Start to Finish: Chapter 6: Garcia
Title: Start to Finish
Author: ficdirectory
Characters: Garcia
Word Count: 23,799 - Chapter 6/10
Warnings/Spoilers/Rating: Loss of a Loved One, Violence/Seasons 1-6/FRT.
Summary: Garcia’s time in the BAU.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the CBS-owned characters mentioned. Not written for profit.
Notes: Over the last week, I have written a crazy amount of drabbles from every POV in the BAU, covering every season of Criminal Minds. Instead of posting them as random collections, I thought I'd arrange them in chapter formats, by character.
GARCIA
"Damn it!" Garcia swore.
It was bad enough having sore feet from the world's most fabulous pair of heels. It was worse to take them off, and be impaled by a random piece of something and then be stuck trying to staunch the blood flowing from the sole of her foot.
This was especially irritating since she had no idea what could have been on her floor that was sharp enough to injure her. And, obviously, she was supposed to be working a case, not doctoring herself.
Quickly, she grabbed some more tissues, wadded them up and haphazardly wrapped the only thing she had copious amounts of - masking tape - around her foot. Because she was nervous about what other dangers might be lurking, she propped both feet on a nearby chair.
"What happened to you?" JJ asked, coming in with lunch and coffee.
"Don't ask," Garcia insisted, not cracking a smile. "And don't take off your shoes."
"I...wasn't planning on it. You want me to fix this for you?" JJ asked, gesturing to Garcia's crudely wrapped foot.
Garcia's expression moved slowly from a frown to a grateful smile. "You wouldn't mind?"
"Of course not."
And with that, JJ was on her knees on the dungeon floor unwrapping, inspecting, and medicating. Garcia kept herself busy, running searches and taking calls.
Before she knew it, JJ was leaving again. This time, she came back with a broom she found who-knew-where. She swept the entire room. Scooted Garcia's rolling chair aside, swept under the desk and amassed a pile Garcia didn't think was possible.
"There. Feel better?" JJ asked, taking the seat previously occupied by Garcia's feet.
"Much."
--
Garcia can't remember the last time she truly let loose. Usually, she just watches Derek bust a move, but not tonight. Tonight, she gets her ass out onto that floor and shakes it. She feels the music. She lets it pulse through her. Dancing alone, she is never self-conscious.
She isn't surprised when Derek grabs her and spins her around.
"Fancy meeting you here," she smiles.
"Didn't know you were such a mover," he tells her, breathless.
"Of course. Always. Took dance forever, growing up..." she manages, moving to the music.
"Really?" he cocks his head, like he's seeing her for the first time.
She smiles.
"There's a lot you don't know about me."
"Ain't it the truth?" he responds and spins her again.
--
Garcia knows when Prentiss finds the guy in the bar that she and JJ will play along. It would be so wrong to let an opportunity like this go to waste.
It just gets better when he's there in the flesh and Emily introduces him as a "real FBI agent". She and JJ pretend to be uber impressed. She asks what it's like at Quantico, but mispronounces it on purpose. The joke will be on this dude and it'll be a damn good one if they can keep a straight face.
When Emily asks to see his badge, Garcia almost loses it. How did she luck out with such brilliant friends?
In the end, they show their badges and the guy slinks away.
Then, of course, JJ's phone rings and their fun is cut short.
On the way out, Garcia looks at the sky full of stars and is grateful for the distraction.
"Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad," she whispers, and gets in her car to drive.
--
Garcia has always hated pop quizzes, and it's pretty impossible not to feel that same dread when she answers the phone the way she usually does and does not hear a voice she is expecting. She closes her eyes, praying that there is some way this can be fixed.
The voices echo in her head. Hers first:
"Talk dirty to me."
And then...
"This is Section Chief Erin Strauss..."
It gives Garcia the creeps even thinking about it. She tries to apologize profusely but nothing works.
After the call, Garcia imagines Strauss opening up an official looking black binder and putting a big zero next to Garcia's name. She vows to be more professional.
At least as long as Strauss is on the case.
--
Garcia is all about this new guy. At least until Morgan unknowingly crushes her with just a few words.
When she gets herself together, she calls him. She'll show Derek exactly how wrong he is about this guy.
James is awesome. Handsome. Charming. He takes her to some swanky out-of-the-way place. They chat. Drink wine.
The night goes fabulously well.
