A/N: This story has about 26 chapters and I have to admit it is kind of my first try into case-fics - but probably not my last judging by the stories that are all laying around my hard drive. The main POV is from the team, so readers will pretty much know as much as them :) The first chapter is the 'pre-story', like a backflash really. I hope you enjoy...

She was in earlier than usual this morning. Nobody probably even noticed. For everyone else it was just another Monday morning. But for Penelope it was not. She had barely slept all night, throwing herself from one side of the bed to the other for several hours until she decided on giving up on all sleep altogether and eventually went to work. She knew it was most likely not the best idea, knew that her mind today would be all over the place except on work, but it gave her an excuse and maybe a needed distraction.

Entering her office, she got out of her coat and put her handbag and laptop bag on the desk, deciding she needed some coffee. Pouring herself a cup she saw light coming out from David Rossi's office. For a moment she hesitated, arguing with herself whether to go and see him, but in the end she felt that maybe he could somehow give her some advice. He was always open for whatever issues or matters someone had. So slowly she walked up towards his office, knocking softly against his ajar door and then stepped inside.

"Sir… I was wondering whether you would have a moment?" she asked cautiously when walking further into David Rossi's office.

She saw him huddling over a large stack of paper work, looking none too pleased at the moment.

"Is this in regards of a case?" he asked, looking somewhat hopeful at her.

And why he should look hopeful when there was more work for him Penelope didn't understand.

Warily she shook her head. "No, no sir, it is more a … private matter," she hesitantly answered, nearly a whisper. But Rossi just shook his head, holding up some file, or papers at closer look.

"These are the papers to make my fourth divorce final," he informed her and Penelope all of a sudden didn't have such a good feeling about this anymore. Up until now she didn't even know he had married for a fourth time. Now she also understood his look of hope when he had asked about a possible case.

"I'm afraid this as much personal stuff as I can handle at the moment," he answered, smiling somewhat apologetic at her.

She was certain if she would press the issue he would ask her to sit down and tell him what was on her mind, but figured that he more than enough personal issues at this moment for himself. He didn't need hers as well. Plus there were more members in this team who would probably be able to help her as good as David Rossi could.

"I understand, sir," she was quick in replying, slowly starting to walk backwards again and out of his office. But before closing the door behind her she turned around again and mumbled "Sorry about your marriage, Sir" and then she was gone, trying her luck with someone else.

Aaron Hotchner's door usually was as open as Rossi's, although that was more in a figurative way since the actual door was always closed. But Penelope knew if she needed someone she could always come to him.

"Sir, I was wondering whether you had a moment?" she asked, after entering with a knock.

She saw him on the phone, which stopped her in her tracks for a moment until he saw her and waved her further inside his office.

"No, I fully understand, ma'am," he spoke into the receiver and Penelope found that he sounded rather serious. More serious then usually – if that even was possible.

"Yes, ma'am, I certainly will pick him up right away …" she heard next, when seeing him get up slowly and then he hung up, sighing.

"Jack apparently got in a fight at his school. Can this wait, Penelope?" he asked, and was already half out of the door. A rhetorical question then.

"Of course, sir," she replied, but was almost certain he didn't hear her anymore.

She let out a sigh, before leaving Aaron Hotchner's office as well. So far both options she had hoped for didn't work. She knew Morgan wasn't in yet and Reid was off for visiting his mother.

Just when she was about to go to her office, she saw Emily walk through the door of the BAU.

"Emily, I was wondering whether I could talk to you about something?" she smiled warily at her friend, who looked anything but happy right now.

"You know who called me this morning at 7, Penelope?" she asked and saw her friend shaking her head. "My mother. To tell me that she expects me at my cousin Jasmine's weeding next weekend. You know what's worse than meeting my mother?" she kept asking at which Penelope once again shook her head.

"Seeing the whole family at a wedding of a family member. God, you know how often I will get to hear sentences like 'And when will you get married, Em?', 'Thinking of settling down, Emily?' or 'What about you? Anyone in your life right now?' They all just wait for me to answer to bombard me with another million questions about my private life," Emily answered cranky and Penelope felt this was not a good moment in approaching her friend with her problems.

That only left her for the moment with Derek, who would probably not be in for another hour. So taking her stuff she decided walking towards her office, her head hung low. She would try to get some work done then, before her friend would make it to work. He surely would have a minute to spare to listen to her, wouldn't he?

She knew Derek was her last option and she wasn't too keen on that. Over the last few months things between her and Morgan had been … cooling down to say the least. She couldn't really say why, but he had started dating some girl named Tanisha and they spent an awful lot of time together. It wasn't that this itself bothered her, or that she was jealous, but she rarely saw him by now anymore. When they had plans, he usually would end up canceling them last minute. It came to a point when Penelope decided to not even bother with asking anymore.

She didn't know what happened between the two of them, they just started drifting apart. They still talked, but it seemed less important stuff, small talk really.

And every time she came to his office over the past few weeks to drop by and talk to him it had been a rather strange atmosphere between the two of them. Somehow it felt like they stopped being friends and became colleagues along the way and Penelope hadn't figured out a way yet on how to stop this progress from going any further. Every try was effectively stopped – although rather unconscious she assumed – by him. Or a case came in between and then they postponed, but never managed to re-arrange something.

By the end of the day and after realizing that Morgan didn't have the time for her either, she decided that maybe some situations would need to be taken care of by oneself. Taking a long look at the bag which was resting on top of her bed and the airline ticket in her hand she realized that this was one of these situations. Her friends had their own problems to deal with right now, they didn't need Penelope's on top of it.