AN: Spoilers for 8x14 All That Remains ahead

Chapter 8

It had been a month since Maeve's death. Work had been a whirlwind—the team had been gone more than they were home. That was probably a good thing, since Reid had returned to work. Garcia supposed it was far better for him to be out in the field, focusing on catching bad guys, instead of at his desk, where he would have too much time for that brilliant brain of his to think.

Garcia sighed as she looked again at the clock. The team should be returning from their latest case in an hour or so. They had been working a missing persons case involving the daughters of a writer. The case had been filled with twists and turns. The father suffered from multiple personalities, but he hadn't hurt his daughters. Instead, the older sister had killed not only her younger sister, but her own mother the previous year. It was a bizarre twist that no one had been expecting. Garcia wanted to see her superheroes and make sure that all of them, but especially J.J., who had been alone in a house with the psycho sister.

She also wanted to see Morgan—things had been off between them for weeks. After their exchange in the parking garage and their short conversation the following day, she almost felt as if he were avoiding her. Granted, the team had been away for most of the past few weeks. And he still joked with her when the opportunity arose. But something wasn't right. She still saw something off in his eyes. She couldn't put her finger on what was going on, but she intended to figure it out tonight. Plus she missed him—they hadn't spent any time together since the last time he had stayed over, after helping Reid clean his apartment.

xxx

When Morgan stepped off the elevator with the rest of the team, he wasn't at all surprised to see Garcia standing there waiting for them. She immediately folded J.J. into a warm hug, whispering in her ear. She smiled at the others, then turned her warm brown eyes on him. He drank in the sight of her. He had tried hard to put some distance between them, but it simply wasn't working.

"Hey Baby Girl," he murmured, looping an arm around her.

"Hey yourself, hot stuff." She bumped his hip with hers. "Do you have a lot of paperwork to do?"

He gave a non-committal shrug. Because he didn't have that much to do, and if he told her that she would wait for him. And if she waited for him, he would spend time with her. And there was no way in hell that if he spent time with her, he would be able to keep his distance from her. He missed talking with her, sitting with her and enjoying her company. The past few weeks had been excruciating, and he hadn't even been in the same state as her for most of them.

She stopped outside of his office door and turned to face him, searching his face. She sighed. "I'll be in my office," she said. "Come find me before you leave, please." She sounded so sad when she said the last word, like she thought maybe he wouldn't do it if she didn't ask him nicely.

"Penelope, wait," he called out. Damn it, he was screwed. "I don't have that much to do. It can wait till morning. Let's go get something to eat."

Thirty minutes later they were settled in on her couch with a pizza and beer, discussing which movie to watch.

"Something new, or something old?" she asked

"Hmmm, something new, I guess."

"Um, action, adventure, or comedy? Oh, wait! Avengers. Totally need to watch Avengers. In honor of my own favorite superheros." She grabbed the movie and waived it happily.

"Girl, you are crazy."

"You love that about me," she quipped.

He smiled sadly at her. He wished he could just tell her how he felt. "You know I do."

She looked up at him and frowned. Shit, he knew that look. She looked worried and determined. As she walked toward him and sat next to him on the couch, he couldn't decide if he was worried or relieved. "Derek . . ." she started, placing her hand on his cheek.

He closed his eyes and relished the feeling of her warmth and softness. As he did on the night of Maeve's death, he covered her hand with his own. He turned his face to kiss her hand. But it wasn't a chaste kiss like those he had previously bestowed on her. It was a caress. Because he had missed her, he cherished her and he wanted so badly to show her all of those things.

He heard her breath catch, and he looked at her, knowing that there was heat in his eyes. She looked confused and stunned. "Go ahead," he sighed, "ask away. I won't be evasive, I promise."

She tilted her head at him, looking slightly confused. "You . . . you . . ." She abruptly got up and walked to her little kitchen, talking quietly to herself as she went. Morgan groaned. He had no idea what she was doing now.

Ten minutes passed before she came back into the room. She sat on the chair across the room . . . he almost smiled when he realized she was sitting as far from him as humanly possible. He quirked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to begin. He knew Penelope Garcia, and he knew she was about to break out in a full on rant.

She didn't disappoint. "You . . . you . . . you kissed me!" she accused.

"I kissed your hand," he corrected. "I've done that before."

"Uh uh, Morgan, not like that. You've never kissed me like that before, I would have remembered. You act all cryptic and morose for weeks, refusing to tell me what's going on with you and then you come home and you freaking pour on the charm. What in the world are you thinking?"

"Do you really want to know?" He asked solemnly. "Because once we go down this road there probably isn't any going back."

"I want to see your smile in your eyes again, Derek," she said fervently. "Lately, when you smile, it never reaches your eyes. I've never seen you like that before."

He was across the room before he could think about what he was doing. Damn the consequences. He wasn't doing either of them any favors by trying to keep away from her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.