He leans in for a kiss and at the last minute, turns away.
She thinks he's just nervous, but the idea that she can make a guy nervous is kind of titillating. She is already planning Date Number Two and all the ways she will rub this in Derek's face when she hears her amazing date talking to her.
"Hey, Garcia?"
Her heart melts a little.
"I've been thinking about doing this all night."
He pulls out a gun, and before she can react, he pulls the trigger.
--
Garcia is alive. That's all she can think as she slowly blinks her way to consciousness.
It hurts to think. It hurts to breathe. It hurts to be. But she is alive. And that's more than she thought she would have, after... After a bullet tore through her body.
She remembers little. Or tells herself she does. In reality, she remembers shock more than pain. She remembers sitting, not falling, because she was so stunned and honestly didn't feel pain in that moment.
No, that's because the pain was saving itself up for this moment, to torment her. She closes her eyes, wishes it all would go away, but then she hears familiar voices. It is such a welcome sound that Garcia's throat closes with tears.
All this time, she had thought the last face she would see...the last voice she would hear...the last anything she would be around...would be him.
But it's not.
She forces a smile.
"Hey. No tears..." she says.
--
Garcia hates the idea of being alone. But the more she thinks about it the more positive she is that she is destined for a life of solitude. The only time she really had a great time on a date, it ended up that she was with a psycho the entire night. So, what did that say about her judgment?
But then she meets Kevin, and he’s like one of those rainbows that appear and end right in her yard or something. He is magic. He is genius. She doesn’t know what to make of him. But she is pretty sure she wants to spend a long time figuring it out.
She shakes his hand, and she wonders about her previous assertion that everything happens for a reason.
Did all that hell happen so that she could meet a real man?
But Garcia doesn’t waste time wondering. She introduces herself.
“Penelope.”
--
"What's the password?" Garcia asks as she hears the first knock on her door.
"What?"
"The password. You're not getting in without it," she insists. It's Rossi. He'll never guess. So she gets Reid to give him some help.
When he utters it, sounding mortified, Garcia cracks the door and offers him the next step.
"Three marshmallow Peeps."
"What the hell is a Peep?”
She shoves the pink and yellow marshmallows into his hand.
“What am I supposed to do with these?"
"Eat them or no access. No Lord of the Rings Festapalooza if you don't follow the requirements."
"Forget it. I don't want to watch anything this badly," Rossi scoffs lightly.
"Oh, come on!" Garcia sighs, determined to win him back. "I'll give you a senior discount! Two Peeps! You only have to eat two!"
"Good night, Garcia..."
"Well, I guess it's you and me," Reid says brightly, balancing a bowl of popcorn on his lap. "Now there's only one question left."
"With commentary or without?" they both ask simultaneously and break into laughter.
--
Garcia hates it when time slows down. And time always slows down when she is waiting for something.
In this case, it's something pretty important. JJ's back in labor and delivery. Maybe giving birth at this very moment, but more likely, she's screaming and in all kinds of agony.
Garcia tries to concentrate on what she brought with her. She's been doing her best to crochet an afghan for this little guy. It's blue and green and yellow and she has messed up on it more times than she can count. It doesn't help that Emily is making her nervous by pacing around, and constantly asking if anyone wants coffee.
Hotch is on the phone.
Garcia thinks of Reid. Sends him good thoughts.
She hopes that the next time they are all together, things look a whole lot brighter.
--
This feels like cheating on a test. But a big test, like the SATs or something.
Garcia is so not a fan of sifting through people's lives like this. It's not what she signed up to do. It's not in her job description, and yet, here she is, surrounded by files and a white board trying to quell her hunger with a banana and trying to find some connection between the residents of one small town.
It sucks.
Hotch doesn't seem to care how this will affect her. Right now, all that matters is the job. So, Garcia decides to be a woman, and get this over with.
Then, she finds something. Something so seriously disturbing that it pisses her off and she gets the team to let them know about it. When all she hears are excuses, Garcia won't stand for them. Excuses won't help the kid they're searching for. Excuses won't magically make the abuse he suffered right.
She talks back to the sheriff. She interrupts Hotch. She needs to get this out. Needs to tell them how wrong this is.
And then she realizes what she's done, and it's like someone has dumped a bucket of cold water over her head.
