Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters associated with the show. However, the story plot and the occasional OCs are mine…

1.

Fredericksburg, Virginia: December 24th, 1992 – 20:15:34

Smiling broadly, a fifteen year old Penelope Garcia – the one and only teenager of the household – carefully picked up a stack of brand new porcelain plates from the kitchen counter, her fingers searching for a better grip on her load even as she rushed back into the family's dining room where she could hear her mother humming a Christmas tune as she worked on setting the dinner table for the Christmas Eve's dinner.

''Here you go mom…'', the young girl exclaimed breathily as soon as she deposited her load onto the table.

Smiling softly, Elizabeth Garcia leaned down to kiss her daughter's forehead, ''thank you, sweetheart''.

Grinning at the praise Penelope set out to help her set the table for dinner, mother and daughter chattering happily to each other – both of them quite oblivious to the excitement charged atmosphere – while at their task as this evening was very special to them: you see, it has been a year now since their move to Fredericksburg and this Christmas was going to be their first in the new home.

Sighing contentedly as the last finishing touches were added to the festively decorated table, Elizabeth knew it was perfect – all that was missing now was Penelope's father…or rather step-father: yes, Victor Garcia was not Penny's biological dad but the man loved the bright and sometimes downright quirky girl as if she were his own.

Be that as it may, Penelope – the ever curious girl that she is – harangued her mother from time to time with ceaseless questions about the identity of her real father but every single time Elizabeth would refuse to answer categorically and, with time, the young girl came to accept the fact that her Ma simply won't divulge any answers concerning this particular topic so she stopped asking. After all, she had Victor for a dad and he was really good at the role Lady Destiny threw at him all those years ago…and it wasn't all that much of a secret that Victor had always wanted a daughter, only to be tied down to a vicious hyena of a wife (now an ex-wife) at a tender age of 19 who'd over the years while they were still married birthed him four sons – all of them brats of unimaginable proportions if you bothered to ask Penelope, but no one ever did.

However, neither Penelope nor Elizabeth had seen Victor for the better part of the week now and that was some cause for concern as Christmas was only hours away but the both of them knew that that, of course, was because of his new job – for it was the same reason why they moved to Fredericksburg in the first place. Penelope had been quite saddened to leave her old home, school and friends behind when the time to move finally came because, even though she was still relatively too young to think that way, the young girl had known it wouldn't be easy to start everything from scratch in a place she'd only seen before as a little dot on a map.

But then she also knew that now that Victor had taken the promotion and was mostly settled into his new role, she was going to be getting more family time than before and that thought alone had her almost giddy with excitement.

Turning to look at her mother who seemed to be lost in her thoughts, Penelope chirped happily: ''Momma, do you know when dad's coming home?''

Elizabeth smiled warmly at her overexcited daughter as she swiftly tucked a stray strand of Penelope's unruly blonde hair back behind her ear: ''oh, he should be home any minute now darling. Why don't you go turn on the TV and chose something for us to watch while we wait for him, okay? I'll just put this away…'', she pointed a thumb over her shoulder and at an intricately carved wooden mahogany-colored box containing the rest of the antique silverware set she'd inherited from her late mother resting peacefully on one of the dinning table's chairs, ''…and join you in a second.''

Penelope nodded in agreement and humming the tune she heard her mother humming earlier in the evening, walked into the family room. Grabbing up the remote from the coffee table as sounds of her mother still bustling somewhere deep in the kitchen reached her ears, Penelope turned the TV on, skipping through the channels lazily until she found what she was looking for: the evening news.

Now, the majority of young people these days don't bother to watch them but Penelope absolutely loved it because, for someone who is as naturally curious and inquisitive as she is, it was one of the easier ways to gain access to the information she so thirsted for.

Needless to say, her parents were highly amused by this little quirk but then, other kids her age were into weird things too. At least this particular habit wasn't harming her or others and it never failed to entertain their girl.

As it were, just as Penelope gave her full attention to the live report from Washington, DC she heard the front door creak open. With a happy squeal she abandoned the TV and ran towards the slight noise with what could only be described as the speed of light.

''Daddy, you're home!'', she squeaked excitedly and a second later Victor Garcia found himself with an armful of Penelope, the young girl's arms wrapped tightly around his middle.

Chuckling, he hugged her back and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head: ''missed you too, Penny…''

And as a minute later a grinning Elizabeth joined them at the door, the Garcia family missed out on the latest news report, a report that could have made a huge difference in the events that were about to unravel…

''…and according to our sources, the serial killer – apptly dubbed as 'The Beast of North East' by the local Police department – is heading towards the DC area. We are strongly advising our viewers to make sure to lock their doors and windows and keep a watchful eye out for any suspicious looking strangers. Be safe and a happy Christmas Eve to you all…''

22/OCT/2016 - IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

This is what happened – I sat down to read 'R4YL' as I haven't done that before and found myself cringing…so badly in fact that I couldn't get past the third chapter, so I decided to give this story a major overhaul. Now, the plot will stay as is – if I'm being honest, I only want to work on the style this was written in and rewrite some of the most cringe-inducing-parts and maybe extend the story by a chapter or two as when I originally wrote this, I did so with the thought of a sequel in mind…which didn't happen seeing as how my muse ran away from me screaming bloody murder…so that means I will be working on the ending too. And who knows - maybe, by the time I'm done with this I'll be able to finally squeeze out the aforementioned sequel...

Reviews aren't a necessity but I would appreciate it if you'd let me know what you thought of the edited version.