#it was a peak stupid moment and unfortunately it's influenced how i read his name to this very day smh

[asterionstarryeyed]

confession time: because they basically never say his name out loud and i only saw it in the subtitles (and i don't know league), there was a time back i was watching s1 where i thought Singed's name was pronounced ['sɪŋ.gɛd]. like i just totally failed to perceive it as the adjective "singed." what's my problem.

[okimargarvez]

UNCONDITIONED REFLEX

Original title: Riflesso incondizionato (come uno starnuto)

Prompt: 14x15 if there were been Luke and Penelope in the place of JJ and Reid.

Warning: none.

Genre: angst, romantic, comedy, family.

Characters: Penelope Garcia, Luke Alvez, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, O.C. (unsub).

Pairing: Garvez.

Note: oneshot 48 in Garvez collection. 

Legend: 💏🔦🎈.

Song mentioned: 10 mila scuse: Interludio, Tiziano Ferro.

GARVEZ STORIES

UNCONDITIONED REFLEX

 -Garcia, but are you still here?- the voice behind her makes her jump and fright causes her an uncontrolled cough. She remains turned away from the intruder who dared to set foot in her personal temple until she can calm herself down enough to be able to formulate at least one meaningful sentence.

-Yes, why should not I?- then she exclaims, showing herself determined and convinced, as well as distant and superior, as if she didn’t have time to take care of him. -I have things to finish.- she adds with the same stiff tone. -And I could ask you the same, you know?- she points out to him, while a pleased smile borns against her lips. The man remains silent and this convinces her to be on the right path to get rid of him. -At least I don’t have a girlfriend waiting for me anxious at home, but only a cat.- still silence from the invader. -Poor Lisa, I don’t know how she could bear you...- the joke dies in the bud when she sees change in the expression of his colleague.

Luke runs a sad smile and scratches his head, in a gesture that she has now learned to interpret as a manifestation of extreme uncertainty. -In fact, she didn’t.- he says simply, in a tone not too pained, neither joking, rather... neutral.

For the first time since he entered the bat-cave the woman really looks at him, from being human to being human. -What do you mean?- she squints, trying to catch any signs that will make her identify a possible lie.

Luke, however, doesn’t seem to have any intention, in fact, seems simply exhausted, as if he was fresh from a marathon or as if he had just finished chasing an unsub along the steep peaks of a mountain. -She broken with me.- he shrugs and manages to reject a principle of hysterical giggle. -Before you start with a monologue to weave her praises and to demolish me...- she looks at him as offended by his accusation, but he ignores her -It had to go like this. With this job... but I don’t even know if it's just the fault of the job or just mine.- he raises his shoulders again; Penelope can’t remember the last time she saw him so confused, in which he didn’t clearly articulate a concept. Although she has spent at least a year, first Luke's year in the BAU, to demolish him, she has never denied within herself his numerous capabilities as a federal agent. -Anyway, it went like this.- he adds, perhaps only to fill the emptiness of that silence caused by the reflections of the blonde in front of him.

Which changes completely attitude, feeling a strong pain in the chest and another, a little less strong, in the lungs. -Oh, Luke, I didn’t want to hurt you, I'm sorry if I have...- he raises a hand, as that time when he had asked her to give him five in the name of the dynamic duo, and at the same time she coughs so many times, silencing any possible delirium of tangled excuses.

-It's all right, Garcia, okay?- she nods, although she doesn’t seem particularly convinced. -Let's talk about your influence.- it's the man's turn to completely change his attitude. It vanishes that insecure and fragile air that had almost moved her and suddenly he seems so convinced and determined. For a moment she can’t replicate anything. Then, suddenly like the rest, indignation emerges.

-I don’t have the influence.- she says, turning her back, aware of her red nose, by dint of blowing it all evening, when she wasn’t in connection with the team, of course, and eyes shining. -I'm... I'm fine!- she hears the echo of her own voice that says to him that same sentence, just as liar then as today. -You can also go to your house to... Roxy.- she corrects herself at the last. She feels the steps of man approaching and manages to remain perfectly still.

He puts a hand on her shoulder and does nothing else, but she turns to him, as if he had pressed the right button, had typed the correct sequence. -No offense, Garcia, but I know how you look when you're okay and now... it's not one of those times.- it's just a fleeting impression, and yet, for a second, she thinks she has reading malice in his brown eyes, which she had always believed much darker, while now, which she is so close to him, sick and with defenses (not only immune) so low, can capture all the various nuances of his irises.

She takes a while to awaken from the spell. A good cough intervenes in her defense, this time single but harsh and dry. -Alvez, how dare you say such a thing?- she prays all the gods in the celestial spheres that her cheeks haven’t become the same shade of her nose. I... I... achoo!- and then here is making its cameo a sneeze, probably jelaous for the space that had won the colleague.

Luke makes no effort to disguise his complacency. -Bless you.- he tells her, politely, and for a moment she sees a version of her colleague at the time of high school, perfectly combed hair, good clothes, his mother who repeats the same recommendations, in the churchyard. -So, still convinced of your position?- he asks her with obvious amusement as he torments her.

-Obviously.- she replies, this time promptly, turning back and returning to take care of her work, typing with the left hand while the right is struggling in the search for the lost handkerchief.

-Ok.- she hears him reply, only those two letters, a syllable, and the thing should already be suspicious. But even in her most daring dreams she could never have imagined him endowed with so much courage. The man walks around her chair and overlaps his hands with that of the blonde, quickly pressing just two buttons, activating the forced shutdown of the whole system, that a second before starting sets in motion the automatic saving of all the last actions. Penelope opens her eyes, freeing two tears that perfectly brush her face until they reach the chin before the final jump. She also opens her mouth wide, but nothing comes out for a moment.

