Penelope met up with J.J. the following week for drinks. She'd been so overwhelmed by the ongoing investigation with leads that came to dead ends, she needed time away to think and vent with her bestie.
"Jayj, thank you so much for meeting with me like this; I've really needed to get away."
"No problem, Garcia I know you've been warn out."
"I can only imagine how exhausted you must be."
"Well it's all a part of the job and as long as you're still in danger, we're not gonna quit until we find out who's trying to hurt you."
"You sound exactly like Derek."
"He's really been the one working the hardest and longest out of all of us-he's even pulling longer hours than Hotch."
"Why does that not surprise me."
J.J. laughed, taking another sip of her martini. "So. We're in paradise-have you met any interesting people since you've been here for the last year?"
"There are scores of awesome people down here, Jayj but…I've really missed all of you."
"You know, Derek's really missed you-like really, really missed you."
"Ok, I know that tone of voice, J.J. you're trying to tell me something?"
"You haven't noticed? G, he's been like worshiping the ground you walk on, since we got here! And don't take this wrong but I think how much you've changed physically, has definitely affected him."
"Oh yeah well that's no surprise; considering Derek Morgan can't even look at a woman as potential arm candy unless she looks the part." Penelope huffed as she fidgeted on her bar stool.
"Pen I-I never meant it like-"
"Oh I know you didn't Jayj but lets face it; we both know how-visual Morgan is."
"It's not that he doesn't think you're beautiful."
"Oh I know he does! He must have told me like six times just yesterday while we were having breakfast-that's the problem! Jayj, he'd tell me I was beautiful before but it was not at all the same as it is now. The way he told me last week was like he was meeting some leggy gorgeous African American model at the coffee shop." Her face fell as she sighed.
"Pen…what's bothering you, Babe I can tell you've been flustered-distracted and just all over the place and it hasn't been just because of the case."
"I just….I don't know what to think of Derek and I anymore-it's been a year since we've seen each other and that's a long time for us having spent seven years practically living together! I mean that's how we've all been but for Morgan and I it's always been a little different, like-"
"Like you're a married couple." J.J. finished for her and she stared at her friend.
"Yeah…like a married couple."
"Do you love him, Pen?" J.J. asked seriously, leaning in closer to her friend.
Penelope's eyes began to water and her chin began to tremble. She half-way smiled but it was more of a sad frightened expression as she took a long swig of her strawberry daiquiri. "I've loved that idiot almost from the moment I met him, Jayj!" and then she broke down as J.J. hugged her tightly.
"Oh sweetie-why haven't you told me this sooner?! Or why haven't you told him-never mind, I already know the answer to that and it makes perfect sense."
"Jayj what am I suppose to do? I can't just waltz right up to him and be like 'oh by the way Derek, I love you and not only that, I've been in love with you from the moment I met you and on top of that-I wanna marry you."
J.J's eyes widened and Penelope only groaned as she hugged her tightly for support.
"I'm an idiot, Jayj…an idiot."
"No you're not, Sweetheart-you're in love and that's what love does-it drives us crazy insane and we laugh because we're so happy but cry too because we don't know what to do about it."
"I think maybe he might be able to sense it but I just hope he doesn't bring it up because I don't know what to tell him yet-and plus I haven't prepped myself for the inevitable rejection."
"You don't know that for sure-Derek I think has a lot of the same feels for you that you do for him; he's just a bit more oblivious to them."
"I just hope you're right Jayj…I really hope you're right."
J.J. hugged her tightly again and the two women finished their drinks as their conversation drifted on to more light-hearted girlish topics.
# # # #
Six months later…
The team never found any solid leads as to who was after Penelope in Honduras. They'd even come to the conclusion that the little information they'd gathered, supporting that theory, was faulty and in three weeks time, they'd headed back to D.C.
However, the team was dealt two nearly crippling blows in the months that followed. Elle was shot as a result of a killer they'd been tracking on a case who had specifically ordered that no other cops were to be involved. As a result of her attack, Elle was never the same and on a following case, she shot a suspect who'd attacked several women-but at the time, was unarmed. Hotch suspected this and told Elle if she didn't resign, he'd have to arrest her. Two months after Elle resigned, Gideon's girlfriend was murdered brutally by a serial killer he'd been tracking for years. They'd caught him but it was too late; Rebekah was already dead and the loss was too much for Gideon who left soon after without a word. No one ever saw or heard from him again.
In time, there were replacements for both agents in the form of Emily Prentiss who'd been working with Scotland yard in the English branch, and famous former-retired special agent David Rossi. Adjustment was hard for the team but they soon settled into the routine and Emily and Rossi became vital parts of the team. For Garcia, Emily seemed distant at first and kept to herself. But no one could resist the eager, charming blond diva for long and it wasn't a month later, before Emily had affectionately pinned her as 'G' and the two became very close. J.J also became fond of Emily and the three women made quite the dynamic trio.
