Potomac General Hospital – Late Evening

Morgan paced the floor in front of the exam room where Garcia was being treated. She'd finally consented to coming after several minutes of kicking and screaming and for that he was glad. Normally she would win their disagreements but he wasn't giving in this time. The bruises on her wrists troubled him because even though she had not allowed him to see, he knew there were more. He'd called JJ who offered to contact the rest of the team and he was expecting them any moment.

Kevin had to have gone mad; he knew what would happen if he hurt Penelope yet he put his hands on her in the most horrible way and for that Morgan would have to pay him a visit to show him the error of his ways but first he had to make sure Penelope was okay and safe. So, until the rest of the team arrived he'd continue to wear a path in front of the room that he'd been barred from entering.

Penelope hated reliving the events of that morning; she didn't want to see Kevin's face and feel his hands pinning her to the wall and roaming her body without her permission. She felt numb as the nurses carefully examined her leaving nothing untouched as the female police officer took pictures of her bruises. Derek had taken care of everything and he was determined that she would not let this go and let Kevin off the hook. She loved him for his caring and thoughtful heart but right now all she wanted to do was crawl under the blankets and forget everything.

Morgan's pacing was interrupted as the young intern stepped out into the hallway with a wary smile directed at him.

"How is she, Doc?"

"She's upset which is understandable, considering…"

"Was she…?"

"No agent; she wasn't raped but there are quite a bit of bruising on her wrist, her back. She put up quite a fight. If she hadn't it could have been a lot worse."

"Oh, it's going to get a lot worse for the son-of-a-bitch who did this!"

"Morgan!"

Hotch's booming voice echoed from behind Derek. The young woman turned towards the group as they rushed toward them. Without another word both Morgan and the doctor waited for the others to reach them.

"I'm Agent Hotchner. These are Agents Rossi, Jarreau and Dr. Spencer Reid. We're with the FBI and work with Ms. Garcia."

"I'm Dr. Stephanie Monroe and I'm on call tonight. I'll be in charge of her treatment."

"How is she?" Reid asked.

"Physically, she has a small sprain of her left wrist and some bruising on both wrists. She also has some other superficial bruising but over all she's fine. Emotionally, she may want to talk to someone."

"When can she leave, Doctor?"

"I'm just waiting on her x-rays and labs to come back and then she can go home."

"Can I see her?" Morgan asked.

"Sure."

"Thank you, Doctor."

The others watched as Derek slowly opened the door and walked into the room. Their eyes met he knew she'd been crying since he'd brought her in. The sight of the fear and tears broke his heart but what made his blood boil was the shame that he saw there too. Front and center he saw the humiliation and the guilt; she thought that she had caused Kevin's behavior and that alone made him want Kevin dead.

He moved smoothly and quickly to the bed and pulled her close to him. She melted against his chest and began to sob.

"It's okay, Baby Girl. I'm not going to let Kevin hurt you again, you hear me?"

He felt her nod against him as he ran his hand in small circles over her back.

"Derek, I don't know what I did to make Kevin…"

"Shh…this is not your fault he interrupted. No one has the right to force you to do something you don't want to do! He hurt you, Penelope and for that he'll pay I promise you that."

"Derek, I don't want you getting into trouble because of me."

"You're talking to the wall right now because I'm going to make Kevin pay. If you hadn't fought him…I don't want to think about what that idiot would have done."

"I never thought I'd be so happy to have a gun." She chuckled.

"Yeah and looks like you were paying attention to our self-defense sessions."

"And you thought I was just using our early Saturday mornings to get close to my hot chocolate, didn't you?"

"You don't ever need an excuse, Sweetness. All you have to do is call and I'll come running."

"Isn't that a song or something?"

She pulled away from him and leaned against the pillows. The next few minutes were spent silently staring into each other's eyes and him holding her hands in his. He had so many questions but he was willing to wait. All that mattered was that she was given a clean bill of health from the doctor and after she was discharged he would take her home and keep her safe.

The door opened and Dr. Monroe entered.

"We are swamped in the lab and in radiology so it's going to be about an hour and a half before we can get you out of here. Is there anything we can get you while you wait?"

Penelope looked slightly disappointed as Morgan squeezed her hand.

"I'd love some tea."

"I think we can manage that. I'll have your nurse bring it in for you."

