"Agent Morgan, if I could see you for a moment in my office?" Erin asked. She had been waiting for their return, ever since she had seen the news announcement on the television. He heart had broken for the solitary man, and she wanted to reach out to him, let him know that she was there for him if he needed anything.

"Actually, Ma'am, we were going to heat up this peach cobbler I brought from home. Though you're welcome to join us. There's more than enough for eight." He smiled at her, but she could see that it never quite reached his sad eyes. Nodding, she slipped her hand into the elbow he held out, letting him lead her up to the conference room.

It was a little awkward, seeing Dave there, talking and smiling with Alex, after everything they had gone through in the last few weeks. He met her eye, a guilty look flashing over his face. Her hand tightened around his arm involuntarily, and Derek looked down at her in concern. "It's nothing, I'll be fine."

He didn't seem to quite believe her, as he brought his other hand up to pat hers before guiding her over to the empty spot next to Penelope. The woman smiled kindly at her, pointing with the knife towards Dave and Alex before shrugging a little. "I'm glad you decided to join us, Ma'am. This is the most amazing dessert I've ever had."

She nodded and took a seat, playing with the plates in front of her. As soon as Penelope began to cut squares of the dessert, she held up a plate before handing it out to whoever had their hands out. And then she was accepting the last piece, and the fork Derek gave to her. Not looking up from the table, she picked at the dessert, loving the taste, but not finding herself particularly hungry.

"All right, it's just the three of us now, you can tell us what's going on."

Looking up, she saw that she was indeed alone with Penelope and Derek, and she shrugged, finishing up her cobbler. "This is delicious. Do you think that your mother would send the recipe? I'd love to try my hand at it," she said, trying to deflect their attention away from her.

"I'm sure she'd do that, but that's not what I wanted to hear."

From the tone of his voice, she knew that she would have to open up, tell them what was bothering her. And she didn't relish doing that, there were still aspects of her life that she wished to keep private. "I, I just miss Dave, I guess. Though it's clear that he doesn't miss me."

Penelope closed her hand around her shoulder, squeezing lightly. "He's a jackass sometimes. Unfortunately, I have to get going, I have a date with Sam today. Take time to talk to Derek, though. He's a great listener."

Erin nodded a little, watching the woman leave the room. "You did want to talk earlier."

"There is that, Agent Morgan."

"Derek." She nodded and began to wrap the tinfoil back over the dish, needing something to do with her hands. "Do you want to get out of here? There's really nothing holding me to the office today."

She couldn't look up at him, didn't want to see the pain that was churning in his eyes, since it was all too evident in his voice. "That might be really nice. Let me go grab my purse from my office." Standing, she quickly brushed past him, only to feel the fleeting grasp of his hand against hers. The gesture made her tear up and she exited the room, not wanting to give in to her tears.

Alex looked up as she sped by her desk, and Erin couldn't miss the look of mixed hatred and contempt. It was just another stab to her already aching heart, and she tore her gaze away as she moved past her desk and into the hallway. Once she was safely behind her office door, she let herself release a few tears as she rooted through her desk drawer to get her purse.

By the time Erin stepped out into the hall again, Derek was waiting by the elevators and watching for her. She gave a half-hearted smile and he nodded in agreement. Together, they stepped into the elevator, and once the doors were closed, he wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her close. It was so easy to give in to her tears, he had already seen her at her worst, so it didn't matter if she sobbed against his chest.

"Oh, Erin, shh," he murmured, and she shrugged a little, resting her forehead against his chest. "How is it that all my feelings are pouring out of you?"

"I don't know," she managed to choke out before closing her eyes and focusing on the comforting feeling of his hand rubbing gentle circles on her back. By the time they had reached the garage, she had managed to pull herself together somewhat and she slipped on a pair of sunglasses as he led her over to his truck, helping her up into the cab. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied as he handed her the dish containing the rest of the cobbler. The entire drive to wherever he was taking her she held onto the dish for dear life, as if it were the only thing keeping her stable. He took notice of her fragility and reached out, covering one clenched hand with his own, rubbing his thumb back and forth.

