Penelope couldn't believe that three months had already passed since the bank incident, as she had come to think of it, and she and Derek were finally home from their assignment with Interpol. She had been surprised that Easter had even wanted to work with them after everything that had happened, but she had been grateful for the time away from the BAU, as it had allowed her time to heal and start to move on without being faced with constant reminders of the past. Still, it felt both odd and right to step out of the elevators and head into the bullpen only a few hours after their flight had landed.

Glancing around, she didn't see the familiar faces of her team, though Anderson did raise his hand and wave at them before lowering his head once more and she lifted her face to look into Derek's, feeling her brow furrow in confusion. "Are they still in Seattle? When Hotch texted me, he said that they'd be back by the time we arrived."

"Yes, well, someone didn't hold the elevators when asked," the man in question responded, and she turned to see him, taking in the small bits of grey hair that flecked his hair. That was new, and she frowned a little as she stepped closer to Derek, needing the comfort of his presence in that moment. "It is so good to see you back. Both of you."

"Yes, well, our assignment finally finished, man." Derek reached out his hand, and Hotch took firm hold of it, shaking a few times before they stepped back into their previous places. "Now, what is this I heard from Kevin? Strauss went with you to Seattle?"

"I did indeed, Agent Morgan. And we could have used your skills on this case." Erin glanced at Penelope, giving her a quick smile before touching Hotch's sleeve. "I'm going to run up to the briefing room and get everything set up. Unfortunately, we don't have time to settle before heading out once more."

Penelope's frown grew as she watched the woman stride up to the briefing room before looking back at Hotch. "When did that happen?" she asked.

"We needed another person out in the field, Garcia. And she offered to pull double duty."

"All right, that's good to know. I guess. Though it will take me a while to wrap my mind around that. And what can you tell me about the newb? I did some research on who she is, and like, I get that she's super smart, and a talented, and she and Reid have lectured together, because of course they have, but what's the dynamic between everyone? And most importantly, is she nice?"

Derek cleared his throat in order to get her attention, and Penelope felt the bottom drop out of her stomach as she locked eyes with him. "She, she's right behind me, isn't she?" she stage whispered, and both Hotch and Derek nodded in tandem. "This is only supposed to happen in movies and books. Not in real life," she hissed, giving Derek a tight look before plastering what she hoped was a friendly smile on her face before spinning around to face the woman.

She looked nothing like her pictures, as if the camera couldn't capture the core essence that made her who she was, and Penelope felt her smile falter a little. There was a cross look on her face, and she listened to Blake lecture her on the original meaning of the word nice, most of the semantics of the conversation going over her head as she tried to think about a way to gracefully extricate herself from this hellish conversation.

To Penelope's surprise, it was Erin who came to her rescue. "I'm ready for you all in the briefing room. Since we're on a time crunch and all." Penelope nodded in relief as she turned and scurried up the stairs and into the briefing room, going to take her spot by the screen in order to work the remote. "Don't worry, unlike some of the others, I know how to use the remote," the older woman commented, gesturing for Penelope to take the seat that Hotch normally occupied. The others filed in, and she noticed that Erin and Blake exchanged an odd look before the woman took a seat next to Reid. "All right, let's get this over with as quickly as possible, as I know that we want to be home for at least one night this week."

Erin went through the case, and Penelope shivered when she saw what the unsub had done to the guard, how brutal the thought of having her lips sewn shut while she was still alive, and Erin surreptitiously rubbed her shoulder before refocusing on the presentation, leading the preliminary theories that the team had. "All right, team, wheels' up in fifteen," Hotch said as he got to his feet. Derek followed after him, and Penelope had to scurry to keep up with him, though she didn't fail to notice that Blake stayed behind with Rossi and Erin.

"Does it feel to you like we've been dropped in the middle of a Twilight Zone? I mean, what is going on here?" she said as they went over to her office, and she quickly tapped in her passcode and let them inside.

"I don't know, Baby Girl. We didn't exactly keep in close contact with the team while we were working with Easter, after all."

"It was a five hour time difference, Der."

"That, too. I'll see what I can discover while on the case, but seeing as how this is such a bad one, I don't know if there will be much that I can report back to you. See what you can find out here, Anderson has always been a font of information, after all."

"There is that. All right, leave your luggage here, I'll bring it back to my apartment tonight and do our laundry while you're gone. Stay safe in Texas, and hopefully we'll know more about the changes here when you get back." He nodded as he bent down to kiss her softly, and she sighed against his lips, wrapping her arm around his waist in order to hold him close as long as possible, not knowing how long he'd be gone. "And maybe, when you're back, we should go talk to Strauss about the change in our relationship. I don't want to get in trouble, after all."

"Baby Girl, you were made to be the best sort of trouble," Derek murmured against her lips, pinching her bum softly before kissing her one more time. "But you do have a point about getting official approval of this, since I don't want to rock the boat where Strauss is concerned. I know that she thanked me for changing her life for the better, but she is still our boss."

"Precisely. Now get out to the airfield, and text me everything that you think is relevant to what's happening with the team while you're on the case. Even the littlest detail might clue us in on these changes." He gave her a small nod before hugging her tightly, kissing the side of her head before leaving her office, and she took a seat behind her systems, booting them up while she took a look at the list of searches that she had to do before the team contacted her while in the air. There was a lot to get done, and she knew that she had to get moving so that she could call JJ as soon as possible, wanting to get her perspective on things here.