"Crap, crap, crap!"
JJ looked up from working on paperwork in the round table room to find Penelope frantically searching around on the ground, oblivious to JJ's presence. Cocking an eyebrow, JJ observed her friend and coughed a few times to get her attention. It had no effect and Penelope continued looking under objects in the room. She rose to her feet and began dislodging papers on the table, JJ cleared her throat.
"Garcie?" she said. "What're doin'?"
Still not looking up, Penelope at least acknowledged her existence, saying, "Can't talk now, JJ! We've got a meeting in –" She paused to look at the clock. " – ten minutes! One Strauss is coming to! If she finds them I'm dead!"
JJ stood. "What're you looking for?" she asked.
"I'm going to kill Morgan for talking me into this!" she grumbled, making her way from the table to the couch on the other side of the room. "It's the dumbest idea ever! Sure, it was fun in the moment, but when I can't find –" Her voice cut off immediately. There was only a few moments silence before her chattering resumed, both incessantly and incoherent.
Now frustrated that she couldn't get a straight word, JJ stood in front of the still babbling Penelope. Putting both hands firmly on her shoulders, she forced her to meet her eyes. "Garcia, calm down. What're you so worried about?"
"JJ, this is bad!" she whined. "If Strauss finds out what Derek and I were doing –"
A swift knock on the door stopped her and the rest of the team, along with Erin Strauss walked in. Hotch fixed them with his classic stern look. "JJ, Garcia," he said. "We're ready to start."
Penelope's face went white. "But we're not supposed to for another ten minutes!" she cried.
Hotch cocked an eyebrow at her. "Is there a problem?"
Mutely, she shook her head and squeaked, "No."
"Excellent," Hotch said, gesturing to the table. "Everyone, let's get started. Chief Strauss has a busy day and we're only one part of it."
Morgan started for Penelope's side and shot her a concerned look which she quickly dismissed with a sharp glare. JJ sat on her other side and kept studying her, but was still able to come up with nothing on what was bugging her.
When she heard Strauss' sharp shriek and turned to see what it was, she understood.
"Who does this belong to?" Strauss asked angrily, pointing at the chair she had pulled out to sit in.
Instead of white, Penelope's face turned hot pink and she stood up to grab the lacy red thong Strauss had been pointing to and shove it in the pocket of her dress. "M-mine," she mumbled, flustered.
Strauss stared at her dubiously with a gaping mouth while Rossi tried hard not to burst into laughter. Embarrassed, Penelope planted herself back down next to a shamelessly grinning Morgan and chirped, "Well, shall we get started?"