A few weeks later, Penelope arrived late to work and as soon as the elevator doors opened, she made a rush for her little den. In her rush however, she nearly knocked into Derek who was standing by Emily's desk, chatting with her. "Whoa! Baby girl, what's the rush?"
Penelope turned to face him, still walking backwards towards her office. "Oh I'm sorry Morgan but this chica is late-so very late!" And with that, she whipped back around and disappeared down the hall.
Derek smirked and laughed as he turned back to Emily who was eyeing him knowingly. "What?"
She gave her sweet, small smile and ducked her head. "Nothing."
"Don't give me nothing, Prentiss, you're giving me you're look-like you know something."
"Maybe I do-but I'm surprised you don't."
"Exactly what are you getting at here?" He stood to his full height, his hands spread out in a waiting gesture.
"Dude, you're so head-over-heels for that woman."
Derek stared at her stunned. "W-what on earth? What the hell are you talking about, Prentiss? It's Penelope-I've known the woman for nearly eight years now."
"Yeah, and you two are like a married couple; just ask anyone they'll tell you! Stop being so blind, Morgan."
He stared off blankly again and then scoffed, shaking his head as he smiled. "You're seeing things, Em."
Just then, J.J. walked into the den with an armful of files. "Who's seeing what?"
"Emily. She thinks I'm 'in love' with Garcia."
"Oh yeah. That's obvious. You just don't know it yet."
His eyes widened as he looked back to Emily, his hand gestured towards J.J. "You women are both nuts."
"No. Not nuts, we just observe the obvious."
"Penelope's my best friend but-she's even dating that Kevin guy… the new analyst?"
"Well I would too if I'd spent nearly seven years waiting on you and you still hadn't made a move? Derek, she's trying to get you're attention; trying to get you to see what's been right in front of you all along-for a while there back in Honduras, I thought you were starting to see it."
Just then, the group was interrupted by Rossi. "Guy's conference room, we got a case."
# # # #
"Cindy Ryan, twenty-one. She was found in a ditch near her family's country home in Georgia." J.J. stated as she brought Cindy's picture up on the screen.
"How close was she to her home?"
"The police said about five miles."
Derek looked at his file displayed on his ipad screen. "Five miles isn't very far-either this guy was trying to send a message to her family or he's just disorganized, sloppy."
"I thought the same until I read the report. There were no traces of finger prints, skin cells, DNA, nothing found either on her or near the scene. This unsub is very organized and meticulous."
"Alright so he's sending a message then."
Penelope spoke up then. "Cindy's hands are arranged in a way that would suggest she wasn't just dumped."
All eyes turned to view the image of Cindy's body positioned on her back but facing west with one of her hands placed over her heart and the other laid carefully across her stomach. "It's either a sign of remorse-" Emily interjected. "Or the position means something to the unsub-maybe someone that he lost was found in that exact same position, Garcia maybe you could look up and see any deaths that occurred in the last five to ten years or so and see if any of them were young females about Cindy's age and how they were found."
"Right, I'm on it." Penelope got up and left, eager to get started.
"So why is the Georgia police department asking us for help? Usually they don't when it's just one fatality." Morgan looked to J.J. for an answer.
"It wasn't just one." with that, she aimed the remote back to the screen and clicked the button which brought up slides for four other women-all blonds who's bodies had been discovered within the last three years, six months apart. "These are four other women who were found in the same position as Cindy, no more than five miles away from their homes, their bodies always discovered in a ditch or small creek. You can see their hands are arranged the same as Cindy's…Their bodies started to appear three years ago, six months apart. This one-Kaylie Remington-was discovered near her family's home in Atlanta and six months after she was discovered, Kerry's body turned up in a city drain in Columbus-her family has a historical six-floor apartment there. Then Kristina's body was discovered in a ditch near her family's farm in Macon. It was a little over six months later that the police then found Karine's body in a little creek five miles outside of Peachtree City; her family lives on the outskirts of Peachtree City so it was also about a five-mile distance from her home that she was found."
"Six months apart, that's a remarkably long time for the unsub to be keeping these women prisoners-what is he doing to them? How does he keep them contained for so long without anyone knowing?" Rossi massaged his chin, his brows furrowing in a troubled expression.
"This unsub is highly vigilant, organized and meticulous; he's not going to be careless enough to keep this girls in a place where people could possibly see what's going on." Reid stood and walked to where they'd set up a map of Georgia and he began circling the places where the bodies had been found. "There's a-289.7 mile radius that he's keeping-this is his comfort Zone."
Morgan's eyes widened as he leaned forward. "Reid that's a lot of ground to cover."
