To Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia was just a close friend. Penelope on the other hand had fallen in love with him. She flirted and teased but to Derek it was just a joke. Penelope sometimes gets mad. One day she got so mad she left town to visit her mother and father who lived in Florida.
It was an early morning in Quantico and Derek Morgan was once again late. Penelope noticed that he wasn't the only one. Emily Prentiss was also not at the office yet. This was odd and confused Penelope a little. It was now 8:36 and no sign of either of them. J.J. came out of her office with a birthday cake. It was white with red lettering. Penelope was still confused. She glanced at the calendar and panicked. It was June 6th, Morgan's birthday. She wanted to get him a good gift but she was stuck in work. She took her lunch break 3 hours early to get him a present. As she walked into the parking lot she saw Emily and Derek hand in hand. She hid behind a SUV almost in tears. As they passed she saw him peck her on the cheek. Penelope was sure that the kiss wasn't a "just friends" kiss. It had feeling. Not only for Derek but Emily's smile lit up the parking garage. At that moment she became aware that she needed a break.
Penelope jumped in her little car and drove into the rising sun. She had no idea where she would end up. She just drove and drove until she had a great getaway in mind. She returned to her home teary eyed just thinking about how her parents would react to see her in their little house in Florida. Garcia and her parents weren't that close and had a very bad past. When Penelope was little her mom and dad split up. They blamed it on they're Penelope, which was hard to swallow for her. Two weeks after Penelope left for college her parents got back together both resenting their daughter. Penelope hasn't seen them since.
Penelope jumped in her car with almost her whole closet, shoes and all. She got a quick ticket for a plane, not taking one look back. She made one big mistake though; she didn't call her boss to tell him she was taking a vacation. This was big because in 1 hour the whole FBI would be looking for her worried.
Back at the office it was hectic trying to figure out where Garcia possibly could have gone. The one person who was most worried was Derek. He called and called but Garcia wouldn't answer, she refused to. Derek was so worried he called Hotch and Gideon to get not only the police but the whole FBI to help find Garcia. He tried to think of why she would have left and where she would have gone. He had an idea. Acting quickly, Derek grabbed Emily's phone. Emily wondered what he was doing. He called Penelope's cell phone but was disappointed when her voice mail came up without one ring. "Where could she be?" Derek mumbled. "Why are you so worried? It's just Garcia, she's fine," Emily responded. "I guess I…well I…Umm...she…She's my best friend" Derek's emotions were in tangles. He wiped his sweaty forehead but his sweat soaked hands just made it worse.
"Hi mom, it's me Penelope. Call me back when you get this. I'm in the neighborhood and I want to see you. I miss you. Bye." Garcia sighed long and heavy. She looked out the side window of the taxi. "Stop please," She said swiftly. "Thank you." She handed to driver a 20 and walked up to the 2 star hotel. She was upset that she had forgot her money. She would have to go to the bank in the morning. Penelope felt her cell phone vibrating in her pocket. She looked at the screen and put it back.
"Derek, she's going to be okay just calm down. We have every one of our agents trying to track her down." Emily stated seriously. Why doesn't she have any emotion for our coworker? Derek thought. He was upset that the women he was with didn't care about his friend, let alone her own coworker. "I'm sorry Emily but we're not gonna work. We're done." He was disappointed, but he needed to do it. She was just jealous because Garcia's my best friend and not her.Derek thought to himself. "Are you okay Morgan?" Hotch said trying to be sensitive. "Yeah, I guess so. I just really want to know why she left." "Okay, well we are doing the best we can."
Penelope collapsed into bed. She knew that tonight she didn't need the TV to fall asleep. "Sing me something soft, sad and delicate or loud and out of key sing me anything." Garcia grabbed her cell phone. "Hello?" Penelope said awkwardly. "Hi Penelope. I heard you were in the neighborhood. You want to come over and catch up?" her mother replied. "I thought you were mad at me?" Garcia responded emotionally. "No I was just mad at myself and needed to blame it on someone." Garcia's mom stated, relieved to get it off her shoulders. "I'll be there soon" Garcia was confused. 1 year ago she called her mom and she cursed at her, now she wants to catch up. Something fishy is going on. Garcia thought.