Chapter 02

DC Combat Labs
Washington DC

Day 02

In less than 24 hours they figured out where Derek Morgan had met Sara Peabody.

It was supposed to be JJ's first full martial arts workout since Michael's birth. She was and was not looking forward to it. She was because she liked the strength and confidence that came with this kind of exercise, especially in the field. She didn't because it was bloody early and she was still pumping, drat it. Her boobs were sore. But the Unsubs would not wait, so two sports bras later walked into the locker room and started getting ready.

Two lockers down another woman was also getting ready. A red head with a now familiar face. "Um, excuse me." JJ said.

"Yeah?" She was a little taller than average, with the kind of athletic figure that JJ envied two kids later.

"Dr. Sara Peabody?"

"Yes?" Now JJ had her attention.

"Um, I'm sorry, this is probably inappropriate but..." JJ offered her hand. "JJ Jareau. How was dinner last night?"

As she expected Dr. Peabody recognized the name. She accepted the offered hand with a smile. "The food was great, the company better. Nice to meet you. How's the baby?"

"Slept all night last night. Doting godfather?"

"Very much so. Please, call me Sara."

"Sara? JJ, please."

"JJ then. First day back?"

"Yeah..." They made friendly small talk while they finished getting ready to hit the floor. Sara seemed personable and open, but somehow the talk kept turning back to Michael and Henry, and off her. Only a profiler would notice though. Still, kids could be a safe topic and she never got personal. Once they were ready they went out together. "Hey Morgan." JJ called to the figure down at the water cooler. "Found out where you know Dr. Peabody from."

"Oh?" He looked up and immediately looked abashed.

"It's okay, he said his friends would likely do a background check. Derek Morgan I presume? Sara Peabody."

"Nice to meet you Sara." Morgan also accepted her hand.

"Nice to meet you. I have to go meet my trainer..."

"Sure." Morgan and JJ watched her walk off.

"She seems nice enough." JJ said

"Reid with a girl who works out?" Morgan replied.

"I don't know. Let's get started."

Twenty minutes later they both realized they were watching Sara work out with her trainer. "Girlfriend's bringing it." Morgan said.

"Yeah, I know. But she doesn't look like she's having fun at all."

"No. But who does at this hour."

Twenty minutes after that they were heading for the ring to spar. Just about the same time Sara was heading over with her trainer. "Looking for a sparring partner?" JJ asked. They were about the same height. Granted Sara had some muscle on her, but not much and she didn't have FBI training.

"Sure." Sara said with a smile.

Ten minutes after that JJ was blinking up at the ceiling of the gym for the third time. "In my defense I just had a baby." She said.

"Which is perfectly legitimate." Sara said as she offered JJ a hand up. She looked over at Morgan. "Are you just going to stand there?"

Morgan grinned. "You sure you want to do that?"

"Wouldn't ask if I didn't. You know it's not about size."

"All right." Morgan stepped into the ring.

Ten minutes later it was Morgan's turn to blink at the ceiling. "Ow."

"What?" Sara asked. This time she was bent over at least, her hands on her thighs, trying to catch her breath. "You're good."

"Thanks. Least I'm not going to worry about Reid when he's out with you."

She looked a little too happy at that. "No, you really don't need to."

"Good to know."

This particular gym also came with an indoor shooting range, one more modern than even the one at Quantico, which was why they both liked it so much. As Morgan and JJ were leaving they happened to look in the window at the range. Sara Peabody was nailing center ring over and over again. "Okay something is up there." Morgan said.

"Yeah. I know." JJ replied. "But there's nothing in her file."

"I know. But girlfriend works a little too hard for it to be nothing at all."

BAU Headquarters
Quantico, VA

"Your girlfriend is a gym rat." Morgan said as soon as Spencer met him at the coffee pot.

For a half a second Spencer looked caught in the headlights. "She is." He agreed. "I've never gone to watch her work but I know she's takes working out very seriously."

"Which explains those killer abs." JJ said, joining them. "She looks better in a sports bra than I do."

Spencer flushed bright red. "I wouldn't know."

Morgan chuckled. "You need to find out, lover."

Spencer grinned and looked right at Morgan. "Baby steps."

At least that got a laugh.

Later on Penelope pinned Spencer down. "So how was the date last night?"

"It was great. I had a fantastic time."

"What movie did you see?'

"In the Heart of the Sea."

"Uhhh, unless you know something I don't that doesn't come out for a few weeks." She caught him, he looked very guilty. "Did you actually go out with a girl last night?"

"No, I did! I did. Morgan and JJ met her at the gym this morning. But we, um, went to Book Club after dinner."

"Book Club?"

"Yeah, that's where we met."

"Are you ever going to tell me what that is?"

"Probably not. Sorry."

"Hey, that's okay. Privacy can be a thing. So, are you really taking her out though or is this just a friend thing?"

"Ahhh, more than a friend thing." Okay, now he was blushing again. "I'm actually taking her to a show at the Renwick Gallery tonight and then to dinner at 1786 over in Georgetown."

"Okay, that is a serious date kind of date. You're not taking Morgan's advice are you?"

"No! No, not yet. But, um, we've been going to Book Club together for a, you know, a few months now and we've gone out really out...this will be the fifth time...you know, would it be too soon to try to kiss her good night?"

"Nooo! No, I totally think you should go for it!" Penelope was grinning. Go Spency go! "But you have to promise me you'll call me and tell me how it goes."

"Promise. I'm leaving a little early so I won't be late."

"You better!"

.

Note: Since a number of people have asked about my other stories I decided to put up a second chapter as an excuse to leave a note about it. Yes, I do plan to finish Percival's Dominatrix (at AO3 due to it's MA rating) and The First Run. I still have notes on both of them so they can both be finished. But when I hit sticking points on stories I tend to develop what Stephen King delicately called "diarrhea of the word processor" with other stories. This leads to things like the 40,000 words I put into this story since Saturday or the 5,000 I put into it yesterday. (To the exclusion of things like cooking, making Christmas gifts or cleaning my bathroom. It's an obsession I tell you). As soon as I can get my head clear, and I would love to get my head clear, I will go back to my other stories, pull out the notes and finish them, I promise. They will be finished, I'm just not 100% on when and I don't want to give a deadline I can't keep.