A/N- So I've recieved an anonymous reviewer that said that if none of the kids wanted Penelope here, then Haley and Hotch shouldn't bring Penelope into the house. Well, the other kids don't know what Penelope looks like other than Derek, now do they? :-) Oh sure, they've got an accurate description of what she kind of looks like, but they have never seen her. Also, saying that they have four kids and don't need another? Not to be rude, really, I would've messaged this user privately if s/he isn't a guest, but the whole point of this story is to introduce Penelope like I intended to since I couldn't in my previous story. I hope that clears things up for you :)

Also, I'm really sorry that this took so long to update. I've been looking at colleges, lately, and it's been taking up a lot of my time.

The whole incident was forgotten about after a week. Derek had not seen Penelope in that said week, and everyone else had moved on with other things going on in their lives. It was unsurprising, at the very least. Hotch and Haley knew that it was unlikely that anyone would really do anything about a girl who took something away from their youngest son. At the very most, they'd have a word with the girl's parents. However, Hotch has heard of many instances where parents didn't seem to care, were absent, physically and/or mentally.

That's similar to what happened with their own children. Their parents were absent or dismissive in some sort of way. Spencer's mother, although he visits her monthly, unless on special occasions, was a paranoid schizophrenic who unintentionally abused Spencer. Her mental illness did not change the way she felt for her child, but it did effect his safety. Emily's biological parents passed away when she was ten, and with no living relatives to take care of her, she was in the foster system for three years, where she was either treated horribly or neglected, sometimes both. JJ's parents were abusive, well...her mother was dealing with her cancer, and still is. Derek's mother was an addict, and willingly gave up her son to the system when he was three, where he also bounced back and forth between families.

The point is, there were no boundaries, and Hotch and Haley had to make sure that they adjusted to a place where they'd always have a home, a place of boundaries. No one was going to run wild in the neighborhood on Hotch's watch, especially his own kids.

Hotch sighed as he looked at the paperwork that seemingly grew larger and larger, though he knew in the back of his mind that wasn't possible. Haley was out with Kate and he was stuck with 'babysitting duty' as Dave called it, who just so happened to be right next to him. When Haley said that Dave was coming over, Emily laughed and said that Haley's affection for Hotch would never beat the "bromance" of Hotch and Dave. Hotch would be very annoyed himself, but Dave joked and said that they're still going strong.

"No, I get the computer!"

Emily's shriek interrupted Hotch's thoughts.

Hotch and Dave turned around to see Emily looked very ticked off as Derek rushed to the computer and play games. "Oh come on, you always get the computer!"

"Um, no, I don't!" Emily argued with her brother. "You got it yesterday, and the day before, and I actually need to use it for homework! You just want to play Fortnite!"

"Hey, there is nothing wrong with Fortnite!"

"It's overrated and stupid!"

"It is not!"

"It is too!"

"Hey, hey hey," Hotch intervened before a full fight over something pointless took place. "Derek, Emily is right. You had the computer yesterday and the day before, and she needs to use the computer for her homework." Derek sighed and stalked up the stairs in frustration.

Emily smirked and went to computer. "Now if I can get my own room..."

"Don't push it," Hotch warned lightly, with an amused smile. "We said we'd think about it." She was silent for a few minutes, giving him time. Until:

"Are you done thinking about it?" Emily pushed with a teasing grin.

"Just go on the computer," Hotch ordered quickly, mildly annoyed that Dave was laughing loudly. He faced his former professor. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Immensely," was Dave's answer. "This is making me glad I don't have children."

"Please Dave, you love us," JJ said cheerfully. "Mommy even said so."

"Kate, you've been quiet all day," Haley said at Kate during their dinner at a restaurant. "What's going on?"

Kate sighed, messing her food around with her fork. "It's horrible. Why do parents become parents when they have no desires for children? And then...there are those who can't become parents but really want children."

Haley nodded, being the latter choice. "Yes, I understand, but I got my wish."

Finally, Kate stabbed her lettuce with her fork and began to eat it. "I know, you have your own little family but..." she trailed off, looking sadder by the minute. "You can't save everyone."

Haley nodded in understanding. "You're beginning to realize that, and that's why this is hurting you." Kate nodded, without saying a word. Haley reached over and squeezed Kate's hand in hers and went on. "Kate, I'll always be here for you, you know that right?"

"Of course," Kate confirmed, putting up a weak smile. "But...this job doesn't get any easier. Haley, how do you do it? You adopted four kids that were in the system or came from horrible lives, how do you put up with the tragedies?"

Haley was silent for a moment, until she looked at her best friend with confidence and firmness. "We take things one step at a time, Kate."

Derek was annoyed when Emily got the computer, but that feeling washed away when he saw his little brother in his room, sitting on the floor and staring at it in intense focus.

Immediately, Derek becomes concerned. "Spencer?" He gets no response. That was not good. Derek sits across from Spencer, hoping that he'll get some response of some sort.

"Talk to me, kid." A small good sign, Derek receives a nod, a nod that meant he acknowledged Derek's presence. "You can't talk?" Spencer shook his head no.

Derek understood. "You know I can't leave you by yourself if you're like this, right?" Again, there's no verbal response, Derek gets a nod.

