Chapter Five: The Midday Murderer

Penelope woke up the next morning blissfully aware of Derek's arm around her. She rolled over so that she was facing his chest, and nuzzled into him. Their naked bodies were under the quilt, and despite the warm weather, the AC was keeping the condo cold. His body was like her own personal furnace.

"Mmmm, morning, baby." Derek said, his eyes still closed. He pulled her even closer to him.

"I'll show you a good morning, hot stuff." She smiled. Derek chuckled.

"You did that a few hours ago, sweetness." He reminded her. She blushed. He leaned down and kissed her. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Perfect," She said as she kissed him again. "You?"

"Like everything in my life is finally making sense." He replied.

As much as Penelope wanted to bask in this happy feeling, she knew they needed to call Hotch. He was probably angry for the way they'd let things go the night before. And, they still had a killer to catch. So, despite the fact that she would have loved to spend all day in bed with her new found lover, she knew she couldn't.

"No, no baby, stay." Derek whined as she slipped from his embrace and grabbed her robe. She tied it around her and went to go to the bathroom.

"Honey, I need to shower and look presentable before our check in with the team." She told him. He started to rise. "Oh no, chocolate thunder. If you get in the shower with me we'll never be presentable."

"I'll take that risk." He said. He scooped her into his arms, and she didn't bother protesting. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled the entire way to the shower.

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Thirty minutes later, Penelope and Derek were sitting in front of the computer. When they'd called Hotch after their shower, he insisted on a video call with the whole team. Penelope tried to keep a professional space from Derek for the sake of their dignity, but Derek didn't seem to find it necessary. He placed an arm around her and encouraged her to open the call.

"Morgan, Garcia, nice to see you're both alright. We abruptly lost communication last night. Care to explain?" Hotch asked, no nonsense as usual.

"It was my fault, Hotch," Derek said. "I lost my cool when that guy grabbed Pen. I got overprotective and acted irrationally. We're good now, and we're ready to get back out there."

"Good." Hotch said, though he gave them a look saying he knew they were hiding something. Penelope assumed he'd ask them when they were back with the team.

"Pen, did that guy give anything away?" Prentiss asked. Penelope nodded.

"He fit the profile. He was confident, assertive, and he seemed to be in the age range we were looking for." Penelope explained. She thought back to details about the man. "He was alone at the party. Everyone else was with their partner, but he didn't come with anyone."

"How do you know?" Rossi asked.

"He wasn't wearing a ring." Penelope stated, surprised by this detail coming back to her.

"This could be our guy," Reid said. "Is there any way you can find him?"

"Penelope isn't getting near that guy again." Derek said. His tone warned the others not to argue with him.

"What about the others? The ones who invited you to the party, they might be able to get us his information." Jordan Todd suggested.

"In the meantime, we'll have another tech to see if they can find any information on Walter." Hotch told them.

"He didn't give me a last name, he just said that his friends call him Walt," Penelope replied. "It's not much to go on."

"It's not, but it's a start." Prentiss assured her.

Penelope and Derek said goodbye to the team and headed out the door. They knew Chad and Amanda frequented the diner, and hoped to bump into them again. It was the only shot they had right now. They arrived at the diner, and to their dismay, the couple was nowhere in sight. They placed their order, deciding to try and wait it out for a bit. Maybe they'd get lucky, and they'd show up.

"Hey!" Penelope and Derek looked up to see Jake and Lola.

"Oh, hey guys." Derek said.

"Did we see you talking with Chad and Amanda the other day?" Jake asked.

"You didn't seem like the type." Lola added.

"Oh, we're not. We were just being neighborly," Penelope said quickly. "How do you know them?"

"Amanda and I used to be friends, but when she and Chad got together she kind of distanced herself from everyone," Lola explained. "She got back in touch a while ago. Apparently one of her friends was recently divorced and she wanted us to go on a double date. I turned it down. I'm not sure I'd mix well with their friends, or if I could get past the name Walter."

"Wait, Walter?" Derek asked. Amanda nodded. "Did you ever meet him?"

"No, like I said, I had no interest. Why?"

"Just curious." Penelope said with a forced smile.

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Chad and Amanda didn't come to the diner. After finding out that they had tried to set Lola up with Walter, Penelope and Derek wondered how involved the married couple was. Chad could easily be Walter's partner, but they had only profiled one killer. Things were confusing, and without knowing where Walter was, they were left at a dead end.

The FBI agents decided to head back to the condo and figure out what to do next. The team was trying to find information on Amanda and Chad Richardson and on Walter. They were supposed to call to debrief with Derek and Penelope later.

"So, no answers yet." Penelope sighed as they walked into the condo.

"We'll get him, baby. It just might take some time." Derek told her softly. He kissed her head. "You might have to pretend to be Mrs. Morgan a little longer."

"I don't mind being your wife, sweet boy. I just want the real thing, and until this case is closed it's not going to feel real to me." She admitted. Derek understood. He hugged her close to him. "But, I suppose in the meantime I should enjoy what it would be like to be your wife. Any woman would be wowed by a hubby like you."

"Not any woman, Pen. Only you." He said.

She swooned as he kissed her. He started leading her to the bedroom. He gently laid her back on the bed, climbing on top of her. He was working on taking off her shirt when he heard his phone ring. He let out a sigh. He told her to stay put, promising to be right back.

Derek rushed to the phone, eager to get back to Penelope. When he reached it, the ringing stopped. Derek frowned, thinking it was strange. Who would call just to hang up? He had just decided not to think anything of it when Penelope let out a scream.

