Author: AbbyGibbs (AbbyGibbsMorgan)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds doesn't belong to me, sadly enough. No it belong to Jeff Davis who created the show and the team of writers and producers and all the people who makes of the show what it is today… No copyright infringement intended.

Rating: T

Category: Romance, friendship, hurt/comfort.

Pairing: Morgan/Garcia

Spoilers: "Safe Haven"

Summary: Morgan has given Hayley her life back, but how does he deal with it? He seems to be okay. But is it really the case or is he hiding something?

A/N: I know, I know I still have stories in progress and I'm sorry for that, but to be honest I came really close to stop writing 'cause some reviewer really hurt me, though I'm not sure he or she realized it. Anyway it took me more than one day and my friends to help me recovering from it and some more to convince not to quit, but I think my love of writing is the strongest.

This one came to me this morning as I was watching Criminal Minds. I guess my mind, couldn't resist the sight of Morgan interacting with kids. I hope you'll enjoy the story a little bit and let me know if you did so.

For the story let's pretend Lynch has never existed.

Thanks to my wonderful beta as always.

Feedbacks: well, I'd love them, of course – who wouldn't? But please, only if you respect my work because it takes a lot of time and energy to get a story together. I love writing; I wouldn't allow anyone to discourage me from doing so, never. I don't have any problems at all with readers who choose not to go for this, but I decidedly do with those who write disrespectful mails just because they didn't get the ending they would have wanted. If you want to tell me what I might have done better within the story I made up, you're always very welcome to let me know. But if your only concern is to rant about it, then please, do it in private, okay? Thank you.

My favorite welcome home

"Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children." - Rosaleen Dickson

Derek Morgan felt a little strange as he put the key in the locker of his front door. As soon as the door opened Clooney came to met him for some caresses. Derek patted the dog moving toward his living room where he threw his keys on the table. He sighed.

Ellie was finally safe. She was reunited with her biological mother, and he was sure that's where the 9 year old girl belonged; Hotch had been right.

Derek had managed to do something good. After Jeremy Sayer... That kid was really sick. Being curious was natural, but killing people like he had done wasn't. And Morgan would make sure the kid never ever come in contact with his sister and mother again. Life could be so strange sometimes; Ellie's mom had left her, and because she was sure her husband was right that their daughter would be better without her, Ellie's mom had acted for what she thought was the best for her child. For Jeremy, his mother had left him to protect his sister and herself because she knew something was wrong with him.

Kendra Sayer had left her son for her and her daughter's own safety. Morgan couldn't start to imagine was Kendra must have felt when she discovered what her son had done.

He guessed that she must have felt like parents' who decide to have a baby to be able to save their first child from a certain death because of a disease. Something like that he could understand somehow, but not when things turned out badly like it could sometimes happen; once the life of the first child was saved they didn't care about the baby anymore.

All that made Derek realize once more how difficult and dark his job could be. His thoughts drifted toward Ellie again. He hoped that she would have a happy future; she deserved all the happiness in the world.

He made a mental note to call her once in a while to see how she was doing.

It had felt great to take care of her, even if he hadn't seen her much. He had had to leave her in Garcia's care, but he had called to check and see if she had been okay.

When Penelope had told him that the foster family she had been placed in hadn't even realized Ellie was missing, his blood had boiled in his veins. He so wanted to go see that family and give them a piece of his mind. How could they?

The case made him think of Tyler who was staying with that horrible woman Mrs. Manwaring; the woman reminded him of the witch who wanted to eat Hansel and Gretel after Emily had told him that her foster mother kept the key of the padlock she had placed on the fridge. She and her husband played the perfect family to get money. Something Derek hated. Children are not animals or circus attractions that you can dispose of whenever you want.

Morgan took a beer out of the fridge, took the top off of it and then brought the bottle to his lips. He was about to go take a sit in his couch when his cell-phone started to play "She's on fire" by Craig David, which meant that his baby girl was calling him.

Picking up his phone his set himself comfortably in his couch, Clooney jumping next to him, the dog came to lie close to him and laid its head on his thigh. Something the dog often did when sensing that Morgan wasn't feeling that good.

"Hey, baby girl." Morgan greeted her in a tired voice.

"How you doing, sugar?"

"I'm fine, baby."

"How is it then I don't believe you, sweet chocolate pie of mine?"

"I'm fine; I promise it's just that I..." He trailed off.

"It's just that seeing Ellie again make you think about how you love kids and maybe just maybe the idea of just stick to practicing isn't enough anymore - like you want that practicing actually to become something, but on the other hand you have a kid like isn't it?"

"How come you know me so well princess?" He asked her softly before taking another sip of his beer.

"Well, I am as you know your best friend and I know everything there is to know about you." She told him, laughingly.

Derek was about to retort something when he heard a knock on his front door. Clooney's head raised up, but he didn't bark, instead he started making some funny noises, and his tail was wiggling pretty hard.

Morgan frowned; Clooney's reaction was to bark when he heard a knock on the door, but nothing. The only few times he didn't react was when it was someone he knew really well.

"Baby, hold on a minute, there is some at the door."

"No problem, handsome."

Clooney moved so Morgan could stand and walk toward the door. As he opened the door a look of surprise painted itself over his face. Stunned to see who was standing in front of him, slowly the astonishment disappeared to be replaced by a smile.

