It is dark. Penelope Garcia isn't a fan of the darkness. She had spent an extra two hours in her office to finish some last minute paperwork and research on a new case for Monday. Usually when the case isn't an emergency, Prentiss lets her take her time to research. Just as she was about to turn off the computers and call it a night, the power had turned off on her. She wouldn't be as scared if there were some lights on but the world wants to play a joke on her and have everything from her office to the whole BAU building pit black.

"This would happen to me," she muttered to herself while opening the door to head out. "Oh my gosh." Taking her phone, she swiftly turned the flashlight on and made her way down the small steps. It's Friday night, no agent would be in the building right now. "What the - " Penelope tried to push open the glass door to leave but it wouldn't even budge. "You've got to be kidding me." Here she is, standing in the middle of the dark BAU office, alone and hungry. She stepped back and tried to shine the phone flashlight toward the hinges of the door. Maybe someone had locked it thinking that no one was still working. Which is understandable because unless its an emergency, no one usually works on a Friday night - especially considering it's almost past midnight now.

"The power outage caused the system to turn off everything including the door," the sudden voice made Penelope scream and jump in fear. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." With the voice being closer to her, she start to realize who it belongs to. "You okay?"

"What are you doing here, newbie?" Penelope said after exhaling a deep breath. She turned her phone flashlight over to show his face. She didn't want to admit it but even in the dark, he still somehow looks as much as a hunk in the daylight. Not that she had thought of such a thought since he came to the team. "I thought everybody left."

Luke Alvez chuckled as he block some of the light from her phone with his left hand. "Stayed behind because I had to finish some last minute paperwork. Prentiss wanted me to turn it in bright early in the morning on Monday." He looked around the empty, dark office. "Got surprised when the power went out. Does this happen often?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I wouldn't know, I don't really stay overnight like this." Penelope shivered in the coldness. "Well?"

Luke arched an eyebrow. "Well what?"

"What are we supposed to do? The door is locked and it's our only way out. Don't we have to call somebody?" Penelope started looking through her phone for somebody to call. There has to be someone that's at least awake at this time.

"Considering that we just finished a tough case, I doubt anybody's awake." Luke made his way over to the small open break room. "We can just wait it out."

Penelope stood frozen for a few seconds, trying to make sure she had heard him right. "What do you mean by wait it out? It's midnight, no one comes by here for the weekend."

Using his own phone light, he made two cups of instant coffee before setting it down onto the round table. "We can either wait for the power to turn back on or call somebody who works in maintenance in the morning." Luke watched as Penelope slowly made her way over to the table, sitting across from him. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Until then, it'll just be us in this dark office."

She rolled her eyes at the mere thought of being alone with him for more than two hours. Usually, in the spam of time when she talks to him during cases would be five minutes. If the team were to be together during a break, that's when the usual two hour mark hits. But that's with other people in the room, this is just him and her. "That's just great." she sarcastically muttered to herself before leaning over to grab the cup of coffee. That's when Luke grabbed the cup before she could. "Hey!"

Luke shrugged his shoulders. "I only share coffee with people who like me."

"Ha," Penelope leaned against the chair as she start to play with the hanging thread on the end of her jacket sleeve. "You must not drink coffee with a lot people then."

He softly laughed at her remark. "Reid, Prentiss, JJ, Rossi, Lewis and even Walker." Luke knit his eyebrows together as he softly tap the cup as if he is really thinking hard about something. "They seem to like me enough to sit down and have coffee with me."

"It's not that I don't like you," Penelope tried to explain herself. She's never like this. Everybody in the BAU knows that she is the ultimate nice person, she can most definitely be sassy but that only comes on occasion. For the past few weeks, she has been wondering herself why she is so different around Luke Alvez. He's a nice guy and works along with the other members very well. But why is it every time he is near her, she can't help but just be bitter and mean to him. "I just take a long time to get along with new people in the team."

Luke took a sip of his own coffee. "You seem to be cozy with Agent Walker within days of him joining the team."

