Work Text:
Title: My wish
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Morgan/Garcia
Prompt: # 4 Ansuz (insight)
Word count: 2175
Rating: T just to be sure
Disclaimer: Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time. The idea for the story as well as the story itself, including all possible pre- and sequels, are mine.
Summary: This is what should totally happen on the show rather sooner than later. Enough said. :) Oh, yeah, and I pretend nothing has changed. Those who watched season 6 know what I'm talking about.
warnings: nope, not really - oh, well, a little fluffy ;)
AN: Hey there, I'm back again. Sort of. Sorry, I haven't updated in a while, I was really busy and so was my wonderful beta-reader. This time, she really had a hard job to do - and without her there would certainly have been a lot of flaws in this storyline.
Anyway, I'm also sorry if I didn't reply to any of the wonderful reviews you left. Be sure that all of them were very much appreciated. But I've been having trouble replying to them lately.
Now, I hope you'll enjoy this little one-shot. It's the last story for the 24 runes challenge. YAY!
"What's wrong with you?" he heard a voice say from behind him.
"What?" Derek asked, a little puzzled. He'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't even realized the other agent had come up to him.
"You look like you're about to kill someone," Emily said with a grimace. "I just wondered who you're thinking about that's making you so angry."
"No one," he grumbled.
"Wow, you're crabby again." She rolled her eyes, but gave him a grin, nonetheless. "Remind me to avoid you for the rest of the week."
"Funny," he snarled.
"What, did some girl dump you?" she wanted to know. "You're behaving like a jilted admirer." She hid her mouth behind her hand and mumbled just loud enough for him to hear, "Or a two year old..."
"I thought you wanted to avoid me," he grumbled.
Emily mouthed a voiceless ‘O-okay' and hurried out of the bullpen. If she was lucky, he'd have calmed down when she came back from lunch.
As he turned back to his paperwork, he shook his head. Jilted admirer?! He might be a lot of things but not that! He didn't get dumped... He did the dumping. Derek Morgan was a player, and he knew it. He didn't get attached enough to be on the receiving end of it. He liked women, was attracted to them, no question about it. But he didn't get attached, because that would mean he loved them and wanted to be with them, not only for a night but for the rest of his life.
No woman could ever win his heart and wrap him around her little finger like that!
He heard laughter coming from Garcia's office and growled quietly. It had been almost three years now. Derek hadn't said anything, ever. Not about the fact that she was ignoring the rules by dating Lynch, and not about the fact that she did it so obviously.
He behaved like nothing had changed, dropping a few nicknames when they were on the phone, flirted with her, and spent time with her whenever she allowed him to. And he had never stopped watching over her, very carefully.
Penelope was happy. She was smiling even more than she had before she'd met Kevin. In fact, she was radiant. She was simply happy.
That had been all he had ever wanted. Seeing her happy. Because she deserved it. She deserved only the best.
Apparently, now, there was someone who made his Baby Girl happy. And he'd thought that would make him happy, too - happy for her.
But it didn't.
He was far from being happy. He'd thought that once he was sure she would be okay, he would be able to go on. He'd started flirting with other women again, but somehow, it wasn't the same anymore.
In a way, it was strange. Whenever he flirted with a woman, he kept thinking things like, "Penelope would have said this" or "this would have made Penelope laugh." He compared the flirting skills of other women to those of his Baby Girl - which meant the other women could only lose. No one could ever flirt like Penelope Garcia.
And he found himself wondering if Penelope flirted with Kevin like she used to flirt with him. He kept wondering if she'd started flirting with him, or if he'd started flirting with her. If they'd gone on a date, or just jumped into bed.
And he absentmindedly clenched his fists every time he thought about it. He hadn't even noticed, until he felt his muscles start to ache.
Derek heard Penelope's door fling open, and then watched as she walked past his office, Kevin Lynch like a puppy at her feet. At least, the two of them weren't behaving like teenagers anymore - tickling and kissing each other whenever they thought they were unobserved.
But Penelope was still smiling brightly whenever Kevin was around. Brighter than when he wasn't. They were talking quietly, and she was smiling.
She was happy. Kevin made her happy.
And Derek was not.
He'd always wanted to protect her, to make sure that she was fine. He wanted her to feel loved and cared about. And now that she had Kevin, who made her feel all that, Derek suddenly realized that he wanted more. He wanted her. He wanted to be the one who made her feel this way. The only one.
Yes, he was like a jilted boyfriend. His only problem was that he'd realized too late that he wanted to be a boyfriend in the first place. He wanted her, oh, yes, he did. But even more than that, he wanted to see her happy. Even if that meant she was spending her nights with someone else.
The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah," he grumbled at the caller, without having looked at the ID beforehand.
"It's really that bad, huh?" he heard an all-too familiar voice say.
"Mom..." He ran a hand over his head. "Why are you calling?"
"Can't I just call to hear your voice and ask about your day?" she asked innocently.
"Mom!" he growled.
"What's wrong with you, baby?" she asked in a motherly tone.
Denying was useless. He knew it. "I really don't want to talk about it right now." He wasn't even sure he wanted to talk about it at all.
"It's about Penelope again, isn't it?" She didn't even have to guess; she knew what this was all about.
Derek sighed. She just knew him too well.
"Derek, we've been through this several times already. You have to admit it to yourself," she told him in a stern voice.
"What would it change?" he mumbled.
"It changes everything," Fran reassured him. "If you finally admit your feelings to yourself, you can start dealing with them."
Derek just sighed once more.
"Say it!" Fran commanded.
Grumbling a little, Derek finally formed the words he'd never wanted to say out loud. "I love her."
"I didn't hear you." The smile was almost audible in her voice.
"I love her," Derek said louder this time. "I'm in love with her."
