Safe

Author: AbbyGibbs (AbbyGibbsMorgan)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds doesn't belong to me, sadly enough. No it belong to Jeff Davis who created the show and the team of writers and producers and all the people who makes of the show what it is today… No copyright infringement intended. Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Abby Sciuto don't belong to me either – I wish he would – he belongs to the CBS and all the crew of people that created NCIS.

Rating: T to M for later chapters as always to stay on the safe side.

Category: Romance, hurt/comfort.

Pairing: Morgan/Garcia

Spoilers: "Lessons learned"

Summary: After Penelope called Morgan to sure he was okay, she can't stop thinking about the possibility that she could have lost him.

A/N: it's not much really, but I've been watching the episode yesterday and I came up with a little something regarding the scene where they announce on that there's been a gas explosion and Garcia panics and is anxious to have Morgan on the phone. My mind played around with it, and it's what came out of it. Enjoy! This might be out of character for them, but I need to write it this way, I need a little joy in my life…

The scene about JJ past is totally made up; I did for the purpose of the story.

Thanks are in order, to Shadoe for her support and kind words, managing most of the time to chase my demons and to KricketWilliams for the inspiration, because her stories give me a little bit of faith in the fact that good things can still happen through her stories.

Thanks also to PenelopeMorgan who remind me to face things the way they really are even if sometimes I don't want to.

If you liked it let me know, please.

Thanks to every one of you who support me, and are always there to put in a good word. You guys are awesome!

Feedbacks: well, I'd love them, of course – who wouldn't? But please, only if you respect my work because it takes a lot of time and energy to get a story together. I love writing; I wouldn't allow anyone to discourage me from doing so, never. I don't have any problems at all with readers who choose not to go for this, but I decidedly do with those who write disrespectful mails just because they didn't get the ending they would have wanted. If you want to tell me what I might have done better within the story I made up, you're always very welcome to let me know. But if your only concern is to rant about it, then please, do it in private, okay? Thank you.

****

"As for accomplishments, I just did what I had to do as things came along." -- Eleanor Roosevelt.

Penelope Garcia was finally asleep after an eighteen hour work day. When she came home all she had done was take a shower, slide into her pajamas and gone to bed. All she wanted to do was sleep in hope to forget, at least for a little while, what had happened.

If Gideon and Reid hadn't understood body language as well as they did, the entire team could have died. When JJ had asked her if Annandale was where Morgan and Hotch were, after seeing the news break that there had been a gas main explosion, she had a felt a wave of pure panic swell within her.

There hadn't been a gas main explosion—the place where they were investigating had just exploded. Garcia had immediately called Derek praying silently that he would pick up his cell so she could hear his voice and know he was alright.

Thank God he was alright.

But as if that hadn't been enough, Morgan once again put his life in danger at the USA Mall in Virginia where there was a grand opening. Putting himself in the line of fire and being involved in danger situation was part of his job and that's something Garcia knew and accepted, but sometimes it was too much for her to bear.

She and Morgan had always been close, they'd become friends after he had first called her Gomez and then had rectified it with Baby girl.

Whenever something came up related to a case they were working or not, Morgan would call her. And they would give each other pet names… it had always been like that and probable would be like this between them forever. And this wasn't any different the from others, it was just that Penelope Garcia had discovered a little while ago that she was starting to feel a lot more than friendship for her best friend and colleague.

And she felt ridiculous, although she knew she couldn't stop these feelings. It was something stronger than herself. Love is the strongest feeling in the world, no one could stop it, but how would she be able to hide it from the others—from everyone—most important of all how could she hide it from Morgan?

Derek could never know what she feels for him, because if he ever did, their friendship would be ruined. He would laugh at her that was for sure. And a sculpted God like Derek Morgan would never, ever go out with geek girl like her, plus they came from two completely different worlds, and the day their worlds would be unified wasn't any time soon, if that day would ever come.

JJ was standing in the bullpen wondering about Penelope's reaction when she had called Morgan to check if everyone was okay. Agent Jareau, knew Penelope better than anyone else—at she like to think she knew her better than any of the other members of their profiling team—but there was one member she was extremely close too, SSA Derek Morgan.

That was obvious to anyone who knew the two of them, but JJ had noticed a few slight changes in Garcia's behavior lately when Derek was around and if she didn't know better she would say that Penelope Garcia had fallen in love with Derek Morgan.

Her reactions were different. Penelope was very fond of him, but JJ felt something else was going on, although she couldn't voice it yet.

