Supernatural: Fate or Luck Pt. 2
A/N: Here's the latest chapter for my story, and you'll find out more about Garcia's past. Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or Criminal Minds; I just own the characters that I happen to create.
CHAPTER TWO: GETTING BOLDER
"I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit where in so ever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also."
2 Corinthians 11:21
At the hospital, Penelope was now sitting up and looking better with her hair done up in pigtails, her glasses on her face, along with some makeup, and could hold her own cup; Morgan, Liz, and Reid were in the room to get more info on the unsub.
"I don't know what else I can tell you," said Penelope, her eyes wide behind her dark-blue glasses. "I don't look at that sort of stuff."
"Describe his emotional state at the restaurant," Reid suggested. "That's all profiling really is."
"Did he seem nervous?" Morgan asked.
Penelope shook her head. "No, he was calm…" and she described how he took control at the restaurant, his fake Rolex, and how he asked her about her job and what he did as a lawyer while railing against the incompetence of others.
"…and then we made a toast to karma," Penelope concluded.
"You did good, sweetie," Liz told her, smiling. 'Hopefully it'll help us find this creep.'
"City attorneys don't handle murder cases," Reid informed the team later that same day. "Clearly he isn't a lawyer."
"Which means he probably failed the bar exam," Morgan added. "Which also explains his vocabulary."
"He's clearly a narcissist," said Rossi. "New Haven and Cambridge, instead of Yale and Harvard. He's also impotent based on how he rails against the incompetence of others."
Sam pondered all of this. "So, he pretends to be a lawyer and lures Garcia in by takin' her to a nice place, and when her guard's down, he tries to do her in. Why?"
Hotch knew that was one of many questions that they needed to answer. "JJ, we need a analyst to input all of our data."
JJ nodded and left to make some calls.
A short while later, Morgan, Liz, and Reid went back to the hospital to ask Penelope a few more questions; meanwhile, Hotch, Rossi, and Dean were leading a new tech analyst down the hall to Penelope's office.
"So what is it that you want me to do?" the guy asked; he was tallish with messy black hair, dark eyes behind dark-rimmed glasses, he wore a white shirt with blue and purple splatters with tanned slacks, black shoes, wore a pattern purple tie, and carried a brown leather bag over one shoulder.
"We need you to do a search for us, Mr. Lynch," Hotch answered, removing his ID tag to swipe it across the scanner to access Penelope's office.
Kevin Lynch raised his eyebrows. "I could've done this at my computer," he pointed out. "Anyway, why can't your own analyst do this?"
"She's currently in the hospital," Rossi answered.
"Wait, is this the analyst that got shot?" Kevin asked, surprised.
Rossi nodded and they entered the office; Kevin took in all of the computer screens and Penelope's colorful toys and stuff. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just that we're the guardians of a whole lot of data," Kevin explained, removing his bag and sat down in front of the computers. "This kind of stuff tends to leave us a little paranoid."
'Where'd JJ find this guy?' Dean wondered.
"We need you to do a search for the name James Colby Baylor," Hotch requested.
Nodding, Kevin logged into the system and his jaw dropped with amazement. "Wow."
"What is it?" Dean asked.
"This system is uber crazy," Kevin responded, impressed. "I mean…it's LINUX-based, open-sourced. This is beyond the standard government systems; I mean, you don't see something like this outside of countries, like Switzerland."
"James Colby Baylor," Hotch repeated.
Kevin scowled. "Right. Chop, chop." He began the search and found nothing. "Nope."
"Okay, search for anyone who failed the bar exam or got fired from a law firm within the last five years," Hotch requested.
"But that'll take forever," Kevin protested.
"Try narrowing it down to anyone with the initials J.C.B," Rossi suggested. "He'll probably have monogram shirts; trust me, they aren't cheap," he added, having some monogram shirts of his own.
Kevin began typing again with a new search and a lot of different windows filled with online stuff appeared on the screen, impressing him even further, and he smiled.
"Is there a problem?" Hotch asked.
"This might be the coolest girl I've ever met," Kevin commented.
Rossi raised his eyebrows. "You've never laid eyes on her."
Kevin chuckled. "Well…her GUI is mind-blowing."
Dean rolled his eyes, seeing what was happening. "Oh God…" 'He now has a crush on Garcia?'
"The list," said Hotch.
Kevin sighed and continued typing when a window popped up, requesting a password. "Oh. That's weird." He typed in his authorization password, but it was instantly denied. "Well, this isn't good."
While Kevin tired to access the file again, Hotch, Rossi, and Dean exchanged uneasy looks. This wasn't good at all.
After making a certain call, Hotch, Rossi, and Dean walked down the hallway and JJ was startled when Hotch headed straight for the elevator.
