A Little Appreciation: A Criminal Minds Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Criminal Minds' nor anything pertaining to the franchise. If I did, there'd be a series you'd be watching that would simply be one-shot episodes of 'what-if's' or alternate endings of sorts.
"Hello my chocolate Adonis. How are you this fine, fine morning?" She very pointedly looked the man over as he fixed up a pile of paperwork.
"Not now Garcia; I've got to run these for Strauss, and tone down on the pet names alright?"
"Okay, Cupcake. I'll talk to you later than."
"Garica." He warned, his attention being claimed by the folders in his hand a moment later.
Penelope Garcia understood that Derek was under a bit of pressure lately but he had been so rude to her during the last few weeks. Yes, he had just finished up acting as Unit Chief while Aaron was away, but the team was back to their normal dynamics now, asides from Derek. He had always confided in her, loved the pet names and had expected her to always be her bubbly self no matter what was going on in her life. She was getting fed up with the way he was treating her and had honestly thought about cutting ties with her best friend. It would hurt her, surely, but the pain of being rejected by her Hot Stuff each day was wearing her down.
"Hey beautiful, are you alright?" Penelope turned around, completely and utterly surprised when she saw a young man standing there.
"Oh, sorry. Can I help you with anything?"
"I'm sure you can beautiful." He said with a wink. "I'm looking for my brother: Derek Morgan?" Penelope did a double take. No wonder the man looked familiar. Standing before her was a younger, lighter Derek Morgan; he wasn't a splitting image of the man but they did share enough resemblance.
"Wowser. You're the elusive and ever mysterious younger brother?"
"If you want, we could get together later and I'll become a little less mysterious?"
"You sound exactly like your brother." Samuel 'Sammy' Morgan knew he sounded like his brother; that was what he was aiming for. He also knew where his brother was, having heard the brief conversation between Derek and Penelope.
"You must be the one and only Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia. If I had a penny, well, I could only pray that she was as gorgeous as you."
"Smooth talker, are you? Well you have me completely charmed. Your brother's a little busy at the moment. You might be able to catch him in an hour or two. I think you better speak to Special Agent Rossi though; let him know that you're here."
"Thank you beautiful. Do you mind showing me where?"
"No problem..."
"Samuel or Sam or Sammy; you can call me whatever you like though beautiful."
"No problem Sammy. Follow me."
"Anywhere beautiful." Penelope laughed. Samuel Morgan had just made her entire day brighter. When they arrived at David's office, she knocked before going in.
"Good morning Kitten. What have I done to deserve a personal greeting?"
"You make it sound as if I purposely go out of my way to avoid you. You've got a visitor. Come on in Sammy."
"Hello Agent Rossi, I'm Samuel Morgan. This beautiful woman said I should probably let you know that I was here. I'm just waiting on my brother." David eyed the man critically. He was well-dressed; expensive clothes, held himself with confidence and was as much of a ladies' man as his brother it seemed. David stood up and made his way around his desk, arm outstretched to meet the man's as they shook hands.
"I'm Special Agent David Rossi. It's good to meet you. Your brother's mentioned you a few times. What is it you do again?"
"Don't let the clothes fool you; they have nothing to do with my work. I just have a fine taste in everything." He winked, once again, at Penelope. "I'm a Detective over in Chicago, Sir."
"I'll leave you to it. It was nice to meet you Sammy."
"Nice is one word for it beautiful. It was also a pleasure taking you to dinner tonight as well."
"Oh, you're good. I'd love to,"
"But?"
"But I'm not leaving this building at all tonight and we've only just met."
"Need company?" He offered with a smile.
"Go on Garcia, you need to get back to work." David interrupted.
"Yes Sir." She turned around and walked out the door without looking back. David watched Samuel as he looked at the door before shaking his head.
"Where on Earth did that woman come from?"
"No one's certain. She's a character."
"My brother's always speaking about her; I can see why now. My sisters and I thought he was exaggerating about her but she really is perfect, isn't she?"
