Home of Derek Morgan – Morning –

"I'm sorry."

He hadn't heard her enter the kitchen. His mind had been so focused on getting his coffee and getting out of the house before she woke up that he nearly jumped when she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Savannah…"

He turned to face her and was met with her tears. Despite her threats he felt bad and guilty for driving her to such extreme behavior.

"No, please. Let me finish."

She turned away from him and took a seat at the table.

"You must really think I'm some sort of lunatic. This isn't me, I don't know what came over me."

He reluctantly joined her at the table.

"Savannah, I am so sorry. You didn't deserve what I did. I was wrong, so, so wrong."

She wiped her tears and looked out the window to avoid his stare.

"You can go. I won't hold you here any longer."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious. I thought if you knew I'd gotten hurt you'd care and…"

"Of course I care. I'll always care…I should have never…I thought I could be happy, that we could be happy but I couldn't stop loving Penelope. I never deserved you, Savannah. I drove you to this."

"No. No you didn't. I knew the moment I saw the two of you together that you loved her."

"What?"

"Yeah. I just thought I could change your mind…make you love me instead."

Derek reached across the table and gently grasped her hand in his. She looked longingly at their hands now joined together.

"If I could make this up to you…can you forgive me, Savannah?"

Without answering she smiled as the tears began streaming down her face. Slowly she pulled her hand from his and stood watching as the guilt and regret swam in his eyes. Then pulling strength from some unknown place she inhaled and began to speak again.

"I don't want to keep you any longer, Derek. I'll cooperate fully with the police in finding my attacker."

"I thought that you'd…"

"Hired someone to beat me up?" Then shaking her head in disgust. "I'm not that desperate."

"I'm sorry, it's just that…"

She held her hand up to stop him from going any further and turned and walked toward the sink to empty her mug.

"I'll have my things out by the end of the week."

"Look, Savannah, you don't have to…"

"Yeah I do, but thanks. Always the gentleman."

He stood closing the gap between them. He wasn't sure how to fix things or say something that would make up for what he'd done.

"If there's anything that you need…anything, just let me know."

"You better go. I'm sure Hotch and the team will be wondering what happened to you.

"Yeah."

Setting his cup in the sink he turned to take another look at her. This was the end for them. He'd walked away from a lot of women without so much as a second thought but this was different. Savannah had been a real part of his life and he had convinced himself that she was it for him.

He should have been happy; he was free from Savannah and free to begin his life with Penelope. But he felt weighted down with guilt, undeserving of the happiness he'd yearned for. He'd cheated and broken Savannah's heart and driven her to near madness. He could only pray that one day she'd forgive him.

Home of Penelope Garcia – Morning –

"Garcia! Hurry up, we're going to be late!"

JJ had spent the night with Penelope. None of them were taking any chances with her or Morgan's safety. Savannah's threat had taken them all by surprise and there was no telling how far she was willing to go to get back at Derek.

JJ quickly filled two travel mugs with hot coffee and had begun gathering her things when her phone rang. It was Hotch with an unexpected update that brought her a sigh of relief.

Garcia was anxious to see Derek. It was hard sleeping last night knowing he was with Savannah. She couldn't help but blame herself for the mess Derek was now in. The thought of his future in that woman's hands made her sick to her stomach.

Garcia nearly ran into JJ as she rounded the corner. She saw a noticeable look of relief as her friend put her phone in her jacket pocket.

"Hotch just called."

"Why? We still have twenty minutes before we're late."

"Well, the case may be over."

"What?"

"Savannah let Morgan go. She apologized for threatening him and she said he was free."

"Really? Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Beats me. Hotch said he'd fill us in once we get to the office."

"Well, let's go Blondie. The sooner we can get back to our normal lives the better."

"Yeah I hear you."

BAU Headquarters –

Rossi and Reid had already arrived when JJ and Garcia walked into the conference room.

"Why the sudden change of heart? I mean she was ready to send Morgan to jail."

Rossi took a seat next to Reid who seemed preoccupied.

"It was only a matter of time before her plan fell apart maybe she realized that."

JJ also noticed that Reid hadn't said a word. Garcia set her note pad and laptop on the table then taking the seat next to Rossi.

"Let's get started."

Hotch interrupted and took the seat at the head of the table. He looked at his watch and then Garcia.

"Has anyone heard from Morgan?"

He didn't see it coming. He blamed himself he was too busy replaying his conversation with Savannah to realize that he was being followed. Everything was happening so fast that he didn't have time to react. The late model pick up came out of nowhere and cut him off forcing him to hit his brakes. He could smell the rubber of his tires as they skid across the road. He struggled to maintain control of his car but not before another larger newer model Ford 250 rammed him from behind forcing him into the car in front of him. The force of the impact sent his head into the windshield. He felt the pain before he felt the blood streaming down his face. The sound of grinding and crumpling metal rang in his ear. Now sandwiched in between the two vehicles it seemed as if the three were connected like a train, slowly stopping on the dirt shoulder.

Not much traffic passed by this stretch of road and Morgan liked taking it when he was short on time. Everything was blurry he could hear doors opening and closing and the sounds of footsteps hurrying toward him.

"Help me…" He whispered.

"He's alive!"

"Get him out! Hurry!"

"My legs, please be careful of my legs!" Derek pleaded.

"You're going to be fine, just fine."

Morgan struggled to focus on the voices…they were oddly familiar. He felt hands on his arms and shoulders. He strained to see the faces blinking against the blood and the chards of glass that peppered his face. Then his eyes met one of the owners of the voices and it sent cold chills down Morgan's spine.

"It's not nice to touch things that don't belong to you, Agent Morgan."

Morgan struggled against the hands of his would-be rescuers; pain and panic now dueling with each other to decide his fate. It was growing darker as his eyelids began to close. This wasn't how his day was supposed to start…not like this…not like this.

BAU Headquarters - One Hour Later…

Kevin Lynch burst through the men's room door on the sixth floor and rushed toward the sink. Thankful that he was alone he rushed over to the sink and turned on the water. He was a nervous wreck. Splashing water on his face, Kevin tried to calm his nerves before heading towards the conference room. His current assignment was helping the BAU stop Savannah's blackmail plan against Agent Morgan. He never dreamed that overhearing a private conversation would lead to this. He had to make sure that no one would find out what he had done. His phone call to Savannah the day before had set everything in motion and it was up to him to stay one step ahead of them all.

Savannah was ruthless, and vile and never in his wildest dreams did Kevin ever think it possible to become involved in a plan to hurt someone else. But Derek Morgan wasn't just anyone; he was the man who willfully stole Penelope away from him. Morgan had had his chance long before he'd met Kevin but waited until he and Penelope were dating to worm himself into her life. Kevin's insecurities had forced him into some foolish decisions, one being giving up on Penelope without a fight. It didn't matter now…he was so close to winning. Finally, he'd have her back and nothing and no one could stop him.

"I'm doing this for us, for you Plum Sauce. I've been a fool but it's not too late…not too late for us."

Then he noticed the blood on his shirt.