A/N: And we're on our way to make things just so much better now. There will be abit of angst ahewad at some point, but not as bad as in 'Middle of nowhere'. As a little note ... I'm not following canon in this. I use characters like I want to use them and not necessarily in the context they're used in the show or the timeline they are used in. I will use Morgan and Garcia's dialogue from 3x09 when she tells him about the guy she met in the coffee shop, but in a different context. I just love that dialogue so much, and his reaction, so I like borrowing it LOL

It had been a few months since Maine and things between Morgan and Garcia had developed back to normal - normal for their circumstances. He started calling her 'Baby Girl' again, she referred to him as 'Hot Stuff', the flirting was back and Hotch began to regret that he set them up in the first place to talk through whatever issues they had been having before. But he was also glad that the team worked normal again, with no tension, no issues and no bad mood between members.

Penelope knew they still were not completely at the origins of how they used to be but she also knew it would be just a mere few weeks and they would have climbed that last mountain as well. And she was glad they did. She had missed the movie nights, the baseball Sundays on his couch and their banter. The lightness in their conversations that made bad and dark cases a little easier to get through and bit more bearable.

For Morgan the last couple of weeks had been more than just a relief. He was overwhelmed to have her back, have it all back like he used to. He knew it wasn't easy in the beginning, with them still tiptoeing around each other and Morgan swearing every day he would never lie to her again.

It wasn't just that he hadn't been able to talk to Penelope for a good few months that made it so hard for him. It was also a realization that hit him during this time, which made it all so much more painful and worse.

He knew there had been something between him and her for quite a while, something he couldn't really place anywhere. She was his best friend, but she was more than that, more than just a confident when things turned bad. She was the first he would call when things didn't work out as planned, or when he needed someone to talk to. He had never been much of a guy in touch with his 'female side', so emotions were not really something he talked about or showed much either. But with her it has always been different. It wasn't as if he broke down crying in front of her, but he knew if that day ever came and he needed to cry, she would be there and not ever would it be mentioned between him and her again. She also got him to talk through the stuff in his childhood and what happened to him, but she never mentioned it again. She knew that when he just said it once, it would lose its power over him and the memory that came back on that one case would remain exactly that: a memory, instead of becoming an issue.

When he started things with Tamara he knew that things somehow felt off for a while, as if something was missing and when she spoke to him that night, said the things she said about Penelope that made him leave, he knew he didn't just leave because of how she said it, but because she had the nerve to speak that harshly about Penelope in the first place. He knew he had chosen his Baby Girl over his girlfriend, and that was one hell of a wake-up call.

He had always suspected deeper feelings, but not that serious. He thought she was maybe just a phase, something that got into his head. The one woman he could never have, because she was his best friend and he would never sacrifice this for only a screw. And that's what he thought, that his brain was somehow mistaking her for one of his one-night-stands and saw her as a challenge.

But that night, when he had realized he might have lost both, girlfriend and best friend, he also realized something else. His brain didn't mistake anything. He simply lived in denial from what his heart wanted to tell him for a long time. She had become so much more than his 'best friend'. And definitely more than just 'a screw'. And that might be worth risking exploring the possibilities of this. Now all he had to do was find a way of telling her.

He knew that she wasn't seeing anyone right now. Okay there was this guy, Kevin Lynch or something, she had been 'seeing' on and off for a couple of weeks now, but as far as he was concerned it was nothing serious. She even had said so herself.

"Honestly? We just sleep with each other. You know… to scratch the itch?" she had told him at which he had looked at her with a quizzical expression.

"Scratch the itch? Someone changed her tune?"

"Well, I might have learned a thing or two from my best friend," she smiled at him innocently, before breaking out in laughter.

"So nothing serious then?" he asked, pushing for it.

"Me and Kevin Lynch? No. We just see each other like once every week, if even that often. I mean he is kind of … cute, but not really dating material, if you know what I mean. But I'm gonna keep him around for a while I guess."

"If you are happy, Baby Girl, so am I," Morgan explained, holding up his hands in surrender.

Morgan knew he didn't need to worry of Lynch getting in the way, after all she herself had said that they were not serious. He still didn't fully understand what she meant with 'he isn't dating material', but he sure as hell wasn't going to ask either. The less they talked about Lynch, the more he could make sure this would go his way and she would end up with him. No need for bringing in the competition, although Morgan didn't really consider him competition. What he had heard so far and also had seen he held the aces.

Well, that was before today of course. When he saw her walking into the BAU something was off. She was different than usual. Not something everyone would notice. No, it was just something he could sense.

"Good morning, princess."

"Good morning."

"Pump … your breaks," he said, knowing something was definitely off now.

When she turned around Morgan motioning for her to come back to him. He didn't miss the hesitation and her weighing the options. In the end he saw her stepping closer.

"Every day I say 'Good Morning'. Every day you say 'I'll show you a good morning, hot stuff'. Every day. Not today?" he asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"I hate profilers, you know that?" she smiled slightly, removing some dusk flake from his shirt.

Morgan looked at where she had just touched him, and then back at her. Something was definitely going on.

"Spit it out…"

More thinking and more weighing her options. And which each moment that passed Morgan got more suspicious.

"Fine. I met a guy…"

"You did what? Where?" he asked, sounding surprised. He definitely wouldn't have expected that.

"Coffee shop, I go to everyday. He was just … walking up to me, telling me he had seen me a few times around when he got his coffee and asked for my number."

"And you just…?" he asked, looking shocked.

"…gave it to him. Can you believe that?" she asked, now her turn of sounding surprised.

"A complete stranger," she explained and Morgan could clearly see the excitement all over her face and in her eyes.

Morgan wasn't sure how to respond to that at first. "Well… I mean … it does happen."

"But not to me. Usually at least," she argued.

"Well, than it has happened now. "

"Did I mention he was smoking hot?" she went on.

Morgan smiled at her, touching the tip of her nose with his index finger, although he felt like doing anything else but smiling right at that moment. Turning away he walked towards the conference room feeling out of sorts.

Penelope turned around as well, smiled to herself and continued her way towards her office, waiting for the call of her handsome guy from the coffee shop.