Penelope Garcia put toast in the toaster and began digging in her fridge for her jam. She jumped when her boyfriend, Kevin Lynch, snuck up behind her and grabbed her ass.
"Don't do that," she reprimanded, shaking a jam jar at him.
"Ooh, scary lady." He teased.
"What put you in such a good mood this morning?" Garcia asked, the incident already forgotten.
"My uncle died."
Garcia frowned. "Aren't people usually sad when family members die?"
"Not this time. My uncle was a mean SOB, but he was a rich SOB, had enough money to make God cry. And he left it all to me, his millions, his estate in California . . ." Kevin trailed off, lost in the fantasies that surrounded California.
"You're moving?" Garcia demanded.
"Well, I'm thinking about it," Kevin cornered Garcia, their noses almost touching as he made his offer, "and I want you to come with me."
"WHAT!?" Garcia shrieked. Kevin was great. They shared something special, but moving? Leaving her friends, her job, her Morgan . . . She quickly backtracked. Not her Morgan. "I'd have to think about it Kev," she said finally.
"Take all the time you need babe. I'm not going anywhere."
***
Garcia impatiently paced the length of her cell again and again. Even her lovely computers couldn't give her comfort. Whipping out her phone, Garcia texted Morgan, and demanded to know where he was. When she learned he was already in the office, she cursed him out and ordered him up to her office.
When he opened the door and stepped inside, Garcia tackled him in a hug. "Help me." The distress in her tone would have been clear to anyone, even if they weren't a profiler.
"What's wrong baby girl?" Morgan asked while guiding the half hysterical blonde to a chair.
Garcia took ten minutes to babble out a story about breakfast, dead uncles, California, and something about cupid. "And I don't know what to do." She finished.
"Sweetness, I barely understood any of that."
Garcia took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. "Kevin's uncle died, leaving him a lot of cash and a big place in California. Kevin wants me to move there with him, and even though I'm pretty sure I love him, it's a big step, moving to a new place like that." Garcia's face crumpled, and tears appeared. "Help me."
"I don't know what to tell you. Do you want to go?"
"Well," Garcia sniffed, "California is really nice, and I wouldn't have to work, and I could burn through money like a movie star, but on the other hand, all my friends are here. I love it in Virginia. This is my home. There are reasons for staying and reasons for going."
Morgan took her hands, "Do you want to go?" He repeated.
"Some of me does." She admitted, "but some of me, a bigger part of me, wants to, no, needs to, stay. I don't think I can leave, but I think that I should. I'm all upside down and backwards." A few tears dripped down her cheeks.
"If you think you should go, go, if you think you should stay, stay." Morgan told her.
"Were you not listening to me?" Garcia demanded. "I'm fighting with myself on staying and going. There are reasons for going, and reasons for staying, but Kevin and I haven't been together long. What if it doesn't work out? What if we break up and I'm stranded in California?"
"Now, now," Morgan soothed her now hysterical wail. "Where's my beauty who's always so sure of herself?"
"Still in shock by my kitchen counter." Garcia admitted with a little smile.
"See, I think that you're overanalyzing this right now. I think that you should sit on the idea for a couple of days, and see what comes of it."
Garcia nodded. "That's a good idea, Mr. Fortune Cookie, just one problem."
"What's that?" Morgan asked, not sure of what he thought of being called 'Mr. Fortune Cookie.'
"How do you sit on an idea?"
Morgan laughed. "That's my girl."
*A*FEW*DAYS*LATER*
Morgan was once again summoned to Garcia's office.
"I did what you said, and I really thought about it. And I mean thought so hard my brain hurt, and I have decided that, unless you give me a good reason not too, I'm going to go."
Morgan's head whirled, and he leaned against the door for support. She was leaving him. Then the first part of what she said caught up with him, "Unless I give you a reason not too? What do you mean?"
"I mean that I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone in my life, and if you think of a reason why I shouldn't go, then I won't, after all, my leaving will affect everyone." Garcia smiled.
"I think," Morgan said slowly, desperately racking his brains to find a way to get her to stay, "I think that you'll have fun in California." He hung his head, admitting defeat.
Garcia hugged him. "Someday the whole team will have to come out and visit us," she said cheerily, not noticing his sudden depression.
"That'll be great." Morgan said, although it even sounded forced to his ears.
Garcia was once again her bubbly self, now that the agonizing decision making was over, but a small part of her was secretly wounded, Morgan seemed like he was trying to get rid of her. "Don't tell anyone yet, okay?" She asked him.
"Of course," Morgan agreed, "now, if you'll excuse me, some of us actually have work to do."
"HEY!" Garcia cried, but Morgan had already closed the door.
He spent the rest of the day in a daze. He had to get her to stay, he just had too, and he felt like time was running out. Today was the day of Kevin's uncle's funeral, and after Kevin came back, Garcia was lost to him, for good. Morgan was sitting at his desk, playing with a pen, when he saw Garcia leave the building. Just moments after he watched her go, he suddenly realized how he would get her to stay. He stood and ran from the building, his feet pounding the ground.
He emerged outside to see Garcia throwing her bags into the backseat of her beat up old VW bug. "GARCIA!" He yelled to get her attention.
Garcia looked up, smiling like she always did when she saw Morgan, and motioned him over. He came eagerly.
"Baby girl, you can't go to California."
Now she was confused, but her breathing picked up when she noticed how close he was standing. "I did say that I wouldn't go if you had a good reason, what is it?"
"I can't let you go to California because I love you." Morgan said in a rush, instantly feeling freer.
Garcia's mouth dropped. This was the first man to tell her that he loved her, even Kevin had never said it to her. "That's a pretty good reason," Garcia admitted.
"So will you stay with me?" Morgan's voice was pleading with her, begging her not to break his heart.
"Of course," she whispered.
Then, with all thoughts of Kevin and California gone, he kissed her.
I do not own Criminal Minds. I hope you all liked it enough to review.
~DI4MGZ~