A/N: I just wanted to let all of my readers know that I'm returning to college on the 19th, so my writing is probably going to slow down. I'm having a blast writing these one shots, so I hope to keep going, but at a slower pace. My ideas are still flowing though, and thank you to all of my readers who have submitted ideas. Alice.1985, you're the best! Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did, because then I wouldn't need a student loan.
So much for her long and relaxing weekend, Hermione thought to herself. She picked up her thermos and chugged down lukewarm coffee, grimacing at the foul taste.
What was it about coffee that made it taste like ambrosia warm and cough syrup cold?
After a very long weekend all Hermione wanted to do was get this unpleasant task over with and get some sleep. She steeled herself for what she was about to do, knowing it would be unpleasant.
Three days ago she'd ended up in some very hot water over the actions of Penelope Garcia. At eleven thirty on Friday she'd been summoned to the British Magical Embassy to get yelled at by the Ambassadors. Both of them, the magical ambassador Nigel Westcott, and Steven Waters, the muggle ambassador. After and incredibly longwinded lecture over something that wasn't exactly her fault, Hermione had been roped into clean up. The Muggle government had requisitioned her help in securing about half of their assets who had been compromised by a serious cybersecurity breach that same day. Ambassador Westcott had decided that she was duty bound to fix this problem for the muggles since it had been, indirectly, her fault. This was how she'd ended up going to twelve different countries over the past three days. All the travel had left Hermione completely drained.
Apparently, handling Garcia had been her responsibility in the first place. At least that was how the Ambassadors saw it, and they'd been more than willing to tell her how disappointed they were in her. The words "mismanagement" and "negligent" had been tossed around quite a lot in their allocution. Hermione scowled. How had she been expected to stop Penelope? Hex her into submission?
Penelope Garcia was going to die.
On Friday afternoon at 3:17 p.m. there had been a massive breech of the British Army's central database. That attack had been traced back to the computer of one Miss Penelope Garcia. More concerning to the muggle authorities was the fact it had originated from an FBI wireless network. The breech had quickly been contained when her name was searched within the database, triggering an automatic response. Garcia had been booted from the system and an alert was sent out to the magical government in London and the British Embassy.
Another hacker had piggy backed onto Garcia's hack. This less skilled individual had extended his own access for a considerable amount of time after Garcia's search of Hermione's name had expelled her from the system. He'd dug into the personnel records of MI6 agents scattered abroad, building quite the list of names for himself. Garcia's hack had been easily identified, but it had masked the second breach quite well. It wasn't until hours later that they'd realized what had occurred and the potential consequences of it. When they had, Hermione had been their first call.
For the past three days she'd worked nonstop to pull in agents from all over the world. After bringing them back to London she'd modified their memories and implanted false information about how they'd gotten home. All that apparating had left her numb. Now as she sat in her car outside of Penelope's apartment waiting for a reasonable hour to go knock on her door, sensation was finally coming back. An unpleasant tingling sensation worked its way through her entire body.
Finally, the minute hand on her watch ticked to seven. Hermione decided it was confrontation time. Pulling in several calming breaths in preparation she reminded herself that she couldn't be overly harsh. Garcia had been trying to protect her friends. At the core of that woman was a fierce protector and it was a quality Hermione could admire. Though, when it ruined her three-day weekend and got her dragged around the world, she found it a whole lot less attractive.
As she climbed the stairs to the technical analyst's apartment, Hermione reigned in her anger. Antagonism wouldn't get her anywhere. She needed to get through to Penelope that her actions had hurt people and influence her into not digging into anymore databases for the sake of Britain's national security.
Her knock was answered quickly by a tall man with brown hair and brown eyes. He flashed a friendly smile. "Hi there, can I help you?"
"I'm looking for Penelope Garcia," Hermione said.
"Oh, come in, you must be one of her coworkers. I'm Sam, make yourself and home, I'll go-" He turned. "Never mind, here she is. Penelope, one of your FBI friends is here."
"Is it JJ? I was going to meet her for coffee." The blonde head of Agent Garcia poked around the door.
Her expression went from surprise to fear to defiance in the space of three seconds.
"I regret nothing!"
Hermione shut her eyes and counted to five. Anger will get you nowhere. Anger will get you nowhere. She repeated the mantra to herself, the litany serving as her last thread of control.
"I need to speak with you," She said calmly. Her eyes shot to the man. His eyes darted between the women with interest. "Alone," the witch added.
