Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.

~ para Lenika08 ~

Penelope Garcia liked perfume. In fact she owned quite a collection, the usual brand names, but also some more exclusive, limited stuff that was harder to get by. Lately, however, she had developed an interest in antique perfume bottles, dating back to the 19th and early 20th century.

The perfume in all of those bottles was long gone – a 1920 bottle with actual perfume in it was David Rossi's income level, not hers – but faint traces of their original content still lingered in most of them. Aside from that, they were plain beautiful: Her European bottles from the 1920's displayed lavish Art Deco styling, while the one from 1899 was adorned with hand-painted roses.

Sighing, she took her favorite 1920s bottle and weighed it in her hand. It was made of heavy dark green glass, pear shaped, with a silver floral pattern overlay. The antique dealer had told her it had once belonged to a cabaret dancer and Garcia sometimes opened the bottle, closed her eyes and imagined herself with beauty spot, thick red lipstick and bobbed hair, smoking cigarettes with a thin black holder while outside the audience was eagerly waiting.

Huh, her hidden side. Her BAU family would probably be surprised, should they get wind of her darker fantasies… she wouldn't mind letting Derek Morgan get a glimpse of it tonight, though. Alas, the perfume in the bottle was no more, and her challenge now was to choose from her regular ones the scent that would help best to turn this New Year's Eve into a truly new and auspicious beginning.

All fragrances she had ever worn when around Kevin were out of question. So was the rather subtle stuff she usually wore at the office. She was tired of waiting, tired of being patient. A year ago she would have never talked to Morgan as harshly as she had done in the bullpen yesterday – but so much had happened this year… the ordeal with the self-support group, poor Monica, who had spent her life waiting for her daughter… Monica's fate had made it crystal clear to her: She would not spent her life waiting.

On the other hand, she didn't want to put Derek off. Scents were such a strong biologic force; they subconsciously influenced all living beings… she had once seen a documentary about pheromones… So, which of her perfumes would get most likely what she wanted, would get her, dare she dream it, into Derek's arms? The new Japanese fragrance that had arrived only yesterday, or maybe the classic stuff she had started using back in the eighties? This was difficult! The mere thought of blundering now, after all that wishing and hoping…

Ah, but she knew someone who could surely give her scientifically-supported advice, probably even verified with a reference to a rarely known statistic or two. She speed-dialed Reid.

"I'd definitely go with the Japanese fragrance…atishoo… judging from its components…sniffle… " The conversation was interrupted for a moment by what sounded like a violent sneezing attack.

"Dr. Reid, are you sick?"

"Just a cold, don't worry." More sneezing.

Garcia immediately forgot all worries about fragrances. "You don't sound well at all – you should fix yourself a hot lemonade. And chicken soup! Don't you dare go outside, you're herewith banned to bed, give your little genius brain cells a chance to rest."

"Cooking chicken soup from bed would not only be dangerous, it is also spatially impossible. My bedroom and my kitchen are separated areas."

Jeez, he was actually meaning what he was saying. Every word in all seriousness. "Did you check your temperature?"

"I broke my thermometer last week, during an experiment. Had no time to replace it yet. Very interesting experiment, by the way. I took baking soda… ATISHOO…"

"That's it, Dr. Reid. I'm at your door in sixty minutes, tops."

She cut the connection before he could object or she could change her mind.

The next telephone call she had to make… it was hard… "I'm so sorry, Derek. It's not his fault – at this time of year it's almost impossible to escape all those little viruses around us…like spaceships attacking the death star… I bet even Vader would be sneezing under his helmet right now… talk about greatest force in the universe… And he's all alone…"

Morgan wasn't exactly happy about her decision. Garcia was pretty sure he grumbled something about Reid not being a baby right before he put down the phone.

Two hours later she had brought a protesting Reid to bed and emotionally blackmailed him into eating her chicken soup although he was not hungry. Little Lord Fauntleroy on the TV sent him off to sleep soon after and Garcia was preparing for a quiet turn of the year.

Just then her cell phone vibrated. A text message from Derek.

Open Reid's door.

Shocked, flabbergasted, astounded, all rolled into one, Garcia hurried to the entrance – there was Derek, carrying a grocery bag and a smile she'd almost have called shy.

"You're not angry with me?"

"Friendship is just another form of love, isn't it? And if love is the greatest force in the universe, who am I to go against it?"

For a moment they both stood very still. Then she rose on her tiptoes, stepped forward and brushed her lips against his. He slowly let the grocery bag slide to the floor, pulled her into his arms and deepened the kiss.

A very promising beginning indeed.