AN: Thank you all! Your support means the world to me. It's been a crazy few months, even more so in the last week for me. Any good thoughts you can send my way, will be truly appreciated. I was invited to participate in something last week that could really be the catapult of my career.

Fingers crossed!3

Love,

Polhop

The room was quiet as the words he spoke sank in. Unfortunately, the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. But, now that they were out Derek wanted the answer. Penelope stiffened in his arms. Not wanting her to regress to her previous state, he started to gently rub his thumb against her arm, doing anything he could to make her feel comfortable. "It's none of my business," he whispered.

Silence filled the room.

Giving up, he gently pulled her closer to him. He'd get the answers eventually. He felt Penelope take a deep breath. "It's not so much as you remind me of him it's just-"

"You don't have to go on."

Penelope pulled away to look into his eyes. Derek's heart accelerated as he gazed back. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks red, and her hair was all askew. Damn. Had she always looked this beautiful? His breathing picked up as she bit down onto her bottom lip. He did his best to hold back his groan.

In a whisper, she spoke, "I was unfair to you, Derek…"

His name on her lips sent shock waves through his soul.

"… I heard a little about you, watched you with others and I judged you. I judged you." She turned away from him. "I didn't mean to, it's just every time I looked at you, I saw him. I remembered that night he left me alone in the dark and then my-"

"The night with your parents comes rushing back," he continued for her. "Penelope-"

"No, Derek. I'm sorry. I should have never lumped you in with him. You've never gone out of your way to purposely hurt someone before. I should have given you a fair chance." She reached for his hand and squeezed it.

Her heartfelt words tore into him. She had gone through so much and was only trying to protect herself. And, if he were being honest with himself, he did give a bad first impression their initial couple of encounters. He could never fault her for doing whatever it took to keep herself safe, and if that was treating him the way she did, then so be it.

But, he could change their moving forward. This could be their chance to finally put everything behind them. Coworkers, friendship… maybe even more. But first, he'd have to do something he never willingly did.

Talking about his own past tore him apart, but he knew at this exact moment he had a choice. Taking a shuttering breath, he spoke his next words. "I watched my dad get murdered while I was a child," he remarked. He didn't think her eyes could go wider than they already were. Nevertheless, her continued. "I was reaching for a candy bar at the convince store by our apartment. Before I knew it, two masked me ran in trying to rob the place. My dad, instantly put his law enforcement background into action. When he went in for the take down…" Derek stopped remembered the moment as if it had happened yesterday. The pain was still there. It's what pushed him every day to fight for good and eliminate the evil. "He didn't know there was a third guy hiding. By the time help arrived it was too late."

Penelope moved closer to him instinctively. He didn't think it was possible but having her body firmly pressed against his own somehow made the next sentence come out smoother than it ever had before. "After that I started going down a bad path. My mom wanted to do something to help me so she signed me up to start going to the community center."

Penelope pulled him into her arms. Her face going into his neck. "Oh god, Derek, I am so sorry."

Bringing his hand to the back of her head, he held her there, feeling her warmth and compassion flow through her to himself. He looked out into the dark room only illuminated by the candles. "There was a bad man there, Penelope. Someone that should have never been in charge of children. At first, I didn't know what he was doing to me was wrong. I mean, I know it wasn't right, but he kept telling me it's how a dad would treat their kids once they reached a certain age…"

XXXX

Penelope pulled away from his neck. Without even a second thought she threw her leg over his waist positioning herself onto of him. She stared into his eyes. She didn't even try and hide the tears that were now silently streaming down her face. "Derek, if you're telling me… that… if that…"

A small nod answered her question.

Her heart plummeted at the image of a child being hurt by someone that was there to watch over and protect them. Anger started to build inside of her. She clenched her hands at her sides. "I'll kill'em. You give me his name right now, Morgan and I will do everything in my power to make his life a living hell. And, you know better than anyone would know I can do that. I will tear him up and spit him out and then I will do it all over again. You better let me know where I can find him because I can't wait to get my hands around his-"

She was cut off when Derek's lips were suddenly on hers. Her body stiffened, before she melted into his embrace. Within seconds, she was being lowed gently onto her back as Derek controlled their kiss. And, for the first time in her life she opened herself to someone's. Somehow, she felt so safe with him. She let him possess her. However, just as fast as the kiss had started he pulled away. Preaching himself so he was leaning above her, he stared down at her. "Penelope."

Her heart was racing, her breathing erratic.

"I've- I-… Penelope, no one has ever done that." His voice was ragged with emotions.

Oh no, what did I do? Did I bring up something I shouldn't have? Should I not have told an FBI agent I planned on killing someone?

"Fuck!" he growled. His hands were behind her back pulling her into his arms, nearly suffocating her. Oh god, was he going to kill me now?

"Few people know that story, Garcia, but every single one of them have looked at me with pity and sorrow rather than rage and an offer to dispose of the man that hurt me."

"Of course, I will dispose of him. Derek Morgan, you better tell me his name before I-"

He pushed her shoulders back a fraction of an inch before cutting her off with another kiss. Her head was spinning. Pulling out of the kiss, she looked into his eyes. "Derek."

"He's already in jail." He kissed her again before pulling away. "I'd say I was sorry, but I'm not. Penelope, even now you are looking at me with anything but pity."

"I don't pity you, Derek. I would never pity anyone for something that happened in their past. I know all too well about how people pity someone when something tragic happens in their life." Her words fell upon the room.

Instead of fighting what she was feeling she stared into his eyes as the words sunk in. Since meeting Derek, she now saw him in a different light. They both had been through so much in their lives.

That fateful night with her parents destroyed her, then her ex had taken the little bit of recovery she had accomplished and smashed that, too.

But she wasn't alone. Derek not only watched his father be killed, a horrible, horrible man had taken away the innocents of a young child.

She glanced around the dark room and for the first time since that night, the dark didn't completely scare her.

AN: Well, now that was an emotion little tell all. Let me know what you think.