Compromising Positions:
One of the things that Derek Morgan loved the most about Penelope Garcia was the brightness she brought with her. Literally. He loved her hot pink flowers she wore in her hair, he adored the neon green fishnets she donned on occasions, and he loved looking down at her feet and getting a different color everyday. And when Penelope walked out of the jet bathroom, wearing a very simple, and unGarcia outfit, he was surprised. He still found her to be beautiful, because Penelope would be beautiful in a potato sack, but something seemed so wrong with this picture. She was still her, but the fact that she was putting herself into a cookie cutter mold for this new role, it made him uneasy.
The thing he missed most were her fun colored glasses. She struggled with the contacts the whole flight to Akron. He smiled, relieved that some things never changed. It was always nice when she travelled with them, and that was something he liked about this new role. But he also knew Penelope hated being so close to these things. The field was not where she wanted to be, and Derek was concerned about what it would do to her eventually. She liked the safety of her computers, and her office of fuzzy pens and beanie babies.
As the day went on, Penelope was getting more and more overwhelmed. The talk with the press hadn't gone well. She was also doing double the work. On top of liaison stuff, she was still doing her tech position. Which meant looking up credit card transactions and phone records. Derek knew it was getting to be too much, and he was concerned for her.
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By the time the next day rolled around, Penelope was swamped with tasks. She was still looking into the transactions of the husbands from the murders, Hotch had her calling any connection from maintenance men to bankers, and she was helping Derek. It was a lot for one person to take on, especially when that person was tackling a whole new aspect to her job. Bringing in Kevin Lynch was a blow to her ego, Derek knew it. Penelope was the best, and while she was always the first to help others, she hated admitting when she herself needed help. Hotch was putting a lot of pressure on her, too much if you asked Derek, and Penelope was going to do whatever it took to prove to her boss that she could fill JJ's role.
Derek knew that after the shooting at the party when they had discovered the part about the unsub being a locksmith that Penelope had reached her breaking point. He had watched Hotch walk out of the office she was set up in, and he could tell that there was a lot of tension. As soon as Hotch suggested she might need help, Derek knew his baby girl was in over her head, and if didn't go talk to her, she might sink.
"She looks like she's going to cry." Prentiss commented as they watched Penelope from outside the office. The redhead was rubbing her eye. "Poor PG."
"It's those stupid contacts." Morgan stated, shaking his head. He sighed. "She's trying to show Hotch she can be JJ. It's not working."
"She doesn't need to be JJ." Emily stated. "She needs to be Garcia."
"I know. I should go see her. She might need some reminding of how great she is without forcing herself into a mold." Morgan said. Emily smirked at him. "What?"
"Nothing." She chuckled, she clapped him on the back. "Nothing at all, hot stuff."
"Oh, stop." He rolled his eyes. "Not this again. I told you, she's my best friend."
"Do you call all your friends baby girl? Or look at them like you'd take a bullet for them? Like they're water in a desert? Like-"
"You made your point, Prentiss." Derek said. "I'm ignoring you now. I gotta go see Garcia. See you later, and get those thoughts out of your head."
Emily laughed as Derek walked away. Everyone was certain Derek and Penelope were in love with each other. Sure, there had been a lot of teasing over the years, but it was pretty clear that the teasing came from truth.
When Derek struggled with a case, he always wanted to talk to Penelope. When the situation in New York had happened, and Hotch had reamed Derek for not trusting anyone, he later apologized. Hotch had said there was someone Derek trusted fully. Her name was Penelope Garcia. The pair had a bond that no one else could understand. Penelope maybe had a boyfriend, and Derek maybe had sworn off relationships, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time before they finally stopped ignoring their feelings. Until then though, everyone was just waiting.
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When Derek entered the office, Penelope was on the phone. He could hear the stress in her voice. She was trying not to let it show, but she was clearly struggling. Hotch was right, she needed help. Maybe Derek couldn't help her go through vendors like Lynch could, but Derek could help her in better ways. He was the one person that would cheer her up, and be able to get her head back in the game.
"I'm fine." She sniffled. He called her name and she turned to him, eyes red from either the tears, her contacts, or both. "Morgan, people are gonna die because of me."
"That's not true." He insisted.
"Yes, it is." She stated.
She finally cracked. She admitted to him that she was in over her head. Hearing those words come from her mouth made his heart ache. He hated to see her like this. Before her could reassure her, she finally gave up on the contacts, and started to take them out. He hurried and helped her retrieve the solution and case from her bag.
"You know what your only mistake has been since you started?" He asked as she removed a contact from her eye.
