Honeysuckle

Morgan couldn’t shake the bad feeling that had followed him through the day. He should be feeling that warm sense of accomplishment that came from not only solving a case quickly but doing so with no additional loss of life.

Yet the prickling feeling of impending doom followed him through typing up his reports, leaving the office, and didn’t diminish on the trip to the bar where he was meeting most of his team for a celebratory drink or two for a job well done. If anything the feeling intensified when he got to their usual table to find JJ and Reid but no Garcia.

He looked around thinking maybe she was ordering drinks or something as Rossi walked up and asked what he was thinking, “Garcia isn’t joining us tonight?”

JJ and Reid looked at each other for a moment before Reid caved and answered.

“She said she was going to be a little late. I think she planned on breaking up with Ryan tonight.”

Ignoring the look Rossi was giving him, and trying to act casual Morgan said, “Oh, I didn’t know things weren’t working out for them.”

Rossi’s snort told him no one was buying the casual thing.

“Ryan is terribly jealous of you Morgan.”

“What? Why? Garcia and I have never dated, and I certainly wouldn’t try to come between them.”

“I’ve heard you call the man a douche under your breath before.”

“Okay, so maybe I think the guy is an asshole, but as long as she likes him. and he is good to her that’s all that matters. I just want Penelope to be happy.”

“Even if it’s not with you?”

Rossi was such a meddler. He always seemed to think he knew what was best for everyone, and yeah 99 times out of 100 it turned out he was right but it was still as annoying as hell.

“I just want her to be happy Rossi. She deserves that.”

“What about you Derek?”

“I’m not unhappy Dave.”

“Which isn’t the same thing as being happy.”

As he said, Rossi was a complete and utter meddler. Thought he was an expert at romance just because he’d been married several times. If anything, that proved the opposite.

JJ and Reid both had their phones out frowning at them.

“She promised to let us know if she would be here or not but I haven’t heard a word from her.” JJ looked worried. “All my calls are going straight to voicemail.”

Reid nodded. “Garcia hasn’t answered a single one of my texts either. This isn’t like her at all.”

No, it wasn’t. No matter what time of the day or night Garcia returned a call or text from the team. She had a very close relationship with each and every one of them and would never risk not being available when they needed her.

The bad feeling that had been following Morgan through the day intensified and seemed to have brought friends. Something was very wrong.

His expression must have telegraphed what he was feeling because Rossi turned back to JJ and Reid. “JJ, you and Reid keep trying to reach her, if you hear back let us know. Morgan and I will swing by Garcia’s place to see what’s going on.”

Morgan just stared at Rossi as the man reached out and plucked his keys from his hand. “I’m driving Morgan. You look like you’re about to jump out of your own skin and the last thing we need is to get into an accident along the way.”

Yes, Morgan thought as he obediently followed after Rossi, the man was a total meddler, but sometimes it was just easier to let him have his way. Especially when doing so got you what you wanted anyway.

—

The drive to Penelope’s apartment took place in silence, Rossi a comforting presence to his left as he competently weaved in and out of the light traffic. That the traffic was unusually light did nothing to ease Morgan’s nerves.

The very unusualness of it seemed if anything to ratchet his nerves up a notch. Rossi was right, his nerves would have made driving difficult at best, yet with nothing else to occupy his time he just seemed to spiral even tighter into a ball of anxiety.

Morgan grabbed at his cell when it rang, checking the caller ID he felt a shiver go down his back. “It’s Gracie Younger.”

“Garcia’s neighbor? The one that pinches me on the ass and keeps trying to feed Reid milk and cookies before trying to set him up with her great-nephew?”

Morgan nodded as he answered his phone. Penelope had kind of adopted the very spry 90-year-old widow as a sort of pseudo grandmother. The rather ditsy and randy old woman’s pursuit of Rossi and his almost maidenly terror at her every advance was more than a little amusing to the rest of the team.

