Luke was nervous.

The team had left for a case a couple hours after he and Penelope had arrived from church, and landed back at Quantico on Saturday night. When he woke up on Sunday morning to feed and walk Roxy - despite his body's pleading to stay in bed - he thought about Penelope and his mom thinking she was his secret girlfriend and that old lady at church who said he and Penelope were such a sweet looking couple… That old lady who had said she had better see them at church today.

While Roxy was eating, Luke took a quick shower and threw on a pair of khakis and button up shirt. He hated the way it made him feel like a schoolboy, but his mother had always insisted on dressing for church. He put UP in the DVD player, fast forwarded through the first ten minutes, and called Roxy over to the couch.

"I'm gonna be gone for a couple hours, okay?"

Roxy barked an affirmative then whined.

"I know you and I normally spend all our time together when I'm home, but I have something to do. You remember Penelope?"

Roxy barked and affirmative then panted.

"Yeah, the one who spoils you rotten. I'm going to see her for a bit."

Roxy had lost interest at this point and chose to ignore his last statement. It didn't really merrit a response, after all. She settled her head on her front legs and her attention was quickly consumed by the movie.

Luke gave her a good scratch behind the ears and then left for Gacia's place. He sat in his car in the parking lot of her building for five minutes, starting and cutting the engine of his car. He took the keys out of the ignition. They hadn't agreed to go together or at all. He put the keys back in the ignition. If he didn't see her today he wouldn't be able to sleep. He took the keys out of the ignition.

He realized that if he was going to use church as an excuse, he had to move now.

Luke was even more nervous. He buzzed once.

And she buzzed him up right away.

Huh…

Rather than let him into her apartment as she had last time, she pushed him backwards and exited, locking the door behind her.

"'Bout time you showed up. If we're late, you're the one taking the heat from Sra. Ortega."

It was only when he heard the click clack of her heels getting quieter that he realized she was already heading towards the stairs, and he moved to follow. He jogged past her and opened the car door for her. He still hadn't said a word to her.

Penelope was nervous.

She fiddled with the radio until she found a station she liked. Her makeup was perfect and her hair was styled like Joan Crawford's and she hadn't even known if he was going to show up. She had opened her stupid mouth and called him her stupid boyfriend and she hadn't even had a chance to correct herself because the team got called away on that stupid case.

She looked at him as subtly as she could from the corner of his eye. He looked like a schoolboy. A super beefy, beautiful schoolboy. A school man, really.

Penelope turned her head to look out the window. After all, if she couldn't see him, she might be able to get her thoughts together. When she'd managed to slow her breathing, she noticed that they were just barely crawling forward in the traffic.

"I think it's move in weekend for some of the colleges," Luke said when he noticed the wrinkle between her eyebrows

"So we probably aren't going to make it to church?' Garcia asked. They hadn't even exchanged pleasantries. What was she going to do if she was stuck in the car with him. She was planning on at least an hour at church to get herself collected and maybe get God on her side.

"We could pull off at the next exit and get breakfast," Luke suggested. If they got food he could sit across from her and she couldn't accuse him of staring. They could talk about whether he had to set his mom straight about Garcia or introduce her to Garcia. As far as he was concerned, there was no in between.

Garcia agreed, and they made it to an exit five minutes later. They pulled into the first restaurant they saw and Luke helped her out of the car. They slid into a booth and ordered their food. When they no longer had the menus as excuses, Luke decided the silence had to end.

"You know, I don't think I've ever been in a waffle house when the sun was out."

Garcia's laugh was like a startled bark. "I have, but I don't think I've ever been in one when I was sober."

The thin layer of ice that had settled over their bickering was broken, and the conversation flowed again. They ate their waffles while joking, and it was almost as if that moment from a few days ago had been erased.

But Luke didn't want to let it just fade into oblivion. They had come so far, and he couldn't just let that growth stop- not until it couldn't grow anymore, and he wasn't sure that would ever happen.

So he asked her. "Are we gonna talk about it?"

She paused for a moment before setting her for down, waffle still intact. Her voice was calm and measured. "Talk about what?"

He leaned forward, letting his forearms rest on the table. He looked like he was getting ready to interrogate a suspect. "Did what my mom say make you uncomfortable"

Despite her best efforts, she blushed. "Nothing makes me uncomfortable, Alvez, I'm unflinching. You should know that by now."

Luke doubled down on his advances. "Would you flinch if I told you that, me being her only son, my ma has probably got half our wedding planned already?"

"Only half?"

"She's a perfectionist. She takes her time."

There was a lull in the conversation, then, while each waited for the other to say something.

Penelope broke the silence, "We can't."

Luke sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why?"

"We work together!"

"So? It's not like you're my boss! And you don't work in the field, so it's not like we'll distract each other; no more than usual anyways."

Another stretch of silence and then, "Fine."

Luke stared at her, eyes wide. "Yeah?"

Penelope held up a single finger to stop him, "On a probationary basis."

He feigned seriousness, "Of course."

"And you're paying for breakfast."

"I was planning on it."

Garcia looked his smug, handsome face and tried to tell herself she would regret what she'd just agree, but she didn't believe.

"And," she said, "after you bring me back to my apartment, you may kiss me."

"Inside?"

"On the doorstep."

"Tongue?"

"We'll see."

It's done for real this time, guys! I only wrote a second chapter for the people that requested it. I've got a whole list of other Garvez stories to write.