"Oh hooray, more criticism." She said sarcastically.
"You're trying to replace JJ, nobody can replace JJ." He said, then gestured to her other eye. "Now take the other one out too."
Penelope did as he said. As she struggled to remove the contact, she insisted to Derek that she was not trying to replace JJ. She explained that she just wanted to do the job the way JJ would have wanted it done. It made sense to Derek, he knew how much Penelope loved JJ, and how sad she was that JJ left. It was her way of keeping JJ with them while she was gone at her new job.
"You know what JJ would want? She'd want you to find a way to do this job on your own terms." Derek said. "Play to your strengths."
Penelope was still not buying it. She was still being sarcastic with him. Telling him that her knowledge of operating systems and internet protocols was not helpful in this situation. He replied that those things were not the strengths he'd been referring to.
"You need to go O.G." He said, picking up her saline bottle. "Original Garcia." With that, he tossed the bottle into the trash can along with the case of contact lenses. Penelope watched in shock as he did so.
"Derek Morgan, I'm a little blind right now, but it appears the rough blur that is you just threw out my only pair of contact lenses." She said,
Penelope was squinting a bit to focus her vision. Gently, Derek lifted her black and green glasses up to her face. He slid them securely onto her nose, and smiled at her.
"There she is." He said, his voice full of adornment. "I know you."
He gave a little wave. The look in his eyes was something Penlope would have noticed even without her glasses. He was looking at her as if he was mesmerized by her. She smiled softly at him.
"How often do I tell you I love you?" She asked him.
"Everyday it's implied." He said.
She wasn't sure who moved in first. She just knew that one moment they were gazing into each other's eyes like one of those Rom Coms she loved so much, and the next moment, his lips were on hers. It was a soft, gentle kiss, but it conveyed a lot of emotion. He cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss. After a moment he slowly pulled back.
Before Derek or Penelope could say a word, one of the local police officers came to get Derek, stating that Hotch needed to speak to him and Prentiss about the case. Penelope was slightly relieved because it gave her time to think, but that also meant, it gave her time to panic.
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As soon as Penelope threw her business clothes back into their bag and pulled out her regular clothes, it was like a switch went off. She was back to normal, and was focusing on the case. Even with the kiss lingering in her head, she needed to solve this. She was able to track down the unsubs employer, and get a name and address. She was proud of herself, and grateful for Morgan. His pep talk had helped her realize why things weren't working before. But of course Derek did that. He was always the one to bring her out of a funk.
When they were back at headquarters, Penelope was working on scanning some papers. Hotch came to talk to her, and they agreed that they would split the work of JJ's job. It was a huge relief to her that she hadn't let him down.
"When you applied for this job you handed me your resume on homemade pink stationery. I knew then that you were unique, and I wouldn't want to change that." He told her.
"I realized that I can't force myself to try and be what JJ's was." Penelope admitted. "After talking with Derek, anway."
"I'm glad he was able to provide some reassurance." Hotch said.
"Yeah, something like that." She chuckled. Hotch raised a questioning eyebrow. "Sir, do you think...nevermind."
"Well, you've already started to ask." Hotch gave her a pointed look.
"Do you think I'm too different? I mean, I know that everyone here loves me, but do you think I'm like the awkward cousin at family reunions who gives a good laugh, but no one takes me seriously?"
"Garcia, you are like the member of the family who can make anyone smile, even on the worst of days. We value you, and we take you seriously. You said it before, you can't force yourself to be anything different, and none of us would want you to." Hotch assured her. "That includes Morgan. Good night, Penelope."
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Penelope tried not to let the kiss fill her head. But, it was all she could think about. Through the weekend, she waited for Derek to call her or text her, but he never did. Kevin kept asking to come over, and finally she told him she needed space. He was unhappy, and kept blowing up her phone. She knew that this was what she needed though. Once she talked to Derek, she would have a better grip on reality. If Derek was on the same page as her, they really needed to talk.
After having two days off, a case came in. As her new role required, Penelope let the team know that they needed to come to the BAU right away. It was a local case. Three teenage girls had gone missing in the past two weeks, and had disappeared with what seemed to be without a trace. Local PD assumed they were runaways, but the newest missing girl was taken. A witness had seen it, and now they believed it to be connected to the other disappearances.
"This is sixteen year old Stephanie Smith, sixteen year old Ginna Lane, and fifteen year old Miriam DeLaCamp." Penelope explained. "Originally there was no evidence, and everyone assumed the girls left on their own accord. Stephanie was in a fight with her dad, and Ginna was in academic trouble. But, Miriam was grabbed leaving work at the local bakery around 10:00 pm last night. Her manager saw it and called 911. It was too late for her to do anything, the unsub probably had no idea the manager was still there."