--
Garcia tries to collect herself. Tries so hard, but it's useless. Every time she closes her eyes, she hears those gunshots. She's never heard anyone die before. She's never been on the phone for a final conversation between someone desperate to get to a loved one before it was too late, and then listened...
She takes her headset off and tosses it. This job sucks sometimes. Seriously. Sucks. And it doesn't help that she's all alone in the darkest part of the building. God knows when the team is coming back. If Hotch will ever come back.
All at once, her heart squeezes in her chest. It's a painful feeling. One she hasn't experienced since the death of her own parents.
She thinks of Jack...and falls apart all over again.
--
Garcia is so not a fan of sitting down with bad guys to chat, but she can see right away that this kid isn't your run of the mill creep. He's just a seriously bummed out high school kid. She thinks, briefly, that Hotch is really good at his job. Because she does get him. She understands turning to an online world when you're lost in grief.
She understands doing things she will probably always regret but can't take back. She remembers trying to drown the pain at bars when she was still underage. Being arrested for egging the very house she grew up in. Her parents’ house. Because how dare they leave her?
She understands him.
So, Garcia sits down, and offers him what she can.
Friendship. A smile. And some words that might quell the sadness inside him.
--
Garcia always thinks of her dad when she eats watermelon. It’s a bittersweet experience, really, because who doesn’t like biting into a juicy slice and spitting seeds as far as they can go? But it sort of hurts, too, because she remembers who taught her to spit those seeds. She remembers warm summer days, and sweet juice running down her chin.
They kind of lost the step, in step-dad a long time ago. Because Garcia has no idea who her biological father is. This is who she’s got and she is grateful for it.
Today, when she teaches Henry to spit the seeds, she feels her dad looking on.
She hopes he is proud.
--
Garcia's in a good place mentally. And for the record? She's not a superstitious person.
But. When Kevin Lynch sees fit to open her pink polka-dotted umbrella inside the house, and then breaks a mirror in her bathroom unintentionally, she wonders if maybe she shouldn't take precautions. Like looking both ways for stray black cats before they cross into her path. Checking to make sure nothing is freaky about her car, or her room, or her office at work.
The heat was just out.
Maybe that was a sign.
Now, all of a sudden, Emily is gone, too.
Garcia is worried. And she has made up her mind to kill Kevin.
Author: ficdirectory
Characters: Garcia
Word Count: 23,799 - Chapter 6/10
Warnings/Spoilers/Rating: Loss of a Loved One, Violence/Seasons 1-6/FRT.
Summary: Garcia’s time in the BAU.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the CBS-owned characters mentioned. Not written for profit.
Notes: Over the last week, I have written a crazy amount of drabbles from every POV in the BAU, covering every season of Criminal Minds. Instead of posting them as random collections, I thought I'd arrange them in chapter formats, by character.
GARCIA
"Damn it!" Garcia swore.
It was bad enough having sore feet from the world's most fabulous pair of heels. It was worse to take them off, and be impaled by a random piece of something and then be stuck trying to staunch the blood flowing from the sole of her foot.
This was especially irritating since she had no idea what could have been on her floor that was sharp enough to injure her. And, obviously, she was supposed to be working a case, not doctoring herself.
Quickly, she grabbed some more tissues, wadded them up and haphazardly wrapped the only thing she had copious amounts of - masking tape - around her foot. Because she was nervous about what other dangers might be lurking, she propped both feet on a nearby chair.
"What happened to you?" JJ asked, coming in with lunch and coffee.
"Don't ask," Garcia insisted, not cracking a smile. "And don't take off your shoes."
"I...wasn't planning on it. You want me to fix this for you?" JJ asked, gesturing to Garcia's crudely wrapped foot.
Garcia's expression moved slowly from a frown to a grateful smile. "You wouldn't mind?"
"Of course not."
And with that, JJ was on her knees on the dungeon floor unwrapping, inspecting, and medicating. Garcia kept herself busy, running searches and taking calls.
Before she knew it, JJ was leaving again. This time, she came back with a broom she found who-knew-where. She swept the entire room. Scooted Garcia's rolling chair aside, swept under the desk and amassed a pile Garcia didn't think was possible.
"There. Feel better?" JJ asked, taking the seat previously occupied by Garcia's feet.
"Much."
--
Garcia can't remember the last time she truly let loose. Usually, she just watches Derek bust a move, but not tonight. Tonight, she gets her ass out onto that floor and shakes it. She feels the music. She lets it pulse through her. Dancing alone, she is never self-conscious.
