"Miss Garcia, you can see Mr. Morgan now. He is as stable as possible, despite his physical condition. I don't know how long he'll be awake, but for now, he is. And he's asking for you."

Penelope shakily rose to her feet.

She'd toed off her goddamn high heels an hour ago. Long forgotten by Penelope, JJ picked them up before she rose to her feet as well. Placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder, both waited for the doctor to continue.

Penelope had been waiting for hours for a doctor to give her at least the smallest piece of information.

She hadn't been able to do anything to distract herself.

The team had joined her as soon as possible to keep her company.

Of course, they had.

And Penelope had been so very grateful for that. All of them had become her family, and Penelope wouldn't want it otherwise.

JJ and Spencer were Sofie's godparents.

Needless to say, the whole team had been there to comfort her.

But of course, they had to continue their job at some point. There were people to investigate and other things that needed to be done.

JJ had been the only one left to keep her company since she didn't want to leave Penelope all on her own. And so, Penelope kept crying silently, her head leaning on JJ's shoulder, with her best friends' arm wrapped around her shoulder. It made the waiting at least a little bit easier.

JJ had done her best to comfort Penelope, tried to distract her by asking simple questions. But everything had just been too overwhelming, and Penelope couldn't focus on answering as much as she wanted to.

She hadn't stopped crying since Derek was brought to the hospital. Her make-up was smeared, her face tear-stained. Her legs felt wobbly, and goddamnit, Penelope couldn't stop shaking. JJ's hand on her shoulder helped, yes. But goddamnit, she needed to see her Hot Stuff so badly.

Nodding at the doctor's words, she failed to hide a relieved sigh.

Finally.

"Is there anything more to say? Will he make it, doctor?"

Penelope had to know.

No. She needed to.

Facing Derek's doctor, who took a moment to think about the right way to answer her question, Penelope cleared her throat.

She honestly didn't know where all of her strength was coming from. But Penelope was grateful for that at the moment. She'd have a breakdown many hours ago if not. That was a luxury Penelope couldn't afford at the moment. She had to be strong for Derek, for Sofie. And for Fran.

Penelope just had to.

"Please. Just...just tell me the truth, will you? I'll be fine."

Her voice broke at the last word, but goddamnit, Penelope needed to know if Derek had a chance. If she was allowed to hope.

The doctor looked as if doubting her words, and maybe he was right. Penelope wouldn't be fine if the news were bad. But she couldn't hide behind her hopes.

That wasn't possible.

Penelope had to face the whole truth. As gruesome as it could be.

Derek's doctor smiled sympathetically at her.

"Okay. The truth it is, then. I honestly don't know it at the moment, Miss Garcia. Mr. Morgan is fighting. He's willing to live. I can see and feel that. But he's weak. His body is exhausted. All the drugs they gave him...the fights he had to fight...it was a lot. Not to mention the mental trauma he's been through for so many years. If he makes it, it will be a long and tough ride. The coming 24 hours will tell us more. For now, he's stable and asking for you and his family. We can't do much at the moment, other than giving him the things he's asking for, if possible."

"He's always been stubborn," Penelope murmured, more to herself. And it was true. Her Hot Stuff was the most stubborn person Penelope knew...apart from her, maybe. If he was willing to live, there was a high chance that he could survive this.

The doc smiled at her. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder in the afford to give her some comfort. It didn't help a lot. Only talking to her Hot Stuff would be able to calm her a bit. She hadn't gotten any helpful information, but Derek was awake and asking for her. That was something to hold on to.

"Stay with him, talk to him. Just be there. We'll take care of the rest. We ran some tests earlier and have to wait for the results. It'll take a few hours, though. I know the waiting is the hardest part. But as soon as I get the results, I'll see you again. We'll talk about them then and decide what to do next, alright?"

Nodding in agreement, Penelope turned around to hug JJ.

"Do you take care of Fran and Sofie?" Penelope asked silently, feeling JJ nodding in agreement.

"Of course. I'll get them to Derek as fast as possible," JJ answered kindly, lifting some weight off Penelope's shoulders. She smiled tearfully at her best friend and then walked to the room Derek was lying in.