Then, the voice returns to her. -What did you do?- she shouts, congratulating those who decided to build her bunker completely soundproof. -Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?- she asks him, leaning with the intention of grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him, but the other part of her can’t even take the idea of touching him into account.

-Unfortunately, good manners don’t work with you.- Luke replies simply, with that condescending tone that is used with madmen, children with attention deficit and animals that are considered stupid. -And now, c’mon, take your stuff, I'll take you to your house.- she doesn’t know if she's more mad with him for interrupting her work (and who could imagine that he knew that sequence?), for having accused her of be stubborn and want to be right at all costs, or for this last sentence, expressed in tone too natural and spontaneous, as if he were her boyfriend and had the right to tell her what is best for her.

-But... but... but...- for this she can’t do anything but repeat like a broken record the same word that perfectly expresses all her unease and her uncertainty. Man doesn’t seem to have pity for her at all. Taking her by the shoulders, again as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he forces her to rise from her chair.

-You, hurry up.- and Penelope almost ends up on the ground, looking for a way to get away from him. But at the same time a thought starts turning in her head. How sexy is he when he plays the authoritarian role...? Why did I think such a thing? It's wrong. He sees me as a friend, nothing more. He would do the same thing with Tara. -Do you need a hand to wear the coat?- she observes his hands towards her like the claws of a bird of prey ready to grasp her and take her to his nest.

-NO.- she says, a bit too strong and with a look and attitude in general too terrified. She forces herself to slow down the beats of the heart and calm the breath, but this costs her another cough.- No, no.- she repeats, more satisfied with the result. -I can do it.- it’s unclear how her legs hold up her just enough to reach the hanger that is so lopsided that Kate gave her so many years ago that she almost can’t believe it's been so long. -Are you happy now?- is a rhetorical question, and in fact she doesn’t wait for a reply, grabs the bag and starts out.

-Quite.- she still hears him exclaim. As soon as Luke is out of her bunker, she types the security code to block access to unauthorized people, everyone except she, Prentiss, and anyone above the head of the BAU. -Penelope?- she warns the man's gaze over her body as if it were tangible.

-What?- she sighs, focusing on the last digits. It never happened to her to do it wrong.

-Are you sure you can handle it, alone at home?- a slight hesitation, just as she completes the operation and starts walking towards the elevator. Another feeling of deja-vu, and she can’t make fun of herself to the point of saying that she doesn’t know what it refers to, what exact moment actually happened between them. -Because I could...- she anticipates him, pressing the call button and this surprises him so much that he is silenced.

-No, no.- she shakes her head, wrong choice: for a moment everything goes around her as if she were on a carousel. -I'll have a hot tea, I'll take an aspirin and I'll go to bed right away.- she list diligently. -Okay, daddy?- she repents instantly of the last joke, but she just can’t help it. In the meantime, the elevator arrives, empty.

-A new nickname?- he asks her, but is probably not talking  to her as anyone else. -It's a bit too weird even for you.- he gives her one of his ultra-malicious looks and this time paralyzes her, and the blame is all her weakness. When she manages to free herself from that spell, the price she is forced to pay is another fine series of perfectly alternating coughing and sneezing, like in a monotone symphony. -All right?- she can deny how much she wants, but he's really worried about her, about her health. But this doesn’t mean anything, and she repeats it until she believes it.

-Stop to worry about me, Alvez.- she says, looking at him for a second, she can’t allow herself any more, otherwise she might catch in his net again. -My head is spinning a little.- she admits, because she actually fears to skid against the elevator walls. But Luke doesn’t take the opportunity to make a joke or reiterate how he was right.

-C’mon, it is better if you hold on me.- he says only, without traces of malice, complacency, only... sweetness, damn, it seems sweetness. And it wasn’t the first time that she grasps that nuance in him when he is with her. -Trust me, I don’t bite.- he adds, this time giving her a brief smile, but not one of those with half-crooked lips, of when she still called him Newbie, no, one of those as when he had given her that anti-stress.

-You're so stubborn...- she exclaims, closing her eyes and signing her surrender. He doesn’t wait for anything else, surrounding her shoulders with his arm, so big, powerful, that it seems made for that task, because she is not really the smallest woman on the planet. Not that it was the first time he did it, no, it had happened when they brought Lou to Phil... but Penelope decides to send her pride to the hell and even puts her head on his shoulder for the short ride that separates them from man's car. She seems to hear a sigh of restrained joy, but it must have been just her impression. Why should he be happy to have her weight on him?

Too soon she feels herself snatching from that comfortable torpor in which she had fallen and without understanding how, she finds herself sitting in the passenger's seat. -Do you prefer a little silence, or I turn on the radio?- he's asking her (it’s hard to admit it) savior.

-No, the silence leaves too much space to my thoughts.- she answers extremely sincere and doesn’t get too angry with himself. She is just "wake up" and has the defenses completely lowered and already today she feels no good... -Better the radio.- she decrees and he nods, turning on the first and then starting the engine.