There was an awkward silence for a moment as Penelope did her best to stare down Hermione. The analyst's feet were planted, her arms folded resolutely over her chest and her chin was raised. An urge to scream rose in Hermione's chest and she chalked it up to sleep deprivation. It was obvious that this wasn't going to be easy.
"Oh, right, alone," Sam said suddenly. "I'll just go in to work then. Have a good day, honey pot."
Turning he grabbed his coat from the rack behind him and gathered his brief case. "Nice to meet you, ah, what was your name?"
"Captain Hermione Granger."
His face changed, as Hermione had expected it to. Well then. Miss Garcia had been bringing her work home with her. The horrified expression on the boyfriend's face was as though he'd just met Hitler in the flesh and been informed they were brothers.
"I'll just be going now," He stammered and raced past her in his haste to get away.
Hermione watched him go with amusement before she turned back to Garcia. Considering Sam's earlier invitation still valid, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
"You already know why I'm here," she said plainly.
"Yes I do. And I'll have you know that anything I do, I do to protect my team, which is my family. You can arrest me or kill me or torture me but I'll never regret anything I've done."
"I don't torture people. Ever. Under any circumstances," Hermione snapped, her eyes flashing. "I don't appreciate the insinuation that I would either."
Penelope had the decency to look somewhat abashed, but refused to back down.
"I needed to know if you were a plant."
"Did Spencer share with you the conversation he and I had last Friday?"
"Yes, on Saturday after I'd already done the search. I'm not sure I believe you though. I need proof before I can be expected to trust you."
"You're not being held responsible for a massive amount of damage. You're not in prison for treason and for breaking a half a dozen international laws. That should make you trust me."
"Treason? What do you mean treason?" Penelope exclaimed. "I didn't even access anything. Your name tripped a security protocol that threw me out of the system."
"I mean that another hacker piggy backed your worm. I assume I don't need to inform you that, legally, you're responsible for granting him access and considered complicit in his all of his actions. He avoided the system shut down that my name initiated and used the hole you created to access the identities of intelligence assets all over the world. I've been awake for the last seventy-two hours helping safely bring them in. We had to black out our entire communications system. As a result, we ended up losing contact with troops on the ground in Afghanistan, who were in the middle of a firefight. Over the last three days I've been in six countries and dragged over three continents. I've been shot at by a group of very hostile eastern European rebels and had to bribe several of the slimiest politicians this world has to offer. So, yes, Penelope. Treason."
The blonde woman had gone paler and paler as Hermione spoke. Tears welled in her eyes and she looked scared. She tried to form words but none came out.
"I…. I…. I didn't mean for any of that to happen!"
"I know. But it did."
Garcia swayed on her feet, looking like she'd been struck.
"Sit down before you fall down," Hermione ordered, unable to stand it anymore. The woman looked like death she was so white.
She then lead the agent over to the couch and gently pushed her down so that she was sitting. From there she went to the adjoining kitchen where she was pleasantly surprised to find a kettle on the stove top.
"Where do you keep your tea?" Hermione asked Penelope as she filled the kettle.
"Did anyone die? I don't think I could live with that. Oh, no, no! What about those soldiers? Are they okay? Was anyone hurt?" Garcia was nearly hysterical as her mind grasped the consequences of what she'd done.
"No one died! We contacted the Americans who were able to establish a new line of communication within a few minutes. From what I heard they were all okay, aside from minor injuries that were probably inevitable. And I can personally vouch for the fact that we've gotten all of the agents in. Ah-ha, here's your tea!" Hermione exclaimed in victory as she opened the last cabinet. "Why do you keep it with your drinking glasses?"
"It's easier to reach there," Penelope said distractedly. "But if you don't have any spies out there doing spy things how are you keeping your country safe?"
"Honestly? Right now we're scrambling and hoping for the best. Some agents will have to be burned."
"Burned?! Like on the TV show Burn Notice?" Penelope sprang up from the couch and whirled on Hermione. "You can't do that!"
"Relax! We're not dropping anyone off in a rundown Miami motel to fend for themselves. They'll move to desk jobs or be phased out."
"I've ruined careers," Penelope stated. She looked a bit sick and Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for her, despite what she'd done.
Hermione refused to lie. "Yeah."
The tea kettle whistled just then and Hermione moved it off of the burner. From the cabinet she gathered two mugs and made up their mugs with the tea she'd found. Picking them both up in one hand she used the other to carry the sugar over to Penelope. She took a seat on the couch next to the shaken agent.
"Drink," she ordered.
Penelope ignored her and hugged the throw pillow she was holding tighter. "Why aren't I in jail? Or in a very deep hole where I deserve to be?"
