(I hope this story has been enjoyable so far! Thanks for reading! This chapter and the previous two have all been supposedly happening on December 23rd, just in case anyone was wondering. The next one will be on Christmas Eve, and so on from there. I still don't own them, and I'm figuring none of the stuff I imagine in this will ever be happening with the real characters, it's all just in my imagination!)

Christmas at Quantico

Chapter Three: Garcia

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let you heart be light

From now on our troubles will be out of sight

Through the years, we all will be together,

if the Fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough,

and have yourself a merry little Christmas now…"

-"Have Yourself a Merry Little Chirstmas"

Penelope Garcia came in the doorway of her small, cozy little apartment wrapped warmly in her coat, her cheeks flushed red from the cold wind and lightly falling snow outside, but a smile on her face. Hanging her coat and scarf on the hook by the door, she cheerily left the entryway, humming to herself and remembering the pleasant BAU party she had just come from as she meandered happily into the kitchen.

Her smile growing ever broader, she busied herself getting two tall peppermint-striped mugs, the carton of eggnog she'd bought at the grocery earlier that day, and the peanut butter blossoms she'd made that afternoon out of the cookie jar and onto a platter. As if it hadn't been exciting enough to spend some off-time with the team – her friends and surrogate family – this evening, actually seeing Hotch smile, sweet baby Henry, and JJ's pride and joy over him, now she was about to have company for this holiday evening. It was a luxury she didn't often have, what with having no family to speak of and few friends outside of the BAU. She spent most years entertaining herself around Christmas time, relaxing and celebrating the best she could on her own, in hopes of beginning to believe that she was fine and happy that way. But maybe, just maybe, this year was going to be different.

Derek had asked her if he could come over and join her in whatever decorating, caroling, Christmas movie-watching, or other holiday activities she had going. He said that he wanted to spend some time just the two of them, no one could get him more in the seasonal spirit than his own "personal Christmas elf." Apparently, he had planned to go to Chicago to visit his mother and sisters at home, but the city had suffered a major snowstorm and no planes were taking off or landing at Chicago O'Hare for him to get there now. Fran Morgan had understood but was sorry that her baby hadn't been able to come home for Christmas.

Penelope warned herself not to get too excited by his deciding he wanted to hang out with her instead; he just didn't want to be alone since he couldn't get to his family. They were best friends after all. She didn't dare to hope for more than that and she truly loved their friendship. They time they spent together outside of work playing board games, dishing and laughing about disastrous blind dates, or whatever else they did together was wonderful. If she sometimes had to battle down an errant wave of attraction for him, well then, it was a price she had always been willing to pay if the alternative was not to have him in her life at all.

Just as she was setting the refreshments on the coffee table and dragging her box of wrapping paper and bows out to wrap her gifts while they watched a movie, there was a hearty knocking at the door. "Come in, Morgan! It's unlocked!" she called out, now digging through her old VHS tapes for Judy Garland's "Meet Me in St. Louis." She thought that Morgan would probably protest the movie on first sight, but it was a hard-to-resist classic, and she thought he would enjoy it if she got him to give it a chance.

"Hey, Mama," his voice came from behind her jovially. "Don't you think you should make sure you know who's at the door before you let them walk right in? I wouldn't want some crazy taking off with my own scrumptious Christmas cookie," he winked, his grin both disarming and heart-melting as he dazzled her with yet another flirtatious nickname.

"Flatterer," she admonished, rolling her eyes at him playfully as she pushed the movie she'd finally located into the VCR, plopped onto the couch, and patted the seat next to her. "No one is going to run off with me, Handsome. Now come over here and help me wrap the rest of these presents and watch this movie with me. I've already got snacks out for us."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, taking his seat and the roll of Scotch tape she handed him, tearing pieces and handing them to her as she needed them, while she proceeded to cover her gifts for Hotch, Rossi, Prentiss, Reid, and JJ in brightly colored paper.

