Chapter One
Penelope Garcia stood at the airport gate waiting for her 'precious cargo' as she liked to fondly call her baby sister. She pulled out her cell phone and played a game on it while waiting, occasionally looking up to scan the crowd.
After a little while, she looked up and a tall, plus-sized girl with long dark strawberry blonde hair and bangs cut much like her own came into her vision. This girl wore silver-rimmed glasses, a flowy green-paisley peasant blouse with a plunging V-Neck hugging her curves in all the right places, and long dark blue bellbottoms with black open-toe heels.
"Glooorry!!" Garcia called out excitedly, putting her phone in her purse and trotting to meet the younger Garcia girl.
"Penny!" Gloria Garcia exclaimed just as excitedly, calling her sister the sacred name allowed only between them as she held out her arms for the impending hug.
The sisters embraced, and after a moment Garcia backed up and held her sister's shoulders, "Girl, you look fantastic!"
Gloria smiled, flipping her long, full hair back behind her shoulder, "You too, Pen. I wish I were comin' under better circumstances..."
Garcia smiled with her ruby-red lips and shrugged, "It doesn't matter, Glory, you were over-due for a visit anyway."
The women walked arm in arm out of the airport, Gloria dragging her luggage behind her on wheels. Garcia took out her phone and sent a text message to her team-mate from the FBI headquarters, Derek Morgan:
Got the sister, safe and sound.
"Oooh, texting Mr. Morgan, are we?" Gloria grinned, showing off just as beautiful of a smile as her sister's own.
Garcia rolled her eyes good naturedly, "Of course, Pumpkin. He's been keeping tabs since D-Day, today being no exception."
The girls reached Garcia's little red sports car and loaded Gloria's luggage, then got in themselves and started down the freeway.
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" began playing, signifying that Garcia had gotten a text back from Morgan.
"Do me a favor, Angel, and check that for me while I'm driving?" Garicia asked her sister.
Gloria opened up her phone and checked the message, "He says, "Nice, u in for tonite?" Ooh, what's tonight???"
Garcia laughed, "The team's going out for celebratory drinks tonight before we embark on our little trip to Florida - he's been pestering me to join. Didn't really feel like going on my own, since the others probably wouldn't be..."
"Damn, Kevin really wrecked you, hon..." Gloria shook her head. "I think that this is just the thing we Garcia's need! Go dancing and drinking! To hell with Kevin Lynch, Penny, he never deserved you, anyway!"
Garcia couldn't help but throw her head back and howl with laughter, "Fine, kiddo, text him back and let him know we'll be there."
"Kick ass!"
~*~
Nightfall came quickly and both Garcia girls walked into the bar/club, Gloria in a black halter dress with a wide belt and Garcia in a little red haltered number. Gloria had chosen to leave her hair lose with a barette clipped in each side, while Garcia had hers half up and half down, standing slightly spiky in the back.
Morgan turned just in time to see them enter and grinned, "Well, if it isn't Hot Mama and Twisted Sister!"
Gloria's brow raised, "Twisted Sister?"
Morgan smiled and extended a hand, "Agent Derek Morgan, call me Morgan, Derek, just don't call me late for dinner."
"Gloria Garcia, named for the song by our hippie parents," Gloria replied, flashing a peace sign in memory of her parents as she shook Morgan's hand.
"Wow, you two favor somethin' fierce, especially since Garcia here went Red," Morgan commented.
"Ah, but this kitten is still in her twenties, unlike moi," Garcia sighed in mock sadness.
"C'mon, we're all over here," Morgan led them to a multitude of tall tables with the rest of the team sitting on barstools or standing.
"Gloria, this is the team; Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Jennifer Jareau, aka JJ, her man Will Lamontagne, and the baby boy Dr. Spencer Reid," Morgan gestured to each member in turn, "guys, this is Garcia's little sister Gloria."
This elicited small waves, smiles, and hello's. Gloria smiled and waved herself, "Hi!"
Garcia and Gloria walked to the tables and pulled up barstools, perching on them with their legs crossed elegantly.
"So Garcia said you were coming with us to Florida!" JJ said with a smile.
Gloria nodded, "Yep, I'm excited! I haven't seen the ocean in ages..."
"Jayje, might wanna pack some extra sunscreen; this one burns like the Sahara when exposed to sunlight. I've begun to wonder if she's a vampire..." Garcia winked, Gloria playfully shoving her.
"Not like you're any better, Miss Alabaster!" Gloria chided in a sing-song voice.
JJ laughed, "I get a feeling all three of us will look like lobsters before this gig's over."
