Caught in a Storm
Chapter Three

A/N - I still can't thank you enough for the reviews, favourites and follows! It means so much, especially as I have exams now so they put me in a considerably better mood!
Just so you know, I am English and though obviously Criminal Minds is an American show I will write with the words I have in vocabulary unless I know there is an alternative word that Americans use then I will write it in a character's direct speech, but I'm not overly familiar with the different variants of words so forgive me if I misspell a word or use it out of context.
Lastly, I'm laying the groundwork in these first few chapters but be patient, more will be happening very soon!

It had snowed during the night, and the world outside the weather-beaten window was a winter wonderland. Penelope was sat alone in front of the fire tapping tediously on her laptop, it had been two days since they arrived in Alaska and the case had not moved much further in terms if catching anyone. Another body had been found the previous day and the team had been able to give the profile of a white male in his twenties to thirties, he would have grown up in the area and would be an experienced hunter. Unfortunately for Garcia, who was running this profile through the residents of the town, this described a significant majority of the population, though not all the young, male hunters in the area were serial killers who live in the delusion that by killing other hunters makes them the ultimate hunter themselves.

Whilst the team had been out that day Hotch had called her and told her to expand the search to people who moved away from the area and may have returned recently, either permanently or for a long-term visit prior to the start of the killings. All afternoon she scoured the population of the small town until at 4.30pm, when the team was soon set to return, a name looked promising.

She dialled Morgan's number quickly hoping that the service would last long enough for her to relay her information about the new lead.

"Talk to me Baby Girl" he answered in his usual tone

"Listen I think I might have found something, there's this guy, Fredrick Sayner, 26, grew up in town, and his favourite pastime? Yep, you guessed it, hunting, which he did with his father who was a major hunting freak! So Sayner won all sorts of hunting prizes, there's a newspaper article about him winning young hunter of the year three years running but he was stripped of these when the committee found out he was caught stalking and planning to hunt a boy in his school, which I assume made Daddy mad. When he was eighteen he moved to civilisation to go to college in Maine where he currently lives, but here's your next point of interest, Sayner senior died four weeks ago"

Morgan sighed "just before the killings started"

"Uh huh"

"So that's his stresser, Sayner would have come back here, seen all the reminders of his father and the disappointment he'd caused by being stripped of his titles and thought that this was how he was going to prove himself. You got an address Baby Girl?" He asked

She smiled to herself "already on your tablet mon ami"

"Aha! I love you" he cried

She rolled her eyes "tell me something I don't know!"

"And P? Well done!"

As he hung up Penelope swelled with pride, she hoped that she had found the right man, his story seemed to fit the profile exactly but they could never be sure. All she could do now is wait like she always did, and hope her babies come home to her safe.

By the time the team finally arrived home it had been five hours since Garcia had last been in contact with them and after panicking she had worked herself up so much that she had fallen asleep downstairs.

She awoke suddenly to the sound of her friends arriving back but her heart stopped momentarily as she saw Morgan. Although he was grinning to give her a sense of reassurance, her eyes fell upon the bandage around his left side. She rushed over to him, her eyes full of fear and concern "wh-wha-what happened?" she stuttered.

"Baby Girl don't worry your pretty little head, you caught the bad guy. He turned his bow and arrow at us and it grazed my side that's all-"

"That's all!" she interjected furiously

"Yes! We went to the local doctor, it'll be fine in a couple of days" he replied holding his arms out

She walked into his embrace and held him tentatively so not to hurt him "but will you be able to fly home?" she asked

"No-one's flying home at the moment" Hotch stated from the communal seated area where the rest of the team had settled themselves "there is a blizzard coming, they aren't certain of when it will be safe enough for flights to be running again"

It was not the first time that the team had been delayed due to severe weather conditions but it was still a hindrance, especially for J.J. and Hotch who had families at home. "So we're stuck here?" Emily asked

Hotch nodded with his usual serious expression "I'm sorry for the inconvenience but there's nothing we can do, I've informed Strauss of the situation already"

"I need to call Will" J.J. stated quickly pulling her phone out of her pocket and stepping out of the room.

Penelope looked at Morgan as he winced in pain when he tried to move, she shook her head "come on, I'm taking you up to bed, you need rest"

"Aw no, I'm fine!" he replied gruffly

She raised her eyebrow at him "er no you're not! Come on, put your arm around my neck, I can support you up the stairs"

"Fine!" he grumbled putting his right arm around over her shoulder whilst grasping the banister with his free hand allowing him to manoeuvre slowly but quite painlessly up the stairs.

After a lot of effort on both parts they soon managed to get into their room.

"No arguments Derek, you're having the bed until you're better" Penelope said sitting him down on the edge of the large four poster bed.

He shook his head pointedly "that is not going to happen, I would rather die than have you sleep on the floor while I'm that bed"

"Then unfortunately you're going to have to die Angel Fish because this is not up for discussion, the doctor said you need rest and you'll get it, in bed!" she retaliated folding her arms across her chest.

He sighed "listen there is an obvious solution here, this bed is enormous, why can't we both sleep in it?" he paused and smiled "I promise I'll be good, stay right over on my own side"

She pondered the idea momentarily, it did seem like the most logical solution but while he may be able to stay right over on his own side she couldn't make the same promise for herself, how often had she dreamed of this moment? She knew they couldn't keep arguing all night, "fine! We'll both sleep in the bed"

A vast grin spread across Morgan's face "excellent" he replied

There was silence. "Right, I'll go get ready then" Penelope announced picking up her pyjamas as she walked to the bathroom.

After she closed the door, Derek couldn't help but think about how much he had waited for this moment since they had met but hated the fact he had to make a stupid promise to stay away from her when he was so close, he just wanted to hold her as she slept and be hers forever but from her reluctance from even the idea of sharing a bed with him was enough evidence to show the feeling was not mutual. Despite the cold, he painfully stripped down to his boxers and slowly clambered onto the right side of the bed and laid there patiently.

Penelope emerged wearing the same bright, fluffy pyjamas as the previous night and soon joined her best friend on the left side of the bed. As soon as she got under the covers she was aware of his lack of clothes, she tried to remain calm but she was becoming increasingly hot and flustered.

"So" she began, trying to engage in normal conversation "we're getting a mini holiday and it's snowing, isn't that exciting?"

Morgan smiled at her enthusiasm "yeah baby it is, if this ridiculous scratch is better tomorrow we'll do all the snowy things that aren't always practical to do in Quantico: sledging, ice-skating, snowball fights, snow angels, snowmen, everything!"

Her eyes widened, she grew up in California, it wasn't until she moved to the east coast that she first saw snow and living in a city it was limited and hard to do anything with, this would be a new experience to her and Morgan knew that.

"Thank you" she replied beaming from ear to ear "you need to rest now Mr. Injury, I'll see you in the morning" she said blowing him a kiss

"Goodnight angel" he replied and after closing his eyes momentarily, fell fast asleep.