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'That’s enough’ Luke desperately muttered through gritted teeth, his head looking up at the roof of the plane, exposing the erratic pulse on his neck at the direction he just knew this conversation was headed.
‘Why’s that enough, Luke ?’ Elias/Lee questioned, his back to Luke. The simmering undertones of his question glaringly obvious to everyone on board.
Lukes head travelled elsewhere for a minute as he looked at Penelope who was looking straight ahead, he could see the panic in her face at what Voit had already said about her and Tyler and a jolt of jealously ripped through him at the thought of her thinking about him- regardless of whether it was of her own volition or not. He could see her fingers tapping on the table where she was sat as her breath caught and quickened in her throat. He watched as she nervously swallowed down a gulp of nothing as Tara’s placed her hand on Penelopes arm to comfort her.
‘Because prisoner transport protocols mandate we don’t engage-‘ Tara started, before JJ interjected-
‘So do us all a favour and shut the fuck up’
Luke noted how Tara’s answer to Voits question about not speaking to him was factual, whereas JJs was vastly more abrupt and to the point. But he also noted that both women were trying to diffuse Voits curiosity about the love triangle he never wanted to be involved in but found himself at the centre of. And for that, he was grateful to them both for the attempted distraction.
Not that it was successful.
‘Anyway-‘ Voit torturously continued, ‘I just wanna make sure I have this straight- Tynelope is a thing and that drives Luke crazy?’ he asked as he craned his neck to look at the silent team of profilers behind him. The deafening silence he took for confirmation as he nodded his head in triumph and turned back round in his seat.
Luke twiddled his thumbs round his interlocked hands as he processed the fact that a serial killer had just called out his feelings for Penelope in front of the entire team, and as he watched Rossi approach Voit to deflect the uncomfortable silence; his eyes once again returned to Penelope. They never really left her, like she never really left his thoughts. He dwelled on the puzzled look on her face and wondered what she was thinking. He sighed down into his body and hoped this unfortunate situation would simply be ignored by all parties, because he didn’t think he would be able to hide his true feelings were anyone- especially Penelope- to confront what had just happened.
Penelope sat fiddling with the laptop in front of her, pretending to be busy whilst simultaneously trying to extinguish the myriad of thoughts that were ablaze in her head. Voit had just let off a bomb of an accusation and the little fires that were left burning in its wake were overwhelming her entire being. She noticed that Tara had stopped stroking her arm, and she wondered whether it was because when it came down to loyalty, Luke would always have Taras. A tiny micro expression of behaviour but one that screamed nonetheless.
Penelope wanted to run. She wanted to excuse herself and disappear into the night. But she was on a small plane, squashed into a tight space with her closest friends and colleagues and with the man who, according to a killer, and a damn good profiler, had underlying and unresolved feelings for her. Had she known this all along ? She did notice the way he looked at her. When he thought she wasn’t looking; he’d almost stare at her. The smiles that would invade his face whenever she spoke. The anger that she could read all over his body when Tyler was anywhere near the vicinity of her. She had chosen to compartmentalise this little problem because she herself could not deal with her own underlying feelings for Luke. She had told him she’d prefer them to be friends and he had respected that. She had thought a relationship with a coworker would be wildly inappropriate... and then she fucked a key witness on the most prolific case the BAU had ever seen. She was acutely aware of and embarrassed by how much of a hypocrite she seemed. She was done with Tyler. He had disrespected her and hurt her and that she would not tolerate. But, then by the same token, she had done the exact same thing to Luke and there he still was, her thoughts were broken by his gaze as she looked up and came out of her panicked inner monologue. There eyes met and for a second, her heart started beating out of her chest. Calming down only when Luke mouthed a silent
‘You OK?’ with a tilt of his head.
Nodding her head in an answer she looked away from him and down to the keyboard of her laptop, feeling a wave of calm throughout her entire body. A calm that put out the dozen or so little fires still blazing in her head from Voits revelation. Lukes simple act of service blanketing the chaos in her mind, and bringing her peace. He’d been doing that a lot lately and she couldn’t remember a time where his presence didn’t distract her in some way from what was going on around her. Whether that presence irritated or relaxed her, it always seemed to steer her away from whatever was going on around her.
The remainder of the flight was tense for obvious reasons, Penelope couldn’t make eye contact with Luke, and making eye contact was all Luke wanted to do. A serial killer had deduced something he had tried to conceal for years, simply by observing a 2 minute interaction; did this naturally mean a team of profilers had known too? Did Penelope know ?
