Disclaimer: I own nothing.

We're moving right along with the plot in this one. It's picking right up here for both the girls. Thank you for reviews, and I hope you'll enjoy this one!

"Achoo!"

Penelope groaned as a vicious sneeze shook her upper body. She was coming back from the bathroom where she'd upchucked the entirety of her breakfast. She entered her office and rubbed her stomach. For the past three days she'd begun to feel ill. Her stomach churned with nausea constantly, leaving her with chills and never-ending sweating. To top it all off, she'd gained some weight, and she had no idea why.

It probably had something to do with the fact Sam would be returning in six days.

Sam would be returning, and Derek would be exiting her life. He would still be in her life, he would still be her best friend…he just wouldn't be her lover. She wanted him to remain her lover so bad it burned her insides to the point she wished she could scream.

"Tell me something I can hold onto forever," Penelope whispered as she sat astride Derek's lap in the back of his car.

Her shirt and bra lay on the floor of his car, and his hands caressed her breasts. His mouth suckled at her nipples. She tossed her head back, pressing his head further into her chest. They were in the process of making up, and she wanted to keep him talking so she would be less tempted to confess her love for him.

Derek arched a brow at her, laughing in the process. "Like what?" he asked.

She shook her head, kissing the base of his jaw. "Anything."

Tilting her chin up so he could look her in the eye, he ran his thumb over her cheekbone. "Never lose yourself, Baby Girl," he finally said. "You've got something in you that this whole damn world needs to see."

She giggled. "Oh? What is it?"

He lifted his hand to touch her breast, but his gesture wasn't sexual. He was touching her heart. "You've got the biggest heart anyone is ever gonna find. Don't you dare lose this."

It took all her energy and self control not to tell him she was in love with him after that moment.

Wrapping her arms around her chest to try and warm herself — and trying to banish Derek from her mind — she sat back down at her desk. Dejected, she began to type away at her computer. She was surprised, but she thought she may have caught the scent of the mystery boy Emily set her on the hunt for. She hadn't told her friend this yet, but she was confident she would be able to bring her something soon.

"Where are you, Declan?" Penelope grumbled, looking through a list of tax records hopefully belonging to the woman, Louise, who Emily said would be with Declan. More than once Penelope wanted to demand of Emily who this boy was, but she decided she could wait until she found him.

As she continued typing, stomach still storming with nausea, a knock sounded on her door. "C'mon in!" she called, not looking up from her work. She was too distracted to give a unique or personalized greeting.

The door opened, and quiet footsteps entered the room. Turning around, Penelope's eyes went wide. She immediately felt sicker. Standing in her office now, face downtrodden and dejected, was Savannah Morgan.

Penelope swallowed hard. She forced a smile. "Hey, Savannah," she managed. "Fancy seeing you here." Savannah didn't say anything, so Penelope went on. "Are you looking for Derek?"

Savannah still didn't say anything, just shook her head, and Penelope's gut dropped another ten feet.

Oh, no, she thought, her face draining of color. Her stomach churned with guilt. She knows. She's come to my office because she knows I'm sleeping with Derek.

When her friend — God, how could she still say they were friends after what she'd done? — still didn't respond, she grew concerned. "Savannah?" she murmured. "What's wrong?" She rose to her feet and went to stand in front of her, placing her hands on her arms. "Are you alright?"

Tears filling her eyes, Savannah closed her eyes and shook her head. She choked on a sob, and immediately Penelope pulled her into her arms to embrace her. The whole time her stomach churned viciously, but she needed to ignore it. She rubbed Savannah's back soothingly, holding her tightly.

"What is it?" she asked hoarsely, pulling back to look Savannah in the eyes.

Savannah, still in tears, shook her head. Penelope took her by the wrist and guided her to an empty chair to sit. Placing herself down in her own chair, Penelope took both Savannah's hands. She waited for Savannah to find the words she was looking for.

"Everything's hopeless, Penelope," Savannah whimpered.

Rubbing Savannah's upper arms, Penelope wiped one of her cheeks. "What's hopeless, sweetie?" she murmured.

You know what's hopeless to her, traitor, the snakelike voice that had been following her for months whispered in her head.

"He doesn't love me," Savannah wept. "He doesn't love me the way he did before. He's…he's just gone now."

Penelope wanted to barf with her self-hatred. Derek was gone from Savannah because he was continuously fucking Penelope…the other woman.

"What do you mean?" she lied.

You know what she means, you Judas, the snake whispered in her head.

Savannah sniffled and wiped her eyes. "He disappears for nights, he spends no time at the house," she began. She laughed bitterly. "We haven't had sex in six months." Her face went dark all of the sudden. "He's having an affair. I know he is."

