Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.
It took Garcia a while to get to the door, but when she finally managed to open it, she was rewarded with the sight of her best friend, waiting patiently to be let in.
"Oh my God", she chirped, "I totally forgot!"
Morgan gave her a smile: "Forgot what?"
"It must be my birthday today – why else would someone send such a fine example of pure masculinity to my door?"
Her friend ostentatiously took a look at himself: "Present? I can see no wrappings!"
"Who would want to wrap a body like yours? There's a reason these ancient Greek statues are all naked."
The agent grinned in appreciation of her wittiness, but then his facial expression changed from playful to serious. "Garcia, what are you doing here? I spoke to the people from the rehab center and they said you left a week ago at your own request. This is unbelievable! When I called you, you made me think you were still at the center. How dare you play such tricks on me? Besides that your doctor said your rehabilitation process is far from completed. You shouldn't be here, girl."
All of a sudden, his friend turned away, tears in her eyes, all glow gone. Morgan was shocked. "Hey, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."
"It's not you", Garcia replied, almost trembling. "I just don't want to go back to that place…"
"The rehab center? Who hurt you there?" Judging from the sharp edge in Morgan's voice he was ready to make sure with all means necessary that no one would hurt her again.
"Nobody", she explained. "The rehab was so hard. I just couldn't keep up with the program. No matter how much I tried, they always told me I needed to do more. They said it's all my fault needing the back surgery in the first place because I'm too fat."
"They didn't phrase it like that, did they?", the agent growled.
"No, but that's what they meant. Derek, I just wanted to go home and be useful again. In the center they treated me like I was nothing but useless ballast…" Her voice trailed off in silent sadness.
SSA Morgan almost exploded: "You're not! Absolutely not! That's why I'm here – we need you, Garcia." He told her about Melissa Epson and her missing fingers. "The fingers were found in the possession of someone named Mortimer Waltham. We need you to find a connection between them."
Garcia was on fire immediately. As fast as she could in her condition, she rushed to the computer and typed away. "This feels good, Derek", she said, her spirits reawakening.
"Don't let anyone ever tell you you're useless", Morgan told her in grave earnest. "But nevertheless – a back surgery is no picnic. You won't fully recover unless you complete your rehab." Great terror lit up in the technical researcher's eyes. "Don't worry, sweetheart", her friend assured her, "you won't have to go back to that terrible place again. We'll figure something out."
At this very moment, Garcia's computer signaled. "I found the connection!", she triumphed. "Rehab doctors of the world, avert your eyes and cover your faces in shame for the goddess of omniscient knowledge is back with a bang!"
"There's my babygirl again", Morgan stated with satisfaction, quietly deciding that he and that rehab doctor would have a little chat nevertheless.