And you provoke envy in people, because of who is great, but doesn’t realize it... with ten thousand excuses the world devours you, you laugh and make fun of it... you direct love at all, but stay out of groups, those who talk a lot, think a little less... come from confidence and an the idea that looks good, the medium is important, but the aim is the person, and only love is important, you keep it too much, that’s why you are special…

Only rarely she gives him a quick glance, while the man's eyes remain fixed on the road. She wonders what he's thinking right now, surely to Lisa, even if he tried to make her believe he wasn’t feel too bad. They had been together for how much, at least a year, no? He couldn’t have come out from it as if nothing had happened. But Luke is in a completely different kind of elucubrations; he is in fact meditating that he could so easily dedicate to her some of the phrases of this song that he has never heard before today. An annoying sound breaks his thoughts before they can become deeper.

-Oh no, I think that we have a case.- Penelope exclaims, in a desperate tone. She clears her throat, to probably prevent other coughing from interrupting her. From the corner of his eye he sees her grab her cell phone and press a button; the speakerphone. -Go ahead, Emily. It's me and Luke.- she declares quietly. A pause of a few seconds. The woman on the other end of the phone is in fact assimilating the information received, fighting against her perplexity. How come those two were together at this time?

So, the head of the BAU perks up. -I called to warn you that Rossi has decided to hold a kind of collective bachelor party and invited the whole team for tomorrow night. He instructed me to pass the word...- this time she does nothing to hide the relief that seizes her.

-Oh, thank goodness, for a moment I feared that...- even the other woman easily reads her mind. She can imagine the smile of the friend spreading on her face.

-No, no new case, don’t worry.- she reassures her, with a chuckle. -And, Garcia?- she adds, just to the last. An infinitesimal exchange of glances between driver and passenger that remains of an uncertain nature.

-What?- then she asks in turn, trembling inside.

-Are you sure you're okay? You look a little... weird...- Penelope looks up at the sky and then looks at Luke as if she wanted to hit him; the man merely giggles almost imperceptibly. Too low for Emily to hear it, luckily for him.

-I'm fine, and anyway, Alvez is taking me home, so don’t worry.- the man makes another completely silent smile. -Night, ma’am.- the blonde says.

-Good night.- Emily echoes.

-Night, Prent...- but the conversation has already been closed. -Hey, I was still talking!- Luke protest. -What is it?- he then asks, taking advantage of a stop to look her in the eye.

-Come on, say it.- she urges him. -You can’t wait to do it, you are quivering with the desire to reproach me. C’mon, don’t be shy.- then he understands what she is referring to.

-If you insist...- he says, enjoying another nice round of those eyes that have captured his from the first glance. -Have you seen? Even Emily has noticed that you aren’t the same.- Penelope immediately breaks the eye contact, preferring to focus on the unattractive landscape that is beyond the window.

-Damned profilers...- she mumbles. Then, a sudden lighting. -Oh, hell.- though he is careful as he drives, the man hears her and immediately starts thinking about the worst. Seeing her hand on her chest, he is afraid that she may have a heart attack.

-What? What happened?- he exclaims alarmed and not hiding it in any way.

-Nothing.- however, the colleague answers, stubborn to the end. She would also be able to die, rather than admit that he was right.

-Penelope... I don’t let it go, there is no way.- he clarifies it with a hard, almost angry tone. -Then speak.- he doesn’t intend to give her a way to escape and this time she falls badly, because she is aboard his car, he could lead her where he wants, even at his home, and the silent treatment will not work. At the cost of stopping and spending all night on the side of the road.

-Oh, what the hell.- she seems to realize it. Just when she is about to start explaining she is caught by some cough; the less they are numerous and the more they increase in intensity. -I remembered only now that I don’t even have a medicine at home.- she manages to say, with the fluctuating voice that comes and goes, but the man still understands the general sense of the sentence.

-It’s not a problem, there is a pharmacy a little further on.- there follows a pause where only the music of a digester's advertisement is heard. Then Luke turns expressly towards her, almost in slow motion. -Does that mean you admit you're sick?- he's so pleased and so beautiful with that expression, those shining eyes, that she finds herself confirming her knockout.

-I admit it, ok?- she doesn’t have time to hide the shadow of a smile also on her own lips. -Satisfied?- he still doesn’t comment on it, not out loud, at least.

-Partly.- here in the night shine the green light of the cross indicating that they have reached the goal. Luke parks, then he unties his belt. -Wait in the car, I'll come back in a moment.- he says, and he has already almost half a foot on the asphalt, when he hears himself grabbing by the edge of his jacket.

-No way.- now she too gets out of the car. -I'm not dying, Alvez, and I will not let you pay for my stuff.- she says firmly and stubbornly, then she opens her eyes, hearing again her voice. -God, it seemed like a drug addict' phrase.- he closes his car door and observes her do the same, then he inserts the allarm.

-A little.- he doesn’t even try to hold back a giggle. -I imagine that this is the consequence of feminism.- but this time she doesn’t seem to find his joke particularly amusing. They are walking a few centimeters away, they don’t notice it, but their steps are perfectly synchronized, like two soldiers during the official parade on July 4th.