The trip to Iowa was eventful in that Luke was within touching distance of a man strapped to a bomb which Penelope was trying to diffuse, whilst simultaneously trying to keep a lid on her overwhelming anxiety at Luke being in such close proximity to something which could take him from her. Wait, why was she thinking about it like that ? Take him from her ? He wasn’t hers to take ? She was of course scrambling to save the team and the man strapped to said bomb but her primary aim and the main reason she was so focused on stopping it from exploding, would always come back to Luke. Her head was a jumble of whys and hows and what ifs and in the chaos of the moment, she snapped at Luke, who, unusually; snapped right back.
‘Come on, Luke, give me the back up’ Penelope almost whispered
‘I’m working on it’ Luke barked back, the tension and irritation in his voice evident.
Penelope understood the stress of the moment but something in his voice made her think his snappy retort was because of what was happening but it was mixed with what had happened on the plane hours before aswel. Of course, in the end they worked together and neutralised the threat. Of course there was no lasting bad blood between them. But the question of what happened on the plane still hung in the air like smoke after a fire. Lingering and waiting for someone to address it.
Back at Quantico everyone dispersed to their separate desks to complete their paperwork. Luke sat at his desk too distracted by the events of the day to fully concentrate on his work. He picked up the phone more than once to call Penelope, to discuss what had happened, but stopped short of pressing call every time. Penelope walked back into her den and past the cup Luke had been so protective over when Voit had touched it. She recalled the words he had said and questioned such a animated reaction.
‘Hands off, asshole’ Luke had spat in disgust. But it was merely a cup ? Was he that vexed at someone for touching a cup ? Or was he that vexed because it was Voit touching her cup ?
'What’s up with you two, because there is a vibe !’ Penelope shuddered at the memory of Voits observation. Suddenly, the air was thick with tension again and she waved her hands through it as she slouched in her chair with a thud.
‘What’s up with you two because there is a vibbbeeee’ she childishly mimicked ‘what the fuck does that even mean ? How does a serial killer read profilers- I can’t- I cannot-‘ she muttered as she drew in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled it slowly through her mouth ‘-calm down, Penelope, we do not let scumbags get under our skin... huh, which is ironic for you to say, miss girl when you let Tyler Greene get under your skin ! What the hell is a Tynelope anyway ? Totally sounds like a dinosaur... oh my god !’ she continued talking to herself as she pulled up the security cameras for the bull pen. Shifting the cameras until she found Luke she zoomed in on him and focused. Letting her hand rest on the computer screen, her finger stroked where the back of his head was, before she balled her hand into a fist and put it firmly at her side.
‘Enough, Penelope. Voit is a manipulator and you are allowing him to get into your head. Stop it !’ She argued with herself as she closed down her computer and grabbed her purse and car keys ready to leave. Hoping against hope that whatever Luke was doing, it would take him longer than the 5 minutes she would need to get safely away from him and any type of confrontation for the night.
As Penelope was entering the lift, convinced she was home and dry, she heard an unmistakable voice shouting ‘hold the elevator !’
She honestly thought about not holding it and just as the door was closing, a hand and foot slipped into the gap and successfully opened the elevator.
‘Goddammit !’ Penelope whispered under her baited breath before composing herself and meeting Lukes eyes, who met hers and the panic in his flickered for just a second before he corrected himself and smiled fully at her.
‘Good evening, Agent Alvez’ Penelope said, both their bodies side by side.
‘Good evening ? Agent Alvez ?... very formal and professional, Agent Garcia’ Luke playfully replied, mimicking her formality with his own.
‘Well, as you know, I’m a pillar of professionalism, Luke.’ She replied, shifting on her feet from side to side, her hands interlocked in front of her.
A beat passed between them and Luke couldn’t stand to feel uncomfortable, especially around her. Anyone but her. The nanosecond of silence was a nanosecond too long.
‘Look, Penelope, we can talk about it, if you want to’ he said cautiously, the lump in his throat at his nervousness causing his voice to dip an octave.
‘Ahem-‘ Penelope cleared her throat ‘-talk about what ? I- I’m not sure what you mean ?’
Another beat passed between them. Luke didn’t take his eyes off Penelope as he watched her squirm at his suggestion. He wanted to touch her, wanted to comfort her. But he also knew her too well. And if he made contact right now, she would retreat and they would never speak of it again.
‘You do know what I mean, chica.... Voit called us out’ Luke replied quietly.
‘Voit called you out !’ Penelope interjected quickly, as she pressed the button to close the elevator door.
‘No, no he called both of us out... you about the whole Tynelope thing and me... ha- having a problem with it’ Luke admitted as Penelope looked at him in shock.
‘OK, first of all quit with the Tynelope OK ? It’s gross and it sounds like a painkiller you’d give to a dinosaur like, just stop... and second.... do you have a problem with it ?!’ She asked, wide eyed.
‘Of course I do.’ Luke stated, matter of factly.
‘Why would you be bothered by who I date ?’ she countered, astonished.
