Author's note: I didn't expect to start this yet, but I started a separate tumblr today for fanfic (whilst aggressively procrastinating - check it out at .com) and I came across some discussion about Morgan/Garcia. And I've been having lots of Morgan/Garcia thoughts because I love their relationship just the way it is but I do think there's some unexplored potential, so I thought I'd try to explore it. And also this song came on, and yeah.

You never need fear a thing in this world
While I have a breath in me, blood in my veins
You never need fear a thing in this blue world
- Real Life (Angel),Elbow

Penelope's hands were still shaking when she started to climb the steps onto the jet, following JJ. She felt a hand at her lower back, and she smiled. It made the graze on her face sting but she didn't care. Derek Morgan hadn't left her side since she'd been sitting on the back of the ambulance – not that she'd have expected anything else – and his presence made her feel safe, like she hadn't just been shot out of the blue by a psychopathic killer. Not to mention he smelled pretty exquisite and his hand at the base of her back was warm and strong, and she wasn't going to bother telling him she had a sensitive spot right there. They climbed the rest of the stairs, and she took a seat, wincing when the shift in position hurt her bruised ribs.

"Get some sleep," he said, his voice soft and low.

She sighed, leaning her head back. She'd pulled an all-nighter the previous night going over surveillance footage, and then the bullet had hit her Kevlar a few hours ago and the adrenaline was only just starting to wear off. Now she was shaky and sore and tired.

"I mean it," he said. "Sleep."

He squeezed her shoulder, and her hand came up to meet his, giving it a quick reciprocal squeeze. "Only if you do," she said. He nodded in agreement, sitting down across the aisle from her, and she grinned wickedly. "See you in my dreams."

Morgan took his headphones off – usually listening to music relaxed him on the jet, helped him get to sleep, but right now it was just making him restless. He switched off his iPod and turned to look at Garcia. She was asleep, her face a little scraped from hitting the ground, but it could have been so much worse. They shouldn't have brought her out here… But then they wouldn't have solved it without her here. He suppressed a shudder as he tried to ignore the what ifs piling up in his mind. And also tried to ignore the almost overwhelming desire to go over there and pull her into his lap and cover her face with kisses, find the bruised ribs under her blouse and bandages and kiss the pain away.

"Is she okay?" Emily asked from opposite him at the table, snapping him back to reality.

"I don't know," he replied.

Emily nodded, and tilted her head. "Are you okay?" she asked, lowering her voice a little although everyone else was asleep.

"Yeah," he said. "Just can't sleep."

She raised her eyebrows. "Okay." She sat back and looked out of the window for a few minutes, expecting him to put his headphones back on. When he didn't, she looked back at him and said, "Hey, Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you feel responsible for her. We all do. But this is something else, isn't it?"

He met Emily's questioning gaze for a second before turning back to look at Penelope. She was far less used to sleeping on the jet than the rest of the team and it showed – she was slumped awkwardly, her arms folded on the table and her head resting on them. Her back was going to hurt later, he found himself thinking absently. Back pain on top of everything else that had happened these last few days – he should wake her, recline her seat – or he'd just have to massage away the pain when he took her back to her place… He heard Emily clear her throat and turned back, meeting her eyes with his best poker face. "What do you mean?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Come on, Derek. I learned a long time ago not to question the relationship you have with Garcia, and I'll stop any time you ask me to. But I saw you when that shot fired, when she dropped…" He frowned, and she shrugged. "You know, I used to wonder how you could possibly still be single."

He raised his eyebrows playfully. "Well, thank you princess."

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Don't flatter yourself. At first I figured you were just a player – didn't like to be tied down. But that's not it, it is?"

"Isn't it?" he said. Immediately he realised answering a question with a question wasn't going to work on her, and he sighed. "So what is it then?"

"I think you've set her as your standard," Emily said quietly. "And I don't think anyone can measure up."

He opened his mouth to say something, to object or deflect or something, he didn't even really know.

Emily held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Like I said, stop me any time. But I think that you do want to settle down. I think you're a romantic. You want somebody who will let you take care of her but will shoot you down when you need to be shot down. Someone who makes you feel good about yourself, but challenges you to be better. And who's confident and strong and balances you out. And god knows we're all looking for someone who can handle this job…" She watched his face carefully for signs she was overstepping, but he was just staring back at her, his blank expression starting to crack, revealing a deer-in-headlights look. "It's not a bad thing, Morgan. She's pretty great. You're in trouble if you're holding out for someone better…"

For the first time, he stepped in. "I'm not waiting for someone better," he objected, starting to get annoyed. She must know that wasn't it.

"Then what?" she pushed.

He looked at her angrily but she held his gaze with raised eyebrows. He gave up and looked back at Penelope. "Not better," he insisted more quietly, watching the rise and fall of Penelope's back. She could've died.

Emily recognised defeat when she saw it, so she turned to the side, bringing her feet up onto the seat beside her, leaning against the window and opening her book. "I won't push it," she said. "But just think about it. And if you want to talk, you know where I am, okay?"

"Come on sweetness, I'm driving you home."

"Derek, seriously, I'm fine."

"Nobody said you're not. Now get in the car."

Penelope rolled her eyes as Morgan took her go-bag from her hand and put it in the trunk of his car. "Now you're just stealing my stuff."

He opened the passenger door. "Well now you have no option, do you? If you ever want to see your delicates again, get in the car."

She held her pout for a few seconds then got in, grinning. "What would I do without you, my knight in shining armour?"

"We'll never know, will we?"

He walked her to her door, carrying her go-bag. She turned the key in the lock, opened the door, and then turned to him, resting a hand on his chest. "Thanks," she said. "For taking care of me even though I totally don't need it."

He smiled, brushed his thumb down her cheek, trying to pretend his heart wasn't beating even faster than it usually would when they were this close. The combination of hearing the shot and seeing her hit the ground and everything Emily had said on the plane was making it a whole lot harder to bury his feelings. "Penelope you know I'll always take care of you. Even though you totally don't need it."

She made a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a sob as she dropped her head to his chest and stepped closer. He dropped her bag inside and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his chest. "Hey, hey, what's up?" he said into her hair. "Come on, let's get inside. I'll make you hot chocolate and we can talk, okay?"

"Derek, I could've died," she said, looking up at him with her eyes swimming, her cheeks streaked with tears.

"You're okay," he said soothingly, his hand on her lower back again, encouraging her through the door. He closed it behind them and picked her bag up. "Where do you want this?" he asked.

She pointed to the door to her bedroom, wiping tears from her cheeks. "You don't need to -"

"Will you quit that?" he said. "Sit down. I'll be right there."

So yeah, thank you for reading, and please leave reviews! Let me know what you think. I love their interactions but I'm not used to writing them so any feedback is massively appreciated, I really want to get to grips with writing them.