She hung up the phone and ran to her car. Pulling out her keys, she got in and drove well above the speed limit to get to her safe place. As she rode the elevator up to her floor, the full impact of what she was going to do hit her. Now, the whole team would know her secret and nothing would ever be the same. She burst into a fresh bout of tears and stumbled out of the elevator. Morgan had just opened the door, and turned back to catch her.
"Baby Girl! What happened? Reid didn't really explain, he just called us, at least I'm assuming all of us, back."
"We're supposed to meet in the round room," she said brokenly, letting him lead her up. Heavily, she sat in the seat Reid held out for her. "I need my laptop. I have to look at the pictures I got of the van, see if the license number is clear."
Morgan took her keys and ran to her office while she sent the pictures to her online photo account. Once he'd returned, she opened the folder and studied the pictures closely. While she did that, Aaron and Emily came in, taking seats themselves.
"We're all here now, Reid, except for Rossi. How long before he gets here?"
"He won't. I didn't call him because he is the reason you all are here."
"Seriously, Reid, quit talking in riddles and tell us what's going on here," Morgan said, raising his voice slightly. "Why does Penelope look so devastated?"
"Because they took her," she whispered brokenly, not looking up from the images on her screen.
"Oh, Sugar, who took her?"
"David and Kevin. I knew something might happen today, David practically told me so yesterday. But Erin told me I was worrying too much, they wouldn't pull anything on my birthday. We got too complacent; neither of us brought our guns tonight, figuring we'd be safe there."
"Penelope, slow down, you're not making any sense. Start at the beginning. I'm assuming this has something to do with your earlier assault?" Hotch said calmly, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder.
She looked up at him and nodded. "It, it begins earlier than that, though." She took a deep breath and looked at Reid, drawing strength from him. "For the last six months, I've been having a relationship with Erin Strauss." She ignored the sharp intake of breath from Emily and plowed on. "I never meant for things to turn out like this, I was just offering her a safe place from Christopher. He beats her, you know? And then, one thing led to another and we fell in love. She's my everything. Please, help me find her."
"Baby Girl, is this why you thought I wouldn't like her?" She nodded twice, fresh tears running down her face as she fingered her pendant absently. "I may not like her, but I love you and if she make you that happy, I can learn to like her. Now, how are Kevin and Rossi wrapped up in this?"
"David is best friends with Christopher and was none too pleased that I sheltered Erin, that I would never tell him where she was staying. Reid was there, at my apartment, the night of my rape. He saw the bruises. But I didn't let that break me. Erin and I moved on from that. He's been leaving me alone these last few months, and then you came home Thursday. It's as if he knew we were going to be at the opera tonight, and had laid a trap for us when we least expected it. I don't know where they would take her."
"Penelope, I'm sorry, I have to ask this. Do you have any proof to these claims?" Aaron said, never taking his eyes off hers.
"Sort of. I never reported the rape, so I can't prove that. Kevin's been sending me harassing letters, though." She opened her email client and brought up the most relevant email, the one where he described what he and Rossi had done to her and what he still wanted to do. Emily read over her shoulder, and then wrapped her hand around Penelope's shoulder.
"Honey, why didn't you come to me? To us? We could have taken care of this."
"They threatened to make it look like I enjoy rough sex. Kevin would have been able to do that, he grew to know my system well enough that he could hack in and plant evidence. When it would be my word against his, who would the public believe? Me, the computer tech who's only with the FBI because she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar? Or the celebrated profiler and author who has never had a hint of scandal attached to him?"
Aaron cleared his throat. "Okay, so we have to profile one of our own and find them. The clock is ticking here; we need to find her and the sooner, the better. Penelope, what can you tell us about what happened?"
"After the show, we were walking back to Esther. Someone brushed past me and my clutch fell – the strap had been cut, see?" She held it out to them, then continued. "As I picked everything up, I lost track of Erin and then I heard her scream. I got to the last row of cars and thought I saw someone shoving her into a van. It roared past me, nearly hitting me, and I heard Erin screaming for me from the inside. I grabbed a few pictures of it, but I don't know if it will tell us anything."
"Look up the make and color of the van in DMV records," Morgan said and she called up the database, going off one of the pictures.
"So, there are about three hundred maroon Chevy Safari vans in the D.C. area."
"Blow up the license plate. I think I can make out a few of the characters," Reid said, looking at the picture. "Yes, that's it. Alpha, delta, one, damn, the rest is too blurry."