'Because it is who you chose to date.’
‘Yeah, yeah he’s a material witness on the BAUs biggest ever case, I GET it-‘
‘He’s also, an asshole-‘ Luke interrupted, shocking Penelope, but making her laugh out loud at the same time, which made Luke burst into laughter too.
‘Wow, you’re real funny, Newbie-’ Penelope said, still giggling from Lukes outburst
‘Is that the only reason for your dislike ? Voit said it drives you crazy... is- is he right?’ Penelope prodded, she knew the answer before Luke even started to speak, he was clenching his teeth being his closed mouth, she could tell by the way his perfectly chiselled jaw was moving. He was fidgeting with his hands. He exhaled a breath and turned to fully face her. Suddenly, everything about him was vulnerable, his eyes were begging, his smile was soft and reserved, the single bead of sweat that was slowly making its way down his forehead was the thing Penelope focused on as he began to speak.
‘Voit is a manipulative, narcissistic serial killer. He is evil personified and he would say anything to get under this teams skin..... but in this particular scenario... while I hate to admit it... he- he is pretty spot on, yeah’ Luke lifted his head to look her in the eyes and noticed they were filled with tears.
‘No ! No no no- please don’t get upset I didn’t mean to- look I will never ever pressure into anything, you- you’re my friend and I love you’ Luke stated quickly, panicking that he had pushed her away. He stared at her as she stared at him, unsure what to think.
‘.... you love me... as a friend or- or as something more ?’ Penelope asked softly.
Luke blinked slowly at the question, unsure how to answer. He knew how he loved Penelope. With the passion of a thousand suns. He loved her without reason. He’d go to sleep and dream of her. Dream of being with her. Dream of her skin on his and their breaths intertwined in a kiss that felt so real, that when he woke he’d miss her imaginary touch.
‘a-as a friend’ he replied, unconvincing. The hitch in his breath gave him away. The way his teeth covered his bottom lip to try and hide the breath gave him away. His whole demeanour gave him away and he knew that Penelope knew.
‘Huh-‘ Penelope started as she edged closer towards him, ‘-So, when I catch you staring at me across the room when I’m talking, that’s friendly ?’
‘Yes?’ Luke nervously replied, noting how her body was inching ever closer to his.
‘Oh. And today when Voit touched my cup and you freaked out... was it because he touched a cup or because he touched my cup ?’ Penelope continued, her hand grabbing the hem of his shirt and moving up his arms with the other hand.
‘Penelope, what are you doing?’ Luke questioned as he looked down at her hands, her body facing his as her eyes followed her own hands. In unison, their gaze travelled up the others body until, finally their eyes met.
‘And what do you think about what is happening now ? Are you OK with this or is this inappropriate ?’ Penelope teased.
Luke was hanging on by a thread which finally snapped when she touched his face in a gentle caress. He let his head lull in her palm for a second, relishing the peace that washed over him at her simple touch.
‘Is this inappropriate, Agent Garcia ?-‘ he question as he took her face in both hands and walked her back against the walls of the elevator.
Making contact with her lips he moaned into her mouth, a moan that was swallowed whole by a more than willing Penelope, who gasped in surprise before quickly melting into his long desired kiss. The relief that washed over both of them simply by giving into each other instead of fighting to suppress their long held, mutual feelings, was almost overwhelming. Penelope pawed at his back, desperate to bring him even closer than he already was, she lifted her leg around his waist to allow him closer contact and moaned in surprise at the inevitable arousal she was met with when she could feel him nestled between her legs . Luke registered the moan and abruptly stopped his affectionate assault on her lips.
‘Penelope-‘ he said, steadying her shoulders with his hands ‘-You need to tell me now, if this isn’t what you want’
‘Luke that noise I just made was in no way a sign for you to stop’ Penelope answered as she pulled him towards her again by his shirt, kissing the smile that had taken over his face at her contact.
No sooner had their lips crashed together for the second time in this tiny elevator, than did it ding to indicate their destination had been reached.
*DING*
‘No, but that definitely is a sign’ Luke laughed into their kiss as he said the words and Penelope huffed into his mouth, playfully biting his lip before pulling away.
'This goddamn elevator hates us’ she sighed, her hands not leaving his body as she nuzzled her head into his chest.
'This goddamn elevator holds some of my best memories of you, Penelope. This most recent ride being my favourite, of course-‘ he replied as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, before holding it steady in his; ‘-come with me’ Luke continued his eyes almost black with lust as he guided her out of the elevator, into the car park and over to his truck.
‘Where are we going ?’ Penelope asked quizzically, her head tilted to one side, a twinkle in her eyes.
‘My place-’ Luke said, matter of factly. ‘-it’s my turn to drive you crazy, Chica.’