Epilogue

As they arrived to the Rossi's, for his Memorial Day BBQ, they were amazingly relaxed and happy. They just returned to DC, this morning and she barely had time to make her fruit tart.

"Hey guys!"

Everyone got up to great them with hugs and kisses. As they got settled into their seats. Rossi asked "How was Beantown?"

"It was great! It was nice being a kept man for a few months." Derek said with a chuckle.

"Kept man?" Penelope said and shook her head.

"Rossi, all I did was cook, audit a few classes, and relax. I thought I would be jumping off the walls but I wasn't."

"Yes, you were that's why I had to find classes for you to audit." Penelope said squeezing his hand.

"What was your favorite class? I know you hated the philosophy class." Reid asked

"Mathematical logic, it was great to learn about the forefathers of mathematics and how their minds worked."

"Always working" Hotch added

"Exactly" Penelope said.

"But the hours of a professor are a cake walk compared to what we do. We took a long weekend – like every week. We went to the Cape, Nantucket, NYC, and Montreal."

Jackson laughed, "and then we met you in New Orleans a mini-vacation when the semester was over." He looked over at Emily to confirm the next statement "and if I'm correct Derek, you said you didn't want to come back."

"Hey Jax, I said no such thing," He laughed. "I am looking forward to returning to work" he said smiling at Hotch.

Emily chimes in on the teasing "if my memory is correct – you said Penelope should teach oversees so you can really vacay."

"come on guys even superman – needed to go to Niagara Falls for a vacation. It is hard out there for a superhero." Penelope said defensively.

"oh, jeez. Here we go." Emily said rolling her eyes.

"Technically, he was no longer a superhero – he gave up all of his powers to be a regular man – he just wanted to be with Lois."

"but that didn't last long" Will chimed in "because he needed to don the cape once more and save the world"

"Exactly, Derek needs to return and kick down a few doors, and tackle a few unsubs. If I didn't get him back to Quantico soon. I feared that he would start tackling my students and colleagues."

"Guys, her classes were always filled—and so was her waiting list; because she was the prettiest woman in her department."

"only woman" Penelope corrected "here I thought it was because I was a good teacher"

"That too" he said playfully.

"well, what's the plan now—love birds?" JJ asked

"Well" they said looking at each other.

"Derek will start the process of coming back to the BAU and I get to be a kept women in DC. I'm kidding—University of Pennsylvania has a spot for a visiting professor this fall—that could go long term."

"Really" Jackson asked "but MIT is the mecca of science studies."

"Yeah, but I missed my BAU family and there isn't a Derek Morgan in MIT anymore so there isn't a Garcia. Plus, Strauss wants me to consult for a bit so maybe I can get the best of both worlds – you know, put my superhero cape, once in a while—" she said squeezing his hand again.

"Ohmigod, congratulations!" Beth exclaimed as she noticed the ring on Penelope's finger.

"What?" everyone murmured

"16 minutes and 45 seconds - for a table full of profilers, you guys are slipping" Derek teased.

"We were distracted by the glow of love." JJ said, "congratulations"

As they told the story of the proposal on a warm spring day. Derek couldn't help but reflect on how lucky he was to have found a woman who was his perfect match. Even though the road was long a winding he was glad that he stayed the course. What was that famous line from Shakespeare—'The course of true love never ran smooth'—but love makes the road have a happy ending.