“Miss Gracie? It’s Morgan, I’m with Rossi and you’re on speaker. What’s going on?”

“Oh thank God, Morgan! Can you get over here right away? I’m worried about Penny!”

Morgan shared a horrified look with Rossi. Gracie was much like her honorary granddaughter and never missed a chance at flirty banter. Especially if she knew Rossi was listening.

“Why are you worried about Garcia?”

“Her asshole boyfriend came over an hour ago. I heard yelling and loud crashes up there and she’s not answering her phone…”

*BANG*

“Oh God! Oh God! That was a gunshot! What do I do?”

Morgan was clinching the phone in his hand so hard it was a wonder it wasn’t cracking under the strain, thankfully Rossi took over as Morgan couldn’t speak over the tightness in his throat.

“Grace? It’s Rossi. Stay in your apartment. You hang up and call 911 right away. We’re just a few minutes away so you tell them that two FBI agents are on the scene okay?”

“You boys save our girl you hear me?” Gracie said before hanging up.

“Dave.” Morgan moaned hanging his head.

“I know Derek. We’re almost there and Garcia needs us at the top of our game. We’ll get this guy and be there for her during any fallout.”

Rossi took the turn into the parking lot like a stunt driver, spinning the wheel and coming to a stop sideways across 3 parking spots, blocking those cars in. In the center was Ryan’s bright orange Viper Roadster. He wasn’t going anywhere unless it was on foot.

Morgan was out of the car and had his service revolver in hand almost before the car had stopped moving, but had enough presence of mind to wait for Rossi instead of storming into the building. They paused in the hallway as Gracie’s door cracked open.

“Police are on their way and no one has come downstairs at all since I called you. Penny still isn’t answering the phone.”

“Thank you, Grace. Now close and lock that door and keep it locked until you get the all clear from us.”

She nodded to Rossi and closed the door. The sound of the deadbolt was a bit of relief. The last thing they needed was an elderly civilian getting in the way.

The building elevator was out again so they moved swiftly up the stairwell. Morgan had to fight the urge to take the stairs 2 at a time, but the need for stealth overrode his need for speed.

The creepy feeling was much worse once they reached Garcia’s floor. The silence was oppressive as they moved closer to her apartment.

“Morgan,” Rossi whispered.

“I see it.”

Morgan was a bit horrified that the door was cracked open. Penelope was very careful about her home security, especially after having been shot.

They eased up to the door, and that’s when the smell hit. The unmistakable coppery scent of freshly spilled blood and a lot of it.

Morgan’s stomach clenched in fear, and it became difficult to breathe. Rossi took the lead, gun out and pushed slightly at the door, there was some resistance, but he managed to shove the door open without making too much noise.

The coppery smell was much worse inside. They stepped carefully over a smashed table and found Ryan sitting on the floor, back against the breakfast bar, and quite dead if the bullet hole in his head and the spatter of gray matter and skull on the wall were anything to go by. He still had a heavy revolver in his hands. Self-inflicted. The coward.

A gasping sob pulled Morgan’s attention away from Ryan’s body as Rossi checked for a pulse to make sure he was dead. He moved further into the apartment.

“Baby Girl? It’s Morgan and Rossi. Ryan can’t hurt you anymore you can come out.”

A weak “Morgan?” drew him over behind the sofa. Tripping over a broken baseball bat he stared in shock at what he found.

“Oh sweet Jesus,” he said dropping to his knees next to Garcia, almost afraid to touch her for fear of causing more damage.

Her face was a mass of bruises, left eye swollen shut with cuts around her eyes from her broken glasses. Her golden hair was matted with the blood pooling around her, her arms were covered with hand shaped bruises and were crisscrossed with defensive wounds from a blade, possibly the same knife that was sticking from her side.

“Rossi! Tell 911 to hurry!” Morgan called out to his partner, never taking his eyes off Garcia.

His chest and throat felt tight with emotions he couldn’t express, needing to keep Penelope calm until help arrived.

