Chap. 4 Bad news

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Morgan came back from the church, where he was praying. When he received the message telling that Garcia had been shot, he immediately went to the hospital. The team was there… JJ and Emily holding hands, Reid beside them; Rossi and Hotch talking to a nurse.

"What happened?" he asked worried and angered at the same time.

"She was shot, we don't know more." Reid replied not meeting his eyes.

"Who?" He asked abruptly.

"We don't know. A neighbour found her bleeding in front of her building." JJ said painfully.

"Damn it!" Derek said kicking the wall with his fist. Reid placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Her date?" Derek finally asked.

"Maybe… we don't know." Emily said with a little voice.

They wait a long time for some news… when the surgeon finally came to them he announced them the news… the good: she was alive. The bad: she had slipped in a coma.

They decided that JJ would stay by her side while the others would search for some clues.

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Penelope stayed in a coma during one week. When she finally woke up, the team managed to search for her date. JJ stayed with her at her place within the watch of a policeman who got shot by the unsub.

Pen admitted her activities to her boss, due to the encrypted files they had found in her computers… finally they caught J.C Baylor, her date, the man who shot her because she was on the way to find his activities.

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After this entire story, Penelope decided to take some time off, she needed to heal physically and psychologically. She had lost so much self-esteem because of that dreadful date.

When she returned to work, she was less eccentric. She met Kevin Lynch, the tech who had helped the team to find Baylor and agreed to go on a date with him.

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Since she had returned to the Bureau, Derek tried to apologize to her but Penelope was colder with everyone on the team now, not only him.

Hotch decided to talk to her. He knew that what happened had affected her deeply and he didn't want to lose another agent. Penelope Garcia was too important for them.

He decided to go to her office.

"Garcia."

"Sir. What do you need?"

"What's the matter with you?"

Penelope sighed deeply and stared at the screens blankly.

"Sir, I don't think I could stand the job anymore." She said.

"Why? You're good at it!"

"I need to revaluate some things… I went into that date because I felt so alone. I was so stupid." She admitted.

"What about Lynch? I thought you were seeing each other."

"We broke up. That was a lie. I need to take some fresh air…"

"I don't want you to resign Penelope. Take as much time as you need. I'll discuss it with Strauss and allow you an exceptional leave of absence."

"Thank you Sir but I've made my decision."

"Well, think about it."

"Ok."

She returned to her work when he left her office.