Walking into the FBI wasn't an easy task if you weren't an employee or working directly with them. There are several check points and bureaucratic hoops to jump through. The good news for Lilian Marshall was that she was on the list of preapproved visitors. Of course that is only after all of the screenings have been completed.

Lilian stepped through the metal detector and was patted down; another guard handed her back her purse after it went through the security scanner. "Thank you." She said as she took it back into her hands.

"You need to head over there now." The guard pointed her to a desk ten feet away, located next to the elevator. An older lady, wearing a headset, was typing on her computer's keyboard. She stopped and looked up at Lilian. "Hello, ma'am. How can I assist you?" She said politely.

"Hi, I am here to see SSA Aaron Hotchner." Lilian anticipated the next steps. "My name is Lilian Marshall, and here is my ID." She handed over her driver's license. The lady looked up Lilian's information, verified that she was approved by SSA Hotchner, processed a visitors badge and handed it to her. Lilian was then directed to the elevator.

She walked onto the elevator, pushed the button to the sixth floor and waited for the doors to close. "Hold the elevator! I'm coming!" Penelope Garcia said, doing the best she could to run to the closing metal doors while wearing purple, platform shoes. She had two bags over her shoulder, held a stack of folders in one hand and a to-go coffee cup in the other. "Hi, thanks!"

"What floor?" Lilian asked, standing next to the row of buttons.

Garcia looked at the glowing number six on the panel. "Six, but I can see we are going to the same place." The folders that she was holding started to slip out of her grasp.

Lilian quickly went to grab them before they fell. "Here, let me help you." Garcia smiled back at her, graciously. The elevator slightly shook as it stopped; the doors opened to their destination. Both women stepped out into the foyer. "Would you like me to help you to where you need to go?"

"Oh, that's so kind of you, but I will manage." She said while taking the files back. "Can I help you get where you need to go?"

"Thanks, but I'm good." She paused, "unless Aaron Hotchner moved his office to a different location."

Garcia's smile dropped from her face and turned into concern. "You're here to see Hotch?" Lilian nodded in response. "Oh… um…" Garcia stuttered. "He is in the same office."

Lilian smiled back at her. "Thank you. It's Penelope, right?" Garcia was stunned. A thought of this woman being a psychic crossed her mind. Lilian smirked, "Aaron has told me about you."

"Oh." Garcia blinked. "He has?"

Lilian smiled as she nodded. "Well, it was very nice meeting you." Lilian walked into the bullpen to see a throng of desks, and people moving about. Dr. Reid was sitting at his desk when he saw her walk in. She looked to the left, walked toward the staircase and headed to Hotch's office. She tapped on his open office door. Aaron was sitting at his desk with mountains of files and papers stacked all over it. He looked up to see his friend standing the doorway.

"Lily!" he exclaimed with a smile on his face. He dropped his pen on top of the report he was writing in; got up and hugged her. "Come in." He shut the door then returned to his seat. He motioned for her to sit in the empty chair in front of his desk.

Dr. Reid silently observed their interaction. Agent Prentiss sat down on the corner of his desk, "Who just went into Hotch's office?"

"I don't know." Spencer responded while keeping his eyes on them. "It was obvious that he knows her. I think I even saw him smile."

"Wow." Prentiss remarked. "You think maybe a girlfriend?"

Reid shook his head. "No, Hotch wouldn't date someone that much younger than he is."

Hotch leaned forward in his chair. "It is so good to see you. I am sorry that I haven't been able to meet up the last few times. Work has kept me pretty busy."

"Oh, I understand. It comes with the job."

"Jack really misses you, too." He started to let out a chuckle. "He wanted to know the next time you go to France so you can bring him some real French fries."

Lily joined in the laughter. "Oh, I love it! You need to write that down!" She closed her eyes then opened them. She stared at the picture of Jack on the bookshelf behind Hotch's desk. Her smile started to fade.

He looked at her, noticing her sudden attitude change. He slowly moved his head as he analyzed her playing with her ring with her other fingers. "What's wrong?" He immediately turned back into SSA Hotchner.

"How do you know if someone is stalking you?" She asked in a sober tone.

"Have you seen someone following you?"

Lily sighed, "That's why I'm asking. I don't know. It started a few weeks ago, after I returned from Rome. I started to feel that someone was following me. I can't describe it. Anywhere I went, the store, drycleaners, pharmacy, I felt like I was being watched. Aaron, it was a bad enough feeling that I stopped going for my daily run."

"That's good of you to stop that if you felt in danger. Why didn't you contact me sooner?"

"I was going to, but it was when you wrote me that email that you were going to be in Seattle longer than you had expected and we wouldn't be able to do dinner. So I went to the police."

"And what happened there?"

"They seemed understanding, but said there wasn't nothing they could do based off of a hunch. And pretty much had to wait until something happened."

