Chapter 10

Luke whistled as he walked out of the elevator and into the glass doors leading to the bullpen of the BAU. He glanced up to the balcony and saw Prentiss and Rossi talking in his office. He put his go bag in the bottom drawer of his desk and jogged up the stairs.

"Hey Rossi, Prentiss. How was your weekend?"

"It was good. I got a late flight back yesterday from Denver. Nice to have a couple of days to spend with Andrew and Keely."

"And you…How was your date this weekend." Rossi asked with a wink.

"Wait…date? With whom?" asked Emily.

Luke chuckled and shook his head at Rossi. "Garcia and I had that dinner date this weekend,"

"Aww! I forgot! How did it go? Where did you go?"

"It was great. We checked out that Greek restaurant JJ recommended. And last night I invited her over for lasagna."

"Whoa! Two dates in one weekend?" Prentiss exclaimed.

Luke shrugged. "Like I said…it was nice. We had fun. Besides, it took me a long time to get her to agree to going out at all. I figured why not go for broke and try for two meals in a row."

"Ah…Non c'è niente di più romantic del cibo Italiano." Prentiss and Luke looked at Rossi and he translated. "There is nothing more romantic than Italian food."

They laughed. JJ walked in right at that moment. "I hate to break up the fun, but we've got a new case."

Garcia heard her phone beep with a new message. She finished typing the information for the search she was running on her computer and then picked up the phone. It was from Luke.

She felt her cheeks flush at the thought of the end of their evening last night. She quickly opened up the message screen and read his note.

"Hey, just letting you know we've got a new case. Heading to the jet now. I'll try to call you when I can. I had a great time this weekend. Looking forward to seeing you again soon."

Garcia quickly started a reply, but stopped, thinking. "It was an amazing weekend…I can't wait to see you again. And kiss you again. Why didn't I know how amazing you were at that before? I mean, I knew you were-" "No, no, no," she muttered as she quickly deleted her message.

"Must be something good. You didn't even hear me knock," Andrew said as he placed a file on her desk.

"Oh, I'm sorry…give me just a minute."

"Take your time. I'm going to grab a cup of coffee…can I bring you something?"

"Oh, hot water if you don't mind. I've got tea here. Thank you."

OK Garcia…this is Luke. Just reply like you would talk to him.

"Safe travels. Talk to you soon."

She pressed send before she could change her mind.

Luke felt his phone vibrate with an incoming message. He sat down in the plush seat on the jet and pulled his phone out and checked. He smiled seeing it was from Penelope. He read the short message.

"Everything okay?" JJ asked, sitting down across from him.

"Yeah. I sent Garcia a message letting her know we were headed to a case. She just said to travel safely, and she'd talk to me soon."

JJ watched him. "You said you guys cleared everything up from Saturday, right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Maybe she's just unsure of what to type. PG is always more animated in person or on the phone, you know?"

Luke nodded, thinking. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it."

He typed back a reply and then powered down his phone, preparing for their take off.

Ding!

Garcia gave her phone the side eye as she typed. She stopped, then found herself grabbing the pen from her desk and biting on the cap.

"Stop it Garcia." She threw the pen back down onto her desk and picked up the phone.

I can't remember the last weekend that I enjoyed as much as I did with you. I'll talk to you soon Chica.

Garcia felt herself smile.

Twelve Days later

Luke pushed the button for the elevator and waited for the doors to open.

Simson walked up beside him. "Hey brother. You doin' okay?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah. Just tired. You?"

Matt shook his head. "I hear you. I'm going to call home then try to grab some sleep. I think Prentiss is going to have us head to the penitentiary tomorrow to try and get DeAngelo to talk to us."

"Got it. I'll meet you back down here at 6:30."

The elevator arrived in the lobby and both men walked inside. Luke hit Matt's floor and his own.

"So, have you talked to Garcia lately?"

"We've been texting but no, not really. By the time we get back here it's usually too late to call. She's got regular hours now."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, so does Kristy. But she tells me it doesn't matter what time. Getting hear from me helps her rest better. And she can pass messages back and forth between the kids and me."

Luke looked over at Matt. "It's probably a little different. I mean, it's not like we're married, you know. We barely just started dating."

Matt smiled. "True. But…you said so earlier this year…we're family. She's probably feeling even more out of it since she knows what we face and she's not there to help…or monitor us. Text her and see if she's up."

The elevator dinged its arrival to his floor. Luke nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll see. See you in the morning."

