Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Penelope and Strauss ride the elevator to their floor making stiff small talk.
"Stop by my office today. When time permits," Strauss asked as they parted ways
Arggh, what a great way to start the morning Penelope thought.
"Bull Pen
"Here is your coffee, sug."
"What did Fields want?"
"He broke up with me … I now only work with you guys. How great is that?"
"I have to transfer a few of their projects for their new tech TA Lynch, so I'll see you later alligator."
Penelope's Lair
"Baby Girl I think you swapped the coffees"
"My bad -I was thinking we should have movie night at your house, it been months since it was your birthday and we still haven't watched any of those movies I bought you."
"Sounds good, but shouldn't you be packing, woman?"
"Yes, well come over and help… pretty please handsome with sugar on top."
"Ok, but we really have to pack" he chuckled "I think you are more productive when I'm not there"
"Did I tell you that Strauss wants to meet with me? She asked me like we were girls but we are not girls you know"
Lobby
A tall good looking man with brown slightly straggly hair going in every direction, wearing a navy suit, t-shirt, and a brown over the shoulder bag with navy converses – holding a small shopping bag, looked lost on the BAU floor.
As Derek made his way to the bullpen he asked "Excuse me, can you tell me where Penelope Garcia's office is?"
"Sure, matter fact I will walk you there." Derek said as he looked him over and determined he was harmless—nervous but harmless "I didn't get your name."
"Jackson," he said as he extended his hand "Nice to meet you…."
"Derek" he said shaking his hand.
"And here we are…Baby girl"
"Can't stay away can ya, hot stuff? Why don't you close that door and we play—"
Derek interrupts her "You have a guest, baby girl."
"Hi Sweet P." said Jackson
She stopped typing and turned around slowly.
"Jackson, -how -what OMG."
She gets up and he walks over and gives her a huge embrace. She was in shock no words could come to her lips.
"This feels like a dream," he says. "I brought you frozen deconstructed tacos from Lilly's. She said nuke them one at a time, for 45 seconds and assemble. It will taste just like it's off the truck."
"Thank you" she said so confused.
"What are you doing here?"
"I had to visit you – your shackles aren't so bad." He says as he plays with her hair.
She is jolted back to reality when she sees Derek leaning on the door eyes full of questions.
"Derek this is my … my Jackson and Jackson this is Agent Derek Morgan."
Prentiss walks in and informs them of a new case.
Derek and Emily make their way there to the conference room.
Penelope turns to Jackson. "I have to go for a quick meeting—stick around if you can—don't touch anything"
"P, I'll hang - maybe I can take you out to lunch or something."
"You should put this in the fridge" he says to her as she hustles out the room.
"Sure" she says as she grabs her I-pad.
Conference Room
She is staring at the bag from their neighborhood taco truck. They had a standing date on Thursday's nights of tacos on the beach. Lilly had the best tacos and margaritas - only friends had access to her margaritas. They lived in that neighborhood for 5 years, Lilly was like family. She continued to stare at the bag chewing on her pen.
Derek watched her as he listen to Hotch. That is the same look she had on her face when they met—she was staring into the Jameson chewing on a straw. She looked so sad and lost. He hadn't seen that look in her eyes again, until today. Who is Jackson?
Her thoughts went to Jackson too. I can't believe Jackson is here. When I first came to DC, all I imagined was him coming to his senses. Every doorbell, email alert, and call - I used to imagine it was him deciding to wear that suit one more time and be my knight in shinning armor. When William and I were arrested by the NSA, all he could say was I told you so. He became his parents – through and through. They always disliked me because I wasn't what they wanted for their son—but, I was what he loved more than anything… or so I thought. He became so self-righteous and self consumed all he could see is how this would affect his career. He's a leading economist who is on the tenure track at UCLA and I was bad press.
When I accepted the deal – I begged him to come with me but he wouldn't. He thought William and I were having an affair and couldn't see past what he called an emotional betrayal—since it was never physical. I packed up my stuff from our home and left him a note professing my love and his grandmother's wedding ring—my engagement ring. We loved each other so deeply that when we parted it was as if my heart left me too.
The images of that life kept on flooding back to her -I remember the first time I saw him on campus, with his jet-black hair and slim frame. Some thing about him reminded me of Keanu Reeves in Speed but with shaggy hair. He was beyond gorgeous! As he grew older, Keanu is whom he resembled more and more. He had thick black hair, brown puppy dog eyes, an olive/peach skin complexion in the summer, and a splotchy beard whenever he decided to grown one in.
