His Undercover Lover

Chapter Nine

AN: I had to cut the lemon out to keep the rating so if you want to read the unedited version, click "external link" (just below the cover on the right) to be taken to FFnet.

Chapter Nine

Since the apartment in New York was now a crime scene, Derek and Penelope couldn't stay there for the night, but JJ had thought to book them rooms in the hotel everyone else was staying at. Not wanting to be presumptuous, she had booked them two rooms and had given both key cards to Derek.

It was just after midnight when they got there and the whole team was exhausted. They had done good work today but it had taken its toll on them all. They could have flown home that night but they were all too tired to face it.

"We'll meet in the lobby at ten hundred," Hotch said as they entered the hotel and got on the elevator. As it stopped on their floor, he added, "Good work today."

They all nodded their understanding and headed to their rooms.

Derek and Penelope went into the first room they came to. An officer had packed their things up for them and as they sorted through their hastily packed possessions, they didn't bother with time-sharing the bathroom to change. Garcia didn't even take her makeup off, although she had already cried a fair amount of it off earlier.

She climbed into bed beside Derek and they lay facing each other.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"No, but I will be."

He gave her a tired smile and reached out to take her hand.

"Sleep tight, Princess."

"G'night, Hot Stuff."

***

The team arrived back in Quantico on Thursday afternoon and Hotch gave them the rest of the day off; tomorrow would be soon enough for their reports.

Penelope was looking forward to long, hot bath and sleeping in her own bed again. Derek was used to travelling and could sleep anywhere, but he was looking forward to not living out of a suitcase for a few days, at least.

"You feel like pizza and a movie tonight?" he asked Penelope as they headed towards their cars in the FBI parking lot.

"Thanks but I kinda want to be alone for a little while."

"You sure?"

"I am, it's just been an emotional few days and I think I could do with some time by myself to unwind. Do you mind?"

"Of course I don't mind," he assured her. "As long as you're okay?"

They paused beside her car.

"I am," she assured him.

"All right; give me a call if you change your mind."

He paused to make sure none of the others were around, then leaned down and kissed her tenderly. His warm smile as he pulled away, left her breathless for a moment.

***

Penelope unpacked, dividing her clothes into 'clean', 'wash' and 'dry clean' piles, then she ran herself a bubble bath, lit half a dozen small scented candles that were scattered around her bathroom, put some Michael Buble on, then she turned off the bathroom light so it was lit only with ambient light and the candles, then she stepped into the almost-too-hot water. She released a long sigh of pleasure as she adjusted to the temperature.

This case had been hard on her, perhaps harder than any other, well, except perhaps for the time she had been shot but that wasn't an official BAU case anyway. And maybe the time Derek had driven through New York with a bomb in his ambulance had been worse. Then there was the time Spencer had been kidnapped and tortured. And the case where Elle got shot was definitely worse. And how could she forget what had happened to poor Erin Strauss?