The next few chapters will happen concurrently, detailing a few of the team members and their next day reactions. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review. It means the world to me!

GARCIA

Her head was pounding when she finally cracked her eyes open. The dim light of the rising sun filtered in through her blinds, and the horror of the previous day crashed down on her in one tremendous wave. She felt her throat tighten, but she couldn't produce the tears that had flowed so freely yesterday.

Shuffling footsteps approached from her kitchen, and for a split second she thought maybe it had been a horrible dream. The thought took hold in her mind and she latched onto it like a lifeline. Morgan had stayed over once whenever she was really ill; maybe it had all be some fever dream that had played out her worst nightmare, and he was coming around that corner with a tray of eggs, toast, and orange juice. Any moment, she would hear his sweet voice fill her ears and she could let go of the gut-wrenching feeling that had seized in her stomach.

"How are you feeling?" Kevin's soft tenor floated through before he appeared in her doorway. He held a glass of water and a long-forgotten bottle of aspirin he must have found in her medicine drawer. He couldn't have missed the way her entire expression fell at the sight of him, but he seemed to ignore it in favor of offering her a hesitant smile.

"Oh God," she sank back into the pillows with a shaky breath, and seconds later she felt his weight dipping the side of the mattress. Her mind began to piece together the events of the evening before - Kevin's arrival, her crying into his shoulder for what seemed like hours, him lowering her into his passenger seat and driving back to her place, him tucking her into bed and holding her all night.

"Here," he offered her the water and two aspirin. "You didn't eat anything last night. This will help your headache."

"It wasn't a dream?" she pleaded softly, and he shook his head.

"I'm sorry Pen," he looked genuinely sorrowful, and she took the water and the pills from him. "I don't know what to say to make this better for you."

"Better? How could this ever be better?" she snapped, immediately regretting it when he flinched. "I'm sorry, Kevin," she sat up straighter. "I just can't...I don't know what to do right now."

"Rest," he said simply. "Eat something, talk to me. Scream at me if you need to. Don't just hold it all in." He reached out and settled his hand over hers. "I know how much he meant to you, Penelope."

"Please don't," she whispered, pulling her hand away.

"Don't what?"

"Talk about him in the past tense. I can't think about..." She swung her legs over the opposite side of the bed, pausing a moment as a wave of dizziness washed over her.

"I'm sorry," he stood, too, "but he's gone. You can't...you can't pretend otherwise. It's not healthy." He walked around her bed, meeting her halfway and halting her attempted escape into the living room.

"I don't care!" she screamed, trying to shove past him. He wrapped an around around her front, pulling her body back against his. "Let me go!'

"Shh," he held on tightly, kissing the side of her head in a gesture of comfort. "It'll be okay," he whispered, taking her weight as she broke down again. This time the tears came, and she curled into him as her body was wracked with sobs. Kevin kept a hold of her, whispering his reassurances that the pain she was feeling would fade in time.

"No," she shook her head and pushed away from him. "I don't want it to go away. If it does, then it means I'm forgetting about him. I can't do that, Kevin!"

"Pen, you can't live like this for the rest of your life," he told her evenly. "Eventually you'll have to move on."

She didn't say anything, unwilling to even entertain the thought of a day when she would wake up and not feel like there was a gaping hole in her heart. She turned away from Kevin and made her way to the bathroom. Maybe a hot shower would help clear the murky fog that had settled over her usual chipper personality.

Kevin was gone when she was finished, but she couldn't muster up enough energy to worry about that now. She knew that probably meant something, but she was tired and her headache hadn't completely gone away. She searched around for her bag, but it was nowhere to be found. She must have left it at JJ's when she'd left last night. She went for her keys next, intent on driving over there and checking in with her friend, but they were missing as well. Her car, Esther, was probably still parked at the airport where she'd left it. The events of yesterday seemed so surreal, but she knew she would never forget those moments for the rest of her life.

A knock on her door jolted her out of her thoughts, and she realized with a start that she had been standing completely still in the middle of her living room for almost ten minutes. She checked the peephole quickly, relieved to see JJ and Will standing on the other side. She threw open the door quickly and gathered her friend in a hug.

Somehow Will managed to maneuver them into the main area and close the door behind him. Eventually JJ let her go, and Garcia was not surprised to realize her eyes were watery again. Will had found a seat on the couch with Henry in his arms, and she moved quickly to take her godson.

"How's my little man?" she cooed, her voice holding a note of happiness she didn't quite feel. Henry did what he always did when his godmother held him; he wrapped his chubby little fingers around her hair and tugged. "Still fascinated with blondes, I see." She kept a hold of him even when JJ offered to take him. "Nope," she shook her head, "I need a little PH time right now."

"Well here," JJ slipped the bag off of her shoulder and lifted it slightly before setting it on the coffee table. "You left this last night." She waited a moment as Henry moved his attention from her hair to her glasses, and Penelope leaned away slightly to keep them from the baby's reach. "Where's Kevin?"

"Went home," Garcia said. "He stayed last night and this morning, but he's got work. Besides," she added after a pause, "I can't expect him to hole himself up in here and wallow in misery with me."

"Pen," JJ started, but Garcia shook her head.

"Please don't tell me it'll be okay," she said, cursing silently as her voice hitched with emotion. "I just can't..."

"I know," JJ stepped forward and placed her hand on Garcia's shoulder. Henry held out his arms toward his mother and leaned forward, forcing JJ to catch his weight and shift him to her hip. Garcia let him go in favor of lifting her bag and examining their contents.

"Here you are," she dug her phone out and looked at her guests. "I'm gonna call his mom," she told them, knowing they knew exactly which "him" she was referencing. "I know Hotch has probably already informed her, but I need to talk to her."

"Go ahead, cher," Will stood and gave her a soft smile. "I'll run out and grab us some lunch. Figured you two need to eat." He left the apartment quietly, and JJ smiled after him.

"He's a keeper, Jayje," Garcia said once he was gone.

"Oh, believe me," she returned with a smile. "I know."

Garcia gave her friend one last reassuring smile before disappearing into her bedroom to make the worst phone call of her life.