On The Job

Note- during this chapter is the scene where Derek comforts Penelope after the death. I didn't want to re-write it word for word so just assume it takes place in the middle of this chapter. If there is anyone who missed it and wants a transcript of the conversation just PM me.

Chapter Three

May 2010

Penelope sat at the table in the small, but cozy, room she was sharing with Derek. On the table was the laptop that she was using to run background checks on the townspeople. There was a small lamp turned on to give her light.

A few feet away, in the king sized bed, lay Derek. Penelope wasn't sure if all the rooms had just one bed or if some had doubles, or even couches in them too, but the one that her and Derek had got assigned just had the one bed.

It wasn't much of an issue though. Most of the team didn't know but Derek and Penelope had shared a bed a few times in the past. But not for years. It was during a strange time in their friendship. After she was shot but before Derek was aware she was dating Kevin. In that time they were closer than ever and spent a lot of their off hours together. Penelope worked hard to keep her budding relationship with Kevin a secret because she knew what would happen the day Derek found out. He would pull back.

And that is just what happened.

But now she had ended things with Kevin and, just like she had prayed but hadn't been sure would happen, Derek was back full force in her life. Instead of hanging around the edges seeming to be out of sorts always he was back to his lively, charming, flirty self and Penelope was loving it more than ever.

Things were good between them. There was nothing in her that was desperate to push for more and yet there was a part of her that felt like they were, ever so slowly, easing somewhere new. It made her giddy to think about. Lately she was happier than she had been in all her life. She felt strong enough to survive without Derek falling in love with her but also, at the same time, she felt like he was falling in love with her and that knowledge warmed every cold place inside of her.

Looking at him in the bed she had a small smile on her lips. He was laying on his stomach. The comforter was slung low over his ass so his whole back was showing. His face was completely relaxed and a little drool was coming out of his mouth.

She whispered, in a joking tone, "If you only knew how lickable you are, Hot Stuff, you would cover up better around me."

Looking back at her computer her smile fell away. She had lost her uplink.

"Cripes," Penelope said, letting out a soft groan. "Not this again."

Quietly she rose from her seat, slid on her shoes, grabbed the flashlight she had used earlier in the evening to check the satellite and her key before creeping across the floor and out of the hotel room. She didn't want to interrupt Derek's rest. He still had two more hours of sleep he could get and he needed it.

Walking down the stairs she tried not to be creeped out by the quiet of the inn. She felt like she was in a scary movie and any second some spooky one armed ax wielding boogie man was gonna jump out and try to get her.

Looking at the front desk she was dismayed to see there was no one manning it. Screwing up all her courage she said to herself "There is nothing to fear but fear itself," before heading outside and around the back of the building.

It only took a minute to get the satellite working again. "Am I good or am I uber excellent?"

Just then she heard someone cry out. Was that a cry of pain? Acting on instinct she moved toward the sound.

XXXXXXXXX

As soon as the door closed Derek Morgan came awake, though it was only slightly, as the sound and the movement of Penelope through the room jogged him from his sleep. At first, since he was laying face down, he didn't think anything of a noise waking him up.

He figured Penelope had gone into the bathroom.

Mumbling her name he rolled over "Baby girl, what time is...?" He sat up. He could see the bathroom door perfectly from the bed and it was opened. The light was off. "Penelope?"

Derek jumped out of bed. "God, you are a hard headed woman, I swear you are."

He was wearing only pajama pants. Slipping those off, revealing a pair of tight black underwear, he grabbed his jeans off a chair and tugged them back on. Then his long sleeved gray shirt went on. Not taking time to grab his jacket or put on socks he got his shoes on next. After grabbing his gun he hurried from the room.

She probably had went to check that damn satellite that kept going down.

How could she be so reckless? There was a disorganized serial killer creeping around this small town and his kill rate was accelerating. The team still had no idea why or how he was picking his victims. With the town being so small anyone and everyone was a potential next kill for this unsub.

Derek knew it was highly unlikely that in the five minutes Penelope was outside the unsub would be lurking around, see her and attack but he couldn't lay in bed and take that chance. He couldn't wait around and do nothing when she might, even if the chance was slight, need him.

He was hurrying down the stairs when he heard "Help! Please! Help me! Someone come! HURRY! HELP! I NEED HELP! PLEASE!"

His heart nearly came out of his chest as he took off in a full, fast run through the lobby and out the door of the inn. Raising his gun he looked all around but didn't see her. He crept to the left, against the building, peeked around and then rounded the corner.

Nothing.

"HELP! PLEASE! I NEED HELP!"

Turning back around at the sound of her voice he ran to the other side of the inn. His eyes scanned everything as he kept his gun raised high and ran toward the back of the building. Rounding the back of the inn he saw the open field, Penelope on her knees and a body laying in front of her. With her back to him he couldn't tell if she was hurt and so there was no relief in him yet as he ran toward her.

When he was there he looked down and saw a man who was stabbed in the guts. Penelope looked up, pain and heartbreak all over her beautiful face, "He was just here. He was here and now he's gone."

Dropping to his knees Derek pulled Penelope into his arms, "Shhhh," while looking all around to make sure the unsub was not in sight. After he saw that the coast was clear he pulled back and looked into her eyes. Fiercely, with his voice shaking, he demanded "Never do this again, do you hear me? When I tell you to stay somewhere you need to stay!"

Her lips quivered. "Help him. Can't we help him? We have to help him."

Derek knew the look on that man's face. He was gone and the wounds in his stomach said there was nothing that could be done even if they tried CPR. "We can't do anything for him, baby girl."

Breaking down into sobs Penelope grabbed Derek and cried on his shoulder.

Just then they heard footsteps coming toward them. Derek looked over his shoulder and saw flashlights, several people running nearer to them, and he knew that some of the team, at least, had also heard Penelope's screams.

On this job, no one ever slept very heavily. If it wasn't a nightmare disturbing their sleep it was the knowledge of all the things that could go wrong in the night.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later Penelope sat on the same bed where Derek had been sleeping. She now wore pajamas. She had rushed to get out of her blood stained clothes. JJ had checked on her, even said that Derek asked JJ to take care of Penelope, but she had sent her friend away.

She just wanted to be alone. Seeing a vicious attack take place before her eyes had rattled her. Having watched the man as he slipped from this life to the next was something she knew she would never be able to forget.

This job took such a toll on all of them. It didn't seem right. Why was she putting herself through this? The team could get another hacker, couldn't they? Not as good as her though.

So many times Derek told her that she was the whole reason the case was solved as quickly as it had been. That they could not do it without her. Even Hotch had told her that before too.

But could she keep doing this? Could she keep seeing what she was seeing? Keep risking her soul, and sometimes her life, for this job? Would she one day not even flinch at death? Penelope never wanted to be that person.

Laying down on the bed she hugged the pillow and buried her face in it. It smelled just slightly of Derek's body wash from the shower he took before bed.

That small piece of him that lingered in the room was her only comfort as she lay there when sleep would not come. She could not face going back downstairs where that body still lay just behind the inn.

So Penelope stayed in her and Derek's room, locked in tight with a chair shoved under the door handle, and prayed that daylight would come soon. The dark was making everything worse.

She needed light. Safety. Beauty. Not darkness, shadows, fear and death.