Disclaimers: Because i always forget to mention it ... I don't own a thing.
A/N: Thanks to all who read and alert. You are awesome. Plus, huge thanks to my beta LoveForPenandDerek, who manages to make something acceptable out of the mess I tend to send her. LOL
Tamara Barnes looked absolutely stunning, as usual, when she walked across the BAU bullpen. Penelope might not be her biggest fan, but she would always acknowledge the truth. Penelope figured she herself probably looked like she hadn't slept all night – which actually was true – and no makeup could hide the bags under her eyes.
Tamara had no bags. Tamara, lucky woman, had no physical flaws at all that Penelope could see. Even at 7:10 am she was fresh faced and practically glowing.
She had this whole tall, slender, gorgeous thing going on for her, completed with the smart dressing in dress pants and blouses, looking more like business woman than anything else.
Penelope watched Tamara flash a big smile for Morgan and then, when she spotted Penelope, the smile became a thin line. It looked like the feeling was mutual when it came to how the two women in Derek Morgan's life felt about each other.
There was certainly no love lost between them.
Tamara didn't bother to spare a hello to Penelope. Instead she just focused back on Derek and said "Morgan, darling, you forgot your watch at my place last night. I thought I drop it off at your place, but you had already left. So I decided to bring it here, figuring that this would be the most likely place to catch you," she smiled, at Morgan, ignoring Penelope and handing him the watch.
"Thanks. I was wondering where I left it actually," he smiled at Tamara, and Penelope could be wrong, but to her it seemed as if the smile he had given her earlier was way brighter than the one he shot Tamara.
She saw him turning towards her again, as if he just remembered something. "You were saying something, Penelope. Sorry. You wanted to ask me a favor?" he asked, smiling at her and Penelope looked at Tamara for a moment, who had been standing with her back towards Penelope.
"Oh, Penelope, I didn't see you there," she sing sang and Penelope was hardly able to repress the rolling of her eyes.
"Oh, I get that all the time. People not seeing me, given that I am so … low-key," she smiled back, knowing that Tamara was just faking her sorry expression. What a bitch.
Penelope turned her attention back to Derek. "I … it can wait. I just … uh...I better get back to my lair and get started on some searches for Hotch." She smiled at Morgan, before turning around, and leaving the two of them together.
"But we don't even have a case," she heard Morgan arguing, sounding a bit confused.
It didn't matter, she just walked further, a bit quicker, until she reached the safe walls of her bunker. She was tempted to close the door but somehow the little voyeur in her wanted to leave it open- knowing she had the perfect spot of watching them without being noticed much.
She, of course, couldn't hear much, being too far away, but what she saw alone made her wonder. What had happened to her best friend? He stood next to Tamara like a devoted puppy, seeming all home-y and tame. She knew that with the right girl Morgan eventually would calm down and get a bit tamer in his wild ways but this was ridiculous. Tamara was neither the 'right girl' nor was what she witnessed right. It was like he was a completely different person. How did Tamara manage to get him from 'notorious player' to this?
After witnessing them for a good ten minutes she eventually closed the door, not being able to watch it any longer. It somehow hurt her to see Morgan like that, so … tied down. She knew her best friend better than probably most people, knew how he was, knew what he needed. He was like one of these free spirits that needed to be left running free and wild, trusting him to not do any stupid thing. Not be locked down by some needy, clingy, attention-seeking bitch that thought the only way to keep him was to get him to become tame and therefore boring.
Oh, how she missed the old Morgan.
With the outside world shut out of her office, Penelope started typing away on her keyboard, looking up a few things she needed to get arranged for the next few weeks. Being too busy with her searches, she didn't even notice how someone entered the room, just when she felt hands landing on her shoulders she startled, letting out a little scream.
Turning around she saw Morgan standing there, his hands held up in surrender, looking at her apologetic.
"I didn't mean to scare you, Baby Girl. Sorry. But … I did knock," he explained, looking deeply sorry.
"It's ... okay, no worries. I just didn't notice how... time flew by," she said her eyes catching the clock on the wall, seeing it gone past 8 now.
"You plan on escaping DC?" he asked, pointing towards her screens, when she looked at him quizzical.
"Oh, yeah, kind of," she explained vague, making him get suspicious.
"Vacation?"
"Kind of. It's more like … well, that's what I wanted to ask you earlier. But … maybe I just shouldn't. You probably have other plans to begin with," Penelope babbled, not noticing the little smile that spread across his face.
"Well, if you don't ask me, I can't tell you. So why don't you just ask me what I can help you with and I will let you know whether I have time or not. Plus, for you I can always make some time," he grinned, which threw her slightly off. He hadn't grinned at her like that in months.
"Well, it would be more like … a weekend. I have this … reunion coming up, from high school. And I already ditched the last two or three, so this time I guess I should … "
"Show up? Yeah, might be a good idea," he finished her sentence for her.
That was something she loved about them. He was able to read her mind and know what she was thinking almost always.
She looked at him for a moment, wondering she should just ask straight ahead and get it over with.
"I … need a date. Well, not need, but … you know. It kind of sucks to show up there all on your own, and …" she started, feeling more and more stupid with each passing word. She couldn't even look at him. And when again did she think this idea was great?
"So, you wanted to ask me?" Morgan sounded surprised.
"Um … well … I thought, you know, you are probably the only one I could really ask … give that, well… you know what? Forget about it. Forget that I asked. I don't even know what I was thinking when deciding to ask you. I mean, clearly you have … other things to do. And being engaged to Tamara and all that probably isn't really … I'm sorry," she kept on babbling and talking, without even taking a breath.
She just turned around, typing away on her keyboard and hoping she didn't make a complete fool of herself.
She was hoping he would at some point just leave and save her from further embarrassment but she wasn't that lucky. She could hear, feel him standing still behind her chair, not moving an inch.
"So, do I just agree, or do you actually at some point really ask? Given that you actually haven't really asked me yet, I guess that might be an option."
She heard him laugh then turned around and looked at him with surprise and astonishment on her face. Did he actually just agree on coming with her to her stupid high school Reunion?
"You sure? I mean… you don't have to…" she started, seeing him raising his hands.
"I told you, anything for my Baby Girl. When is it actually? And where?" he asked, making her laugh, that he actually agreed to coming with her without even knowing dates or places.
"Saturday in two weeks. San Francisco," she answered, expecting him to somehow pull out, but he just smiled at her.
"Haven't been to the West Coast in quite some time. That will probably be fun," he smiled at her, before leaving her office, leaving Penelope Garcia rather speechless.
She was about to go after him to ask him if he shouldn't maybe consult his future wife before deciding he was in, but decided against it. After all, Derek Morgan was a grown up. If he had decided on coming with her without clearing it with Tamara first, it wasn't her problem. She was just happy he agreed. Maybe not such a bad idea after all.
