Penelope came into work early the day after the inquest, hoping to catch either Hotch or Strauss come in. She felt like she had a thousand questions for each of them, and there was no good way to ask them, except if she could catch them alone. Unfortunately, it seemed like Hotch wasn't going to come in, since his office door was still locked, the lights turned off, and she frowned a little as she went down to the break room to fill her mug.
To her surprise, Strauss was in there, a mug in her hands, and she startled a little as she tripped over the air. "Shit," she muttered to herself, reaching out to grab hold of a chair to stop herself from completely falling flat on her face.
"Are you all right, Ms Garcia?"
"Just my usual clumsy self, ma'am. How are you this morning?"
There was a brief pause, and she frowned a little as she went over to the coffee maker and filled her mug, taking a sip before adding a little creamer to cut some of the bitterness. "I was hoping that David would be a little early this morning, since I need to inform him that Aaron is taking a short leave of absence to deal with some things. I would have liked his to have taken a month, as I had already worked that amount of time off with the Director, but he was insistent that he only needed a week or two."
"Well, I know that he and Rossi are really good friend. Maybe he already called his to let him know?"
"Perhaps. But you're here early. Is everything all right with you?"
She swallowed thickly before looking down into her mug. "Actually, I was hoping to catch either you or Aaron, but you've already managed to answer the question I had, following the inquest. Except…"
"Yes?"
"I guess I don't know what the purpose of the whole exercise was? I felt like it was a foregone conclusion that you would side with what Hotch did, since he was protecting Jack from that monster."
An odd look passed across Strauss's face, as if she was trying to think of something that would appease Penelope, before she opened her mouth to speak. "I know that you probably won't believe me, but I hate playing the politics game. I'm good at it, because that has been my job for the last two decades, but I don't like it. And your team is more than a little reckless, which has drawn the eyes of the wrong people, and as much as I despise the game, I had to play along and make it seem like I was much harsher than I truly felt. You're right, I did know the outcome that I wanted from the start, but I had to guide the others to that realization."
Anderson bustled into the break room just then, humming lowly, and Strauss quit speaking, her mask slamming back into place, and Penelope felt her heart throb painfully at the knowledge that Strauss felt like she couldn't be open and honest with everyone in the BAU. Still, it made sense, since she had to at least appear like she was in charge and aloof, in order to maintain respect for her position. "Thank you for answering my questions, Chief Strauss. I really appreciate your taking time out of your busy morning to meet with me here," Penelope said as she gave her a knowing smile.
"Any time, Ms Garcia. And if you need any further questions answered, please feel free to come see me in my office."
They nodded to each other as Strauss left, and Anderson gave her an odd look. "What?" she asked as she took a seat at the table, trying to calm her breathing, since she didn't want to arouse any suspicion. Anderson, while nice, was a bit of a gossip, and she didn't want a false rumor that she was carrying on some sort of torrid affair with her supervisor. That was the last thing either of them needed.
"I have never seen Strauss that relaxed talking to one of us," he replied as he took a seat at the table as well. "Are you some sort of miracle worker?"
A soft giggle escaped her lips as she shook her head. "I think that Haley's murder really threw her for a loop, just like everyone on our team. You and Gina helped us out so much with the legwork for that case, and I never took the opportunity to say thank you. It's just been so busy, and I've been trying to help Hotch out with Jack, and it sort of slipped through the cracks. So, thank you for helping us out in our hour of need."
She drew in a shaky breath as she brought her mug to her lips, taking a long sip as she tried not to burst into tears. Anderson reached across the table and covered her free hand with his, squeezing gently but insistently, trying to get her attention. Finally, she looked up into his eyes, and saw that he was giving her a tender look. "Hey, none of us wanted that outcome, we were all rooting for you to get to Foyet before he hurt Haley or Jack. I'm just glad that his son was able to hide well enough that he wasn't physically hurt."
Penelope nodded as she took another sip of coffee. "Well, since I'm here early, I might as well start my systems up and get a jump on everything." Anderson smiled at her as she rose to her feet, bustling from the room. She still felt off kilter, as if she had revealed too much of herself to Anderson, and she settled behind her desk and just stared at the monitors, not ready for the day to begin. Letting out a long breath, she pressed the start button on her main computer before repeating the process on the rest of her system. As everything came to life, she pulled out her phone and called Hotch, wanting to touch base with him before she got distracted with work for the day.
"Hey, Garcia."
"Boss Man! I thought that I'd just check in with you before I became busy with the work of the day. Strauss and I were talking this morning, miracle of miracles, I know, but she mentioned that you were taking leave. I'm really glad that you've made that decision, since it will be good to spend a lot of time with Jack as you transition back to him being with you all the time. Listen, I'm not going to go out in the field until you get back, because I want to be here, if you should need anything. I know, you have Jessica, and she's going to want to spend a lot of time with you, too. But, I just can't help but feel like this was partially my fault, since I didn't work things out as quickly as I should have. I shouldn't have allowed him to get that close to Haley, and while I don't want to coopt your grief, I can't help but feel so much guilt."
"Then we're in the same boat, because I feel that guilt just as deeply."
"It sucks, and I know that that feeling is even deeper for you, because she was your wife. Just, well, would you mind if I brought supper over a few nights this week? I want to help support you and Jack and Jessica."
There was a short pause, and she heard Jack in the background asking for breakfast. "That would be very nice, Penelope. We would all really enjoy that. Jessica is planning on coming over tomorrow, so why don't we make plans for tomorrow evening? I'll text you tomorrow with what kind of pizza Jack likes, and we'll watch a movie while we eat?"
"Sounds like a plan, Aaron." She felt weird using his first name, but went with it, since he had used her, and then she looked at the clock. "All right, well, I need to get to work now, so I will see you tomorrow. Have a good day!"
"You, too," he replied before ending the call. She sighed a little as she leaned back in her chair, smiling dreamily as she tried to find the focus to get down to work. As she hummed her favourite song, she opened her work mail and began to go through it, sorting out what she needed to take care of right away from what could wait.
"Morning, Kitten!"
She turned and grinned at Rossi, beckoning him into her office. "Hi! Strauss said that you were going to be in charge for however long Hotch decides to take leave for. She was hoping that it would be for a month, but we both know that Hotch won't stay away that long."
"Since when did you become so close to Erin?" he teased, and she blushed a little as she shrugged. "Kitten, it's okay. She's not quite the ogre that a lot of people here make her out to be. I'm glad that you were able to talk to her."
"Yeah, she just seemed really bothered by Haley's death, but didn't know how to show it. So, if I'm a little kinder to her, do you think she'll be okay with that?"
Rossi nodded as he rested his hand on her shoulder. "I think that it would be good for Erin to have someone who treats her kindly here. She hasn't always had the easiest time here, after all."
Penelope desperately wanted to ask what he was talking about, but she also didn't want to pry into Strauss's personal business. She supposed, if she did act friendly towards the woman, that it might lead to her finding out more about her in a natural way. So instead, she just nodded and rose to her feet, knowing that he would most likely have to take notes for the next case they were about to go out on.
