Penelope smiled as Alex bustled into the room. It had been three days since Erin had last called. Three days where Penelope could only ruminate about what was happening to Erin, how the monster who had her was hurting her, destroying something precious about her. "How are you holding up, Penelope?"

"Not well. I keep thinking about what he is doing to her. And I can't stop picturing Gideon's face on the monster's body. I just wish that she'd call."

Alex nodded as she sat on the desk across from Penelope. "Maybe today will be the day."

She shrugged, not holding out much hope. "So, I can't find an address for the phone number that Stephen sent me. The closest I can get is a post office box located in Belspring itself. And that is registered to someone who is supposed to have died thirty years ago."

Tears of frustration prickled her eyes, and she welcomed the hug that Alex gave her. "You will find the answers you seek, I promise. I know you're that good." She nodded a little against the other woman's chest as her phone began to ring. "Want me to answer?"

"No, I will. I'll put it on speaker, just in case." Penelope pulled away from Alex and picked up the receiver on the phone before pressing the speaker button. "Hello?"

"Talk dirty to me, Penelope. Tell me about the outside world."

The tears that had been threatening to fall finally began to pour down her cheeks as she nodded. "I have Alex here with me, just so you know. I've missed talking to you. Why haven't you called me?"

"He, he took away my phone. He said it was giving me too much hope, and that he couldn't have that. I recognized his voice finally."

"Because he was hurting you?"

"He hasn't stopped, Penelope. He's doing it to punish me."

"Oh, Erin." Alex's soft words caused Penelope to look at her, taking in the tears in her brown eyes, the way her brow was furrowed deeply, and she reached out to the woman, welcoming her back in her arms. "I wish we were closer to finding the monster."

"I know, Alex. How are my children? Have you seen them?"

Alex shook her head, and Penelope held her closer, stroking her back. "Dave said that they are heartbroken, but that's to be expected. He had a rough time on this last case, he said that he was missing you terribly."

"It's hard to find the bluebird of happiness when you're in a situation like ours." Erin sighed deeply and Penelope longed to hold onto her tightly, to rub her back, to love on her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. "I know that Tabby is excited about seeing Catching Fire. Will you both take her for me, if I'm not with you? Please?"

Penelope nodded and tried to suppress her sob of sorrow. "I would do anything for you, Erin. I love you."

"I love you, too, darling girl." They all heard the heavy footsteps coming nearer Erin, and Alex tightened her grip on Penelope's waist. "I don't want you to hear this. Keep each other safe, I love you all."

The phone went dead and she finally felt free enough to let the great, heaving, sobs tear from her throat. "Shh, Penelope, you're okay," Alex whispered in her ear as she rubbed her back in soft circles. "We're right."

"I'm sorry?"

"It is him."

"How do you know that? There was nothing in those words that could possibly tell us anything that leads us to her captor."

"There were actually two big clues. The mention of bluebirds and the movie."

Penelope felt the frown that covered her face, and struggled not to make any sound of disapproval. Alex pulled away from her and brought her hand up to cup her face, running her thumb against her cheek bone. "I'm not following you, Alex. At all."

"I take it you haven't read The Hunger Games." She shook her head. "Let me guess, you didn't like the comparisons to Battle Royale?" She nodded. "Well, don't let that deter you, they're different enough, even with the similar premise. In the book, the main character identifies with the mockingjay, which Collins based in large part on the mockingbird. And what was Jason's favorite bird?"
"The mockingbird," she breathed out, feeling her features fall. "Oh, god, Alex, what are we going to do? If he really has her, he'll know enough to cover his tracks. He hunted down some of the worst unsubs in history, he delved into their brains, figured out how they ticked, and it broke him. Did it break him worse than we realized?"

"I think so, Penelope. He knows how to torture people, based on everything he saw, day in and day out here. So, what do you want to do? Take a road trip out to Belspring?"

"It takes almost five hours to get there. And we'd be seen as outsiders, who might tip off Gideon. And he would so recognize me!"

"Not if we dress you a little differently. I can almost say, dollars to doughnuts, that if we were to put you in jeans and quiet tops, you would look like someone else. No flamboyance, no heels, nothing that would call attention to you."

Penelope nodded half-heartedly, snuggling close to Alex. "I suppose we could try that. And I could wear a wig. Derek almost didn't recognize me when I wore the black one."

"There you go. And it's been more than enough years since I was in his line of sight. I doubt he would remember me."

"Small problem, they took pictures of all of us. He is going to recognize all of us. Unless you do something drastic, too."

"Well, I guess I always did want to be a blonde."

"And we are going to gussy you up. And…"

"Yes?" Alex asked, giving her a small smile.

"We're going to go in as lovers on a vacation."

"In rural Virginia? Is that really wise?"

Penelope shrugged, looking up into the woman's eyes. "What other options do we have? I'll be the butchy one, you be the femme one, we'll play on stereotypes. They'll be so focused on what we are, they won't focus on who we are."

Alex shook her head, a tiny smile gracing her lips. "I suppose we'll have to go shopping before this trip, to really get into our roles."

"Yes. We can't just up and leave. And I'll need to tell Erin to call my cellphone from now on, since I'll be joining you all out on the field. Do you think we should go to Hotch and tell him about this now?"

"He still won't believe you or me about this."

"I can get Kevin to cover my work here then, he's done it before." She sighed lightly. "I'll go to him first and get the time off. You can go next." Alex nodded and Penelope took a deep breath as she squared her shoulders and made her way from the room.