Hotch nodded. "Unfortunately, that is standard procedure." He responded showing his concern. He fixated on her green cow eyes and sighed. "Have you been seeing someone recently? Maybe a bad break-up?"

"No, nothing like that. I haven't had time, been traveling too much. I don't have a clue as to who could be doing this… if there is actually someone and I'm not imagining it."

"I am sure you aren't imagining it. I would love to be able to put you in a safe house until we could solve this. However, we are only able to do something like that if someone's life was immediate danger. I am unable to justify this as a new case."

Lily sat forward in her chair. "Oh, I'm not asking for you for that or for you to pull strings. I just wanted to come to my friend, Aaron, and ask him his opinion."

"You're going to come stay with me."

"What?" She was taken aback.

"Sad news is that Jack is away for the weekend, but I am sure he would love that you come over for a visit. At least you will be safe there."

Lily smiled. "Thank you, Aaron. And who knows, maybe after a few days the nervous feeling will go away."

Hotch stood up out of his chair. "So, it's a plan." He walked around his desk toward her. "I want you to go home and pack a bag. I will have an agent meet you at your place and escort you to my apartment."

Lily stood up and hugged her friend. They both walked to his office door; he opened it. "Wait here." He said as he put up his hand in front of her. He looked around the cluster of desks until the person he wanted caught his eye. "Anderson." Hotch called; turned to Lily. "This is Agent Anderson. He will be the one escorting you."

"Thank you." She said softly as she walked past Aaron and swiped his arm with her hand. She headed down the staircase and toward the elevator. Hotch pulled Anderson into his office to explain the situation.

Lily walked past Prentiss and Reid, as they tried to pretend they hadn't been staring at her the entire time. She entered the foyer and pressed the button to go back down to the lobby. As the elevator door opened, she noticed a familiar face. "Hello, Agent Rossi." She smiled.

He looked up at her while still inside the elevator car and smiled back. "Hello, Lily." As they swapped places, he put his hand on the side of the archway to keep the doors from closing. "So, was Rome everything I said it would be?"

"And more." She giggled as he let the door close.

Rossi turned to see Reid and Prentiss peeking through the door's window. "Shouldn't you two be working?" He asked.

"So, you know her too?" Prentiss asked.

Rossi stared at them. "Yes I do." Then walked past them toward the staircase.

"Who is she?" Reid asked.

Rossi stopped, turned around to the two nosy bodies. "She is a friend of Hotch's"

"Uh, yeah, we figured that." Prentiss said.

Reid smirked. "We are just curious about someone who can make Hotch smile."

"Then I suggest you ask Hotch." Rossi turned back toward the staircase. Reid and Prentiss looked up to see Hotch staring at them from the top of the stairs.

"Well..." Emily slapped her hands together. "Gotta get back to work." They both went back to their desks.

Rossi stopped next to Hotch. "What was Lily doing here? Everything okay?"

"Why don't you come into my office; I will fill you in."

Hotch and Rossi walked into Penelope's office. "Garcia, are you working on something right now?" Hotch asked.

"Nothing important, sir." She closed the window she was in. "Do we have a new case?"

"There is something we would like you to look into for us." Rossi directed.

"Of course... I am at your disposal."

"I need you to look into any stalking cases of women in the Virginia area."

Garcia turned to Hotch. "It might help if I could get particulars of the people being stalked, in case I need to narrow it down."

Hotch closed his eyes for a moment. "Woman, in her thirties, brunette, physically fit."

"I'll do all that I can, sir."

"I will also need you to look into the life of someone. See if you can find anyone who could be following her." Hotch watched as Garcia's sparkly pen wiggled around as she was taking notes. "Her name is Lilian Rose Marshall. Thanks, Garcia." Hotch turned and quickly left the office leaving Rossi behind.

She turned to him. "Is Hotch okay?"

"He will be." Rossi said reassuringly.

Garcia turned to her computer and typed in Lily's name. Her picture popped up then several other windows of information. Garcia instantly recognized her from the elevator this morning. "Oh no."

Rossi's eyes opened wide. "What is it?"

"I met her this morning. She was so sweet to me." She paused. "Oh that must be why she came to see Hotch."

Rossi put his hand on her shoulder. "Remember, this is to stay between us."

"Got it." She replied, then started to type frantically.

"Hey Garcia." Prentiss called as she walked into her office.

Garcia pushed a button on her keyboard and all of the windows on her screen closed. She quickly turned around in her chair, obviously distracted. "What can I help you with?"

"Oh... you look busy." She paused waiting for Garcia to tell her what she is doing. But the explanation didn't come. "I, uh, just wanted to give you the file from the last case."

Garcia took the folder from Prentiss' hands. "Great. Thank you." She stared at her, still not wavering.

Prentiss looked concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Garcia sighed. "I'm sorry, Emily, I am under orders. I can't discuss it."

"Okay." She said reluctantly. "If you need anything, please let me know."