Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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'Why is my office the holding ground of most agents of the team?'

'Because you have working air con P.'

'Ahh... so our marriage is about my air con.' She teased as she worked. 'Knew it was a one way thing.'

'Hey! Mamma! It's not like that at all.' He teased and approached her. 'Just the air con's one of the added benefits.'

She turned around laughing. 'Does work not beckon you lot?'

'Not when there's air con!' JJ said lapping the cool air circulating her. 'Heat is an environmental factor of aggression... increased levels of heat mean angry co workers... do you want that for you and tadpole?'

'Me and tadpole will be just fine.' Penelope quipped back rubbing her stomach. 'Did you know overcrowding is another environmental factor of aggression?'

'Okay we get it!'

'I want to know when you two blondie's took Reid's place as the know it all's.'

'We've always been two know it all's but we just held back.' JJ joked as she stood. 'Brace yourself Prentiss and Morgan, this could get sweaty.'

'Can I just have 5 more minutes to just cool down.'

'Fair enough... you did come in after us.'

'Yeah Morgan's been in here the longest.'

'Which one?' Penelope quizzed. 'These two Morgan's here have been in this lovely cool room since about 8:30 this morning.' She teased as she sat in her chair nursing her stomach again.

'Don't rub it in!' JJ said leaving the room.

'Visit soon!' She called out and smiled as Morgan got down on his knees.

'I'll see you later baby girl...' He places a hand on her stomach. 'And daddy will see you later tad pole.' He said to her stomach and smiled as the baby kicked.

'Tadpole knows his or hers dad when he or she hears him.' Penelope smiled forgetting Emily was in the room watching on in awe at how soft Derek had actually gotten. 'Now get back.' She said running a hand over her head, he got up and kissed her before leaving slowly.

'What have you done to Derek Morgan?'

'What do you mean?'

'He's a big softie now!'

'Pregnancy.' Was all she said and resumed work. 'Not intentional, it's just happened over time...'

'Secret sharing, loving him unconditionally, no boundaries... I think that's why he is like he is now...' Emily commented and then heaved herself off the couch. 'It's a nice sight.... but you look after my niece or nephew yeah?'

'Still baking as we speak.' Penelope said happily as Emily smiled at her and left the room. In the course of an hour and Penelope was welcomed with the presence of everyone on the team including the boss', she knew it was because they had shoddy on the verge of breaking air con whereas she had state of the art ones for the purpose of good working order computers. She walked into the bull pen at lunch and noticed only JJ and Hotch were the only ones in the conference room, she went in and saw JJ was in evident turmoil over something.

'What's happened?' She said panicked.

'We were just going to call you.' He saw her begin to panic. 'It's a case, not Derek or the others.'

'Okay so what is it?'

'There's been anthrax outbreaks.'

'Where?'

'In Maryland... Prentiss and the guys have gone to check it out, it's too dangerous for us all to be out.' Penelope nodded. 'All precautions have been taken, we'll get them back.'

'What do you need me to do?'

'Look up any scientists, doctors, health officials, anything like that, that would have the involvement of anthrax, when they did it, where and if you why?' Penelope just nodded and headed out of the conference room to find the information for them. She put the telly on in her office so she could keep an eye on the media coverage but was soon aware as to JJ's dissociative behaviour when she saw that 12 people had been in infected in a park near where they usually take Henry, then there seemed to be a major blackout of media outlets, no word was being leaked and it proved damaging from both the personal and professional sides of the situation. She found the files, she sent them on, she could only wait, but the urge to know more was overwhelming.

She walked into conference room a plot up her sleeve, an idea, a ploy, this was Reid's future and she knew it. 'Sir?' She said slightly hesitantly.

'Did you find anything else Penelope?'

'No... but erm... Hotch, the symptoms of anthrax exposure, are well... they are sweating, breathing difficulties, many others but also... 'She swallowed hard. 'Damage to speech configuration.' Hotch and JJ looked at her shocked. 'Reid's going to be infected.'

'Penelope...'

'Hotch give me something of Reid's let me do this, let me see if I can see anything.'

Hotch shook his head. 'The baby.'

'You call the others; let me borrow JJ, and some things of Reid's... I'll sit...' He saw she wasn't going to give up easily and nodded. JJ grabbed some of Reid's things and followed Penelope.

