A/N: Ok... I owe a really long explanation for not being active for two months on this story. College applications have gotten in my way, as well as writer's block. Thank you all for your reviews, alerts, and favorites! Really, it's amazing how this story is popular among you guys because I honestly thought this sequel would be awful, but it isn't. It's things like this that make me want to continue writing, which is your loving support :)

I really hope people haven't completely forgotten about this story. Please review!

I'm working on an original story that isn't fanfiction as well.

Sometimes, Penelope wondered what her life could've been.

If her parents had stayed blessedly normal.

If her parents hadn't kicked her out when things got out of hand.

If she wasn't living on the streets, surrounded by the dangers of being homeless.

If she hadn't met Stephen and Shane.

If Stephen hadn't died.

Stephen.

Her best friend.

If she hadn't met the Hotchner family.

The family that she had stolen from.

A sigh.

It was all so fucked up.

Penelope stopped the anxious bouncing of her legs, biting her lip as Haley called from downstairs, for it was time to eat. Penelope was afraid, afraid of having to go somewhere, because she already found a place here that she loved, and she liked to think that all of them had taken a liking to her. But, she knew, that was because they were oblivious to the truth of what she had done a while ago.

Now it was exposed.

They knew what she did.

It was all so fucked up.

Penelope didn't know exactly what the truth was on how it started - the first sign of danger that the Hotchner family would figure her out. Derek and Penelope had different perspectives on the first sign of how she was going to be exposed for who she was.

It all started - according to Derek - when he met someone, well... he met that same person that Penelope had known on the streets for being homeless. It was dark, horrifying, not to mention that it brought back some horrible flashbacks.

It all started - according to Penelope - when someone, whether she considered him a friend or not, had reentered her life. It was kind of a relief and devastating blow all at once to see him again, for painful memories were brought up.

But how it actually started was when Derek, Penelope, and Emily went out into the city.

Forgive the idiom, but things were about to go pear-shaped, as Emily, Derek, and Penelope entered the rough neighborhood the latter was all too familiar with.

Penelope sighed, blinking the tears back. This was the same place where Stephen was murdered. A reason why she tagged along with Emily was that she knew her way around the city, and wanted to be of help. For what Emily wanted, however, came to a shock to the plump blonde. What was even much more of a shock, was Derek's reaction.

"A vape," emphasized Derek, almost appalled. "You're becoming one of those high schoolers?"

"It can't be detected in urine tests unless I smoked maybe 15 minutes before, but even I'm not that dumb."

"This is dumb," snapped Derek. "How can you even afford those?"

"Saved some money," Emily said as a way of explaining. Now, she turns her attention to Penelope, revealing the true reason why Emily allowed her to come with her. "Alright, since you've without a doubt smoked before, show me the best smoke shop."

Derek, who thought he couldn't be any more shocked, managed to defy that. "What... Penelope hasn't smoked!"

Penelope's face went red, not saying anything. She had smoked cigarettes before that Shane stole. Now, Shane, he was a true smoker - at a tender age, too. Penelope, on the other hand, had maybe three cigarettes in her entire life, and those were only during the darkest of days. She didn't like it, really.

Derek blinked multiple times and faced Penelope. "You haven't smoked, haven't you?"

Penelope bit her lip. "Erm... I've had bad days."

While Derek's mouth gaped wide open like a fish, Emily wasn't at all surprised as she continued nonchalantly. "Now that that's settled, Penelope... why don't you show me the shop?"

"Um, it's over there..." Penelope said, trying to get over her shock as she pointed to a local shop she knew. Emily smirked to herself, while Derek groaned in annoyance, and with Penelope feeling uneasy. The three of them headed into the store, and what Penelope saw - or she should say, who - made her stop in her tracks and stare. Again, she didn't know whether this could be a good or bad thing. There were questions that she had that were now answered, but a bunch of new ones popped up.

Shane, realizing he was being stared at, had looked over in amusement, before walking his way over to the three of them. "Well isn't this funny!? Good to see you, Pen!"

"You know him?" Emily inquired.

Shane laughed, ever so obnoxiously. "Penelope and I go way back!" He faced Derek. "Us two, we also go way back!"

"What?" Emily said in confusion.

"Sh-sh-Shane," Penelope managed to stammer out, not quite knowing how to pinpoint where her emotions were at. "It's um... good to see you too. How've you been... what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," retorted Shane, appearing smug. "What are you doing here? Word got around that you're not homeless anymore."

"I'm sorry, and you are?" Emily asked Shane but was ignored.

"Shane..." Penelope said lowly, trying to signal that Emily didn't know certain things like Derek did. "This is my foster family now." Again, Shane began to hysterically laugh, catching everyone's attention as he said, "That's so funny!" Emily was confused, Penelope was getting more and more nervous, while Derek was getting pissed off.

And boy, did it show. "Why is that funny?" he snapped.

"Oh you know why it's funny, you, of all people, know why it's funny!" Shane retorted back, not so kindly. "Since you've met Pen and I before, isn't that right?"

"Shane, stop!" Penelope begged, her eyes glaring daggers at him. However, Shane wouldn't listen.

Emily, however, was getting frustrated. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Shane, who had been ignoring Emily, finally faced her. "I'll tell you all about it. You see... Penelope and I were friends, once... we were homeless together, and... there's a lot of secrets that she's been hiding, that I'm pretty sure your foster brother knows all about."

"Shane..." Penelope pleaded once more, but again, was ignored. "Please."

"First off," Shane started off, grinning at the way Penelope was squirming. "We start with a chilly November. Did I mention that when Penelope was homeless there was this older man that forced Penelope to give him a kiss for twenty bucks? She totally was gonna go into prostitution if she hadn't been taken in soon." Emily's eyes grew sorrowful and filled with sympathy, but little did she know that that was about to change.

