After they had finished eating, Helen had discreetly left them alone, and Erin drifted over to the couch, curling up on it as she stared down at the floor. She barely registered when Penelope sat down next to her, letting her arm come to rest around her shoulders and pulling her close. "Erin, I have you. It's okay to let go again."

She shook her head as she let her head come to rest on Penelope's chest, listening to the steady beat of her heart. "If we're to figure out what's happening with the mole, I need to have a thicker skin. I need to utilize my training and my intelligence. This? This is not doing that. My emotions are so out of control at the moment that I'm no good to this investigation or you."

"Please, don't say that, honey."

The term of endearment caused her to look up, seeing that Penelope was looking down at her, and the clear love that shone from her gaze took Erin's breath away, and she caught her lip between her teeth as she finally took a deep breath and smiled. "You look at me like that, and I can almost see myself through your eyes. I only wish I was half as beautiful as your gaze makes me out to be."

"And I wish that you knew that you were more gorgeous by half than what my eyes can illuminate. And I know that you're going to say something along the lines of you can't fall for me, since I am in no position to be close to you, that I cannot possibly have feelings for someone who was once so cruel to our team, but I cannot deny the feelings in my heart. I wear them on my sleeve, and I wouldn't change that for the world."

Penelope reached out and stroked her hair tenderly, and she sighed deeply. "I just don't have any idea who would want to destroy me so much that they would drag you and Alex into this mess. I was just getting over what Curtis did to me, and now this? Did I truly alienate so very many people in the FBI as to necessitate this response?"

Shaking her head a little, Erin stood up and moved around Penelope, heading for her window and staring out it to overlook the activity below. It surprised her to see how many people were milling about, and she tried vainly to dig herself out of her morose thoughts by focusing on a few specific ones, but it seemed that her thoughts were not as easily derailed as her heart.

Penelope's warm arm closed around her waist, and she glanced over at the younger woman to see the sweet, yearning, smile on her lips. "You can't just disappear into their lives, Erin. You have to live your own life and walk the path set before you."

"The path before me is rocky right now. Is it really so bad that I want something easy for a change?"

"No, it just makes you mortal, like me. There was a time when we didn't think that you were mortal, but rather something immortal, a monolith that never changed. There were cracks in your façade, sure, but has anyone ever been let in on your life like I have?"

"Just Alex, and you know how that turned out. I tried so hard to be impervious, after everything that happened with the Amerithrax case, because there was no way that I would let anyone get that close to me again. You don't seem to respect boundaries all that well though, do you?"

"No. It's a bad failing, I know. But if you truly want me to back off, I will. Even if it will hurt my heart to do so."

Erin turned to look into Penelope's eyes before reaching out and resting her hand on her shoulder. "I won't make you do anything you don't want to do. You just have to promise me that you will do the same for me. Please?"

"Of course." Penelope's smile wobbled a little before she leaned in closer to Erin, brushing her lips against her cheek. "I suppose that we should get down to business. This is going to hurt, but we'll have to take a closer look at those blind items. But, I'll be right here by your side. Okay?"

"Yes." They nodded in tandem, and then Erin went back over to her couch and sank down onto it, picking up the clippings that Helen had had waiting for them when they had appeared. The small pieces of paper seemed to weigh so much more than the ounce they comprised. Curling up in the corner, she set aside the two newest ones, focusing on the oldest of the three.

This section chief with the FBI has been dipping their pen into the company well for far more years than anyone could possibly have imagined. And after everything that went down, one would have thought that they had learned their lesson. That doesn't seem to be the case, however, since there seems to be renewed interest between them and a disgraced subordinate. After all, what's more American than anthrax and apple pie?

Erin stared at those vile words, knowing that there were clues to her former relationship with Alex there, and also laid the foundation for people thinking that there was still something between them. But there didn't seem to be anything that might point to which department the unsub might be from. Shaking her head a little, she set that one aside before picking up the second one, taking a deep breath and trying to shore herself up for what was to come. Penelope reached out and curved her hand around her knee in encouragement, and Erin let her eyes dart over to her, trying to smile back at her. Her lower lip quivered a little, and Penelope's hand tightened. "You have this."

"I know," she murmured before taking another deep breath and glancing at the clipping in her hand.

And it seems that our esteemed Section Chief couldn't stand the heat, and so got out of the kitchen, escaping to the country estate of a former lover. They wouldn't be there for long, however, since they seem to be attracting former lovers to them like moths to a flame. I'm certain there is a more luxurious linguistic bon mot, but I am not a linguist. Not like our dear Section Chief's former lover. It does make one wonder what our Section Chief says when our linguist uses their tongue?

She shuddered with revulsion at the vulgar words, knowing exactly why Agent Morgan would want to protect Penelope. She didn't want to associate her with this vile person. Closing her eyes, she worried her cheek a little between her teeth as she fought to keep from crying. "James has every right to hate me after this mudslinging. I just pray that Alex can explain things to him."

Erin allowed her eyes to slide open, choosing to focus on Penelope's eyes, knowing that they would be soft and full of the kindness she desperately needed in that moment. "Everything will work out, Erin, I'm certain of it."

"There's that precious optimism. I hope that you can hold on to that in the days ahead, as I really feel like this is going to get worse before it gets better. I have an inkling that this person is in the BAU, but I cannot say for certain."

Penelope nodded a little before taking the clipping from her hand. "All right, let me look at this. Maybe there are some clues in here that will help narrow things down in the BAU."

Erin dipped her head a little as she picked up the latest blind item, peeling Agent Morgan's sticky not off and pressing it onto her coffee table. This would be the one that hurt most to read, she could feel it in the marrow of her bones.

It seems that there are quite a few moths who are still drawn to our devious Section Chief's flame. The resident Black Queen followed them up to their secret getaway, calling on her hacking abilities to find them. It makes one wonder, what sort of spell does the Section Chief have over the Linguist and the Black Queen? And will anyone else be bamboozled by the Section Chief's charming, pretty, face?

"I suppose I should be flattered that the writer thinks I have a pretty face," she murmured, feeling sick to her stomach.

"If that's all he sees, then he is missing the best parts of you."

She focused in on Penelope's face, surprised to find her features a little blurry from the unshed tears in her eyes. "Oh? And what parts would those be?" she whispered.

"Your heart, first and foremost. Beneath the layers of ice that you've buried it in, you have this soft, delicate, generous, heart that is devastated to be thought of as a monster. You are not what some slimy sleezeball is trying to paint you as."

Erin let one corner of her mouth tilt up as she let out a long breath. "I hope that one day, I'll be able to see the best in people all the time, like you do. Because you have a beautiful heart, one that shines out in the darkest of times." Penelope's smile turned shy as she tucked her chin into her chest, and Erin felt like she couldn't help herself as she leaned forward and kissed her tenderly, letting her fingers tangle in the younger woman's hair as she held her close, letting the kiss linger on even as she knew that the ground they were both treading on was starting to shift more rapidly beneath them.