Penelope Garcia was adamant that something had happened between Aaron Hotchner and Annabel Bradey; their behaviour having changed so much that it didn't take a profiler to notice that something had occurred between the duo. From the moment that she had met them from the jet, she had become aware of the new tension that had built between them during the case. However, the technical analyst didn't know what exactly what had triggered the change, but she knew for sure that something had happened since they had left for the Bristol.
The idea had once again entered Penelope's mind when the duo had walked past her office, engulfed in an uncomfortable silence with at least a foot of empty space between them. For any other pair of Bureau employees that distance would have been a perfectly normal, although overly exaggerated, display of professionalism. However, for Annie and Aaron, this was out of character, the duo often being so close that the intrigued woman was frequently unable to determine whether or not they had entered the building with their fingers interlocked.
As she was leaning back on her chair, keeping the duo in her gaze, Penelope's assumptions were confirmed when Annie left Aaron stood in the middle of the bullpen. The man lingered for a moment, his gaze following the woman as she walked away from him, not a word being uttered in his direction before she crossed the floor to her office. From where the technical analyst was sat, the Unit Chief seemed to recover quickly, gripping his briefcase as he walked, in an overly direct fashion, towards his own office.
Derek noticed the woman who had migrated towards the door, and looked at her with an expression of curiosity, but she simply raised her shoulders unsure of the situation herself. On the plane, the agent had seen the interaction that had created the coldness between Annie and Aaron, but he hadn't heard the words that had been uttered from the woman's mouth. He was sure that it must have had something to do with whatever conversation Aaron and David had shared that caused the former to become defensive, but other than that he had as little clue as Penelope.
For a while after the silent conversation, Penelope went back to work. As with every case the team worked, she had many choices that she had to justify. That was the one downside of rarely doing her job by the book, the amount of paperwork that followed each of her actions. Yet, she knew that, if she wanted to stay with her team, she had to cover any and all of her possible legal mishaps.
However, that day the woman couldn't concentrate on her work, her mind continued to filter back to the interaction between her boss and newest friend. The same window had been open before her for the last quarter of an hour, but she wasn't able to concentrate enough to even remember why she had done what she had. There was an internal worry filling Penelope, that stemmed from her tendency to assume the worst when she didn't know all the details. It was part of the reason that the blonde was so overly invested in her friends lives, the more she knew the less she could worry about.
That was why, having locked the computer, Penelope took hold of an empty file and left the comfort of her personal work area. She knew that her cover was barely viable, if anyone stopped her on the way to the ginger woman's office she would most likely freeze before blurting out the truth, but that didn't matter to her. Penelope needed to run diagnostics on her friends, admitting them to triage if necessary.
Despite never having known Annie before she resurfaced in Aaron's office, Penelope had a strong sense that the two had been closer than friends. The Unit Chief had been oddly cheerful since she had returned, his mood only dipping during cases that seemed to be prolonged, and the technical analyst wanted to keep him smiling for as long as possible. He deserved to have a light in his life, and Jack deserved continuity in his life.
Gently knocking on the office door, the blonde silently entered having seen the support officer gesture for her to enter with her hand. It was odd for Penelope to see Annie with a look of such confidence on her face. It was clear from the tone of her voice, that even made the technical analyst relax, that Annie was on the phone to a family member that was in need of professional guidance. It was also clear why Annie had been given the role on the team.
Having finished the phone call, ensuring that the family knew her line was always open if they had any more questions, Annie looked up at the blonde, asking, "What you got for me there, PG?"
"This?" She asked looking down at the empty folder, her voice increasing in pitch. "Oh, it's nothing. Like really, there's not even much point you looking at it."
Annie grew confused holding out her hand for the file which Penelope reluctantly handed to her. As she opened it, she shook her head a slight chuckle leaving her lips, "If you were missing me, you could have just said."
She paused, seeing the woman's worry festering on her face. Closing the file, she was currently working through, Annie gestured towards the armchair opposite her, "Sit, tell me what it is that's getting to you. This is a safe place."
"I get it," Penelope mused, taking the seat before she leaned towards the woman across from her. "You're a glorified and over paid therapist."
Letting a laugh leave her lips, Annie raised her shoulders, adding in a similar comedic tone, "You've got me; just don't tell the boss."
"Talking of the boss," Penelope stated, taking the opportunity to bring up the subject that had been plaguing her mind. "This morning there was some serious separation. You two finally leaving room for Jesus?"
Pulling her gaze from the bubbly woman before her, Annie's face began to flush red. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to form a sentence that would stop the woman before her from putting the pieces together. Had she have been able to control her embarrassment; she wouldn't be in danger of the blonde making the correct assumption. Perhaps, had Annie have been able to crack a joke about how they had decided to act professionally, the woman's interest would have been dulled. However, the blush on Annie's cheeks told Penelope all that she needed to know to make an assumption.
Penelope was watching the woman, her mouth dropping open in disbelief. From the tension the night before, she had expected Annie to tell her that they had argued about something she had done on the case. However, when the woman began to retreat into her embarrassment Penelope began to put it together: the distance placed between them that morning; the awkwardness of each of their encounters during the day; and the turtle neck that Annie had chosen to wear that day. To say that she was shocked would have been an understatement.
Lowering her voice from their earlier conversation, Penelope rambled, "Annie, did you and Hotch- I mean did it finally happen?"
"I don't feel like having this conversation, I have a lot of paperwork to do." Annie explained to the woman, her statement all but confirming Penelope's theory. The ginger had noticed this as she had spoken, the widening of her friend's eyes sharing more than she was aware. "Maybe, you can keep this between us; not even Derek Morgan can know this."
"My lips are sealed." The woman grinned. "But does this mean that we can be expecting a more lenient Hotch? Less of a drill Sargent?"
Annie leant back in her chair, shaking her head at the woman, "It's not going to happen again, if that's what you're asking."
"Annabel Bradey, that man hasn't so much as glanced in the direction of another woman since he lost Haley." Penelope declared, shocked by the woman's answer. "Then when you walk through those doors, he's smiling and he's happy again. I've not seen that in a long time."
"It's just, it's complicated." Annie muttered, rubbing her temples as her mind began to run for the hundredth time that day. "Neither of us can cope with any more complicated right now."
Penelope shook her head, asking, "You both make each other smile, what's complicated about that?"
"Just that," Annie mumbled, straightening the individual objects on her desk at an attempt to control the situation, "I don't deserve someone who makes me smile."
Penelope's heart broke at the statement. She had watched the woman piece herself back together for the last few months, having learnt the majority of the events that she had lived through second hand as they were whispered through the office. Otherwise, what she had learnt was from the police reports she had found where the girls name had been mentioned. However, watching her re-straighten the name tag on her desk multiple times, Penelope knew that she wasn't as far along in her recovery as she wanted everyone to believe. She still saw herself as the villain in her own story.
Thank you to everyone who have responded to this story, I hope you are all enjoying it this far. I am going through and editing chapters soon as I tend to write these on my phone between midnight and one as that seems to be the time when I can just write instead of second guessing every word I choose.
Don't be afraid to let me know what you're thinking thus far, and if you see any grammatical or spelling errors it would be great if you could point them out as they have a tendency to slip through the cracks.
Anyway, thank you all again for reading this far.
Katey. Xx