Disclaimer: Don't own them.
The day started out as a normal day; nothing was out of place or off. There weren't any funny feelings or weird vibes to indicate that something big was about to announce itself. It was like the calm before the storm, you never saw it coming. The prelude's beauty fooled you into believing that nothing was going to happen. JJ spoke of her adventures of being a mother, Emily talked about her lack or love life and uneventful dates, and Penelope discussed how things were progressing smoothly with Kevin. This was there thing to do when they had break and this was all they did, but it made them happy and it made them feel normal. The guys weren't really as happy as they were (even though Emily had to admit she had an uneventful love life--she still tried). Hotch gave up on having a personal life besides Jack, Rossi didn't much care for one anymore, Reid was still finding his way, and Morgan filled his emptiness with meaningless sex.
"How do I pick these guys? I mean this man really thought he was God's gift to women." Prentiss said unbelievingly. "He just would not stop about how "great" he was."
"I thought you were repulsed by guys like that?" JJ said as she smirked at Emily.
"I am. He wasn't like that until we got on the date. I just thought he was confident and successful not self-centered and egotistical." The ladies all shared a knowing look that said they've dated a guy like him at one point in time.
"I'm so glad I don't deal with anymore; Kevin is a great boyfriend." Garcia gushed before she sipped her coffee.
"Yeah, he is such a sweetheart." Emily added as she thought about how happy Penelope has become since dating Kevin.
"And he adores you." JJ contributed.
As they spoke, Emily's line of vision started to concentrate on someone. Usually they wouldn't have paid attention to Emily's divided attention since she did it to keep her observational skills in tip top condition, but she seemed to be enraptured by this person's presence. Her fellow co-workers turned to see who Emily was so intrigued by.
"Who is that?" Emily whispered as she looked at the woman who strutted into the bullpen as if she belonged there. Her attire was definitely not work attire. The woman wore tight black leather pants with four-inch matching boots, a white tight tank top that reached her belly button, and a leather black jacket that matched the pants as well and stopped at the belly button too. You can tell that she worked out regularly from the six pack that showed where there was open skin. And when you looked at her face, everything fell into place. She was absolutely magnificent. The woman had doll like features, but seemed to portray a don't-fuck-with-me kind of look. Her eyes were light-blue, almost gray and her hair was jet black, most likely dyed, but looked good on her. The hairstyle she wore was a short cut which was feathered. And when she turned around, you could see a pair of wings on her lower back. Altogether she looked flawless. A nonchalance radiated off of her. You could tell that she had emotion and cared, but she wouldn't let you know she did.
"I don't know, but I know she sure as hell doesn't work here." JJ said as she stared at the woman. The men couldn't keep their eyes off of her. It could be they weren't used to seeing women dressed like she was at work everyday.
Garcia kind of felt intimidated by her. It was women such as the one who just walked in who always made her feel as if she wasn't good enough; that she had to look like them in order to be pretty. They very skinny and incredibly pretty and could eat anything without gaining weight. They always made her feel like a loser for liking the things that she did and for not being interested in sports or at least pretending to be interested.
The woman walked over to them. "Excuse me, ladies, do you know where Derek is?"
'It figures', they all thought to themselves. Even her voice was sexy and seductive.
"Umm...I think he went..." JJ started but was soon interrupted by Morgan.
"Hey TT, I wasn't expecting you to be here so early." Morgan said as he approached the woman now known as TT before giving her a brief, but incredibly passionate kiss. She returned in like and you could tell them both of them enjoyed it very much.
"Yeah, well, I wanted to surprise you and to finally see where you worked." TT hooked her thumbs in the respective pockets while she glanced around somewhat. Morgan looked at her and grinned.
"All you had to do was ask." He crossed his arms and leaned back against a random desk.
"Where would the fun in that be?" She walked closer to him and invaded his personal space which he didn't seem to mind one bit.
They exchanged a few whispers before Morgan acknowledged his co-workers.
"JJ, Baby Girl, and Emily, this is my girlfriend Sam, and Sam, these are my friends JJ, Penelope aka Baby Girl, and Emily." He pointed to each woman as he said their names.
Emily was the first to get up and greet Sam. "Hi." A hand was extended in Sam's direction.
Derek could feel it coming; Emily's unwavering observational skills about to make itself known. Rarely did she let it slid when she noticed something unless she was unsure.
"Didn't Morgan call you TT?" Emily asked as she slid a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, short for Aphrodite. He said my beauty and sexual fierceness was similar to the goddess and has been calling me TT ever since then." Sam said as she smiled shyly. The agents in the room could see she wasn't all confidence and no weakness as the first suspected, but then again, this is Morgan they were talking about; he grew up with women.
Penelope felt a sting of jealously. Morgan had called her goddess, but never by a specific name. Never did he say she resembled Aphrodite or any other goddess for that matter. It was always some generic named that could be used on another woman, whereas TT could only be used on Sam. She knew what it meant which also meant they've been together long enough to establish cute little pet names. But, she is forgetting the major point here: Morgan has a girlfriend, not fling, but girlfriend as he introduced her a such. Not only that, but she came to his work place and he didn't mind. He offered to show her around and introduced her to his co-workers who he called friends. This was big and she was not overreacting because Derek had a phobia of commitment and he sure as hell didn't mind showing his feelings for her.
