She walks into the courtyard and makes her way to where Abigail is sitting smiling she sits down next to the girl. Penelope looks at the girl close up guessing her age to be around twelve or thirteen. Too old to be playing with the little ones and too young to be off with the older teenagers.

"I saw you sitting all by yourself and I was worried that you might be ill, are you?"

"No Ma'am I'm not ill."

"You can call me Penelope. If you're not ill then you must be upset about something. I'm very good at listening."

Abigail raises her head and looks at Penelope for the first time and scowls at her. It makes Penelope laugh out loud.

"What's so funny." Abigail asks indignantly.

"You remind me of my godson when he doesn't get his way he scowls like that but then I scowl back soon he is laughing. I didn't think you would like it if I scowled back at you."

"How old is he?" she asks showing some interest.

"Three, he sleeping right now. Now that you're not scowling anymore do you want to tell me why you're so upset?"

"You wouldn't understand?"

"Try me?"

Abigail pushes her hair behind her ear and for the first time Penelope can see that's scar on her face and neck. Such a thing to horrible thing to happen to a child, but she is lucky she is alive. And the scar will only make her stronger in the end if she only accepts it and moves on with her head held high. Not hiding and scowling at the world.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"My scar doesn't it repulse you? It's ugly and now no one will be my friend. And I'll never get a boyfriend now."

"No. I think it gives you character, a man named Nietzsche he once said, What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. You are alive and I'm sorry that your friend died in the car accident. Trust me after a while you won't even think about it any more."

"How can you be so sure? Scars are ugly and no one likes them.

"I know because of my own scars that's how"

"What scars? You're so pretty."

"Thank you for saying that. But look see." Penelope moves her hair and pulls back the collar of her blouse showing Abigail the scars that she too has from saving the child and from her gunshot. "we all have scars one way or another."

"What is she doing?" Eli asks with interest as they all watch Penelope and Abigail."

"Almost a year ago Penelope was on leave we didn't know where she was she had burned out. The director knew but he wouldn't say. There was a case in a near by town we found her. Six weeks before we did there was an explosion in a school a small child was hiding in a closet. She ran in and got him before the fire department came. She was injured she needed over three hundred stitches to close the wounds. She has never shown me what she is showing Abigail, and we are very close." JJ tells Eli.

They watch as Abigail reaches up and touches Penelope's face and neck.

"And just so you know I got married after I got hurt, not before. He thinks I'm beautiful, I think he's nuts. I'm short and chubby he says perfect just the way I am. He loves me for me not for the way I look but for who I am."

"Really? Who is he?" Abigail asks

"That's him look the bald man with the curvy eyebrows. He is watching us."

"He is very cute."

"I think so , but you know what I see ? I see the person inside the part of him that makes him special. His heart and soul that is what I love about him the most."

"But."

"But what Abigail? You need to hold your head up high and be proud of who you are never be afraid you are a very special young woman. You just need time to grow and learn."

"I'll try it's just that my mother wants so much for me and then I think about how I look and I get mad."

"You know you're very pretty and in time the scars will fade in the mean time I would love to see your face. Can I put your hair up, please?"

When she sees Abigail nod yes. Penelope takes a butterfly hair clip out of her hair and clips her hair back. "So much better. Look at that smile you have a million watt smile. They call that a heart breaker smile."

"Really?"

"I won't lie. Ask any of my friend I am the worlds worst liar. Know tell me what does your mother want for you?" Penelope asks as she takes her pale ivory silk scarf of her neck and places it on Abigail, making sure the knot covered the worst of the scar.

"That looks nice you can have both the scarf and the hair clip."

Abigail touches the scarf and smiles then frowns. "She wants me to marry a doctor. But I want to be a doctor."

"So talk to your mother and study really hard. After you complete your military service go to school and become a doctor. Ask your mother if having two doctors in the family wouldn't be better than just one? Sweetheart all mothers everywhere in the world want their daughters to marry doctors and lawyers."

"Why?"

"Bragging rights and they want to make sure that their daughters are taken care of, that's why. Do you feel better now?"

"Yes I think so."

"If I were you I would go talk to your mother tell her that you love her. Then tell just how much she will enjoy telling her friends my daughter the doctor and my son-in-law the doctor are coming for dinner."

"Do you tell your mother that you love her too?"

"Yes, every night I whisper it into the wind." she says the last past so softly Abigail misses it.

She says sitting as Abigail starts to leave only to turn around quickly and hug Penelope fiercely. She whispers a soft thank you before darting off.

Penelope stands and brushes off the dust from the back of her skirt as she walks back to join the rest of the adults.

"Sorry about the scarf that you gave me for my birthday."

"I'll buy you another one, don't worry about it." Rossi tells her.

"Abigail, is she on the mend?" Malachi asks.

"She is a young girl on the throws of womanhood having to deal with a disfiguring scar and a mother that wants her to marry a doctor."

"What did you tell her Penelope?" Eli asks.

"To hold her head up high be proud of who when is, that the scars will fade in time. When the time comes for her to fall in love she will find out that the outer beauty is only a part of it, it is what is in the inside that counts more. And to tell her mother that she wants to be a doctor and that having two doctors in the family is better that one, better for bragging rights too when she gets together with her friends tea."

When the laughter died down Eli looked at Penelope. "And if you have a daughter do you want her to marry a Doctor?"

"She can marry who ever she loves, but if he's a doctor who would it hurt?"