"I called James and asked him to bring something home for supper, since he'll be home around six tonight. I just don't feel like cooking right now," Alex said as she sat heavily on the sofa a few hours later. "Erin just fell asleep, and I wanted to give her some privacy. Do you mind if I lean against you?"

Penelope shook her head as she raised her arm, allowing Alex to cuddle into her before she lowered her arm, allowing her thumb to rub back and forth as they stared out the window. "It was hard to tell Dave that everything would be all right with time, because we don't know what the future will hold. Of course, I want everything to be smooth and sweet between them, but we have to be prepared for the fact that Erin might love him, but she can't be with him any longer."

"I know, and I think that that's what makes me so sad. I thought that, once we found her, everything might fall into place a little easier than this. It was a pipe dream, to be certain, but there was still that kernel of hope. Now? I don't know what is going to happen, though I know that we'll both be by her side to help her get on her feet once more."

"That's all we can do." Penelope sighed as she let her head come to rest atop Alex's, her eyelids beginning to droop heavily. "I think that I might nap as well, Alexandra. I just feel so tired all of a sudden."

"I completely understand." She could hear the yawn in Alex's voice and tightened her grip on her arm before snuggling back into the sofa, letting herself fall asleep, feeling safe in Alex's presence. The next thing she knew, she was coming to wakefulness to the angry sound of heavy footfalls. Blinking open her eyes, she realized that her hand had slipped in her sleep and was cupping Alex's breast in a most familiar manner. Gasping, she pulled her hand hastily away and then gently shook Alex's shoulder.

"James is home," was all she could manage to squeak out, and Alex turned her head to look at her quizzically, as if she wanted to know what was up with her. Shrugging a little, Penelope made to get up, dislodging Alex from her pleasant perch. "I need to freshen up, and I'll wake Erin while I'm upstairs."

Before Alex could say anything, she turned and scurried from the room, making her way up the stairs as quietly as she could, not wanting James to come out and confront her on what he had obviously seen. Penelope found herself out of breath by the time she reached the top of the stairs, and shaking her head, she turned first to the bathroom, taking care of her needs before crossing the hall and slipping into her shared room with Erin.

The woman was still asleep, and Penelope could trace the tracks of dried tears on her face. Sighing deeply, she sank onto the bed and touched Erin's shoulder lightly, not wanting to startle her with the unexpected caress. The woman came awake slowly, fear shaping her features before her eyes focused on Penelope and her features softened into a half smile. "What time is it?"

"Time to eat. James brought food home for us tonight, since Alex didn't feel like making anything, and then we fell asleep on the sofa."

Erin nodded as she sat up and stretched. "Did, did David go home?" She nodded, not knowing what sort of answer Erin was looking for. "Oh. Well. I'm not ready. He loves and I love him. But that's not enough." Penelope pursed her lips as she gave a small nod. "I can't dwell on that right now, or else I'll start crying again. Let's head down and hope that Lexie and James are better company that I am at the moment."

She slipped out of bed and made for the door, stopping to look expectantly at Penelope. It took her another moment to get up, and then they were heading downstairs, Erin glancing back at her every few steps until they were in the kitchen. "Good evening, Erin, Penelope," James said tightly and she gave him a fleeting smile before taking her seat across the table from Alex.

Erin didn't seem to pick up on the tension between the three of them, or else she wasn't commenting on it, as she tucked into the food on the plate in front of her. "How was your shift today, James? I hope that there weren't a lot of trauma cases."

"Thankfully, no," he replied lowly, glancing between Alex and Penelope. "There does seem to be a storm brewing, though. I can feel it in the air."

Penelope gulped and choked on her bite of food, coughing discreetly into her napkin before swallowing down some water in an effort to soothe her throat. "Are you all right, Penny?"

Glancing at Erin, she nodded. "A bite just went down sideways," she said huskily, trying not to look at Alex. "It will be good to get back to work Monday, so that we'll be out from under your feet, Erin."

"I like having you around," she said lowly, and Penelope reached out to touch her hand gently as she nodded. "But I can't ask you and Alex to baby me forever."

"I wouldn't call it that, Erin. They're taking care of you and each other," James said lowly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Penelope. She blushed under that look, and bent her head over her food as she struggled to keep from crying. Erin finally seemed to pick up on her distress, as she reached over and clasped Penelope's hand in a quick squeeze as she gave her a soft smile. "So, what are you planning on doing, Erin?"

"I really don't know. I was working on a book, but I haven't been able to find the file in my Dropbox account. Then again, there are a lot of files missing from there, so I was hoping that Penelope could help me do some digital recovery this evening. I mean, we've both napped, so we should be up until two or three."

Penelope chuckled as she nodded, thankful for Erin distracting her from her negative feelings. "Yeah, we're going to have to reset our clocks again, but there were a lot of tears this afternoon, too, so I think we're entitled to one late night." Giving Erin a tiny smile, she pulled her hand back and focused on her food once more, finding her appetite not as robust as it should be. A quick glance across the table showed her that Alex was also picking at her food, and she wondered what had been said while she and Erin were upstairs.

"Penelope is a wizard at finding things that have been lost." James's voice was bitter, though she couldn't quite figure out why he was so angry with her, since he had given Alex permission for them to get close while on the op. And even though they had done just that, it now appeared that he was jealous and had realized his mistake too late. Penelope just hoped that Alex would tell him about the growing feelings between them before things truly reached a boiling point and one of them did something they would all regret.