-Don’t think about things bigger than you.- she admonishes him and he understands that there is no need to reply. -Hurry, I don’t want to spend more than ten minutes with you.- she picks up the pace and goes over him at the entrance. -I can’t bear you anymore.- Luke, however, can’t help but laugh again, hearing her complaining about his company, making her anger, but the woman decides to concentrate on choosing the medicine to buy. The truth is that there are too many kind and that each has a stranger and terrifying name of the other, it wasn0t that now she has learned them by heart, by dint of looking for digital traces for cases of unknown subjects with dependencies of all kinds... she not even realize that is entered a man who seems pretty nasty, sometimes the judgment on the book given only by brushing the cover with the look is extremely accurate and sometimes, the clothes makes the man. She jumps, ending with her back against her colleague's chest when the first shot resonates in the building, shaking all the windows containing non-over-the-counter drugs. Luke gives a quick glance and realizes that there are only two (three) people besides them and the gangster: an old man, with a stick and walker, who is holding his chest (he hopes he is not having a principle of a heart attack, but it would not be so strange, in this case) and a mother with a stroller decorated with Hello Kitty. Without speaking, he grabs Penelope by the shoulders and turns her towards him; he makes her understand that she has to be silent and doesn’t move. He directs himself sneaking towards the man, who wears neither a mask nor anything that could prevent his identification. Bad sign. He hears a moan of fear coming from behind his back, but he doesn’t turn around to scold her. She isn’t used to living these kinds of situations. And then he could never say bad words to her.

He still makes two steps and is exactly behind the man, what he should do is shoot without identifying, because this would make everything much simpler. He is an excellent shooter, he has certificates holed up in a box that he has never opened at home, to testify this. In this way, the robber (he wants to keep believing it's just this) wouldn’t have time to hurt anyone. But he took an oath, and, above all, what would Penelope think of him if he killed a man in that way? -FBI, weapon on the ground and hands up.- then he shouts, completely entering his role. That man doesn’t move. -You heard me? Weapon on the ground and we can talk.- he repeats, trying to give a calm, serene and peaceful tone to his voice, but at the same time decided and authoritarian. Sometimes it's just a matter of who screams louder.

-FBI, uh?- he says, finally, turning around so that he can looks him right in the face. Brown hair, standard length, brown eyes, white, about thirty years old. If it weren’t for that look, he would seems as any of the American tax payers. -I have three hostages at my disposal.- he points out, with a sick smile that perhaps he believes particularly original, but Luke has seen it too many times on too many different faces. -If you shoot me, I'll have time to bring one of them with me.- the man continues, becoming more and more sure of himself. Behind him he hears a noise, but he doesn’t want to think that it could be Garcia who has followed him. -Do you like the risk, federal agent?- he asks him directly, amused in a way too obvious by the use of that title. Almost Luke was nothing but his job. But he wants to believe that he is also other, for example, Roxy's dad.

It is the thought of his dog that gives him the right charge. -Good, then let's do it, we put down the guns at the same time and then we'll talk.- he proposes, even sketching a smile, so fake, because he was never good at pretending these things, like Hotch, like Rossi, or like Emily and JJ. Perhaps he is still the hunter of men who believed that profiling was stupid. -What do you think?- the other, however, seems not too attentive to his words, look beyond him, and Luke knows what it means, but still basks in the illusion. Denying, always denying, beyond the evidence.

-I say, don’t take it out, I would prefer to exchange a few words with your blonde friend.- until his most horrendous fears are confirmed and he is forced to smash his face violently against them. He makes a big mistake, unable to disguise his emotions, he closes his eyes for a moment so as not to faint, stunned by the horror that is revolting his guts.

-What blonde friend...- he tries anyway, one last try. Then he hears that noise again, and this time he recognizes it, clear and precise. A sneeze. A moment later someone' hand, delicate skin, soft and silky, takes his wrist.

-Sorry, Luke, I tried to restrain myself, but...- she begins to justify herself, but Luke shakes his head and weaves a single finger into hers, trying to pass on what he thinks.

In any case, the man, which is, now is clear, certainly not just a robber, doesn’t seem willing to let them talk. -Make a deal, federal agent...- Luke anticipates him, gaining some points. But he is losing this match 4 to 0.

-Luke, Luke Alvez, but you can call me Luke.- the voice comes out too uncertain, almost careless, it is as if the language no longer wanted to respond to his commands. And that blonde who vibrates imperceptibly next to him doesn’t help keep him cool.

-Good, Agent Alvez.- he does it on purpose, still calling him with the title and to prefer his last name, thus rejecting his implicit proposal to manage the thing amicably. In fact, he prefers it because he thinks of something that he might have read or perhapsReid had told him about the value of the proper name of divinity and city. And if that bastard didn’t call him by name, he couldn’t dominate him. -I'll let all the hostages go if she plays with me.- he adds with a lascivious smile.

Luke trembles, but for the blind rage that assails him. -Play with you what?- but his question is totally ignored, because Penelope passes in front of him, and goes over a few steps towards the asshole with the gun still pointed in the direction of the young mother.

-I'm in.-she says, her voice firm. The man can’t help but feel so proud of his colleague, and, at the same time, also angry with her, because it is not up to her to play the role of heroin in this show.

-Wait, Garcia, don’t be hasty...- he tries to stop her, but she drives him away like an annoying insect.

-Shut up, Luke.- she silences him abruptly. -I said I'm in.- she turns to the other man and gets a little closer. Luke feels the useless weight of the weapon in his hand. He reaches her, supports her and tries to concentrate only on the asshole.

-Tell me.- he repeats, a hoarse growl at the bottom of his throat. -What do you want to play with her?- who knows what the hell he expects, but nothing could displace him more than the answer of the man.

-Truth or dare.- he exclaims, never turning away from the blonde. -If I realize that you lie, honey, your friend will get a nice bullet in the body.- he explains, stroking his gun as if he were already anticipating the moment when the bullet will pierce the epidermis of the federal agent. -Understand?- he adds with tone a bit more serious and even evil.

-Understand.- she nods, slightly bowing her head, showing herself submissive. But is it a performance or does she really want to surrender to him, do everything that he asks for?