Okay, that was a lame excuse. Penelope eyed the other cup of coffee in his hand, she's starving and just a single sip of that coffee would do wonders for her. "Maybe I - "

"Do you know what I think it is?"

Not really, she thought to herself. "Sure."

Luke slid the cup of coffee towards her. "I came after when Agent Derek Morgan left. I've heard stories on how you and Agent Morgan are really close to each other. The fact that he isn't a part of the team anymore must've been really upsetting to you. Especially when I came into the team as a replacement." He shrugged his shoulders. "Being new and getting use to the new work environment, I've heard whispers about me. Most agents think it's 'another tough guy replacing the original breaking down the door guy'."

Penelope frowned. She hadn't thought of that. It's not that she wasn't upset when Derek decided to leave the job behind to focus on his family more. Devastated was more like the right word. But what could she do? Tell her best friend to stay and not protect and love his wife and newborn baby? There are certain things Penelope Garcia is selfish towards but it's definitely not to the point of telling somebody to change a decision that she knows is best for them. From the small light on her phone, she could visibly see Luke Alvez a little upset when he finished speaking. "I don't think that," she start to say. "Yes, I didn't really like your presence when you showed up. It's only because maybe I wasn't mentally ready for a new member."

"Maybe?" Luke questioned.

Penelope stared at the half full cup of coffee. "Or I just don't want to become close with another person in our team. I don't know if you know our history but people come and go in our team. Sometimes I feel when I open my heart too fast and easily, ready to become close with these people - they're gone again. And I have to force myself to process their loss on my own. I was doing quite good, you know." She blinked her eyes several times. Damn it, she can't become emotional right now. "I think it's Morgan that made me decide to shut it off. To not become too close with people anymore because I have to prepare myself if they leave. Look at you and Agent Walker," she glanced up to see Luke looking at her intensely. Despite the darkness and the phone light between them, she could see his eyes so brightly. "You're both brought in here to temporarily help us catch a serial killer. What happens once we do catch the killer? Are you 100% sure that you won't leave?"

The question left Luke speechless because he didn't know how to exactly answer it. He hadn't thought of it just yet. All he has been worried about is going on from each case given slowly. "I'm not sure."

"See?" Penelope said. "There's no definite answer that you would stay so it's better off if I just close myself off to some people. Save myself from getting hurt again."

"But so what if I leave?" Luke asked. "Let's say that I do leave after we catch the killer. Maybe I'll be back in the Task Force, who really knows. I don't know about the others but I like to keep in contact with people I get along with." He shrugged his shoulders as he finished off his coffee. "If you and I do become friends, I would love to still be able to talk to you even if I'm not in the team anymore."

Penelope didn't know what to say. "Me? I'm nothing but mean to you. We're not even friends now."

"I never said you were mean to me," Luke corrected her. "I've just been waiting for you finally become comfortable enough to talk to me for more than ten minutes." He checked his phone and smiled. "And look at that, it's close to one in the morning now." Luke laughed at her surprised expression. "You successfully sat down and talk with me for an hour. Congratulations, Miss Penelope Garcia."

She cleared her throat as if it was nothing. "Time goes by fast in the dark, I guess." Penelope narrowed her eyes at him. "And for your information, whatever those agents are saying about 'another tough guy replacing original breaking down the door guy', they're wrong."

Luke smiled. "Really?"

"Totally. As if you could ever break down a door." Penelope said.

He couldn't help but burst out in a huge fit of laughter. And there it was, another sassy remark by Penelope Garcia. "Thanks. It's nice to know that someone doesn't look at me as if I'm just a replacement."

"If there is something I definitely know, there is no such thing as replacement in the BAU." Penelope shivered when cold air breezed by. "Each person in our team has their own unique color. It's what makes our team so different from others. Reid brings out the color of pureness, that wonder boy needs all the protection he can get. As smart and witty as he is, it makes you want to hug him and never let go for his own safety. JJ brings out the color of motherly love for us. Maybe it's because she's a mother herself but when she's out on the field, she makes sure everything is in order. Rossi brings out a ton of colors of but his color mostly is friendship. He cares about friends more than anything. Every single friendship has a story and he has told the story to us more than ten times. Prentiss brings out the fierceness, she uses every ounce of her body into each case. That fierce side of her protects us in her own way. Lewis brings out calmness and we need that as much as we can with the cases we work on. Walker brings out that sweet baritone voice of his and everyday that voice can save a soul."