'Pen are you sure?' She asked uneasily about this, she had never seen Penelope put herself in the way of a black out, this was the second time she had seen her 'collapse' since New York.

'I'm not falling, I'm sitting.' Penelope said and put her hand out. 'Go for it!' JJ passed over one of Reid's favourite books, but they both frowned when nothing happened. The next was a file, but nothing occurred, his mug nothing. The door started to open hastily as JJ passed Penelope a group photo, and the frame fell to the floor and the glass broke.

'Pen!'

'JJ, leave her, she knew this would happen.' Hotch said uneasy. 'It was Reid.' JJ turned round stunned. 'Him and Morgan were at one of the houses Penelope found.' He then bent down and picked the broken glass and frame up, before going back and trying to coax Penelope awake, he didn't have to wait long.

'I was too late wasn't I?' Hotch nodded grimly. 'Oh God!'

'Penelope, the doctor is with him, is helping him... it was an accident, there was a smashed vial of anthrax and the air con on, he locked himself in when he knew it was too late, he save Morgan's life...told him to get back to you.'

'Please tell me he stayed?'

'Derek, knew you wouldn't want Reid alone right now.' Penelope nodded and her office phone started to ring. 'Right do you're thing, but I know that doing that to yourself wears you out... and you've just chucked yourself into one after one hasn't happened in a while.'

'I know but I thought it was helping.'

'Well it did... and now we know and now we wait and now you need to get the phone.' She got up and sat down and picked the phone up while Hotch and JJ left the room.

'Hello?'

'What no sarcasm today? I'm disappointed.' Reid's voice trailed through the phone a little shaky.

'Sorry sweetie but I can't when I know you're where you are.'

'I'm getting back, I have a new niece or nephew to meet in 2 months, do you seriously think I'm skipping out on that?'

'Well, not but...'

'Garcia... can you record something for me for just in case?'

'Of course sweetie...' She clicked some buttons, and readied everything. 'Okay... ready?'

'Yeah.'

'Go.'

'Mom- I'd just like to say I love you, you made me proud to be your son, to know you were my mom. I'm sorry I never got to see you more and that we never spoke more but just remember I will always love you.' He paused; Penelope was silent, her eyes welling up. 'Garcia, that's done, can I do a second one?'

'Sure... ready?'

'Yeah.' He repeated again.

'Okay go for it.'

'Hey... I'm your Uncle Spencer, if you're listening to this it means we never met but I knew I loved you from the moment we all found out your mommy was expecting... you are so lucky to be brought up in this family, your mom and dad are the best and have taught me lots over the years and whatever they say are more intelligent than they let on...' He stopped and Penelope heard voices in the background. 'Garcia I have to go.'

'Okay kiddo.' She said wiping away tears from her eyes, she put the phone down and saved the files away for him before she burst into tears in the solitude of her office.

No more than 20 minutes later her door opened and she turned to see Derek, she burst into tears. 'Oh baby girl.'

'Please tell me he'll get to meet our baby.'

'I can't tell you that P, but he is on his way to the hospital, we know he'll get the right help, we won't lose him.'

'We can't.' He said pulled her up and hugging her properly. 'I didn't help him, I could've helped me, prevented this.'

Pen! This is not your fault; he didn't want you to be in the situation where his life was in your hands all the time!'

'But...'

'No Pen... none of us want you feel like our life is your responsibility because it isn't, we don't want you to live scared, if you see things then you do, if not even better then the future remains a secret.' He took her hand. 'Reid cracked it, let's go and sit with the others.' She let him let her out of her office and up to the conference room where everyone bar Reid were gathered, they couldn't do much at the hospital due to isolation so they banded together. Hours later they got a call to tell them he was improving and Derek took it as a cue to head off to and keep them all posted, JJ headed off home to finally get the comfort she had been yearning for, to feel Henry in her arms and out of harm's way, Emily stuck with Penelope, as did Rossi and Hotch.

It wasn't until earlier the next morning when they were all woken up by the ringing of the Morgan's house phone that they found out Reid was awake, that he would walk out of the hospital and that he would get to continue to be the God father of Henry and the Uncle he wanted to be for the new baby. As the happiness rebuilt, Penelope could feel it was going to short lived, it always was.