-Garcia, you don’t have to lend yourself to this thing.- he tries again to dissuade her, he doesn’t even know why, because he understood that by now the mechanism has started and there is no way to stop it.

-Luke, stop getting in the way.- she replies, but the fact that she has called him again by name is equivalent to a kind of secret signal to tell him that she hasn’t completely lost her mind, that she will not give up so easily as thinks the unmasked asshole.

-You heard, Agent Luke Alvez?- this time the other also calls him by full name. He goes back, walking without looking where he puts his feet, and yet he doesn’t stumble, until he reaches the door, he must have blocked without anyone noticing it, he throws it open and gestures to the hostages to get out of his way. Only then Luke thinks about the strangeness of the lack of workers: why was not there even a pharmacist? Should not they necessarily have to do the night service? -Now, good, put down the gun and kick it, towards me.- the cold voice of the asshole brings him back to reality. He does it without objecting, then he observes him even more powerless, tying the wrists of his colleague. He clenches his fists until he hurt his knuckles. Then he does the same with him and also gives him a boost, taking advantage of the fact that he has no way to keep his balance. - Let's start.- he says. -Truth or dare...- Luke feels a knot in his stomach, understanding what is about to happen. No, don’t don’t do it, he tries to communicate telepathically to her. Don’t tell him your real name. But she can’t hear him.

-Penelope. My name is Penelope.- she replies in fact. She coughs and blushes, perhaps because of the shame of not being able to cover her mouth with an hand, as they taught her. -And I choose truth.- she adds, showing himself decisive, like a convict who knows he is going to meet his destiny, proud as Joan of Arc at the stake.

-Great, Penelope.- he doesn’t hide his perverse complacency. -What are you doing here with him at this time? In other words, what is your relationship with him?- he hastens to clarify, confusing her by mixing the two questions. In spite of himself, Luke realizes he is deeply interested in what she will say. -Think well on what to answer, because I will understand if you lie.- he warns her in a bored tone, as if it were a phrase he repeated too many times. And maybe it's like that. This is not an amateur, he must have done it before. And what happened to his previous victims?

-We... we work for the same unit.- Penelope begins to explain, interrupted by another cough that doesn’t seem to catch pity from the asshole. -Behavioral Analyst Unit.- she specifies. -I am a computer technician and he is a special supervisor agent. We are work colleagues.- all here. Colleagues. But hadn’t he done the same thing when he'd introduced her to Lisa on their first date? So why should he feel entitled to be... hurt, offended?

-How boring.- even the other man doesn’t seem happy, and fiddles with the weapon, making it dangle for the handle. -I was hoping for something more, honestly.- he shoves it behind his back and starts walking toward them.

-Don’t come any closer her, don’t touch her, don’t dare!- Luke jumps, unable to contain his anger as he watches that man move his dirty hands along the body of Penelope, looking for a document that he could easily find if only he looked in the right place and most obvious, her bag.

-A little too protective to be just a colleague, don’t you think?- he is aimed exclusively at the blonde. Then he follows Luke's telepathic advice and finds the woman's badge and takes a second to capture the Latin one as well. -I seen you told the truth.- he nods, to himself. -It is not allow omitting the details, however.- he adds, at the last, with a completely different tone and also his gaze, his eyes, change, almost another entity had taken the upper hand in him. -Maybe I should show you that I'm serious...- he turns with a jerk and pulls the trigger, just in the direction of Luke's leg, where Penelope herself knows that the femoral artery is located and that would mean only five minutes of time to intervene before the man bleeds to death. The thought provokes her yet another attack of cough, but she manages to reject it with the few remaining forces. The cry dies in her throat when she hears only the empty click, the shot without the result of the weapon. -Oh, I forgot to tell you that we are also doing another game.- he laughs, a coarse and vulgar laugh, but definitely less frightening than that look. -Do you know Russian roulette, Luke? This time you were lucky, but Luck is a fickle thing that never ceases to turn...- the man rotates the section of the weapon, only now Luke recognizes it, a revolver, where the bullets are. There are only two, enough to kill both. -So, truth or dare?- he asks re-establishing the initial distances.

-I want to take part in this.- the federal agent intrudes, noticing Penelope's shining eyes and wondering if the cause is really just the flu or a hell brooding.

-Do you have any burning secret to reveal, Luke?- for the first time, he seems to have been able to capture his attention. -A weight to get rid of?- the other hesitates. -Otherwise you're not very interesting.- he concludes, shrugging.

-I'm filled of secrets.- he exclaims then, and in fact, he's not lying at all. Since he's been part of the BAU the situation has changed a little, but there are a lot of things that his colleagues ignore about his private life and his previous life.

The asshole looks really pleasantly surprised. -Well, let's see.- then he backs to focus on the blonde who is becoming red to prevent a sneeze or yet another cough. Almost as if it were a sign of unforgivable weakness. -But remember that if you lie the sweet Penelope will take a bullet... let's say in her leg.- he understands that with the mind the slimy is caressing her thigh and that, if he were to die, it could really happen. He could even do it while the blood, together with life, flows out of her. -Are you still convinced you want to play?- he nods, planting his teeth in his lower lip. -If you are happy... Truth or dare?- the easiest choice he has had to make since they have been here.

-True.- he replies, while a sneeze resounds beside him.

- What's the thing that makes you ashamed more, of all the things you had to do for your work?- he asks without hesitation. -The one that make you feel more guilty, I mean something that, even after the years, doesn’t let you sleep well.- Luke bends down his head, because he has an answer, and the asshole will like it so hard.

