Derek sat in quiet vigil holding on to Penelope's hand. It had been hours since they had brought her down from surgery. Their whole team were sprawled around her room. Rossi was sandwiched between Emily and JJ on the couch, both their heads resting on each one of his shoulders. Hotch and Reid had a plastic chair each on the other side of Penelope's bed opposite Derek.

"Seriously you guys, what's with the solemn faces? Did someone die?" Penelope joked meekly as she opened her eyes and took in the sight before her. Derek jumped to his feet.

"You scared me to death LADY." Penelope saw immediately the worry in his eyes,

"I'm sorry Sugar. I'm fine." She said trying to reassure them all.

"She says all bruised up with her ankle in a cast." Emily retorted dryly as she leaned over to give her friend a hug, careful not to hurt her.

"Why don't we give you guys a few minutes? We'll head out and grab take away for dinner to bring back. I'll have the nurse send the Doctor in okay?" Hotch suggested sensing that Derek needed a moment with Penelope.

"That sounds great Bossman. Don't forget the Moo Shoo Pork."
"Would I do that?" Hotch replied with a smile dropping another kiss to her head before herding the rest of them out of there. Penelope squeezed Derek's hand,

"I'm okay."

"I almost lost you. When Hotch called to tell me about the accident, I froze and these images just flashed before me of a life without you, and P I don't care for it at all."

"Lucky, you're stuck with me then huh." Penelope pulled him gently towards her,

"What does a girl have to do to get a hug from her best friend?" Derek grinned and carefully engulfed her in his arms,

"Sorry,"

Penelope was confined to the hospital for another couple of days till she had managed to sweet talk her Doctor into releasing her, who only agreed to it after their whole team assured him that she would not be without company for as long as it took for her to be well. Derek had played the best friend card and won the toss of staying with her at her apartment, which admittedly didn't take much adjusting to as he spent most of his time there anyway.

"Derek Michael Morgan, please stop fussing. I'm okay." Penelope exclaimed in frustration. For days he had been following her around refusing to let her do anything on her own, and though she understood and appreciated it, she was at her wits end. It was bad enough to be cooped up in her apartment, but to also have him unbearably protective as though she was going to break, was beginning to lose its charm.

"Sorry P,"

"I have an idea, why don't you call Hotch and see if he wants to play ball. I'll call the girls and tell them to come over so you can rest easy knowing I'm not on my own. Play ball, grab a burger, hang with the boys. Please! As much as I love you, I think I'm ready to kill you." Derek grinned and kissed her cheek,

"Alright Hard Head, I'll go." Penelope rolled her eyes knowing that even though he had agreed to the plans, he would be calling every five minutes to make sure she was okay.

JJ and Emily were at her apartment within the hour with DVD's, junk food, and board games. For the next couple of hours they were engaged in a healthy competition of Dawsons Creek Scene It. By the time the boys arrived with the PIZZA they had settled down with An Affair to Remember with the biggest bowl of popcorn known to man.

"Oh my gosh, they've gone for An Affair to Remember." Derek said in a conspiratory whisper loud enough for them to hear,

"I'm just thankful we don't have to endure another session of Dirty Dancing," Hotch replied,

"Actually we were just waiting for you to arrive." The three of them answered in unison grinning earning a groan from the four boys at the door.