AN: Today was the last day I had for This round of submissions in my dream career. I've spent hours and hours doing it. All I can say is I'm putting it all out there and any good thoughts my way will really be appreciated. I'm gonna need them.

FYI: as I was writing this... the power went out. HA HA!

Derek took off in a flash to Penelope's room. He didn't know what was going to greet him when he got to her, but he'd make sure to protect her. It didn't matter their differences. She was a part of his team, and he swore since day one, he would do anything he needed in order to make sure everyone in his team was safe. He ran as fast as his feet could take him. Throwing open in door he yelled for her, "Garcia? Are you okay?" When he heard nothing, he spoke louder, "Penelope, are you in here?"

Then from the corner of the pitch-black room he heard a muffled, "yes."

Doing his best to follow the voice he made his way over to where he thought she was. Unfortunately, he rammed knee first into what he assumed was the nightstand, seeing as he fell onto the bed. "Shit!" he grabbed onto his knee as he heard a mumbled whimper from next to him. Feeling around, he wanted to rejoice when he felt what he was sure was Garcia's phone. Pushing the button there was a soft glow that lit the small section of the room the phone was facing. Moving the device to where the sound had come from, he saw Garcia huddled in the corner. Her body shaking.

"Garcia?" he questioned, moving onto the bed to get closer to her. "Did something happen when the lights went out? Are you hurt?" From everything he had known about Garcia, this was something he was not prepared for. Sure, they had their differences – many, many differences- and if he had to choose one person to be locked in a cabin with, and the choice was between Garcia and the devil, he more than likely would have chosen the devil. But this, this wasn't the Garcia he knew. He shined the light on her face. Her eyes held pure terror, as tears fell. Her body was shaking so much so he could feel it through the bed. His heart broke. This wasn't the strong, witty, pain in his ass that loved nothing more than to go head to head with him.

Moving slowly as he had done, many times before with traumatized victims he moved his hand out to touch her. "Penelope," he spoke softly. "I'm going to touch your shoulder." He waited a beat before reaching out and lightly touching her shoulder. Much to his surprise, she yelled then jumped into his arms. Thank god he had quick reflexes or they would have been knocked off the bed and onto the floor. Holy shit!

"Penelope," he said trying to maneuver her off of his ribs but not succeeding. She clunged to him, crawling all over his body, trying to get closer. What. The. Hell!

"Penelope," he said again. "I need you to tell me no one else was in here with you or that you're not hurt."

He felt her nod in the crook of his neck. "Yes, to you not hurt and no one was in here?" he asked.

"No one," she mumbled into his neck. He felt her body continue to shake. Okay, what in the world was going on? Sure, people can get scared, but this was way more than that. Trying to maneuver himself so Penelope was no longer kneeing him in the ribs he did his best to reposition them. Okay, Morgan, this is new territory for both of you. Let's just take this one step at a time. It's kinda like defusing a bomb.

"Penelope," he spoke softly. "What's wrong? What happened?"

She said nothing.

New tactic. Clearly, she wasn't inclined to speak to him. He moved the phone to view her. She had somehow managed to crawl on top of him, her butt on his lap and her knees on his chest. Her arms and head tucked into his body, as if she were a young child scared of a storm. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed onto her knee moving it slightly so it wasn't pushing into his ribs. At least that was taken care of now. He didn't know how much longer he could have taken that. Shaking away his distress, he moved his hand to her back and slowly started to stroke it. Not knowing what else to do, he cooed at her, "Shh, it'll be okay."

"It's so dark," she finally said.

He cocked his head to the side as his eyebrow rose. Was she afraid of the dark? No one is this afraid of the dark. "I can take care of that," he announced. "I found some candles earlier. They are just out in the hall." He picked her up and placed her on the bed. He went to move away when her hand reached out and grabbed him. "No! Don't' go!"

He moved the light from the phone, still in his hand, onto her face. His heart broke in two looking at the panic that was written all over her. Thinking fast her handed her the phone. "Look down at this. I will be back before you can even count to five."

Not letting her protest, he removed her hand from his arm, hit the button on the phone and ran like hell into the hall. Thankfully earlier in the day he placed the supplies box right outside his room incase anything happened with the storm. If nothing did, he wanted to remember to inform the officer he needed at better supply kit.

As fast as he could and by memory alone he made it to what he thought was outside his room. He fell to his knees in search of the box. Moving his hands around he felt it. Jumping to his feet he ran back in the direction he had come from. Seeing the glow from the phone, he knew he was heading in the right direction.

"four… five." He heard the faint whisper of numbers.

"I'm back, Garcia," he said sliding into the room. "I'm here with candles."

"Candles?" She sounded so hopeful.

"Yeah," he said. "I found them earlier today." He felt around the box for the matches. Finding them, he lit the first one. Grabbing one the candles he lit it also. The room illuminated with a soft glow. Thankful for the light, he looked over to where Garcia was. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the candle as if it was her life line.

Watching her closely as she followed his movements, he lit two more candles and placed them around the room. He didn't quite know where to go from here. Should he mention what had just happened or should he grab some of the candles and head back to his room? Looking over at Garcia, he saw her quickly looking away from him. The covers pulled up around her. Clearly embarrassed. Taking pity on her, he decided he would leave and go back to his room. He didn't want him being there to cause her anymore embarrassment. They could talk about this in the morning, or not. It was up to her.

He stuck his hand in the box. "I'll just grab a few of these and head back to my room," he said.

He made it to the door before he heard her. "Uhh, Morgan, I mean, Derek." He turned towards her. The glow from the candles he had placed, warming her face. "Do you think, you could, umm…" She looked at the blankets next to her. Pulling them back he saw she was asking for him to get into bed with her. He looked to her face. Her emotions, clearly written there, embarrassment, discomfort, loss of dignity, panic, and what clenched his decision for him… fear. He straightened as he made his way over to the bed. He would always be there for his team, no matter what it was. He lifted the blanket and crawled in. Okay, now what? he thought as he looked at the ceiling.

The room was dead silent. All he could hear were the sounds of him and Garcia breathing. He closed his eyes, trying to figure out what the hell had happened the last twenty minutes.

He opened his eyes when he heard Garcia clear her throat. "Do you always only wear just boxers to bed?"

He groaned at her accusatory tone. This was going to be a long night.

AN: I hope you liked it. What did you think?