When she turned to him, saying brightly, "Well, that's done! Thanks for the help, Stud Muffin," he blinked at her, surprised.

"And just where is my present, Baby Doll?" he teasing, faking hurt. "I've got yours with me."

"You can't have yours yet!" she teased back. "Naughty elves don't get to help with presents, and I won't give you your present at all if you're not patient." Her eyes twinkled and he wondered even more what his present might be, but he let it go; she obviously had a plan she wasn't ready to reveal yet.

"Fine, keep your secret, you vixen. Why don't you tell me what the deal is with this movie? It doesn't seem to have anything to do with Christmas."

"Give it a minute, it will. They wrote my favorite Christmas song just for Judy Garland to sing in this movie."

Morgan conceded defeat on all points, as he usually did with his goddess. She could out-flirt, out-argue, and out-talk him as no one else ever had, and he didn't really mind a bit. He took a sip of eggnog, one of her delicious cookies, and settled back into the couch to watch the movie. As it reached the winter scene where the Christmas Dance is over and Judy Garland is crying as she and Tom Drake realize they are in love, but with her leaving St. Louis their romance probably won't survive, Morgan felt Penelope's beautiful, soft blonde curls tickling his neck as her head came to rest lightly on his shoulder. It felt perfect, and a smile grew unstoppably on his face as he put an arm around her and tucked her easily into his side. They cuddled like that as Judy began singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and the song touched him in a way it never had before. As a favorite holiday song for Garcia, it totally fit. There was no occasion or person she couldn't make merrier just by being her wonderful, amazing self, and he also knew that she'd often had to create joy out of the difficult hand she'd been dealt earlier in life. They stayed that way – perfectly contented – for the rest of the movie.

When the credits rolled, she looked up at him curiously, "So, Gorgeous, what'd you think?"

"I liked it more than I thought I would," he admitted, smiling down at her and unable to resist lightly pecking a kiss to her adorable button nose. "I can see why that's your favorite carol too."

"Good," she smiled, touching his cheek for a second before she disentangled herself and stood to turn off the TV, rewind the movie, and take their dishes to the kitchen. Once he'd looked at her that way, she'd had to put some distance between them, if only for a second or two, or she would have done a lot more than just touch his face. Her heart was thrumming wildly inside her chest until she thought she could actually feel the spurts of blood gushing through her veins. Was she right to even consider giving him the gift she'd planned for him? But at least then she would know…

He followed her, leaning easily in the doorframe of her kitchen, watching her with an amused light in his warm, hypnotic eyes as she dumped the dishes into the sink and placed her hands on the counter, keeping her back to him while she gathered herself for a minute. "I noticed there wasn't a gift for Lynch in that stack we wrapped," he observed mildly, wondering if she would comment and ease his curiosity or not. He knew he had not reason for Penelope's boyfriend to irk him as much as he did, but his jealousy was stronger than he liked to admit.

She gave a soft sigh, but turned to look at him, a small, sad little smile on her face. "That's because we're not dating anymore, Nosey – not that's it's any of your business."

Morgan's expression changed, surprised obvious on his features and also chagrin as if he were afraid he had hurt her by bringing it up. "I'm sorry, Baby Girl. I didn't know."

"Not a big deal, Hot Stuff. I'm the one who ended it, and how would you have known, since I didn't tell you?"

Morgan walked closer to her, placing his hands on her shoulders, then pulling her into a hug and lightly kissing the top of her head. "No reason I should know…I just…you seemed so happy when the two of you started dating, and though I didn't really like Kevin Lynch, I would hate to see you hurting."

"I'm fine," she promised, meeting his eyes fully and smiling in a way than convinced him. "I couldn't keep dating Kevin, not when I-" but she quickly stopped herself and wouldn't finish what she'd started to say.

"What is it, Mama?" he asked.

"Never mind, forget it," she said quickly, heading for the living room again. "What do you want to watch next? "The Grinch" or "It's a Wonderful Life?"

