They'd been keeping their relationship confined to hotel rooms and rendezvouses. But this last case had been awful on them, and Erin knew she had to comfort Dave when he came home, she wanted to be there for him, hold him, and let him work out his anger and grief. She had known that this was perilously close to throwing caution to the wind, and that it could very easily drive her to drink once more. But she didn't care, she was falling in love with him.
Erin had just about fallen asleep on the sofa when she heard the door from the garage open, and then his footsteps on the floor. Standing, she shook off the vestigial tendrils of sleep and made her way to the kitchen. She reached out and flipped on the light switch, only to see him locked in a passionate embrace with a thin blonde. As she gasped, they broke apart and she looked into the shocked eyes of Agent Jareau. "Chief Strauss!"
"I guess you don't need me to comfort you, David. Have a good evening." Refusing to give in to her tears in front of them, she grabbed her purse and fled the house. The cravings hit her before she even made it out of the driveway and she gripped the wheel of her car tighter, refusing to give in and head to the closest bar. She headed to the only place where she knew she would be safe, her office.
Parking in the garage, she swiped her id card and strode over to the elevators. As she pressed the six button, she heard her phone ring. She had to dig through her purse to find the damn thing and by the time she pulled it out, the caller had gone to voicemail. Looking at the display, she saw it had been Dave and she burst into tears, unable to hold them in any longer. She didn't want to listen to anything he had to say, and she thrust the phone back into her purse.
The doors opened and Erin stumbled out, hoping that the late hour would have seen everyone heading for home. Oh, she knew there were always a few agents milling around, eager to protect others from the dangers of the night, but they would take no notice of a distraught woman. Or at least she hoped so. Keeping her head down, she headed towards her office, only to run into a warm body.
"Chief Strauss?"
Oh God, it's Penelope. She won't leave this alone. I have to answer her, she thought as she looked up into a pair of concerned brown eyes. "Yes, Ms. Garcia?"
"Are you heading to your office?" She nodded. "Good, I have a few questions." She steered her towards the door, shielding her from the few people they passed. Erin pulled out her keys and with a shaky hand she unlocked her door. Penelope left the lights in the outer office off and by feel, she opened her inner office door.
"The couch is on the left, in the corner," she said lowly, and they turned in that direction. Erin sat heavily and curled into a ball, beginning to sob. Tender hands wiped the tears from her face, and then pulled her into a warm, sheltering embrace. "I thought we were exclusive," she managed to choke out. "And I want a glass of whiskey so badly."
"One, you do not need the alcohol, it would reset, what, almost two hundred days of progress. And two, Rossi's cheating on you?" Erin nodded against the woman's chest. "I hope he enjoyed all those years of stellar credit, because they are now over. Do you know who he's screwing around on you with?"
Erin shook her head, knowing she couldn't reveal what she'd seen. There was a little boy's family at stake and she wouldn't do that him. "No. And please, don't do anything to him. I guess I just made a mistake and let my heart get tangled up with the wrong person." Penelope didn't let go of her, and she burrowed into the warmth she offered, her body colder than ice. "I thought I was falling in love with him."
As the other woman stroked her hair, she heard voices in her outer office. "Maybe she didn't come here, Dave. Maybe she went home or to a bar. This was more than enough to test anyone's sobriety." Erin hissed as Penelope's hands tightened roughly on a hank of her hair.
"No, cara, she would have headed here. This is her safe space, she's told me that before. I knew we were playing with fire, but I never expected us to get caught."
"What if she tells Will?"
"I'll make sure she keeps her mouth shut." Erin drew in a breath and Penelope clapped a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. "Erin? Are you in there?" She struggled to control her breathing, thankful that Penelope was keeping her from speaking out. "Maybe she went down to the firing range."
The footsteps left the room and Penelope let go of her. "You were protecting her. Why?"
"Henry." It was all she could say and she felt the other woman cup her face gently.
"Let's head up to my office. They'll be back once they know you're not shooting out your anger." They stood and she let Penelope wrap an arm around her waist, guiding her into the bullpen and up the infamous tech cave. As soon as the door was closed, Erin was pulled into a loving embrace and she broke down once more.
"I have to make sure that Henry isn't hurt by this. In the end, my feelings don't matter, keeping him in a stable home does. It's up to them to tell Will what they're doing. Please say you understand that."