"What's Hotch doing?" she asked Rossi and Dean, who were looking grim.
"Right now, I'm guessing he's wishing anybody else was the leader of this team," Rossi answered as Hotch left, and they went into the bullpen to let Sam and Emily know what was going on.
At the hospital, Morgan was holding a small mirror up and Penelope was putting on lip-gloss when there was a knock, and Hotch entered, walking past the guard on duty. "Hey."
"How're you feeling?" Hotch asked as Morgan moved aside.
"I'm doing better," Penelope answered, setting aside her lip-gloss.
"What's going on?" Morgan asked, sensing that something was going on.
Hotch sighed. "We found an encrypted file on your computer," he told her, noting how she tensed slightly. "Are you involved in something that I need to know about?"
Penelope shook her head. "No."
"Hotch, what's going on?" Liz asked.
"Could this be connected in anyway to whoever shot you?" Hotch asked, ignoring the question.
"I don't think so," Penelope answered.
"I need the password," Hotch requested.
"Is this really necessary?" Morgan asked.
"Yes," Hotch answered. "The password."
Penelope swallowed. "Gilman Street."
"Thank you," said Hotch.
"They can't possibly think Garcia's involved in anything, do they?" Reid asked, concerned.
"I don't know," Hotch admitted, nothing Liz's confused expression. "Internal Affairs have ordered us to stop working the case, and they want you, Dean, and Sam to turn yourselves in," he explained, leaving Liz shocked. "However, Sam just called and he convinced them to change their minds, plus the records show you're clear of all charges."
"Thanks heavens," Liz muttered, relieved and glad for Sam's Jedi mind trick. "But what about Garcia?"
Hotch sighed. "IA is doing an audit of your computers, and until further notice, you've been suspended," he told Penelope, who deflated slightly. "I'm sorry," he added and it was true. No one liked the IA people.
The moment that Hotch left, Penelope began pulling the sensors off her chest, and Morgan moved to stop her.
"Whoa, whoa, what're you doin'?" he asked, grabbing her hands.
"I have to get out of here," Penelope insisted. "I can't stay here."
Morgan shook his head. "No you need to stay here and rest, and I don't care what IA says, either."
"No," Penelope snapped desperately. "Morgan the last thing I said before I got shot was "that everything happens for a reason'."
"I understand that," Morgan began, but Penelope shook her head.
"No you don't," she said, breathing hard. "Derek, if I lose faith in that, then I'll have nothing."
Liz could see that their friend was serious and she lightly touched his arm. "Derek, we should hear her out."
"Ok," Morgan agreed, sighing as he released Penelope's hands. "Ok."
Back at the BAU, both Emily and JJ were watching with frustration as Agent Adam Fuchs removed everything from the board and placed it in a cardboard box.
"Is this really necessary?" JJ asked, trying to remain calm.
"Yes," Fuchs answered simply, and then noted the cold looks he was getting. "Yes, it's necessary, and Mr. Lynch will be doing an audit of her computers, and I will oversee the investigation."
Kevin, who was standing next to the board, nervously waved before shoving his hands into his pants pockets, clearly wishing he was somewhere else right now, even he didn't like being bossed around by the IA people, either.
"A federal employee was just gunned down," JJ pointed out, "and you make it seem more important to investigate her then finding out who shot her."
"Well that's not entirely true," said Fuchs, now collecting the folders on the table, "the police have jurisdiction, and trust me, I will offer them the full force of the FBI to solve this case."
"With all do respect sir. The BAU is a part of that force," Emily stated.
"Look, I'm sorry," Fuchs apologized and continued packing up the case files. "I realize how hard this must be."
"But?" JJ prompted.
"But, the first thing you look at is victimology, correct?" Fuchs asked, and both women nodded reluctantly. "The bureau needs to know what she's involved in, and whether it has anything to do with why she was shot."
"She's not involved with anything," JJ declared.
Fuchs raised his eyebrows at her. "And you're certain of that?"
"Absolutely," Emily confirmed.
Fuchs smirked and walked around the table to collect the remaining papers and folders. "What do you know about how she was recruited to the FBI?" he asked.
Emily and JJ exchanged confused looks. What did that have to do with anything?
At the hospital, Penelope was standing and packing up her stuff. "After my parents died, I…kind of went off the rails for a while," she explained to Morgan, Reid, and Liz. "I dropped out of Caltech, I lived underground, basically. But I kept teaching myself code. It was like…the one thing that kept me together."
"Well the bureau keeps track of computer hackers," Fuchs explained, sort of. "Ones who have the skills to be either extremely useful, or a potential menace."
"So, Garcia was on a watch list?" Emily asked, surprised.