Derek looked horrified, he had not known that. He tried to look at Penelope, whose eyes were glued to the floor in shame. "Penelope, you never-"

"But that was after the incident with you guys," Shane interrupted, wanting to get to the main point.

"Don't do it," Derek warned, his eyes glowing red. "Don't."

"Incident? With us?" Emily said incredulously, already beginning to lose patience. She faced Derek, expecting him to know. "Derek, what is this twit talking about?" Derek said nothing.

Shane smirked, gleefully answering it for her. "Ah, so many questions! This is just too good-"

"What is going on!?" Emily finally snapped impatiently. "Because apparently, I'm the only one here that doesn't know shit with whatever the hell you guys were doing!"

"So... this story begins on a chilly November..."

"Shane, stop it," said Penelope, her eyes beginning to water. "Please."

"Penelope was really cold, the weather was horrible."

"Shane, don't say it," Derek warned, stepping in, but he already knew it was no use.

"So she found this rich little house..."

"No...no...no..." Penelope muttered brokenly.

"Did I mention that her neck was especially cold? She needed a scarf," emphasized Shane. "So, she found this house, and then..."

"You've said enough!" Penelope exclaimed, her voice cold and angry. Emily, on the other hand, was trying to piece together the information that she had been told. However, Shane wasn't going to let her figure this out on her own.

"She took a five-year-old boy's scarf! It turns out to be your little brother's. What was it now, a Doctor Who scarf?" Shane mockingly rubbed his chin, as if trying to think. Penelope and Derek looked very defeated, but that was nothing compared to what Emily looked like. Like it was predicted before, Emily's once pitying look turned into a mix of anger, rage, betrayal, and fury rolled into one. A teenage girl never represented a contorted look of this quite as Emily did. This look showed purely into her eyes, you didn't even have to look for her body language to know she was feeling negative energy.

"That's not even the best part," continued Shane, now facing Derek with a smug grin. "Your brother over here met us when he was in the cafeteria. Penelope was wearing that same scarf. He damn well knew everything about her, who she was, what she did, yet he never said a word." Satisfied with the damage he inflicted, Shane walked out of the store without buying anything. Emily, who looked like she was going to kill, ran out of the store as well. Derek and Penelope exchanged a look and followed after her.

"Emily, I'm so sorry!" Penelope wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks in guilt and despair. Emily whipped her body around in a flash, just goes to show you how angry she was. It was revealed that she also had angry tears that stained her red face.

"You..." Emily said lowly, pointing at Penelope accusingly. "You... you selfish bitch."

"Emily..." Derek tried to interject, but Emily was having none of it.

"You're also one to talk!" Emily interrupted before she could give him the chance. There was fury in her brown eyes. "You knew everything, and you didn't say a word to anyone!? Not even to mom and dad?"

"I didn't know everything," Derek tried to defend, but Emily merely rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, the one thing you didn't know that Penelope was a prostitute. But really," Emily stopped mid-sentence to glare at the plump blonde. "What other secrets have you been keeping?"

"I wasn't a prostitute!" Penelope exclaimed, looking horrified. "It was just one man, and it was just a kiss every now and then, and..."

"That's how human sex trafficking starts, you stupid girl!" Emily retorted. "Not that I fucking care, you should go screw him now, anyway..."

"Emily what the fuck!?" Derek shouted at her, noticing Penelope's clearly hurt expression. "Why would you say something like that!?"

"Why would she steal our little brother's scarf and then enter our home like she did nothing wrong? She knew what she did was wrong!" Emily fired back. She kept walking fast, with heaviness in each step to emphasize how pissed off she was. Penelope ran up to her to catch up, and tried tapping her on the shoulder.

"Emily wait!"

Emily spun around furiously. "Guess what, I'm going to tell mom and dad, and you'll be out of here!"

"Please... let me explain-"

"You'll be out of here!" Emily thundered, running off. Derek and Penelope watched her go, the worry sinking into their stomachs. Derek didn't want Penelope to go, but when Emily would tell Haley and Hotch, not even he could predict what could happen. He knew Penelope didn't want to go either because he knew that she finally found somewhere that she'd be safe.

"I need to go somewhere else," Penelope said, fiercely determined. "I... I can't go back to your home."

"It's your home, too..." Derek said solemnly. "You can't just go back living on the streets."

"That's something I've always done, and I'm going back to live on it again," replied Penelope, sighing loudly. "I can't face Haley and Hotch. I especially can't face JJ and Spencer when Emily tells them the whole truth because of what Shane did. I'm sorry, Derek."

Derek gasped aloud, not caring how dramatic he sounded. "Are you insane? What if you run into that asshole again!?"

"I won't," Penelope said lowly.

"I have to protect you."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. I'm your big brother, I-."

"No, you're not!" Penelope screamed at him, finally losing her temper. "Foster brother. Foster. Do you know what that means? It's temporary!" Derek was taken aback by this, but Penelope continued, if not angrier than before. "You need to let me go because after what just happened now, I'll never have a family! No family anywhere is going to take me, so don't even bother going after me, because I'll yell and scream that you're trying to hurt me, so don't even come near me!" With that, Penelope ran into the other direction, with Derek looking on with such despair.

He felt he had no choice but to follow Emily and get back home. He had devastating news to deliver.

A/N:Erm... that happened, oof. So it's good to be back. Apparently, I just learned that Criminal Minds is ending after fifteen seasons? What the eff? My heart is breaking into a million tiny little pieces.

Please, please review!