Unbeknownst to Derek, Penelope had stopped in his office doorway on her way back to her office. Hearing those words out of his mouth made her heart cramp painfully. He was in love. Of course, she should be happy for him, but...
Derek smelled her perfume, and his senses told him that she was near. When he turned around, he looked right into her eyes - and almost dropped his phone. God, had she heard what he'd just said?! Was she mad at him? She looked mad... or rather... hurt?!
"Mom, I'm gonna call you back," he mumbled, and then hung up.
Penelope just blinked at him. He had told his mother. This meant it was serious - really serious. Penelope felt a lump forming in her throat, but she smiled, nonetheless.
"Hey, Baby Girl," he whispered a little huskily. His throat suddenly felt dry.
"Hey." She smiled - a little too bright. "So... you're... Congratulations."
"Huh?" Derek gave her a puzzled look. Congratulations? What on earth was she congratulating him for? Or was this supposed to be ironic?
"Well, I..." She swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but... Well, I heard you talk to your mother, and... it sounded pretty serious."
Wait! Derek straightened in his chair. She had no idea he had been talking about her!
When Penelope saw the expression on his face, she was sure he was mad at her. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I shouldn't have said anything. None of my business."
"Wait, Baby Girl," Derek said, keeping her from disappearing. Something was wrong here. He didn't even need to be a profiler to read the hurt in her face. "Sit down!" he commanded.
Unwillingly, Penelope sat down opposite of him in the chair and looked down, fidgeting with her skirt.
Hope was budding somewhere deep inside him. Could it be possible? Was the prospect of him being in love with another woman really bothering her?
Gently, Derek took her hands in his. It was now or never. "I want you to tell me the truth now, Penelope," he told her with all seriousness.
She nodded. The fact that he called her by her first name instead of any nickname was making her heart beat faster. This conversation would go into a really serious direction. Was he gonna ask her to be the bridesmaid? Were they really that serious?
"Are you... hurt because you think I'm in love with another woman?" he asked.
He could see her body tense. He was going too far, and he knew it. But he needed to be sure.
"Are you?" he pressed her.
Penelope nodded again and looked down. She wasn't able to hold back the tears any longer. Why did he have to ask her that? What did it change?
Derek put a finger under her chin to make her look at him again. Gently brushing away the tear that ran down her cheek, he asked, "Why? You're with Kevin."
"No, I'm not," she sniffled. "I... We... We split up."
"Why?" Derek frowned at her. And why hadn't she told him?
"Because of you," Penelope whispered, looking down again. "Because I couldn't stop loving you. I know I shouldn't tell you right now, but you asked, and you wanted me to be honest, and... this is the truth. I'm in love with you. I know it's never gonna happen, but I can't help it."
Smiling, Derek made her look at him and leaned closer. "Baby Girl, there's something I have to confess."
She frowned at him, sniffling again.
"I was talking about you." He'd said it. There was no turning back anymore. And he wouldn't have wanted to take anything back.
Derek could see the confusion in her eyes, and then the moment it hit her. Her eyes widened.
Smiling warmly, Derek leaned closer again so that their lips were almost touching. "I'm in love with you, Penelope Garcia."
"And I'm in love with you," she whispered, surprised that she could still form a somewhat meaningful sentence.
"And I'm gonna kiss you now," he breathed against her lips.
Penelope shivered. "O... Okay," she stuttered. Not exactly an eloquent answer.
Their lips met, and it felt like an explosion. The blood was rushing through their veins, heat spreading through their bodies, making their skins tingle.
God, she had never been kissed like that before. It was like fireworks making her whole body feel like she was going to explode any second. She was burning, shivering, brimming over with pure joy.
Derek couldn't remember when a simple kiss had last made him feel like he was on fire - or if any kiss had ever had such an effect on him. She tasted better than any woman he'd ever kissed - better than anything he'd ever tasted, in fact.
When they finally had to break the kiss for air, they were both panting heavily. For a long time, they were sitting there, leaning their foreheads against each other, trying to catch their breath.
"Baby Girl?" Derek finally whispered.
"Yeah?" was her almost voiceless answer.
"I'm really glad you couldn't stop loving me." He raised his head to look into her eyes. "I thought I had lost you - and I honestly had no idea how to deal with that."
"Well, you don't have to," she replied, smiling at him, "'cause I'm not going anywhere."
"Good." He pulled her close to him. "Because I'm not planning on letting you go. Ever."
"Do you... think we can go back to what we had?" Penelope carefully asked. "I missed watching movies with you - especially the cuddling."
"Yes and no, I think," Derek replied a little cryptically.
Penelope frowned at him.
"We will go back to doing a lot of cuddling," Derek promised with a grin. "But I fear we won't be able to really watch any movie in the meantime, because we'll be otherwise engaged."
"Oh, really?" She giggled. "I'm sure I'll like what you have in mind."
"Yeah?" Grinning, he pulled her closer for another breathtaking kiss.
Sighing contentedly, Penelope let her head sink against his shoulder. "I missed you so much," she whispered against his shirt.
"I missed you, too," Derek replied, kissing her silky hair. "It feels good to hold you again."
They heard a sound at his door and unwillingly let go of each other.
"Thank goodness you're here," Emily exclaimed. "He's been grumpy the whole day. I hope you can bring him back to normal."
"Don't worry, Prentiss, everything is back to normal already," Derek told her with a wide grin. "As a matter of fact, everything is just perfect."
Eyeing them, Emily mumbled, "Why do I have the feeling that I just missed something important here?"
"Maybe because you did." Grinning, Penelope got up and sashayed past her, winking at Derek as she turned to go back to her office.
"What?!" Emily looked between her two colleagues back and forth. "What did I miss?"