Until The End of Time

32. Another Round

Penelope's POV:
Derek and I drive to headquarters at 2 in the morning and it's dark. We arrive and meet Rossi at the doors. We walk up holding hands,"Hey kiddos. Sorry to disturb your Friday night but duty calls!" Derek says,"Oh trust me, you didn't ruin a thing! I gotta run up to get my go bag, I'll be back."
Derek runs in the building and Rossi asks,"So, what did you do to him Garcia?" I smile,"It's a secret." "Oh ok! I see how it is." He laughs,"Ah, young love." I smile and a few minutes later Derek comes back. Everyone arrives after a while and we all get on the plane. Hotch starts the briefing,"Hello everyone. Sorry it's so early but four women have been strangled in their New Jersey homes and there's no time to waste." JJ passes out the files to everyone. Derek hands me a coffee and sits next to me.
"Four women have been strangled in their homes. All brunette in their 30s. The attacks were at night and they were moved post mordem. Garcia, I sent you the names of the women."
I open my laptop up and Derek holds my hand under the table. I squeeze his hand and we both pretend nothing's happening. I search up the names and let go of his hand.
Blake says,"Why didn't he tie them up? They could've ran away." "Maybe he had full control over them or took them by surprise." says Reid. "Maybe he's trying to show that he has power." "Then why didn't the unsub shoot them? It would've been more effective." "Then he wouldn't have had anything. Just a body."
I don't see how they can go about talking like this like it's completely normal! I try not to listen to the conversation going on around me, but it's hard to tune it out. I get up and go to the back of the plane. I close the curtain to kinda get away from all of that.
I face the counter and stare at the ground. All I can think about are those women who's lives ended for no reason. I take a deep breath and tell myself just get through this. I feel an arm wrap around my waist, and I know it's Derek.
"Hey." he whispers in my ear,"You good?" I hold his arms and say,"Yeah, I'm ok." I turn around and he's still holding me. I clutch his huge biceps and look into his big brown eyes and melt. "Let's just get through this." I give a weak smile and he kisses my cheek.
He walks out and I stay there for a little while. I got a few packs of sugar for my coffee and walk back out. Everyone is in their own seat sleeping. I sit back down next to Derek and I smile at him. He puts the file on the table and I lean over on him. I lay my head on his chest and whisper,"Get some sleep." I kiss his cheek and he says,"You too. See you when the sun comes up."
He kisses the top of my head and I close my eyes. I can heart his heart beating and his steady breathing soothes me. I snuggle up closer to him and fall asleep a few minutes later.
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Derek's POV:
-morning-
We arrive in Michigan and get settled into a room at the police department and spread out. Penelope sits at the head of the table typing on her computer. I sit next to her and watch her work her magic. She looks so cute when she's focused. She glances at me and says,"Derek, I know I'm hot, but let's catch this son of a bitch first babe." I laugh and look over the paperwork.
Everyone else was out in the field and I decided to stay with Penelope. A few minutes later, there's a knock on the door. I say,"Come in." A tall, slender short dark brown haired man comes in with a laptop, a tie and glasses. I guessed he was their technical analyst here to help us out. "I-I'm James Redding here to help," he takes out a slip of paper,"Ms. Garcia?"
Penelope turns around and smiles at him,"Who has summoned me?" "Uh, I'm James and they told me to come help out." "Oh ok! Well, James, you and I are gonna have some fun." He smiles and sits on the other side of her. Penelope says,"James, this is Agent Morgan." He looks at me and smiles. I give a small wave and continue looking at the files.
He opens his laptop and starts typing,"So, what do you want me to do?" "Cross check the name David Swanson with any nearby schools in this area." He starts typing at lightning speed. I say,"I'll be back." She looks at me,"Ok, we'll be here."
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Penelope's POV:
Derek steps out the room. It's silent for a few seconds. James and I didn't find any names so I called Hotch and told him. "Is he your boss?" "Yeah, head chief over the team." "Cool. So, how long have you been working for the FBI?" "Like three years." "Wow. Is it hard? It looks hard." I look at him,"You tell me."
He looks down at his shoes. "Um, I just wanted to say this. I'm a really big fan of your work and I've been dying to meet you all my life and I literally cannot believe this is happening. You're so nice and pretty and funny in person." I smile at him,"Well, I'm glad to make your dream come true."
He sits there staring at me. All of a sudden he kisses me. I was surprised, but I didn't reject him. But, I didn't like it either. I sat there stunned until he stopped. I sat there staring at him. He immediately begins to apologizing,"Oh my god I'm so sorry! I'm so so sorry! I-I don't know what came over me oh my gosh. Agent Morgan is probably gonna be pissed! Oh my god! Are you two together? Why did I ask that?"
Derek comes back in and we both look at him. I turn back to my computer and start typing something. James walks out the room. Derek says,"Is he ok?" "Yeah, he just needed a break." I can feel him staring at me. And not in the good way. I stop typing and look at him,"What?"
"Baby Girl, you can't tell a lie in front of a profiler. What is it?" "Nothing, really." I go back to typing. He sits down and James comes back in. I stare at him, but he keeps his head down. Derek looks at him, then back at me. He sits down and whispers to me,"I know you can't resist the Chocolate Thunder." I laugh, roll my eyes and continue working.