“Morgan?”

“I’m right here Baby Girl. Everything will be fine, paramedics are on the way.”

“Can’t see too good. Head hurts. Ryan got me with the bat I keep by the bed for protection.”

Garcia’s one good eye widened and she made a feeble grab for Morgan’s hand so he picked her hand up gently squeezing her fingers.

“He said…” she stopped to cough, blood flecking her pink lips. “He has a gun, Morgan. He said he was going to kill you. I couldn’t let him leave. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay Baby Girl, he can’t hurt anyone else I promise.”

Her breathing got more labored, and she coughed again with a wet sound as more blood stained her lips.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t even hurt anymore,” she gazed past Morgan’s shoulder with a puzzled look, “but who’s that pretty lady?”

Morgan glanced over his shoulder seeing no one there, a chill going down his back before looking back at Garcia.

“Honeysuckle,” Garcia whispered as her eyes fluttered shut, and her fingers went slack in his hands.

“Garcia? No Baby Girl you open those gorgeous eyes for me!” Panic set in and the world seemed muffled by the roaring in his ears.

Paramedics and police arrived at that point and Rossi gently moved him back so they could work.

Time seemed to move strangely after that. He seemed to go from watching the paramedics work on Garcia on the floor of her apartment, to watching them do the same in the ambulance, to watching them disappear through the swinging doors of the ER with her as he was directed to a hard plastic chair.

He stared, unseeing at the floor, seemingly only for a moment before looking up to find JJ and Reid sitting teary-eyed beside him. Another moment seemed to bring Hotch, and then Rossi with Gracie Younger. Their voices seemed muffled to him as time seemed to alternately drag on and jump about at random moments.

Local law enforcement showed up about the same time a sad-eyed doctor came through the swinging doors, the look on her face telegraphing her news before she could even open her mouth. He closed his eyes unable to look at the grief of those around him. Gracie collapsed and Hotch helped her into a chair where she clung to him sobbing hysterically. JJ and Reid leaned against each other, tears flowing down their faces, drawing comfort from their friendship.

Rossi approached Derek, “I know the timing stinks Morgan, but the detectives are going to need your clothes and a statement from both of us. Hotch brought in your extra go bag from the office so you will have something clean to change into, and the hospital is letting you use the shower room across the hall to change in.”

The muffled feeling of disjointed time followed him through the routine of removing his clothes and placing them in the bags provided while speaking briefly with the detective before being left alone once he promised to come in to give a more in-depth statement the next day. Morgan stood and stared unseeing at the mirror before changing into the clothes from his bag.

The muffled feeling didn’t last as even getting dressed brought out memories of Penelope. Her flirty comments on how well he filled out his jeans. The maroon shirt which had been a gift from her as she said he always looked his best in bold colors.

He closed his eyes leaning his forehead on the mirror. He couldn’t do this. How could he possibly go on in a world devoid of Penelope Garcia? Every single thing reminded him of her no matter where he turned. Work would be an agony without her and there would be no relief if he quit. Nothing and no one would be able to fill the hole in his heart with the center of his world gone.

Fully dressed, he zipped up the empty bag before turning to his badge and gun in its holster that were sitting on the sink. He left the badge where it lay. He certainly wouldn’t be going back to the BAU.

He picked up his gun, the familiar weight in his hand a small comfort as he’d last held it while entering Penelope’s apartment. The dull metal seemed to pull at his eyes. A solution to his pain and loss. Perhaps the only way he’d ever see his Penelope again.

“She wouldn’t want that for you. She fought Ryan Holly to protect you, to keep him from going after you. Don’t throw away her sacrifice.”

His conscience sounded disturbingly like his grandmother. Not really surprising considering how Gran had taken care of him and his sisters until her death from a heart attack when Morgan was 9-years-old, just 8 months before he witnessed the murder of his father. The strength and sense of self-worth she’d fostered in him could be directly attributed to his surviving the attentions of Carl Buford and the channeling of the hurt and pain into his career in law enforcement.