Penelope gulped. "Savannah…" she murmured. "He loves you. Derek loves you so much." Or at least he would, as soon as their affair was over.

With her lower lip trembling, Savannah bent her head. "What's wrong with me?" she whispered, her voice coarse as sandpaper. "What did I do wrong that drove him away?"

Grasping both Savannah's hands in a death grip, Penelope shook her head vigorously. The last thing she would have was Savannah blaming herself for this when no one but Penelope and Derek were the perpetrators.

"No," she exclaimed, holding Savannah's hands tighter than she should have. "Listen to me: you have done nothing wrong. Even if Derek were cheating on you, it wouldn't be because of you…" She gulped past a lump in her throat. "It would be because Derek was an idiot."

As she finished her passionate speech, bile rose in her throat and she began to cough. Everything she'd said to Savannah, she sincerely believed. None of this was her fault, she was the one being betrayed.

At the same time, she was madly in love with Derek. She would never have him, but she would always love him.

Letting go of Savannah's hands, Penelope whirled her chair toward her waste basket and dry heaved. She deserved the flu after what she was doing to her friend who sat in her office with her.

"Oh my god, Penelope!" Savannah cried, rising to her own feet and dashing to Penelope's side. She held Penelope's hair back and rubbed her back.

When Penelope stood up straight, she rubbed her face. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I think I'm getting the flu."

Savannah, her tears now dissolved, gave her a look. "You should go to your doctor," she advised. "They can prescribe you an antibiotic. See if Aaron will give you some time off, too."

Staring at Savannah, Penelope felt even more guilty. If she knew that Penelope was the cause of her misery, she'd be slapping her instead of telling her to go to the doctor.

Penelope nodded in agreement. "Okay, I'll go to the doctor," she promised. Her face softened in an instant in order to switch the topic. "But I want you to know…as Derek's best friend, I know he loves you. I don't want you thinking you've done anything wrong." Her face hardened for a moment, although the frustration was more directed at herself than Savannah. "Are you hearing me?"

Savannah studied Penelope's face for a long moment. It seemed as if she were studying her, searching for an answer in her features. Penelope couldn't read the look on her face. Savannah nodded, though. "I hear you," she whispered. "I hope you're reading him as well as you think you are."

I'll always read him right, Penelope thought. It's because I love him so much.

XXXXX

"When?" Emily asked, her voice formidable as iron. She sat on a park bench, watching as Noah played football with some of his friends. Her phone was at her ear, held there by fierce anxiety.

The call she'd been fearing for months had finally come.

"Three days ago," Clyde answered.

Rage filled her heart. "Three days ago!" she hissed. "How in the hell did you not think to tell me he'd entered the country three days ago?"

"Darling, if we had found out, we would have told you straight away," Clyde responded dryly. "He's been laying low, though. Tsia nor I have seen any activity on his part."

Emily's hands clenched into fists. "No," she said. "No, he's not laying low. He's hiding from us, but he's moving. He's gathering steam, gathering forces, to take us out…to find Declan."

"You still don't know where he is," Clyde pointed out. "Since that's the case, Doyle won't know either. Not unless he has a technical analyst who's working magic for him the same way you do."

Watching Noah play and be rowdy with his friends, her throat tightened. Declan wouldn't be the only thing Doyle would go after. His hatred for her would lead him to even more malicious actions. It scared her to death Doyle would not only target Declan, but Noah and Aaron as well. And what would make matters worse? Noah and Aaron were useless to him, save for their ability to be used against Emily.

To him, they were expendable.

"He'll go after everyone I love," Emily mumbled, half to herself, half to Clyde.

"Then we stop him," Clyde said.

The gun in a holster on her ankle felt heavy against her leg. But she needed to keep it with her. Who knew when Doyle would come for her. She watched as her youngest son played with his friends. A ringing began to fill her ears, and the sounds of the park disappeared from her senses. Her eyes remained focused on Noah.

"Emily?"

Snapping back to the present, Emily listened to Clyde's voice over the line. "What?" she muttered.

"I asked you if you're sure if you don't want to bring your team in on this," he said. "The more the merrier."

Had he been right in front of her, she would have smacked him for his horrible attempt at humor. "No," she insisted. "Garcia is helping me look for Declan, but she has no idea who he is."

"If Doyle were to get ahold of her, looking for Declan makes her the one in the most danger…after you, of course," he pointed out.

In her haste to find her eldest son, and her fear of Doyle harming her family, Emily hadn't considered the real danger Penelope was in. She really did hold the key to finding Declan, and if Doyle were to figure it out, he would torture her until he got his answer.