He closes his eyes, shielding himself from the rest of the world. -Before I joined the BAU... there was a guy, a criminal. Daniel Cullen.- he is no longer in this pharmacy, on the floor, with his hands tied. -He tormented my partner, my best friend... almost killed him. He has ripped apart him.- he's back in time or maybe in a memory or in a fantasy, as long as there is a difference. -I should have been in his place.- he says, raising his eyelids, but being careful not to look at Penelope. -It's been six years, and yet I keep waking up sweating in the middle of the night, and doing the same nightmare, identical.- he is not lying about it, and perhaps that also helped push Lisa to make that decision. And he couldn’t blame her.

-Did you want to kill him?- the asshole pricks him, completely immersed in his black tale. - Or did you do it?- Luke vibrates, meditating for the first time on the possibility of lying to him, to preserve the image that his colleague has of him, at least that she will want to speak again with him, as long as they will survive all this.

-Yes, I wanted to kill him with my hands, see the life flow away from his eyes and no, I couldn’t do it.- in the end he opts again for the cruel truth, not for beautiful lies. Killing and even wishing to do so is one of the ten sins punished by his religion, but even this can’t stop him. -Unfortunately.- he adds, digging his chasm a little further.

-Wow, this is a great revelation, don’t you think so, Penelope?- that man smiles, waiting maybe that the blonde could do the same. -You’re safe, for now, even if it seems to me, Luke, that your words have hurt her more than any bullet.- the man is forced to see that he is right. The blonde is trembling and her big eyes, wide open, are ones of an animal caught in the headlights. -You shocked her, poor girl. You didn’t think that your coworker had so dark thoughts inside him, didn’t you?- she doesn’t nod nor denies. -It’s your turn, now. Truth or dare?- wearily, as she wouldn’t have any alternative, she answers him.

-Truth.- that man beats an hand on the other and play for a bit with the gun, while he seems think about what he could asks her this time.

-What do you feel for your colleague Luke, especially in the light of his revelations?- he finally asks, and in fact it is strange that he took so long to get there, because in the movies is one of the first things, almost two kidnapped people have to end up getting together... if both remain alive until the end credits.

-Penelope, the team will arrive soon, you don’t have to say anything you don’t want.- he gets in the way, tonight it seems that he hasn’t done anything else, and for a second she looks at him.

Then, however, she shakes her head. -No, it’s not. It’s my fault if we had to stop here.- two other tears run along her cheeks and the man hates he couldn't do anything, the fact he can’t dry them with his thumbs. -Luke, I… there is no way to say it, and If I ever thought about this moment, I never imagined that it would been in a pharmacy, hands tied behind the backs, and a fool who is pointing his weapon to our heads.- the asshole doesn’t seem to take it badly, he is probably used to it. -But I say simply the truth, as he asked me.- now Luke trembles for another reason, so different from the ones that have shaken him until now; because the way she has talked and her gaze… it’s possible that she is really about to confess what he thinks? And why that idea makes him so happy? His priority is to save her, save both of them, so he could take her to the hospital, to a medic… and they could understand what she has, because his instinct, that bastard who is always right, tells to him that there is not just a flu, there is something worst under it and a cruel hourglass that signals the the time available. -I don’t think about you just as a coworker… you became important for me, don't mind how much I tried to keep you from doing that.- here they are, she is about to say it, really, maybe it will be just a distraction, yeah, in fact it would be the right thing to do. A good love confession, a fed gossip could confuse the asshole just enough to… -I… I love you and I can’t handle that you could be hurt or even dead because of me!- she says, and almost the effort to say all those things had been too much for her body, she bursts into a series of convulsive cough attacks, this time longer, deep and sinister. -Are you satisfied now?- then she asks, nose, eyes red and full of tears. For a moment Luke fears she might die suffocated.

-Well, let's say that this time I will not shoot him.- yet that asshole is not even satisfied, it even seems... disappointed. -It's your turn, Luke. Truth or dare?- the federal agent sighs, before answering, meditating on how much time can actually be passed, ruthless hourglasses apart.

-Truth.- why the team is not here yet? The hostages didn’t back to their home pretending it’s happened nothing, right? Whoever would warn the law enforcement. Sure, from this to call the BAU…

-Perfect, as I guessed.- he makes turn the box containing the projectiles again. -And you, Agent Alvez, what do you really think of your colleague?- here, his turn has arrived. --Remember that her leg is always at stake, if you try to be clever.- he doesn’t give him time to reflect. -And I add: is there anything else you've never told her, and would you like to confess?- but unknowingly, he provides him with exactly what he needed: an escape to not find himself confessing his love in such a situation drab. -This could be the right time, also because it could be the last one.- that warning, however, puts everything at stake.

He turns to her, how much the strings allow him. -Penelope, I…- and he understands that he is really about to throw himself without parachute. What good would it do still living with his intact pride but in a world without her?

-You don’t have to answer, Luke.- she seems say the same as him a moment ago. -I was already shot, I can handle it.- and she is right, that shit of Battle dared to do a similar action, but just because at that time he was busy to dodging bullets on the front line of a war that he never understood.

-But he can’t, I’m right?- the asshole seems so easy reading his mind, yet, he decides consciously to try to trick him.

-Penelope, do you remember Phil?- he start to say. -You remember that the day he died you asked me if he had asked about you and that...- he bites his lips to make them bleed, but never removes his eyes from her, despite the shame he feels. -I lied to you, and I lied to him too. Since he saw you, he did nothing but torment me to know if you were already dating someone or if you were free, and I...- the mouth that so much wanted to taste bends downwards. And it's his fault, only his.

