Written for the May 2013 challenge - Death Fic

Assigned Doomed Character : Penelope Garcia

No Greater Love

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

The workload had been non-stop and brutal, but the exhausted BAU team was finally catching a break - a rare and well-deserved ten day break. Rossi even decided to kick off their downtime by inviting the team plus their families out for dinner after their last workday.

The restaurant he took them to was very nice and their table was at a window, giving them a view across the street where among the other business was one that was styled after the old-time ice cream parlors. Henry was being extremely well-behaved all evening, but Penelope caught the young boy's gaze straying to the parlor more than once. Fortunately, the person she needed to conspire with was seated just to her left.

Smiling, she gave increasingly stronger pokes to Reid's side until she pulled his attention away from his conversation with Morgan. Once she had his puzzled gaze on her, she indicated Henry with a gesture followed by a very deliberate glance out the window. As Henry's gaze was also currently focused that way, Reid got the message immediately and gave Garcia a smile and nod in return.

As the waiter went around taking orders for dessert, Reid paused thoughtfully.

"You know, as good as all of this sounds, I think what I'd really like is a hot fudge sundae. Henry, would you like to go to the ice cream parlor across the street with me? If it's alright with your mother, of course."

Henry quickly whipped out the 'Bambi' eyes to use on his mother. J.J. started laughing before giving looks around the table.

"Alright - which one of you taught him that?"

Morgan just snorted.

"Look no further than his godfather."

That got a chorus of laughter going around the table as a slight blush formed on Reid. Garcia came to the rescue.

"Godparent - godson bonding time! I'd love to join you two guys for ice cream. Please, J.J.?"

As Garcia did her own version of 'Bambi' eyes - which Rossi noted looked more like 'Mae West' eyes to him - J.J. gave up and consented.

It took a little while for the trio to make their way across the street - mainly because they needed to make allowance for how fast Garcia could walk in her newest pair of leopard print stiletto heels. Still it wasn't too long before they reached their destination and were settled around a table with a highly polished white marble top.

"Is this more to your liking, Henry?"

"Yes, Aunt Pen - but how did you know?"

Reid gave a light laugh at the question.

"You weren't exactly subtle when you were staring out of the window. Which is fine by me - I wasn't kidding about wanting a hot fudge sundae. How about you two?"

Tapping her nail on the laminated menu, Garcia pursed her lips thoughtfully before pointing.

"The deluxe banana split. Definitely."

Grinning, Henry nodded.

"That's what I want too."

A bouncy server in a cow-print apron - well, if you could find a pink cow in nature - came over and took their orders. After she left, Henry began quizzing Reid and Garcia learned more than she had ever wanted to know about the origins of frozen desserts.

"So people actually were sent to bring snow down from the mountains so that the rulers could have it for dessert?"

"Yes. Several different rulers did that across the globe actually. They'd eat the snow with juice or honey poured over it so it would have been more like we would call a snow cone. Some believe that it was one of the Arabian countries that first started using milk or cream to make ice cream as we know it now. Before that, it would have been more like sherbet."

"How did you learn so much?"

"Same way that you are. I asked questions and if I couldn't find anyone that could answer them, I found books that could. Of course, where you're growing up with access to computers and a brilliant computer wiz like your godmother to guide you, you have nearly instant access to almost any answers."

Garcia gave Reid a dazzling smile and snapped her fingers.

"That reminds me, sweetie - I need to stop by your place and upgrade your computer."

There was a lengthy pause as Reid and Henry exchanged glances.

"Uhm - which one of us were you talking to, Aunt Pen?"

That got a laugh from the bubbly tech.

"I guess I do use the term sweetie a little indiscriminately. Though, come to think of it? I bet both of your computers could use upgrading."

The arrival of their treats ended the talking for the moment as Henry attacked his banana split with gusto. Exchanging amused glances, Reid and Garcia started in on their ice creams at a more leisurely pace.

Henry and Garcia began exchanging tips on their favorite video games between bites with Reid listening on as his eyes casually looked out the window and to the sidewalk outside of the parlor. A trio of men came into his field of vision and he froze when he saw them tugging masks out of their pockets. Reid didn't hesitate, breaking into the conversation.

"Penelope? Get up without looking behind you and take Henry with you down the hall leading to the bathrooms and the emergency exit. Call 9-1-1 and then Hotch. I think this place is about to be robbed."