"Thank you, doc."

She didn't know much more to say, but Penelope knew what to do. What she needed.

Stepping into the room, Penelope took a moment to adjust her eyes to the darkness before her eyes found Derek.

Carefully walking closer to the bed, Penelope found Derek already looking in her direction. He fought hard to keep his heavy-lidded eyes open, but somehow he was successful.

"Baby Girl," he murmured longingly, trying to reach out his hand, but failed as his hand slumped back onto the bed. His voice sounded so relieved. It sent shivers down Penelope's spine.

Of course, she was fast to grab his hand and squeeze it. Smiling at the love of her life, Penelope swallowed down the lump in her throat.

She had to focus. Her emotions had to wait.

"I'm here, Hot Stuff. Do you want me to lighten up the room so you can see me better?" She asked silently, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.

"The light...hurts," Derek admitted hoarsely, his voice nothing more than a whisper as he tried to focus his eyes on her face.

Penelope nodded in understanding and carefully sat down on the bed, slowly, not wanting to hurt Derek.

He'd been in this dark cell for so long, it surely hurt his eyes. Now thinking about it, it made sense to Penelope why the room was so dark.

Derek was surrounded by machines that were checking on his physical condition. He was wearing nasal prongs, an infusion was dripping slowly, getting Derek hydrated again.

Someone had cleaned him up. Derek indeed looked better now, but it didn't change much. His sight was still devastating to her. Bruises were still covering his whole body, as far as Penelope was able to see them. And God, he was so thin. His beard was still too long and filthy, as well as his hair. If Derek would make it through the next 24 hours,

Penelope would make sure to get them off Derek as fast as possible.

And even though she wanted to scream, to cry, or both, Penelope smiled the best smile, she could give him and squeezed Derek's hand once more.

"Okay," she whispered. "Do you need anything for now?"

"You're here...nothing else matters to me for now."

He was struggling with the words he tried to say. Penelope almost couldn't understand him. She was pretty sure that he hadn't used his voice much in all these years.

"I'm not going to leave, not even if you try to throw me out of here, Handsome," Penelope answered with a soft smile. "My ass is glued to this room." Lifting up her other hand, she gently cupped Derek's cheek, tenderly caressing his cheekbone with her thumb. Derek closed his eyes for a moment, clearly enjoying Penelope's touch.

"It's a damn fine ass, as far as I remember," Derek answered, bringing another smile to Penelope's lips.

"Well, yes it is," she joked back, earning a weak chuckle from Derek as he opened his eyes strugglingly once more. They looked at each other for a long moment, just relishing the fact that they were reunited after so many years of being apart.

"I also called your mom and told her that we found you. She'll be here soon. Is that okay?" Penelope asked silently, observing Derek's reaction. She clearly didn't want to overwhelm him when he was so weak.

"More than. Can't wait to see my momma."

Another little smile lightened up his face. God, it was still addicting to Penelope, still contagious.

Derek was so calm.

Penelope was sure they'd given him something to soothe his nerves. To ease his pain, physically and mentally. And God, she was grateful for that. Derek deserved it so much to have a little peace after all he went through.

"That's good. Hotch organized a jet just to get her to you as fast as possible."

Of course, Sofie was also on her way, but Penelope just wanted to take it slow. Derek hat to process so many things...Penelope wasn't sure how he would react to the fact that he was a daddy of a ten-year-old girl.

Derek nodded gratefully. His eyes...oh, his eyes were still the same. They were sparkling with happiness because of the news.

"How are you feeling, Handsome?"

"No pain...that's nice," Derek answered, holding her gaze with his red-rimmed eyes. "Haven't had that for so long," he added. Penelope's stomach turned painfully at that statement. Knowing that her Hot Stuff had been in pain for so long hurt so bad.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through so many bad things," Penelope whispered hoarsely. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke. "If only I had found you earlier."

"You found me today, Baby Girl. You...and the others."

Derek took a moment to breathe before he spoke again. It was draining him, but Penelope knew she wouldn't be able to stop him. As much as she wanted him to take a break and keep his strength as long as possible.

"I know you did everything possible. You're...stubborn."

Penelope knew that too.