-Why, why did you do it?- Penelope asks, sounding more confused than hurt.

-Yeah, Luke, why did you do it?- echoes that human shit that keeps on keeping her under his sight.

-Because… because I didn’t want that my private life and work mixing too much.- it’s a bullshit, and it’s so obvious, yet he really said it. -I know I was selfish, but…- his words are covered by a thud that sounds to their ears as a rumble.

-Wrong answer.- without adding other word, the man points his gun exactly at the level of the knee of the blond and pulls the trigger. Luckily, even this time they hear just a empty noise that means the missing of the bullet in the chamber. For the scare Penelope bursts into a coughing crisis that makes her eyes tear up and turns her whole face more red. Luke can’t have the time to scream his terror, fearing that he has condemned his colleague to death just for his inability to confess the truth, even in a such moment. The asshole is right, he could not have another occasion to do it. -You two were lucky, even this time.- he says, not happy, looking at the empty chamber as it had voluntary betrayed him. -Who knows how it will go the next.- he sight. -Penelope, truth or dare?- probably nobody expects the next move of the blonde.

-Dare.- she answers with an uncertain tone.

-Interesting choice.- in fact comments the asshole. -Well. You must hit your friend and dear colleague, as hard as you can, I want to see a good mark. That's what you want, deep inside of you, after what he told you and especially after he showed how much he doesn’t really care about your life, since he lied even though he knew what was at stake.- he steps that distance them and cuts with a single gesture the ribbon that wraps the wrists of the woman, so little careful to make a slight wound on her arm. Luke watches the red liquid gush out and feels his pulse increase; Penelope, on the other hand, doesn’t emit sound. -Or, if you prefer, you can use this.- he makes dancing in front of her the knife, like a hypnotizer in a magic show. -What are you choosing?- Penelope looks at the cold weapon and then her own hands, free.

-Don’t worry, Garcia, do what he want.- Luke tries to reassure her, understanding that she needs his approval. -It's all right, it will not hurt me and he's right, I deserve it.- he even manages to give her a small smile. The blonde closes her eyes and nods. Who knows if he has understood that she had to concentrate on the people who, many years later, she hated more in her life. She brings the arm back, the not injured, to give the right push and hits him. The psychopathic asshole this time can be said to be satisfied, because she left a nice mark on his cheek, in which all the fingers are perfectly distinguished. Yet, the slap doesn’t burn and he doesn’t even feel pain. All his concentration is on her, who falters kneeling before him, but free.

-Luke, please, I'm sorry, I...- before the asshole can put her brusquely to shut up, she has another attack of cough, so deep and intense that it seems to shake her body entirely, silencing her. The other makes a sign of denial with his head, as if to say that he doesn’t approve of this manifestation of remorse, while he ties her hands back behind her back, taking advantage to leave a slimy caress on her backside, which causes anger in the federal agent.

-You are right, you're trained to bear the pain, uh?- he passes the tongue on his lips. -Too bad. But she has respected the pacts, so I can’t shoot you.- again that sense of regret. -Where have you learned such techniques? Afghanistan? Iraq?- he nods to the last option. -I guessed.- he shrugs. -So, Luke, truth or dare?- he smiles at him, as if to suggest to him what he could do, if only he would let himself go completely.

-I will never choose dare.- but Luke fights, because he is certainly not less stubborn than the asshole. -You will not force me to hurt her.- he explains calmly and decisively, like death. -I prefer to die.- he concludes, and is neither lying nor joking, nor exaggerating.

-I assume you've still chosen truth.- he yawns. -You ae so boring.- he plays again with the revolver, in a kind of circus number, while Penelope surrenders to another series of coughs. -Have you ever betrayed a woman?- the man realizes how the blonde has totally unbalanced to better hear the response of her colleague and his dilated pupils, and this makes him smile with evil satisfaction.

-It depends on what is meant by betrayal.- Luke answers ambiguously. -If you mean the classic being with two feet in the same hoof ... never physically, never concretely, not even a kiss.- he admits, proud of himself, for once. -If you extend the concept... with the mind, often.- he just staring at the asshole in the eye, keeps his eyes fixed in his, not at all scared by the prospect of being sucked from his abyss. -I was with Lisa and I was also fine, but I always ended up making comparisons with another woman... one that I didn't even deserv to look.- he doesn’t know if he can guess that he is referring to Penelope. -Fortunately, she left me, because I'm so cowardly I would never have done it.- not even that is so difficult to admit. -And if we want to go even further, I cheated on my mother when I enlisted in the army even though I knew that this would cause her a heart attack.- which was not fatal just by a whisker, he only adds in his head, but after that, she wasn’t the same woman anymore. And he could ever forgive himself?

-Damned, I wasn’t expecting an answer like that, good job, SSA, you managed to amaze me.- he claps his hands, pleased, holding the weapon with a single finger. -Yes, Penelope, there's still a bullet that can’t wait to get stuck in your colleague's flesh filled of secrets.- Truth or dare? - she has no doubts this time, because she certainly can’t risk he could forcing her to put an end to her colleague's life... how could she not think about it before?

-Truth.- she answers in fact, in a tone without nuances. The head is about to burst, and the heart is on its way to reach it, not to mention the lungs, which burn as if she had inhaled live fire.

-You reacted so badly when he told you he lied about Phil... I bet he's the same friend who was tortured in his place.- he ignores the grimace that appears on Luke's face and confirms his suspicions. It is really true that the best profilers are the unknown subjects. -So... were you in love with him?- incredibly, the question manages to surprise her and she almost laughs, but she knows that it wouldn’t be a good choice, especially for her body, she doesn't care of what the asshole would do to her. She still feels condemned to leave this earth tonight.

