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Penelope Garcia was exhausted as hell.
Having a full-time job and a ten-year-old daughter to look after as a single parent wasn't how she'd imagined her life would be at all. Now, being forty years old, she had to handle the fact that nothing she'd ever wanted, besides being a mom and having a pretty good job, had worked out as she'd been craving for.
Popping down on her couch with a glass of red wine, she sighed and closed her entirely tired eyes for a moment.
Leaning her head against the soft fabric of her sofa, Penelope relished the fact that it was soundless for the first time today. It was ten pm by now, and finally, Penelope had managed to get her daughter to bed. Sofie wasn't easy to handle these days. The first signs of puberty were changing Sofie's mood like every second, and Penelope couldn't handle it all too well. Her once so sweet and lovely Baby Girl turned into a monster sometimes.
This day had been worse than ever.
Fighting back the tears, which began to form in her eyes, Penelope remembered their last fight this afternoon. Sofie had yelled at her, had offended her like never before. Admittedly, her daughter had apologized later, but still, Penelope felt like all her words were exactly the truth.
"You're the worst mom ever, I hate you!"
"You don't even know who my dad is, are you afraid I would rather want to live with him than with you?"
Indeed, Penelope knew precisely who the father of her beautiful daughter was. It just hurt her too much to talk about him.
Because he was gone.
He was missed in the eleventh year now, and Penelope hadn't found him yet. Not even a single sign. She didn't want to admit it, but after all this time, even Penelope Garcia doubted that she would find him again. Nevertheless, she would never give up hope, never stop searching for him.
Looking at her daughter, hurt as well, because she was just the imagination of her father, besides being a girl. She had dark-creamy skin, brown curls, these beautiful black onyx eyes, and, just like her father, Sofie was such a caring and kind person. It broke Penelope's heart every day anew. She'd tried to tell Sofie about her father many times but found herself locked up in the bathroom weeping hard. Even in front of her team, it was almost impossible for her to talk about him.
Losing him had been the worst part of her life.
Finding out she was pregnant with his child, had given her some hope, but after all these years, she still missed him profoundly. Wanted him to be at her side when raising Sofie became too much for her to handle alone. She even checked her babies every day of any signs from him all around the USA. But it was like he was deleted from earth since the day he wanted to meet her for a date in their favorite restaurant but never showed up.
Penelope had driven to his house, with the worst feeling in her gut. His front door had been open, and as soon as she turned on the light in his hallway and had seen that amount of dry blood on the floor, Penelope had freaked out completely. She'd called her team to let them know what had happened to their team member. But even if Spencer had told her the amount of blood was too much for one person to lose, Penelope knew that Derek still was alive. She just knew it.
Sighing once more, Penelope took a sip from her glass and put it on the table in front of her after a moment. She rose to her feet after a moment and toed off her heels before silently walking over to the shelves where she'd hidden anything about Derek's case in a book, she was sure, Sofie wasn't interested in. Pulling the book out of the shelf, Penelope walked back to the couch. Opening it, she, like every single evening in the last ten years, read through all the files, which she thought were important in Derek's case. Hoping she would find anything new, Penelope read every sentence, even if she knew every word which was written down there.
"Hot Stuff...I miss you so much," Penelope whispered, her eyes tearing up once more. Her heart was broken beyond repair since he was gone.
The ringing of her cell jerked her back to presence. Hurridly, she closed the book as if the person on the cellphone would be able to notice what she was doing here. Penelope didn't need a look at her phone to know it was Hotch calling. He had this unique ringtone. So, she answered the call, while she headed back to the shelf with the book in her hand.
"Hey, bossman. It's way too late to call. So, I guess we have a case?"
"Hello, Garcia. I'm sorry, but yes, we have a case. It's a bad one, and you have to come with us. Do you have someone to look after Sofie while we're gone?"
"Uhm...I will ask Fran, I'm sure she has time..." Penelope answered half-hearty, not nearly in the mood to leave her daughter after this big fight earlier this evening. "When do you want us all to meet? I'll have to wait for her, though."
"We'll meet in about two hours, see you then, Garcia," Hotch answered sympathetically at her words and ended the call.
