I do not own Criminal Minds nor any of the characters.

It took Penelope several minutes to stop staring after the elevator with her mouth gaping open, before she could remember that she was at work and needed to get started on some research about the case. But how could she possibly focus on her job after that?! He had just kissed her! And it wasn't any old ordinary kiss. Not by a long shot. This was an earth shattering, knee quaking, life changing kiss. And she didn't even have the time to think about it and all that it could mean because she needed to get to work. She needed to help them put an end to this case so that he would come home to her sooner and all in one piece. Mostly so that they could talk about that kiss.

She finally was able to walk again about five minutes after the team had left and she made her way back to her office. Her brain was running faster than she thought possible, and her thoughts began to betray her as the realization hit: He was just playing his part. He knew Derek was there. It was all for show. It means nothing. Realizing this brought her quickly back down to earth. Maybe too quickly. She was devastated by the idea that that kiss could have possibly meant nothing to him. That kiss had changed her. And it probably hadn't done anything to him. She thought back to him after the kiss. While she had been in her shell shocked state, he had been aware enough to hear the ding of the elevator arriving, something of which she had been completely unaware. He also was able to adjust back to the real world after the kiss, rejoining the team as if nothing had happened. He seemed to not have been at all impacted by the kiss. It must have meant nothing to him. Nothing. She couldn't believe that she had let herself get so wrapped up in a kiss that didn't even matter. And it shouldn't matter to her, either. The whole point of this was to get Derek to notice her. Well, it's definitely working, she thought. The look on Derek's face as the elevator doors had shut behind the team said it all. He was angry. Angrier than she had ever seen him. Angrier than he looks when he's taking down an unsub. At least the plan is working, even if it's not going exactly the way I wanted it to.

She didn't have much time to continue her ponderings before she was being conferenced in to the team on the plane. It was good for her to switch back to work mode. Less time to be thinking about all of the things she really didn't want to be thinking about right now. She could tell by looking around the plane that there was a great deal of awkwardness from the group. Ordinarily, they'd be taking this time to go over the case, establish a preliminary profile, and start figuring out their first steps upon arrival, but right now, there was just silence on the plane. Everyone was visibly tense, making Penelope worry even more about what the fallout had been after they had left her.

"Hey, everyone, I have some updates," Penelope spoke, startling a few of the team members. "I'm sending everything to your tablets, but this one's starting to look like a doozy. Stay safe, everyone." She ended the conference call faster than she ever had before. Partially because she hated the tension that she had in some way caused, and because she couldn't face Rossi or Derek right now. She decided that she needed to get out of the office. Maybe take the rest of the case off. She never took time off work, and that need to run away came back to her because of all of this conflict emerging. Deciding quickly, Penelope made a call and scheduled a flight to take her away, even if it was just briefly. She needed a quick escape. Maybe forever. She wasn't sure yet. Calling Kevin, she asked him to take over for her and help out the team in her absence, before she packed up her things and headed home to get ready for her vacation.

Boise, Idaho

"We'll have to get Garcia to do some digging on this before we can draw any conclusions," Hotch spoke to the team gathered in a small conference room in the Boise Police Station while dialing Penelope's number. When a man answered, Hotch removed the phone from his face, making sure that he had called the right number.

"Hello? Who am I speaking to?"

"This is Kevin Lynch."

"Oh, Lynch, sorry, I didn't recognize your voice. We have a bad signal here. Can you put Garcia on the phone?"

"Oh, Agent Hotchner, I assumed that she had told you. She's on vacation for a few weeks. I'm filling in for her in the meantime."

"I'm sorry, she's what?"

"She's on vacation. She didn't say where she was going, but-"

"Lynch, I'm going to need to call you back," Hotch stated before hanging up the phone and dialing Penelope's cell phone number.

"Hi, you've reached the voicemail of the amazing Penelope Garcia. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but if I deem you worthy, I shall return your call."

After the beep, Hotch spoke in a more aggressive tone than most of the team had heard from him in a while. "Penelope, I don't know what you're playing at, but you need to get your ass back to work. Your team needs you. Your family needs you. I don't know what's going on here, but if I don't hear back from you in the next hour, I will be sending a team to find you."

"Hotch, what's going on?" Reid was the first to speak up, having paid attention to all that had happened, unlike most of his coworkers, who were focused on their case files and avoiding eye contact with each other.

"Penelope's gone."