Thank you for the great reviews. I've been missing CM a lot recently…It's still a go to show when there's nothing else worth watching or I'm taking a break from reading. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Garcia got out of the shower and wrapped her hair in a towel before putting on her comfy robe. She leaned over the sink and picked up the hand towel hanging beside the mirror to wipe off the steam covering it.

She opened the wall cabinet and got her jar of face moisturizer. She rubbed in the moisturizer and then rubbed the remaining over her hands. She slid on her glasses and stepped out of the bathroom and then walked into the kitchen. She turned on the kettle and prepared her mug for some herbal tea. The kettle soon whistled it was ready and she turned off the burner and carefully pour the hot water into her mug.

She carried her drink into the living room where she had left her laptop. She closed the screen and sat on the couch, pull on the throw over her legs. Sergio meowed loudly and jumped up on the couch, curling up beside her.

Garcia grabbed the remote and turned on the television. She took another sip of her tea. She was just leaning over to put the mug on the side table when there was a knock on her door.

"What in the world?", she muttered to herself. She threw the blanket over the arm of the couch and walked over to the door. She put her hand on the handle but checked the peep hole first.

"Oh my stars!" She quickly unlocked the door and threw it open. "What…Luke! What happened to you?"

Luke smiled and held out his hands. "It's fine. Really. I'm fine. Just a little banged up, that's all."

"Fine? FINE?!", she yelled. She saw the light go on under the door for Mrs. O'Halligan. "Get in here Luke Alvez!" she stage whispered, keeping an eye on the neighbor's door. She stepped back and then pushed him toward the couch. He dropped the go bag he had been carrying and sank into the overstuffed cushions.

"Ok, OK…I'm going. I'm going. Look, we got in about an hour ago and I wanted to see you. Really, I'm fine."

Garcia stood besides the couch, her arms on her hips and a scowl on her face.

"Luke! You have a black eye, stiches and your hand is bandaged. Call me crazy, but that is the very definition of 'not fine'!" She sighed. "Wait here."

Luke sat back on the couch and closed his eyes. His head was hurting, but he wasn't about to tell Garcia that. He really had wanted to see her…he just didn't want to go back to his apartment to the silence. It was too late to get Roxie and he…just wanted to be close to someone.

Garcia came back in with a first aid kit and a plastic bag. "Here." She thrust the bag into his hand. He looked down and saw it was a bag of frozen peas. "Thanks." He put the bag up against his eye. He had been treated by paramedics, but the cold felt good on his heated skin.

Garcia sat on the coffee table in front of him. "Lean forward." He did, then yelped in pain! "Ouch! Hey! Warn a guy!"

Garcia threw the bandage she had just ripped off onto the table beside her and reached for the kit. She opened up the bag and found a packet containing an antiseptic wipe. She opened up the envelope and leaned forward to clean the wound. "You have stiches," she said in an accusatory tone.

"Yeah, I know. I was there when they put them in." Luke said sarcastically.

"Shut up. You still bled through the bandage."

"The medic said it might do that, but he thought the stiches would be enough. I'll be okay." He winced as the antiseptic stung. He heard the rip of the bandage packaging. Garcia placed the bandage over the stiches. She zipped up the first aid kit and tossed it onto the table beside the couch. She finally looked Luke in the eyes. Tears started to well up in her own.

"Hey! Come here." Luke set aside the frozen vegetables and pulled her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, careful of the bandages on his left hand. "Penelope. I'm here. I'm really okay. I was checked out by paramedics. I promise."

Garcia tucked her face into his neck, holding him tightly. "You are not fine. You're hurt. What happened?"

Luke sighed. "We caught a break and went in for the unsub. He had a hidey hole and surprised us. He hit me over the head with a baseball bat and I fell down a flight of stairs. But I got up and wrestled him to the ground. Matt came up behind me and we were able to get the guy in cuffs and arrested him."

