"Mmmm," Penelope heard Reid say as she walked past his desk.

She stopped in her tracks and spun around. "What?" she asked.

He used his spoon to point to his yogurt container. "This new Greek yogurt from Yoplait. It's delicious," he said.

"Really?" she said, lifting her lips in a sultry grin. "Can I have a taste?"

Reid gave her a strange look. Everyone knew Reid hated eating or drinking after anyone. Except Millie and Chessie. He adored them to the point where he'd put aside his own idiosyncrasies for them. "Uhhh…sure," he said, holding the spoon and plastic container out towards her.

Penelope shook her head as her grin widened. She closed her eyes and parted her lips, then leaned forward.

"Uhhh…I have to go to the bathroom," Reid said, thrusting the items towards her. Penelope opened her eyes just in time to catch them and watch him practically sprint towards the bathroom.

"Nicely played," came a husky voice behind her.

She grinned at Derek's words. "You ain't seen nothin' yet," she told him as she spun around and headed back to her office.

"Garcia?" she heard when she'd almost reached her office.

Penelope turned around to face her boss. "Hey, Hotch," she said.

In true Aaron Hotchner style, he nodded curtly. "Penelope. I'd like to see you in my office at 2:30."

Penelope swallowed nervously. "Sure thing, Hotch," she said as he turned around and made his way into his office.

___

"He knows about us!" Penelope hissed.

Derek threw his head back with a laugh. "He doesn't know about us."

"Then why else would he want to see me today?" she asked as she crumpled up the wrapper to her sandwich. They'd left the BAU for lunch so they could have some time away from the team. It was becoming more difficult to stay away from each other and being away from the office was a little less challenging.

"Maybe he thinks you're doing a bang up job," Derek told her. "And hey—speaking of banging…"

Penelope reached over and socked him on the arm. "Would you please focus?"

"Oh, Darlin'," Derek said lowly, as his gaze fixed on her lips. "Trust me…I'm focusing."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless," she told him.

But he grinned at her, leaning forward to kiss her on the tip of her nose. "I'd say over the last few weeks, I've become pretty damn hopeful," he argued.

Penelope's heart melted at his comment. He kept alluding to the fact that she made him happy, and while she liked that she made him feel that way, she'd like to hear him tell her straight out. Penelope sighed. "We need to get back to the office."

He leaned forward to lick her ice cream then stood up. "Back to the grind," he said, taking her hand to help her stand. He pulled it behind him to wrap her arm around his waist as they walked towards the door.

They got in Derek's vehicle and made their way back to the BAU.

---

Penelope scanned some more files to put on the local server, checking the clock every few minutes in the meantime. Finally, two-thirty rolled around and Penelope was standing outside of Hotch's door. Why, yes, sir, Derek and I are having a steamy affair. Is that against FBI regulations? OK, so she wouldn't word it like that, but she knew what was coming. She straightened her skirt before knocking and opened the door when Hotch called for her to come in.

"Have a seat, Penelope," Hotch said, motioning towards the chair across from his desk.

Penelope smiled weakly as she sat down across from her boss.

"I just wanted you to know that I spoke to someone at the Boston office."

"Oh," she said in a small voice. So Derek had been right. Hotch didn't know about them.

"You've been expressing interest in transferring to Boston for a while now and they've recently inquired about you, so I put a good word in for you. I just wanted you to know that your work here hasn't gone unnoticed," he said sincerely.

"Thank-you," she returned in surprise.

After another curt nod, Hotch pushed something towards her. She reached down and picked it up, then opened the folder to look at the contents.

"It's a plane ticket to Boston," he told her. "You leave tonight. It will give you an opportunity to see the city over the weekend, and then two days to tour the Boston office and spend time in the department you'd be a part of. I'm sorry for springing it on you, but they're in a rush to fill the position."

"Thank-you," she said again.

Hotch nodded. "It's the least I could do, Garcia," he said standing. "I would hate to lose you, but I'd also hate to keep you here if you want to be somewhere else."

Penelope stood up and nodded. "I…I don't know what to say," she said.

Hotch smiled softly at her. "Just know that if you do decide to go, and something happens and it doesn't work out, or it's not what you expected, there's always a place at the BAU for you."

Penelope nodded one last time before exiting his office and heading for her own. When she walked in, Derek was sitting in her chair with a smirk. "So does he know about us?" he asked in amusement.

"No," she said quietly.

"Penelope?" he asked. Her tone of voice made him nervous. "What did he want?"

She lifted her eyes from the packet in her hands to look at him. "To tell me that the Boston office wants me," she said softly.

Penelope watched as Derek stood. His entire demeanor changed. His arms crossed over his chest and all emotion disappeared from his eyes. "Isn't that what you wanted?" he asked. His voice was…hard. It was a tone she'd never heard from him before. And he wouldn't look at her.

"Yeah," she said uncertainly. "I mean…I guess I did."

He just stood there unmoving and silent.

"Derek?" she said after a few moments.

He lifted his eyes to hers. "Yeah?"

She bit her lower lip before taking a deep breath. "Can you think of any reason why I shouldn't go to Boston?" she asked.

Derek didn't say anything for so long that Penelope thought he wasn't going to speak. The only sign that he was even contemplating was the ticking in his jaw. "You should go," he finally said.

"I should…go?" she repeated.

Derek shrugged. "Yeah," he said nonchalantly. "You should go."

Penelope nodded slowly, swallowing past the lump in her throat. "OK, then," she said quietly as she watched him walk out of her office.

___

"Something is going down," Reid said, practically sprinting into JJ's office.

"What are you talking about?" Prentiss asked, looking up from a manila folder.

"Derek left early today—which wouldn't be out of the ordinary by itself—but he came out of Penelope's office a little after three and practically flew out of here!"

JJ frowned. "Did he look mad?" she asked.

Reid pursed his lips as if he was thinking and then shook his head. "No. He almost looked…resigned." He told the girls.

"Resigned?" Prentiss asked.

Reid shook his head. "Yeah. Like he was…giving up."

"That doesn't sound like Morgan," JJ said.

"No, it doesn't," Prentiss agreed, straightening. She looked at her watch. "Wha—why did you wait until now to tell us?"

Reid shrugged. "Well, I'm trying not to be such a busybody, and I was doing really well…until I got caught up on paperwork and then got bored."

JJ sighed. "You're something else, Spencer Reid," she said sarcastically.

Reid grinned. "I'm gonna take that as a compliment."

"Of course you are," Prentiss said dryly. "Is Penelope still here?"

But Reid shook his head. "Nope."

Prentiss looked at JJ. "Well, you know we're gonna have to visit her this weekend, right? I mean—we can't just wait until Monday to find out what's goin' on."

"Oh, hell, no," JJ agreed.

Prentiss grinned. "I see a girls' night in our future."

Reid looked from Prentiss to JJ. "Can I come?"