“What about your team? They lost one friend, you going to make them mourn you too?”

“I can’t do this Gran. How am I supposed to go on without her?”

“You’ve lost people before Derek, what makes this the straw that broke the camel’s back?”

“Because,” he lashed out with his fist shattering the mirror. “Because I love her! I love her so much and a world without her doesn’t hold any light or warmth in it for me!”

“Yet you never told her. Do you think she’d deny you if she had known your heart?”

“No… yes… maybe.” Derek ran one hand over his head before leaning his forehead against the cool tile on the wall. “Penelope is kind and good in a way that is rare in my world. She sees… she saw all the ugly there is, how horrible people are but she didn’t let it get her down for long. It was almost an innocence. I didn’t have a right to get her dirty with my mess.”

“If you had just admitted that you loved her you could have been married to the love of your life for years and got started on giving me some great grandbabies! But no, you’ve got your head buried so deep in the sand you can see kangaroos! Dumb-ass!”

Morgan was in no way prepared for either the profanity uttered in his grandmother’s voice nor for the very real slap upside the head. He whirled around to face his attacker just as the honeysuckle scent his grandmother had favored seemed to wrap around him. He could only stare in shock.

“Gran?”

“Well, at least your eyes still work.”

“But…”

“Gracious child, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

So this was what a psychotic break felt like. Good to know. As hallucinations went this one was pretty good.

Not only could he smell his grandmother’s perfume, but the expression on her face was straight from his childhood. The way she would look fond yet exasperated and he’d be left wondering if a hug or a soft slap upside the head to “jump start his brains” was coming next.

He would back away from the rather realistic apparition if he wasn’t already backed up against the wall wedged in between two sinks. He did still have his gun in his hand, but there was no way on or off this earth that he was going to point it at his Gran, even if she was a hallucination.

“Stop gawking like you’re more brawn than brains child. I’m here to help so you can stop staring at me like I’m here to rip your heart from your chest.”

“But…”

“Yes?”

“You look and sound like my grandmother. Hell, you even smell like her, but there’s no way you’re my Gran because she died when I was 9-years-old. I know because I’m the one who found her body.”

“I’m sorry for that baby. I had no say in when or how I went. None of us do. I would have never wanted one of you kids to find me like that.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“You’re thinking too hard. Science can’t explain away everything you know.” Gran smiled at him, “besides I never claimed to be a ghost.”

“Not a ghost? Then what…”

Before he could finish his thoughts a golden light streamed down around his grandmother bathing her skin and hair in a warm glow. The light spread out and with it came such a feeling of love and peace. He could hear the sound of wings and singing in a language he didn’t know but it felt familiar somehow. His knees weakened and he held onto the sink for support.

“You’re an angel?”

“Yes, baby.”

“Then where were you? Where were you when I needed you? When Penelope needed you? Where were you!”

“Normally a new angel isn’t given the opportunity to be a Guardian Angel for their own family. The urge to change things, to fix things is too strong with us because we aren’t that far removed from our mortal lives.

Free will plays a part too. People have to have the freedom to grow and change, for good or ill. If their every move was dictated then they would be no more than puppets.”

“So you weren’t there when Carl targeted me?” Morgan asked.

“No baby. If I had, his parts would be scattered over half the planet.”

“What about Penelope?”

“I was there. Right there with you both. In her apartment, in the ambulance, and I was with her to her last breath and she knew it. She was not alone, and she didn’t cross over alone either. She was met with family and the horror of this life fades quickly when we pass. Though she didn’t want to go because she was worried about those she was leaving behind.”

It was too much. He had just enough presence of mind to make sure the safety was on his revolver before he dropped it into the sink next to him and curled in on himself sobbing for his loss.

