Erin Strauss hated the first day of April with a passion. The last eight years had driven that point home with a vengeance. Last year, someone in the BAU had gotten into her office and rigged up a water balloon to drop on her when she opened the door. The year before that it had been her doorknob set to give her a shock the moment she touched it. Before then had been superglue on her keyboard, everything in her office switched around, and various other annoyances to her otherwise orderly life. She was certain this year would be no different and braced herself for what was about to come.
Nodding to her assistant, she cautiously opened her door, not knowing what to expect. When nothing happened, she felt her guard go up. Looking around the room, she noticed nothing out of place. Apprehension filled her and she gingerly touched both her chair and keyboard. Her hand came up clean and she released the breath she'd been holding.
Erin booted her computer up and gasped. Someone had made her background change from the waterfall picture it normally was to an obviously photoshopped picture of her in bed with another woman. The aching hurt turned quickly to anger. "Ms. Garcia," she hissed through clenched teeth. She was about to call her assistant when the woman came hurtling into the room, trepidation and anger on her face. "What's wrong Rachel?"
"Ma'am, you need to find out who's done this to you."
"Done what?"
"Sent that picture of you and another woman around the building. It was cc'ed to everyone here. I know it's been photoshopped, but will Director Shepperd? This is so out of hand this year."
Erin stared at Rachel blankly for a moment, trying to comprehend her words. "Bring Penelope Garcia to me, now!" Rachel smiled at the hostility evident in her voice and nodded furiously before turning on her heel and exiting the room. Once she had left, Erin gave in to her tears, burying her face in her hands. So focused was she on her shame and sorrow that she didn't hear her door open and close. It was only when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder that she looked up into the guilty face of Penelope Garcia.
"You wanted to see me, Ma'am?" she asked, looking concerned.
"Sit, please." Erin waited until her order had been followed before turning her monitor to face the technical analyst. "Explain this," she bit out, her voice controlled and low.
"April Fool's?" she replied, biting her lip nervously.
"Well, you got the fool part right. Why would you send something like this to the entire building?" Her eyes widened in shock and Erin watched the blood drain from her face.
"It was only supposed to go on your desktop, as a joke. Morgan told me it would not go any further than that. Oh Erin, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…" She broke down, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she sobbed. Wordlessly, Erin handed her the tissue box and she took some, wiping her eyes carefully. After a few minutes, she calmed down and looked into Erin's eyes. "I can fix this. Please, let me make this better before you fire me."
Erin stood and Penelope slid behind her desk, looking at the email. Her shoulders visibly relaxed after a few moments. "What is it?" Erin asked sharply.
"All of these addresses are spoofs, Ma'am, except for yours. This was just him taking the joke way too far. I'm so, so, sorry. Please, forgive me."
"Why do you care if I grant you forgiveness? You certainly didn't care if this joke would hurt me in the first place. You only apologized when you got caught. Forgiveness, like trust, is earned, and you have done nothing to earn it." She flinched from the anger in Erin's voice and nodded. "You're suspended for two weeks without pay. If I see you here before that time is up, you're fired. Now get out of my sight."
Penelope fairly fled the room, slamming the door behind her. Rachel came in minutes later and looked at her boss. "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Bring me the head of Derek Morgan?"
"Something that won't end with my arrest?"
"Bring him here to me, Rachel. I want to see him squirm." She nodded, a frigid smile on her lips. I've trained her well," Erin thought as she left the room. Her earlier sorrow was gone, replaced by a burning core of rage.
"You wanted to see me, Chief Strauss?" His voice dripped with arrogance and sarcasm, and Erin refused to look up from her computer screen and acknowledge him too quickly. "Chief Strauss?"
"Agent Morgan, your actions today are reprehensible at best. And then you pulled one of your friends in on your sick idea of a joke. Do you even realize this could have gotten her fired?" She looked up at him, pinning him with her steely blue eyes. "I think a four week suspension without pay will begin to atone for your sins. You may leave, now."
Erin looked back at her computer screen, dismissing him with her actions. "You won't get away with this, Ma'am. Hotch will see this doesn't stick."
"I highly doubt that, Agent Morgan. Hand over your credentials, I'll see you in a month." She held out her hand expectantly, not turning away from the screen. Morgan angrily threw them onto her desk before storming out.
After he'd gone, she switched her background to the waterfall. But all she could see, burned on her retina, was the picture of her. It disturbed her more than she could put a finger on. It wasn't the content; there was nothing wrong with two women being together. But to make a thing of beauty into a malicious joke, maybe that was the rub for her.
