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“You can’t seriously ignore my calls like that and expect me to believe everything’s fine Garcia,” he speaks into his phone, walking down the aisle of the team jet.
“I wasn’t ignoring you, the case was solved so I stepped away from my phone for a bit,” her reply rings through the line, voice drier than normal.
Derek and the team are currently on their way home from a particularly hard case that was, thankfully, solved with a happy ending. With the help of therapy, the victims should be able to return to normality and the unsub will be locked away for the rest of his life. That’s as good as it gets in this line of work.
And that means he can once again turn his full attention to his babygirl. Well, after he turns in his written report but that's a minor detail when it comes to spending time with the woman on the other end of the line although Hotch would disagree.
“I know for a fact that when it comes to you and your bat cave, ‘a bit’ is usually no more than five minutes. You haven’t returned my calls in almost two hours.”
“If you can’t go without hearing from me for two hours you might want to get checked for addiction.” she deadpans.
He sits, fastening his seatbelt in preparation for take-off “Oh c’mon, now you’re deflecting?”
“And now you’re profiling?”
The pilot speaks through the announcement system, notifying the team that they are ready for take-off.
“Listen babygirl, we’re about to take off but you best believe we’re continuing this conversation when I land.”
“Fly safe.” She hangs up.
Derek closes his phone defeatedly. What could have possibly happened to make Garcia avoid his calls and close herself off? More importantly, what could he do to fix it?
He’s always had trouble facing his own emotions and as a result, he’s never been great at helping others do the same. If someone is visibly upset, he can calm them. If a loved one told him that they were sad, he’d be able to comfort them. But he was never good at making people open up when they didn’t want to… at least not outside an interrogation room. For so long he wanted all of his emotions to stay on the inside, as far as he knew there was no right way to make someone open up.
He wants things to be different with Penelope. He knows something is off between them, he can feel it. Not having her bubbly, flirty, beautiful personality shine through the phone every chance it gets feels as though the universe itself is off-center. And if he had something to do with this cosmic tilt by god he would move heaven and earth to fix it.
“What’s up with you?” Emily asks from the seat in front of him, sipping her coffee.
When had she gotten there? Had he really been so deep in thought that he didn’t notice her?
“Nothin’. Just thinking.”
Emily looks at him, clearly not believing a word he said. She tilts her head, urging him to continue. Truthfully this time.
“It’s just that once I got a hold of Garcia she denied the fact that she was avoiding my calls,” He slowly shakes his head recalling the conversation “I don’t know… she seems shut off and it’s just not like her.”
“She’s hurt, Morgan. While trying to fix her you made her feel like she wasn’t capable of meeting a guy who was genuinely into her. And I’m not saying her pain is your fault but I am saying that when she did come to you, you probably made it seem like there was something wrong with any guy that showed interest in her.” Emily’s blunt words cut through the blindfold of his own emotions.
He chooses his next words very carefully “What do I do now? I know I shouldn’t try to fix her but is it the right time to fix…this?” he gestures vaguely.
“Well, normally I would say the wise choice is to let her come around on her own but if you truly feel that this guy could be a danger to her, you should gently step in.”
“Right…Thanks, Prentiss.”
Her advice sits in his head for the remainder of the flight. Floating around like a piece of lint you can’t quite catch
Was this guy really a threat to Penelope or was he just a threat to Morgan’s chance with her? Did he even deserve a chance with her after wasting this much time, constantly flirting with her without making his true feelings known? After making her feel like any guy who showed interest in her was automatically a freak?
At the same time, one has to wonder if it actually was a coincidence that this guy had easily fixable computer issues in front of the FBI’s greatest technical analyst. On top of that he also just so happened to really want to take her out as soon as possible.
Not that she doesn't deserve to be taken out but what were the chances of that?
God, he hasn’t had to overthink anything this much since the last time he tried to beat Reid in chess.
The familiar tone of the pilot’s voice announcing their descent breaks through Derek's cloud of thoughts. He was still unsure about a lot of things but as the jet made its way towards the ground one thing became clear.
He had to get his babygirl.
The trek from the jet to the bullpen seems to take twice as long as usual. Every second he’s not on good terms with the dorky analyst it feels like her bat cave grows further and further away.
“Woah!” JJ remarks after watching Morgan all but run out of the elevator. “Where is he off to?”
He doesn’t stop to chat, he’s on a mission and barely has half a mind to drop his go bag at his desk before making his way to Penelope's office. Papers rustle against the force of his stride as he passes, yet he doesn’t even know what he’s gonna say when he gets to Garcia’s door.
He turns into the dimmer hallway, the office he normally loves to crash now makes a lump in his throat grow. Still, his feet march on, it’s now or never. Whether this mystery man is a threat or not, he’s not the one who gets to take Garcia out. Call it selfish or plain delusional but nothing can convince Morgan that anyone on earth is a better match for Garcia than he is.
For the first time, the door in front of him seems impenetrable. He knocks anyway.
“Babygirl, you in there?” his voice is softer than usual.
The muffled sound of a pencil cup falling over can be heard from the other side.
“No.”
“Please, let me in. I know I messed up and I’m here to apologize.”
Silence.
And then the soft click of the door handle.
It swings open slowly, revealing the love of his life, his reason to get home safe, his everything.
“I am so sorry Penelope,” He walks deeper into her Batcave, closing the door behind him “ I never meant to make you feel like you didn’t deserve a handsome man’s attention.”
“Just not his right?” She scoffs softly.
“I trust your judgment but I can’t say I’d be thrilled to know you were alone with him. Especially on a date”
“Oh? And why is that Derek?”
He pauses, not quite sure how to tell the truth at this moment.
“Is it because a handsome man can’t be sane and into me at the same time? Is that it?”
“Wha-”
“Or is it that you think my rose-tinted glasses make it impossible for me to see red flags?”
“Garcia- no I just-”
“What Morgan? What makes you so sure he’s not the one for me?” She presses him.
“He’s not right for you because he’s not me.” It slips out of his mouth before he can think about what he’s saying.
Garcia stands there, mouth agape, not sure if she heard him correctly.
“Babygirl, I have been in love with you since the first time I saw you work your magic on a keyboard, and I fall for you that much more every day,” He steps towards her, taking her hand in his. “ You make yourself available to talk to after a long day, and you put your all into each and every case we have. You must be the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen but it’s so much more than that. You are the reason I come into this building every morning and you are the reason I make sure I make it back every night. Not only would the team be lost without you but I would be lost without you. Garcia, you are my god-given solace.”
“Morgan, I-”
“I know springing all of this on you is selfish of me and you’re a grown woman who can make your own decisions but please, don’t go out with that smoke show from the coffee shop.”
Before he can say anything else Penelope's lips are on his and the world around him shifts. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he deepens the kiss wishing they could stay like this forever.
After a moment Penelope pulls away, adjusting her glasses as she takes a moment to breathe. “You know you could have told me all that before you had me convinced I was an unsub magnet,” she teases.
And just like that it feels as though the universe is centered once more
“Well thank Emily for helping me get my head out of my ass enough to tell you now”
A muffled “You’re welcome” comes from behind the closed door followed by a faint pitter-patter of two pairs of heels and some dress shoes.
The two of them can’t hold back a laugh realizing they at least don’t have to keep this a secret in the bullpen.
Tomorrow they will still be Babygirl and Chocolate Thunder.