The great child chase (Reasons Garcia should not be allowed to watch her cousin at work)

[Penelope Garcia]

Oh, that boy.

I go to debrief for ten minutes and now I can't find him, Penelope
Garcia thought, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head
slowly, forcing herself not to be distracted by the
new bright blue streak that had been slipped into her blond locks just that morning.

Find Chris, then you can go be distracted by the pretty blue thing, she
told herself,flopping down in her desk chair and attempting to think of
every place that he could be.

"Start with the desks," she muttered. He'd hidden there before, but somehow it didn't seem likely that he was hiding under Morgan's desk like he usually was.

Stepping through the glass door that separated the bullpen from the debriefing room, she put her hands over her mouth, took a deep breath in and prepared to do her best "Christopher Hayden Carter you get over here this instant" yell.

The only sound that came out was a strangled yelp as something brushed past her legs and made her jump.

"Jeez," she panted, whirling on whoever had made her jump.

[Chris Carter]

Chris giggled as he heard his cousin's mutter. He loved coming to the BAU when she was working, simply because she paid more attention to him than his parents did most of the time. Grinning as he saw her in the bullpen finally, he ran over to her and nearly bumped into his cousin, skidding away at the last second and bumping into the desk she'd been in front of.

"Oww," he complained as he rubbed his head, looking up at his cousin who he considered to be like a big sis or aunt. "Penny," he said accusingly, "You made my head hurt."

[Penelope Garcia]

Garcia huffed, all her worries evaporating as she reached down to pat Chris' head. "I'm sorry honey," she said, crouching down as best she could in her five inch heels and smiling at him. "What'cha been up to, little man?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Exploring?"

She adored Chris, and she knew his parents didn't pay him much attention, but sometimes chasing him was more of a job than tracking down all kinds of nasty things and people for her teammates. Add his friend Alexander to the equation, and you had a seriously frazzled Penelope Garcia, as Spencer wasn't often around to help with the child-chasing.

[Chris Carter]

Crossing his arms with a pout as his head was patted, he immediately forgave her when she crouched down to be at his height simply because she was one of very very few to now just look down at him all the time. He hated being short and he couldn't wait to grow up just to be tall. He blinked owlishly at her for a few seconds before grinning. "I found a bunny earlier!" he chimed, "but one of the grown ups took him back before I could name him properly." Chris always knew the second he named something, it would always be his. His parents always let him anyways.

"Penny, I'm hungry. Can we eat now?" he asked her matter-of-factly and looked at her expectantly.

[Penelope Garcia]

"A bunny?" Garcia asked, eyebrows almost disappearing into her bangs. "How far did you have to go to find a bunny?"

The only place she could think of where he would be able to find a Rabbit would be the science department, or the pet shop, two blocks over. His parents will kill me if he went to the pet shop, she thought, putting a hand on his shoulder and nodding.

"Sure thing. Shall we check out the cafeteria?"

[Chris Carter]

Chris nodded proudly. "Downstairs. Cause there were lots and lots of bunnies for some reason and then this man said --" he proudly related the new cuss word he had discovered from the man in nothing more than a whisper before continuing. "He wouldn't let me keep the bunny though." He sulked at that.

The little boy nodded eagerly at the prospect of yummy chocolate pudding awaiting for him downstairs and he eagerly took hold of his cousin's hand and practically dragged her to the staircase that led them downstairs, having no desire to face the --he shuddered-- monster that he knew gobbled up people.

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