They finally pulled into the drive of a beautiful house and she sighed with pleasure as she slipped out of the truck and walked up the pavement to the front door. "This is yours?" she asked, looking around.

"Well, I'm just restoring it right now. It's almost finished and then it will be up for sale." Erin frowned a little at the thought of him letting something so perfect go, and he laughed at her. "You've been here for five seconds and you already want to move in."

"This is home," she whispered as he opened the door, ushering her inside. "I cannot imagine a more perfect house. I wish I still had something like this to come home to. Alan got the house in the divorce settlement, since he got custody of our youngest. I, I found an apartment closer to work, but it just isn't the same." The words just came pouring out of her, she was powerless to stop the truth that hurt her so deeply, much though she wanted to stop them.

She was startled when Derek pulled her into a tight hug, and she once more let herself cry the tears she had been holding inside ever since the divorce. Her brief time with David hadn't had any real emotional intimacy, and here Derek was, offering that to her without any strings or promises. "Erin, don't do this to yourself, you'll be okay."

Erin tried to nod, tried to rein in her tears, and then Derek was gently lifting her chin so that she would look at him. There was some unspeakable pain in his eyes, and she drew in a deep breath before closing her eyes as his lips descended to cover hers. It was a fleeting, heady, kiss, and she sighed a little as he broke off the kiss, resting his forehead against hers. "Thank you," she said lowly, forcing herself to keep looking him in the eye.

"There's a couch in the living room. We could sit and talk." She nodded dumbly, not trusting herself to speak in that moment, and let him lead her into the other room. "Would you like me to start a fire? That was the first thing I fixed."

Despite the warmth of the day, she nodded, feeling chilled to the bone. As she sat on the sofa, curling her legs up underneath her, he quickly lit the fire and then joined her, slinging his arm around her shoulders and tugging her close. Erin let her head come to rest on his chest, listening to his heart and letting the steady thumps calm her. "I watched the interview you gave. I'm so, so, very sorry, Derek."

"I've spent my time in therapy, Erin. I'm moving on."

"And then he was killed. He escaped giving his pound of flesh to the families."

His hand tightened painfully on her shoulder, and she hissed a little in pain. "How is it that you understand that? I would never have thought you would feel the same way I do."

"Because the things I've seen in the course of my work has led me to believe that the death penalty is too easy of a way out for these monsters. The people they destroy have to live with a gaping hole in their soul, and if they get to shuffle off into the next life, there's no sense of fairness." She began to cry once more and Derek began to rub her shoulder and upper arm softly.

"Life isn't fair, Erin."

"I know that, but if they stay in there, locked up until they die, there's some little bit of justice in this world." She felt him nod against her head and she reached up to grab hold of his shirt, holding it tightly as she struggled to breathe normally. "I'm proud of you, you know."

"Why?" he asked as his hand slipped lower, his thumb brushing along her stomach.

"You never did anything stupid, like me."

His thumb stilled, and she closed her eyes, trying to will away her tears. The silence stretched into eternity, and then he was raising his hand to cup her cheek. The warmth of his hand bled into her skin, and she shuddered a little. "Anyone who makes it to where you are in life is not stupid. We've all made mistakes."

"Not one that almost cost you the last thing you could hold on to in your life. Not one that destroyed your family." She rubbed her face into the soft fabric of his tee shirt, hoping she wasn't ruining it.

"Erin, Erin, Erin, you are holding on to way too much guilt here. That is going to eat you alive, if you let it. Believe me, I know." Gently, he tipped her head up and kissed her once more. "You taste of peaches, still. Sweet and soft."

"Derek…"

"I think the time for talking has come to an end, don't you?"