Luke chuckled at her last sentence. "What about me? What kind of color do I bring out to the team?"

"You bring out - " Penelope paused as she thought about him. Although she doesn't quite understand him like the others yet but there can only be one thing she is sure of. "Persistence." Penelope nodded her head as she smiled. "You never give up on cases even when others do. You keep on persisting through and through no matter what happens and that is something that our team needs."

"Never heard such kind words from you," Luke smiled as he cleared his throat. "Thanks."

"Yeah, well - don't be looking forward to anything nice for a few weeks."

"Noted." Luke laughed. "Penelope." She looked up from her hands and stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "I hope that we can at least continue our little fun banter and maybe a friendship can grow out of it. You're right, I'm not sure if I will stay once we catch who we need to but we can at least make the most out of it right?"

Penelope nodded her head. "You're right."

Luke started to yawn. "Beings friends with you would be nice. I bet I would laugh a lot around you." He leaned his head against the table and slowly start closing his eyes. "You make people feel better about themselves and sometimes I feel like I could use some of that Garcia love that everybody talks so much about."

His words caught her really off guard as she watched him quietly fall asleep. "Luke..." she whispered softly. All she could hear was his soft breathing. Penelope exhaled deeply as she looked around. Feeling her eyes becoming heavy, she start to fall asleep herself too.

. . .

"Garcia," tapping her shoulders very lightly, Prentiss smiled as soon as her eyes opened. "You're up."

Penelope rubbed her eyes as she yawned. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard the powers went out when the outage people called me. I came by to check if everything was okay and wanted to grab a few files to bring home." Prentiss looked around. "Surprised to see you here asleep."

"Yeah, Alvez and I were locked in because the door wouldn't budge open." Penelope looked around the room. "Where is he?"

Prentiss nodded her head over to the locker room. "He went to change his clothes and wash up." She stared at the BAU jacket that had Alvez's name on the back. "Was it cold in here last night?"

"What?" Penelope lightly turn her head to see Luke's jacket around her shoulders. "I guess so." She stood up from the chair and sighed. "I better get going." As soon as she start collecting her things, she smiled. "Here. You might as well should take it since I'm done. We can start the case on Monday."

Prentiss laughed as she took the file. "Thanks, P."

Heading out toward the door, Penelope halted her steps and turned around. "Oh. You should take Agent Alvez's paperwork too since he stayed past hours to finish them for you. See you on Monday, Emily."

"Paperwork?" Emily repeated to herself in confusion as she watched Penelope enter the elevator.

"Did she just leave?" Luke walked over to the round table. "My back is sore from sleeping while sitting." Emily laughed as she watched him put on his jacket to also leave. "I better get going. Roxy will freak out if I'm not home. Have to feed her on time for breakfast."

"Goodbye," Emily said. "Oh - " she narrowed her eyes at him. "Were there any other paperwork you had to give me? I thought you handed everything over to me already last night."

"I did." Luke answered. "There's no other paperwork."

Emily nodded her head. "Garcia just said that you stayed past hours to work on paperwork."

Luke shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "She must've mistaken. Bye, Prentiss." As soon as he entered the elevator, he exhaled a deep breath while leaning against the wall. That was definitely close. How was he supposed to explain that he wanted to stay behind to make sure Penelope would be safe? With a serial killer on the loose who is out to get them, it's the only logical reason behind him staying after hours.

He stared at his own reflection on the elevator. Feeling uneasy as he runs a hand through his hair, he cleared his throat. Or could the reason be something else? Why else would he stay behind for two hours, doing nothing at his desk as he waited for Penelope to be done with her work? His eyes widened at the memory of him feeling secretly happy about being stuck in the office with her when the power went out. The elevator doors opened and he quickly rushed out.