Reid starting out by using her first name had grabbed her attention, but not turning around to look at what he had seen was possibly the hardest thing that he'd ever asked Garcia to do as she got up and held a and out to Henry. Henry paled, but went with Garcia without any fuss, looking for all the world like a mother and son heading for the restrooms. Reid was thankful they hadn't hesitated because less than a minute after they were out of his sight, the three men burst in with guns drawn and the screams from the other startled patrons filled the air.

Garcia was already on the line to 9-1-1 when the screaming started and her eyes were casting around frantically looking for a safe place to get Henry to. The emergency exit was alarmed, so she was afraid that if they went through it, they'd only draw the attention of the men down on them. There was a tiny janitor's closet where the mops, buckets and brooms were stored that contained a deep sink. There was no way she could fit in there but Henry was still short enough and thin enough that she judged he should be able to hide behind the far side of the deep sink. She quickly explained what she wanted him to do.

"I can't possibly squeeze into there, but you can. You hide in there until you get the all clear - I'll go lock myself in the ladies room and call Hotch."

Henry just gave a short nod and headed in. Garcia was relieved that she couldn't spot him even knowing where he was, then her relief fled as she heard a gunshot. Taking a deep breath, she shoved open the alarmed door and the screeching sound it let out startled her even though she had tried to be ready for it. Moving as quickly as she could, she went into the women's restroom and began texting to Hotch as fast as she could. She didn't think he would've been able to hear her over the noise from the alarm. She stuck with two words : s-h-o-t f-i-r-e-d. The door to the restroom was kicked in as she pressed send.

One of the masked gunmen shoved his gun in her face as he snatched her phone away, slamming in into the tiled floor before kicking it for good measure. He then latched onto her right wrist with his free hand and pulled her along after him. Garcia's heart nearly stopped as she saw another man looking into the men's room as well as glancing in the janitor's closet.

Behind the deep sink, Henry couldn't help the trembling going through his body, but despite all the slamming doors and alarm, he stayed put. It felt like the most difficult thing that he'd ever done in his life. Every nerve in his body was telling him to run, but he silently gulped and didn't move.

"The emergency exit door was open - their kid must have got out that way and made a run for it. He's not in the building."

Their kid? Garcia knew from that the men were assuming that she and Reid were married. The man still holding onto her jerked her forward one last time before releasing her and she saw all of the other patrons were on the floor. Most of the children and some of the adults were crying. Then her eyes caught sight of Reid, on the floor and paler than usual. He had a hand pressed against his side under the left rib cage - and her breath caught as she saw blood was starting to seep between his fingers. Even worse, the apparent ringleader of the group was still pointing his weapon at Reid.

"Your husband here decided to get in my way, but I think he's served as an object lesson for everyone else in here about why they should obey us. Now - where did your brat go?"

There was no keeping her voice steady - Garcia couldn't take her eyes off the gun.

"I don't know - I just told him to run as fast as he could."

It was obvious the man didn't like that answer. He glowered at her for a minute, then he scared her worse by smiling.

"Well - I guess that little guy is going to be the man of the house now."

Eyes widening, Garcia didn't stop to think. As the man began to shift his aim to Reid's head, she surged forward, hitting him and throwing him off-balance. The man retaliated with his gun - not taking time to aim and fire, but pistol-whipping her with it. As she reeled back, one of her heels snapped. Unable to catch herself, she fell heavily backwards, head striking one the marble table tops on her way down.

The leader snarled and started to turn his attention back to Reid when a trio of red lights appeared on his shirt seconds before a voice rang out.

"This is the FBI. This is your one and only opportunity to surrender. Any move other than surrender and we will open fire."

There was no chance of grabbing a hostage up from the floor in time - not with the tracers already marking the path of the bullets that were waiting to be fired. The leader held up his hands and the other two quickly followed suit.

By the time she was allowed through the door, J.J. was in a near panic and went straight to Reid.

"Where's Henry?"

Reid didn't answer and she saw that he was having some trouble breathing. Turning her head back toward the door, J.J. called out.

"We need a paramedic here!"

Morgan was already moving to check on Garcia, so J.J. remained anxiously by Reid's side, eyes looking over the others in the parlor as she tried to spot Henry.

