Note: I found this one-shot buried under nearly everything else on my laptop. It's post-Revelations, of course, because... that episode. That episode!
Sorry, I'm still the newbie fangirl who hasn't made it past season three exactly (although I did skip with my mom and watch other storylines. Like Maeve. And others that I've forgotten, but oh, well. Nothing affected me the way Revelations did.)
A plastic tray of cookies held tightly in one hand, Penelope knocked on the door firmly with her other.
She hadn't given herself time to think about whether or not she would be welcome showing up at Reid's apartment unannounced.
Part of it was selfish. She needed to see him again. Needed to see that he was okay, really okay, after what happened in Georgia.
But there was more to it than that.
He wasn't okay. Not… not in that way. It was obvious.
To her anyways.
And she, Penelope Garcia, was going to do something about it if it killed her.
Not that she wanted it to kill her. Or expected it to. It was just an expression.
Hence the tray of cookies in her arms and her presence at Reid's apartment door.
Counting and calculating was Reid's thing for sure, and she was just fine letting him handle all of that, but she could at least estimate. She estimated that it was at least two minutes before he opened the door for her.
And he looked… If she was being honest, he looked terrible.
He was too pale for starters and… had he even been sleeping?
He didn't look like he had been.
Poor baby.
Reid blinked upon seeing her. "Garcia? What are you doing here?"
"What else but checking up on you, my prince?" She offered him a smile, vibrant and sincere, one that she hoped would bring one to his face.
She was a little disappointed (okay more than a little) when it didn't, but she didn't allow the smile to slip.
Instead, she held up the cookies, as if they cinched the deal.
Reid squinted at her, confusion apparent. "Checking up…? But I'm fine. Really. I don't need…"
"Ahem." Penelope cleared her throat, holding the cookies up a little higher. "I come bearing gifts. And don't you dare deny me, Spencer Reid. I will not be denied. Not when I spent four hours on these. Four hours." She placed heavy emphasis on the amount of time she put into her sacrifice.
Maybe then he'd see just how dead serious she was about this whole endeavour. And just how serious she was about not leaving until she at least made sure he was taking proper care of himself.
"You… made those?" He smiled and Penelope was relieved to see that it was at least genuine. "Wow. That's…" He met her eyes, really met her eyes. "Thank you."
She beamed at him. "'Anything for my junior G-man!" And then she tilted her head, eyebrows raised expectantly.
"Oh…" Reid flushed, embarrassed, and stepped aside, allowing her into the apartment. She smiled at him, daintily stepping inside. "I wasn't actually expecting anyone," he said, as he hurried past her to clear a place off the couch for her.
Penelope sucked in a breath, taking in the sight of his apartment. Of him.
Reid was still speaking, carting a stack of books off the couch and dumping them haphazardly on the coffee table . She didn't really understand what he was talking about.
"Reid…" she interrupted him, staring at the pile of books. "What is all this?"
"What?" He glanced down at the ones he held in his arms. "Oh, this… I was just… reading."
Penelope decided that maybe, just maybe, it might be best not to question that and looked for a place to set the cookies down on the coffee table and finally decided to precariously perch them on a stack of books.
She ignored Reid's protest and faced him directly. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
Reid scrunched up his forehead. "Well…"
"No!" Penelope said quickly, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Don't you even think about lying to me here, Reid. I mean it."
Reid's mouth snapped shut with a click. Wisely.
"I got… some…" he finally said, slowly, and with an ounce of hesitancy.
Well… that would explain how terrible he looked.
"Sit," she ordered, leaving no room to argue.
Reid obeyed. Also wisely.
She took the other end of the couch, nudging the cookies towards him. "Take one. They're chocolate chip. Don't let all my hard work go to waste."
Reid's lips twitched in the beginnings of a smile, but it didn't quite make it that far.
Garcia nudged the cookies again, giving Reid a pointed look.
"You're meant to take one. Take, not look. Not smell. Take," she reminded him.
This time, she did get a smile, a real one, as he did carefully take one.
She could have cheered at this small victory. Only she didn't.
"Do you want to talk about them?" she asked.
"The cookies?" Reid asked innocently.
"Not the cookies. The… the dreams!"
And immediately she could have slapped herself for being so blunt.
Reid tensed, staring at her with wide eyes. The cookie was now forgotten in his hand.
"What do you mean?" he asked breathlessly.
They both knew what she meant.
He was having nightmares. He knew it. She knew it. And now he knew she knew it. There was no point in denying it.
Garcia waited.
If he wanted to talk her, he would. If he wouldn't talk to her, well… he'd have to learn that Penelope Garcia didn't just go away that easily. Not when someone she loved was hurting.
She stuck like glue.
Reid shifted, avoiding her eyes. He started to pull his knees up to his chest, seemed to think the better of it, and left them where they were, feet planted firmly on the ground.
"The nightmares," she said, point blank. She'd already stuck one foot in it, might as well stick the other.
"Who said I was having nightmares?" Reid asked guardedly. His hands fidgeted in his lap.
She recognized his words for what they were: a last ditch effort to divert her suspicions.
"Reid, no one needed to say it. I can… I can see it!" Garcia exclaimed. "Every day!" He was thinner if that was possible. The dark circles under his eyes spoke of little to no sleep. And she was terrified as to what memories of Hankel might be doing to someone who she considered to be part of her surrogate family.
Reid cringed, drawing deeper into himself. Garcia mentally berated herself. She'd jumped right into this frying pan.
Taking a gamble, she reached out and touched his knee.
Reid jerked, startled by the initial contact, but then he relaxed instead of pulling away from her.
He nibbled hesitantly at the cookie. "What do you mean… you can see?" he asked slowly. As if he were afraid to hear the answer.
"I'm your friend, Reid," she said sadly. "I know when you're not alright."
"The others?"
Garcia hesitated. Then, "Yes," she admitted carefully. "But… no one's judging you, Reid. We're all… we're all worried about you. We care about you."
Her voice was wobbling, but she wouldn't cry. She wouldn't cry.
Reid said nothing.
His hands twisted and knotted together in his lap, but he said nothing.
"Can I…" Garcia paused, licking her lips nervously once. "Can I… hug you?" she whispered.
Reid hesitated.
Garcia's heart fluttered nervously in her chest.
He nodded slowly.
Relief made her heart soar.
She had to resist the urge to fly at him and smother him in the tightest embrace she could possibly manage.
She scooched a little closer to him, relieved when he didn't show any reaction other than a little tightening around the shoulders.
She reached up, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
He tensed up even more.
She didn't move. Inch by inch, she crawled one hand over to his lap.
Her fingers brushed against his.
She felt his shoulders lose some of their tightness as he relaxed. His fingers twitched in response to her touch and she grasped his hand.
Reid didn't resist when she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I know you don't want to talk about them," she said softly, "but… if you ever need to, we're here."
Note: I'm not 100% satisfied with this. And the ending feels weak to me- especially because I can't remember what it was I had originally wanted. But I figured I'd share it with the world anyway.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! I'd love to hear what you think!