His grandmother stepped forward and enveloped him in one of her warm hugs, the honeysuckle scent she favored wrapping around him. This was a comfort he hadn’t experienced in decades, but it was easy to just cling to Gran like the rock she always had been for him. Angel or vivid hallucination he would take what comfort he could as he tried to pull together the broken pieces of his shattered heart.

He didn’t know how long he was lost in his grief before coming back to himself. Gran didn’t say a word, just humming a hauntingly familiar tune until he stopped crying. She then handed him a wet cloth for his face and waited until he was done wiping away the worst signs of his grief.

“I need you to answer me completely honestly Derek,” Gran said sternly. “Given the chance, would you fix this? Even if it meant erasing some of the good things you’ve accomplished? Would you make things right with Penelope and admit your heart? Even risking rejection if it meant she would live?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t even hesitate there, didn’t pause to think.”

“What is there to think about Gran? I’d do whatever it took, suffer anything, give up all I have, including my life if it would bring Penelope back. Her happiness and safety are worth more to me than anything else.”

She smiled and took both of his hands in hers.

He swallowed hard and squeezed his Grandmother’s hands. “She’s worth everything to me and I was too stupid to admit that even to myself before. I still think she deserves better than my mess, but if she wanted me I’d be hers until the end of time.”

She smiled then, big, warm, and full of love and pride. “Good answer child. We aren’t often given the chance to interfere in the lives of mortals even on a very small scale, and this is anything but small. I am not privy to the reasons why this is being granted, or why it’s you that is receiving this boon, but if you trust me I’ll do my best to guide you to when and where you need to be to set things right.”

He could only nod. Trusting his grandmother came as easy as breathing even after decades of being apart. Just like he had when he was a child he put all his worries in her hands knowing she could help him make things right.

The warm glow around them intensified and with it the rush of wings and wave of indescribably glorious song. The hospital shower room faded away and suddenly they were elsewhere.

—

Morgan blinked as the warm glow faded and glanced around. They were standing in what looked like a small police command center, video screens and computer equipment lined the walls of the small room. At one of the banks of screens sat a young female police officer who looked slightly familiar, and across the room, sat a very alive Penelope Garcia.

“Don’t worry, they can neither hear nor see us,” Gran reassured him.

He could only stare as Penelope’s hands flew over the keyboard and spoke into her headset. It was more than a little surreal to hear his voice coming out of the headset asking Garcia how long she could jam the cell phone signals. He remembered this day, six years in his past and the horror they had experienced. The explosion that killed Kate and nearly cost Hotch his life.

He stood there helpless as the love of his life frantically tried to talk his younger self out of driving off in an ambulance carrying a bomb while her hands flew over the keyboard getting him the information he needed to drive to a less populated area.

The panic and heartbreak on her face when his voice cut off and the bomb exploded were painful to watch. The knowledge that he was the one that put that look on her face made his chest hurt.

“…my God-given solace…”

Annoyance and relief mixed on her face with other emotions he couldn’t quite place as she told him she wasn’t speaking to him right now because she was mad at him, throwing her headset down when his younger self cockily told her he could wait.

Her hands were shaking as she turned to her companion. “Lisa could you…”

“Already on it Penelope. I’ll have a uniform pick up your wayward hero and deliver him back to the hospital. He’ll probably want to check on the rest of your team and he should be checked over himself. Give me a few minutes to take care of that, and I’ll arrange someone to pick you up and take you to your team as well.”

Penelope nodded jerkily in response before getting up and leaving the room. Derek was drawn after her, not willing to leave her side after all he had experienced. He hesitated briefly when she strode into the ladies restroom, but since no one could actually see him he followed her inside.

He could hear her in one of the stalls coughing and heaving as the stress caused her to lose what little she’d been able to eat that day. The toilet flushed and a pale and shaking Garcia stumbled out, tears running freely down her face before she made her way over to the sink to brush her teeth and repair her makeup.

“You see what you did to her? I could just smack you one upside your rock-hard head!” Gran glared at him. “I was so happy when you admitted that she was a gift from God, I was just sure that meant you’d pulled your head out and I was going to get some great grandbabies! But no, you had to act like it never happened!”

