Title: Transhuman
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Characters/Pairing: Garcia-centric, team - gen
Genre: Science-fiction/Drama
Summary: In a dystopian future, hacker Penelope Garcia finds herself being hunted by a corrupt organization. Fearing for her life, she must search for help in the strangest of places.
Author's Notes: Betaed by Windy City Dreamer.

Chapter Six

As soon as Kevin had finished his shower, he had joined them at the long dining table in the room just off the kitchen. There was only one matching chair sitting at the table; Derek had retrieved two more of them from a storage closet. Garcia figured that, guest room aside, he didn't get too many visitors.

The shirt that Kevin had requested from the clothing catalogue was a lurid green paisley, and clashed horribly against the apartment's décor. Garcia stared at it intently as she slurped up her miso soup. It was almost mesmerizing.

Though she had only known the man for a few hours, Garcia found herself trusting him. He had a very trustable vibe going on. If he turned out to be no better than the rest of them, Garcia knew that she would be very disappointed.

'I grew up north of the river,' she started. 'Loving parents, good upbringing and all that. They died when I was seventeen. Car accident. I dropped off the radar. Moved to the slums. There was nothing left for me here. That was twelve years ago.'

Derek said nothing, though Garcia could tell he was definitely interested in what she had to say.

'I lived alone for a couple of years. Learning the tricks of the trade, taking jobs where I could. And then I met Kevin.'

'She saved my life,' provided Kevin, his voice filled with pride. Garcia felt herself blush slightly, and shook her head slightly. Kevin gave her an affectionate nudge. 'Oh, come on, Penelope. Stop being modest. There were three heavily armed gangbangers who didn't like the fact that I'd hacked their system and replaced their music collection with 21st century Japanese pop. Ms. Quick-thinking here heard the commotion from down the hall, and promised them she'd hack the Global Bank to line their pockets with ill-gotten funds.'

'And did you?' asked Derek, clearly amused.

'I put a time-wipe on their hard-drives, and then we both ran like the wind.' Garcia smiled at the memory. 'And three days later, we're holed up in a cheap apartment in the south of the slums. I finally get around to asking him what the gangbangers had wanted him to do in the first place.' She stopped, allowing Kevin to take over.

'They burst into my apartment at three o'clock in the morning, and demanded that I "hack the internet" for them. I was buck naked at the time, it might be worth mentioning.'

'Wait…"hack the internet?"'

'It also might be worth mentioning that they weren't the brightest of gangbangers.'

Derek grinned, taking a liberal sip of his drink.

'So for the next few years we pooled our resources; making fake for people that were avoiding the Corp, hacking databases, that kind of stuff. And then one day, I'm messing around in the Corp Central Database. A client wanted some classified intel. Paid damn good money for it, too. It's not easy getting into the CCD.'

Derek straightened slightly; a gesture that might have been imperceptible to anyone who hadn't been on the run from the Corp for so long. He was interested before, but he was very interested now.

'About half an hour in, I realize that there's something very hinky going on. Their code is all jumbly, and things aren't making sense. Just as I was about to disconnect, I found a file. Complete fluke. I couldn't have found it if I'd been looking. It's not the file the client wants, but it looks interesting anyway. So in my infinite wisdom, I copy it.'

'And that's why the Corp are chasing you,' concluded Derek.

'That's why the Corp are chasing us.' Garcia slumped backwards in her chair slightly. It felt good to tell someone their story. She loved Kevin like a brother, but he had been her only real company for the past two years.

Derek's story, it seemed, was much longer brewing, and yet, it was much simpler.

'I grew up in the slums.' He repeated what he had told them earlier, though this time his voice seemed a lot more sullen. 'Families dying on the streets, people succumbing to diseases that could have been cured in an instant. As if the ignorance wasn't enough, they decided to persecute people for simply being there. When I was thirteen, they almost killed me for getting in the way of their patrol. I wasn't doing anything. I was just trying to survive, and they made it so much worse.' He didn't elaborate on how he managed to get out of the situation, and Garcia knew that it was probably better that she didn't ask right away.

'How did you get out of the slums?' Kevin asked, almost completely missing the look on Derek's face.

'I had help,' he said tersely, the tone of his voice apparently enough to tell Kevin that it was probably best that he shut up. Kevin took the advice. Still, there was a slightly uncomfortable silence that was only broken when Derek stood, fork clattering against the table. He wasn't angry. He seemed more…contemplative.

'I need to make a phone call,' he told them, leaving Garcia to roll her eyes at a thoroughly perplexed Kevin.

Things were definitely getting interesting.