"How do we know these girls are all connected?" Rossi asked. "This might not be in our domain."
"We don't know for sure." Hotch agreed. "But if they are connected, and this guy is continuing his pattern, he'll take another girl soon."
"We definitely should see what we can find." Prentiss agreed.
"Morgan, I'm going to have you wait here for Miriam's boss, Susan, to get here. I want you to do a cognitive interview, see if she can remember anything important that will lead us to Miriam's kidnapper. Prentiss and Reid, you're going to talk to the families of the other two girls. I'm going to meet with Miriam's mother, and Rossi is going to talk to the local PD." Hotch gave everyone their assignments. "Garcia, I need you to see if there's anything on Ginna or Stephanie's social media that can help us."
Everyone began to get ready to dig into the case. When kids and teens were involved, it added a new layer of stress for everyone. They always wanted a happy ending, but in these cases there was even more pressure to find the victims alive and reunite them with their loved ones.
Prentiss and Reid headed right out to meet the families of the two girls. Rossi finished up a few notes for the case before he left as well. Hotch made sure Derek and Penelope were set before he bid them goodbye, and made sure everyone knew to touch base after finishing their assigned task. Penelope waited for him to leave to talk to Derek. Miriam's boss hadn't arrived yet, so it was just the two of them in his office when she entered.
"Hey, good looking." She smiled at him. "What's cooking?"
"Nothing, just reading Susan's original statement." Derek replied, not looking her in the eyes. "I really need to prepare for this so…"
"Oh, uh okay." Penelope was surprised with how cold he seemed toward her. "Well, I'll be all by my lonesome in my office when you're done."
"I'll probably meet up with the others after I'm done." He said, still looking down at the file in front of him.
"Derek is-"
"Garcia, I'm sorry, but I'm trying to focus here."
"Okay...sorry, I'll just go."
She slipped back out of the office. She wondered why Derek was acting this way. Maybe the case was just getting to him. Deep down, though, she knew it wasn't that. When cases were hard on him, sure he might get snippy, but to down right ignore her wasn't like him. No, this was something different. And Penelope would bet her octopus mug that it was related to their kiss.
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It took three days before the case finally hit a breaking point. Unfortunately, it meant them finding the body of Ginna in a lake nearby, and another girl going missing. This time, the girl's boyfriend tried to fight off the unsub. Despite being stabbed, the boyfriend recognized the man. He worked at the local ice cream shop, which was how he was finding the girls. The man was arrested, and they found the other girls in his basement. Stephanie was badly injured from attempting to fight him off, but Miriam and the new girl were mostly unharmed.
With the case wrapped up, Penelope decided to attempt to talk to Derek again. This time there wasn't the excuse of being distracted by a case. He'd have to tell her the real reason why he had been avoiding her. She wasn't letting it go this time. Now she'd had time to sit and simmer, and was about to boil over.
"Okay, I'm over pretending like I'm fine with you dismissing my flirting." She stated, entering his office again. "If you won't even try to hide the fact that something is wrong, can we just talk about it?"
"Let it go, Penelope." Derek said.
"No." She replied, stepping closer to him. "Derek, talk to me."
"Did you break up with Lynch?" He asked her. She looked at him in confusion. "Word travels fast."
"I told him I needed space." Penelope confirmed.
"Why? Because I kissed you?"
"Kind of." She admitted. "I was confused, I mean I still am. You kissed me, and now you act like nothing has happened."
"Because it means nothing." Derek snapped. She was taken aback. "I'm not your boyfriend, this doesn't mean that we're together. I'm not that kind of guy, Garcia. You know that. How many girls have I been with since we met? Too many. You need someone like Lynch. Someone who will stick around and give you stability."
"T-then why did you kiss me?" She asked, unable to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.
"It was a mistake." Derek replied. "One that won't happen again. I gotta go. Have a goodnight, Penelope."
Penelope watched as Derek walked away from her. She felt the pieces of her heart break. She couldn't catch her breath. She sat down in his office chair, and began to sob. How could he do this to her? He let her think that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way she did. Only to rip away before they even had the chance to really discover the truth. Derek Morgan broke her heart. He toyed with her feelings. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid. He was right, it wouldn't happen again.
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A few weeks went by, and Derek and Penelope were avoiding each other. The team was worried about them. Derek refused to call her for help with cases, and the one time Hotch forced him to, Penelope was very short with him. They had gotten into spats before, but nothing that lasted this long. It was causing a weird dynamic with the team.