"You've only just met her." David was getting a weird vibe from Derek's baby brother and decided to try and get a little more of an insight into the mind of Samuel Morgan.
"I'm a pretty good judge of character. You need to be in any line of law enforcement. I'm not a big, hot-shot profiler but I do a decent enough job."
"Why did you need to see your brother?"
"There's a problem in Chicago. We've got a killer who has been crossing borders for the last ten years, at the very least, and killing in four separate states."
"Obviously Illinois. Where else?"
"We've gotten reports in from Macon, Davenport and Rochester recently."
"Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri. How do you know they're linked?"
"Exact same M.O."
"Why has it taken so long for someone to make a connection?"
"You know what cops are like. Every Chief of Police thinks he can handle everything; there's no communication between the stations in different jurisdictions."
"Who made the connection?"
"I did Sir."
"Does your boss know you're here?"
"Yes Sir. He didn't want me to get the FBI involved but he eventually conceded."
"What made him change his mind?"
"I asked if negligence could be misconstrued as accessory to murder." David nodded his head, a small smile on his face. Morgan's baby brother was a smart cookie.
"I'll call your brother in and inform my team of a new case. We'll have a preliminary briefing: you tell us all you know and we'll get Agent Garcia to cross-reference everything you say."
"Whoever he is, he'll be in Chicago for a while. He leaves three bodies every time and usually within the span of three months."
"Then moves onto the next state. Is it always in the same area?"
"No Sir. Not until now. Chicago is the only place he's ever returned to."
"Hmmmm. Our briefing room is down the hall; has a big sign, you can't miss it."
"Thank you, Sir."
''
"Sam? What are you doing here?"
"What? I can't fly to Virginia to visit my big brother?"
"It's good to see you little bro." Derek hugged his brother briefly. "But why are you here, really?"
"You're about to find out. Agent Rossi has called a meeting. Rather than having to repeat myself once more, you can wait for a few more minutes."
"The brief room's just down here."
"So, didn't see you anywhere when I got here. Where were you hiding?"
"I was doing the paperwork rounds for the big boss."
They entered the briefing room where nearly everyone had assembled.
"Okay, Garcia needs to finish up some work for Team B and she'll join us then. This is Detective Samuel Morgan, Chicago PD." David introduced.
"We've got a serial killer down in Chicago at the moment. We need your help. This perp has eluded police for ten years. He has a distinctive pattern. We have a limited time frame to find him. Every three months he moves to a different location within Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. He leaves three bodies behind each and every time. The cycle repeats. The victims seem random; I haven't been able to find any connections between any of them. Their ages, gender, race, all of it differs in all of the four states."
"How do you know it's the same perp?"
"His M.O.; It doesn't look like anything special on the surface but looking through the coroners' reports I was able to find that he leaves a distinctive mark that has always been overlooked with each and every victim. I was able to get a friend from Missouri to get a hold of the reports needed; the victims over there were all marked."
"Three victims every three months for ten years? That's one-hundred and twenty victims. That would make him one of the most advanced serial killers if his work hasn't been noticed until now and, since he hasn't minded being unnoticed, he'll continue." Spencer said.
"He has broken his pattern though: he's never returned to the same area before; not until now. He was in Chicago three years ago. I've got no idea why he's returned but something must have set off a trigger."
"When did you find his last victim?" Aaron asked.
"A week and a half ago; thereabouts."
"So we have a little less than three weeks before another victim turns up."
"Yes. I've tried my best to-"
"Sorry." Penelope said, setting her laptop down on the desk before hooking it up to the projector. "Don't mind me. Keep going."
"No apologies needed beautiful, though I don't object to minding you." Derek shot his brother a look, one that clearly asked 'what the hell did you just say to her?' while Aaron shot the man a look of disapproval before clearing his throat and telling him to continue.
"Right. Sorry. I've tried my best to get the information on the victims from the other states but they've been reluctant to share." Jennifer and Emily looked at each other, questioning the other about the younger Morgan's words.
"Garcia, I need you to look into coroners' reports in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Chicago within the last ten years. The victims were marked."
