One Temptation | Penelope Garcia

.viii

❝Most adult children of toxic parents grow up feeling tremendous confusion about what love means and how it's supposed to feel.❞

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You felt a hand touch yours. You immediately flinch but relax when you realize whose hand it is. Penelope looks at you with such love and care. "Relax, sugar, it's me." She whispers so calmly. "How are you doing with the whole Nia situation?"

You look at her, "Better." Her hand is still touching yours. "I have to go to her house after work. I left a few things of mine there that she wants me to pick up." You smile and she nods then smirks. She's got this sneaky idea and you're gonna shut it down quick. "No, you can't go with me."

She sighs and turns away. She's acting like a child to get you to take her. You won't give up that easily. You're tough to break. She even turns around and looks at you with puppy eyes. You simply respond back with a 'no'.

"Garcia," Hotch calls out.

"Yes, sir." She sits up straight and fixes her glasses, "I went through vicap. There are literally thousands of open missing women cases across the country." She tells the group. You notice a piece of her hair that's on the side of her face.

You smile to yourself before taking it and placing it behind her ear. She turns to you and looks at you for a brief second. That brief second felt like a lifetime. The way you both just stared into each other's eyes like there's nothing else in the world to worry about.

Like no one else in the world existed but you two at this very moment. It reminded you of the kiss you dreamt of. How it felt or how you imagined it felt. You knew that one day you would kiss her exactly how you dream of. And it will feel magical for both of you.

You smile and she reflects it, "It's not the entire country, though." You finally pull away from her and look at the group, "Kaylee was abducted at 9:30 this morning. He had time to take them somewhere, hide them, and make it to Fredericksburg 2 hours later." You say.

Emily looks over at you, "So he'd need a place with a lot of privacy to hide 5 victims. Maybe a house." She comments.

"He's local," Rossi adds.

Reid walks up to the table, "He was late for the presentation." You look at him confused, "I watched the video footage from the cameras. You know, it was more like 2.5 hours after the abduction. He got there somewhere around noon, which puts him somewhere in that radius."

"Garcia, work up a map," Hotch speaks up and walks over to the two of you. "We need the farthest point. He could have taken Kaylee from Loretto. And still, get to Fredericksburg by noon." He orders.

Penelope nods and stands up with her belongings. "Shouldn't be too hard."

As soon as Penelope walked out of the room your phone started to ring. The entire group looked at you. "Sorry." You take a stand and walk out of the group to answer the call. "Hello?" you say.

"Y/N." You recognized the voice immediately but there was something off about her.

"Nia." You say and you catch Penelope's attention. She had stopped when you walked out. She might've thought you needed to talk to her. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Y/N...." Her voice shook while talking. "Your—your dad is here."

Your face seemed to describe someone who just saw a ghost. Penelope noticed this within an instance. She quickly came to your recuse. She took your shaking hand into hers. "Y/N, what's wrong? What's going on, sugar?" She asks repeatedly.

"He's... he's—he's there?" You come back to your senses and immediately get protective over Nia. No matter what she had done to you, you loved her once and that love will always be there. "Nia, what does he want?" She doesn't speak. "Listen to me very carefully. I have a gun hidden in the cabinet near the door. Get it. It's fully loaded. Aim it at him and keep him at least 10 ft away from you, do you hear me?"

The entire group had heard you by now and walked near you. "I'm on the way." You say before hanging up. Without a second thought, you let go of Penelope's hand and try to walk. But of course, Derek and Emily quickly stand before you. "I don't have time for this—"

"Are you fucking insane?" Derek exclaims.

You look up then back at them. "Y/N, you know what your parents did to you. We're not letting you go." Emily adds on.

You walk up to both of them, "I didn't ask for permission." They both give you a worried look, "Now move."

"Y/N, you're not going alone," Hotch speaks up. You turn back at him. "Emily, Reid, Rossi, and JJ can stay here and deal with the case. Morgan and I will come with you." He tells you with his arms crossed as usual.

Penelope takes your hand and begins to pull you away from the group. "Let me talk to Y/N for a second." She tells them while still walking you away. She continues to walk you all the way to the hallway. Penelope stops and stands in front of you. "Are you crazy? Like do you hear yourself right now? Do you know what the heck you're doing right now?" She exclaims at you.

I look down while she continues. "I do. I do know what I'm doing, Penelope." You look up at her. "They did all that to me—and he's there with Nia! I can't—I can't let anything happen to her." You simply tell her before turning around to look through the glass doors. You give Morgan and Hotch a sign to let them know you're leaving with them or not. You turn back to Penelope. "I'm not alone this time."

Penelope quickly walks up to you. "You don't know that!" You give her a confused look. "What if they kidnap all three of you?? I can't lose you and Morgan. It was hell and I could barely do it with you being kidnapped." She takes a deep breath. "So,  please, don't go."

You hated going towards her opinions. But after what your parents did to you, you promised yourself you wouldn't let Nia or anyone who you love go through that.

You never broke your promises. So you sure as hell won't break this one.

You look at Penelope then at the two men walking towards the both of you. "I can't. I have to go. I'm sorry, Penelope." You tell her and as soon as you finish your statement, the elevator doors open. The three of you walk into the elevator.

"We'll be fine. Nothing is gonna happen to us." You tell her before the doors close.