Gemma knocked on the door and smiled at her son as she sat in the empty chair next to his bed. "You had me worried, baby."

"I'm sorry, Mom."

Gemma shook her head, "I'm just glad that you're okay. Has the doctor been in? What did he say?"

Jax laughed, "You gonna let me answer a question before you ask the next one?"

Gemma merely scowled at him and waited for him to answer her questions. Jax shifted to a more comfortable position before speaking again. "Yeah, he's been in. They ran a bunch of freaking tests and poked and prodded me. Said I'm good as new and should be released tomorrow."

Gemma sat back in her chair with a sigh of relief, "Thank God," she muttered knowing that she'd never survive it if anything happened to Jackson.

Jax lifted his mother's hand in his, "Thank you."

She arched her brow at him, "For?"

"Calling Penelope."

Gemma sighed, "You're welcome baby, but I have to admit that my reasons for calling her were purely selfish."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew that you'd never be able to resist her, if there was anyone in this world that could get you to open your eyes, it was her."

"Yeah."

Gemma released a heavy sigh, "So what happens now?"

Jax looked at her, "I'm not letting her go this time, Mom. I watched her walk out of my life six years ago and I didn't do anything to stop her. I have a second chance, this time I'm not going to just watch her walk away. She belongs here, with me."

Gemma nodded, "You need to talk to her Jackson."

He nodded his head, "I know Ma."

Doctor Jeffries poked his head in the door, "Oh good, you're awake. Can we talk for a moment?"

Jax nodded, "Sure Doc."

"I've got all of your test results back and everything looks good. I don't see anything in any of the tests to give me any concern of any lingering effects. I'm going to release you tomorrow with the understanding that you are to take it easy for a couple of weeks. No riding or driving, no lifting and no physical exertion. I want you to come see me for a follow up in two weeks and if you're doing well then we can talk about a full release. Okay?"

Jax sighed, "Two weeks?"

The doctor smiled, "I'm afraid so Mr. Teller. I know that you're a strong guy and mostly healed, but I'd rather not have you distracting my nursing staff as a patient again."

Jax grinned, "Sorry about that doc, but you can tell 'em I'm officially off the market."

"I think Margo made that quite clear to most of them already," the doctor replied with a chuckle, "She took quite a liking to your friend, Penelope."

PG JT PG JT PG JT PG JT PG JT PG JT

Hotch tossed the manila folder on his desk then leaned back in his chair with a frustrated sigh, "I don't understand how a person can work for the Bureau for nearly six years and yet I cannot find a single piece of useful information about her."

"Tell me about it. I've been racking my brain since Pen disappeared and I realized that I don't know anything about her history. She knows all about my family, hell she sends my Mother and Sisters birthday and Christmas cards. Yet I know absolutely nothing about her past. The woman is my best friend in the world, I can tell you what her favorite movie is, what her favorite flavor of ice cream is and that she is a closet Michael Bolton fan." He groaned with frustration, "But I can't tell you anything about her life before the bureau, other than the fact that her parents are dead."

Rossi nodded his head thoughtfully, "Yes, Penelope is without a doubt the queen of deflection. Any conversation that starts about her ends up being about someone or something else."

Hotch leaned forward, "The question that we have to ask ourselves here is why? What is she hiding?"

"I'm afraid that's a question we're going to have to look into later," JJ replied from the door, "We've got a case. A bad one."

Hotch nodded, "Alright, let's get everyone together at the round table."

Nearly thirty minutes later the team had been briefed on their latest case and was preparing to fly to Vermont. Kevin waited until the conference had cleared except for Hotch and himself. "Agent Hotchner?"

Hotch looked up tiredly, "Yes?"

"I've thought of something else that might help."

"Oh?"

Kevin pushed his glasses up higher on his face, "Um yeah, I realized that I hadn't told you about her tattoo."

"Tattoo?"

"Uh-huh, Penny has a tattoo on her left breast, it's a black crow with a white ribbon clutched in its claws. The ribbon has the initials J.T."

Hotch turned this information over in his head as he rose from his seat, "Thank you, Kevin."

"Sure," the tech replied as he started to leave the room.

"Kevin," Hotch called waiting until the other man turned around before speaking again, "We're going to need your help on this case in Vermont."

Kevin bit his lip then nodded, "Yeah, I know."

"Okay."