She isn't surprised when Derek grabs her and spins her around.
"Fancy meeting you here," she smiles.
"Didn't know you were such a mover," he tells her, breathless.
"Of course. Always. Took dance forever, growing up..." she manages, moving to the music.
"Really?" he cocks his head, like he's seeing her for the first time.
She smiles.
"There's a lot you don't know about me."
"Ain't it the truth?" he responds and spins her again.
--
Garcia knows when Prentiss finds the guy in the bar that she and JJ will play along. It would be so wrong to let an opportunity like this go to waste.
It just gets better when he's there in the flesh and Emily introduces him as a "real FBI agent". She and JJ pretend to be uber impressed. She asks what it's like at Quantico, but mispronounces it on purpose. The joke will be on this dude and it'll be a damn good one if they can keep a straight face.
When Emily asks to see his badge, Garcia almost loses it. How did she luck out with such brilliant friends?
In the end, they show their badges and the guy slinks away.
Then, of course, JJ's phone rings and their fun is cut short.
On the way out, Garcia looks at the sky full of stars and is grateful for the distraction.
"Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad," she whispers, and gets in her car to drive.
--
Garcia has always hated pop quizzes, and it's pretty impossible not to feel that same dread when she answers the phone the way she usually does and does not hear a voice she is expecting. She closes her eyes, praying that there is some way this can be fixed.
The voices echo in her head. Hers first:
"Talk dirty to me."
And then...
"This is Section Chief Erin Strauss..."
It gives Garcia the creeps even thinking about it. She tries to apologize profusely but nothing works.
After the call, Garcia imagines Strauss opening up an official looking black binder and putting a big zero next to Garcia's name. She vows to be more professional.
At least as long as Strauss is on the case.
--
Garcia is all about this new guy. At least until Morgan unknowingly crushes her with just a few words.
When she gets herself together, she calls him. She'll show Derek exactly how wrong he is about this guy.
James is awesome. Handsome. Charming. He takes her to some swanky out-of-the-way place. They chat. Drink wine.
The night goes fabulously well.
He leans in for a kiss and at the last minute, turns away.
She thinks he's just nervous, but the idea that she can make a guy nervous is kind of titillating. She is already planning Date Number Two and all the ways she will rub this in Derek's face when she hears her amazing date talking to her.
"Hey, Garcia?"
Her heart melts a little.
"I've been thinking about doing this all night."
He pulls out a gun, and before she can react, he pulls the trigger.
--
Garcia is alive. That's all she can think as she slowly blinks her way to consciousness.
It hurts to think. It hurts to breathe. It hurts to be. But she is alive. And that's more than she thought she would have, after... After a bullet tore through her body.
She remembers little. Or tells herself she does. In reality, she remembers shock more than pain. She remembers sitting, not falling, because she was so stunned and honestly didn't feel pain in that moment.
No, that's because the pain was saving itself up for this moment, to torment her. She closes her eyes, wishes it all would go away, but then she hears familiar voices. It is such a welcome sound that Garcia's throat closes with tears.
All this time, she had thought the last face she would see...the last voice she would hear...the last anything she would be around...would be him.
But it's not.
She forces a smile.
"Hey. No tears..." she says.
--
Garcia hates the idea of being alone. But the more she thinks about it the more positive she is that she is destined for a life of solitude. The only time she really had a great time on a date, it ended up that she was with a psycho the entire night. So, what did that say about her judgment?
But then she meets Kevin, and he’s like one of those rainbows that appear and end right in her yard or something. He is magic. He is genius. She doesn’t know what to make of him. But she is pretty sure she wants to spend a long time figuring it out.
She shakes his hand, and she wonders about her previous assertion that everything happens for a reason.
Did all that hell happen so that she could meet a real man?
But Garcia doesn’t waste time wondering. She introduces herself.
“Penelope.”
--
"What's the password?" Garcia asks as she hears the first knock on her door.
"What?"
"The password. You're not getting in without it," she insists. It's Rossi. He'll never guess. So she gets Reid to give him some help.
When he utters it, sounding mortified, Garcia cracks the door and offers him the next step.
"Three marshmallow Peeps."
"What the hell is a Peep?”
She shoves the pink and yellow marshmallows into his hand.
“What am I supposed to do with these?"
