Derek couldn't stand it any longer. He couldn't focus, he couldn't think. Hell he could barely breathe. He had to get away to regroup, if only for a few minutes. Without a word, he stood and strode out the door. He went down to the break room and began to pace like a caged animal.
"It's enough to knock you for quite the loop isn't it?" J.J.'s soft voice brought his head up and he stopped pacing. She was leaning against the open doorway, her eyes filled with understanding.
"That's the understatement of the year. I feel like I've been in a head on collision with a Mac truck – twice. Christ J.J. she looks just like her! When you opened that door, I thought I was seeing a ghost. My heart literally stopped. I just about lost it right there in front of everyone." Derek ran his hands over his head and began to pace again.
"Derek we all felt that way, not just you. How do you think I felt? I was the one who was standing right beside her. If I hadn't been so stunned and she hadn't spoken first, I would have threw my arms around her and cried like a baby."
"J.J. I can't take my damn eyes off of her and I can't think about anything else! She's got me tied up in knots both inside and out. How the hell am I supposed to work with her? Not only does she look like her, right down to her choice of lipstick, but her mannerisms are identical to Pen's too. I know they say everyone has a doppelganger, but I mean what the hell are the chances that Pen's would be right here in this building, working the same job with the same skills, for the same damn company?"
J.J. could literally feel the force of his frustration and an almost panicked desperation, radiating off him in waves. She knew how hard all this was hitting her, so she could only imagine how much more Derek was going through. The incredible friendship she shared with Penelope paled pitifully in comparison to what her friend had experienced with Derek. No two people could or would ever be closer. What the two of them shared went far beyond undefinable. Unique only to them – and never again to be replicated with such intensity. Any words she could offer to him would be empty, hollow, and meaningless.
"Astronomical actually. I'd have to calculate the numbers specifically to give you an actual figure, but suffice it to say it'd be extraordinary odds." Reid walked into the room on the heels of Derek's last comment, followed closely by Emily.
"So I take it everyone feels as blown away by this as I do," Emily stated rhetorically as she grabbed a chair and plopped down into it.
Angelique looked up to see the entire room cleared aside from Hotchner and Rossi. Stunned, she said the first thing that came to mind. "I see I haven't lost my ability to clear a room."
Catching the slight hurt in both her eyes and voice, Hotch decided he better take the time to fill her in on what was going on with the team. "Angelique, it's not you, believe me. It's who you look like."
"Sir?"
Rossi took up where Hotch left off. "The analyst who worked for this team before you ... well how can I put this delicately... she was lost to us last year. She was with us for years and we were all very close to her, especially Derek."
"So because you lost your analyst, I'm going to be either stared at like some side show freak or treated like a local leper until this case is closed? Why don't you just call her back and beg her forgiveness?"
"If only we could." Hotch sighed. "Angelique, what Dave was trying to say was that we didn't lose her like you think. She didn't willingly walk away from us. She died last year."
"I..I don't think I understand. What does that have to do with me?"
"Wait here. I think in this case a picture is definitely worth a thousand words." Rossi got up and left the room. Seconds later he was back with what looked like a framed photograph. He looked at it and then at her and shook his head in amazement. Handing her the picture, he sat down and waited patiently for the fall out.
Confused, but curious, Angelique took the photo from him and glanced at the picture. At first she still didn't understand. It was a picture of the team at some party or function. She saw both of the gentlemen in front of her, J.J., Emily, the young Doctor and Derek, all smiles. Then she noticed the woman wrapped in Derek's arms and the picture clattered to the table, falling from her suddenly numb fingers.
"Th.. that's me! What.. who...just how the hell did you get a picture of me and why would you photoshop it into a group photo of your team? Somebody better damn well tell me what the hell is going on!" Her eyes darted frantically from one man to the other.
"Angelique, calm down. That's not you. That's Penelope Garcia – our last analyst." Hotch declared evenly. "As you can see, the resemblance is as unmistakable as it is unbelievable."
"Ce n'est pas possible! I mean this is not possible... I'm sorry sometimes I revert to french when I'm nervous or stressed."
"Impossible or not, it is what it is. You my friend, are like Garcia reincarnated and it's shaken the entire team to it's very core."
Angelique lightly traced her fingertips over her own face smiling back at her. She was having a hard time coming to terms with something staring her right in the face, so she could only imagine how hard this was hitting this team. Looking up she asked the question that needed to be spoken aloud.
"Where do we go from here?"