At least Spencer was able to process this information. Sometimes when he got his shutdowns he didn't speak or he kept himself in a bubble where he couldn't hear other people, the senses driving him into overdrive. Derek just sits with Spencer, waiting with him until Spencer would eventually open up on what was on his mind.

He always does.

"So, kid," Derek says, trying to make a conversation even though Spencer wouldn't answer. "How's your friend doing? What was her name now?" He still doesn't get an answer. Sighing, he thinks about giving up, since Spencer really was intense when it came to his shutdowns. But then, it was Derek's turn to be surprised.

"Maeve," Spencer said quietly. "Her name is Maeve, and it means warrior."

Things are taken one step at a time.

"Something's wrong," muttered Shane, gazing at the dark night from their usual spot. "We need to go."

"What?" Penelope asked, although usually when he suggested moving to a new location, she never questioned him. "Why?"

"Because," Shane emphasized. "I just feel it."

"You feel it?" Stephen asked him, though his voice was laced with doubt. "You just have intuition?"

"I don't know what that means, Stephen, but sure," replied Shane. "But we need to go, okay? Like, right now." No one doubted his intentions any further, when a man with a black hoodie appeared, his face covered with a black mask except his eyes. Those eyes...that had a familiarity to them. Not good ones, though, more like eyes that were hated. Still, that's not what was being focused on, when Penelope noticed what was in the man's hand: a handheld gun.

Immediately, all of them ran like hell, not looking back once to see if he was chasing them. He was chasing them, though, and his legs were longer and faster.

"HEY!" The figure shouted.

In that moment, Stephen wished he could turn back time. He wished that he didn't actually turn around, because now he felt like a fool. This is the one time that he should've listened to one of Shane's many rants and speeches, such as never stopping when someone was chasing you. Something in his foolish mind told him to turn around and face the masked man, and that had consequences. A deadly one, as a matter of fact.

When Penelope heard the gunshot, she stopped and rushed over to where it happened, forgetting about her own safety.

Shane on the other hand stopped momentarily, accessed what just happened, before running even faster.

After the gunman made the shot, he ran in the other direction.

And then there was Stephen, his eyes wide as he gazed at his new wound, before falling backwards on the cold concrete floor. Penelope gasped in fright as Stephen coughed up blood, clearly in discomfort and pain. "Stephen! Can you hear me?" She gets a groan in response. She notices how his eyes were beginning to close, and Penelope wasn't about to let that happen. No, not him.

"Stop!" Penelope screamed in fear, trying to slap Stephen to keep him conscious. "Don't you dare close your eyes on me! Keep your eyes on me, because you're not going to die!"

Stephen didn't say anything at first, he could only wince and groan as the blood oozed from his stomach wound.

"Stephen! You're going to make it! Help is coming." Penelope wasn't sure about that last line. Because right now, she heard no sirens. She heard no one calling 911, she heard nothing but the silence of unpleasant darkness and her heart beating rapidly in anxiety as she tried to stop the blood with the Doctor Who scarf that she stole a while back. "Stephen, stay with me!"

"D-do y-you think I'll see my brother?" Stephen croaked to Penelope, feeling his eyes droop and his body go cold.

Penelope's tears were not invisible anymore, dripping onto Stephen's wound. All hope was lost in that moment, since Penelope realized no one would save them, people like them. Why would anyone save a street thug? Why would anyone save a street rat? There is no hope, perhaps there never was. "I know you will."

"I can't see you, Penny," Stephen groaned, squinting to get a glimpse of her face. "Are you there?"

Penelope grabbed his hand. "I'm right here."

Stephen was breathing heavily as his body got colder and colder. "I want you to be the last thing I see, before I see my brother."

Penelope nodded in understand, gripping his hand tightly. "I'm right here, I'm not leaving."

Slowly, Stephen's breathing started to slow down, and his grip loosened on Penelope's hand tremendously. Neither of them had heard the sirens, the two were focused on each other to notice the chaos and the people surrounding them. Stephen grinned weakly at the full sight of Penelope. In that last second of living, he prayed silently for her to get her dream, to achieve great things, and to survive with the power of her good heart. He breathed his last, before he began to drift away into death's arms.

Death wasn't kind.

Penelope let out an anguishing scream. She was forever alone. Shane was MIA, and now Stephen, the logic and brains behind their homeless adventures, was dead.

Death wasn't kind.

Immediately, CPS was called.

Someone tried to guide Penelope away from Stephen's lifeless body, but that made her scream more. "No! Don't take him away from me! He's all I have left!"

Death wasn't kind.

Penelope was lead to the police station by a nice woman, but she was still in extreme grief over her friend's death.

Still, she never felt so warm in her life.

That didn't mean that death was kind, because it wasn't.

"What do you mean no one would want to take her?!" Kate snapped over the phone, her anger boiling like lava. "Just because she was homeless?" She couldn't bare to listen to all the excuses that the person on the other line would give her. "Don't even. I will find this girl a home!" Angry, she hung up on the person, surprised she didn't keep them on the line to hurl any last minute insults. The nerve of some people...

Kate sighed, beginning to dial a number she never thought she'd have to dial for these things ever again. "Haley, it's Kate..."

A/n: Yep, I went there. I'm sorry for that tragic ending with Stephen's death. Also, again, I know the scenes were very, very short. But they're little snippets that'll lead to future events.