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Derek Morgan is not religious. But he prayed every day since that night he walked into the church. And a miracle happened. Penelope Garcia lived. She made it through getting shot in the chest, something that is normally fatal. Hell, it would've been if it was an inch over.

He wasn't sure if the prayers were doing anything, his relationship with a higher power was not solid. But something worked in his favor that night. And he didn't want to take the chance.

The hard part was not over though. The hard part was just beginning. Now he had to fight the urges of helicoptering around. Had to fight asking her "You alright babygirl?" "You need anything sweetness?" 30 times a day. Had to fight stopping by her office one more time, giving her that sad angry look one more time, before they all went home finally. She had yelled at him enough. "Derek. It's been over a month, I am healing beautifully. Stop it." Sometimes even do the weird 'uhnn uhnn' move with her arms, just to get him to finally go. But he would go. Eventually, he would fight the urge to follow her home just to make sure she got back safe(Although he didn't fight too hard in the beginning). Even though he knew the bastard was gone.

He almost wished he lived, send him off the prison. Make him watch as all his accolades were stripped

Then all he had to do was send word to some guys inside, about a certain fucker that liked to take credit for shit he didn't do. Wouldn't be hard. Transfer him to Arizona, where Derek's cousins were serving time. Tell them all about how he shot a woman to make sure he could keep false glory. How he led her on an innocent date, then put a bullet in her for the sake of rep. A bad cop with rusted medals. The guys inside would love to have an excuse to fuck him up. It wouldn't take much to get them going. Jason Clark Battle deserved it as far as he was concerned. Every time Derek thought of her face waking up confused, of her face when he came back to her apartment…

"Morgan. You coming?"

Hotch snapped him back in. That's right, they landed about 10 minutes ago. He hadn't realized almost everyone else departed the jet And it was just him and his thoughts. Hotch looked at him again, his eyes reading more than Derek liked.

"Go home, get some rest."

Derek sighed, looking after him as Hotch left as well. He was right, he needed to sleep. It was what, 1am? They all still had to come in bright and early. Best get as much sleep as he could. He typed out a quick text, grabbed his bag and jacket, and bounded off the plane.

Penelope was running cold water over her face when her phone buzzed.

'Just got back babygirl. Hope you're good.'

She smiled, welcoming the small warm fuzzy squiggles in her stomach to comfort her after tonight. She had yet another nightmare.

The sound of the gun only woke her every so often these days. It was the smell of the night air, mixed with his breath that really got her. She hadn't eaten anything with garlic since. He had gotten so close. Literally and figuratively. She almost kissed him, actually felt giddy about it. It made her sick to think about. It was too easy for him.

When was the last time she felt that special? That pretty? Could he tell? Did he read her up and down, like a bright flashing light screaming "tell me I'm cute and you can have it all" into the open air?

"Stupid...stupid stupid.." she muttered into the dull dark bathroom. Her silk red robe was soft and a small comforting, but sleep would be better. Sleep with a certain pair of strong warm arms around her would be much better. She re-read the text, savoring it. Pretending it meant more than it did. That bubbly little hope slowly faded, a low ache living at the edges. Last time she felt hope like that, she woke up in the hospital. And we all know the text doesn't mean more than it does.

Turning off the water, her bed called to her. It was lonely and cold.

'But we can pretend, right? We're still safe if we pretend.'

Familiar irrational thoughts. It's 1am, she'll let them live for now. Just to be able to sleep. Because when it comes down to it, Jason was gone. He's not here and can't hurt her. 'And statistically, not every man is out to get you like that' she thought. There's no harm in pretending for now. Imaginary thoughts don't hurt.

The silk robe came off and blankets came back on. The bed remembered her. She pretended it was someone who cared. Someone safe, someone who thought she was gorgeous and funny, and someone she could trust. Penelope cried only a little before slipping off again.

The Team was buzzing this Friday. Only a few hours before their impromptu vacation time took place. 'Internal assessment' Strauss called it.

"More like covering her ass." JJ mused out loud as she leaned on the edge of her desk. Busybodies and pencil pushers from upstairs were weaving around the bullpen.

Reid perked up a cross from her, sitting in his own chair. "What do you mean?"

"She means, Strauss is sending us all away so she can clean up the place. So nobody looks too closely about a dirty cop being shot in our living room." Prentiss clarified. She stood next to the both of them and passed a glance at JJ, apologetic. Prentiss knew JJ didn't enjoy shooting him, but it had to be done. Sand everyone was grateful.

