He had walked her all the way back to her apartment that night making small talk as they walked through the streets. Finally they walked up to a small house off the street and he opened the door for her, following her into the house. He looked around the house taking in his surroundings, suddenly in awe at what he saw. For someone who dressed so dark and who seemed so upset, the house was bright. There were little knicknacks and colorful accents littering every surface in his line of sight. He was also in awe at the set-up she had on her desk, there was a few computers and laptops.
"I'm sorry for the mess, I wasn't expecting visitors," Garcia said from where she stood by the light switch that she had just flipped on. Taking in how he looked now that she could finally see him, he was a bit taller than her. She suddenly felt a little bit self conscious about the way she had decorated her apartment and the papers on the floor.
"Oh no that's not what I meant, I mean all these computers that's just so cool. Oh and I can't forget all your little knickknacks they're adorable." Derek said in awe at all of the systems that she had set up in the little space she had.
"You think it's cool?" Her voice was filled with uncertainty and for a minute she felt vulnerable about the situation thinking that he might think her a nerd and make fun of her.
"Of course, I wish I could do anything with a computer, than I could finally follow leads better." Derek said and he really meant it, he had always wanted to be able to look into everything on the computer, but alas he was not gifted in that field of expertise.
"Leads?" Penelope felt her heart crumble this guy was a cop and he had caught her, she should have known better than to think that anyone would be her friend, "As in you're a cop and you're going to arrest me." It was more of an acquisition than a question.
"Why in the world would I arrest you?" Derek asked his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he took in the sad look on her face and without a second thought he pulled her into a quick hug.
"You don't know who I am?" She asked the hope drifting back into her voice as she realized that this man really did want to be her friend, she hadn't had a true friend before.
"You're Penelope Garcia, aren't you? And no I'm not a cop." He said before stepping back out of the hug not wanting to make her feel really uncomfortable.
"Yes that's my name, but I'm a hacker. A pretty good one if I'd say so myself, I made my way onto the top ten most dangerous hackers list. And if you're not a cop than what did you mean by leads?" She said starting to talk really fast due to the nervousness of telling Derek who she really was.
"The Black Queen?" Derek asked confusion rolling across his face once more, he had heard of her in his old days on the police force. Everyone had said she was dangerous and evil, but he had always thought that she was a good person deep down. Seeing her now he knew that what he had previously thought was true.
"That's what they call me. I guess this means you don't want to friends with someone who could be caught by police at any minute." She said looking down at the floor waiting for him to leave. What he did next caught her by complete surprise, he lifted her chin with his finger and looked her in the eyes.
"Friends look out for each other, don't they?" Derek said with a small smile before letting her go.
"I guess they do don't they." She said with a big smile tears of joy starting to fall down her face, "Now about those leads?" she continued with a small smirk.
"I've been searching for someone for a while now, and everytime I get close to finding them." He sighed and rested his head in his hands before continuing "I end up more behind than before."
"What did this man do?" She asked her voice brimming with curiosity.
"He killed my little sister. I was supposed to always protect her and I turned my back for a second and she was gone. I tried to get the task force to look into it insisting it was more than an accident, but they just wouldn't. Let's just say that I not only got fired from the bomb squad, but I also lost my chance at FBI." Derek said and by the end of his words he was nearly in tears.
She stepped forward and wiped the single tear that had fallen from his eye, she knew exactly what it was like to lose a part of your family and to blame yourself for it.
"You know I could always help you." Penelope offered stepping back away from him and walking to her computers, turning on her favorite one. Her fingers flew across the keyboard and she pulled up his records. To show him that she could help him find the man who did this, she had always wanted to do something to help people and she finally found her chance.
"You would do that for me?" Derek asked they were become friends very quickly and it was overwhelming to know that someone would finally believe him after this year.
"You be my friend and I'll hack anything and everything you need." Penelope offered up with a small smile, her dark attire no longer unnerving him.
"I'll not only be your friend because that was already a promise. I'll protect you, no one will hurt you." She smiled and then continued to pull up his file.
She pulled up criminal records, grades, family information and just about everything else she could find on him. He looked at the computer in shock at the way she pulled up just about everything there was to know about him.
"With my help we'll find out who did this and never let them hurt anyone again." She said offering him a small smile. Before turning up the brightness of the laptop and grabbing her glasses so she could see properly. Showing him everything she had pulled up on his life.
"Wow," the words fell from his lips as he looked at the computer over her shoulder.
"You like what you see?" Penelope asked with a playful smirk, spinning the chair around looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.
"How could I not baby girl?" He teased gently still in awe at how she had found that much information that quickly.
"Baby girl?"
"Forgive me." He started to apologize before he was quickly cut off by her voice.
"It's okay baby boy." she chuckled softly before turning back to the laptop.