Penelope tried one last time to take her bag from Erin's hands, only to be faced with a glare so deep that she knew it would be better to concede this battle than to push the issue. "And I want to drive home. I know, this is not my car, but I have missed driving so much, and you both have done so much for me that this would just be a small way to repay what you've done."

Alex looked at Penelope and nodded a little, which made her relax as she also nodded at Erin. "All right, I suppose that will be fine. I'll curl up in the backseat and make a few calls on the way home, since I totally forgot to inform Hotch that we were heading home today. I know, we might get in trouble with Matt, but it was completely worth the effort we put into this op." Smiling widely, she adjusted her purse across her body and followed Erin over to the doors of the lobby. "Will you settle the bill, Alexandra?"

The woman nodded, leaving her with Erin. "How are you going to tell James?" she asked as they started for the car.

"Tell James what?"

"Darling, please. I was a profiler once upon a time, and I have my PhD in psychiatry. I can read most people like an open book, and I know that you're in love with her, and that she's halfway there herself. So, my question still stands. How are you going to tell James?"

Penelope let out a deep breath as she shrugged. "I haven't gotten there yet? I don't want to push things, since we both have admitted to each other that we're attracted to each other. But Alexandra wants to be the one who tells James, and I'm letting her take the lead with this. I haven't exactly much experience with falling for a married woman."

"Oh, you have experience with women, then?"

It was an innocent question, but Penelope knew what she was driving at, and she nodded a little, unconsciously loosening her grip on Erin's hand, only for her to firm up her hold on Penelope. "There were a few girlfriends, when I was in underground. Things were a lot more fluid then, and it was easier to be myself. The FBI isn't quite so…"

"Accommodating?" Erin asked gently as Penelope unlocked the car before handing the keys over to her. She nodded, and Erin let out a deep sigh as she reached out to caress Penelope's face. "It was the same when I was starting out. We had to keep our true selves hidden away from the world, and it wore on quite a few people. I want to tell you to not let it dull your sparkle, but I don't think anything could do that."

"Who was the woman that you were interested in?" Penelope asked lowly, staring into Erin's face, watching her blush a little. "Alex?"

"Yes. We were both married at the time, but we were drew to each other by something. Things were never physical between us, but that doesn't mean the love we shared didn't mean the word to me. Especially since I was having marital issues with Alan at the time. I don't doubt that things could have been different between us had we been different people, but if you make her happy, that makes me happy."

Penelope was surprised to find that she had more tears left to cry, and Erin smiled a little as she swiped a few of the errant drops away. "I'll try to do you proud, then, Erin." The woman nodded as she took the keys from Penelope's hand and climbed behind the wheel. Penelope waited for Alex to come out of the hotel before she got into the car, and she raised her had to wave at the woman before feeling a bit overwhelmed by emotion and knew she had to hide herself away before she started sobbing for some unknown reason.

All was quiet while Erin started for home, and Penelope used the first ten minutes to calm her nerves before pulling out her phone and calling Hotch. He answered on the first ring, and she chuckled a little as she listened to him. "What news do you have for me, Garcia?"

"Nothing but good, sir. We're headed home with Erin, well, to Alex's home, since I believe that her house was sold by her ex for the children. The only negative over this whole situation is that Gideon decided that he would rather commit suicide than to face the consequences of his actions. We all wish that he would have gone to trial, but I suppose that we can't always get what we want."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but it's not that shocking, honestly. Towards the end, Jason was good at running from his problems, rather than sticking around to see what happened. I'll have to find a way to break the news to Reid, though. And Dave. They were closer to the man than I ever was. What time do you think that you'll be home?"

She glanced up at the map on Alex's phone, seeing that they were still about six hours away from her home. "Late this afternoon. We'll probably stop somewhere for lunch and walk around for a while, since it's hard to do a drive like this all in one go. But just because we'll be home today does not mean that we'll be welcoming guests today. I don't think that that will happen until next week. And yes, I will be using my leave to stay with her, and so will Alex, most likely. I shouldn't really speak for her, since she's her own person. I suppose that I could work from Alex's home, if you could run by a my work laptop."

"That might be for the best. It has been difficult to work with Kevin, since he just doesn't have the same rapport with us that you have. I'll make certain to drop that off on my way home this evening, then, and we can also catch up in person. I need to have a few questions answered for Cruz before I return to work tomorrow."

"I understand completely, Hotch. We'll see you tonight."

Hanging up, she slipped her phone back into her purse before stretching out on the seat and allowing her eyes to close. It seemed that once she was unaware to her surroundings, Alex and Erin began to talk to each other, and it was nice to listen to what they had to say to each other. "I always knew that Penelope would find me, once she knew I was alive."

"You had that much faith?"

"Yes. She's a dear woman who would storm the gates of hell to save her friends, and I knew that we had made the start of a friendship before John and Jason wreaked their havoc on my life. I love her, Lexie, and I know that seems so quick, but I just have this feeling that she'll be one of my closest friends. Just like I hope to have you as one of my closest friends once more. I know that I've missed so fucking much, Alex, and that I'll be playing catch up for a long time to come, but I also know that I want to do it with you and Penelope by my side."

Those words caused Penelope to smile, and it was then entirely easy to fall asleep as Erin continued to drive, knowing that she would be a part of her life for years to come.