Rossi had invited everyone over for dinner to ease the tension, but it had been so awkward, no one attempted to butt in again. They figured the pair would work it out in their own time. Until a case came in that forced Penelope and Derek to talk. She had gone to New Hampshire with them to solve a case at Yale, and Derek was assigned to be her right hand man.
"This is a bad idea." Prentiss told Hotch.
"Hopefully." Hotch stated. "We need something to get those two talking, or yelling, whichever gets us back to normal."
The pair kept their communication at a minimum. She was hacking into the Yale records system to find the student who matched their profile. He'd killed four students already, and they were talking about closing down the campus until they could catch the guy. Derek's purpose was to help her narrow down the list.
"This guy comes from a broken home." Derek explained as she typed away. "Look for a foster kid, or maybe a kid who comes from a single parent household."
"That still leaves me with 2,000 students." She said. He thought for a moment.
"Okay, we know this kid knows the ins and outs of campus better than anyone, so at minimum he has to be a junior. He likely works on campus, so student workers. He also knew how to get into the science labs after hours where he attacked the first victim."
"Okay, here's something." Penelope said, pausing. "Junior, Ashton Newmann. His only listed family member is his father, and he works for the housing office. Let me do some digg-oh. Oh. This is not good. His mother died when he was young, and they had reasons to believe his father did it because his mother was going to leave him, but could never prove it. In high school, Ashton was suspended for a lot of fights, but seemed to turn his life around. I'm looking at his social media, and he posted last week that his girlfriend left him."
"She triggered something." Derek stated. "Is she a student?"
"Let me see what I can find….yes. Dani Waters, also a junior, lives on campus."
"He's likely on his way to her now. He's had a lot of time to get angry, and knows we're moving in on him. She's probably been his target all along."
Derek immediately picked up his phone to call Hotch. He thanked Penelope for her help, and dashed off to catch the unsub.
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Penelope knew something was wrong. As soon as Prentiss entered the PD station, she could tell. The look on the agent's face told Penelope that something bad had happened. She could feel her heart drop to her stomach as Prentiss told her what happened. The unsub had been arrested, but he didn't go down without a fight. Derek had been shot. He was on his way to the hospital. And, he had been calling for Penelope.
Penelope and Emily went to the hospital to meet up with the others. Derek had been shot in the shoulder, and was in surgery. They sat in the waiting room, hoping to hear something soon. Everyone was worried about him, even though the doctors thought he would be fine.
After what felt like hours of waiting, they finally got news. Derek was fine, but was still groggy. He had continued to ask for Penelope. Since it was late, they would only allow one visitor, and everyone agreed it should be her. She promised to let them know how he was soon, and followed the doctor back to Derek's room.
She felt her breath hitch when she saw him lying in the hospital bed. He had fallen back to sleep, probably from all the meds. The doctor told her that he would likely sleep till morning, and offered to get a cot brought in for her. She thanked him, but turned him down, knowing she knew she wouldn't sleep a wink that night. She sat in the chair beside his bed and wondered why he had called for her. Three weeks. Three weeks since he had made her feel like she was nothing to time. Not one peep had come from his mouth. He hadn't called her baby girl, they hadn't played hours of Mario Kart, or had a single movie night. But he got shot, and he asked for her. That was enough to have her sitting at his bedside.
At some point, despite the circumstances, she must have fallen asleep. The exhaustion finally took over. One moment she'd been fighting to keep her eyes awake, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up to a rustling sound.
"Wha-what's going on?" A very groggy Derek asked, looking around.
"Sh, it's okay, you're okay." Penelope said, sitting up and leaning closer to him. "You were shot taking down an unsub. The doctor had to go in and take the bullet out, but he said you'll make a full recovery."
"Where's everyone?"
"They went to the hotel to get some sleep." Penelope explained. "It was a little after 2 am when you were brought into your room, and the doctor would only let one of us stay."
"And you stayed with me?" Derek asked, slowly coming to his senses more. "Why?"
"You asked for me." She reminded him. "Uhm, I can go, if you want."
"No." He said, reaching for her hand. "Stay."
"Okay, I'll stay." She promised. A small smile crept to her mouth as his eyes fluttered back to close. "Go back to sleep, hot stuff. I'll be here when you wake up."
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Derek was released to go home three days later. He hadn't said much to Penelope, but had made it known that he wanted her near. The team helped get him situated home. He was in a sling for a few weeks, and would probably need some physical therapy, but they expected after that, he'd be able to return to the field. He hated having to sit on the sidelines, but knew he didn't have a choice.
