"Knock, knock, Baby Girl. Can I come in?" Morgan called into Garcia.
Inside Garcia's office, Kevin was mouthing "Baby Girl?"
Penelope smiled. And called out to Morgan: "My door is always open to you, my Friend." To Kevin, she said, "Don't you worry, oh Love of my Life. You have my full attention."
Morgan walked in. "Who are you calling your-oh. Hi, Kevin."
Kevin sat up stiffly. "Hello, Agent Morgan."
Morgan looked at Garcia. "I need to review some case files with you." Kevin made no mood to leave. "Some confidential case files."
Now Kevin got up quickly. "Oh, I see. You want to discuss your jobs. Goodbye, Agent Morgan. See you later, Penelope." He opened the door and left with a sour look on his face.
"Until later, my Love," Garcia called after him. She turned her attention to Morgan. "Have a seat, Mr. Muscles, and let's see those case files."
"Hold on. Can we talk about something else first?"
"You have my undivided attention." She smiled.
"I think that you and Kevin may be spending a little too much time together." He received a blank stare in response. "Everytime I'm in here, so is he. You haven't been very focused on cases lately, and I know it's because you're thinking of him. Plus, there was that whole thing with Rossi and team fraternization…" He trailed off pointedly, looking at Garcia intently.
"Who is this? Hotch? Rossi?" Garcia joked.
"I'm serious, Princess. And whenever I ask you if you want to get a few drinks with me after work, the answer always is 'Sorry, my Vision, Kevin already asked me.'"
Penelope grinned. "Maybe you should ask me sooner; I'm very high in demand." When Morgan shook his head in disbelief, she realized the truth. "I get it: You're jealous!"
"Woah, back up. All I ask is for a little more time to spend with my Baby Girl."
She put her hand on his chest. "I'm flattered by your obvious and desperate need to have me always by your side, but I can't satisfy everyone. There is only one perfect Penelope Garcia, but she can be shared."
"Well, Sweetness, I'll take my share of that pie at anytime. How about we head out to a nice dinner after the Fourth of July picnic on Saturday?" Garcia hesitated. "Look, it starts at twelve and ends at five. We'll eat lunch early and have dinner at 5:30."
Garcia smiled. "Alright, but only because you begged. What is with the random picnic time anyway?"
"That's right, I live only for you, Precious." Morgan frowned. "The township where it's at decided to pass some new drug-free law and impose a curfew."
"Why a curfew at 5:00; it's not even dark out."
"I don't make the rules, how would I know? Now about those files…"
On the other side of the door, Kevin heard everything.
….
It was 12:45 on Saturday, July 3. There was no sign of Garcia. As the clock hands slowly crawled to one, Morgan began to worry. At first he thought that she was with Kevin, but when he showed up alone… Morgan had tried calling her cell and house phone several times to no avail. He talked to Kevin and his team members, but they told him not to worry; she probably had her reasons for being late. The conversation with Kevin was an awkward one, as it was obvious that both didn't wish to interact with the other. Morgan walked away from him, disgusted. If Kevin wasn't going to be any help, then he would find Penelope himself.
….
Garcia was still in her pajamas, sitting on the sofa, and eating popcorn when there came a knock on the door. She groaned but got up to answer it.
"Knock, knock, Baby Girl. Can I come in?"
"Sorry, Derek. My door is closed today." But she opened the door and let him in anyway.
"What's the matter, Princess? It looks like you have no intention of coming to the picnic, and you don't look like the Garcia I know at all."
"Have I ever told you how much I hate profilers?"
Morgan had to smile at that, but it quickly vanished. "Baby Girl, anyone with eyes can see there's something wrong."
"Well Kevin came to my house yesterday morning, and he said that he wanted to accused me of seeing someone else, even though I wasn't. He said that I was 'unfaithful' to him. I never saw it coming. Everything was fine on Thursday." She tried to wipe away her tears quickly before Morgan noticed them.
Morgan was devastated to see his friend in such pain. "It's alright, Penelope. He didn't deserve you, if he couldn't tell that you…loved him." He had to choke out the last two words. He looked at the TV where a guy was singing on the top of a giant elephant. It looked vaguely familiar but… "What kind of movie is this?"
She gave a sad smile. "It's a love story about a penniless writer and a prostitute who wants to change her life and escape."
"Wait, Moulin Rouge?" Garcia nodded. "My sisters loved that movie! At the end, don't-."
"Yes, but I love this movie. Ewan McGregor is one hunky dude with a great singing voice."
"Woah there, Sugar. I could sing if I really wanted to."
"Hummm, sorry, I don't think you're cute enough."
"Now that's just cruel. And completely untrue."
They both laughed.
"Thanks for cheering me up. You're a great friend."
"No problem, my Goddess. Now you better get dressed if we want to get to that picnic and our dinner."
Garcia went into another room, then reappeared moments later carrying a huge stack of clothes into the bathroom. Thirty minutes later she emerged wearing a pretty white sundress with decorative red stitching. Her hair was done up nicely, being held in place by a blue flower barrette.
Morgan looked her up and down while she posed. "Not too shabby, My Lady." He stuck out his arm. "Shall we?"
Garcia took his arm happily. "Why not?"
….
It was about 1:45 when they finally arrived back at the park, just in time for the last batch of hot dogs and hamburgers.
Kevin stared angrily when they got out of Morgan's car together, but then he remembered that he didn't care anyway. Penelope doesn't know what she's missing by cheating on me with that human bulldozer.
Morgan and Garcia wandered around and socialized with their teammates and other members of the bureau. Morgan didn't remove his arm from Penelope's shoulders the entire time, and Garcia made no move to shrug it off. At 5:30, they left to go to Garcia's favorite restaurant where they had a nice dinner and smiled the entire time. After they ate, they decided to head to a nearby park to watch the fireworks.
"Hey, Hot Stuff?"
"Yeah, Baby Girl?"
"I just wanted to thank you again. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"It's alright, Sweetness, I want you to be happy. I can't live without that smile of yours."
She paused a moment before answering. "Derek…I think I kind of love you…but for real this time."
Morgan looked directly at her. "I think I kind of love you too, my Goddess…for real, always."
They sat in silence and watched the fireworks. Garcia turned to say something to Morgan and found that he was already looking at her. She completely forgot what she was going to say, and leaned toward him at the exact moment that he leaned towards her. And as they kissed, Garcia decided that this Independence Day stood for something more. She was liberating herself from Kevin and gazing into the eyes of a new kind of freedom, a freedom that would last forever.
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return."-Moulin Rouge
….
Author's Note:
I must apologize for two things: The first is for taking so long to update. I handwrite my stories first before typing them, so it takes longer. Second, I apologize if you hate this story, but this is what comes out of a suburban girl staring at three hours worth of cornfields as she travels through Indiana. I hope you like it, but either way please review! Happy Fourth!
-Me