?"
Penelope moaned and dug her nails gently into his back. "I'll take that as a yes." Derek said. With that he slapped her butt and walked away grinning.
"Ohhh that is sooo not how I pictured this." Penelope said.
Derek chuckled. "I'll let you show me how you pictured it tonight. The way I look at it, it's a win win for me." He said as he winked at her and walked into the bedroom to clear some draws.