Reid caught to exchange. "Well, we all did our jobs well. Not sure why that requires so much... efficiency. Or us leaving." He leaned forward as JJ smiled at him, a small thanks for his sentiment. Reid's tie was suddenly in need of fixing.

All three jumped as a heavy mug was put on the desk behind them, Morgan smirked. "You guys are really questioning paid leave? Count your blessings, y'all." He rubbed his hands together, and you could practically see the vacation dreams playing out on his forehead.

"Did you know that If all workers had paid sick days in the United States, health care costs associated with emergency room use would be reduced by $1.1 billion each year? Morgan could be right in it being a blessing." Reid beamed. He had gotten that fascinating fact from a 1998 economics journal.

JJ chucked. "There you have it. Taking this in stride could lead to a better economy." A thin, hard-looking man in a new suit breezed past them all. He was carrying yet another box of papers. "Besides, Strauss isn't just doing this to make sure no-one looks too close. She probably saw an opportunity to stick her nose in all of our business." JJ sits at her desk, opening her laptop. "Knowledge is power and all that. I'm sure Penelope's encrypted file spooked her."

"ugh. I hate politics." Prentiss peels herself away from the spectacle of it all, moseying to her neat desk beside Derek.

That's right, the file. Derek took a long drawl from his mug. Penelope was protective of them all to the point where she came under investigation. That slight tug in his chest came again. She risked her job for them. For him. A slight sigh escaped, bringing reality back. Paperwork had piled up and no-one was getting leave before it was finished. He joined his friends in thumbing through it all before the elevator opened.

"Yes I mean, Norton is strong I guess, but it's just another subscription VPN service at the end of the day, right?" The elevator door finally opened and the humm of the BAU lobby greeted them. Penelope felt like she had been talking to this guy for hours, when in reality it had only been 10-15 minutes tops. Did she remember to lock her front door?

"So then what do you suggest? Some kind of back door encryption?" This guy was a mile a minute. Constantly sweeping hair from his face, a useless fidget.

"I mean what's to say you can't just bait and switch?" She stepped off the elevator quickly. Kevin Lynch had been running into her a few too many times to believe it was entirely casual. He had a million questions, a million theories to run by her, a million logic trees to pick her brain about. He had seen her computer and, it disgusted her to even think about, played in her code during the incident. She hated how much he saw and snooped through, eventually finding that file. But, he was paramount to catching Jason. He let her back in to the BAU system. He effectively saved her ass. Or at least helped.

So she couldn't be too mad at all his prying and long stares. She could tell there was other things he wanted to ask. He looked at her, swallowing half of his words and wringing out his fingers. She recognized the same look in Reid when JJ offers a smile. It was sweet but she couldn't just...trust some guy. Not after this, not now. Not so soon.

She ignores Kevin's question. She was sure she locked her door.

Stepping into the bullpen would normally be a sight of relief, something routine. Today was a little different.

"Yellowww my beautiful people." The smell of fresh brewed coffee led her through the team's desks to the kitchenette. Mumbles of 'goodmorning' greeted her.

"Morning gorgeous." Derek offered warmly, watching her pass. Then. "Kevin. Can we help you?" It was more a threat than a question. Mr. Lynch slowed his brisk following trot to a stop.

"Good morning all." It was clear Derek didn't like this guy. Everyone else looked between the two, letting the awkward silence breath a little.

"I'll just...I was-"

"Just asking some tech stuff. See you later Kevin." Penelope gracefully relieving him before it got worse, stirring her freshly poured coffee. Prentiss and JJ chuckled into their pages as he scurried back to the elevator.

"Alright alright he's a bit of a weirdo, but he's my people so be nice." Penelope chided them lightly.

"Hey we're not the ones who practically death stared him." Prentiss pointed at Derek.

"So I don't like him, sue me." Derek shrugged at her. He turned his gaze to Penelope. "But look, you had every sign that he was getting on your nerves. I'm just trying to look out for you."

Once again Penelope swallowed the bubbles. Derek was a damn good profiler. He could tell Penelope wasn't too happy being followed by a new 'fan' and she knew it. To be fair, ever since that day he's been a little obsessed. While she appreciated the enthusiasm the attention was...a bit much. And for Derek to once again to play rescue...Shit. She needed to say something.

"God you're cute when you're protective." With a playful smile, she sauntered off to her ladycave to get to work, hoping to God the pause she had paused long enough to notice.

For the 13th time since arriving in the building, she checked her home security app. Yes, she had definitely locked her front door.