Penelope lifted her head up. "And you didn't think about letting me know?"

"We were anxious to get back home and- ", Luke took in a deep breath. "Ok, I knew you wouldn't be happy, so I decided to tell you in person. But then I was heading home and just didn't want to face going home alone."

Garcia watched his face. Luke stared back. "Really, Chica. I'm okay."

Garcia slapped her hand on his shoulder. "Don't you ever. Do. That. Again!" She punctuated each word with an additional hit to his shoulder.

"Ow! Oof! Garcia!"

"Don't you 'Garcia' me! You show up here in the middle of the night bruised, bandaged and banged up and you didn't think I'd want to know?"

Luke grabbed her hands to protect himself. "I am here. I'll be okay. I just wanted to see you."

Garcia shook her head. "I don't like this."

"Oh." Luke released her hands and leaned back to give her some more room. "I'm sorry. I …guess I should have called to make sure it was okay if I came over. I mean…I can go. I'm sorry. Really. If you don't want to see me anymore, I guess I can understand. I mean, that's part of why you left-"

Garcia wrapped her hands around Luke's head and kissed him. She felts the tickle of his dark curls at the back of his head against her fingers. She leaned back to try and catch her breath, then gasped when Luke followed, his lips capturing hers again. He deepened the kiss, angling his lips over hers and gently sliding his tongue into her mouth, stoking her own. He heard her moan and smiled a little. His hands slowly moved on their own up her. The robe she wore was soft and fuzzy, but he could feel her underneath.

They finally ended the kiss, foreheads touching and both breathing in deep breaths. "What I meant was I don't like seeing you hurt. And not knowing about it."

Luke nodded. "So, if I get hurt you want to know about it?"

Garcia nodded, still not looking up at him. "I—I used to at least know when something had happened. If I needed to call for an ambulance…or meet the team at the hospital I knew. I just…I knew."

Luke moved one hand to her chin and used his finger to lift her face up to look into her eyes. "But you aren't doing that anymore. And that doesn't mean we don't still need you. But…look, if you want to know when I get hurt, I'll make sure to let you know from now on, okay?"

Garcia hit him on the shoulder again.

"Oof!"

"You are going to do everything to NOT get hurt Luke Alvez!"

He rubbed his shoulder. "Yes ma'am. Now can you please stop hitting me? I'm still a little banged up from the stairs."

Garcia shook her head. She stood up, reached over to the side table and picked up her mug. She walked into the kitchen again. Luke heard her banging things and eventually heard the kettle whistle. She came back with two mugs steaming. She held one out to him. He reached out for it. "Thank you. Tea?"

"Of course. It's too late for coffee." She reached into the pocket of her robe and them handed Luke two small white pills. "Did you already take anything for the pain?"

He shook his head. "It's been seven or eight hours, so I should be able to take these. Thank you, Penelope."

She sat down next to him on the couch. "You're welcome," she answered primly. Luke smiled. He knew when she was pretending to be prim and proper, but Garcia couldn't keep her emotions to herself for very long. He reached over and pulled on her arm, so she was leaning up against him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"So…did you miss me?"

Garcia nodded against his shoulder. "Yes."

Luke tightened his embrace. "Me too. I got you something though."

Garcia lifted her head so she could look Luke in the eye. "Oh yeah?"

Luke chuckled. He removed his arm and bent over so he could reach his go bag. He pulled out a brown paper bag. "Sorry, I didn't have a chance to get it wrapped."

"This is perfect! What is it?" Garcia excitedly unfolded the top of the bag and reached inside. She pulled out a pink sparkly stapler with a unicorn head on the top. "Oh my goodness!"

"I saw it and thought it was made just for you…unicorns, glitter, pink and a stapler all put together."

"I love it!"

Luke smiled as he watched her turn it over and admire her newest desk addition. She looked up and reached over to pull him in for a hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it. Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

Garcia pushed him away. "No…but…you're a little closer." She grinned.