“We’ve already established that I’m an emotionally stunted idiot, no need to keep rubbing it in.”

“There’s plenty of reason if it keeps you from being a total dumbass! You are way too much like your grandfather. Pretty man, but try to talk emotions and he’d freeze up.” Gran smiled, “should have seen the look on his face when I sat down in his lap, kissed him mute, and told him if he didn’t man up and offer me a ring someone else surely would.”

Derek couldn’t help but be amused. “So how long did it take him?”

“Three days. One to work up the nerve to ask my father’s permission, one to find the ring, and one to stammer at me until I put him out of his misery by saying yes.”

“I have missed you, Gran, more than I could ever say. I have to think if I’d had you in my life longer I might be a bit more open with my emotions where it counts.”

“Don’t make me cry, horrible child. I’ll totally lose my tough angel cred if they see me blubbering in a police station ladies room.”

He couldn’t help hugging her again, reveling in the comfort and safety of her honeysuckle scented embrace. Once again the glow around her intensified, and with the sound of glorious song and rushing wings they were once again sent elsewhere.

Derek blinked as the glow faded and Gran stepped back releasing him from her hug. Looking around he saw they were in the entrance of the hospital where Hotch had been sent, a nervous and upset Garcia standing in the middle of the entrance with her back to the doors.

“This is it, child. In a few moments, you’re going to be bringing your cocky ass through those doors. I’ll be dropping your fool self into your younger brain, try not to mess up this time.”

“I’ll do my best Gran, I promise I won’t throw away the priceless gift I’m being given. I’m going to miss you terribly, though.”

“No, you won’t Derek, at least not much more than usual. To keep from messing up the timeline five ways to Sunday you aren’t going to remember much of this at all.”

“Not remember? Not that there aren’t things I’d do about anything to forget but how am I going to keep from messing up and making the same mistakes again?”

“This isn’t our first time at the rodeo child. You’ll remember just enough to hopefully pull your head out, marry that sweet woman, and give me some great grandbabies. Though if you get the urge to name one after me, I disavow any knowledge of implanting that particular thought in your thick skull.”

The door opened and in strolled his younger self. Gran was right, he was a cocky asshole. Penelope was a saint for putting up with him as long as she had.

Gran gestured with one hand and Derek was suddenly reduced to a glowing sphere in her hand. She wound up, like a major league pitcher before firing the ball of light at the head of his younger self. He would have found it amusing if he had the time, but upon impact, his awareness faded away.

—

Morgan swayed and shook his head, he was feeling more than a little dizzy, the adrenaline must be fading from his system fast.

Penelope turned at that moment and his breath caught in his throat. She looked relieved, angry, upset, and like she couldn’t decide if she should hug him, or punch his lights out. Carefully applied makeup couldn’t hide the red puffy eyes from crying. The knowledge that he had done that, caused those tear tracks on her beautiful face was not unlike getting punched in the chest.

“Baby Girl…”

Penelope huffed, “Don’t Baby Girl me! I’m still mad at you!”

Having her puffed up with irritation like an angry kitten shouldn’t be that adorable. He reached for her as the dizziness suddenly got worse and darkness pulled at his sight.

Losing his balance completely he collapsed to the ground.

“Morgan!”

—

Morgan found himself in a dark fog. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. In the distance, he could hear weeping. Penelope!

He ran toward the sound of her crying but never seemed to get any closer. His panic grew. He just knew she was in danger if he didn’t find her soon.

“Penelope! Baby Girl where are you!”

The weeping seemed to intensify, but the fog remained thick and he couldn’t find her.

His breath burned in his lungs and his muscles ached, yet still, she remained out of reach. Then he thought he saw a glimmer of light ahead of him and he raced for it.

“PENELOPE!”

With a gasp he sat straight up in a bed, bright fluorescent lights buzzed above him. A hospital? Why was he in a hospital? What happened…. Oh God, the bomb. Where was everyone?