Fuchs shook his head. "No, watch lists are long," he corrected. I'm talking about only a handful of people on the planet."
"What did she do to get on that list?" JJ asked, recalling how the CIA kept both her and Penelope back at the BAU, and had said that Penelope was on a list for some reason.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to answer that," Fuchs said plainly.
"So they offered you a job?" Reid asked.
Penelope nodded, having revealed that she'd hacked into the FBI computer systems on a dare, and a few months later, they'd caught her with the option to either go to jail or work for them. "Mm-hmm."
"Like Frank Abernakle," Reid remarked. "The bureau figured if you can't beat 'em, hired 'em."
"Yeah, something like that," Penelope agreed.
"Well, I admit that I'm impressed," Liz commented. "And no matter what anyone says, I'm not leavin' until you get your job back."
Penelope smiled, grateful. "Thanks, Liz, that means a lot."
"Garcia, what's on the encrypted file?" Morgan asked.
"I'm required to keep a record of everything the team does," Penelope answered hesitantly. "And also what you and your brothers do, too, Liz."
Liz was surprised. "Wha-? Really?"
Penelope nodded. "Yeah, and after my system got hack and Elle got shot, I – I didn't want anyone else to be able to get at you."
"We'll talk to the doctor, see if he'll clear you to leave," Reid offered and left the room while Penelope continued packing her bag with Liz's help.
That night, Morgan and Liz drove Penelope to the apartment, where a cop was waiting for them.
Morgan got out first, along with Liz, and they helped Penelope get out with her bag.
"Hi, I'm Mike Flemming," Mike introduced himself, showing them his ID and badge. "I'm on 'till midnight. Officer Cranbeck will be here after that, ok?"
"Thank you," said Penelope, glad for the police protection.
"You're welcome," Mike responded.
"Come on, let's get you inside," Morgan suggested as he and Liz escorted Penelope into the courtyard while Mike kept watch near his patrol car; as they neared the front steps, she saw the faint blood stain and she froze.
"It's okay," Liz said reassuringly.
"Come on," said Morgan, touching her arm, "it washes off. I promise."
Taking a breath, Penelope went up the steps and inside with Morgan and Liz while holding her side.
Penelope let them into her apartment, alerting them to the salt line on the inside, plus that there was a devil's trap under the doormat.
While she put down her keys, Morgan and Liz looked around the living room area with purple walls, a lot of lamps, pictures on the panels, colorful toys, peacock-print curtains, crystals, stain-glass curtains separating the bedroom, and more salt lines to keep demons out.
Morgan chuckled. "I, um…I would expect nothing less."
Penelope also chuckled. "You both should be flattered," she said as Morgan set down her bag. "Not many people are invited in off the grid."
Liz giggled. "Well it's fantastic, even with the protection of salt lines and devil's traps."
"I also have bottles of holy water, crosses, and a few other protective items that Bobby told me about," Penelope added, "and I've sewn anti-possession talismans into all of my clothes."
"I believe it," Liz agreed, impressed that Penelope was defending herself against the forces of evil so well.
"Super 8?" Morgan asked, nodding to a projector on a small table, which had a film reel already in it.
Penelope nodded. "Yeah." She then walked over to the projector and turned it on. "I always imagine myself fighting crime," she remarked as home videos of her childhood appeared on the screen. "My parents were hippies. I think it horrified them."
Both Morgan and Liz chuckled, imagining Penelope as a kid, playing cop and robbers with the other kids.
"How old were you when you lost them?" he asked.
"18," Penelope answered, "drunk driver." And she turned off the projector while Morgan walked around and found her weekly planner. "I volunteer once a week. I counsel family members of murder victims."
"Baby, you don't get enough of this at work?" Morgan asked, surprised.
"I look at those crime scene photos all day long," Penelope explained. "I can't know those families are out there, trying to cope, and not do something to help."
Morgan sighed. "You do know it was stupid to encrypt that files."
"Yes, I know," Penelope agreed. "Old habits, I guess."
"Nothin' wrong with that," Liz commented.
Morgan understood that, and he could see that Penelope was beginning to tire slightly. "You need some rest," he advised.
"You're right," Penelope agreed and hugged Morgan. "Go. Be free, my love." And then she hugged Liz. "You too, sweetie."
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere," Morgan stated.
"Me either," Liz agreed.
"I'm fine," Penelope protested. "I got my goon squad parked out front."
"Goon squad or no goon squad, that couch right there is going to be my best friend until we find this guy," Morgan told her. "Now leave it alone."
"And I got a sleeping bag that I'm gonna bring up," Liz added. "So drop it."