"Yes." A fleeting smile crossed his lips, and she answered it with a smile of her own. "Be gentle?" He nodded before kissing her once more, carefully pulling her to her feet. Willingly, she let him lead her upstairs and into a sparsely decorated bedroom.

The sound of the door closing seemed so loud to her ears, and she had to look into his eyes once more in order to regain her balance. "You're safe here," he whispered as he reached out and began to slip the buttons of her blouse from their holes. Erin nodded slightly, letting him undress her. She stepped out of her shoes, leaving the pool of clothing behind as she took a seat on the bed, watching him strip.

"Do, do I look all right? David said that I was…soft." Really, he had intimated that she could look a lot better with a small amount of weight gone from her frame, and a breast lift. She had ignored the sentiment and tried to ignore the implications of his intimations, but ultimately, it had driven a wedge between them.

"Soft is gorgeous, pretty lady." He knelt in front of her, reaching behind her back to unclasp her bra, drawing it off her body. "So very, very, gorgeous," he murmured as he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss above her heart.

Reaching out, she ran her hands up and down his strong back, finally latching on to his shoulders as he dragged his lips down the rise of her breasts to capture one nipple. He was oh so gentle as he suckled her, and she sighed as he pushed her back onto the mattress, his free hand creeping beneath the fabric of her cotton panties to cup her, running his thumb along her labia.

There was something so sweet and beautiful about the way he was loving on her, and she closed her eyes, giving herself over to the pure sensations he was drawing from her. David had not been this attentive of a lover, was her last rational thought before she gave herself over to the pleasure of him.

Erin didn't mind the sweaty weight of his body collapsed on top of her as they both struggled to catch their breaths after their shared orgasm. And then, he began to stroke her hair, softly, gently, running his fingers through her blonde tresses. Unable to stop herself, she burst into tears once more, letting him bundle her up close to his chest as he pulled the covers over them. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, you were so wonderful, so gentle. I've missed this tenderness." He nodded before kissing her again, letting it linger on her lips. "Would you mind laying here, holding me, for a while?"

"No, that seems like the perfect ending to this encounter." His smile was beautiful and she found herself smiling in return, reaching up to cup his face in her hand, needing to be in closer contact with him. "Maybe, maybe we could go out for coffee later on this week?"

It was his turn to be hesitant, unsure, and she felt a part of her heart melt. Nodding a little, she reached up and kissed him sweetly, relishing the taste on his lips. "I think I would really like that, Derek. And maybe I can help you out with your renovations."

"It would be nice to have a feminine hand with this." It seemed as if they couldn't stop kissing, as he pressed another gentle one to her lips, and then another. She closed her arms around his neck, holding him close as they exchanged sweet busses. Erin found herself quickly falling for Derek, her heart softening with each tender kiss. "Maybe we could have weekly coffee times? I tend to get into the office early."

"I do, too," she whispered, half afraid that he would suddenly reject her, tell her that she was delusional for thinking that this could be something more. "And I love white caramel mochas."

"I can easily remember that." Another soft kiss to her lips, and then she sighed a little. "I'll knock three times, to let you know I'm there."

"Okay. I, I'll look forward to it." He nodded before kissing her once more, deepening it as she pulled him even closer to her, wanting to feel him along every inch of her body. "Just, be gentle with me?"

"Always, Erin." He caressed her face softly and then leaned in to kiss her once more. "I think I will always associate you with a taste of peaches."

She blushed a little as she looked away from him, not certain her heart could take so much tenderness in such a short time. "I suppose that's better than the taste of scotch," she whispered, letting her eyes close.

"Always, pretty lady. Always." He pressed his lips against her cheek as she yawned a little, snuggling closer to his warmth. "If you want to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Nodding, she closed her eyes, breathing in his scent, trying to imprint everything about him on her senses, just in case this was just an odd dream, and she did not have this moment come the morning. "Sleep well, pretty lady." She barely felt his lips ghost across her forehead as she drifted off to sleep, content and safe in his strong arms.