Penelope narrowed the parameters and sighed in relief as it returned one hit. "Okay, we're down to one. Registered to, oh god, Christopher. But this isn't their address." Switching to tech mode, she looked up where it would be and found it was a warehouse in a seedy part of town.
"Is that it?" Morgan asked, and she nodded. "Then let's go." She followed them downstairs and got into the SUV before any of them could say anything to her. "Baby Girl," he said warningly, looking at her in the rearview mirror as he drove.
"Do you really expect me to stay back? No, she's my lover and I will do whatever it takes to get her back. Do not tell me no, Derek."
"See, I wondered where that had come from. You've picked that up from her, I don't know why I didn't see it before now," he replied, smiling slightly at her. She just raised her eyebrow at him, and he chuckled. "Two birds of a feather." The rest of the drive was silent as the focused on what they would do once they reached the warehouse.
Two blocks from the site, Morgan killed the lights, carefully navigating the streets by ambient light alone. They parked far away from the building and put on their bulletproof vests. "Reid, stay back with Penelope."
"No, Hotch, I'm going in. I can shoot a gun now. I can hold my own with you."
"You are too emotionally invested in this, Penelope. I cannot in good conscience allow you to go in there."
"But…"
"No buts, Garcia. Stay out here until we give the all clear. Please." She looked into Hotch's eyes and saw the concern there. Slowly, her shoulders slumped and she nodded in defeat. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently. "I promise you, we'll get her out safely." He began to move closer to the warehouse, his gun drawn. The others followed his lead, and unconsciously, she took a few steps forward as well.
"Penelope," Reid said, wrapping his arm around her waist and holding her close to his side.
"I want to get closer to the building. I won't go in. I just want to be right outside the door in case something happens. You understand that, right?" He nodded, a resigned air about him, and they moved to within a foot of the door. Time crept by, and Penelope began to shake with a sick feeling in her stomach. This was the worst sort of anticipation to be a part of. "What if they don't get to her in time?"
"They will, Penelope. Have faith in them," Reid replied, his arm relaxing against her. Just then, the quiet dark was shattered by the sound of gunshots. She felt the blood drain from her face and she tore herself out of his light grasp.
"I'm going in! You can't stop me!" she said fervently, running in the door. She could hear Reid follow her, hear him draw his gun as everything around her became crystal clear, all her senses heightened. She ran towards the sound of voices and collapsed to her knees next to Erin's prone body. Her dress was torn from her shoulders, the skirt hiked up around her waist. Gently, Penelope covered her lover, trying to ignore the blood on her face for the moment. As she sat on the ground, she blocked out the cold feel of concrete against her skin, focusing on her fallen dove.
Penelope could still hear voices somewhere in the building, getting closer to where she and Erin were. As she looked up from her beloved's face, she found herself staring down the barrel of a gun. "David?"
"It's either you or me, Kitten, and I'm not about to let it be me." He said calmly, putting the gun against her temple. She closed her eyes, then heard a shot. She waited for the brief moment of pain before everything would go black. It never came and she opened her eyes to see David lying on the ground, blood spurting from his shoulder.
Looking around, she found Reid there, his gun still smoking. "And I wasn't about to let it be either of them," he spat out, kneeling down by him. He took out his handkerchief and shoved it at him, "Here, use this to staunch the blood. I wouldn't want you dying before you go to trial." Standing, he kicked the gun over to Penelope, then knelt by her side. "How is she?"
"I don't know, Reid. She's breathing steadily, but she hasn't opened her eyes. Do you think they've called 911 yet?"
"Too bad if they come, they'll only find three more dead bodies," Kevin said lowly as he advanced upon them, his weapon drawn. Reid fumbled for his gun and Kevin pointed the gun at him. Penelope was faster, though, taking David's gun and shooting him in the chest. His face registered his shock as he stumbled forward. "How?"
"Did you forget? I always went for the kill shot in Call of Duty. Turns out it works the same way in real life," she replied, watching him crumple to the floor. After taking a few more labored breaths, his body finally stilled. The rest of the team ran in to where they were and looked on the scene. She looked up at Derek and dropped the gun, beginning to feel herself hyperventilate.
He knelt down and wrapped her in his arms. "Christopher's dead. He tried to shoot Hotch, but Hotch was faster."
"Good. Has anyone called 911?"
"I was just about to do that," Emily replied, holding out her phone. Penelope tried to say something to her, but found herself fading into blackness. The last thing she felt was Morgan catching her.