"Yes Sir." David brought the blinds down in the room and Penelope projected her computer screen on the window. The team watched as she worked her magic.
"Can I get anything more specific? Each area has an insane amount of victims that have been marked."
"It might be noted down as a birthmark."
"A birthmark?" Aaron questioned.
"That's what some of the marks have been written down as. I don't know how anyone could believe that more than ten people had the exact same birthmark in the same state but details get overlooked."
"Statistically, birthmarks are a rather likely occurrence: the main two types being vascular birthmarks and hemangiomas. They're generally deeper than just the surface of the skin, so the likelihood of them being classified as such is odd in and of itself." Spencer said.
"Okay. I've got a collective amount of over one hundred and sixty."
"Were all the victims identified?"
"No."
"Garcia?"
"Just send me the ages of the suspected victims; a post-mortem photo would be good as well."
"Wheels up in twenty; we'll take the jet." Everyone left to grab their go-bags. "Garcia, are you joining us?" Aaron asked.
"I can work from wherever you want me to Boss-man."
"I think it would be beneficial if she were to join us in Chicago. She'd have access to all of our records in person; be able to travel to the other stations if need be. It would be more convenient." Samuel said.
"Meet us in five." Hotch said to Penelope.
"Gotch'ya Boss-man." Penelope made her way down the hall and entered her lair. Aaron turned to Samuel.
"This is an official investigation. Agent Garcia is an Agent. This is not some play date. You keep it professional, Detective Morgan. Understood?"
"Yes Sir. I meant no disrespect or to cause offense." Samuel said.
"Then you will address my Agents with the respect they deserve and nothing less." Aaron then walked out of the briefing room, grabbing his go-bag from his office and making his way to the SUV's out front.
Samuel watched in slight disbelief as Agent Hotchner left the room. He wondered whether or not his brother got into trouble about the way he acted with Penelope.
''
"So what are you doing now? I thought you weren't supposed to use electronics while flying."
"That's a myth, Detective. Right now, I'm assisting with some other cases." Garcia said, a playfully mocking tone to her voice.
"They keep you busy there at the BAU don't they?" Samuel asked.
"I live to please and please I do."
"I've got no doubts. I'll be quiet now; let you do your thing. Do you mind if I take this seat?"
"Go ahead. No one's sitting there at the moment."
"Thanks."
Meanwhile, everyone on the plane was listening to every single thing that Samuel Morgan said to Penelope.
"Okay. Derek, has she met your brother before?" JJ asked.
"No."
"He is acting pretty chummy with her, isn't he?" Emily added.
"Do you think anything will happen?" JJ questioned.
"I don't know JJ; there is a sort of chemistry there. Seems all the Morgan's were gifted with charisma and charm."
"Hey, there won't be anything going on between them, alright?" Derek said, getting steadily annoyed by the women's speculations.
"Oh, come on Morgan. Look at him: your brother is absolutely mesmerised by your Baby Girl. Seems you both have a thing for technical analysts who answer to the name Garcia."
"Watch it Prentiss."
"I'm just saying."
"Well you can stop."
"Okay, okay." Emily and JJ got up and made their way to the little kitchen area to make a coffee, glancing back at Samuel who was watching Penelope in awe as she typed away at insane speeds and smirking with each piece of information she sent.
"Are we all watching after little Morgan?" David asked. The two women turned around to speak to him.
"It's going to get interesting." Emily said.
"We going to make bets?" JJ asked.
"He already made a move and that was in front of me in my office." David informed them.
"Did he really? The man works fast." Emily laughed, knowing this was going to get good if she kept her eye on things.
''
"Hey Baby Girl, need help?" Derek asked. He'd made his way over the moment the jet ha landed, intent on offering his assistance.
"No thank you, Agent Morgan." Derek's smile fell from his face the second he heard her say 'Agent'. Now, he knew he had been nothing less than a jerk to her these last couple of weeks, and though he didn't mean to, he had been taking his frustrations out on his Baby Girl. There was only so much she would take and it seemed as if he'd finally pushed too hard.
