A/N: One way or the other I kinda set myself involuntarily a challenge with this story. The story starts a bit ... unusual


Penelope loved Esther. She was her first car ever and even made the long journey from the West Coast to the East Coast for her when Penelope was forced to relocate. It was maybe not always the most reliable car out there, but she'd had Esther for such a long time now that in a weird way her car felt like part of the family by now.

A part that could get her into a heap of trouble and even higher bills to pay.

Bills she wasn't really sure she wanted to pay. Or how she was going to pay them. Like that bill from her mechanic that ranked in a few good thousand dollars just for something that she was told would be a 'routine' job. A routine job that left her with a few thousand dollars she wasn't entirely sure how to cough up, when a few months ago she spent quite a high amount in money for her upcoming vacation. To Mexico. With Kevin. A vacation that was non-refundable and about which Kevin complained every given moment.

And if the bill from her mechanic wasn't already bad enough, there was another issue she had to take care of as well. A few weeks ago, after a rather long – as a matter of fact never ending – week, too many coffees and too little sleep, she had fallen asleep on her way back home. It had already been late and the streets had been more or less empty. She came into the oncoming traffic and hit a car. No one got hurt fortunately but it was a total write-off for the guy she hit and Esther took a bad beating as well. Her insurance company informed her just days after that incident that they would not pay for the damage caused, since it for whatever reason fell into a category not covered by her contract.

That left Penelope with the bill of another several thousand dollars and no idea what to do next.

She knew she technically could always ask her friends for help, but didn't feel too comfortable with the idea. She was 35 for heaven's sake, one would assume she'd be able to take care of her life by now. So she decided to go and find solutions that would make it possible to pay off these bills. And maybe get a new car that wouldn't cost her half her savings – if she had any for that matter.

A few weeks without luck and several unpleasant looking envelopes later Penelope had to admit she had run out of options. She was certain that selling her stuff on Ebay would not get her the hoped for amount anytime soon and she certainly did not have the time for a second job – not with the irregular and suddenly coming up hours she could be asked to do when a case came up.

"What's gotten you so sad this morning, Baby Girl?" Morgan started to wonder after a few days.

"Nothing – just … didn't sleep too well," she answered. And technically it wasn't even a lie, she really hadn't slept well lately.

"Aww… what's keeping my baby up at night?" he asked, before adding with a wicked smile "Or should I rather ask who is keeping you up at night?"

"Not what you think," she simply smiled at him, taking the offered coffee cup from her best friend.

"Hm… maybe then that's why you are sleeping so badly then," he laughed and Penelope rolled her eyes at him. Sometimes Derek Morgan was impossible. Just when she was about to answer Hotch entered her office.

"Morgan, meeting in five. There are a few things I need to go over with all of you," he said and before his agent could even answer, Hotch already left again.

"Guess that is my cue to leave you all to yourself, goddess. How does lunch sound?" he asked, getting up from the edge of her desk, against which he had been leaning. Placing a soft kiss against her forehead he was out of her office, leaving Penelope all to herself.

"Hey, you forgot your newspaper," she shouted after him, but he was already out of earshot. She just rolled it up and was just about to put it between her screens when her eyes landed on the classifieds. And just like that she got an idea that would solve all her money issues in no time.