"Now that explains why this boy here didn't react."

A questioning gaze met him at first but then she smiled and he ended the phone call, as did she.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." He told her taking a step to the side so she could enter. And so she did.

She padded the dog's head before moving to the living room. "Can I have a beer?" She asked looking at him over her shoulder.

"As if you had to ask, you know where they are..." He retorted her, smiling.

Garcia smiled back at him as she went toward the fridge to take herself a bottle, while Morgan found his way back to the couch. A few instants later Penelope was sitting next to her best friend.

"Ellie will be happy now, sugar, I'm sure." She said after taking a sip of her beer.

"I know. It's just making me a little sad to think I won't see her anymore."

"You sure about that?" She asks shifting a body slightly to face him.

"Well, she has her mother now, and well... she will have kids stuff to do, finally, and don't think she'll have time to think me anymore."

"Cupcake, Ellie is a smart little girl who had to grow really fast because of dramatic events that happen in her life, just like you. And yes, she's gonna finally have time to do kids stuff, and she will have to know her mom better so she's gonna be very busy, but I'm certain that will never forget you. You gave her some kind of a life back."

"How can you say that, I couldn't prevent Flynn from killing her father or her sister's death, and couldn't even stop Billy Flynn from kidnapping her..." He said in a tone full of anger.

"Matt Spicer got himself killed because he didn't listen to you, Derek. All he saw was his daughter being in danger and all he could think about was to save her, and to him it meant do what Billy Flynn asked him to do because I guess in his mind your way of handling it was wrong. And Flynn was a sick man. We all make choices Derek, good ones and bad ones, what appears to be the right choice, and one particular moment, might turned out to be the wrong one later on. We can't chance that, we have to accept that, and try to find the best out of the worst each time. Lots of events or happenings in life are unfair but remember what I always say: everything happens for a reason."

Derek looked at her for a second, letting her words sink in. "You mean, Matt Spicer had to die for Ellie to find her mom back?"

"I wouldn't have said it in those words, but the positive thing in all this is that she's been reunited with her mom, and she knows now that there are still good people in the world. Ellie's able to smile again thanks to you sugar. When a baby is born you never know what it will become, if he or she will take the right path or not, all you can do as a parent is give them all the love you're capable of, and tell them how much we love them and sometimes it's not enough and they'll chose the dark part of life, but they're still our children no matter what. We can hope and pray they have all the best life has to offer. Little Ellie has seen both sides with Flynn and you, but something tells me that everything's gonna turn out good for her."

A small smile found its way to the corners of his lips. "You are amazing, Penelope Garcia. Do you know that?"

"Yeah, I've been told that once or twice." She answered a little cockily.

Her cockiness made Morgan laugh. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks, baby girl."

"Anytime, my chocolate chip, anytime."

She slipped her arm around him then and hugged him tightly. Morgan hugged her back easily. After a few moments she pulled back a little, smiling at him brightly before leaning in to mimic his earlier gesture, she kissed his cheek. Then she pulled back her head again looking at him intently. His eyes were telling her so much...

And suddenly she saw differently, Derek was her best friend, but there were other things she was feeling for him, she had always had those special feelings for him, but had always managed to bury them deep inside of her, somewhere Penelope knew no one would see or find them, but on this very moment she couldn't hide them anymore. Had it been seeing him with Ellie? Was it the Sayer kid or something else? She had no idea. What she knew for certain, though, was that what she felt for her best friend had been freed and there was no way those feelings would ever get locked up again.

Her eyes shifted to his lips then she looked at him again leaning in closer, now mere inches from each other's lips, she was still looking at him to see what his reaction would be. Derek didn't pulled back so Penelope leaned just a tiny little more and pressed her lips against his.

His lips were so soft, just like she had always imagined. She pulled back after a moment waiting for him to say something but he didn't; all Morgan did was smile at her.

Garcia frowned.

"What?"

"Do you have any idea how many times I dreamed for you to do what you just did?"

At his words, Penelope beamed.

"As long as I have been dreaming to do it, I hope." She answered him.

"Could you do it again?"

Garcia's face became serious again as she leaned toward him and kissed him again, this time, he immediately responded, and the kiss deepened rather rapidly, exploring each other's mouth, their tongues dance sensually together and accessing places that were off limits to anyone else but a lover.

They pulled from the kiss as oxygen became a necessity to continue to live.

Both breathing heavily they smiled at one another. Morgan managed to set his beer bottle on the table next to the solitary one of Penelope.

Focusing on her again, he told her when his breathing allowed him to.

"You've always been my favorite welcome home, baby."

"I'm only at ease when you come see me after you come home from a case."

"I love you, silly girl."

"I love you too, silly boy."

They smiled and kissed again. Morgan leaned back against the backrest of the couch, pulling Garcia with him.

Everyone needs a constant and Garcia was his. No matter how horrible the night might be outside, he knew that Penelope Garcia wouldn't change, that whenever he would come home she would be there with wonderful eyes, her gorgeous body and her positive thoughts.

Garcia was and would always be his save haven, his favorite welcome home.

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." - Ronald Reagan

THE END

Thanks for reading and I hope you like it.