Back then in college I was shy, but my roommate knew that I had a crush on him and set us at the Ribbon Ball—a campus wide blind date. We had such a great time and we were inseparable ever since. They traveled together France, Spain, Morocco, Peru, Argentina and Uruguay. Studied at neighboring grad schools and taught at the same college. When they fought passionately and made up the same way. They were best friends in life—everything they did they did together. Until now.
Derek watched her bite her bottom lip and stare off into space. She obviously wasn't paying attention and her body became stiff and rigid.
I loved him so much she thought.
"Garcia" Hotch called
"Garcia" Hotch he said again annoyed
Derek taps her on her arm and she is shaken out of her thoughts.
"Yes, sorry. I'm here"
"Are you sure?" Hotch snapped.
"We are going to need you to create a list of suspects based on the information we have. Once you have the list, we will regroup here and see if we can create a more detailed profile. I would like to try and crack this case in the office—if possible"
"Is everything alright? He asked again.
"Yes, sir. I'm just hungry or in need of coffee."
As the team dispersed Morgan pulled her aside.
"Baby girl, what was that all about? Who is Jackson?"
"My friend— it's a long story and I promise to explain later"
"Your whole demeanor changed since—"
"Derek, don't profile me," she said like a warning
"I'm not, I'm just being a concerned friend-"
"Ok, then drop it please" she snapped – she never snapped at him like that before.
"Fine, after you Garcia"
Garcia's Lair
"Jackson, I can't do lunch today." She ran her fingers through her hair.
"Only you show up out of the blue expecting the world to stop."
"Come on you know how much I like to surprise you," he teased
"Let me walk you out" she said.
As Derek left Hotch's office, he watched their good bye.
"Can we do dinner? I am only here for a few days and I want to tell you the good news."
"News? Tell me now" she said excitedly.
"No, tonight," he said as he stroked her jaw line with his thumb. He leans in to kiss her mouth and she backs away and glared at him. "What are you doing Jackson"
Now, Jackson looked perplexed. What was wrong with her?
"Ok, tonight then… what time? 630-ish?" He asks.
She nods.
The elevator opened and he says, "I might be done early sooo.. I'll wait for you outside."
Garcia's Lair
Based on the information Emily provided her, she created a list of seven possible unsub who fit the criteria. She then did something new using facial recognition software to find the unsub. They ran the software against street cameras at the crime scene locations and found a match. The local officials were able to have the unsub in custody with in the hour. They walked over to tell Hotch the good news.
Hotch was pretty impressed that Garcia was able to find the unsub with the parameters they had provided. This saved the team 2 travel days and lives. To say he was happy was an understatement. He could tuck Jack in tonight, he thought.
"Great work guys! Drinks at Pete's – we caught the unsub and we didn't even have to board a plane—that's cause for celebration."
"I have to meet with Strauss—so I will meet you guys in the lobby."
Strauss' Office
"You wanted to speak with me?"
"Yes, please have a seat. Are you enjoying your time at the BAU?
"Yes, Ma'am"
"Call me Erin."
"You have made Agent Hotchner's team extremely successful and productive and I wanted to know what can we do to keep you."
"What do you mean?"
"Your first year with us is almost up and I would like to know what I can do to make the 2nd year a good experience for you."
"I would like to go in the field, I guess. That is one dynamic of the operation I don't see from my office. - Besides that, Ma'am, I mean Erin. Things are going fine."
"I mean - it would be great if the FBI thought about exploring tech development. Like creating programs for the agents instead of acquiring technology after the fact."
"Interesting, Would you consider working with us after your project is up?"
"Sure, she smiled. Project was an interesting word to use to describe her time at the BAU, Penelope thought.
"Great. That is all for now. I will have Megan put a meeting on your calendar for all of us to touch base – you, myself, and SSA Hotchner."
The entire team exited the building - Jackson calls her name. The team turns around to see who is calling her.
"Wow, your early." She said looking at her phone.
"I finished my meeting early and I was just sitting her reading."
"Are you coming Garcia? Emily called as the team continued to walk.
"Yes," she called back.
"Who is that? Reid asked
"Don't know, kid" Derek said very monotone.
"Do you want to come and get a drink before dinner?" she asks as they start walking towards the team.
"Sure."
"So what brings you out east?"
"Guess" he teased.
"Is your sister finally marrying Brian?"
"Nope, two more guess." He said smiling down at her.
"Your parents are in town and they specifically asked you to visit me?"
They both laughed "Nope, last guess and then you have to wait."
A concerned look crossed her face and she asked, "Did someone die?"
"And now you have to wait till dinner."—He chuckled.
Derek was sad because it was like they were in their own world and she was sparkling like a Christmas tree. Derek snuck a few peaks at them as they trailed behind the group. He would later get angry when he realized the most important thing—he did not know this world existed until now.
