Erin let out a little sigh when she saw the text from David pop up on her phone. He had managed to get a seat on a flight out to Indianapolis on the first flight of the day, and while she hadn't been the happiest at being awoken at five in the morning, she was happy that he was safely on his way to his destination. Just as she was about to get back to her work, she heard a commotion behind her, and she whirled around to see that Penelope was storming over to her desk, a furious look on her face. "Whatever is the matter?" Erin asked as she slipped off her reading glasses and set them on the desk as she frowned and stared at the woman.

"Everything! Oh, my god, Erin, you have got to keep your man on a leash! Do you know what he did to me today?"

Erin arched an eyebrow as she leaned back in her chair. "No, but I assume that you're going to fill me in?"

Penelope nodded and took a deep breath, all that Erin needed to know that what followed would be a tale akin to one that Karen or Tabitha would tell when they were in a strop, and she tried not to sigh as she prepared herself for the diatribe to come. "I am an adult, human, female, Erin. I have needs! I have desires! And if I happen to bring home someone, someone who might work here, and have a little extracurricular fun, that is entirely on me! Rossi had no right coming over to my apartment at six this morning, while we were showering, to demand that I work on this obsession he has about some cold case in Indiana. And he totally saw Kevin come into my living room wearing only my towel. Our houses are supposed to be sacrosanct! I know that everyone was over there just a few months ago when I was shot, but that was in the course of a case, not on private business with no forewarning!"

Finally, she paused for a breath, and Erin was able to get a word in edgewise. "He was in a hurry to make certain that he could get there in time to finally bring closure to this case. I understand being driven, since I've been there a few times myself. I'm sorry that he disturbed your peace, and I will talk to him about how to properly handle things in the future. Now, what's this about your having a visitor?"

She tried not to smirk as Penelope's face when white and then bright red as she looked down into her lap. "Kevin's the first guy in a long time who is more interested in my GUI than my breasts. And the sex is really good. Oh god, I just told you that. You're my boss, you totally did not want to know that. Fuck. Fuck, I just swore in front of you. Oh god, are you going to fire me?"

Erin knew that she had to put Penelope out of her misery, and she shook her head a little, knowing there was no point in making her squirm. "No, you just need to think about what you're saying before the words come out of your mouth. Remember the Milwaukee incident?" Penelope nodded, her blush deepening again as she dared to look up at Erin. "Now, like I said, I will have a chat with David as soon as he calls me. But until then, please help him with this case so that we can excise that demon from his mind."

"I will, ma'am, of course. I just can believe that he went alone!"

She shrugged a little. "There are some things that you do have to do alone. Though I would have been much happier if he had taken Doctor Reid, at least. Now, before you leave this office, we do need to have a little chat about your seeing Mister Lynch. Thankfully, the two of you are not in the same department, so there's less of a conflict of interest than you might have thought. But I still cannot condone any hint of impropriety in the office. You'll need to keep that in your apartment, if you decide to continue a relationship with him. And…"

"There's more?"

Erin chucked as she nodded. "There's always more. You'll need to inform Agent Hotchner of your relationship when he returns from this custodial. I know from personal experience that he cannot abide liars, and by keeping this relationship from him, he would consider that a lie of omission."

Penelope's face fell a little as she nodded, and Erin sighed lightly as she glanced at the current picture of her children. "Can I ask something personal that you don't have to answer?"

"If it's what I think you want to ask, you're somewhat right. He is, but we don't talk about it any longer, so that we can work together without being at each other's throats all the time. It's not the best solution, but it's the one that we've made work for us." Penelope nodded before giving her a sad smile as she got to her feet. "And I think that it goes without saying that I should never hear about this outside of these walls."

"Of course, Erin. And thank you for not reaming me out about Kevin. I should probably go see if any of my searches have turned up information for Rossi yet. Maybe that will make him be in a little better mood."

She couldn't hold in the sharp bark of laughter, and Penelope cocked her head to one side as she looked at her in confusion. "It's his won fault for being in a bad mood. He was the one who got up before the sun this morning." Penelope giggled as she nodded, leaving her office with a smile on her lips. Once the younger woman had left, Erin slumped in her seat and pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly dialed her fiancé.

"I know that you're still on the plane and won't receive this until you land, but it needs to be said. You're going to send Ms. Garcia a bouquet of flowers as soon as you hear this, because she was almost certain I was going to fire her for her relationship with one of the other technical analysts. And you are going to treat her a little better for this, David. I know that you meant well, but she does a lot of good work for your team, and I want to retain our assets. I love you, stay safe out there."

Without saying goodbye, she ended the message before putting the phone back into her pocket and turning back to her computer, continuing to work on the report that was now due in thirty minutes. As she worked, she thought about what she had tacitly told Penelope, knowing that it probably wasn't the smartest action she had ever taken, but she was fast reaching the point herself where she was tired of keeping secrets from everyone. Even if that meant completely upending the pat little life that she and David had built for themselves over the years since Elise had been born. But the first thing she would have to do was talk to David once he was home, and see if he felt the same way.