#duogenius

@duogeniusAsk the Mun about the muse

The phone is a police issue one that she managed to get after they’d released her. The unsub had kept her hostage for well over a year and done things she refuses to speak of; but Penelope Garcia is free now and they’re in custody. Her disappointment that the BAU weren’t there makes her worry they’ve given up on her, but the officer assures her otherwise and gives her Spencer’s number.

When it goes to voicemail, she leaves three simple, shaky words.

When the phone rings again, she lifts it with a trembling hand and answers, bringing the device to her ear. God, this thing is old-fashioned.

There’s a hand rubbing his back. There’s someone TOUCHING him and it jolts him out of the zoned-out trance he’s been in while reading his book. He’d almost ran out on this case and if it hadn’t been for Blake, he’d have been on an earlier plane.

The way this unsub had taunted him about Maeve had been too much, but it had also been their undoing. All he has to do now is deal with the aftermath of such strong reminders of the love he’d lost - flashbacks, memories so vivid he feels like he’s back in the room - and all he wants to do is push them aside and bury himself in a book. The hand on his back is stopping him from doing that though; it’s making him tense up.  He tries focusing on the book again, but  the touch lingers so he gives up and looks for the source.

Seeing Alex does make him relax, but not entirely. He wants to reach out to her - to be comfortable enough with physical affection to accept the comfort he thinks it would bring - but he stops himself, shaking his head.

They’re a damn good hacker. She’d not known they were coming until she’d heard the click of the gun behind her head - when the hell had they come in? - and she’s on her own. They destroy her phone the second she calls for help - yell at her and tell her she’s going to die if she tries anything else - and she’s absolutely terrified, but she tries to take a leaf out of Morgan’s book and does her best to detach from the situation, to remain calm.

It doesn’t work.

The unsub grabs her when Reid comes in, uses her as a shield and shoves the gun up against her head again.  Penelope stares over at Spencer, eyes wide.  Her breathing is frantic and her skin is crawling, but she’s standing stock-still against him. She can’t move, even as the unsub hollers over her shoulder.

(*salutes* good luck to you!!)

“Spencer.” It’s a name rarely used between them; reserved only for when she really needs his attention.  She hopes it’ll bring him out of the nightmare he seems to have fallen victim to. Resting a tentative hand on his shoulder, Garcia crouches beside her apartment’s sofa and ducks her head to see him properly.