Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds in any way and I'm not making any profit from this story.
After Garcia gets shot she is mad at Morgan for being right and at herself for not listening to him. Will they be able to mend their friendship...and possibly begin a new relationship after they catch the man that shot her?
Will eventually be Morgan/Garcia
Please R&R
Enjoy
Hotch groaned he could hear an annoying beeping sound but he couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It seemed like he had just lain down to get some sleep since he and the BAU team hadn't gotten back from their case until nine pm. Hotch stretched out his hand and groped for his cell phone that was on the night stand beside his bed. He could feel his wife, Haley, starting to wake up beside him.
As Hotch finally found his phone he got a glance at the alarm clock beside his bed, it was three am. He rubbed his eyes as he pressed talk on the phone. It couldn't possibly be J.J. with another case for them; she would be at her own home right now, no doubt sleeping.
"Hello" he said into the phone, trying to erase the sleep from his voice as he sat up in bed.
"SSA Aaron Hotchner?" the voice on the other end asked.
"Yes" Hotch said "Who is this?"
"Sergeant Baker, first responder to a shooting at 5th and Vermont Street" the voice said.
Hotch raked his brain, he knew that intersection for some reason but he couldn't remember how. "The BAU doesn't deal with local shootings" he said into the phone annoyed that someone would wake him up for this.
"I know" Sergeant Baker responded "that's not why I'm calling."
Hotch almost groaned out loud, it was three am, couldn't whatever this was for wait?
"The victim of the shooting has been rushed to hospital but before they took her I got a look at her credentials. It says she is an employee of the BAU, Penelope Garcia, and I thought I should call you because if it was one of my men I would want to know" the Sergeant continued.
Hotch was on his feet in seconds "You're right I would want to know. Thank you for calling. Do you know what hospital they took her too?" Hotch asked.
The Sergeant gave him the address to the hospital and Hotch thanked him for calling.
"Who was that honey?" Haley asked from the bed.
"Garcia, are Tech Analyst, was shot. They are rushing her to hospital right now. I have to inform the team." Hotch said bending down and giving her a kiss.
"Go" she said in understanding.
"Thanks" he said "I'll call you if anything happens."
...
Hotch stood pacing in the waiting area of the hospital. He had called everyone on the BAU team and they were on their way to the hospital now.
Rossi was the first one to get there. "Hey" he said coming to stand beside Hotch "Have they said anything?"
"No" Hotch replied, he had tried to talk to one of the nurses but she had just brushed past him. She had looked worried and so he was feeling worried.
"Relax" Rossi said "Stressing about it isn't going to change anything."
"I know" Hotch said with a sigh "I just can't help wondering why she was targeted. The officer that was filling out paperwork when I got here said it looked like a mugging but something about that just isn't sitting right."
"We'll be able to find out more once Garcia is out of surgery" Rossi said.
Hotch furrowed his brow "I spoke to one of the paramedics that brought her in, it doesn't look good."
"She'll make it" Rossi said knowing where his thoughts were headed "Garcia is a fighter."
Hotch nodded just as Prentiss and Reid showed up.
"Any news?" Reid asked.
"No" Hotch responded "She's still in surgery."
The four of them worriedly sat in the waiting room waiting for news.
Finally the silence was too much for Prentiss "Where are J.J. and Morgan?" she asked. She had been wondering about that since she had got to the hospital, she was sure Morgan would have been the first one here since he and Garcia were best friends.
"J.J. is on her way but I haven't been able to get a hold of Morgan" Hotch explained.
"I know the last case for him was stressing" Rossi said.
"I'll give him a call" Reid said standing up "He'll want to be here."
Just as Reid left to find a safe place to use his cell phone J.J. ran in.
"Is Pen okay?" J.J. asked breathlessly "Has there been any updates?"
Hotch updated her on what was happening.
Reid came back into the waiting room after about ten minutes; he shook his head "Morgan's cell just keeps going to voice mail."
"Where the hell is he?" Prentiss asked in confusion.
No one had an answer for her.
...
It had been three hours since Garcia had gone into surgery. The mood in the waiting room was a tense one; the BAU team were not used to just sitting and waiting around.
They all looked up as Morgan ran into the waiting room, he was out of breath and he looked frantic.
"I was at the church" he said quietly "My phone was turned off...I didn't know..."
"There was nothing you could have done here" Reid said reassuringly.
"The police got any leads?" Morgan said containing the anger in his voice.
"I spoke to the lead detective, he doesn't think we will get anything from the scene" Hotch explained.
"Penelope Garcia?" a surgeon asked coming out of the operating room closest to them.
"Yes" they all said at the same time.
"The bullet entered into her chest cavity and ricocheted into her abdomen. She lost a lot of blood, it was touch and go for a while but we were able to repair the injuries" the surgeon explained.
"So what are you saying?" J.J. asked.
"One centimetre over and it would have torn and gone through her heart, instead she could actually walk out of her in a couple of days" The surgeon finished with a smile. There was a collective sigh throughout the room. "It's a miracle really." he continued "She needs her rest but you can see her in the morning."
"Thank you" J.J. said as the surgeon walked away.
The team took a minute to collect and store that information before Hotch spoke up "David and I will go to the scene. I think the rest of you should be here when she wakes up. I don't care about protocol, I don't care if we aren't officially working the case or not, we do not touch any knew cases until we find out who did this."
They all nodded in agreement.
...
Meanwhile Garcia had been moved to a private room. The drugs that they had put her under with were starting to wear off. Her mind kept going back to the moment she had been shot and replying it over and over again in her head.