The alarm had finally been silenced - Henry heard the familiar voice of Rossi talking to a police officer and yelled out. It only took Rossi a minute to figure where the voice was coming from and he opened the door.

"Henry - are you alright? You can come out. It's safe now."

Still shaken, the boy came out from the room and grabbed hold of Rossi. At his age, Henry would normally have been embarrassed about the tight hug, but Rossi wrapped the boy in his arms until his trembling died down.

"I'm going to yell a little - okay?"

At Henry's nod, Rossi called out.

"I've got Henry! He's fine!"

Head snapping around at Rossi's voice, J.J. almost wept with relief. Then she noticed that Hotch and Morgan were both now kneeling next to Garcia - and that Hotch had his hand on Morgan's back in a gesture that . . . no.

Reid was only semi-conscious at best as he was loaded into the ambulance that had just arrived and one of the paramedics moved over to Garcia. He wasn't there long and there was no flurry of activity around the still blonde as there had been around Reid.

Rossi was still standing with Henry as J.J. found herself oddly frozen. Hotch slowly got to his feet and moved over to Henry. It didn't escape the attention of the other adults that Hotch was very deliberately putting himself between Henry and Garcia.

"Can you tell us what happened, Henry?"

"We were eating our ice cream when Uncle Spence saw something outside. He told Aunt Pen to take me back in the hallway and call for help because he thought there was going to be a robbery. Aunt Pen was already on the phone to 9-1-1 when folks started screaming and she told me to hide in the closet behind the deep sink. There was a lot of noise after that, but I stayed in there until he came and got me."

Henry looked up at Rossi at that and J.J. finally found she could move again. Coming over, she dropped down to her knees, pulled Henry to her and held on tightly.

Rossi looked over J.J.'s head to meet Hotch's eyes. The unit leader's expression was grimmer than usual as he slowly shook his head. Rossi looked over to where Garcia was and bowed his head slightly.

"Aw, kitten. Coraggiosa ragazza bella . . ."

Hotch drew in a deeper breath and then spoke to J.J. - Henry didn't need to see them removing Garcia's body.

"Why don't you take Henry out to the SUV?"

No-one had to confirm what had happened to J.J. - she knew by the way Morgan hadn't budged an inch. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she got back to her feet and began moving half-blindly to the door. Rossi didn't start asking questions again until they were outside.

"Aaron - what the hell happened in here?"

"Between what Henry told us and the initial witness reports, Reid must have seen something suspicious out the window and sent Garcia with Henry to try and get them out of the way. One of the men must have seen the direction Garcia went in because he started that way, but Reid got up and blocked the path. They didn't even bother to ask him to get out of the way - they just shot him. Then the alarm started going off and Garcia was drug back out. No-one could hear what was being said over the alarm, but they said the leader looked like he was getting ready to shoot Reid in the head when Garcia attacked. He hit her with the gun . . . the paramedic said the angle that her head hit the marble snapped her neck. Said she probably was dead within seconds."

"And Reid?"

"Paramedics suspect the bullet either hit or nicked his lung. Ice cream. They just came across the street to get Henry some damn ice cream, Dave. And now we have one dead and one in critical condition."

Rossi looked out to where J.J and Henry were climbing into the back of one of the SUVs.

"They succeeded in what they were trying to do, Aaron. They kept Henry safe. Most dedicated god-parents I think I've ever known."

The Medical Examiner had arrived on the scene, but he was patiently waiting on Morgan. Morgan know he had to move, but he took a final minute and reached out to touch her. His voice almost choked him as he smoothed a few strands of pink and blonde hair from Garcia's forehead.

"You're the best, Baby Girl. Goodbye."

As he got up, he found both Hotch and Rossi at his side. He had to turn away as they began to get her body ready to move. They stood there in supportive silence for a few minutes before Rossi spoke softly.

"Why don't you and Hotch head to the hospital and check on Reid? I'll take the other SUV and get J.J. and Henry home, then I'll meet you in the waiting room."

Morgan and Hotch nodded agreement and the three profilers left the scene. As he climbed into the driver's seat, Rossi wondered how much Henry already knew or at least suspected. Well, one thing that Henry would know - not tonight, but when he was older - was how much he had been loved by the most openly loving woman that it had ever been Rossi's pleasure to know.

"What is lovely never dies, But passes into another loveliness, Star-dust or sea-foam, Flower or winged air." Thomas Bailey Aldrich