On the night he got home, the team ordered dinner, and hung out at his place. It was nice to be home. Derek hated hospitals, and he was happy to sleep in his own bed. His mother had threatened to come out, but he insisted that he was fine. They compromised and she would be coming to visit for a few days to see for herself that her son was okay.
After a while, the team slowly began to head out. Hotch needed to get home to Jack. Rossi left next, claiming he had a date with some ridiculously old scotch. Emily and Reid headed out together, sharing a cab. Penelope was the last one there, just like old times.
"I suppose I should head out soon." Penelope stated, suddenly feeling a little awkward.
"Right, uh, I'm sure Lynch is waiting." Derek replied.
"We uh broke up uhm, permanently." Penelope explained. "It just didn't feel right. Staying with him."
"Why?" Derek asked her. He moved closer to her on the sofa. "Why didn't it feel right, baby girl." Her heart fluttered at the familiar nickname.
"He's great. Kevin is great. And someday I'm sure he will find someone who is head over heels, can't sleep at night, listen to their favorite song, eat a whole cheesecake with, in love with. It's just not me."
"Is it because of the kiss?" Derek asked, this time sounding calm and not like he was going to start a fight.
"It made me see things more clearly." Penelope said. "It's okay, Derek. You made it clear that we're just friends, I won't try and-"
Derek cut her off with a kiss to her lips. He pulled her close to him, and fought her tongue for dominance. Unlike before, this kiss was full of fire and passion. If she thought she'd never forget the first kiss, this kiss blew it out of the waters. Wow.
"Derek, you can't do this." She said, pulling away. "I can't do this."
"I'm sorry." He said, gripping her hand. "For what I said a few weeks ago. I don't do relationships, P. It's not an excuse but I got scared and freaked know that. I suck at them. The last thing I want is to disappoint you, because you are everything to me. You broke things off with Kevin, and suddenly things were very really. I sometimes feel like I will never be good enough for you, but I can't let you go. When I got shot, I had this dream. You were marrying Kevin Lynch, and I tried to stop the wedding, but I couldn't speak. I was screaming and begging you to say no. And then, my pops was there. I swear, sweetheart, he was with me. He said I was being a fool. I was going to lose the love of my life, and if I didn't get my head out of my ass, I'd never be happy. He said I keep holding myself back."
"Sounds like he's very wise." Penelope joked tearfully.
"I love you, Penelope Garcia. And I want to be with you. Even if I take some time to learn how to be a good partner, I promise I will do my best. I won't let you down again."
"I love you too, Derek Morgan." She cried.
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He kept his word. He didn't let her down again. They took their time falling into a routine. They did dinner dates for a few weeks before finally sleeping together. It was amazing. She moved into his house six months later. It felt like the right time, and they both felt like she was wasting her money on rent for an apartment she never stayed at. To prove he was serious, he got her a dog from the animal shelter. A collie mix that was called Cooper.
Everyone began asking when they were getting married. To his surprise, that didn't freak Derek out. He was looking forward to calling Penelope his wife. On their one year anniversary, he popped the question. He asked her to marry him on their trip to Disney World (her idea of course). He asked her right in front of the castle, because she was his princess after all.
They had a beautiful wedding. She wore a beautiful mermaid style dress, and he wore a dark grey tux. Their team was there, his family was there, and their unborn daughter was also in attendance, though they wouldn't know it until she got sick on their honeymoon.
Anna Simone Morgan was born on July 4th, and everyone joked that she was a little firecracker. She was alway climbing things, and jumping off things. Penelope said she was always on the verge of a heart attack when it came to Anna. Everyone laughed and said it was because the little girl took after her father.
Chloe Elizabeth Morgan was their second, and final child. She was much more reserved, and preferred to read rather than play in the mud like her sister. She also loved fun colored dresses, unlike Anna who would scream if Penelope wanted to put her in a dress, so she never did.
"Chloe is finally asleep." Derek stated, entering his and Penelope's room. "She kept sneaking her book back into bed with her, but she's out now. At least I'm fairly certain. Anna is out too, her softball game must have exhausted her."
"Good, I'm glad they're down for the night." Penelope smiled. "Thanks for getting them ready for bed, I finally finished that paperwork for the B team."
"Hmmm, you work too hard." Derek said, kissing his wife's neck. "What do you say to a full body massage with no clothes and some lotion?
"How often do I tell you I love you?"
"Everyday it's implied."
A/N I actually really like how this turned out, and I hope you do too!