Pete's Bar
When she entered the bar, the team already had the pitchers and mugs. She walked over and said "Jackson these are my friends and co-workers Aaron, Jennifer, Reid, I mean Spencer, David, Derek and Emily. Guys this is my friend Jackson."
Hi and nice to meet you were said as Jackson quipped at Penelope.
"Oh, we are friends now? I thought we were more than that- Is that the proper demotion for an ex-fiancé? There's gotta be a middle ground."
"Really, Jackson Montgomery" she said smiling "that is the middle. Well, my heart refers to you as the fault line if that makes you sleep better."
"Touché" he said as his eyes beamed happy rays to hers.
And they laugh.
When she saw the puzzled looks on the profilers faces – she tried to explain the joke "When we traveled to Chile, we found these super cheap bungalows that seemed so perfect and quaint. Most of them were vacant and we thought we stumbled on the deal of the century. Well, we woke up to tremors every morning and by the fouth day deduced that we were staying on a fault line hence the cheap price.. since then we - Never mind, If you have to explain a joke it's bad. I need something stronger than beer-Who needs a drink?"
Coke JJ? She asked
"Sure."
"I'll help you, Sweet P."
"Nope stay, Fault line, Derek can you come with me?" she asked.
"So, how do you know Penelope?" Rossi asks as they headed to the bar.
"We met in, college sophomore year,- we fell in love and have been inseparable ever since. I haven't spoken to her since she has been here and I just wanted to come and check on her—"
He turned to see her and Derek at the bar and continued—"but she seems to be happy."
"What brings you to DC?" Emily asked
"Just Penelope" he said smiling at them.
"That's sweet" JJ said, as the rest of the team continued to profile him.
"When are you due?" he asked
"2 weeks give or take."
"How are your feet?"
"Fine, why?" she asked acknowledging the weirdness of his question.
"Towards the end of my sister's pregnancy she became obsessed with her feet. Ed, her husband, had to give her a foot massage every day and she dragged P, to the nail salon every week."
"Well I do appreciate a good foot massage. It sucks not being able to see them." JJ replied
"That explains Garcia's obsession with your feet" Emily said. "Garcia is always asking JJ if she wants to get a pedicure."
"So, what do you do, Jackson?" Emily asked returning him back to the Spanish Inquisition.
"Like P, I am a professor at UCLA. I teach economics." He smiled at the table and said, "I also enjoy reading, surfing, racing and statistics—this feels like speed dating."
"Well, you are at a table of FBI profilers" Rossi retorted
Simultaneous this conversation was happening at the bar
"So, please don't freak out. I can see your wheels turning and I want to let you know he was my fiancé and now he is friend. We haven spoken in ages. I did not know he was coming. Does that satisfy all of your questions Agent Morgan" she smiled.
He started to speak
"Oh wait—why? He's probably in town for a wedding or something. I can tell you more after dinner."
"How did you do that?" he smiled—
"I'm the OP, Original Profiler," she said in her tough girl voice.
He laughed
"I will be back with more than enough time for us to pack, ok sug?"
"Sure, baby girl."
She kissed him and said "guess what?"
"Strauss wants to be my friend—and that is why I needed this G&T"
They returned to the table and continue chatting until it's time for Jackson and Penelope to leave.
Derek went to get another pitcher and the profilers de-briefed.
"What do you guys think of Jackson?" Emily asked.
"I think he is a pretty nice guy" JJ replied
"I would think so too if he wasn't in love with Penelope" Rossi stated as fact.
"I noticed how he could not take his eyes off her," Hotch added
"He made it a point to let us all know that they were engaged and he always called her by her pet name. It was as if he was staking claim."
"I'm surprised that Morgan didn't go all cave-mannish on him." Emily interjected
"He trust her, and we know how hard it is for him to do that—but then again he has never had any reason to doubt her" Hotch answered matter of factly.
"I just hope that today wasn't his first time hearing about him," Emily said
"It was," Reid pointed out.
"That's not good" Emily pointed out. "with the history of college, traveling and being engaged that is a huge chunk of yourself to keep hidden. We all know for her not to bring it up means that he still is very important to her."
"Also, she did not use their pet names once- which shows she was protecting/ hiding something on a subconscious level," Emily added.
"Morgan didn't use a pet name either. Gosh guys, they're moving in together - this isn't a blip on the radar" JJ said.
"Says the only non-profiler at the table" Reid countered.
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Thanks for all of the follows and REVIEWS (keep them coming – I love them)
These next series of chapters were my initial inspiration for writing this story. I am not sure how the writing process works for y'all, but the chapters 12-14 came first and then I built it the story around those ideas. I am really excited about this story and I hope you are too!