"You made an honest mistake Penelope, and it was made with the best of intentions. I can understand that."
"You didn't answer the question," Garcia said. A look of comprehension dawned over her face suddenly. "Oh! You're here to arrest me, aren't you?"
"No. As a matter of fact, I pretty much put the tattered remains of my career on the line by pulling in every political favor I'm owed, so that you won't go to jail."
Penelope looked taken aback. "Why? Why would you do that for me? I deserve to go to prison for what I did, for the people I hurt."
"Because the team couldn't function without you. Because at the end of the day I knew you didn't intend for any of this to happen. It truly was an accident. And also because, as so many people in the last three days have pointed out, this is partially my fault."
"What?"
"I should have provided a better cover for myself. Instead I let my bosses spring me on you. I should have made a backstory and provided you with misinformation, to prevent you from digging. But I don't do undercover work so I just walked into this the way I would anything else. That rubbed a lot of people in the BAU the wrong way."
"I'd have searched you anyway," Penelope said, discarding the pillow and picking up her mug. "It's just what I do. Besides the director called me into his office to tell me that I wasn't supposed to check up on you. That's like dangling cheese in front of a mouse."
Hermione shrugged. Exhaustion pulled her eyelids down and she felt herself beginning to doze off against her will.
"You look like death warmed over," Garcia said. "You really went to six countries and were shot at?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry. I don't know if it matters, but I'm really, really, sorry."
"It's over and done. We'll move on," Hermione said with a sigh. She took a sip of her tea to try and keep herself awake as a silence lapsed between her and Garcia.
A knock sounded at the door and neither of them moved. Hermione was dead tired and Penelope was so lost in thought she didn't hear it. It sounded again, more insistently. At this Garcia looked up.
She moved to the door and swung it open without even looking through the peep hole. Hermione tensed, unconsciously, and anxiety buzzed in her veins.
"Morgan!" Penelope exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Sam called me. What's going on?"
Without waiting for an invitation, Derek entered the apartment. His eyes shot straight to Hermione and he arched an eyebrow. "You look like you got hit by a truck."
"Thank you. I live for compliments."
"You still have that dry humor going on, so I guess you'll be alright." He winked before becoming serious. "What's all this? Why've you been crying, baby girl?"
"I did a really, really bad thing and I almost got a lot of people killed and I ruined a bunch of a careers."
Morgan jerked back, looking dismayed and concerned. "What happened?"
"Penelope," Hermione said warningly. "You should probably keep this quiet."
"I'm her best friend and I want to know," Morgan said firmly.
"You'd be duty bound to arrest her," Hermione argued. "And I worked very hard to make sure that didn't happen."
"Really? She hates your guts."
"Not anymore," Penelope broke in. "Especially since I'd be in jail right now for treason without her!"
"Treason!"
"Penelope!"
Hermione and Derek both exploded at the same time.
"Talk, both of you."
"And unravel all the work I've done?" Hermione demanded. "Not happening."
Penelope was less restrained and recounted the whole thing back to the man, quite theatrically. She managed to repeat the part about the soldiers a total of three times over the course of the conversation. Hermione leaned her head back on the couch and shut her eyes, allowing the conversation to wash over her. Sleep sounded heavenly right about now.
"Hey, are you okay?" Morgan jostled her shoulder and she cracked open her eye to see him standing over her. Had she drifted off?
"I'm fine," she said automatically.
"Liar. Penelope tells me you've been awake for three days and that you traveled nonstop during them. How much coffee did you drink?"
"All of it," Hermione told him, closing her eyes again.
"I am so sorry," Penelope apologized.
"It's fixed," Hermione replied wearily. "No harm done."
Derek made a derisive noise in his throat. He sent a dark look to Penelope. "Do you know what a risk you took? I could have lost you forever. Sam could have lost you. What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that she was a plant. Spencer says she's not, but how can we be sure if we don't check?"
"By trusting me, because I'm apparently going to be here for a while."
Both of them faced her, their attention captured. "What's that supposed to mean," Derek asked.
"I spent all of my political capital on buying Penelope a get out of jail free card. Literally. So now I'd better settle in for the long haul because I'm not getting back to my previous job anytime soon."
"You consider working with us a punishment?" The technical analyst exploded. "We are so not a punishment!"
"I didn't mean it that way. I just mean that I'm a soldier, not a cop. This isn't exactly what a prime assignment looks for someone in my profession. Besides I'm basically babysitting a situation and advising the government on what to do about it. I'm so far out of the action, I'm not even on the sidelines. I'm practically up in the announcer's booth, reporting on the game."