Penelope sighed once more and dialed the number of Fran, Derek's mom, and grandma of her daughter. Fran had decided a few years ago, that she wanted to live near Penelope and Sofie, to be able to help if necessary. Which meant she was only a few blocks away.
"Morgan?" Even hearing his name made her too sad. She had to fight back her tears and swallow the lump in her throat, which began to grow immediately.
"Fran? It's me...Penelope..." Penelope hated asking Fran for help, even if she told her to do so almost every day.
"Hello, lovely. What can I do for you?" Fran asked with a noticeable smile in her voice.
"We have a case...and I have to fly with them. Would you...I mean, could you take care of Sofie while I'm gone?" She asked, almost sheepishly. Penelope always felt like a burden to Derek's mother, like she wasn't good enough for raising her beloved son's child.
"Of course, Penelope, I'll gladly help you if you let me," Fran answered happily. "When do you want me to come over?"
"As soon as possible, honestly. Hotch wants us to meet in two hours," Penelope admitted, quietly walking over to her bedroom, where she began preparing her go-bag.
"Alright, I'll be there in a few so you can keep me updated on everything important on Sofie. Thank you for asking me, I really appreciate it, Penelope. I can't wait to spend some time with my precious grandchild."
"Thank you for helping me, Fran," Penelope almost whispered, being touched at Fran's words. "I know I'm not easy, but really, I'm glad for your help," she said emotionally.
"It's okay, Penelope, honestly. I'll be there in a few."
They ended the call, and Penelope finished packing. She then silently stepped into her daughters' room. Sofie was sound asleep, but Penelope couldn't leave her Baby Girl without saying goodbye to her. She had to tell her how much she loved her.
Sitting down on the edge of her daughters' bed, Penelope tenderly caressed Sofie's cheek to wake her up.
"Mommy? Is it time to stand up already?" Sofie murmured sleepily, turning around a little to face her mom with half-opened, tired eyes.
"No, Baby Girl. I have to leave for a case, but I wanted to say goodbye before I go." Penelope explained, smiling sadly at the only person who kept her alive. "I love you so much, Sofie."
"I love you too, momma, and I'm sorry for being such a jackass earlier. I don't know what happened to me," Sofie whispered, unmistakably in embarrassment.
"It's okay, Baby. I'm not angry, and I can understand how you feel. You just want to know who your daddy is. And I give you a promise. Do you listen to me? Do you?"
Sofie nodded, paying full attention to her mothers' words.
"When I'm back from that case, I will tell you who your daddy is. It's almost excruciating for me to talk about him because I miss him so very much," Penelope admitted in a tearful voice, caressing her daughter's cheek once more. "But I promise, I will tell you everything about him, okay? I might need some breaks, but I will answer any questions you have. And I will show you many pictures, I swear."
Sofie looked at her, her eyes wide open in hope and compassion.
"Okay, momma. Thank you," she whispered, sitting up somewhat to embrace her mother tightly. "I love you very much, momma."
"I love you too, Baby. Your granny will be here with you while I'm gone. Be nice to her. Do want she asks you for. Do your homework and help her, please."
"Okay, I will do that," Sofie answered, stifling a yawn. Penelope laid her daughter back down into the pillows, wrapping her blankets around her tiny body.
"Thank you, my lovely daughter. I'll call you every day and night. And if you need anything, call me too or ask your grandma. I love you and can't wait to be back with you." Kissing her daughter's forehead, she smiled one last tearful smile at Sofie before she backed up from the bed and left her daughters' room. Fran arrived about ten minutes later so Penelope could fill her in, to everything necessary on Sofie.
"Please call me anytime you have a question," Penelope begged Fran, who pulled her into a loving embrace.
"I will call you, I promise. Sofie and I will manage our time together, don't worry too much, Penelope." Penelope wrapped her arms around Fran for a moment, allowing herself to find some comfort in the arms of Derek's mother.
"Thank you, Fran," she whispered tearfully, pulling out of Fran's arms before she began to weep again. Grabbing her bag, cell, and keys, she left her...Derek's house and made her way to work.