He followed her and sat beside her, but turned to face her. "Neither for the moment," he replied. He'd wanted to say this smoothly, but now suddenly he was almost nervous. "I want to give you your present."

"Okay," she smiled back at him gamely.

"It's not really something that I could wrap," he whispered, voice suddenly going raspy on him. He leaned forward, tilting her face up to him with a finger under her chin. "Now that I know Lynch isn't in the picture, maybe I can finally get this said. I realized it after you were shot, but when I told you that night, I don't think you realized that I meant it the way I did. I love you, Penelope Garcia. I'm hoping my present will convince you of how much."

Then his lips were on hers, gentle, feather-light, carefully exploring, asking, showing her his true feelings and insisting that she believe. One of his strong hands was rubbing a small circle at her waist and the other was gently caressing her hair. She couldn't help but lean into the kiss and find that the man she'd been in love with all along – the reason she'd broke up with Kevin and hadn't ever had eyes for anyone else – loved her back. She shivered under his fingers, and he smiled against her lips, pride running through him at her reaction.

Suddenly she pulled away, cheeks flushed, chest heaving as she panted, "Okay, you win. I'm going to give you your present now too. Wait a second, it's in the other room. I'll go get it and then you can come and see."

Morgan waited, laughing to himself again at her antics and finding that he was even more curious to what in the world could be so important that they'd had to put their first, mind-blowing kiss on hold. Finally, her voice called out, "Alright, I'm ready! You can come see it now…" but it wavered slightly at the end, as if her voice broke.

Puzzled, Morgan's brow furrowed as he followed in the direction she had gone. He paused, realizing he was about to walk into her bedroom, and asked, "Garcia, are you sure you want me in there?" For some reason, his heart was pounding harder as he awaited her answer.

"Yes, come in," she responded from the other side of the door.

Derek pushed the door open, stepped in looking for her in the dim lamplight, and then felt his jaw drop open as his eyes found her across the room. She stood before him, looking anxious, but smiling hopefully, not longer wearing the jeans and billowy peasant top she'd had on, but red, lacy lingerie and a red, gauzy and mostly see-through robe over them that trailed all the way down to her ankles but left little to the imagination. He really tried to tear his eyes away to look back up at her face, but for a moment he couldn't. He couldn't move or speak or even breathe, just drink her in with his eyes, her generous, luscious curves, and her smooth, flawless skin, and the offering she seemed to be giving him. When he finally did meet her eyes, he noticed the green bow she'd placed atop her head and finally found the presence of mind to smile at her brightly and take a step towards her. "Angel, are you…?"

But she put a hand out, clutching his, and interrupted, stuttering out an explanation. "Derek…I-I love you too. More than you know. And I've…been trying to protect my heart for so long, telling myself you couldn't…couldn't p-possibly feel the same, that I c-couldn't even see that you did. I-I finally decided after Kevin that…I had to be honest with you. My plan was to tell you that I give you me…all of me…for Christmas. I-I wasn't g-going to be quite this bold about it, b-but when y-you said what you did out there, well…it convinced me to go for broke." Her eyes sparkled glassily as if she might be fighting tears and her hand was trembling in his as he pulled her into his arms.

"Shh, it's okay, I love the gift," he kissed her forehead, "and I love you, Penelope. There's no present in the world I could love more. You don't even realize how beautiful you are to me. But you don't have to…we don't have to tonight…we just realized…"

"No," she whispered, stroking a bright red fingernail along his cheek, now blinking rapidly but looking much less nervous after his words, her eyes warming with both mischief and something else entirely. "I want to – if you do."

He merely nodded, swallowing hard. Obviously he did. And someday he'd find some way to do something equally as amazing for her as what she had just done for him.

"Well then, why don't you unwrap your Christmas gift, Handsome?" She winked at him and he was quick to do as he was told. It was turning out to be a much merrier and more wonderful Christmas than either of them had imagined…