He rubbed his hands over his face, coming away with tears. The dream, if that’s what it had been was so real, but where was….?”

“Derek?”

Morgan whipped his head around. There, bathed in the early morning light streaming through the window was his Penelope. She looked exhausted, yet he had never seen anyone look more beautiful in his entire life.

He could barely breathe she was so beautiful. “Baby Girl?”

Slowly she walked over to his bed. Her head tilted to the side as she watched his face.

He couldn’t help reaching for her, taking her hand and encouraging her to sit on the side of his bed. It was all too much for him and he carefully gathered her into a hug, burying his head against the side of her neck when she hugged him back instead of pushing him away.

Macho bullshit be damned it was more than he could take and he burst into tears. He breathed in her unique scent, a combination of electronics, vanilla, and coffee. It was more comfort than he’d had in longer than he could remember. Decades at the least.

“Penelope, Baby Girl, I am so sorry!”

“I know your job puts you in danger Derek. But having to listen to you as… I thought you died!”

He pulled back a little, cradling her beautiful face in his hands.

“I am so sorry baby. I’m a selfish man. I thought I was about to die, and wanted the comfort of your voice with me. I thought…” here Morgan closed his eyes to avoid watching tears spill from her eyes. “I thought, there is nothing I can’t do, nothing I can’t face if I have the voice of the woman I love in my ears.”

“Morgan?”

Morgan lowered his head. He couldn’t believe he’d admitted that and didn’t think he could bear seeing sympathy or worse yet disgust on Penelope’s face.

“Derek Morgan you open your eyes and look at me right this second!”

Helplessly he obeyed. Her expression lacked the disgust he feared but the stern look didn’t exactly fill him with hope.

“Did you mean that?”

“Baby Girl…”

“Derek! Did. You. Mean. That?”

He swallowed hard. “Yes. Yes, I meant it. I know… I know I’m not anywhere good enough for you, but meeting you is the best thing that ever happened to me, Penelope. I’m a better person with you in my life and having your friendship means the world to me.”

He closed his eyes again. “Now I’ve ruined that. I wasn’t going to say anything because I didn’t want to lose what I had from you by ever assuming to ask for more.”

“Damn it, Derek.”

She was crying again. He opened his eyes and used his thumbs to wipe the tears spilling down her face.

“Oh please, please don’t cry Penelope! I can’t bear it. I’ll do anything to make this up to you. If… if you can’t stand to work with me anymore I’ll get a transfer. Just, whatever you need to be happy, I’ll do it.”

“And what if it’s you that makes me happy Derek?”

Once again Penelope Garcia rocked the foundation of his world.

“Me? Baby Girl?”

She smiled then. “Chocolate Thunder.”

He could only blink at her use of one of the flirtatious names she had used on him in the past.

“You have been so wrapped up in what you feel, that you’ve assumed you know what I feel.”

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t…”

She stopped him with one soft hand to his cheek. Smiling at his shock she leaned in and kissed him oh so sweetly. She started to pull back but he slid his hands into her hair and pulled her in for another kiss.

She pulled back, opening her shining eyes and licking at her lips. He could only groan at the sight of her.

“To make myself perfectly clear: Derek Morgan, I love you too.”

He couldn’t move for a moment. It was like the universe itself paused and held its breath.

He couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face as what she said finally sunk in. He was sure he looked goofy but luckily Penelope didn’t seem to care as an equally happy smile graced her own face.

He pulled her back into his arms, reveling in the permission to do so. Closing his eyes and just basking in her warm embrace. He had never been this happy in his life. Though as a foreign scent tickled his nose he did pause to wonder why the hospital would use disinfectants with an unconventional honeysuckle scent.

Imagine whoever you like as my original characters but here is my fancasting:

Ryan Holly: David Boreanaz
Gracie Younger: Betty White
Gran Morgan: Della Reese