Time passed, albeit slowly, and after lunch, she had another visitor. "You suspended two members of my team, Erin? What's gotten under your skin now?" Agent Hotchner asked as he entered the office, a frown on his face.
"As I've said, time and again, your team is reckless. This little stunt Derek pulled today could very well have gotten him and Ms. Garcia fired had it reached Director Shepperd. Be glad I only gave them suspensions." She looked into his eyes and saw the confusion there. "I won't show you the picture, suffice it to say the scurrilous nature of it is enough to make you think of your team members differently."
"Penelope would never…"
"She's in love with Agent Morgan, that changes everything, and you know that. And before I decide to put the rest of your team on desk duty until Ms. Garcia gets back, you might want to head back to your office now." She arched her eyebrow, daring him to say more. He only nodded and turned on his heel, exiting the room.
Her concentration show, she shut down her system and got up from her desk. "Rachel, I'm going home early. If anything else happens, call me at once."
"Yes, Ma'am. I must say, you were really lenient with Ms. Garcia. If it had been me, she would have been gone after a stunt like this."
"The quality of mercy, Rachel. She was contrite, after all. Oh, and I left Agent Morgan's credentials on my desk. See to it that they're locked up, would you?"
"Certainly. Have a more pleasant evening, Ma'am."
Erin nodded and left the office, taking the stairs to work off some of her residual anger. Perhaps she had been a bit harsh with Penelope, but she had to be in this case. She had to realize there were consequences for her actions. But her mother's heart ached for the woman. The image of her tear-stained face would haunt her for the next few days, Erin was certain of that.
When she got home, Robert was already there, finishing up supper. "You're home early, darling." He kissed her sweetly and she melted into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Was it a rough day at the office?"
She laughed mirthlessly. "It's the first of April, what do you think, Rob?"
"That it might explain the flowers, then?"
"Flowers?"
"Yeah, I set them on top of the piano. Go take a look while I round the kids up." She nodded and moved into the living room, her eyes drawn to the arrangement atop the baby grand. It was effusive, gaudy almost, and had Penelope's hand written all over it. Hidden amongst the peonies, poppies, red carnations, and chrysanthemums was a single stem of purple hyacinth.
Erin pulled out the card, smiling slightly through the mist of tears in her eyes as she read Penelope's words. 'You're right, forgiveness is earned. Please accept these as a token of my contrition.' It was a dear gesture, and Erin felt her heart soften towards the woman even more. After all, it had been a hard six months on her, losing bot Agent Jareau and Agent Prentiss. And Agent Morgan could sweet talk a slug into eating salt when he used his considerable charm.
Sighing, she called her florist. "Hi, this is Erin Strauss. I need a bouquet of pink roses and white tulips delivered to Penelope Garcia. Yes, her address is in my file. Put on the card – 'Your token is accepted, Erin'. No, that will be all. I'd like it to be at her apartment tomorrow morning. Thank you." She hung up and went into the kitchen, finding the table set and her children smiling up at her. "Did you have a good day at school?" she asked after Robert had finished praying. A happy chatter filled the room and Erin lost herself in the mundane happenings of her family.
In the morning, she found herself happier than she'd been in a while. At work, she found Rachel behind her desk, typing furiously on a report. "Any call, Rachel?"
"No, Ma'am. It's been a quiet morning so far."
"That's what I like to hear." Erin went into her office and booted up her computer. She checked her email and found nothing of importance to deal with. Closing the program, she pulled out the evaluations she needed to work on and began to go over the files. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed icons moving around on her desktop and frowned slightly.
Then a dialogue box popped up on the screen. "Don't worry, Ma'am. I'm just cleaning up your computer a bit. This will make things run a lot smoother. Penelope." Erin's frown faded away and she relaxed into her chair. Once more, Penelope was trying to earn her forgiveness. What she didn't realize yet was that Erin had already granted it.
Biting the bullet, she called Penelope. "Hello, Ms. Garcia."
"Ma'am! I hope you didn't mind me invading your computer. The performance was really slow, and I fixed a few things to help you out. Thank you for the flowers. Do you mean them?"
"Yes. I'd like to invite you to my house for supper. There are some things we need to discuss."
"Certainly. What time would you like me to be there?"
"Around six."
"Can I bring anything? Wine, dessert?"
"IF you'd like to bring a bottle of Bordeaux, that would be fine."
"All right, I'll see you then. Oh, and Chief Strauss?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."