Erin had settled behind her desk after making a quick stop in the bathroom to make certain that her makeup hadn't run from the course of her tears. Still, as she stared at her computer screen, she found that she couldn't focus on her work, instead thinking about John and how close he was getting to the team, to her family, and she knew that this tightrope that she was walking was about to set on fire. There was no way that she could keep up the delicate balancing act, there were too many balls in the air as it was, and with Aaron and Penelope knowing that she knew, or thought she knew, who the Replicator was, they'd just be hounding her for information more and more.
Letting out a deep sigh, Erin turned from the computer and pulled off her glasses, dropping them onto her desk before rubbing her hand over her face in an effort to calm her heart. She lost track of time as she allowed her thoughts to wander down rabbit trails of what John might do to her friends and family if she made one false step and played her hand before it was ready to win, and only came back to awareness when she began to smell a very familiar perfume. Lifting her face out of her hand, she saw that Penelope was leaning against her desk, looking down at her, a soft, tender, smile on her lips.
"So, I think that I gave off a little too much anger earlier, because you were super hesitant to let me touch you while you were talking with Hotch and me. I'm sorry that I wasn't more open, but my fear makes me do rash things. I knew that you probably had things under control, but I just…I thought about what Foyet did to you and Haley, and the fear took control. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too, that I haven't been more open. But when I first brought this to Aaron's attention, he said that there wasn't a correlation between the letters that Alex and I were receiving and the Replicator case. And now that that is proving to be the farthest thing from the truth, I think that he's regretting not taking this more seriously at the very beginning. But I didn't start putting together the pieces until just recently when talking with Alex."
"I think that you need to tell me who you think this man is."
"I can't. I can't trust that he doesn't have a bug set up in this office, or in Aaron's office, or has remote access to my computers. There has to be a way in for him, since he does know about our movements, and the cases we travel to."
Penelope nodded before reaching out her hand. "I know a place where we can talk, that he couldn't possibly get access to. We can safely talk there, and you don't have to worry quite so much about him overhearing us. Okay?"
She nodded a little, getting to her feet and allowing Penelope to slip her hand into the crook of her elbow as they left the office. Helen wasn't behind her desk, which caused Erin to frown a little as they left, wondering where her assistant was, and deciding to ask her when they returned. It wasn't until they were in the basement of their building that she realized Penelope was bringing her down to the clean room, and she relaxed a little, knowing that the younger woman was entirely correct, there was no way that John would have been able to infiltrate that room and plant a listening device, since it was swept every shift for listening devices.
"I would never have thought of this room," she murmured as they showed their badges to the guard in front of the door, setting their phones in the basket provided by him. Penelope gave her a small shrug as they entered the room, and Erin wasn't surprised when the younger woman took firm hold of her hand and brought her over to the furthest corner of the room, as if she still wanted to protect their conversation from any prying ears that might peek in on them. "All right, so what do you wish to discuss with me?" she asked primly as she took a seat on one of the wheeled chairs, spinning it to face Penelope and watching her face closely.
"I think that you know, Erin. I want to know a name, and I want to know it before we leave this room. Whether that takes fifteen minutes, or until the end of the day, that will be up to you. I know that you have to go home to your family, that Jessica would worry if I kept you too long, but we'll begin again tomorrow morning, until I get that name. And before you try to protest and say that Director Sheppard won't allow you to get that far behind in your work, just know that I can wheedle my way into getting him to agree, saying that I desperately needed your help on a project."
"You have thought of everything, haven't you?" she asked as she absently rubbed her bad shoulder, feeling the dull throb there that reminded her of what she had lost to the hands of another unsub. Penelope gave her a sad smile as she nodded. "All right, I'll repeat what I told you and Aaron earlier. Alex and I have a feeling that we know exactly who is behind the replicated cases and who's stalking us. And it all comes back to our shared past."
"The Amerithrax case?" She nodded. "Okay. So, we're looking for someone who knew you and Blake back then."
"You don't have to look too far, Penelope. It's John Curtis, our other group member. He took his demotion much worse than Alex did, and he vowed to one day get his revenge. Over the years, I completely forgot about that, since we had never really gotten along, and Alex was my best friend. We think that he probably would have left everything well enough alone, had I not fought for Alex to return to the BAU."
"Because the replicated cases didn't start until after she was a part of our team?" Erin nodded. "That makes sense, yes, but it would be rather difficult to prove."
"Exactly. Which is why I can't afford for you to start searching his name on our servers. Or on your personal laptop." Penelope blushed a little. "You thought I didn't know about that?"
"I was hoping that maybe you didn't? But then, you seem to know everything, so this shouldn't surprise me. Now, since I have a name, I can do some digging, through slightly shady sources, for any information on him…"
"No. I won't have you getting caught in the crosshairs."
Penelope leaned in and grabbed hold of Erin's hands, squeezing harder and harder until Erin looked into her eyes. "Somehow, I can't help but feel like you're only saying that because of what Foyet did to us. You want to try and keep us safe, and now you're paralyzed by fear once more. I don't know what to say to make you feel more at ease, there's probably nothing that can take away that fear." Erin nodded. "I am so sorry, Erin. I know that you pride yourself on being strong for everyone, so this fear must be eating at your heart so badly. I promise, we will keep you and your family safe. We won't have another Reaper situation on our hands. Okay?"
"Okay," she whispered as Penelope rolled her chair as close as she could get to Erin's side, and then the woman was wrapping her up in a tight hug as Erin took a few deep, shaky, breaths, knowing that there was going to be a reckoning coming, sooner than she liked, and she only hoped that they would all survive this time.