"Eat them or no access. No Lord of the Rings Festapalooza if you don't follow the requirements."
"Forget it. I don't want to watch anything this badly," Rossi scoffs lightly.
"Oh, come on!" Garcia sighs, determined to win him back. "I'll give you a senior discount! Two Peeps! You only have to eat two!"
"Good night, Garcia..."
"Well, I guess it's you and me," Reid says brightly, balancing a bowl of popcorn on his lap. "Now there's only one question left."
"With commentary or without?" they both ask simultaneously and break into laughter.
--
Garcia hates it when time slows down. And time always slows down when she is waiting for something.
In this case, it's something pretty important. JJ's back in labor and delivery. Maybe giving birth at this very moment, but more likely, she's screaming and in all kinds of agony.
Garcia tries to concentrate on what she brought with her. She's been doing her best to crochet an afghan for this little guy. It's blue and green and yellow and she has messed up on it more times than she can count. It doesn't help that Emily is making her nervous by pacing around, and constantly asking if anyone wants coffee.
Hotch is on the phone.
Garcia thinks of Reid. Sends him good thoughts.
She hopes that the next time they are all together, things look a whole lot brighter.
--
This feels like cheating on a test. But a big test, like the SATs or something.
Garcia is so not a fan of sifting through people's lives like this. It's not what she signed up to do. It's not in her job description, and yet, here she is, surrounded by files and a white board trying to quell her hunger with a banana and trying to find some connection between the residents of one small town.
It sucks.
Hotch doesn't seem to care how this will affect her. Right now, all that matters is the job. So, Garcia decides to be a woman, and get this over with.
Then, she finds something. Something so seriously disturbing that it pisses her off and she gets the team to let them know about it. When all she hears are excuses, Garcia won't stand for them. Excuses won't help the kid they're searching for. Excuses won't magically make the abuse he suffered right.
She talks back to the sheriff. She interrupts Hotch. She needs to get this out. Needs to tell them how wrong this is.
And then she realizes what she's done, and it's like someone has dumped a bucket of cold water over her head.
--
Garcia tries to collect herself. Tries so hard, but it's useless. Every time she closes her eyes, she hears those gunshots. She's never heard anyone die before. She's never been on the phone for a final conversation between someone desperate to get to a loved one before it was too late, and then listened...
She takes her headset off and tosses it. This job sucks sometimes. Seriously. Sucks. And it doesn't help that she's all alone in the darkest part of the building. God knows when the team is coming back. If Hotch will ever come back.
All at once, her heart squeezes in her chest. It's a painful feeling. One she hasn't experienced since the death of her own parents.
She thinks of Jack...and falls apart all over again.
--
Garcia is so not a fan of sitting down with bad guys to chat, but she can see right away that this kid isn't your run of the mill creep. He's just a seriously bummed out high school kid. She thinks, briefly, that Hotch is really good at his job. Because she does get him. She understands turning to an online world when you're lost in grief.
She understands doing things she will probably always regret but can't take back. She remembers trying to drown the pain at bars when she was still underage. Being arrested for egging the very house she grew up in. Her parents’ house. Because how dare they leave her?
She understands him.
So, Garcia sits down, and offers him what she can.
Friendship. A smile. And some words that might quell the sadness inside him.
--
Garcia always thinks of her dad when she eats watermelon. It’s a bittersweet experience, really, because who doesn’t like biting into a juicy slice and spitting seeds as far as they can go? But it sort of hurts, too, because she remembers who taught her to spit those seeds. She remembers warm summer days, and sweet juice running down her chin.
They kind of lost the step, in step-dad a long time ago. Because Garcia has no idea who her biological father is. This is who she’s got and she is grateful for it.
Today, when she teaches Henry to spit the seeds, she feels her dad looking on.
She hopes he is proud.
--
Garcia's in a good place mentally. And for the record? She's not a superstitious person.
But. When Kevin Lynch sees fit to open her pink polka-dotted umbrella inside the house, and then breaks a mirror in her bathroom unintentionally, she wonders if maybe she shouldn't take precautions. Like looking both ways for stray black cats before they cross into her path. Checking to make sure nothing is freaky about her car, or her room, or her office at work.
The heat was just out.
Maybe that was a sign.
Now, all of a sudden, Emily is gone, too.
Garcia is worried. And she has made up her mind to kill Kevin.