"No but see? There's a pattern. He went from Atlanta-to Macon along route 75 and then from there, it's a straight shot to Columbus along highway 80! And he made a small stop in Peachtree which is where he dumped Karine's body-he's keeping a pattern to the route he takes and if he sticks to it, he'll be heading back to Atlanta and possibly targeting one of the smaller towns along route 185."
"Alright Reid, that's good work. You all need to go home and get some rest; I know it's early but our flight leaves at 4AM and I want everyone to be on-time." Hotch commanded as the group stood. "And try to pack light, Georgia police department is swamped and overrun with these cases and there's not going to be very much room to set up an elaborate brain-storming station so just bring what you need." With that, the group dismissed for the day and each headed home to prepare for their early flight.
# # # #
By 5AM the next morning, the team was airborne and the team settled in for their hour and a half flight. After three games of chess with Reid-which he promptly won in less than ten moves-Derek gave up and standing, he moved to the back of the plane where Penelope sat alone on the long couch, deep in thought. He settled on the chair across from her, watching her but she appeared to not even notice him. "Baby girl."
She slowly turned her head towards him, her stare empty.
"You feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, Just exhausted-I didn't sleep much last night."
"Why not?"
She didn't answer right away-her eyes were far away and he detected sadness and frustration there. Reaching out, he laid his hand on top of hers and instantly, her fingers curled around his as she turned frightened eyes on him. "Kevin and I had a fight-all night we were just-arguing."
"Why?"
"Because he says I'm gone all the time; working late nights at work and then out of town on cases; he says its my fault that there's such a strain on our relationship."
"Baby you and Kevin have only been dating for three months."
"I know! And I told him that but he says that doesn't matter; he says that if I can't make him a priority now that there's no way I'd be able to, six months or a year down the road." Her lip quivered as a tear slipped down her cheek.
Derek caught it with his thumb; he hated seeing Penelope so upset and her crying was even worse-she always looked so vulnerable and helpless. "Mama, you can't blame yourself for this; this is your job and it takes a lot out of all of us; he knew that when he met you; there was no secret about your career."
"Derek-I just don't know what to do. Kevin seems so sure about everything; about us and I'm-I just don't know if I'm ready for that kind of commitment."
"Then tell him that, Baby-he can't force you into something that you're not ready for. He needs to be willing to slow down and take things slow if that's what you want-and if he can't respect that, then he's not worth your time or worthy of you."
She smiled as she held his hand up to her face, giving him one of her special smiles that she reserved only for him. "Handsome, I don't know what I'd do without you to be honest."
"You'd be lost, Ms. Garcia-I'm your hot stuff not to mention your dark chocolate." he flashed her a brilliant smile, winking at her.
"You've been talking to Jayj haven't you! Only she knows that I call you that!"
He laughed at her widened panic-filled eyes. "Sweetness J.J. called me that once in jest and I could just tell she was trying to mimic you; that's the only way I know that you call me that-she never told me."
Penelope grew quiet as she fingered Derek's warm, dark hand as it still held hers. The lines of his veins-and even the few scars there, always fascinated her and she loved tracing them-she had his hands practically memorized and she relished every chance she got to hold them in hers.
"What're you doing, Sweetness?"
She didn't look up as she answered. "Just tracing the lines and contours of your hands-I love your hands, did I ever tell you that?" She looked up at him then, meeting his dark tense gaze-his close proximity was beginning to affect certain areas of her body and she started to fidget slightly…hoping it was unnoticeable.
"No you never have actually…" He smiled warmly at the softness of her fingers as they caressed his hands; his heart began to thud as those familiar-yet unfamiliar crazy feelings from Honduras, rose to the surface again. He was surprised as he'd originally thought they were just the result of being parted from her for so long. But again, they pressed against the surface of his skin and he felt a heat spreading in his veins that he'd never felt before with any woman he'd ever been close to. Maybe Emily was right-He must be falling for Penelope but it had just taken him so long to realize it.
"Well I do love your hands, Handsome; there's a warm roughness about them but yet they're the most gentle hands ever possessed by any man."
He watched her and on impulse, he cupped her cheek in his right hand and leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "Woman, promise me that you'll never leave me again for so long-unless I can go with you. I'm serious, a year was just painfully way too long for me to be without you."
"I know, I missed you too, Gorgeous." She winked playfully at him as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek-closer to the curve of his jaw line, which sent an amazing shiver down his spine. She smelled like Vanilla and strawberries; as always and he loved it.
"So now I'm gorgeous, huh?"
"You've always been gorgeous, Hot stuff just in a very different-hot sexy way." She leaned back in her seat, smiling deviously at him.
"You're something else, Woman."
"I know I am. And that's why you love me." she beamed at him and he flashed his brilliant smile back