"Do you know where Agent Hotchner and his team went off to?"

Penelope felt all the blood drain from her face at the furious tone of Erin's voice. Glancing up at her friend, she saw that the woman's mouth was a thin line, the only hint of color in her cheeks, and she thought that she could see a vein throbbing in her forehead. "Will you yell at me more if I tell you?" she asked, hating how timid she sounded. That, though, seemed to break through Erin's anger, as she watched the woman's shoulders slump. Taking a seat in the free chair next to the computer desk, Erin gazed at her, as if trying to mentally calm herself down enough to talk to Penelope once more.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take this out on you. I'm certain that you're aware of the Red Cell team, as they are the ones who usually take the most pressing cases that the BAU might be involved in. The Director personally oversees them, and picks their cases, even though I am ostensibly their supervisor. Until today, when I refused to allow them to go on a wild goose chase in San Francisco."

Penelope bit her lower lip as she looked down into her lap. "Well, you see, there is this case in San Francisco that Aaron thought needed our attention, since there was a rash of homeless men who were murdered recently. And there may have been a few extra people on the jet."

The older woman let out a weary sigh, rubbing her hand over her face before staring up at the ceiling. "I swear to God, he is going to be the death of me. After he returns, I'm turning over supervision of the Red Cell team completely to the Director. He can deal with a rogue team. I thought that your team was bad enough, but Sam is trying to see just how far he can push the envelope and my patience along with it."

She nodded in sympathy. "But he's really nice?"

Erin cocked an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged as she looked back at her monitors, seeing that there was an update for Aaron. "So, I'll leave you alone for now, since I know what's going on. Tell your partner that I will be calling to check in with him in the next thirty minutes, and he had better be prepared to give me a good answer for why I don't just suspend the whole team when they get back."

Penelope could almost hear a teasing note in Erin's voice, but knew that she couldn't comment on it, instead, just telling her that she would see that he got the message. Erin nodded and left the room, giving her a tiny smile before closing the door behind her. As Penelope dialed Aaron, she tried to think of what she was going to say to him. After all, Erin did have a point, rogue teams had the tendency to get people hurt.

Before she could form a coherent thought, though, Aaron picked up. "Hey Garcia, what do you have for us?"

"Well, first, I love you. I know, I probably should have chosen a more romantic time to tell you that, but with what I'm going to say next, well, you needed some good news."

"What sort of bad news do you have for me?"

She took a deep breath. "Erin knows that the Red Cell team took off with you, and she is madder than a wet hen. I tried to get her to calm down a little, but she told me to tell you that you should expect a very stern call from her in the next half hour. Seriously, Aaron, you don't want to be on her bad side in this."

"She has no reason being angry."

"Yeah, she kind of does. Because to her, the Director is interfering with both of her teams now, and that has to kind of suck. So, when you take her call, be polite, be courteous, and above all, apologise. Profusely. And if you can, get Sam to do the same. I'm about to send you that information you requested, and then you all can get to work on finding this unsub."

"All right," he said a bit dejectedly, and she let out a little sound of comfort. "And I love you, too, Penelope. I'll see you when we get home. I have the feeling that this is going to be a late case."

"I do, too."

She disconnected from the call and got down to work, knowing that she would have to work twice as hard on this case in order to smooth over some of the hard feelings that Erin had in regards to it. And while she knew that her actions alone wouldn't make that large a difference, it was also the little things that Erin seemed to put a lot of faith in. And so, she managed to work through her lunch, finding herself not that hungry. It wasn't until her clock read seven, and the team was still searching for the unsub, though she had managed to find them a few leads, that she really felt hungry.

Getting up, she stretched and cracked her back before rummaging around in her purse to see if she had left any snacks in there. While she was doing that, someone knocked on her door, and she called out, "Come in!" while still pawing through every compartment in her bag.

"I thought that you might like something to eat, and Agent Anderson was kind enough to tell me what your usual Chinese takeout order is. Consider this a bit of a peace offering?"

She looked up to see Erin standing there, not really meeting her eyes, but instead staring at a spot on her chin, as if she didn't very often apologise. And that's what Penelope took it as, even though the word sorry never fell from Erin's lips. "Oh, sugar, I didn't mind you haranguing me earlier. You had every right to be upset with us."

Erin sighed a little as she shook her head, coming over to Penelope's side and taking a seat on the edge of her desk. "I could have been a little more diplomatic. I just saw red when I realized that Sam had drawn Agent Hotchner and the team in to his own little game. Has there been any progress?"

Penelope shrugged a little as took the bag from Erin's hands, opening it and breathing in the delicious scent of sesame chicken. "I've made some progress, but it seems like they don't need me quite so much for this case. One of their members is almost as good at computers as I am, and she's also there, so there's a sense of instant feedback with her that they don't have with me. And this bag is heavier than just one meal. Were you planning on eating with me?"

A bit of a blush grew on Erin's face as she looked away from Penelope before nodding. "It's quiet at home, and you're still here, and even if we don't speak while we eat, there's something companionable about a shared, silent, meal."

"There is that, but it might be nice to talk to you, too. Here, clean off that end of my desk, so that I can be close to my keyboard when they call me for something that they need."

Erin nodded as she neatly stacked all the papers and files that were strewn there, quickly making three equal piles before scooting her chair close to the desk, Penelope following suit. Then she pulled out the cartons of food, keeping the sesame chicken for herself, passing over Erin's food and a pair of chopsticks. There were also a set of egg rolls and steamed dumplings, and she grinned at Erin as she dug into her food. "Did you eat lunch? Agent Anderson mentioned that you didn't come out of your office around noon, like you usually do."

She gave her friend a guilty look, and shook her head. "I did not. I just worked through the day without stopping. This is actually my first real break of the day. And I'm thinking that I won't be leaving here until after two in the morning, given how things are going."

Erin clucked her tongue a little as she speared a piece of broccoli with one of her chopsticks. "You need to take care of yourself, Penelope. And if you really are here that late, do not come in tomorrow. If Agent Hotchner has a problem with that, tell him to see me. I believe that Mister Lynch should be able to cover your shift tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yes. If the team truly doesn't catch the unsub until the wee hours of the morning, they'll spend most of the day in the hotel room sleeping, anyway, and won't be home until the day after tomorrow. I'm more concerned about your health, and such a short turnaround is unacceptable. And before you say it, sleeping on a sofa here will not do, either."

Penelope nodded as she dug into her food, finding herself ravenous. "You know, I could always get a sofa bed put in here, there's enough room."

The look Erin fixed on her was enough to make her feel like she was ten again, and her mother was about to give her a stern talking to. "I don't think I need to tell you what I think about that idea, do I, Penelope?" She shook her head. "I'm glad we understand each other. However, if there ever is a time when you're working, and you feel like you need to take a short nap in order to get back to full cognitive awareness, just come see Helen, and she'll let you use my sofa. I chose it for its comfortability."

She gave Erin a small smile as she nodded, knowing that she was one of the few people that her boss trusted to do that. It felt good, but it also hurt her heart a little to know just how few people trusted Erin in her department, and she hoped that one day she could help others see what she saw in Erin.