Chapter 24

AN: Thanks for the reviews, guys! I am back home; now it's time to get the ball rolling...Warning: Some violence in this chapter. Reader discretion advised.

The now three month engaged Penelope Garcia was tapping away at her computer, nearly done with her work. It had been a very uneventful, mostly stress free day with little more to do than paperwork. To top it off, most of the profilers, including her favorite-that sexy fiance of hers-were at a seminar in DC most of the day.

"Just two more piles of paper, Garcie, and we're out of here," she encouraged herself out loud, as she shuffled through one document after another.

She picked up the top one and looked at it. It was Reid's teeny scratch. He wrote in the smallest letters, and typed in six point font, so he could get the maximum verbiage in the minimum, FBI allowed space. She'd have to talk to him, because it didn't download properly. He needed to type bigger, write larger, and explain less. End of story.

Next one was Rossi's reports. For a man who had written books and was a seasoned, gruff agent, he had beautiful penmanship and utilized his space perfectly. After she thought a moment more, it made absolute sense; he'd literally written the manual on how to write those reports!

She grabbed the next document and immediately recognized Derek's bold scrawl at the bottom. He had so many typing errors. It looked like he couldn't spell, and she knew he could. It was words where his fingers were too close together. She smirked at this sentence:

The UNSUB had been apprehended whree he had originally held hostagse

"Spell check, my love," she whispered to the form. "Don't forget to spell check..."

She was interrupted from her work by an unexpected light flashing in a quadrant of her personal switchboard. It was in Terry's neighborhood. She looked over quickly and typed in the area.

"Hmm...that's strange," she said, biting her bottom lip while she debated what was going on.

In the past three months there had been nothing but peace and harmony for the Johnstons. She and Derek had spent months, helping them get their security, working on remodeling their rooms, making their house a true home. Derek personally knew Lenny's parole officer from Chicago and kept in contact with him. Now, from what she could see on her screen, Lenny's bracelet frequency was showing up a mile from Terry's home. She typed in his frequency in the computer and pulled up parole checks. Lenny showed up as scheduled that morning in Chicago for his meeting with his officer, so she knew something had to be on the fritz.

"Oh, crud," she growled, tossing aside her green, fuzzy tipped pen.

She was planning on heading home early to make Derek something new for dinner, but that was now canceled. She couldn't be at home resting when she knew Terry's security system was on the blink. They just got that secure feeling again; she needed to help them keep it.

Sighing, she loaded her bag with the tricks of her trade, put some homework inside, and slid on her purple tiger striped heels.

"Come on, you tech goddess, you," she said, looking in her mirror to fix her hair quickly, and give herself a boost. She pointed her arm like she was flying towards the door. "Let's go defend the helpless and save the citizens of Metropolis."

Penelope stopped for a coffee at her favorite shop to keep her going, before heading to Terry's house. She lived in a smaller suburb in a rather quiet, but run down neighborhood. Being a single mother, just starting out in the area, she couldn't afford a house in the more posh suburbs, but now it was so fixed up and squeaky clean, it was a true gem, and Terri's neighbors were really nice.

Still, it was getting darker earlier and earlier this season. Penelope liked summer a lot more because it stayed lighter longer. She was a kind of paranoid person in the dark at night, and she was starting to be a little spooked.

Penelope parked Esther at the curb under a streetlight. She hit the door locks and shut the door.

"Now stay there," she warned the car, before heading up the sidewalk to Terry's front door.

She knocked her usual happy tune and sang along, "Shave and a haircut, six bi...ohhh."

The door swung open, so she couldn't complete the knock.

Cautiously, she called from the top step. "Terry?"

There was no answer.

Her heart started beating in her chest extra strong, and a chill ran down her back. She called again. "Terry?"

"I-in here!" Terry called out from somewhere in the house.

Pen let out a sigh of relief and picked up her bag, then walked into the house and shut the door.

She put her coat and bag down, and turned the corner. "Terry, you really need to close the...Oh, my God!"

A man she could only presume was Lenny had a gun pointed at her, and a knife at Terry's neck. Little drops of blood were already staining the blade and marring Terry's collar.

"I'm so sorry," Terry whimpered, tears rolling down her face. Her hand and arms were tied securely. "I'm so sorr-AH!"

Lenny's arm jerked. "DID I say you could talk?"

"Please, don't hurt her," Penelope said, holding her hands out, reflexively walking towards Terry.

Lenny cocked the gun at her. "Take one step, bitch, and I will blow you away."

"Listen, we can work this out," Penelope tried again, thinking of all the hostage negotiation things she had learned and coming up empty. She wished to God Derek, Hotch, Rossi, anyone was here!

"Shut the fuck up and sit down!" he screeched.

She did as he bid, seeing no other choice. She thought about everything she'd learned, and how Derek would be mad at her that she didn't run. He'd taught her a lot about self-defense over the years.

"Run, Baby Girl. Run like hell. If you are with someone, separate yourself. An UNSUB can't go after both of you at the same time."

She'd just done the polar opposite of what he'd taught her. She cared about Terry; she couldn't run and leave a bound woman there. She couldn't.

Lenny pushed her down on her stomach and began to bind her feet and hands just like Terry. Then he kicked her over with his foot so she was looking up at him.

He was not what she had expected. Lenny was big and very handsome, close to Derek's gorgeous appeal. However, when Derek smiled, his eyes danced and she felt warm. Lenny smiled, and it was a cold thing, making her edgy, like a snake had slithered across her path.

He ran his blade down the side of her cheek. "Pretty...but not too pretty. Derek's standards must've dropped."

She didn't say a word.

"I take it you are Derek's girl?" he asked, that same cold smile causing a shiver down her spine.

Still, she stayed quiet.

"Oh, I know you are...Penelope."

Her eyes widened just a little.

"I know all about you," he said. "Thanks to my kids. They wrote to me about their dear friend."

She swallowed back bile and tasted fear in her throat. Where were the kids?

Lenny stood. He must've been done questioning her. He sat down and opened her bag, withdrawing her cell phone and texted something quickly.

Reaching into his pocket, he lit a foul smelling cigarette that must've been laced with something. He took a deep inhale, then closed his eyes and very slowly exhaled.

"Now we wait for our third person to show up..."