"How did you?"

["Gibbs is like Santa Clause, he knows when someone is holding something back."] Abby answered before he could.

"I'm so sorry, Gibbs, I didn't want to, but I just want to know what was the cause of this great sadness in your eyes when we talked."

["It's okay, but next time, ask."]

"Promise. So you'll come visit then?"

["Yeah, but I just don't know when, yet. But you need to tell Morgan how you feel."]

Garcia chuckled "I heard you, the first time, Gibbs. I will, I swear."

["Good, keep on your good work, Tinkerbell, now, I'm going to let you do what you did when I called because there's a certain someone who's begging me for attention."] Gibbs laughed.

Penelope smile as she heard him use the nickname he had chosen for her. She liked it when Gibbs called her Tinkerbell, it was nothing like her flirting with Morgan, it was just a sweet name he had started to call her, when they started going out for a drink more often.

Gibbs had told her she reminded him of Disney's Tinkerbell, she had smile in response because she loved Peter Pan's fairy.

"Okay… See you and Abby soon I hope."

["You can count on it."] He told her, teasingly.

Gibbs was about to hang up when he heard her call him: "Gibbs…"

["Yeah, Tinkerbell?"]

"I'm so happy for you and Abby." She said honestly.

["Thanks."] Gibbs told her before he hung up.

Tell Morgan I'm in love with him, sure thing Gibbs that's gonna be an easy one! She thought a little frustrated, but she had to admit that what he said is true, life is too short and she could have indeed lost Morgan today.

She had to tell him

But how? How do you tell your best friend that you are in love with him? There's no such thing a manual for dummies on how to get prepared to the fact that you fall in love.

*~*~*~*

Derek Morgan was the first one to leave the jet when it stopped. Everyone looked at his back surprised that Derek seemed to be in such a hurry. This was not like him, yeah, he was always happy to be back so he would see Garcia again, but this was really fast, even for him

"Everything okay, Morgan?" Reid asked him, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, Reid, I'm perfectly fine, I'm finally able to see." He smirked, walking toward the SVU.

Spencer Reid looked oddly at him. He wondered why Morgan was saying he could finally see. Reid was still looking pensively when Aaron Hotchner and Jason Gideon passed him.

"Reid, you okay?" Jason asked him while putting a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Spencer reacted absently.

"Jason asked you, if everything was okay, Reid." Hotch repeated the question.

"You seemed preoccupied by something, Spencer…" Gideon remarked

"No, I'm okay, it's just that Morgan, just said something that doesn't make any sense to me, that's all." Reid explained to both his colleagues.

Both Hotch and Gideon looked at him intrigued.

"What did he tell you?"

"Well, Morgan, seemed worried, elsewhere so I asked him if he was alright and he replied at he was perfectly fine, that he had been blind, but that he was finally able to see."

Jason and Aaron looked quizzically at him then at one another, and then the ghost of a smile appeared on Hotch's face.

"Finally!" He said in unison with Gideon.

"Hello, could someone clue me in on this, please?" Reid asked a little annoyed by the fact that he had obviously missed something.

They both laughed at Spencer's facial expression.

"WHAT???"

Reid was such a genius, but when it came to socializing he was nowhere to be found. Reid knew body language for the cases they worked on. He knew how cruelly people could be to each other, but for the rest he had a lot to learn.

Sometimes he could be so clueless, blinded by the obvious.

Hotchner shook his head sighing.

"WHAT???? What did I miss?"

"I think that what Morgan is saying by this that he finally figured out that he's having romantic feelings for Garcia." Jason Gideon told Reid.

"Huh? Morgan and Garcia? No! He's constantly dating and flirting with beautiful women and I'm not really sure Penelope is his type of woman…" the youngest member of the team's voice trailed off as something seemed to click in his brain, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah, he's getting it now." The two agents said as they finally walked toward the car.

"How could I have been so clueless and blind?" Spencer Reid said more to himself than to anyone else as he claimed in the SUV.

"Finally you guys are here," Morgan said in a slightly impatient voice.

Jason and Aaron smiled.

"Why Morgan, what is it? A little eager to get back to the bureau, are we? I'm wondering why that would be?" Hotch pushed a little.

Derek Morgan started the car without answering the question.

Then Reid added nonchalantly: "Morgan don't you have to call Garcia to tell her we're back?"

"Why all those questions guys, think you've figured out something? You're only fishing here, I'm not going to tell.

Gideon was smirking, nice try guys, but he won't tell, and your approach was really subtle, he's a profiler just like you are.

Jason knew Derek well enough to know he wouldn't say a thing to them until he was sure of Garcia's feelings for him, he also knew that Morgan didn't trust a lot of people, but for some reason he seemed to trust the computer genius.

Something had happened to his agent, that was something Gideon was sure of, because of Morgan's utter distrust of the human kind and he was certain it wasn't only because of what they were seeing on a daily basis. These issues, he had to have had them since he was a kid, but Jason didn't know what they were and suspected he would never know it. But it must have been something huge, the way he acted with women, Morgan was the type of man every woman wanted, but he could never stay with any of them.

