Don't Own.

Enjoy!

…

Penelope frowned against the surface she was lying on as she woke up. She couldn't remember where she was or why she felt so still. She also wasn't sure what had woken her, something felt off and it had jolted her awake but she didn't know what it was.

She pushed herself up and looked around the dark room. There was a constant beeping nearby that she knew she should recognize but couldn't place.

She whipped around when she felt something brush up against her, and found Derek's stiff arm twitching by his side. It all came back to Penelope then as she stared at Derek, she could have sworn the night before had just been a dream but she was glad to find out she was wrong.

However when she noticed the look of pain on Derek's face, she instantly was on alert again. She realized that he must be having a nightmare, and moved closer to him. She ran a hand over Derek arm and calmly called his name.

His reaction to her voice was instant. His eyes flew open, his hand grabbed her wrist painfully and her name fell from his lips with urgency. His breathing was heavy as he stared at her in the dark, slowly coming back to reality.

"Derek…" Penelope mumbled and watched as his eyes searched her face "you're hurting me."

Derek ripped his hand away from her wrist as if he had been stung. "God Baby, I'm sorry," he said shaking his head "I never would have…I didn't mean to."

He looked down at his hands in disgust.

"Hey," Penelope said sternly, she didn't want Derek blaming himself for something he had done in his sleep "I'm fine, don't worry about it." She ran a hand over his cheek and made him look up at her "Are you okay?"

Derek sighed and gently took her hands in his, his fingers slowly and soothingly running over her right wrist to sooth away her pain.

Penelope tilted her head to the side and prompted him to say what was on his mind "Tell me."

"I…I dreamed I lost you all over again," he said his voice hallow.

Penelope squeezed his hands "I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere."

Derek didn't look convinced, in fact the look on his face betrayed the uncertainty he felt, it broke Penelope's heart. She had never seen him this way before.

Instinctually, she leaned forward and for the first time initiated a kiss with him. The whole idea of kissing him was new to her. Well that wasn't exactly true. She'd dreamed about kissing Derek more times than she was willing to admit, back when she was in Quantico, but dreaming about kissing him and actually kissing him was different territory entirely.

However Derek didn't hesitate, he'd accepted her kiss and captured her lips within seconds. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him tightly, groaning into the kiss.

Penelope squirmed against him in response, trying to get as close as she possibly could. She felt like her whole body was on fire, but she needed more.

"Whoa…" a voice said from behind them, causing them to hastily pull apart "how long have I been out?"

"Des!" Penelope almost yelled before scrambling to get off Derek and run over to her friend.

Desiree chuckled "Normally it wouldn't be that much of a surprise to see my brother kissing one of my friends, it's happened quite often in the past, but I didn't realize you were the type of girl to fall for his charms Carrie."

Penelope began to blush again "Uh yeah…" she said "it's not quite that simple, but you're awake! We were worried you weren't going to make it."

Desiree smiled at Penelope "You can't get rid of me that easy."

"Desiree," Derek said coming over to the other side of the bed "I'm glad you're awake." He leaned down and gave her a hug. "What were you doing chasing that guy though?"

"Derek," Desiree said, her eyes widening "It was Cindy! I saw her; she was in the passenger's seat. It was her I swear."

Derek shook his head "Des, that's not possible. Cindy is dead."

Desiree looked frustrated "No Derek, it was her. We made eye contact and when I called out to her, she mouthed 'help me!' Why would she do that if it wasn't her?"

Derek's face fell and Penelope frowned. She wanted to reach across the bed for his hand and ask him what was wrong but stopped herself; she was already embarrassed about Desiree catching her making out with him.

"Give me a second," Derek said and he moved around the bed, he was headed for the door but stopped before he got to it. He turned back to them and looked at her "Penelope…" He began, his hesitation showing just how torn he was about leaving her.

"I'll be right here Derek," Penelope said "talking to your sister who undoubtedly has many questions for me now."

Derek walked back to her anyways. He took her in her arms and kissed her heatedly before pulling away. "I'll just be right outside, don't go anywhere."

"I won't," Penelope promised.

Derek nodded and finally moved away. Penelope watched him as he strode out the door. She turned back to a shocked Desiree, who was staring at her I confusion "Penelope?" she finally questioned.

…

It was twenty minutes before Derek came back. He stepped through the door with a grim look, and walked over to them slowly.

Penelope, who had finished telling Desiree everything, turned to him when she heard his footsteps. She gasped when she saw his face and hurried over to him. Her fingers gently ran across his swollen cheek as her eyes searched his "What happened?" she asked.

Derek shook his head as his gaze moved over to Desiree and then back to her "It's not important."

Penelope frowned but she didn't question him further. Her hand fell away from his cheek but Derek caught it before she could move away completely. He brought it up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her palm. The look he gave her promised her an explanation later.

Penelope smiled at him before turning back to Desiree, who was pushing herself up in her bed.

She smirked at her older brother and friend "You do have him under your charm don't you Ca…Penelope?"

Penelope bit her lip while Derek chuckled beside her; he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close before sobering up. "I called my team Des, they're going to be here in a few hours and then we will start our investigation into Cindy. I hope you were right."

"I know I am Derek…" Desiree began before a concerned look crossed her face "Penelope are you okay?"

Derek instantly turned to her, fearing that something was wrong "Penelope?" he questioned.

She'd become very pale and was starting to sweat. She would have thought she would be happy to hear the news that she was going to see the team again. It was the thing she had constantly wished for, for the last few months but Derek's announcement had caused the same emotions from the night before when she had first seen Derek, to hit her.

She was worried about the team's safety, knowing that she was alive, and just the thought of seeing them again was making her uncomfortably nervous.

She remembered the hate that Spencer had directed at JJ when Emily first returned and wondered if any of her teammates would be mad that she hadn't tried to contact them. She had been under direct orders not to for their safety but they were the best BAU team there was, maybe they would be angry at her for not trusting in them to protect her.

"Penelope?" Derek questioned again, his arm had moved from around her waist and he was now holding her by her shoulders as he tried to get her to respond. He was looking her in the eyes, searching for the truth.

Penelope started hyperventilating and Derek led her over to the couch, making her sit down.

"What should I do?" Penelope heard Desiree ask but Derek shook his head at his sister before crouching down in front of Penelope.

"Baby Girl," he said soothingly, resting his hand on her knee "just calm down, everything is going to be okay. You just need to breath slowly, come on…that's it."

Derek coached her through her breathing and when she had finally calmed down, smiled at her "See," he whispered "you're fine. Now why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

Penelope swallowed before quietly breathing out "It's stupid."

Derek shook his head "I'm sure it's not, don't worry about that."

Penelope rubbed at her eyes with her palms "I'm not ready to see the team yet. What if…what if they're mad at me?"

Derek squeezed her thigh "Believe me Baby, they're not going to be mad. They'll be anything but, knowing that you're alive. Trust me."

Penelope bit her lip, looking up into his eyes "But I…"

Derek placed both his hands on Penelope's knees "There are no buts Penelope. The team will be mad about what happened to you, but never at you directly. They love you, and they'll just be so relieved to know you're okay, like I was."

Penelope took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves "I'm sorry," she said "I told you it was stupid."

"Hey, don't do that," Derek said "there's nothing for you to be sorry for."

Penelope sighed and allowed Derek to embrace her. She was scared but she wanted to see her family too. She had missed them.