Penelope woke up from her sleep to a racing heart, and she looked over at her nightstand to see that the culprit was her phone blaring out Aaron's ringtone. Blearily, she brought the device to her ear and groaned. "What?"
"We caught a brutal case in California, and Erin has asked that we personally oversee it, rather than the Red Cell team, even though they would be much better suited to this case. I need you to dress and get to the office as soon as possible."
"All right, I'll be there as soon as possible, honey. But how can you sound so awake at two in the morning?"
"I haven't gone to bed yet. After you left, I still had some paperwork to finish."
"You should have kicked me out earlier! I would have understood."
"I enjoy spending time with you, and we can sleep on the flight out to California."
"All right, I'll see you soon, then." They hung up without saying goodbye, and Penelope stripped off her pyjamas before hurriedly dressing, making herself look as presentable as she could as quickly as possible. As she waited for her coffee to brew, Penelope scrolled through her notifications, seeing that Erin had texted her about the case she was about to go into, and she smiled as she returned the text, thanking her for the information and asking her to stop by her office if she was there that early.
Once her coffee was in her travel mug, Penelope slung her purse over her shoulder and went down to her car, somehow managing to make it in to the BAU whole, though not quite certain of her drive. Somehow, Aaron knew exactly when she would arrive, as when she stepped out of the elevator, he was there, and she welcomed the way he slung his arm around her waist as they made their way up to the briefing room. "That didn't take you too long."
"The traffic is pretty light at this time of the morning," she responded through a wide yawn, trying not to nuzzle her face against his shirt. "You're headed to California, yes?"
"Yes, as soon as I give you a rundown on the searches I need you to run for us while we're in the air. The others have already headed down to the garage to claim an SUV."
"I didn't realise I was that late," she muttered as she unlocked her office and led them inside.
"You were the last person I called, since I wanted you to get the most sleep. We can nap on the plane while I'm asking you to run searches for us, so it was only fair that you were the last one contacted." Penelope let out a pleased purr as she started her system up before grabbing a pen from her desk and looked at him expectantly. He nodded and listed off what the initial searches they needed were before letting out a long breath. "I'm not going to lie to you, Penny. I have a gut feeling about this case, that something is going to go horribly wrong. I haven't felt like this since we were in Canada."
"Oh," she breathed out, biting her lip a little as she looked at him. "Well, tell everyone to stay safe, and make certain that you do everything in your power to not take unnecessary risks. Jack needs his Daddy to come home. And I need you to come home, too." He gave her a small nod and then she was closing the distance between them before snaking her arm around his neck and pulling him in close for a bruising kiss, trying to impart to him just how much he meant to her. Aaron returned the kiss, his hand slipping down to cup her bum as he brought her closer to his body, and she longed to be able to melt into him. There was no time for that, however, and she reluctantly pushed him away before smiling up into his face. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Penny. And we'll be home before you know it." She nodded, watching him leave and then taking a seat in front of her computer, quickly entering the information that needed to be sought after. While that was going, Penelope gulped at her coffee, feeling like she was about to fall asleep at her monitor if she didn't have some caffeine coursing through her system. Still, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, feeling like she was going to fall asleep at any moment. Feeling a soft hand on her upper arm, Penelope started abruptly, shaking her head to clear away the cobwebs in order to look up into Erin's drawn face.
"Did something happen to the team while I was out of it?" she asked, hurriedly pulling out her phones to see if she had any messages from them, only to see that they were most likely still in the air. Which meant that Erin was upset about something else. "Did Mark do something?"
Erin sank down onto the edge of her desk and began to worry a piece of her skirt before her fingers, refusing to meet Penelope's eye as she spoke. "It's not Mark, and it's not this case, though it does involve your team. And I have the sickening feeling that I'm about to lose your friendship when I tell you this, even as I have to swear you to complete secrecy. I just knew that I didn't want to blindside you with this when it comes to light."
"You're scaring me, Erin."
That caused the woman's head to shoot up, and the raw pain that she saw in her eyes cut her to the quick. Instantly, she reached out and took hold of Erin's hands, holding on firmly as she waited for her to speak once more. "Next week Monday, I am going to be having a meeting with Agent Jareau and inform her that she had been head hunted from us by another agency. Her skills as a media liaison have been widely spoken of in the circles I run in for work, and I knew that it was only a matter of time."
It took Penelope's brain a moment to catch up to Erin's words, and then she was squeezing her hands tighter, not wanting to give Erin the opportunity to flee, now that her news was out in the open. "I'm taking it that she doesn't have a choice in the matter."
"No, and I also know that there is no one on your team, save yourself, that will believe me when I say that I fought against this sniping. Agent Jareau is a talented woman and we need her skills in the BAU, but I was overruled by the Director. I'm so sorry, Penelope."
"Do you think that I could wreak some hacking chaos and get things to change? I know how to do it well enough to not get caught."
Erin let out a watery laugh as she shook her head. "I honestly don't think that would be a viable solution, dear. Because it's only the Director and myself who know about this, and the trail would very easily lead back to me, and then you, and we would both be reprimanded, if not suspended or fired. I wouldn't allow you to put yourself in the line of fire because of my loose lips. Please, please, promise me that you won't tell anyone, not even Aaron."
"Of course I'll keep your confidence, Erin. Emily is going to be pissed, you know."
"I do. And that is entirely my fault, given how I treated her when she first expressed interest in joining the BAU. There are so many things that I am not proud of. And if you were to ask me about them, at any other time, I wouldn't answer you. Late nights loosen my tongue, it seems."
Penelope sighed as she rolled closer to Erin, letting go of her hands so that she could rest them on her knees as she stared into Erin's face. "I should hate you, and if I hadn't seen behind this mask that you feel you have to wear here, I probably would be so angry with you. But I think you know as well as I do that things have changed between us, to the point where you would trust me with this information, even though I could use it against you by informing Aaron and Jayje. And I honestly don't know why you trust me."
"Because you've kept my secrets about Mark and the children."
She nodded a little as she pursed her lips together, trying to keep from crying. "This is going to suck so much. How can we function without Jayje? She's the mom of our team, even if she's one of the youngest."
"You'll find a way, I promise. And I will look for any way possible to get her back. I'm not going to lose her without a fight."
"And that is the woman I've grown to admire so much." Penelope felt her smile soften a little as she continued to stare into Erin's face. "We'll do our best to find a way to bring her home. With your political machinations and my tracking and hacking skills, I'm certain that we can make it happen. Just you watch."
Erin nodded as Penelope got to her feet, pulling the woman into a quick hug. "Now, if you want to nap, I can watch your screens for about an hour. If that would help."
"That would so help, Erin, thank you. But if you start to hear a number of pings, wake me up. That means I have news to deliver, and they'll be waiting for it." The woman nodded as Penelope made her way over to her sofa, stretching out on it as her eyelids again began to feel heavy, wondering if this was the bad feeling that Aaron had had about this case.