He was afraid of commitment, afraid to bind with anyone, as if he became too close to someone, he would burn himself or something, and yet with Garcia he seemed to find closeness with her, it might be a good thing for him… being with her might teach him again how to trust people again.

Gideon was lost in his thoughts for the entire ride to Quantico. Hotch and Reid tried to push Derek a little longer, but as they understood he wouldn't fall for it; they stopped and went into a comfortable silence for the rest of the trip.

Penelope was shutting some of her babies down, and putting some of her computers into sleep mode, just in case if a new case would come up, it would take her less time to get started, but now Garcia had something else on her mind, something very important for her, for her well being. For some reason she didn't get, since Gibbs's call, she couldn't wait anymore, she didn't want to wait any longer than necessary, she wanted to go to his place and tell him how she felt about him. If she didn't do it now, she would chicken out again, she just knew it.

Grabbing her purse, she closed the door of her 'bunker' and headed towards the elevator that would take her to her beloved car that she had parked in her spot. Penelope would then put Ester into gear and hit the road to Morgan's place.

There she would finally tell him what she had wanted to tell him for so long, but hadn't dared to afraid of what the consequences might be, afraid that she would lose their friendship, but there was also another possibility…

A possibility she didn't dare think of, what if she was afraid that her dream of being with him as a lover might actually come true? What if *that* was what she's really afraid. Maybe the answer was simply that she was scared of really being happy.

Abby had dared to go for what she really wanted, she grabbed for it and didn't let go and by doing so she had made two people happy: herself and Gibbs. So maybe that's what she needed to do too grab for Morgan and she was would happen.

Garcia nodded her head slightly in affirmation and smiled to herself, yeah, she was going to grab for her chocolate Adonis and show him what he meant to her.

The elevator ride to the parking lot couldn't go fast enough; she tapped her foot on the floor in impatience. When the elevator finally came to a halt and the doors opened Garcia took a deep breath.

It's now or never, Penelope she thought.

Then for some unknown reason she felt the urge to step back to be in the safety of the elevator again, this was crazy. As if THE Derek Morgan the most handsome and flirtiest guys she ever known and to top it all her best friend would suddenly be interested in her in a more romantic way.

If she was going to tell him she was in love with him, he would laugh into her face.

Penelope you're chickening out, you were determined and now you you're letting your fears take over a little voice told her. Then a famous quote for Franklin D. Roosevelt popped into her mind "There's nothing to fear, but fear itself"

That was a very wise quote, but it was definitely easier said than done.

Penelope took another very deep breath and exhaled the air extremely slowly to gain a few more seconds, then she finally stepped out of the metallic cage and walked towards Ester and as she was looking for her keys in her purse, she heard the familiar noise the engine of the SUV made a little before it was parked. She then head four doors open and close, but she didn't look as she was still fumbling through her purse to find her car keys.

They all grabbed their stuff from the back of the car, and Morgan was the first to leave, walking in a steady pace to his own car. Not saying word to the others too preoccupied as he was by how he would talk to Penelope, he was even so preoccupied he didn't see that object of his thoughts was standing a few feet away to his left, by her car.

"Hey, Morgan!" Hotch called.

Derek looked over his shoulder as he continued walking.

"I'm not sure you'll find Garcia at home."

At the words Aaron had just said, Morgan stopped, turned around to face the agent and raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Let's see, first, she's never left before she's seen us all safe and sound, and second, look on your left." Hotch told him.

Derek looked surprised, and looked to his left. It was then that he saw Penelope, looking down in her purse obviously searching for something.

Looking at Hotchner again, he nodded his head, and then walked toward his best friend. Penelope jumped a little when Derek put his right hand softly on her shoulder.

"Baby girl?"

Her head snapped up and tears filled her big beautiful brown eyes. Her purse fell from her hands then she hugged him tightly to her. Taken aback from surprise, it took Morgan a split second longer than usual to reciprocate the hug.

"Hot stuff… I wa… was so, wor…worri…worried." She said in crying voice.

"Hey, sssh, mama, calm down, I'm here, I'm fine, I'm safe, baby." Derek soothed her, as he tightened his arms a little more around her.

She cried on his shoulder, wetting his jacket, but he didn't care, what really mattered was that she calm down and felt better soon.

Hotch watched them, a hint of envy welling up inside of him, their love was so new and intense even if they didn't realize their feelings yet, but it was so evident that two people he was observing were in love. He just hoped for them that if they would ever come out with their feelings for one another they wouldn't let this damn job swallow them completely like it was happening for him and Haley, he loved her and she loved him there was no doubt about it, but love is something you need to nourish constantly in order to keep that fire burning, and that was a thing Aaron Hotchner was unable to do. Each time he was with her something had to come in between, another phone call, another dead one, another psycho they needed to go after with, and he was afraid that one of these days he would come home only to find the house empty.

TBC…