A soft knock on Dave's office door caught his attention, and he looked up from the file he was working on to see Penelope standing in the doorway, a shy expression on her face. "Come in, Kitten."

Nodding, she crossed the threshold into his office, closing the door behind her before taking a seat in front of his desk. "I am so glad that you've had a few days to be home, Dave. I know that Erin has been missing you something fierce, given all the cases that you've been working on lately."

"Yes, well, losing Emily to Interpol and then bringing Alex onto the team has played with her emotions as well. It's been a rough four months, but we're starting to get our bearings back once more."

Penelope smiled as she rested her chin on her hand, watching him intently. There was still that shy, nervous, air about her, and he wondered what she was thinking about that would cause that reaction in her. Finally, she took a deep breath and leaned forward a little. "So, I don't know if you saw the rota for next week, but Alex and I are taking a long weekend and heading up to New York City."

"That's nice, but why are you telling me that?"

"Because we're stealing your partner for the weekend as well. I thought that, since the six month anniversary of losing her family is coming up, we'd do something to take her mind off that. I know that she's worked so hard to find her footing once more, and I love her so much for that. Her friendship has been such a godsend to me. I mean, sure, I have Jayje and Emmy, but their friendships fill quite a different need in my life than Erin's does. And if I'm honest, I really like Alex, too. I thought I'd be more resentful with her coming on board, since she took over Emily's spot, but Erin's helped me to see the best parts of her."

"That does surprise me a little, Penelope, since Alex is so different from you."

She shrugged as she scratched her forehead a little, a wry smile on her lips. "You didn't like me very much when you first started with the BAU, because I was so different from you."

Dave chuckled as he nodded, running his hand along his goatee as he looked at her. "I probably could have been a little more diplomatic about our introduction, yes."

"Oh, you mean besides getting in my face about why I was shot?" she teased, a trill of laughter escaping her lips as she scooted the chair closer to his desk and rested her hands on top of it. "Though I know that it did look really bad for me during that case. There are definitely things that I would do differently, if I could go back in time."

"We all have at least one moment like that in our life. Now, thinking about your brief holiday in New York, where are you staying?"

"I rented a nice apartment in Chelsea for us. I wanted a quiet neighborhood, just in case emotions do start to run high and she wants to be away from the overwhelming crush of people. And I already bought tickets for a show on Saturday evening, even got some great seats for how late I was in ordering them. Other than that, our days are free, though I was thinking of spending a morning in Central Park."

"If you need anything, use this." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed over his AmEx card, watching her eyes grow large at the sight. "I trust you three to be responsible, though if a small shopping spree does happen to land on that, I won't be too angry. Just try not to go too overboard?"

"Uh huh," she breathed out as she cradled the credit card close to her chest, staring at him. "You're certain that it's okay to use this?"

"Penelope, if I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have handed that over. Enjoy yourselves, and if you need an in at a restaurant, text me, and I can namedrop and hopefully finagle you a good table."

"That I might take you up on, Dave. Thank you!" She popped to her feet and rushed around to his side and threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "I know that she loves you so much, and I kind of love you, too. Not in the same way, of course, but there is a lot of love in my heart for you."

"I feel the same way, Kitten." He turned his face and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek before pushing her away and getting to his feet as well. "Now, I am going to head over to Erin's office and have a nice little chat with her, since you'll be heading out tomorrow. How are you getting to the city?"

"I used a lot of my banked miles and got us business class tickets on an early morning flight, so that we could spend as much time as possible in the city."

He nodded, making a note of that so that he could contact his manager and see about getting their tickets upgraded and Penelope's miles returned to her account, wanting to pick up the tab for that at least. "You thought of everything," he said as they exited his office, and she nodded a little before heading into her office while he jogged down the stairs, giving Alex a small wave as he passed by her desk. She grinned and waved back in return before bending back over her work.

Whistling a cheery tune, Dave made his way over to Erin's office, nodding to Helen before slipping into his partner's office and taking a seat in front of her desk as he waited for her to end her call. She gave him a gentle smile as she held up her finger and thumb, holding them close together to let him know that she was almost done. "Of course, sir. Thank you for agreeing to letting me have this time off, I truly need this to keep me from dwelling on this first big milestone date. I'll make certain to let him know. Goodbye."

She hung up the phone, and let out a deep sigh. "Was that the Director?"

"Yes, he was just calling to let me know that my time off has been approved. Did, did Penelope tell you where we're going?"

"Yes, she informed me that you and Alex and she are going to New York to play for a long weekend." She smiled a little wider as she nodded, getting up from her desk and taking the chair next to him as she reached out for his hands. He freely handed them over, letting her clasp them as they took a few deep breaths in tandem. "I already handed over my AmEx card, just in case the rest of us are out on a case by the time next Friday rolls around. And much though this pains me to say," he said as he gave her a broad wink, "I think that you should invite Penelope and Alex to spend the night before at our house, that way you can all be certain of getting to the airport on time."

Erin leaned in and brushed her lips against his cheek before hugging him tightly. "I love you," she murmured in his ear before getting to her feet and starting to pack up her belongings. "Are you ready to head home for the day?"

"That was why I came here. I'm not bringing any work home tonight, since I want the focus to be all on you. I know that I've been missing you, what with all these cases we've been on lately." A soft blush blossomed on her face as she tucked her chin against her chest. "Or do you want to do something different?"

"You're not supposed to tease me while I'm at work, David. We have to at least keep up the pretense of respectability."

"Ah, where's the fun in that, Topalina?" He got to his feet and crossed the small distance between them, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back against his chest. "After all, teasing a blush from you in one of the things that I'm best at." He made certain to trace the shell of her ear with his tongue, feeling her shiver and squirm a little as he dragged his lips down the column of her neck and nuzzling his chin between the collar of her blouse and her skin so that he could nip at the tendon there, knowing that Erin always went crazy when he did that. Almost right on cue, she let out a muffled moan, and he could see that she had pressed one hand firmly against her mouth in order to keep quiet.

Squirming a little more, she managed to turn in his arms and stare up into his face, frowning a little. "What did we agree upon when we were setting our boundaries for this relationship?"

"That I wouldn't tease you too much?"

She smiled and gave a small nod. "Also, that you're not supposed to take liberties at work. There are too many people that might walk in and catch us, and I'd rather keep this part of our relationship as private as possible. Even if you would love nothing more than to bend me over this desk right now and make me yours."

"Well, then, we need to get home sooner rather than later, because now I have a craving that I can't fill here." She chuckled a little as she danced away from him, finishing up with her task before taking hold of his hand and letting him lead her over to the elevators, a knowing smile on her lips as they anxiously waited for the elevator to arrive and take them home.