I take requests on tumblr, both from prompt lists and general requests, and I'm moving some of the shorter fics that come out of those over here too, since I know a lot of you aren't on tumblr. Loosely speaking, these are the Morgan/Garcia ones. Fair warning: they're not in any kind of chronological order and don't fit into the same timeline. I hope you enjoy, and reviews are always so appreciated :)

She's sitting in her office when it happens. Spinning a little on her chair, twirling her pen, smiling as his voice in her earpiece tells her she's wonderful. She starts to tell him she knows she is, and then there's a shot. Just as she processes that, there's another. "Derek," she says, panic clutching at her chest. "Derek? Can you hear me? What was – are you there?"

Nothing. Tears fill her eyes and spill over instantly, and she keeps the line open and does what she has to with the other – calls for an ambulance, gives them his location, then calls Hotch. She tells him what happened, sobs that he needs to tell her as soon as he knows what's going on. "I promise," he says evenly. "As soon as I know."

And he does – he calls to tell her Derek is in hospital, in surgery, and she can get on a flight ASAP. He's spoken to Strauss. She thanks him profusely, so many times he actually has to tell her to hang up and go to the airport, and she tries not to let herself acknowledge how bad it must be for Hotch to tell her to get on a flight…

She's lucky – she's able to get on a plane almost right away. He's still in surgery when she arrives, and she drops to a chair in the waiting room with JJ's arm around her shoulders. "We got the unsub," JJ explains, and Penelope nods – that's what Derek was telling her. What she doesn't know is how he managed to get himself shot after the case was over. "Gang member," JJ says, cutting straight to the point, her voice tense. "High, thought Derek was there for him. Locals got him."

Sobbing, she turns her face into JJ. Nobody is saying how bad it is and she can't find the words to ask, so she just sits there, terrified, JJ's hands making slow circles on her back.

When he's out of surgery, the doctor says they can see him, and Hotch lets Penelope go first, even squeezes her shoulder as she walks into the room. "Derek?" she whispers, as she gets closer to the bed. She sweeps her eyes over his heart rate monitor, numerous other things he's attached to that she can't identify… He opens his eyes and turns his head a fraction toward her. "Hi," she says softly, tears slipping down her cheeks as she closes her hand around his.

"Hey," he croaks, and she pours him a cup of water, holds the straw while he drinks. "What are you doing here?"

She smiles, cups his cheek with a gentle hand. "Somebody shot my best friend and knight in shining armour," she says softly, her voice cracking with tears. "You thought I'd stay in my cave?"

He smiles, brings a hand up to hold hers on his face and turns a little to kiss her palm. "I'm glad you're here," he tells her.

She wipes tears from her face with her sleeve. "I was so scared," she whispers. "I thought – when you didn't say anything, I…"

He nods, squeezes her hand. "I know. I'm sorry." She shakes her head and he squeezes again. "I went down thinking of you," he says softly, his eyes not quite on hers. "I could hear your voice. And I thought…" He closes his eyes and she mops up more tears. "Penelope?"

"Yeah?" she whispers, stroking his cheekbone with her thumb.

"I love you."

"I love you too," she says softly.

He nods, opens his eyes to meet hers, brings her hand back to his lips and kisses her knuckles, one by one, his eyes wide and searching and trusting. She can actually feel the realisation dawn across her face, the thought of him loving her like this sweeping joyously though her. "God, Derek, I love you."

She brings her other hand to his face, cups his jaw as she leans down slowly with a question in her eyes – his hand slides into her hair, brings her closer, and their lips meet softly, parted just enough that they breathe together. They both have tears in their eyes when she pulls back. "Penelope?"

"Yeah?"

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to do that more often."