As much as the computer tech tried to push the irrational feelings away, she couldn't. Yes, she may have had a boyfriend, but she once loved Derek. She had given up any thought of being with him because she thought he was unable to stay in a steady relationship. She thought he would run away when things got serious because he was a play boy not the dedicated boyfriend type. Yet, here he was with this woman he was obviously committed to. Penelope shook her thoughts and tuned back into the conversations.
"...we met at a tattoo parlor. Derek was getting a couple of tattoos touched up and a new one and I happened to be his tattoo artist." Sam explained as she recalled the day that they met. "After I touched him up, he asked me to give him a tat of a ex-girlfriend's name and I told him it sounded too cliche and he should try something new, so he gave my permission to be creative and I put mine instead...I know, not that creative, but I had to get his attention somehow."
"So, how long how you two been together?" Penelope asked innocently.
"About eight months or so." Morgan said proudly as he tugged at Sam by her belt loop.
"Wow." Emily said in amazement. "Who would have thought? So, are the both of you preparing to meet each others family?"
It was a semi-loaded question depending on how one looked at it? The question may have looked innocent, but Emily was testing the waters to see how "committed" Morgan really was. Although Morgan may have not worn his heart on his sleeve like Penelope did, one could still tell he felt the same way about her at one point in time as she did him, if not more. They had a strong relationship that was both deep and caring. The two made each other laugh and had one another's back. Emily couldn't pinpoint what exactly happened along the way that it affected the relationship so much to a point where they no longer communicated. It was before Kevin--she knew it, just not when it happened. After Penelope met Kevin, they inseparable duo no longer divulged in their usual antics that was older than her membership to the BAU. The two slowly began to drift apart more and more until they became obsolete to the other. No one on the team would dare ask them about it because it was not as if their antics had affected the team in anyway besides keeping the entertained. The vibe definitely wasn't the same, but it wasn't their business to get involved into whatever it was going on between the two agents. This thing with Morgan was totally unexpected. Prentiss had to mentally chastise herself for not noticed the subtle, but apparent changes. If she had, she may have seen this coming--she may have seen her coming. Nothing noticeably had changed with Morgan; he was still flirtatious but innocently so, he still hung out for drinks, and was still the person she had known him to be, but there were signs: he wasn't responsive to admirers glances and was no longer the "predator" out to get a prey. Never would she had guessed that he found himself a girlfriend.
"Oh, we did that months ago." Sam waved off. "My family loves him. Actually, the second part of our vacation is being spent with our families. We found this huge family discount and we are inviting our parents and brothers and sisters to come down to spend time together--it was Derek's Idea."
"Yeah, we wanted a week to ourselves and, remember my friend with the connections, well he came through again and got up hooked up so we can send our families down the second week." Morgan said excitedly as Sam gave him a kiss for being brilliant.
That was when the ball dropped.
That wasn't just any relationship--it was an actual relationship. One where both the parties involved cared for one another, was meeting families and friends, and going on vacations together. The question went without asking: were they living together? And of course, the answer would be yes. They probably have been shortly before or after meeting the other's respective families.
JJ wasn't sure how to digest the situation as a whole. Derek and Sam and Penelope and Kevin separately was nice, but together...who knew what to think? In the deepest corner of her heart, JJ hoped that a tiny spark might be reignited between the two, that they could get things back to how they used to be, but unfortunately, as the days passed it seemed less and less likely. Penelope was happy with Kevin and Derek was happy with Sam. It was always that way and just like Emily had noticed the changes, JJ did as well, but in her case, she was there from the beginning. She kind of felt guilty for encouraging Penelope to go out with Kevin, she just wanted the computer tech to get out some. Never would have thought it would have worked out so wonderfully. Yes, JJ was ecstatic that the the tech had found a companion, but she should had encouraged her to ask Derek out instead. Penelope might have doubted herself, but it would have wold been worth a try.
After Derek showed Same around the office, he began to walk her out of the office when they bumped into the guys. Small talk had began and pleasantries were exchanged before bombshell raven made of way of exit by entering the elevator after kissing her boyfriend. They laughed at one another and gave cheeky grins--they were head of heels in love.
Before the men of the BAU team spoke the women of the team, they all shared a look that asked: how did we miss the signs? When did this happen?
It was just the first blow; you know, the one that stuns you before the real knockout punch.
It was the first blow that made Penelope realize that she hadn't gotten over Morgan like she thought. She had fooled herself into believing she was happy because he wasn't in a serious relationship. The blow gave her the courage to contemplate the validity of her feelings for Kevin and shoved her to confront Derek about their once close relationship. She would wait until his vacation was over and tell him about her recent decisions. He decisions to dump Kevin and stop living a lie, to realize her cowardice where their relationship was concerned, and how she still loved him and wanted to give them a chance. It saddened her to live behind fear and deny herself happiness, so she decided to take a chance and dive in.
"Where is Morgan at?" Reid asked as they sat around the conference table ready discuss their first case after their two week vacation.
"He won't be joining us, until the end of the month." Hotch said as he wore his usual omnipresent stoic expression. "Apparently congratulations is in order; he and Sam got married last week. Morgan says that he's sorry that you all were unable to be there, but it was sort of a spur of the moment type thing. Enough of that, let's get back at the case at hand."
Despite that being said, all the agents minds were on Morgan's nuptials and how Garcia might be mentally reacting to this recent information.