"DEREK!"

The blood in his body ran cold. Derek ran back to the bedroom. Kneeling on the bed, holding a gun to Penelope's temple, was Walt.

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5 Hours later:

"It's not going to be easy to come back from this." Hotch said with a sigh. The hospital waiting room was empty except for him and Rossi. He'd finally managed to send the rest of the team home.

"He's dead. She might not be able to recover from this." Rossi agreed. How could things have gotten this far? They should have gotten there sooner. They were seconds too late. They knew the unsubs patterns and they'd been careless. Now they were paying for it. "Has anyone called his family?"

"No. I haven't been able to do it." Hotch admitted. Rossi looked at him with sympathy. "I call families all the time, but this just…it feels different."

"That's because it is different." Rossi stated.

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Earlier:

Derek's entire body was frozen. He was an agent, he was used to having guns pointed at him and his partners. But not Penelope. After the Battle he vowed to protect, and to make sure that no one ever hurt her like that again. And yet, he failed when it counted most. How could he have been so careless?

"Look man, you don't have to do this." Derek said, putting his hands up in surrender. He thought about the gun stowed away in the bedside table. He'd never get to it without getting him or Penelope killed. "Let her go and I'll give you whatever you want."

"Don't worry, we'll get there." Walt said with a sinister grin. He pulled Penelope close, kissing her neck. Derek wanted to strangle the man, and Penelope looked terrified. "I always get what I want."

Derek watched as tears ran down Penelope's face. He needed to think of a way to help her. He looked around and came up with a plan. It was long shot, but he knew if they had any chance of getting out alive, it would have to work.

"Look, I understand why you want Penelope. She's perfect. Another man tried to take her from me. His name was Jason Clark Battle. He always sat at our table in the work cafeteria, our friend JJ had to intervene once when I got into a fight with him." Derek made eye contact with Penelope, and quickly glanced at the bedside table. Quick enough that Walter didn't notice, but hopefully long enough that Penelope did.

"It's because you're selfish and keep her for yourself," Walt sneered. "She wanted to leave with me and you wouldn't let her."

"You're right, she did want to go with you. I should have let her. She told me how much she liked you, and I was jealous, right Pen?"

"R-right," Penelope stuttered through her tears. Her voice shook, but she kept talking. "I t-told Derek that I wanted to go with you, and I was mad he wo-wouldn't let me."

Walter seemed to soften his grip on her at that. He pulled the gun away from her head, but didn't fully lower it. Instead, he turned it on Derek. It was exactly what Derek had been hoping for. He needed Walter distracted.

"You kept her from me!" Walter yelled at the FBI agent.

"She's my wife." Derek said, trying to get under Walter's skin.

"That doesn't mean she belongs to you!" Walter exclaimed. "She's not yours!"

Walter let Penelope go and stood from the bed. He walked toward Derek, gun pointed at his chest. Derek made eye contact with Penelope, urging her to understand what needed to be done. Walter walked face to face with Derek.

"I'll end you, and take her for myself." Walter said confidently.

"She'll never be yours." Derek said.

A gunshot rang out just as they heard the door bust open.

"FBI!"

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5 Hours later:

Penelope couldn't get his face out of her head. She wasn't used to being so close to dead bodies. She preferred her lair. When the bullet hit him, Penelope had let out a scream. She'd watched as his body hit the floor.

"Penelope?" Derek's voice pulled her back to the present. "Hotch said we can go. They're giving their statement to the police."

"I-I haven't given mine." Penelope said shakily.

"You can do it tomorrow, sweetie. We're gonna go to the hotel, and you're going to shower and sleep. It's been a long, horrible day, and the statement can wait, okay?" Derek replied, pulling her to his chest. She nodded against him.

Derek led Penelope to the SUV. Hotch and Rossi were staying behind to inform Walter's ex wife about his death. They'd learned that Chad had called the police earlier that day. When he'd realized that Walter was interested in Penelope, he wanted to help her. Chad knew Walter had been the one killing the others, but was afraid of exposing their club, so he tried to protect the man.

Walter Tinsfold and his wife had been a part of the swing community. She decided she wanted out, but Walter didn't. They had two children together, and she eventually left him. That was the trigger. He started killing couples that turned him down at the swing parties.

Back at the hotel, Derek forced Penelope to shower. She'd fired one shot, hitting Walter Tinsfold in the back of the had never wanted her to have to do that. She'd saved them both, but taking someone's life would take a toll. Especially on someone like Penelope.

Once she was out of the shower, and in clean clothes, Penelope crawled into the hotel bed. Derek climbed in beside her and held her close to him. She shuddered, and Derek felt her tears seeping through his shirt.

"How do you do it?" She asked him.

"It never gets easier," Derek admitted. "But, I remind myself that if I hadn't done it, more people would have died. We would have died if it wasn't for you, honey."

"I just…the team was right there. If I had waited one more minute…"

"He still could have shot his gun. We don't know what would have happened. I'm sorry it had to be you, Pen. I'd never wish that on you. But, you saved my life today."

Derek kissed the top of her head and squeezed her close. They'd been too close to death today. Seeing Walter hold a gun to Penelope's head was too much for him. He could have lost her. They could have missed out on their future.

"Try and get some sleep, angel. We'll get through the next few days, weeks, months, whatever it takes, together, okay?"

"You won't leave me?"

"Never, baby girl."