She knew how Doyle was. He would hurt Penelope horribly to get his son back..

"He won't hurt her," Emily said, her voice shaking. A small voice in the back of her brain shook her confidence to the point she felt a twinge of doubt. "I won't let him."

"You be careful then," Clyde warned her. "Tsia is heading for a safe house tomorrow. She's beginning to get paranoid."

Emily snorted. "Maybe that's the smart thing." She knew her words were rubbish, but she couldn't help but be bitter. Tsia and Clyde had the ability to hide in the shadows and strike when Doyle wouldn't know; Emily herself needed to keep appearances up and she had to protect her sons.

"I'll chalk that statement up to nerves," Clyde commented.

While still on the phone, Emily noticed Noah and his friends dispersing. His friends retreated to their respective parents, and Noah began to head toward her.

Hastily, she snapped into the phone, "You do that. And call me if anything comes up. I want to know if you find out Doyle is going anywhere." Without waiting for a response from her former team leader, she hung up and shoved her phone into her pocket.

"Hi, Mom!" Noah said, scurrying over to her. He held his football in his hands, and a grin graced his face. Once again, it struck her how much like Aaron Noah looked. The only difference was Noah would actually display his heartwarming smile for the world to see.

Emily rose from her seat on the bench and ruffled her son's hair. "Have fun with your buddies?" she asked, putting her arm around his shoulders as they started out of the park.

Noah nodded and smiled up at her. "Yeah," he said. His face became downtrodden after a moment before he continued. "Dylan was being a jerk, though."

Leaning over to kiss the top of his head, Emily frowned. "I'm sorry, bud," she murmured. "Why was he being a jerk, do you know?

He nodded. "Yeah," he mumbled, tossing the ball back and forth in his hands. "His mom is paying more attention to his new baby brother, and he's jealous."

Emily pouted for him. "Well that's not fun," she said. "I'm sorry, bud."

Noah looked up at her with a pensive expression that showed wisdom far beyond his age. "Are you ever going to have another baby someday?" he asked, his eyes blinking with innocence.

Gulping, Emily didn't answer right away. Declan's face — well, Declan's face from when she'd last seen him — filled her mind. She needed to keep her emotions under control. Looking back down at Noah, she squeezed his shoulder. "Would you ever want a brother or sister?" she asked, genuinely curious as to what he would say.

He shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I would rather have Dad live with us I think."

Emily stayed silent as they walked across the parking lot to her car. It looked like neither she nor Noah would be getting their wish anytime soon. To change the subject, she kissed the top of his head once more and rubbed his back.

"Let's go get some lunch, buddy," she murmured, her heart feeling forlorn as she tried shoving Declan from her mind.

XXXXX

Four days after Clyde's revelation of Doyle being in the States, Emily readied herself to head home after what felt like a long day trekking up a mountain. She and Reid spent the day pouring over case files; Rossi and JJ went out on a consultation; Garcia fretted about Sam's return in two days; Morgan moped around, snapping at everyone he came in contact with; Aaron remained hidden.

Emily went through the motions of the day like a ghost. She was unsure of where her depressive state of the day came from, but if she needed to guess it had to do with Declan's continued absence in her life.

And now, with the workday done, she would be alone. Noah would be with Aaron that night, and she would be returning to an empty house. Being without Noah scared her. His absence left her without a ward against her thoughts. And Clyde's silence made her thoughts grow dark, as if a storm were rolling into her brain beneath a dense fog.

Rubbing her face, Emily made her way to her car in the Quantico parking garage. As a precaution, she looked around for any signs of someone watching her. Her gut feeling told her someone might be lying in wait for her, but the scan she did of the area revealed no one.

Get a grip, Prentiss, she scolded herself.

She strode across the garage to her car and slid herself into the drivers seat. Her sixth sense in her gut churned wildly, but she ignored it. She told herself it was nothing, blaming it on Clyde's silence. Throwing her bag in the passenger seat, she leaned her head back against the headrest. She closed her eyes. She needed just a moment before getting on the road to drive home.

Calm down, she thought. Stay grounded.

Picking up her key's from her lap, she stuck the key in the ignition. She prepared to turn the car on, but a pressure on the back of her skull halted her. Air caught in her chest, and she stopped breathing. The air trapped itself in her lungs, refusing to leave.

She should have listened to her gut. She should have peered through the tinted windows of her car before getting in.

A deep, familiar chuckle sounded behind her from the back seat. He applied more pressure with his gun; it was execution-style against the back of her head, Emily noted.

"Hello, Lauren," that familiar voice hissed from behind her. "Did you miss me?"