Luke stepped out of the elevator and headed down the hall to his room. He swiped his keycard and locked the door behind him. He placed his bag on the small kitchenette table and kicked off his boots before laying on the bed. He picked up his cellphone and stared at the blank screen. Finally he turned it on and went to text messaging.

Hey you up?

He saw the message delivered and quickly three little dots started blinking on the screen.

Yes. How are you? Are you back in DC?

No, not yet. Just wanted to check in on you.

He saw the three little dots appear on his screen again. They blinked on and off, but after a minute they disappeared.

His phone started buzzing. She was calling him.

"Hey. You didn't have to call."

"Well, I wanted to hear…I mean I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay."

Luke smiled. "I'm fine. This has been a long case."

"You've been gone a long time. Almost two weeks."

"Yeah. This unsub is smart."

"You guys are smarter."

"You know it. So, how have you been?"

"I-I'm good. I mean, it's been pretty quiet, but work has been busy."

"You stay busy."

"Yeah, well…it helps when you are on a case. I mean…when the team…the BAU team is gone. I mean…you guys are my family…my friends…I worry about you when you're gone."

"I know Chica. I know. But we're fine. You know Prentiss…everything by the book."

Penelope barked a quick laugh. "Yeah…until it's not. But I know what you mean."

"Hey," he said softly, "I mean it. We're fine. We'll catch this unsub and be back soon."

Penelope was quiet for a moment. "So, I went over to see Roxy the other day."

"Yeah? I bet she was excited to see you."

"I think so. I took a new frisbee and some strawberries to share with her."

"Ahh…bribing her, huh?"

"She deserved a little treat."

"I'm sure she loved them. Just not too many, ok?"

"I'm nothing if not the queen of moderation Mr. Alvez."

"Oh I know…I know. How many desk unicorns do you have now?" he teased.

"Eighteen, not including my new coffee mug. Completely reasonable."

Luke laughed. "Of course. Silly me."

Garcia laughed with him. "I-I've missed you, you know," she admitted quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well the feeling is mutual Ms. Garcia. I'm looking forward to heading back to DC as soon as we can." Luke couldn't help himself and yawned.

"I'm sorry. Simmons and I worked surveillance last night and we've been running around today following leads."

"No…I understand. Go and get some rest. I don't want you to be sleep deprived."

Luke grinned. "Well, sometimes losing out on a little sleep isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"Not when you're chasing down a bad guy SSA Alvez."

"Understood. I'll call you again soon, yeah?"

"I hope so. Take care."

"I will. I'll see you soon Penelope."

"Night."

Four days later

Luke stretched his legs in front of him, trying to get comfortable in the BAU jet. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up, seeing Rossi holding out a drink.

He reached for the glass. "Thanks."

"You've earned it. That was good work back there. The unsub would have gotten away if you hadn't had that tip from D'Angelo."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure D'Angelo wasn't happy to find out he helped us…or that he lost out on his great idea to blackmail us for less jail time."

"They never do", agreed Rossi. "So, does Penelope know you're headed back?"

"No, I thought I'd give her a call tonight and let her know."

Rossi nodded. "You know I'm not the best guy to give advice on relationships…" Rossi sat down across from Luke, leaning back and watching the younger man.

"But?"

"Well…Getting a second chance with Krystall and finding out about Joy and Kai…I feel like I can say this: Don't put it off Luke."

"I know."

"No, I mean it. We say we know how precious time is, but I think in our jobs we don't really follow through. It's easy to focus on the bad guys…catching the next unsub and putting out lives on hold."

Rossi leaned in a little closer. "Penelope is special."

"Yeah, she is. I know that."

"Yeah, I know you do…but…do me a favor? Make sure she knows how you feel. I know you two have been friends for a while…and she didn't make it easy for you to get to know her."

"No, she did not. But I know that was just a defense mechanism to try to protect herself."

"Yes, it was. But she deserves the fairy tale. Penelope had to deal with too much of the dark side when she was part of this team…things and pictures she can't just forget about now that she isn't here with us."

"Rossi…we've had two dates…maybe three, if you count picking up Roxy from the sitter. I don't think we're ready for the wedding bells just yet."

"No, I know. When I say fairy tale, that's not what I mean. She deserves to know she is special…and not just unique. That she's cared for. And if you can't give that to her…maybe it's best if you don't start something you can't see through."

Rossi stood and walked to the back to of jet, leaving Luke to think about what he'd said.

*Sorry this update took a little longer to post. I'll try to get the next installment posted soon. Getting some reviews and hearing from you would help my muse though. She's a needy thing and craves feedback. LOL