Penelope smiled, grateful. "Ok." And she moved toward her bedroom, and then faced them. "But if you're thinking of trying to take advantage of me…" she told Morgan. "Let me call my doctor so he can revive me afterward."
Liz laughed and left to get her sleeping bag while Morgan smiled.
"Hey, silly girl," he said and Penelope faced him again. "I love you. You know that right?" he asked.
Penelope smiled. "I love you, too."
"Go to bed," Morgan suggested, glad that she was doing better.
Penelope nodded and she went into her bedroom, where she began organizing her pillows.
Later that same night, 'Colby' made his way toward the apartment, having learned, somehow, that Penelope had been released from the hospital earlier.
Mike noticed 'Colby' approaching in his rear view mirror and recalled the sketch. 'I better make sure.'
He got out of his car and waved to 'Colby'. "Can I help you with something?"
'Colby' only returned the wave and continued walking.
Suspicious, Mike stepped in front of him, his hand on his gun. "I need you to stop right there. St-"
BANG! BANG!
'Colby' shot him twice with the revolver and didn't even blink as he walked straight pass the downed cop.
The gunshots woke up Liz, Morgan, and Penelope.
Morgan and Liz both stood up, the later moving to the window.
"Garcia!" Morgan shouted as she came out of her bedroom, holding her side, and putting on her glasses.
"What's going on?!"
"Stay right there," Morgan ordered, joining Liz at the window with their guns out, and Penelope froze. "Stay there!"
They peered out the window and Liz quietly cursed when they saw Mike sprawled on the ground bleeding, and no sign of the unsub.
"He's already inside."
"Come here, come with me," Morgan said as he moved to Penelope, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her over to the nearest corner. "See him?"
"No," Liz answered, joining them.
"Get in the corner, get in the corner," Morgan instructed and Penelope did so with a scared expression on her face. "Garcia, you listen to me," he added, bending down and removing his ankle-gun. "Take this gun."
"I don't believe in guns," Penelope protested.
"Trust me, they're very real," Morgan said, cocking it, and shoving it into her hand. "Take it. All right, you keep that finger off that trigger. If someone walks through that door that isn't a demon, a ghost, or one of us, you grab hold of it and you squeeze, fire, you hear me?"
Penelope clutched the gun, terrified, and watched as both Morgan and Liz headed out into the hallway.
'Colby' was heading up when both Morgan and Liz reached the stairwell and looked down, spotting him; they all fired at the same time, missing their targets, and 'Colby' bolted.
`"Morgan! Liz!"` Penelope screamed, hearing the gunfire.
"Stay there!" Morgan ordered, he and Liz running down the stairs and reaching the next level; they were forced back behind the corner as 'Colby' shot at them, running around the next corner.
Terrified, Penelope moved out of the corner and hid behind the wall in her bedroom, still clutching the gun tightly. 'Oh God, don't let anything bad happen to them.'
Meanwhile, Morgan and Liz peered around the corner, saw that the unsub was gone, and hurried down the hallway.
'Colby' ran outside and was already crossing the street, almost getting hit by a car, when both Morgan and Liz got outside, and they tried to get a bead, but he was out of range.
"Dammit," Liz cursed and followed Morgan as they went back to check on Mike, who wasn't moving very much and was barely breathing.
Morgan grabbed the radio while Liz checked for a pulse. "107 Levenworth. I got an officer down, I repeat, officer down. Send me an ambulance."
`"All right. This is dispatch, we copy your request."`
"I'm going to check on Garcia," Morgan told Liz, who nodded and was now applying pressure to the wounds, and he hurried back to the apartment.
Penelope was still hiding and was breathing hard, terrified, and fought back a scream when she heard footsteps.
Morgan, mindful of the salt line, entered the room, and paused when he saw that Penelope wasn't in the corner; he pulled out his gun and moved slowly around when he heard breathing.
He spun toward the bedroom and Penelope jumped out, screaming.
"Ahh! Ahh!"
"Garcia, it's me!" Morgan exclaimed, lowering his gun. "Don't shoot it's me. It's Morgan, baby."
Penelope whimpered as Morgan put away his gun, went to her, gently took the gun from her, and pulled her into a hug.
"Why is this happening to me?" Penelope cried.
"I don't know," Morgan admitted, hearing sirens in the distance, and kissed her forehead, "I don't know."
After letting the paramedics attend to the cop, Liz used wipes to get the blood off her hands, told the arriving cops about what happen, and then hurried inside the building.
She found Penelope sitting on the couch and Morgan was standing near her. "Garcia, you all right?"
"I wish I was," Penelope whimpered and Liz sat next to her, rubbing her back.
Why was this guy going after Penelope?
A/N: So, if you can guess why this guy is after Penelope, share it in a review. R&R everyone!