Home for The Holidays

Morgan and Garcia

Chapter Three

December 2007

The first night they were in Chicago they had a dinner to celebrate his mother's birthday, which had been ten days earlier but his family had wanted to wait for Derek to be in town before they had the celebration. His sister Sarah brought over her twin seven year old son's- Daniel and Darren- and her husband, Mark.

By the time Derek and Penelope got back to the Four Seasons hotel it was nearly midnight. Their train had come in that morning just before 9 am. Though she was exhausted Penelope was in a great mood because Derek's family had made her feel very comfortable around them. They were always joking and teasing. Always saying how good she was for Derek. It made her feel like part of the Morgan family.

And Derek was being his normal attentive self.

Since the moment she had woken up in the hospital, after being shot, there was a tenderness to him and a protectiveness that was much more than he ever had shown before. Penelope knew it wasn't out of pity. He just wanted to show her that she mattered to him and he was still rattled by the fact that she had come so close to death.

Penelope had to admit it was nice to be the object of Derek Morgan's affection. For as long as that lasted she planned to enjoy every minute of their now deeper and more meaningful friendship.

She let them into their suite and Derek came in after her, carrying all the luggage. They looked around the room.

"Wow, this suite is uber amazing!" Penelope cried. "Baby, you didn't have to go all out like this."

"Hush. I get sick of spending nights in crappy hotels. On our vacation we're having the best."

"Okay," she cooed "but I'm paying you back half the costs."

"Not a chance in hell, woman," he told her, in a sing song tone. "Pick a bedroom."

They checked out the two bedrooms. She picked the one that was decorated in a more feminine style. Sighing happily she tossed her purse on the bed and slipped out of her coat. "I could live here forever and feel like a fairy princess. Would you be my handsome prince who protects me from dragons and evil sorceresses?"

"You watch way too much science fiction, Garcia."

"Sci fi is with aliens and time warps. Princes and princesses are in the fantasy genre."

He shook his head over what he considered weird. "I'll keep you safe from dragons and aliens. Whatever you need."

She smiled at him. "Thank you for inviting me. I'm having a great time so far."

"Good, good, good."

"Good night, Derek."

Giving her a long look and then a nod he said "Good night, baby girl," turned and left the room. She fell back on the bed and let out another happy sigh.

She wished she could call JJ and tell her about this uber awesome room and how wonderful Derek was being but it was too late at night to call her now. First thing in the morning though Penelope was going to get on her cell phone and talk a mile a minute about how well the trip was going so far.

XXXXXXXXX

The next morning, while she was doing her hair and make up, she had in her blue tooth so she could talk to JJ. "You should see this bathroom. Its nicer than my apartment! This whole suite is uber beautiful. I don't know why I was so nervous about this trip. Derek's family is so easy to be around. They are just like him! Funny and sweet."

"Unsubs don't think Morgan is too funny or sweet when he interrogates them or tackles them," JJ joked. "In fact, he's funniest and sweetest around you."

"Jayje, he's been such a good friend to me ever since I was hurt. I feel a little guilty about it actually. I don't want him to feel obligated."

"I don't think its that. I bet he just got a wake up call when you were hurt. With our job you would think that we'd know not to take one day for granted but it doesn't really hit you until you're the one hurt or someone you care about is hurting. Remember how we felt when Reid was missing? Didn't you promise yourself if he came back you'd always show him how much he means to you? I know I did."

"True. So true. And Derek is keeping his word about showing me."

"So did you tell Kevin that you went out of town with another guy?"

"Better to keep some things under a tech kitten's hat. Besides I barely know Kevin. No reason to try and explain to him the intricacies of Morgan and me. We go beyond explanation."

"Ha! Not really. You both wanna hook up with each other but you think he's too much of a player and he thinks he'd just let you down by not being ready to settle down. You both may be right but its not complicated."

"Whatever, Jayje. We are oh so very complicated and complex."

JJ chuckled. "Sure you are. The only question I have is who is sneaking over to whose room during this trip? I bet you make a move on Morgan cause we all know he's a big sissy when it comes to putting the moves on you."

"Do not call my baby a sissy." Penelope smiled. "You got it all wrong anyway. I'm sure if he wanted to make a move he'd make one. He just loves to flirt. He's a born flirt. We all know that."

"Only with women he wants to screw. He doesn't flirt with me or Em."

"I'm just better at flirting than you two. I give it back to him in a way you two would never know how to do."

"Wow, thanks, I feel like a born again virgin now."

Penelope laughed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Derek was sitting at the table in the living room of their suite, drinking coffee and reading the paper, when Penelope came out of the bathroom, dressed in a pink silk robe. "MMMMM! What a sexy Goddess. Hello there, hot mama!"

She blushed. "Morning, super stud," she murmured before heading toward her bedroom.

"Pump those brakes."

She stopped, carrying in her arms her beauty supplies and pajamas.

Derek crooked his finger at her and she walked over to him. He gave her a flirty look. "Show me a good morning."

Running a finger down his chest, over his t-shirt, she asked "What did you have in mind?"

"Surprise me."

He expected a kiss on the cheek but instead she set down her things on the table, hiked one bare foot up onto the chair he was sitting on, exposing her leg as her silk robe slipped to the side, and then proceeded to pick up a bottle of lotion and apply lotion on her leg. "Hmmm. Let me think about it."

His body tightened and his breathing got shallow as he watched her smoothing her hands up and down her leg. Sitting back in his chair he shifted uncomfortably and tried to order himself to calm the hell down.

Derek's hand shot out and closed over hers, as his eyes stayed glued on her leg. "Enough, Garcia! Go get dressed."

"But I haven't shown you a good morning yet."

"You are a vixen, woman. You should give lessons in the fine art of temptation."

She laughed. "What I do can't be replicated. You should know that by now." Her voice danced with amusement as she teased him but then he raised his eyes up to meet her and her breath caught. Derek couldn't help but reveal all his pent up lust for her in that second. He watched her go from surprised to nervous. She quickly put down her leg, straightened her robe and said "I should go get ready. We don't wanna keep your family waiting." Penelope gathered her beauty supplies and clothes and headed for the bedroom.

At the door she looked back over her shoulder and met his gaze. But now he hoped he had his emotions in check. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off.

She gave him a flirty smile. "Unless, of course, you wanna ravish me right here and now and, in that case, your family can just hold on for a couple of hours. I would hate to be rude to them but I do have my priorities in order."

"Silly girl, go get dressed."

"Yes, Sir Derek, and you get yourself a big glass of ice water to cool down."

He smirked at her as she slipped into the bedroom. Running his hand over his head he let out a long breath. His feelings had been growing stronger and stronger lately. Ever since he met her there was something special there but lately it seemed too much to ignore any longer.

They were spending so much time together. He knew he needed to back off if he didn't want to ask her to take things further with him and yet...backing off was the last thing on earth he wanted to do these days when it came to his baby girl. He didn't like being away from her at all anymore.

All Derek knew was he wasn't afraid to be near her as much as he possibly could. It was the thought of having to spend time separated from her that wrenched his heart. This vacation would have sucked if his baby girl had stayed back in Virginia.

He needed her near by. He needed her to never doubt that he loves her. But he still had to figure out if she could love him back...in a way that went far beyond buddies, far beyond flirting, far beyond hooking up. That way that made life make sense and gave them both someone to hold onto during long, lonely nights.

He never had that before. With her though, sometimes, it felt like Derek Morgan could be that guy who gets it all.