You Are My Sunshine (Marcus Pike)

Chapter 4

Unfortunately for Willow and Marcus, cases kept them pretty busy so they had to keep postponing their dinner.

They'd just wrapped a particular difficult case and everyone was packing up to go home.

Willow grabbed her bag and made her way to Marcus' office. "Knock knock," she said.

Marcus looked at her and smiled, making her heart flutter in her chest. "Hey."

"You know, we were supposed to have dinner and I was wondering if you weren't busy..." Willow bit her bottom lip, waiting for Marcus to say no.

"That sounds great. I can't look at this paperwork anymore."

Willow laughed. "Come on then."

Marcus grabbed his stuff and locked his office. They walked towards the elevator and Marcus pressed the button. After a few seconds, he pressed it again.

"Pressing it multiple times isn't going to make it go any faster," Willow teased, causing him to blush.

The elevator doors opened and there stood a familiar blonde with bright colored glasses.

"Sunshine!"

"Oh, hey Penelope."

Marcus and Willow entered the elevator.

"You must be Marcus. I'm Penelope Garcia, Technical Analyst for the Behavior Analysis Unit."

Penelope and Marcus shook hands.

"The team just got back, fyi," Penelope told Willow.

"Oh, could you tell Spence not to wait on me? Marcus and I are going to dinner."

"I'll take her home, afterward. Scouts honor," Marcus said.

"You really don't have to do that. I can catch a cab home or have Spencer come get me," Willow told him.

"Please. I want to."

Willow blushed. "Okay."

They made it down to the parking garage and Marcus started walking to his car, while the women said goodbye.

"Oh my god! You're going on a date with him!" Penelope squealed.

"It's not a date!" Willow insisted, "It's an apology dinner for him being such an asshole."

"Call me in the morning with the details!" Penelope hugged Willow and kissed her cheeks.

Willow made her way over to Marcus and he opened the passenger door for her.

"What?" he asked, seeing the shocked look on her face.

"What time period are you from?"

"It's proper for the guy to hold open the girl's door."

Willow got in the car and Marcus shut the door. He got in the driver's seat and turned on the car, soft classical music filling the car.

Willow laughed.

"Now what is it?" Marcus asked.

"Oh you and Spencer would get along perfectly. All he listens to is classical music."

"I don't just like classical music. I just prefer to listen to it on my way to work. Calms the mind."

Willow could hear her brother spouting off statistics in her mind. Perhaps she spent too much time with him. "So where exactly are we going?" Willow asked as he started to drive.

Marcus blushed. "I'm not quite sure, actually. I've been looking for a good diner. There's this place in Austin that has the best pancakes and I've yet to find someplace like that here."

"Oh! I know just the place." Willow gave him directions to a place she and Penelope liked to go after work sometimes.

They went in and the owner, John, looked up. "Oh, sapling! I've got your favorite booth open!"

"Thanks Johnny!" Willow dragged Marcus over to her usual spot.

"I take it you come here a lot?" Marcus asked.

"Penny and I love to come here. Spencer and I also meet here every Sunday morning when he's not out of town on a case."

Mary, an older waitress, came over. "What can I get you, Willow?"

"I'll have a decaf coffee."

Mary turned to Marcus. "And what about you, honey?"

"Just sweet tea."

Mary nodded and made a note on her pad. "Usual, I presume?"

Willow smiled. "Of course."

Marcus glanced over the menu and finally said, "Just whatever's good."

"That's like everything here!" Willow told him.

Marcus shrugged. "I'm feeling adventurous."

Mary wrote something down on her notepad and walked into the kitchen.

"I cannot believe you ordered a sweet tea! You are such a Southern boy!" Willow said.

"How do you know that?"

Willow blushed. "Penelope may or may not have compiled a file with your information."

"She what!"

"I told her not to! I swear. She was just worried about who was going to be my boss!"

"Well it seems you know everything about me, so tell me about yourself."

"Why do I feel like I'm interviewing again?"

This time Marcus blushed. "I didn't...I..."

"Marcus, calm down. I'm just teasing."

Mary set their drinks on the table.

"There was something in your file I was wondering about...you had a fiancé at one time?" Willow asked.

Marcus was quiet and played with his straw. "I'm sorry. If you don't want to say anything..."

"No. No, it's fine. Um, we worked together on a case and I kinda fell hard. I asked her to move here with me and when she said yes, I asked her to marry me. She dumped me over the phone for another man she worked with. I rushed into things and it ended badly, just like my first marriage."

Willow felt her heart break for Marcus. He didn't deserve all the things that happened to him.

"While we're sharing tragic backstories...my brother had our mother committed when he was 18. She has schizophrenia. He also had to watch the love of his life die in front of him."

"Do you do that often?"

"Do I do what?"

"Bring up your brother instead of talking about yourself?"

Willow felt like she was being profiled, but she knew Marcus didn't mean anything by his observation. "I guess...I've always felt like Spencer and I are a package deal. We're only two years apart, so wherever he goes, I go."

Willow often felt inferior to her brother and people were constantly comparing the two, even if they didn't mean it maliciously. The BAU even did it from time to time. But sometimes Willow wanted to remind them that she was her own person. She had her own autonomy.

Thankfully their food came and saved them from the depressing conversation.