Disclaimer: As you all know, I don't own Criminal Minds, but if I did…
Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been kind of busy lately. I'll try to post more often now. Hope you like it!
Morgan hung up his phone and sat back with a sigh. He was sitting at his desk in the bullpen and had just got off the phone with a friend from the Virginia precinct. It had been two months since he returned to the BAU and he still had no idea where Garcia was. Whenever they didn't have a case the team was making calls and trying to track her down, but they hadn't had any luck. He ran his hands over his face and thought back over what he knew.
Apparently she had left right after the team finished a case and was gone before they got back. Her office was cleared out by the next day and the director told Hotch that she had transferred. Her apartment was packed up by movers who had no idea where she was moving to and when they had her cell tracked they found it in one of the boxes.
He had to admit that the team had been thorough. They had put an APB out on her car, had got a tech to keep tabs on her credit cards, and tried to get information out of the higher ups, but they still came up with nothing. It was if she really had disappeared. The only reason they hadn't filed a missing persons report was because she e-mailed them and assured them she was fine but refused to tell them where she was. She simply asked them how they were and if anything interesting had happened.
Morgan had called all his cop friends and JJ had called some of her contacts to keep an eye out for her, but they still didn't have a single clue where she could be. And to make it worse, she hadn't contacted them in over three months. They all checked their e-mails every chance they got and even Hotch was beginning to show signs of worry. Morgan knew something was wrong, he could feel it, but he didn't know what else to do.
As Morgan sat there and stared into space he felt the guilt begin to surface again. He should never have left. When he had told Penelope he was leaving she had congratulated him, but he should have listened to his gut when he saw the sad look in her eyes as she hugged him. Now he may never have the chance to tell her how much she meant to him.
He looked up when a paper bag was suddenly dropped on his desk.
"Lunch." JJ explained with a sad look before giving Emily and Reid a bag too. They had all been depressed since they stopped hearing from Penelope. The cases started bothering them even more than usual and they got frustrated easier. It was almost as if their light had been taken away.
JJ sat down in a spare chair by Reid's desk as Hotch and Rossi walked over and took a seat as well. It had become a habit that whenever they didn't have a case they would all get together for lunch and go over ideas about what they could do to find Penelope.
"How was Garcia acting during that last case?" Morgan asked.
"Um, I'm not sure." JJ said sounding slightly guilty.
"What do you mean?" Morgan asked trying not to sound upset. He knew it wasn't there fault, but he couldn't help feeling that they should have done something.
"It was a really tough case and I guess we just weren't paying attention." Emily answered. "We were away for two weeks and the case was getting to us."
"Getting to you? What about Penelope?" Morgan said angrily.
"Morgan, I asked her if she was ok and she said she was fine. I tried to get her to talk but she would just change the subject." JJ said.
"She sounded sad, but no more than she usually does during those kinds of cases." Reid added looking thoughtful.
"Do you think it was the case?" Emily asked no one in particular.
"No, I don't think so. I mean it might have helped, you know like the last straw kind of thing, but now that I think about it she was acting…different before the case." Reid said.
"How so?" Rossi asked.
"I saw her walking toward her office and said hi, but it was as if she didn't see me. She looked really distracted. I was going to ask her what was wrong, but we got a case before I could and she was gone when we got back." Reid explained. "I'd actually forgotten about it until now." He said sounding surprised and guilty at the same time.
They were silent for a couple of minutes as they each thought to themselves.
"I'm sorry." Morgan said quietly. "I know it wasn't any of your faults, I'm just worried. I…" He said and trialed off.
"It's ok Morgan, we understand." Hotch said.
"Do you think she's ok?" Emily asked quietly after a few seconds as she looked down at her food.
The team looked around at each other sadly, but remained silent as they tried not to think about what could have happened to their friend.
So what do you think? You'll probably find out what happened to Garcia in the next chapter.