It felt like Alex had been gone for hours, and Penelope was starting to get worried that something bad had happened to them. A part of her wanted to pull open the basement doors and rush down there, searching for them until she knew that they were both safe. However, the more rational part of her brain reminded her that she needed to stand watch over the house, to listen for any noise that would tell her they were about to be discovered.
Sighing, she went over to the open window once more, sticking her ear close to it in an effort to hear if Alex had found Erin or not. Again, there was no sound of voices, and she let out a deep, frustrated, sigh as she traipsed back to the stairs, willing Alex to make her appearance. Finally, after an eternity had passed, Penelope heard feet slapping against hard concrete stairs, and she knew that Alex was making her way up to her. Hurriedly, she tugged open the door and gave as brave a smile to Alex as she could. The woman shakily returned the expression before she helped Penelope to close the door. And then, she was wrapping her arms around her waist and burying her face into the crook of Penelope's neck as great sobs tore out of her throat.
"I didn't want to leave her down there, Penelope. I am a horrible person for allowing her to suffer for another night in hell. But she told me to go, that she understood we had to get the police involved."
"Shh, darling. Now we know that she's here, and there is something we can do about it. Let's head back to the car, and we can sit and talk for a little bit, to calm your nerves and make it so that we don't look like we were fighting. That would draw the wrong kind of attention to us, right?" Alex nodded, and Penelope rubbed her back softly as she began to lead her back over to the place where they had emerged from the woods.
It was difficult to pick their way back to the car, as Alex was still clinging to her tightly, which impeded her steps, as she had to make certain that neither of them would trip. But by the time she had gotten to the car, Alex had relaxed her grip on her waist a tiny bit, which allowed her to pull back and cup the older woman's face, lifting her head a little so that she could look into her eyes. "We found her, Alexandra. We followed through, we used our brains, and we found her. Now, we just need to make a plan for how tomorrow will go. We can't assume that Gideon will be gone tomorrow, after all."
Alex nodded, her smile still uncertain. Letting out a little sound of discontent, Penelope reached up and brushed away some of her tears, smiling back at her before leaning in and kissing Alex's forehead tenderly, wanting to comfort her as best she could while they were still in the woods. There would be time to take things to a more intimate place, as there were still some things that she didn't feel comfortable doing in public, not while they were still trying to pretend that there was nothing deeper between them than the op. "Just hold me for another minute? Please?"
She hated to hear Alex so broken, and instantly, Penelope nodded, bundling her in close once more, allowing their bodies to meld together as she stroked Alex's back, murmuring soothingly in her ear. Finally, she knew that they needed to get food and regroup, so she fumbled to get the car door open before gently pushing Alex into it. After she'd gotten behind the wheel, Penelope plugged her phone back onto the charger as she started back towards town, praying that she wouldn't pass Gideon along the almost deserted road, as it would be too easy for them to be recognized if that happened.
By the time that they were safely in the town proper, Penelope's hand ached from holding on to the steering wheel so tightly, and she knew that her legs might not hold her up if she went into a store to pick up food for them, so she chose the only fast food option available to them, ordering what she thought Alex would like, based on her preferences that she had observed. It didn't take long to get their food, and she placed the bags on Alex's lap before driving back to the hotel.
"We're back, Alexandra. Let's head up to our room," Penelope said softly as she turned off the car. Alex nodded dumbly as she unfastened her seatbelt, slipping out of the car and listlessly making her way towards the door. Letting out a deep sigh, Penelope grabbed their bags before hurrying to catch up with the woman, slinging her free arm around her waist as they went inside. It felt right to have Alex burrow in closer to her, as if she were protecting the woman, and Penelope hummed softly beneath her breath as they went down the hall to their room.
Once they were behind closed doors, Alex drifted over to the table and set the food there before turning to look at Penelope, tears making her eyes glisten in the light. Without saying a word, they closed the distance between each other, and as Alex started to sob against her chest, Penelope allowed her own tears to come to the forefront, sobbing along with her as she stroked Alex's hair lightly. She didn't know how long they stood there, but it felt good to commune with the woman, sharing their misery over the fact that they had allowed Erin to stay behind in horrific conditions. Eventually, though, Penelope pulled away and led Alex over to the table, setting out their food for them before starting to eat, watching as Alex half-heartedly picked at her food, eating out of sheer perfunctory need than any desire to do so.
"All right, so, tomorrow, we first need to get Erin a change of clothing. I don't feel like she'd want to have the police come upon her in her current state." There was a blandness to Alex's voice, and Penelope sighed as she nodded. "I am not going to tell you about what I saw down there, I think that you can glean enough about the situation from the way I reacted. Suffice it to say, I want to make certain that we catch Gideon there, so that he pays for what he did to her. Oh, certainly, the physical marks will fade and heal, but I'm not so certain that the psychological scars will be that quick to fade."
Penelope nodded as she rested her chin on the back of her hand. "I know. But that is why we're going to be by her side, to help prop her up and support her when the dark days come." Reaching across the table, she took hold of Alex's free hand, threading their fingers together before she squeezed tightly. "Now, I think that you are of a size with Erin, so let's pick out something that she would feel comfortable in, and then we can decide when we should reach out to her and when we should call the police. I think that we should head out near dawn and use the lack of light to cover the fact that we're smuggling Erin in clothes to wear. Then we can run in the woods for a bit, to give credibility to our story that we were exercising and stumbled across the house. When we went up to the door to ask for directions, having become lost, we heard Erin calling for help."
"That will mean Erin will have to lie as well, and pretend that she doesn't know us."
Penelope felt her brow furrow as she thought about that statement. The truth in it caused her to pause and consider what that might mean for their operation. "That does throw a wrinkle into things, doesn't it?" Letting out a soft sigh, she squeezed Alex's hand once more before looking out the window. "Perhaps we should just scrap that plan and go with the truth. After all, that is the easiest thing to tell. Right?"
Alex nodded as she rose to her feet and went over to the bed. "Perhaps it's time to call Hotch and let him know what we're doing then. I'm going to try and take a nap, to get rid of this headache I find myself burdened with." Penelope sighed as she watched the woman curl up on the mattress, hugging the pillow close to her chest as she began to quietly sob once more, knowing there was nothing she could do for the woman in that moment.