Penelope guided her over to her own sofa and settled her down there. "I do understand that. I just wish it hadn't taken breaking your heart to see your selfless side."
"Me, too." Erin felt the beginnings of a horrendous headache and unconsciously nuzzled into the other woman, yawning deeply.
"Go to sleep, Erin. I'll keep them away from you."
"How?"
"I can lock anyone out of this office, if I so choose. There's access to a lot of sensitive data that I look at every day and, well, no one should be able to even accidentally see it."
She nodded and stretched out on the couch, kicking her pumps off onto the floor before curling her legs up to fit. She felt a warm blanket come to rest over her and she looked up into Penelope's eyes once more. "Thank you."
She smiled down on her and then knelt down. "You are more than welcome." Without warning, she tweaked her nose and Erin couldn't stop the smile that came to her lips. "That's what I like to see. If you don't mind, I'm going to kiss your forehead now. My momma always did that to make me feel better after I'd been on a crying jag."
Her lips were rose petal soft against her forehead and Erin sighed a little. Reaching out, she took hold of Penelope's hand, squeezing tightly. "I still want that whiskey."
"And I still want you to keep your sobriety. Sleep now, things will look clearer, later." Erin nodded as she closed her eyes, letting sleep steal over her.
A few hours later, she woke up to the sound of someone pounding on the door. "Baby Girl, let me in! What is going on?" Looking around the room, she found Penelope asleep on the floor next to her. Carefully, she got up without disturbing the sleeping woman and made her way to the door.
"Can I help you, Agent Morgan?" she asked, certain she looked a mess, but not really caring. His eyes widened in surprise and he drew in a deep breath. "Penelope is sleeping right now. Is there anything I can do?"
"No, Ma'am. But, are you okay? Do you need me to get Rossi?"
She shrank back and shook her head violently. "No, no, I'll be fine. Don't let him know I'm here, okay? Please?"
Morgan nodded and stepped inside the door, closing it behind him. "What is going on, Erin? You look like Hell."
She laughed mirthlessly. "That's exactly how I feel. I guess you could say that David and I broke up last night. I'm hiding out in Penelope's office, since she can lock out the world, and lock me away from the sweet siren's call of alcohol. I'm hanging on by a thread, Derek."
"Then no one will know you're in here. But, it's close to ten, and we have a new case to brief. What should I tell Hotch and the others?"
"Tell them that she obviously had a very late night last night, after that case you closed. Tell them she's sleeping right now, and that if they need anything technical, they can use another analyst, like Mr. Lynch. Tell them she's taking a personal day."
"And what about you, Erin?"
"Take the team out to lunch today, after you brief the case. When you get there, text Penelope and let her know so that I can go home and take a shower."
"She's going with you."
"I can take care of myself, Derek. I'm a grown woman of fifty."
"Who is also, by her own admission, craving alcohol right now. I know how hard you've worked to get this far, Erin. While I know you have to be a bit of a hard-ass here at work, I also know that you pour out a double measure for yourself." She cocked her head and smiled bemusedly. "So, my Baby Girl is going to take you home at noon and you are going to spend an afternoon doing whatever it is you women do to feel better."
"That sounds wonderful, Sugar." They both turned to look at Penelope, and she came up to them, resting an arm around Erin's waist. The casual familiarity was still not something she was accustomed to, but she didn't pull away. "Now, go get that case briefed while I work on making us presentable enough to scoot out of here."
He nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. "Penelope…"
"Before you argue with us, listen. Rossi came back last night, trying to get me to track you down. I said that I would, but my fingers were crossed, so it totally didn't count, but he smells blood. We need to talk about last night and what you saw and what we heard. I'm Henry's godmother."
Erin could only shrug, trying not to cry again. "I know." She turned into Penelope and let the woman wrap her in a tight hug. Knowing she was safe here allowed her to lower her walls just a little, and rubbed her face in the other woman's shoulder. "So, ninety minutes until we're sprung from here." She pulled away from Penelope and took a seat on the sofa once more. "So, I went over to his house last night, to welcome him home, help him forget that awful case. We hadn't spent the night in our homes yet, it would have been the first time. I heard him come home and went to greet him when I saw him k-kissing Agent Jareau. I fled, and before I even started the car, I was craving. I came here and you found me. And then we heard that awful conversation."
"So where do we go from here?"
"An afternoon where we do whatever it is women do to feel better."