Penelope waited until Alex was fully asleep before she pulled out her phone and dialed Hotch's personal number. She knew that this would never be an officially sanctioned operation, but she knew that he could smooth things over with their superiors when it was revealed that they had been conducting a shadow operation for so many weeks. Taking a deep breath, she waited for him to answer, continuing to stare at Alex as she waited.

"Penelope? Is everything all right?"

She took a deep breath before letting out a wry chuckle. "That all depends on how you define all right. Do you remember when I came to you a few weeks ago, asking if John Curtis could have been working with someone, in order to better get at us?"

"Yes."

"Well, it turns out that I was right, he was working with someone quite close to us, at one time, someone who had just as large a grudge against Erin as John did, and we never saw it."

"You're talking in riddles, Garcia. Just tell me everything plainly."

"Of course, sir. But first, I have to ask. Are you sitting down? You might want to be for what I'm about to tell you."

There was a short pause, and then she heard him shuffling about. "Fine, I'm seated now, and you can talk freely. There's no one else in here."

She nodded, feeling a wave of nerves sweep over her body as she realized what she was about to tell her boss. "Erin Strauss is alive, Blake and I have found her, and Gideon is the one holding her captive."

"And I'm a Jedi knight."

This drew a sharp laugh from her, and she focused in on Alex, hoping that she hadn't woken the woman, not when she needed the healing powers of sleep so much. "I wish that this was a fantasy, sir. But it's not. Erin was calling me every so often, when she was allowed a cell phone, and while I tried to tell people that she was alive, no one believed me. But then, it was a hard truth to swallow."

"Yes. But we have experience with death not truly being death, don't we?" he asked.

"Exactly what I tried to tell Emily! She wasn't convinced, either, and it came down to just me and Alex, true believers, who tracked her down and found this place in Virginia. That's where we've been these last few days. I was hoping beyond hope that we would be right, that we would find her on our first try, and we did. She's not yet safe."

"What do you mean?"

She took a deep breath before continuing on with her news. "Gideon has been hurting her, taunting her, and she's been held captive in the basement of this house he's using through mostly shady means. We can't do anything today, since we have to put a few pieces together yet, but tomorrow morning, we will be contacting the Virginia State Police and having them raid the house, since we don't have jurisdiction to do anything in her rescue. I just thought I should let you know, so that when they call, you'll know what they're talking about."

Penelope heard him sigh deeply, and she could just imagine that he was rubbing his temples in frustration at her. "There should be a limit on how many headaches a unit chief goes through in their career with the FBI. Do you need anything from me?"

"Prepare Rossi? The things that Erin has had to endure are what we see on a daily basis through our work. Gideon learned well from the unsubs when it comes to torturing people, and she is going to need a delicate hand to brig her back to life. It's going to be a difficult road to walk, but it's one that Alexandra and I are prepared to walk with her. And she might only let us two be close to her for the first few weeks, and I want him to know that it is not his fault, but he also can't push things. Okay?"

"Okay. And Garcia?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Stay safe out there. I need you back here, safe and sound."

"Yes, sir." She smiled a little as they hung up, and after she'd slipped her phone back into her pocket, she joined Alex on the bed, curling her body around hers as she rested her chin atop her head, allowing her eyes to drift closed as she, too, gave in to the siren's call of sleep. When she woke up a few hours later, Penelope was surprised to find that even though Alex was also awake, she hadn't made a move to scoot away from her, instead, resting in her embrace as she breathed slowly. "How long have you been listening to me sleep?"

"Only for a few minutes. It was nice to wake up in someone's arms."

"I know that feeling quite well," she replied softly, nuzzling her nose into Alex's shoulder. "So, Hotch knows about what's going down tomorrow. He didn't sound convinced that Erin is truly alive, but he promised to tell Rossi and to let him know that it will likely take some time before she is able to be alone with him. I also sort of told him that we would be the ones taking care of her, since we're doing that already."

"Uh huh. I was thinking, I have two spare rooms at the house, so you could just stay at our house while she recovers. That might make things a lot easier for her."

"If you think James would be all right with that, then yes. I would love to spend time with both of you." Turning her head a tiny bit, Penelope pressed her lips to Alex's jaw, breathing in deeply as she arched her body into Alex's, groaning a little as she fought to wake up. "We need to get up and start taking care of things for tomorrow, but I am so very comfortable here."

"I know how you feel," Alex replied, though she turned around to face Penelope, looking into her eyes searchingly. "I am going to kiss you now. If you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all," she murmured as she continued to stare into Alex's eyes. There was a small spark of desire behind the sorrow, and she relaxed as Alex drew closer to her, their lips meeting in a tender, yearning, kiss. Penelope groaned against Alex's lips as she buried a hand in Alex's hair, holding her close as the kiss lingered on. She felt Alex's hand slip down her side until she was holding on to her ass, squeezing it none to gently as they continued to make out. A small part of Penelope's brain began to remind her that Alex was still married and that she shouldn't be snogging her just yet.

Finally, Alex pulled away a little, breathing heavily as she rested her forehead against Penelope's. "I don't want to keep doing this. I know that I have to talk to James, to see if he wants to work on our relationship or if we're going to go our separate ways. But there is something in your kisses that draw me to you."

"I know," she murmured in reply, stroking Alex's hair as she stared into her eyes. "But we do have to look at this with clearer eyes. Right now, we're allowing our concern for Erin to cloud our judgement. And I'm sorry that I've been so needy, so willing to take from you…"

"Shh," Alex whispered, pressing her finger against Penelope's lips. "We've both taken this to a level that we shouldn't have, and I will have to tell James about this, but knowing that he gave us permission to playact, makes me feel like he won't be so surprised when I tell him about this." She nodded a little before kissing Alex's finger softly, a deep sigh slipping from her lungs as she wondered what the next steps in their lives would be.