Erin was grateful for the fact that Penelope was able to get her back to her office without too many people staring at her, but Helen was instantly on her feet and coming over to her side as Penelope opened the door. "Erin, what happened? I know that you were angry with Agent Morgan for what happened with the Sanderson case, but did he light into you? I can go give him a piece of my mind, if you need me to."

There was a quiet pause before Penelope burst out into a rich laugh. "So, is your assistant this fierce because she learned from you, or are you so fierce because you learned from her?"

"I come by my fierceness all by myself, Ms. Garcia," Helen sniffed as she opened the door to Erin's inner office, guiding them all inside. "Now, I have yet to hear from you, Erin. What happened?"

"Everything came to a head at once, Helen. I lost my cool, and now the rumor mill is going to have fresh grist as a result of my inability to control my emotions. It is much better to be seen as the Ice Queen who has no emotion then to be seen as that mess."

She pulled away from both of them to go to her sofa and sink down in it, wrapping her arms around her waist as she struggled to keep from breaking down into tears once more. Within moments, Penelope was taking a seat by her side, picking up her hand and threading their fingers together in an effort to make certain that she wouldn't pull away. "So, you might not like what I'm about to say, but I hope that you hear the intent behind these words. Reid was speaking the truth. We all saw the call logs between you and Haley. We know, even if some of us can't understand, how close you were with her, especially knowing that Elise is Hotch's daughter, and how that could have led to a constant fight between you two. But you've shut up those feelings of grief and loss, and it's mutated into this guilt that you somehow caused Haley's death. Am I anywhere near close?"

Erin longed to deny what Penelope had said, but she knew that she would just be called out on it if she did so. "I knew that we should have stopped talking so much, but she was calling Jessie and her mother even more, so I didn't press for her to stop calling me. I needed her friendship, because God knows that I didn't have that here. And before you protest, Helen, there is still an imbalance of power between us, even if you are thoroughly dear to me. Haley and I, we bonded, and because I couldn't give up my connection to her, Foyet got to her, and now she's gone."

"Oh, Erin," Penelope breathed out as she pressed Erin's head down onto her shoulder. "I am so sorry that you feel like this. If I could magically make everything better, I would. Now, I think that you need some baby snuggles, and the only person who can make that happen is Jess, since she's taking care of Catherine. Do you mind if Helen calls her? Because I need to help the team unpack what happened with this case, and help bring Sanderson to justice once more. All right?"

"All right," she sighed out, accepting her phone from Penelope's hand. The moment that she was out of the office, Erin missed her warmth, and she glanced up to see Helen speaking lowly on the phone with Jessica, from the sounds of things. "Tell her we'll have Chinese for lunch, if she wants to stay that long."

"Yes, Erin." Helen relayed her words to Jessica, and then her assistant was taking a seat next to her. "Well, it seems as if Ms. Garcia has been the tactile person with you today. What do you need from me until Jessica gets here?"

"Wine is not an option right now, so perhaps a really large piece of cake or something?"

"That I can make happen. I'll be back in twenty, use that time to find your calm place?"

Erin nodded as she watched Helen leave the room. She really wanted to curl up into her fiancé, to have him hold her close, but she knew that he would already be working with the team to figure out what had gone wrong with Agent Morgan's analysis of Sanderson's mental state. Letting out a deep sigh, she unlocked her phone and scrolled through the most recent pictures that she had of her family, needing something to ground her in that moment. A soft gasp slipped out of her lips when she saw that a few new pictures of Catherine had been added to their cloud, and she silently thanked Jessica for capturing them. With a careful finger, Erin traced her baby daughter's face, trying to keep from crying once more, since she had the feeling that if she started again, it would take a longer time to calm down and not feel so disconsolate.

With great effort, she got to her feet and went over to her desk, booting up her computer so that she could get to work on reports and emails while she waited for Jessica to appear with Catherine. She had barely started work on that when her office phone rang, and she took a deep breath before answering, somehow filled with dread over a call she had no idea about. "Hello, Erin Strauss speaking."

"Please tell me that you're handling the Sanderson affair."

She nodded as she swallowed thickly. "I have Agents Morgan and Rossi going to interrogate Sanderson, and the others are going to the crime scene to see what they can glean from that, Sir. Agent Morgan was not able to give me a sufficient answer as to why he believed that Sanderson should have been released, as it is somewhat evident that there was a clear case of misinformation, and I realise that this reflects poorly on myself and Agent Morgan, along with our team's integrity. I will be monitoring the case as closely as possible, so that we can resolve this quickly and with as little scandal as possible."

"That is exactly what I like to hear, Erin. If you need any support, please do not hesitate to use my name and authority."

"I will keep that in mind, Ron. I am so sorry to cause yet another headache for you and this department."

"That seems to be par for the course with Alpha team, Erin. At this point, I'm coming to expect it, and I know that you can put out the fires that pop up during the course of your more sensational cases. Do you need anything?"

"If I can be crass for a moment, a rather large bottle of whiskey would be nice, but I cannot enjoy that at work."

"You could head up to my office for a chat. It won't be a bottle, but it will be a smooth gin."

"I will take you up on that, Ron. Give me five minutes, and I'll be there. And I don't take tonic in my gin, just in case you were wondering."

Ron laughed before answering. "That does not surprise me, since you've been with Dave for so long. See you shortly." She hung up the phone and got to her feet, cracking her back before heading into the outer office. "Everything all right, Erin?"

"Yes, but I need to head up to Ron's office for a few minutes. If Jessica arrives before I return, please text me, and I'll wrap things up with him and head back down here. Okay?"

"Okay. But here, before you see him, lean in." Erin frowned as she did so, closing her eyes a little when she felt Helen swipe her fingers beneath her eyes. "You had some mascara streaks, and I know that you want to look your best at all times. I'll see you soon." Erin nodded and squared her shoulders before making her way out to the elevators and pressed the up button, eager to have a nice glass of gin and a bit of adult conversation after her little tantrum in the bullpen earlier that morning.