Title: Okay
By: patch-tank
Pairing: Morgan/Garcia
Rating: PG
Summary: Garcia is okay. . . most of the time.
Disclaimer: Look, if I owned Criminal Minds and it's characters, do you really think we'd only see them once a week? And for only an hour, with commercial interruptions? Hell no. If I owned CM, Derek Morgan would never be allowed to wear clothes, and he'd live in my bed. Garcia would be allowed to wear clothes, but they'd be all, you know, wet and clinging to her curves (damn scoob2222 and that porn battle, that image takes over my mind at the most innappropriate moments! *blushes*). Reid would be given a very strict week-long coffee ban, and a good meal, because that boy is too damn skinny. Rossi wouldn't wear mysterious jewellery or shoot birds. And JJ and Emily would spend all their free time making out in front of Hotch just so we could see his reaction. See? I've got it all figured out. But unless any of that actually happens? They're not mine. Long story short: Don't sue Patch.
Archive: If ya wanna. But holla at me, dawg (/Randy Jackson).
Feedback: *Wide-eyed, Puss-In-Boots from Shrek expression* Please?
Warnings: Lucky/Penelope spoilers. Lots of fluff, not a lot of plot. What can I say, I was tired, grumpy, and in need of cuddles. In the absence of any being available, I wrote them into my fic.
Author Notes: Gah. I have so may other stories I should be writing. Sequels to fics I've already published. Drafts of stories that have been in the works for a year or more. Fics for two incomplete, and long overdue tables. Lost luau fics I promised to people months ago. Lost hiatus challenge fics that aren't happening, despite all the awesome prompts. And yet still, I write random gen fluff with Morgan and Garcia *shakes head in bewilderment*. Cross-posted everywhere.

***

Derek smiled as he watched Garcia.  Dressed as impeccably and zanily as always, today she wore a grey skirt with a red, yellow and blue patch shaped like a hot-air balloon, a pale green shirt with flared, Asian-style sleeves, and large, fake purple orchids in her hair.  She wandered in to the break room, a sheaf of papers in one hand, a coffee mug featuring an angry-looking cartoon cat and a caption saying "Go ahead, hassle me!  I thrive on stress!" in the other, and a slightly distracted look on her face.

"Hey pretty girl," he said.  "Taking a caffiene break?"

Garcia blinked and turned to face him, startled out of her thoughts.  "Oh, um, yeah.  I 'm kind of busy, after being gone for so long, but I'm catching up."  She grinned and held the papers up.

"You look a little pre-occupied - you okay?" he asked, leaning against the edge of the counter.

Garcia smiled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly.  "Yes, my fearless protector, I'm fine," she teased, pouring herself some coffee.  "I just have a backlog of stuff to get through, and I'll feel better when it's done."

"Alright.  I don't want you working too hard though," he said, passing her the sugar sachets and watching her empty three into her cup.  "You just got back.  I can talk to Hotch if you're feeling too overloaded -"

"Derek," Garcia said, putting a hand on his arm.  "I'm okay.  Just like I was okay yesterday when you asked me.  And when you called last night.  And when you emailed me this morning. . . " she trailed off, her eyes twinkling behind her red-framed glasses.

Derek chuckled.  "I'm being too over-protective, huh?"

Garcia smiled and stroked his cheek gently, standing on tiptoe to kiss the other.  "Just a little.  But I love you for it," she said.

Derek rubbed her shoulder briefly, then reached for a fresh bag of coffee.  He was silent for a moment as he busied himself with the percolator, trying to find the words to explain his actions over the past few days.

"I know you're okay," he began quietly.  "In fact, the second you came back to work, I knew you'd be fine, and you wouldn't need me."  He added more water to the machine and waited for it to heat up.  "It's just. . . we came so close to losing you.  It's hard for me to forget that.  So for me to be okay, I need to know that you're okay.  You know what I mean?"

Garcia stepped toward Derek and took both his hands in hers.  "Oh, my angel," she murmured, squeezing his hands and bringing one up to her lips to kiss.  "Don't ever, ever think I won't need you, okay?" she asked, fixing her eyes on his.  "Because there's no way I could have gotten through any of this without you."

Derek returned the squeeze.  "Oh, come on.  You would have been fine.  I know you, you're strong.  I'm the one being a wimp here," he joked.

Garcia's red, glossy lips curved into a smile.  "You're not a wimp, you're looking out for me, which I totally appreciate.  Besides," she said, shrugging one shoulder, "I may be strong, but I'm not immune."

"What do you mean?" Derek asked, trying to keep the concern out of his voice.

Garcia released his hands and moved to stand beside him, looking out at the break room.  "Well. . . I'm okay most of the time, but. . . I still get a little nervous if I'm alone at night.  And," she admitted ruefully, "I still get the occasional bad dream.  I had one last night, in fact."

"But I thought Kevin -"

"Kevin's sweet, but we're still getting to know each other."  Garcia turned back to Derek and wrapped her arms around him.  "He can't hold me like you can," she said softly, her head resting on his chest.  Derek hugged her gently and stroked her hair, taking care not to displace the orchids.  "He can't know what's wrong without me having to say it," she continued, "or make me feel safe just by being there."  Garcia's arms tightened around him as he rubbed her back.  "And although I know he wants to, he can't take my nightmares away."  She lifted her head and pulled away slightly so that Derek could see her face.  "Like I said, I'm fine most of the time.  But there are still some nights when I really need you to be with me."

Derek pulled her back to him, breathing in the faint heliotrope scent of her perfume, feeling the warmth of her body close against his.  "Oh, baby girl," he whispered.  "I'll be there anytime you need me.  Anytime.  You just call me, okay?"  He pressed a soft kiss on her forehead and rocked her gently.  Garcia nodded and relaxed against him, allowing herself to be held.

"Okay."

****