-No, Phil... I liked him, very much.- she admits, and to think of him hurts. -I think that if I had been given the chance, I could have fall in love with him, but...- she catches a glare and seems to have been the only one to notice it. -...at the moment, and even now, my heart is already busy...- she starts talking, pretending to be more lost than it is and surprising for her ability to dominate the cough. -I couldn’t tell how long exactly. I think from the first time I saw this person...- she continues to stay on the vague, the glow increases, perhaps now also Luke saw it, but he is good at pretending to be in turn focused on that strange confession. -I think I immediately got a crush. And then gradually I fell in love. I'm in love with one of our colleagues.- she says, feeling everyone's attention catalyzed on her. -I understand, Luke, how you behaved, he was right, you lied: it wasn’t to not mix work and private life, it was because you thought I wasn’t enough for your best friend...- she abruptly changes the subject, but the asshole doesn’t have time to notice it, because a red dot appears to him exactly in the middle of his chest.

And then, that shout, finally. -FBI, you're surrounded. Give yourself up or we’ll shoot.- the relief is such that the sudden inflow of oxygen causes her a terrible pain in the chest, but she ignores it. The hands, still tied, are intertwined as a sign of hope.

-If you shoot, I take with me in the afterlife the blonde .- he replies, repeating the initial comedy. -What do you say, Penelope, do you want to take a trip?- but that is the last joke that he declaims on the stage of life, as Shakespeare loved to call it and before him a Spanish wrapped in the same shadow of mystery. Luckily, man falls backwards, right in front of the IT.

Prentiss makes her way through the agents and reaches them. -Luke, Penelope, are you ok?- she starts to untie the friend, while she is reached by Rossi who does the same with Latin. -Is anyone of you hurt?- she asks only for security.

Luke speaks first. -No, but she is sick, I don’t know what she has, I think it is a bronchial pneumonia, she has almost never ceased to cough.- he explains and Emily remembers the impression that she had just... one hour, at most an hour and half ago, on the phone. -It would be better if...- she nods and helps Penelope to stand up, noting the cut on the wrist, the blood now clotted.

-I understood.- she calls the paramedics. -Come here, it's here.- the lights finally stun the poor woman, who tries to stop them from taking her away in an ambulance.

-Please, Emily...- half of the sentence is absorbed by yet another cough -... don’t listen to him, I'm...- and the other from an even stronger attack. She understands that it is not worth attempting and she abandons herself, like a dead body, to the care of someone who can really help her. From the stretcher she still manages to see her adventure companion approaching one of the doctors.

-Can I go up in the ambulance with her?- she hears him ask, but his voice sounds distant and muffled, perhaps she has only imagined it because it was what she wanted to hear.

-Only if it doesn’t interfere with us.- a paramedic replies, abruptly, but then contraddicts himself with a half-smile, as if he too had become a profiler and had sensed what is between them. Yes, but what exactly is there between them?

As soon as they leave, she loses consciousness. Luke, trying to stay as much as possible on the sidelines, looks at the standard procedures to stabilize her and understands from their speeches that she is not so serious... but she is not even good. After having intubated her, the paramedic with whom he spoke earlier, beckons that he can now approach and tell her what he wants, but also to be brief and not to agitate her too much... or they will be forced to get rid of the excess ballast. -Penelope, darling, don’t worry.- he begins, realizing that this is the first time he calls her that way, but it's so good. -I will never leave you alone, as long as they allow me to be near you, understand?- she can’t answer him and her eyes are scared, frightened by that thing that prevents her from breathing in a normal way. -I'll always keep your hand.- he says, gently caressing her. -Do you want to answer a question? I promise that tonight is the last one.- he reassures her and understands that in another moment, she would have laughed at his joke. -A single squeeze for means yes and two for no.- Penelope proves to have understood the mechanism. -Ok. Is it true what you said in there, that... that you're in love with someone from the team?- another sign for the yes. -Well. Is a woman?- two squeezes. -No. So, it's one of the men... is he busy?- a longer pause than the previous ones, because Penelope is about to nod, but suddenly remembers that Luke told her that Lisa had left him. -This excludes Matt and Rossi.- he deduces, many intelligently. -So... is Reid?- the last fateful squeeze. -No. So... it's me. You're in love with me.- and this time there's no question mark at the end of the sentence. -No, don’t shake, I told you. I will not leave you alone. Everything will be all right and when you're better, when we're sure you're okay, we'll talk a bit.- he says, continuing to stroke her hand, the only thing he can do in a similar situation. How much is missing at the hospital? -Do you think you can forgive me for lying to you about Phil?- he breaks his promise.-It wasn’t because I thought you weren’t enough for him, and not even to keep the private sphere separate from the professional one, but because... I was jealous of you. I didn’t want to... that you were with another man.- but he also had to get rid of this burden, he couldn’t allow her to end under the knife without knowing the truth. -I know it was selfish behavior and I apologize, I will spend all my life apologizing, if you will allow me...- Penelope raises her arm just enough to be able to gently caress the man, who understands that is the only way she has to reassure him. -Falling in love with you was inevitable, like an unconditional reflex, I couldn’t do anything, like when you have to sneeze or cough, and you can try hard to hold it back, but in the end you have to let it come out.- he adds, even if in a low voice (he is not sure that she has heard it, because her eyes are closed), just as they enter the hospital entrance.

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