"Hey Garcia."
She smiled to herself and stopped.
"I've wanted to do this all night."
Her heart sped up a beat, she turned around thinking he was going to kiss her and bang. She felt the pain through her chest. She fell to the ground and blacked out.
Garcia opened her eyes with a gasp.
She was lying in a hospital bed not on the steps of her apartment.
She looked up and saw through the glass doors of her room that everyone on the team except for Hotch and Rossi, were sitting out in the waiting room. They were talking, of course she couldn't hear what they were talking about but when she looked around at their faces she could see they all looked worried.
Her glaze fell on Morgan, he looked angry. Garcia turned away before he could catch her looking.
Memories from a few days before went through her head.
"Morning Princess" Morgan said as Garcia walked through the door on her way to her office.
"Morning" she replied not really thinking.
"Pump...your brakes" Morgan said and Garcia stopped where she was.
She turned around and looked at him, wondering what he wanted, her mind too busy to really think about it.
He looked at her and beckoned her forward.
"Every day I say good morning, every day you say 'I'll show you a good morning hot stuff' every day, not today?" Morgan questioned doing a pretty good imitation of her.
"I hate profilers, do you know that?" she asked not looking him in the eye.
"Spit it out" he said not changing the subject.
She sighed, what was she supposed to say.
Morgan gave her a look saying he was going to drop it until she told him.
"Fine...I met a guy." she said hoping to god she wouldn't blush.
"You did what?" he asked "Where?"
"At a coffee shop. He was smoking hot and I fixed his computer then he asked me for my number" She explained.
"And you just gave it to him?" he asked.
"Yeah a complete stranger I know. Did I mention he was smoking hot?" she asked.
"Uh yeah you did" he said.
Garcia's heart was still in a flutter, her brain was cluttered with so many thoughts of how it was so unbelievable.
Morgan shrugged "Well it happens" he said beginning to move away.
"No it doesn't" she said and Morgan turned back to her "Not to me at least. I'm not the type of girl men see from across the bar and write songs about."
"Sweetheart..." he began but she cut him off.
"No, it's fine" She said.
"Then what's the problem?" he asked.
She shrugged "I dunno, it just seems so unreal. What do you think?"
"I think you should always go with your gut" he said "If it doesn't feel right to you then say no. So if he seems a little too smooth or a little too smoking hot then you should just walk away."
J.J. walked through the doors the next moment "Morgan I need you in the conference room" she said, ending their conversation.
...
Garcia was sitting at her desk talking to Morgan, who she had just called to tell him she had found ten victims that matched the profile and sent him the information about them.
Once she had told him all she knew she said goodbye and went to hang up the phone.
"Hey Whoa Babygirl" Morgan said "What no snappy retort? What's going on?"
"Not in the mood" she said simply.
"Penelope" he said seriously "what's wrong?"
Garcia took a deep breath "That guy I told you about just gave me a call and asked me out on a date but I took your advice and said no."
"Well good for you" he said "Something was definitely wrong with that guy."
Garcia felt stung; she didn't say anything for a moment. She felt betrayal, how could Morgan say that to her? She thought he was her friend.
"Wow" Garcia stated, trying to keep her anger in check "You are some profiler huh? You could see how bad he was for me with only the small amount of information I gave you."
"Garcia I didn't mean..." Morgan began.
"I wonder" she said cutting him off "Was it that he was too handsome or too interested in me that tipped you off on how wrong he was...hmm?"
"Garcia I..." he tried again.
"Just because you wouldn't cross a crowded room to hit on me doesn't mean that a more perceptive, less superficial guy wouldn't. Hey Derek you want snappy. You Suck." Garcia almost yelled slamming the receiver down with all her might.
She took a moment to calm herself then she reached for the phone number she had previously thrown out and dialled the number. She didn't give a fuck what Morgan said, she was going to show that the guy she met was right for her.
Garcia stopped herself before her mind could go to just how she showed Morgan that guy was right for her.
Yeah she had definitely showed Morgan, she had showed him he was totally right by going and getting herself shot.
She still felt angry with Morgan, more because she was defensive about the whole situation. She hated the fact that he had been proven right. Most of all she hated that because he was right what he said was true. No good looking guy would go out of their way to talk to her unless there was something wrong with them. He hadn't said those exact words but he had implied them.
The door opened and a nurse walked in "Oh" she said "You're awake. How are you feeling?"
"My chest hurts a bit." Garcia said.
The nurse nodded "I'll get you something for the pain. I'll go send your friends in, I know they are eager to see you."
"Wait" Garcia said before the nurse could leave, she didn't want to face Morgan right now "Please tell them I only want to see J.J...Jenifer right now."
"Are you sure dear?" the nurse asked.
"Yes" Garcia said looking out at Morgan again; she definitely couldn't see him yet.
...
"Your friend is awake" the nurse told the BAU team and they all stood up. "But" the nurse continued stopping them in their tracks "she said she would only like to see...J.J. at the moment."
Morgan frowned and went to walk past the women.
"Please Sir" the nurse said "your friend doesn't need any stress right now; she is in a fragile state. Please respect her wishes."
"She's right Morgan" Prentiss said "I'm sure she'll call all of us when she's ready to talk to us."
Prentiss and Reid didn't seem to be taking it personally but it felt personal to him. The last time he had spoke to Garcia they had fought. He wanted to apologize and be there for her but it looked like she didn't want to see him.
Was she still mad at him? He wondered.