The tear that had escaped from her friend's eye had surprised her—not that it was the first time she'd had tears rolling down her cheeks,— but she had been really panicking this time. The feeling seemed more intense than usual. But JJ was never going to know it, the two women shared everything, but when it came to Morgan and Garcia's feelings toward the man, she just closed like an oyster. And there was no need to push.

JJ would have gladly pushed though, but she needed to be sure that she hadn't misread the signs, and she also needed to verify something first.

*~*~*~*

Morgan hadn't had much time to think about Garcia's phone call during the day, the team had to prevent a terrorist attack that would kill thousands of people. And that's exactly what they managed to do with the help of the DEA team. As they arrived on the roof top, they shot three of the guys ready to let anthrax run through the ventilation system of the Mall. Derek Morgan took care of the fourth man who had managed to escape. Running after him, he yelled for him to stop, the man turned with a gun his hand and aimed it at the FBI agent. Without hesitation Derek fired and the man fell through one of the glass panels the roof was made of, screams could be heard as the body fell roughly on the Mall's floor.

But now he was sitting in the FBI jet, his eyes closed, listening to music. And for some reason he couldn't start to comprehend himself right now, he was listening to Norah Jones' "The long day is over" as he listened to the lyrics his mind drifted to Penelope, and to their phone call, he hadn't stopped his mind on it before, but now… and he suddenly realized that she had been crying during their conversation. It wasn't really open crying, but it was audible in her voice when she was speaking to him.

When the plane was back on the ground he was going to her apartment and was going to spend some quality time with his baby girl. He loved spending time with her; she could relieve his tormented mind so easily. No matter whom he shared his bed with, he always turned to Penelope when he felt beaten and completely empty because of a case. She was the one who kept him sane.

Many times, he had asked himself how he had been before he met her, to not end up completely insane. He had managed to survive until she came into his life, like the storm that would blow everything away only to leave a clean path behind it.

Forgetting his past was impossible and surely after what he had been through, he had witnessed the death of his father at the age of ten and as if that hadn't been hard enough, Carl Buford, and crossed his path too, making him experience something no child in the world should have to. After that, Derek had promised himself that the goal of his life would be to stop bastards like Buford and other criminals and make the world a little bit safer.

Garcia couldn't erase his past—well technically she could do it,--but it would only be virtually, the papers would disappear, but that would be it. She couldn't erase the memories, the terror he'd felt, the shame, the disgust even, she could do none of that. Hell she didn't even know Carl existed and that was a good thing.

What she could do however, and she was doing it without ever realizing it, was making him see some light and joy through the dark clouds that his life was made of every day. His baby girl was the reason he was able to breathe.

Reaching out for him, each time he had the impression he was drowning, she was the invisible hand that pulled him out of the water.

As he was one again replaying their phone conversation in his mind, Morgan sat up straight, and took the ears plugs out of his ears, and reached out for his cell phone.

*~*~*~*

For once, JJ could breathe a little bit, the case was over and God knows how she had managed to do some paperwork. Sitting at her desk she was staring at her phone. Should I call him or not? She was pondering whether to it or not to call him when the device started to ring, making her jump slightly.

Smiling has she saw the caller ID; well she wouldn't have weigh the pros and cons the decision had just been made for her.

"Hey, Morgan… what can I do for you?"

["Hey, JJ, is Garcia doing, okay?"] He asked with concern evident in his voice.

"Well, yeah, she is, still just a little shocked, I think, but other than that, she's fine."

["When she called, she was crying, wasn't she?"]

"Morgan, are you really okay?

["Yeah, JJ, I am, but you didn't answer my question. Was she crying?"]

"Yes, she was, when I asked her if Annandale was where you and Hotch were supposed be and then the news that there had been a gas main explosion, she panicked. Morgan, can I ask you something? "

On the other end of the phone Derek frowned, the tone she was using made a little apprehensive. But he let her ask anyway. ["Sure"]

"Did something between you two, change?"

["Huh? No, not that I know of. Why do you ask?"]

"Morgan, I'm maybe not a profiler, and I know that if Garcia knew that I'm talking to you, she would kill me, but I'm not blind. She really cares about you. I know she's your best friend, but I think there's more… she's feeling more for you than just friendship."

There was a pause, as JJ's words sank in.

After a few seconds, he finally spoke again.

["I know…"] Morgan, breathed out.

"What? Morgan are you telling me, you know that Penelope is feeling more for you and that you aren't doing anything about it? Why for God's sakes?" The agent asked.

Derek sighed… ["Because I love her too much to screw it up!"] He said harshly.

Everyone in the BAU jet turned their heads to look at him. He looked intently at them in return and they all got back to what they were doing.

"Ah, Ah so you admit it!" JJ said victoriously.

TBC…