"Penelope, Baby Girl, don't be like that."
"Sorry Agent Morgan, I need to get to work. Oh, and tone down on the pet names okay?" Penelope walked off, carrying all of her luggage as she made her way to one of the SUV's. Derek went to follow her.
"Hey bro, everything alright?" He almost bristled at his younger brother's voice. There goes that plan he thought.
"Yeah man. We better get to the station. You riding with me?"
"Nah bro. There's a spare seat in that one there and it is calling my name. See you when we get there." Derek watched as his brother ran over to Penelope, snatching her bags up and carefully loading them into the boot of the car; Penelope smiling at the younger Morgan the whole time.
"What the hell do you think you're doing Sam?" Derek questioned under his breath.
''
"I've taken the time to update and properly catalogue all your files so they should be easier to access and you'll have all the relevant information for each and every case since computers were commercially used." Penelope informed the stunned Police Chief of Chicago.
"How on Earth were you able to do that?" The man asked her.
"You may bow down before me Mortal for I am 'The Oracle'." She said. "Mistress of all things techy and the Divine Goddess of the Fountain of Knowledge." Chief Andrews laughed in disbelief as Penelope gave him a crash course in how to use it. "Simple enough?"
"I think I'm going to have a talk with your boss; see if I can make a deal. If we can have you, he can have some of my people."
"You're making me blush." She said with a laugh. The older man just shook his head as he had a turn at pulling up information on small time crims that he knew were in the system.
Aaron and David watched on with smiles.
"Kitten's got everyone she meets wrapped around her fingers."
"She's a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure." Aaron replied.
"What do you think about Samuel?" Both Agents looked towards a desk up by the back corner. The man in question was rearranging files over his desk while sporadically looking over to Penelope.
"I warned him before we left but I've a feeling that he's still going to try. What did the girls say about Derek?"
"Well our Morgan is not happy that his little brother is enchanted with our kitten."
"We've got a case to solve. Let's try to stay focused." Aaron cautioned. David nodded his head and the two went their separate ways to continue investigating.
''
"I've identified thirty victims so far Boss-man. You might want to come over here. The age range, as Sammy told us, is random; as is the gender, race, occupations and just about everything else." She brought up the list of names she currently had. "That second list there is a compilation of the victims' families who I think you should talk with."
"Garcia, there's only seven names."
"I know Boss-man, but the other twenty-three have no connections whatsoever."
"You found a connection?"
"Not a solid one but I'm almost certain that those seven have met one or the other at some point before their deaths." She pulled up another screen depicting a map with circles. "The purple overlap of circles is the area that these seven live." She said in way of explanation. "The dots are obviously all the victims I've ID'd so far." She brought the map out, showing the extensive map out of the victim's geography.
"Good work Garcia. Have a break. You've been at that screen since before we even landed: boss's orders."
"Whatever you say Boss-man!" She said, looking through a few more missing person's files before getting ready to head off and get some food. "Hey, Junior G-man. What are you up to?" She asked, passing by an office that held the young genius.
"Oh, hey Penelope. I'm trying to triangulate the possible location of the next victim."
"Here." She said, gently moving the man to the side as she brought up her map. "This might help. I just showed Hotch what I've been up to. Any good?"
"It's brilliant Pen." The genius said sincerely. "Seven? That's odd; and all of them are within a one-hundred and four-mile radius; that's less than an hour drive between them." He paused. "The dates don't make sense though. Some of them are from the early thousands, some are from the nineties and there's two from the year before last."
"I'll leave you to it Spence."
"Yeah." The genius replied, thoroughly immersed in the graph that Penelope had designed.
"Go get 'em Junior G-man!"
''
Authors Note: Okay, so I took the liberty of adding in a fictional brother for Morgan. I wrote this years ago and found it in the deepest recesses of my hard-drive. Hope you've enjoyed this. I do plan on continuing it, though. I thought it was a good enough idea to run with so, as I've said with most of my stories: here's to hoping this'll be seen to completion at an efficient rate! Thank you all!