Till There Was You

Morgan and Garcia

Chapter Two

May 2010

Wrapped in Derek's strong arms, outside the inn in Alaska, Penelope Garcia felt the earth beneath her feet became stable again after a couple of days of madness. She had watched a man be murdered. Helpless to save his life all she could do was be there with him while he slipped away.

Seeing him die had shaken her to her core. She knew she should have ran away the moment she saw the unsub in the field. Derek knew it too. Yet she ran towards danger because the BAU had made her see so much horror that she wanted to do a little something, not from behind a computer screen, to help a victim. And she had helped but at what cost to herself?

Was the BAU breaking her spirit, after she had fought so hard to regain the softness that made her different from an agent?

Derek assured her that it wasn't. That she was become stronger, better, more capable and confident. He said all the things she needed to hear. Took her in his arms and held her tight for a long minute. He promised to be there for her everyday of the rest of his life- her hero, her watch dog, her best friend, her confidant, her flirting buddy, and her spiritual soul mate.

She never would have imagined that he would be the one who fit her so well but he did.

At his gentle declaration that he always wanted her to need him she felt warmth spread through her body. This big, strong, hot (oh so hot), muscled, brilliant, charming, funny (she could go on and on), all around amazing, gorgeous chocolate God of a man wanted her to always need him. It was humbling. Sweet. Touching.

She pressed her lips against his cheek in a soft kiss of friendship.

Okay, slightly more than friendship. She certainly didn't usually kiss up on Hotch, Reid, Rossi or any other male co-worker or buddy. Derek was in a category all his own.

As she pulled back from kissing his cheek, something shifted in the air between them, turning it thicker. She froze. Her eyes lingered on his lips. Lips she had watched so many times but never from so close. His breath tickled her face.

She knew she should move back. They had been sharing a perfectly friendly moment. A tender exchange. She shouldn't want to kiss him right now. Talk about inappropriate. This was not the time for her Hot Stuff fantasies to run rampant through her head.

Penelope made the decision to move out of Derek's embrace before she got carried away.

Yet somehow she shifted an inch and he shifted an inch, her eyes drifted closed and then their lips touched. And that is where it could have stopped. A quick soft kiss. Still somewhere near the friendship zone.

But it didn't.

The warmth that whipped through her at the touching of their lips was seductive. Her body craved more of his heat. Snaking her arms around his neck she pressed ever closer, while he tightened his arms around her back. One soft kiss became a series of needy, sensual kisses and then her mouth opened for his and by that point all rational thought had flown away.

Her world was spinning. And all she knew was how soul satisfying it was to kiss Derek Morgan. A heat and warmth she had never known before overtook her senses. She lost track of time and place. Never wanted the moment to end.

It didn't feel wrong...even though maybe it should have. She did have Kevin at home, after all.

Though, in Derek's arms, nothing could feel wrong and Penelope just went with the emotions he evoked within her as his tongue plundered her mouth.

Showing her just how much she really did turn him on and how deep his feelings went for her. Shocking her but making her love him all the more for how he loved her.

XXXXXXXXX

Reid was surprised to see Morgan and Garcia's tender hug end up in a torrid, not fit for public, kiss. They seemed lost in each other and unaware they weren't locked behind bedroom doors.

Standing at the back of the vehicle, he turned away from them, just as Emily came walking up, a cup of coffee in a Styrofoam cup in her hand and her luggage over her shoulder. An easy smile graced her lips until she looked around Reid and caught a glimpse of their co-workers kissing passionately.

The slack jawed look that came over her face was comical. "Well," she dragged out the word as her eyes lit up "all rightey then! Looks like someone around here is having a really good morning!"

Reid nodded. He took Emily's luggage and placed it in the back of the vehicle and then they got inside. A few minutes later the front doors opened. Hotch got in the driver's seat and Rossi the passenger.

Hotch asked, in a deadpan voice, "They do realize they are in public, right?"

Rossi chuckled. "I doubt they realize what day of the week it is right now or even that they are in Alaska."

Hotch said "If they don't get in here in five minutes, Reid, you're turning the hose on them."

"Why me?" Reid whined. "I'm not good with gardening tools."

Emily laughed at that.

Outside the vehicle JJ was watching her friends, with a sweet smile on her lips. Taking out her phone, not the satellite one that Garcia gave her for this trip but her normal one, she snapped a picture and then cleared her throat.

But they didn't hear her. She put her luggage in the back and got in the vehicle. "Morning. I think Derek and Penelope might be a little late joining us today."

Rossi smirked. "Anyone feel like going to get some pie from the diner? We might be in for quite the wait."