His mind had already decided that nothing was real and that everything he had been told were lies. So when he stood in the cold room, staring at the body on the table, it took a moment for his mind to register what he was seeing. It then took several more moments for his mind to comply with his feet, to allow him to move. He stood beside the table with his eyes closed, trying to force back the tears, hurt, and rage. He opened his eyes and reached out, when his hand touched the cold, hardened flesh of her arm he crumbled a bit, and a mournful moan escaped his lips.
“Oh baby girl,” He cried as he lifted his hand from her arm to stroke her blonde locks, which were still soft to the touch. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He continued to cry as he fell to his knees and buried his face against the sheet covering her midsection.
Hotchner entered the cold room and found two bodies, one lying in a prone position atop the examining table and another asleep in a chair in a far corner of the room. He hated to awaken the sleeping man, because he knew that he was probably exhausted from all his grief. They all were grieving this tragic loss, but none as much a Morgan. He knew that Morgan and Garcia had been very close, but they had a job to do. There were other people whose lives were at stake.
“Morgan,” He called out as he shook the sleeping man, who jumped up startled.
“What happened?” Morgan spoke out as he bolted upright in his seat. “Hotch?” He said as his eyes focused.
“We missed you in the morning meeting, did you sleep here all night?” Hotchner asked as he stared down at the man in concern.
“Uh…yeah,” Morgan answered as he stretched a bit and then looked to where the body still lied. “I…I just couldn’t leave her in here all alone.”
“So you risk your health. This is a big freezer Morgan, you could have gotten hypothermia or frostbite.”
“When I got cold I went out and warmed up in the corridor.” Morgan defended and then hastily changed the subject. “Are there any new leads?”
“No, we have three computer techs working on tracking all computer and cell phone activity of the other missing hackers.”
“Three and it’s taking this long? Hell Garcia…” Morgan quickly ended his statement as his eyes once again settled onto the body on the table.
“Yeah she was one of a kind,” Hotchner said as he placed a supportive hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “Morgan, if you need time,”
“No! I don’t want to be taken off this case Hotch.” Morgan said with a hint of panic in his voice.
“I know you don’t, and we need you if we’re going to solve this and hopefully save the other missing hackers, but I need you focused.”
“This case will have my undivided attention Hotch, there should be no doubt about that.” Morgan replied slightly angry. Hotchner nodded his head.
“Then let’s get to work.”
“We just got another hit,” Mr. Wilcox said as he rushed into the conference room and turned the laptop Reid had before him, and began typing on it. Within a few seconds the screen before them became covered with numbers, ones and zeros.
“Another hack job?” Prentiss asked.
“Yes, this time it was an attack on one of the weapons program the defense department has been working on. Someone hack into the controls and tried to deploy the weapon.” Wilcox continued. “Luckily there were recent upgrades to counter act such an attack.”
“Were they able to get a trace on where the attackers are?” Hotchner asked.
“They were able to capture a transmission omitted during the attack, which they’re working to decipher, our own hackers say it could take a few hours.”
“So we’re just gonna sit around a wait?” Morgan asked, as his skin itched to do something.
“I don’t see any other alternative.” Hotchner replied and then turned to J.J. “Were you able to contact Garcia’s next of kin? So they can get Garcia’s affairs in order.”
“That would be me.” Morgan answered and all eye turned to him. “A couple of years back Pen asked me if I would be the executor of her will, since she’s not close with her brothers, and both of her parents are dead. I agreed, honestly in our line of work, being out there in the field, I never thought I’d out live her. Since we have some time I’d like to go to her place, start making some arrangements.” Hotchner only nodded in agreement.
“Want some company?” J.J. offered.
“No,” Morgan responded quickly. “Thanks, but I can do it on my own.” He said and then stood and walked out of the conference room.
“I’ll go,” Reid offered and Hotchner nodded, and Reid hurried out after Morgan.
“Hey someone called for BAU to come down?” J.J. asked as she entered the morgue.
“Yes, but I asked for Agent Morgan, he had insisted that we get these belongings to him, once they’d been processed.” The female coroner stated as she held out a plastic bag, which J.J. could see, contain Garcia’s clothes and jewelry.
“Ah, I can get those to Agent Morgan. He’s away right now trying to settle some of Penelope’s affairs.” J.J. replied.
“I told you, you didn’t have to tag along Reid, I can take care of this myself.” Morgan stated as he and Reid stood in the doorway of the darkened apartment.
“I know but you don’t have to do it alone. Garcia was my friend too,” Morgan cut him a heated look and Reid hurriedly continued. “I know that you were closer to her than I was, but I still cared about her, and I want to get these guys just as much as you do.” Reid said and then turned on the light, illuminating the bright room, which was full of vibrant colors, and corky items many of which looked like 1970’s throwbacks. Morgan couldn’t help but smile as he looked around the studio apartment. “Babygirl,” He whispered as he moved further into the room, touching different items. Everywhere he looked Morgan saw Garcia, and his smile crumbled because it brought the reality that she was really gone.
“I am really sorry for your loss. I especially feel sorry for Agent Morgan, he seemed devastated.”
“Yes, he and Penelope were very close,”
“And what about you, had you known her long?” The Coroner asked.
“A few years,”
“SO, you knew her before all the surgery?” The Coroner questioned as J.J. simply stared at her with a look of confusion. “I’m sorry I’m being nosy. I was just curious as to what she looked like before.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well she’s had plastic surgery, extensive surgery.” The Coroner spoke as she moved closer to the table where the body still laid. “Some of the scars are still healing see,” She pushed back the hair around the left ear and then flipped over the left ear. “See here, the scar starts here and runs along the top here, across the head, but that’s mostly hidden by the hair, but if you look closely you can still see it. The procedure is quite common for someone who’s had some reconstructive surgery.”
“How recent would you say this was done?” J.J. asked as she stared at the scarring in disbelief.
“I’d say 3 maybe 4 months, definitely no more than 6 months ago.” The Coroner replied.
“Thank you, keep this body here and don’t let anyone touch it until I get back.” J.J. said as she pulled out her cell phone and rushed from the room.
“Reid speaking,”
“Reid, hey it’s J.J., where you?”
“Uhm I’m still with Morgan at Garcia’s place, packing up her things.”
“Well I need you back here ASAP, I just got some new information and I need you to help me verify it.”
“Ok I’ll just get Morgan and…”
“No, just you. I don’t want Morgan to know about this until we know for sure.”
“Ok, but why?”
“Because it’s about Garcia. Reid there’s a chance she may not be dead.”
“Wha…wha…what?” Reid stuttered shocked by what he was hearing.
“Look just get here as soon as you can and I’ll explain everything.” With that J.J. hung up the phone.
“What’s wrong?” Morgan’s voice pulled Reid back to their present surroundings.
“Uhm, I don’t know. I have to go. Sorry, I’ll try to hurry back.” Reid spoke as he moved to the door.
“Don’t worry about it. I already told you I could take care of this. Go handle your business.” Reid nodded and then left the apartment, leaving Morgan alone with his memories and the essences of Garcia everywhere.