Almost half an hour later, Penelope drove to the BAU, where she would meet with her team in the conference room. She was the last one to come and sat down quickly, listening to JJ as she began filling the team into the case.
"Okay, guys, this certainly is a bad one. Four days ago, a male corpse was found near Folson Lake, Sacramento, California. He was beaten to death. Depending on his body state, he'd been hit many times before. His right eye was swollen shut, the left one in healing progress like many other wounds on his body. Also, they found a huge amount of drugs in his bloodstream. The man was acutely malnourished. But most importantly, the man had been missed for about fifteen years."
Penelope looked at the dead man in the photographs. Even if he honestly was malnourished, he reminded her of Derek. She was sure that the man had had a healthy, muscular body before whatever had happened to him. That he'd taken care of himself. Nothing of that was left on that dead body in the pictures. Penelope felt her eyes tearing up once more in the evening, so she shoved the images away from her.
"Today, another body was found. Just the same as the male before, the dead body was put on the Folson Lake like trash. He also was malnourished, showed several signs of beating and drug abuse. He'd been beaten to death too. The man has been missing for eight years now. His wife identified him earlier that day. That's why the Police Departement called in for help. They think there is more behind that. That there are more unsubs, maybe a ring which uses these males for underground fighting until they're dead." JJ explained. Penelope listened half-hearty. Again, her thoughts were with Derek, like many times a day.
"Okay, JJ, you'll take care of the press. We want them to have as little information as possible. They're not allowed to publish anything without our permission. Emily, Reid. You two will visit the lake. Talk to the people who found the victims. Find out if they saw anything they haven't remembered until now. Rossi and I will talk to the local police. We'll see what they found out until now. Penelope. You keep doing researches on the first victims. Find out if other males had been found in and around Sacramento." Hotch told them, and everyone nodded in agreement. "Alright, wheels up in twenty," he remembered them as he rose to his feet and left the room.
Penelope sighed and also rose to her feet to grab all the things she would need from her office, but JJ and Emily stopped her.
"Hey...is everything alright?" Emily asked while JJ watched her in concern. Penelope forced herself to smile at her friends as she looked at them.
"I'm okay, I just had a bad fight with Sofie that afternoon, that's all," she answered. "But, thank you for asking my furry friends."
"If you want to talk about what's really going on, we're here, alright?" JJ said, grabbing Penelope's hand to give her a gentle squeeze. Once more, Penelope forced herself to smile and nodded.
"Okay, thank you, Blondie, but really, I'm doing fine. I have to go get my stuff ready, see you in the jet." Penelope replied, leaving her friends to walk over to her bat cave.
20 minutes later, they were up in the air, on their way to Sacramento. It was in the middle of the night, but Penelope was sleepless anyway. She didn't know why but found herself thinking about Derek more and more since she'd learned about the case.
"My name is Derek Morgan from Quantico. My mom's name is Fran, my sisters are Desiree and Sarah." It was dark. So dark, you couldn't see anything. And cold. The man, chained on his hands and feet to the wall, was shivering all over his body. "The love of my life is Penelope Garcia," he mumbled weakly, you almost couldn't understand him. "And I'm going to see her again. My name is..." the man started again but was stopped by the sudden light which hit his eyes as the door to his cell opened.
"We've got some work for you, Morgan," someone said and unchained him. He tried to make one step but found himself stumbling to the ground. He was too weak to stop it. Couldn't even get the strength to stand up again. How was he supposed to fight?
A needle was put into his arm, and very soon, Derek felt the well-known effect on the drugs they used on him.
"I don't think he makes it much longer," one person said as they roughly pulled him back to his feet and steadied him. "Maybe not even through the night." Derek couldn't say anything, his lips were still swollen and hurt from a fight a few days ago. He just focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
"I'm Derek Morgan," he thought to himself as he struggled walking to the fighting area. "I'm Derek Morgan, and" I'm going to get out of here.
Just leaving this here, because I really wanna know if you think I should continue this story. It wouldn't leave my head for quite a while, I just had to write it down. Let me know what you think about it, please