Chapter 16

She had considered waiting for him in his office, but didn't want to deal with the implications should the agents assigned to guard her decide to mention it to Strauss. Although, in all honesty, that could happen anyway, because she had no doubt he would be showing up at her door as soon as humanly possible. For that reason, she was pacing around her kitchen. The team should be in soon. After nearly a week without seeing him, she was on edge.

She felt as if she spent hours doing the same thing—pace the kitchen, look at the clock, pace the kitchen. She nearly jumped out of her skin when there was a knock at the door. Derek would not knock. He had a key. With very little excitement, she opened the door. Agent Gill, one of the two agents assigned to her door tonight, smiled at her. And behind him was a very stoic looking Morgan. Garcia searched his face, and found it unreadable.

"Ms. Garcia," Gill greeted her. "Agent Morgan just arrived, I figured I would show him in and say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" she said, a bit confused.

"Yes, Agent Hotchner called to let us know Agent Morgan would stay with you tonight. Agent Nelson will stay outside, but SSA Hotchner saw no need to have three agents on you. So I'm headed off. Just wanted to make you aware."

"Oh," she said, looking to Derek. His features were schooled—she could read nothing in his face. How had Hotch known Morgan would come here? Did he know about them? "Thank you Agent Gill."

Gill waved Morgan in and then pulled the door behind him as he left. Derek stood there, just watching her with dark, shadowed eyes. But she noticed his jaw working, betraying the emotion he was holding back. She was not sure why he was holding back, though, because they were alone now. He stood several feet from her—watching.

"Derek?" she said questioningly.

Before she could comprehend his actions, he had crossed the distance between them and pulled her against his chest. His fingers were in her hair, his mouth crushed down on hers. His eyes burned into hers, filled with heat and desire. She moaned against him. He pulled back, his forehead resting against hers. Gently, he stroked her face with his knuckles. "I've miss you, Baby Girl," he whispered. He kissed her again, but this time it was different. Usually his kisses were hotter than hot, making her feel as if she would self-combust. But they were always filled with a fierce power. This kiss made her feel precious, like his most cherished possession. It was gentle and hot all at the same time. Her heart felt as if it would explode from the gentle need behind those kisses.

They somehow made it to her room. He murmured to her in his rich, deep voice as he took her clothes of, kissing her everywhere as he went. "Sweet, soft angel. So perfect. So lovely." She, on the other hand, could not formulate a single coherent thought. There was so much love between them as they came together that it brought tears to her eyes.

xxx

She woke sometime later to go to the bathroom. After their tender lovemaking, they had immediately fallen asleep in each others arms. She thought again about how tired he looked. Hopefully they had a few days off in front of them, so that he could catch up on his sleep. He would worry less as long as he was home, and they were together. Her Hot Stuff was certainly a worrier. As she finished in the bathroom, she heard him call out. It was incoherent. As she quickly left the bathroom, she could make out his figure tossing in the bed. He was dreaming again. She had suspected this was the reason he hadn't been sleeping well. She slid back in to bed next to him, caressing his face. "Shhh, Derek, wake up. I'm right here."

His eyes flew open and he grabbed her wrists, flipping her over so quickly she had no idea what happened. "No!" he cried as he came awake. One moment she was next to him, the next she was pinned under him, her arms over her head. The look of anger and fear in his eyes was one she had never seen before. She watched as he came back to himself, the anger quickly replaced by shame. "Christ, I'm sorry Baby Girl," he said, quickly releasing her arms and moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

She sat up and put her hand on his shoulder. "There is nothing to be sorry for, Hot Stuff."

"The hell there isn't. I practically attacked you just now." He said, obviously frustrated with himself.

"Are they the same dreams you were having before?" she asked gently.

He sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. "Yes, and no," he answered. She waited for him to go on but he didn't.

She hit him with a pillow. "Truly, Derek, that helped a lot. Thanks for clearing things up." She knew it was silly to be frustrated with him for this, of all things, especially given all that had happened lately. But she couldn't help it—would he ever just give her a straight answer?

He chuckled, reaching for her as he laid back down. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and tucked her in to his side. "I'll never get tired of you making me smile during the times I think it's impossible to smile." He said with a grin.

"I, however," she said, poking his perfectly sculpted chest, "am damn tired of you making me dig for every single detail. Come on, D, talk to me. I don't like seeing you like this. When was the last time you slept?"

"Just now," he said with a smile. She punched him. He laughed. "Okay, okay, woman." He looked down at her with serious eyes. "Other than a quick hour of sleep on the plane, I haven't slept more than a couple of hours since we left Quantico. And I haven't slept hardly a wink since we found the Zugzwang Room."

"The Zugzwang Room? You named it?" She asked, a bit incredulous.

He sighed. "Are you sure you want to know this? Because you'll sleep better without knowing all of the shit going on in my head, I promise you."

"I'll sleep better if you actually sleep, hot stuff. Now spill."