"How was your Valentine's Day?"

Aaron looked up at Penelope and gave her a small smile. It was hard not to think about the evening that he had shared with Erin, even as he wished that it had lasted a lot longer than the thirty minutes that they had spent together, but since it had been so late, he had tried to understand Lauren's need to have him home before it disrupted the rest of the flow of the facility. Still, he would have to see if there would be a way that he could extend the visiting time with Erin, if he couldn't get to there on the weekends. "It was good," he finally responded, knowing that he had taken a little too long to answer her, as she was giving him a knowing look. "I spent time with someone that I care for."

"Oh, come on, Hotch, we all know that you're dating this Beth!"

He tried to school his features in order to not reveal the state of things, only to see Penelope's eyebrow tick upwards a little, knowing that he had failed to conceal anything. "Beth and I have decided that we work better as friends."

She gave him a knowing nod, and he wondered what cogs were turning in her head as she took a seat in front of him, that little playful smirk never leaving her features as she made herself comfortable. "Well, that's a good thing to know. But that is definitely not what I was expecting to hear, or what I wanted to ask about. I was going to ask if you knew where Strauss is? I needed to get some information from her about something that I'm working on, and Helen said that she was out of the office for a while yet, and that anything I needed, I would have to get through you. I thought that was a little odd, so decided that I'd ask you."

Aaron cleared his throat a little as he looked down at his desk, trying to find the right words to tell Penelope so that she wouldn't start digging into everything that was going on with Erin and himself. Not that he was ashamed of his burgeoning relationship with Erin, he just wanted to keep it to himself for a little while longer, especially as he knew that she craved her privacy so much. "Helen is right, I am handling a good portion of Erin's job at the moment while she's on leave. What can I help you with?"

She gave him a shifty look, as if she wasn't quite certain that she wanted to reveal to him what the issue was. That was unusual, and he folded his hands on top of the file that he had been working on as he continued to stare at her. "You can't look at me like that, Hotch! You make me feel like I'm a naughty schoolgirl! And this isn't something that I can discuss with you, I need to talk with her. Do you know how to get in contact with Strauss? Or can you give me a way to call her?"

Aaron shook his head, knowing that there was no way that he could breach Erin's trust like that, and Penelope let out a frustrated, huffy, breath. "I wish that I could be of more help, Garcia, but there are certain things that I am bound by, and keeping her confidence is one of them. I know that you could probably do some of your special research and discover what you need, so I'm glad that you did come and ask me about it, but I cannot, in good conscience, tell you more than she is unreachable to anyone but myself and Helen."

A deep frown marred Penelope's features, and Aaron knew that she wanted to leave his office and do some of that digging she was so good at. He just stared at her, using the disappointed look that he gave to Jack when he wanted to get his son to understand that he was expecting more of him than what he was getting in that moment. To his surprise, Penelope actually teared up a little, and he softened his expression as he allowed his posture to relax a little. "She asked me to keep her appraised on the publishing history of a Doctor Alexandra Blake, and there's been a new paper published. I printed it off for her and everything! Are you certain that there's no way I could just…I don't know, talk to her if you call her? I mean, if you know where she is, she'll probably accept your call!"

He let out a little sigh as he shrugged. "I don't know if I can reach her at this time of day. She could be otherwise occupied. I usually talk to her in the early evening."

Penelope raised her eyebrow at that, and Aaron knew that he had said something that again was causing the cogs in her brain to start working a little harder, most likely bringing her closer to the truth that he wanted to hold close to the vest. "I would say that that is an unusual time to talk to our boss, but I suppose that it makes sense, given the job that we do. It is rather difficult to talk to someone when you're out in the field, chasing down unsubs. Is she doing all right?"

Somehow, he knew that the sudden change in topic was designed to throw him off kilter, so that she might get more information out of him than he was willing to normally give, and Aaron chuckled as he shook his head. "I'm not going to suddenly reveal her deepest, darkest, secrets just because you tried to throw me off with a quick question like that. Did you forget that I'm not only a profiler, I'm a former prosecutor?"

She shook her head, that same playful smirk dancing on her lips. "I was hoping that I might get you to reveal something. You can't blame a girl for trying. Does Erin ask questions that make your brain spin?"

"Erin and I have adult conversations, Garcia."

A small giggle escaped her lips before she could stifle it with her hand pressed tightly to her mouth. He groaned a little as he suddenly comprehended the fact that she had used Erin's first name, and he had answered with it. "Well, you can never go wrong with asking her to talk dirty to her, sir. I did that, once upon a time, and I didn't even receive an official reprimand in my file. Though I did have a bottle of mouthwash sitting on my desk the day after you all returned from Wisconsin."

That elicited a small chuckle from him, and he shook his head a little. "I will have to ask her about that the next time that I see her."

"Oh! So you do see her! When you do, give her this paper, and tell her that I hope she understands it better than I do. And give her my kind regards. I miss seeing her in the hallway, even though I would never admit to that, since she doesn't like us."

"I don't think that's the case, Garcia, but I will be certain to pass on your kind regards. Have a good day." She nodded as she thrust a binder in his direction, letting it drop onto his desk before she turned and hurried out of his office. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the closing door, knowing that he had revealed a little too much, and hoped that Penelope would be able to use her discretion when it came to how to proceed with the information she now possessed.