Ariel's P.O.V.

After the Fisher King debacle was over, we spent what was left of Spencer's vacation time in Las Vegas and Pasadena, before returning back home to Quantico - this time with Kat.

The first day that Spence went back to work, they were sent out on a case early in the evening, around five. He called me on the way to the airstrip, right in the middle of my cooking dinner for the both of us.

"Hey babe." I said as I answered the phone. "Are you on your way home? I'm making your favourite."

I smirked when I heard him practically moan at the thought - I had learned long ago that the fastest way to a man's heart was through his stomach, and my Spencer was no exception.

"I'm not gonna be home tonight at all - we just got a case." he said regretfully. I stopped what I was doing. I knew that this would happen, but I guess that I hadn't really thought about it too much. After all, this was the first time since I had gotten off tour that this had happened.

"Alright." I said after a minute. "No worries - maybe I'll just swing by the BAU after its done and give some to Garcia." I decided.

"That'd be nice." Spencer said. "I'm glad that you two are getting along so well - I knew you would."

I barely managed to hold back a snort of laughter after he said that. Garcia and I were anything but close, but I was hoping that I would be able to fix that tonight.

"Alright, Spence. Go save some lives, and come home in one piece, okay?"

He laughed. "Yes ma'am." he teased. "I love you."

I felt my lips curl up in the same sappy grin that I got every time I heard him say those words. "I love you too."

8888

Spencer's P.O.V.

As soon as I hung up the phone, I realized that the rest of my team was staring at me, and I blushed.

"What?" I asked. They all just stared at me for a second or two longer until Hotch spoke up. "I thought that I was the only one who ever called their wife 'ma'am'."

That at least helped to ease the tension slightly, and got the team to relax a bit… all except for me, because I knew what was coming - the dreaded interrogation session.

"So how long have you two been married, Spence?" unsurprisingly, it was JJ who started off the questioning.

"Um, a little over three years now. We got married when I was twenty-one and she was twenty." I told them.

"What does she do?" Gideon asked.

"Ariel works, um, in the music industry." I said, stumbling over my words a little. The whole line of conversation was quite honestly nerve-wracking for me, even though they had barely started. I knew that my co-workers - my friends - would be interested, but I hadn't really been anticipating this.

"How did you meet?" JJ asked me.

Luckily, that was when Morgan picked up on my distress. "Come on, guys." he said. "Let's work on the case for now. We'll have plenty of time to interrogate both of the kids when it's over."

I flashed him a smile as the team actually listened, and he gave me one in return. Now hopefully things would go back to normal… at least for the rest of the case.

8888

Ariel's P.O.V.

I was at the BAU by around six-thirty that night with what I hoped would be an acceptable peace offering.

I stopped one of the guys that I saw walking around - he was taller, with short black hair, and introduced himself as Agent Grant Anderson.

"Can you tell me where Penelope Garcia's office is?" I asked him sweetly. He gave me a once-over before noticing both my visitor's badge and the glare I was giving him, then took me to what I had heard my husband refer to on more than one occasion as 'the tech-cave'.

When I went in, I knew immediately why he called it that. The desk was covered in a mixture of strangely colored knick-knacks and a state-of-the-art computer system. The woman in question was sitting at her desk, her nails clicking against her keyboard in a strangely soothing rhythm.

"Of course." she said, and I assumed that she was talking to someone on the team. "Ttyl, sweetness."

I knocked on the door, and Garcia spun around in her chair, then visibly deflated when she saw it was me.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Hi." I said softly, a lot more nervous now that I was here in person. From what I knew about Penelope Garcia, she was like the overprotective big sister of the team, and while she usually trusted people completely, it took a bit for people to earn that trust. "So, I was already in the middle of making dinner when Spence called me saying that they had a case. So… I thought that I would bring it here, that maybe… You and I could talk a bit, get to know each other a bit more?"

She sighed, looking at me for a moment. "What is it?" she asked curiously.

I smiled, cracking the container open. "Chicken stir fry." I told her. "Spencer's favorite."

She hesitated for a moment longer before deciding. "Alright then. Let's have at it."

I smiled then, and for the first time since I had met Penelope, I got a tentative smile in return.

8888

Once we had started eating - during which I kind of just sat there awkwardly and watched while she continued to work away at her computer.

Then, right as I was taking another bite, she turned to me and asked, "So how did you meet Reid?"

Her bluntness - along with the large bite of chicken and vegetables - made me choke for a second as I tried to get my bearings.

Once I was finally able to breathe properly again, I looked up at her, my eyes still watering. "Sorry, what?" I croaked out.

"How did you two meet?" she repeated. "If you want me to trust you, to open up to you, you have to tell me more about you."

I sighed. "Alright." I told her. "I'll answer your questions - just not that one, not yet."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because it's not just my story to tell." I answered. "Besides, its a story that I'd like to only have to tell once."

Penelope nodded, going along with what I was telling her, although I still thought that she seemed a bit suspicious of me. "Fine." she said. "Then when did you get married?"

I smiled at that, reminiscing a bit. "A little over three years ago." I told her. "We eloped, actually."

Penelope looked at me in shock. "What?" she asked. "You mean you didn't do the whole white dress, black tux, bridesmaids-and-flowers thing?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Why not?"

I just shrugged. "I don't know. We were young, and didn't have the money or the desire for a big ceremony. We just wanted to get married." Then I gave her a wicked smirk. "And I think that we were both a bit eager to get to the honeymoon."

That actually got a surprised laugh out of the blonde, and I smiled.

"Okay, so maybe I was wrong about you." Garcia admitted. "Maybe you aren't so bad after all."

"I'm really not." I agreed, and she snorted at my lack of modesty. "Seriously, though. I really appreciate how protective you are over the team." I admitted. "It honestly makes me feel a lot better about letting Spencer go out in the field."

Penelope smiled at me. "Aw." she said. "I'm touched."

Then we both heard a beep, and she sighed. "And speaking of our favorite band of adventurers…" she said, making me giggle as she hit the call button. "This is Penelope Garcia, live from Quantico! What can I do for you, caller number one?"

"Hey Garcia." Spencer's voice came out of the speakers. "I need you to do a complete background check on the victims."

"I'm on it." she said, hanging up. She started tapping away at her computer, and I took that as my cue to leave.

"Alright, Penelope." I said, collecting the bag of what were now leftovers. "I'll see you around, okay?"

She nodded, still engrossed in her work. "Definitely." she said.

I just smiled, walking out. Maybe I would introduce myself to Elle next...

Thank you to ahowell1993, tannerose5, ripon, KirkSauber, and ToTheStarButPickMagic for their reviews! You guys are amazing!