The young woman smiled and left the room. Derek waited for Penelope to look at him before speaking again.

"I want you to come and stay with me."

"Derek, I can take care of myself."

"Don't fight me on this Baby Girl. I'm putting my foot down on this one."

She tried to hold back her smile knowing that he was putty in her hands and she always got her way with him.

"Derek, I'm a big girl…"

"Yeah and this big girl kicked some Kevin Lynch ass too. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks Hot Stuff. I guess I wasn't such a bad student after all."

"No. No you weren't." He smiled. "But you're still staying with me now end of discussion."

She'd lost this one. There was no changing his mind.

"Okay fine but I don't have any of my stuff."

"I'll make a deal with you. I'll have JJ come and sit with you and I'll run to your place and get your go-bag. Then tomorrow we'll go pick up some of your things; enough to get you through for a few weeks."

"A few weeks? Derek!"

"I have spoken, woman!"

This time she couldn't hold back and she burst into laughter pulling him in as well. They both needed the release; he hadn't realized that he hadn't exhaled since he'd brought her in.

Apartment of Penelope Garcia –

Derek pulled into an empty parking stall and killed the engine. Looking up to the second floor apartment he noticed that it was dark. Silently her cursed to himself remembering the countless times he'd told her to leave a light on. He hated the thought of her walking into a dark apartment and increasing her chances of becoming a victim again. Now with what Kevin had tried earlier he felt even more justified in insisting she come and stay with him. He made a mental note to change her locks and install a security system before allowing her to come back here. Better yet, he'd work on getting her to move in with him permanently.

He turned the key and entered the small front room. He left the room dark; he'd been there countless of times and new the place by heart. He made the distance from the front door to her bedroom with ease flipping the switch inside the room and stopping dead in his tracks at the sight before him.

"What the hell!" He muttered to himself.

His blood boiled out of control and his mind and body shifted into autopilot as he ran to the bed and grabbed the unsuspecting sleeping body of the bed and slamming it to the ground. Kevin yelped in pain pulling himself out of his sleepy stupor and blurry-eyed looked up into the eyes of his worst nightmare.

Without a word Morgan sent his booted foot into Kevin's midsection knocking the air out of the other man's body. Then before Kevin could make sense of what was happening he felt himself being pulled to his feet only to be slammed in the face by a powerful fist and then once again being thrown violently to the floor.

"Get up you sick son-of-a-bitch!"

In vain Kevin held up a hand as if pleading for mercy instead it was met with another fist slamming into the side of his face that sent him to the floor near his earlier blood stain.

"Please! Stop!"

"What Kevin? I can't hear you!"

Morgan kicked him again…and again…

"Did you forget what I told you I would do if you ever hurt Penelope?"

Another kick landed to Kevin's upper torso just as he was trying to get to his feet.

"She wanted it!" He coughed.

It was the wrong answer as Morgan pulled the man to his feet only to slam him with his fist again. He was blinded with rage as he watched the weaker man writhing on the floor. He felt no pity, no compassion and no empathy for the one who'd hurt his best friend. He wanted him dead in that instant but as he stood over him trying to catch his breath he saw her face filled with tears and he knew she would not want him to risk everything on Kevin. So he stepped back and ran his hands over his head trying to clear his mind of the fury that still raged through him.

"Get out! Get out and never come back, do you hear me, Kevin?"

Kevin lay speechless, crying and moaning in pain; his face a bloody mess. But he heard every word Morgan had said. He wanted to get up but his body would not cooperate just yet. So, he simply nodded and prayed it would be enough to satisfy the man that stood breathless over him.

Morgan turned searching for Garcia's go-bag and when he spotted it he grabbed it and headed for the door. Just before stepping over the threshold, he turned back at the pitiful sight still laying on the floor whimpering.

"One last thing, if I see you within one hundred yards of Penelope I'll kill you!"

Kevin pulled his body into a fetal position and closed his eyes. He knew Morgan was serious. When it came to Penelope the man was nothing if not serious, but so was he and if he couldn't beat him in a physical fight he'd have to find another way to beat him. This wasn't finished not by a long shot. If Derek Morgan thought an ass kicking was going to stop him he had another thing coming. Now not only would he hurt Penelope but he'd hurt Derek too.

"This isn't over…no, not by a long shot!" He murmured to himself.