Title: Embers and Ashes
By: BuffyAngel68
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG
Note: I wrote this not long after the relevant epi., and have been holding it back trying to turn it into more than it is. I finally gave in to the muse, who kept insisting it was meant to be a drabble. Hope you enjoy...
Summary: Back from Chicago, Morgan needs a friend, even if he doesn't want one.

***

On his very public flight back to Virginia, Derek had to fight every moment to keep his volatile emotions under wraps. The team, needing to get back for work, had flown out before the funeral, so he was forced to use his original return ticket home, desperately wishing for the privacy their own plane would have afforded him. Every exchange with a stewardess required a moment or two of hesitation to be absolutely sure he would not snap or over-react to an ordinary, reasonable request or comment. Every instance of irritating or annoying behavior by other passengers required clamping his lips together and sinking deeper into the music his personal player was pouring into his ears. For the first time in years, however, the intricacies and complexity of his favorite instrumentals wasn't soothing or calming him, so by the time the plane landed, Derek was teetering on the edge of losing control. The face he found waiting for him when he stepped into the airport proper didn't help in the least. He paused briefly then shook his head and started to walk straight past her, but she grabbed his arm.

"Forget it, buddy."

"Let go, Garcia."

"Best joke you ever told." She replied, not a trace of humor in her expression.

"Look... I love you to hell an' back, baby girl, you know that... but you have no clue where my head is at right now. I'd never hurt you... but you need to let go, damn it."

"It's not your head I'm worried about."

"Pen... please, I'm beggin' you, don't do this. Back off an' let me handle this my own way."

"Your way is to ignore how much pain you're in and just keep going. Out of the question this time."

"Garcia..."

"No. When I screwed up so badly a few months ago and I was sure everything I'd worked for had gone up in smoke... you pulled me back from the edge. It's my turn, sweetie."

"I can't. You don't know..."

"Of course I do."

Derek suddenly shot her a sharp, angry glare.

"What'd they tell you?"

"Nothing. They didn't have to. J.J. made me dig into your past... and since then, what I've learned about James and how special he was to Buford... the work we do, you have to be able to see patterns and understand what they mean."

"Fantastic... so the whole world knows about what that son of a bitch did to me..." Derek growled, finally pulling away from Garcia's hold. When he looked into her face a moment later, the shock and hurt he found there began to draw his thoughts away from his troubles at last. "Hell, I didn't mean... I wasn't sayin' you would've just blurted it out... I know you better than that."

"I hope so. You also know how much I care about you."

"Yeah... It's... God, I'm just so tired right now..." he admitted quietly, rubbing at his eyes. Garcia reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Then let's get you home."

"Yours or mine?"

"Aren't they one and the same?" she chuckled close to his ear.

"Sometimes... make it yours okay? Too many memories at my place... things that'll make me think about the past. I need to not do that right now..."

"Sure." She agreed, releasing him and firmly grasping the hand that wasn't occupied with his carry-on bag. "I'll get you settled in the guest room then I'll feed you within an inch of your life."

"That sounds good..."

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END