But still.

Seeing Derek like that...knowing what they could have had...it broke Penelope's heart. She felt like she'd failed the love of her life. But Penelope knew she'd done everything possible.

And more so, she knew better than to argue about that with Derek. Not at that very moment.

"Okay."

Derek was here.

He was alive...for now.

He was willing to fight. As far as Penelope could comprehend.

And he would meet his daughter for the very first time in a few hours.

At least, Penelope could gift Derek with the knowledge that he was a daddy if this would be his last day on earth.

She knew that Derek always wanted a big family. Many kids to call his own. A marriage, a big house with a great garden. And a dog. Clooney had passed away two years ago, but Derek's dog had loved Sofie with such a passion. Penelope hadn't been able to give this handsome dog away and knew it was worth it. Clooney and Sofie had many great years together. The dog had protected her with all his being.

And Sofie had loved Clooney just as much. She'd been devastated when the dog had died.

It had taken her daughter a long time to get over his death.

If Derek knew that he already had one more person waiting for him, it would give him more strength to fight for his life.

"There's something I really want to tell you," Penelope started, smiling at Derek with the most tender smile.

"Spill it." He was getting weaker; he had to fight to keep his eyes open. But he was curious, apparently.

And suddenly, Penelope was nervous.

How would Derek react?

She'd always thought he would be happy.

But under these circumstances?

He might be ashamed of his physical condition. That would be possible.

But he deserved to know.

There was no way around it.

Penelope knew she would regret it if she would keep their daughter as her secret. Not just because of Derek, but because of Sofie as well.

They deserved to get to know each other.

Period.

They could face any other problem later.

There were many to come. Why not add one more to the list?

Fuck it.

"Okay. If you think back to the day you were kidnapped, do you remember that we were supposed to have a date?"

Derek nodded quietly at her question, not keeping his tired, red-rimmed eyes off her.

"Yeah...it was supposed to be a special date."

Penelope nodded gradually, not entirely understanding what Derek meant.

He couldn't have known, right?

"Yes, Handsome. It was. So...that day, I found out that I was pregnant...with your child," Penelope explained slowly.

Derek's red-rimmed eyes widened, at least a little at that statement.

"You...what?"

"I was pregnant. You're tired, so I make it as short as possible, okay? You have a little daughter, Hot Stuff. Well, she's not that little anymore, she's ten years old. Her name's Sofie, and she's on her way with your mom. And she really wants to meet her daddy."

Penelope tried to say it as slow as possible, but it was hard, really hard. God, she was so nervous right now.

"I...Baby Girl..." Derek whispered hoarsely, weakly squeezing her hand as tears welled up in his eyes. He failed to use more words as more and more tears streamed down his face.

"Is that okay, Derek? Are you okay?"

Derek only nodded, squeezing her hand once more.

"I get to know my daughter," Derek whispered hoarsely after one more moment. "Baby Girl..." He added helplessly, clearly overwhelmed by his emotions.

Penelope bent down to place a tender kiss on Derek's lips as she tried to hold her emotions at bay. God, it wasn't easy. Far from. And Penelope would lie to say she didn't shed a tear or two. Or a fucking waterfall.

But she had to soothe Derek, had to be there for him. He needed her.

"You're overwhelmed. It's okay, Hot Stuff. Take a minute, okay?" Penelope whispered in the most calming voice she could afford.

Feeling Derek nodding slowly, Penelope connected their foreheads and closed her eyes.

"I love you, okay?"

"I love you too...Baby Girl...Penelope."

Penelope smiled at these words, knowing Derek meant them with all his being.

"Thank you for making me a daddy," he added after a moment, his voice still thick with emotions. "I can't wait to meet my daughter," he murmured.

"I can't wait for you two to finally meet each other," Penelope answered smilingly before she planted another tender kiss on Derek's dry lips.

She pulled away then, watching Derek as he kept looking at her, his eyes still full of tears. His face was lightened up in the most beautiful smile.

"I'm going to meet my daughter."

And for the next hour, Penelope kept telling stories about their daughter. Derek nodded off in between, but Penelope didn't care much. Her Hot Stuff was happy for now, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

Right?