The duo looked shocked.
"Oh," Penelope said.
Morgan looked upset, but said nothing. "Come on," He announced after a moment. "You're going home and going to sleep. I'll call Hotch and explain."
"Relax, my commanding officer already took care of it. He told him that I'm attending a briefing. It probably goes without saying," Hermione said as she stood from the couch. "That we don't mention this to him. The fewer people who know about this, the better off we all are."
"Alright," Morgan agreed, somewhat reluctantly. He caught her arm when she stumbled, tripping over her own feet. The sleep deprivation and travel were really beginning to settle in. When they got to the door, Morgan paused and turned back to Garcia. "Baby girl, don't think we aren't done talking about this. I'm coming over tonight."
Penelope nodded meekly and opened the door for them as Morgan ushered Hermione out.
"Wait," she stopped them. "Hermione, I just wanted to say I'm sorry I caused so much trouble for you personally. I regret what I did and if I could go back I wouldn't have done it like I did. Thank you for saving me. And also, thank you for not inventing a cover and lying to us. I'm glad that you're being honest with us, at least as much as you can. I trust you now. You've earned it."
"How do you know I'm not a plant," Hermione asked her. Though sluggish, her mind hadn't missed that Penelope's primary concern was still dangling between them.
"I lied earlier. I trust Reid and he believes you, so I believe you. Besides I made him recount your entire conversation for me, verbatim. That eidetic memory is handy sometimes."
"Just don't hack anymore databases, okay? I can only do so much."
"Really? Because I kind of get a Sarah Conner/Natasha Romanoff vibe from you that's super kick ass."
Hermione laughed, and let Morgan lead her away.
They ended up in his truck, sitting in morning rush hour traffic on the way to her apartment. Hermione propped up her head and shut her eyes, but didn't go to sleep. Morgan's fingers drummed a nervous beat on the steering wheel.
"Spill it, Derek."
"Spill what?" He asked blankly.
"Whatever's making you tap out the beat to Staying Alive on the steering wheel."
"I was tapping the beat to Another One Bites the Dust."
"Whatever."
There was a tense silence and he inched the car forward another two feet before asking. "Are the soldiers really okay? You didn't lie to make her feel better?"
Hermione opened her eyes. "I wouldn't lie about something that important."
Morgan's shoulders relaxed. "Good." He shook his head. "Penelope always means well but she can cross certain lines. I hope this doesn't affect how you see her. She isn't a criminal, she just gets carried away and doesn't always look before she leaps."
"I know some people like that," Hermione said, thinking of Ron. "Sometimes having too much heart can come back and bite you."
"Thank you for what you did," Derek told her quietly.
It took them eons to get out of D.C. traffic, but when they finally did, the rest of the journey to her apartment was fairly quick. They stopped in front of her building and Morgan got out to walk her in. He held the door open for her as they walked into the lobby and as they walked up the stairs he stayed a step behind her. Hermione noted that he was making sure if she stumbled again, he could catch her. It was sweet, especially because nobody had done something like that for her in a long time.
At her apartment door, she dug into her pocket for her keys and opened the door, which he followed her through. Inside he spun in a slow circle in the middle of her living room, taking it all in. The apartment was spacious, decorated traditionally and filled with natural light from the bank of east facing windows.
"Nice place. It's shockingly normal," he said when he finished surveying his surroundings.
"What were you expecting? A lair?"
"Kind of, you give off the secret agent vibe. Penelope's been calling you Jacey Bourne, like the Robert Ludlum character."
"Cute. I kind of hope it sticks."
Morgan shook his head, grinning, and then sobered. He looked her up and down with worry in his eyes.
"Are you okay? And don't give me any pat answers. Your 'I'm fine' sounds too way too programmed."
Hermione groaned and ran a hand through her tangled curls. By now they were surely frizzy and bush like. "I'll be human again after twelve hours of sleep and a shower. The past few days have been pretty rough. I just hope Penelope will be okay. She took it pretty hard, so make sure her guilt doesn't make her spontaneously confess to Hotch. If I called in every single marker I held for her to ruin it all I'm going to go on a rampage."
"I'll keep her in line. That girl would not fare well in prison. And again, thank you, for doing all of that. I second what Penelope said. You've really earned my trust. Also, you're about to fall asleep on your feet, so I'm going to run."
"Bye Morgan," Hermione called after Derek as he crossed the threshold to the hall.
"Sleep tight, Princess!" He retorted. Her lips twitched.
Apparently she had her own nickname now.
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