"Hey, Garcia, speaking of Vampires, I looked into that Twilight thing you were talking about..." Reid suddenly said out of the blue. "The whole 'sparkling' thing kinda throws me off... that and Bella seems kinda fan-girlish, don't you think?"
"Hey, Mister, don't hate on the sexy vampires!" Garcia mock-scolded the long-haired young man. "Oh god, if only the Cullens were real... dear god, be still my beating heart I would RAPE Carlisle."
Reid's eyes went wide and he blinked, then shook his head as he looked at Morgan, who was beginning to speak.
"So you're lusting for some almost-transparent fictional vampire who could basically kill you with one bite?" he was almost as confused as Reid.
"Oh fear not my Hot Chocolate God, even vampire's can't compare to you," Garica winked and blushed.
Gloria wasn't really sold either way on the Twilight saga, so she opted to stay out of that one and turned back to JJ.
"Is that adorable son of yours coming?" Gloria asked, "Pen's told me so much about Henry."
JJ smiled and appreciated the mention of her son, "Yeah, we're bringing his nanny as well so we can squeeze in a little 'us' time, too," she replied as she leaned back into Will's arms.
"Gosh, Pen talks about the job all the time, I know it's gotta be hell just getting time for you two, let alone little man, too," Gloria commented with a shake of her head.
"Yeah, well, we take what we can get. This week's gonna do us all some good, I think," was JJ's reply. "Hotch is bringing his little boy Jack, too."
"Oh, really?" Gloria turned to the stoic dark-haired man who had been conversing quietly with Prentiss and Rossi.
Hotch looked up at the mentioning of himself and his son and smiled, "Yeah, it'll be his first time seeing the ocean."
Rossi spoke up, "I happened to walk in on Hotch talking to Jack one day and apparently, he wants to be a profiler, too someday."
"Aww, that is so cute!" Prentiss said with a soft smile.
"I bet you're his super hero," Gloria commented, causing Hotch to blush a little along with the small smile that crossed his face.
Suddenly a good beat came on and Morgan got up, tapping Garcia's shoulder as he passed her chair, "C'mon, hot stuff, let's bust a move!"
Garcia couldn't help but cackle as she let the muscular man lead her to the dance floor.
JJ and Will followed not long after. Gloria's peripheral vision showed Prentiss looking around nervously, almost antsy. She wants to ask Hotch to dance!
Gloria thought this was just too cute and moved away from them to make things a bit less awkward, hoping that Rossi would eventually do the same. She looked to the far end of where everyone had been and saw Reid sitting on his own playing with a deck of cards. Her eyebrows went up and she approached him.
"So you go out to bars to play cards?" she asked the young man as she leaned against the table.
"Hm? Oh, well y'know, not much else to do besides enjoy the Scotch," was Reid's feeble reply.
She watched him, with a slide of his hand, make a card disappear. She couldn't help but smile, "Years of practice..."
"Yeah. Magic's kinda a hobby of mine. So's Quantim Mechanics."
"Dang, Penny wasn't fibbing when she said you were a brainiac!" Gloria laughed.
"Well we're all a little eccentric... I think that's why we get along so well," he replied quietly.
"Yeah, I know how my sister can be," she conceided. Suddenly the song changed and she jumped. "Oooh, I love this song! C'mon, let's teach you some new tricks!" she exclaimed and suddenly began tugging on his hand.
"Gloria, I don't dance!" he began to insist in a panicked tone.
"It's easy, babe, just follow my lead," was her cool reply. He eventually caved and followed her to a spot not far from the table. She began moving to the rhythm, making eye contact with Reid and watching in her peripheral as he began to follow her moves, stiffly at first but then more relaxed.
"Yeah, just like that!" she couldn't help but smile.
Reid laughed a little and just kept moving, afraid if he stopped moving now that he would lose his rhythm.
From across the room, Morgan noticed the two dancing and commented to Garcia, "Looks like Twisted Sister's got Reid loosening up."
Garcia couldn't help but peek, "Aw, how darling! Poor kid, white boys just can't dance..."
Morgan laughed heartily, "But you Garcia girls can sure get down!"
"Hell yeah, we can. I taught her everything she knows!"
"Ooh, then Reid's gonna be a sappy little lap-dog before we know it!"
Garcia giggled, "She's not quite as bewitching as I am... she's got the subtle touch of the family."
"Ah, I see."
Garcia sighed, "Reid's just been out there too long... too much crap's happened to him these past few years. He needs this trip just as much as anyone."
"From what you've told me, so does Gloria."
Garcia nodded, "Indeed. Maybe they'll be good for each other."
"Not if Reid don't keep up with the rhythm!" Morgan exclaimed as he began dancing in circles around Garcia.
She laughed, "Oh, you're so bad!"