Erin felt frozen to the floor as she looked over at her desk and saw Penelope Garcia standing there, a stricken look on her face as she looked from her computer screen to her and back again. "Ms. Garcia, what do you think you're doing?" she asked as frostily as she could, her mind spinning as she tried to think of a way to deflect or outright lie to the woman, knowing that she had unintentionally seen the news that was going to change her life forever.

"I, I didn't mean to! It was open and I read it, that's just who I am. I was going to work on your monthly tune up, since you weren't here, and Helen didn't know if you'd be back any time soon, so I figured that it would be all right. I didn't want to close anything that might be important, and…"

"And so you read my personal correspondence." Penelope nodded as a few tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes, falling when she blinked slowly. "How much did you read?"

"Enough to know that you're going to need a lot of support from everyone in the months to come. Have, have you told Rossi yet?"

Erin swallowed thickly as she rolled her eyes, trying to act like she had no idea what the younger woman was talking about. "And why would I tell him about a medical diagnosis?"

Penelope frowned as she came around from the desk and went over to her side, reaching out to run her hand up and down Erin's arm as she looked into her eyes. "Because you're partners. Or did I read things wrong at Jayje's wedding? I mean, I know that we saw the two of you at the hotel that morning, but that could have just been a hook up. From the way you two danced together, though, it spoke of something much more."

She sighed as she nodded, drifting over to her sofa and sinking down onto it as she clasped her hands together and stared at a spot on her coffee table. Penelope hurriedly sank down next to her, and Erin gave a ghost of a smile when she felt the woman reach over and curl her hand around Erin's wrist in an effort to soothe her. "Trust him to make everything so obvious."

"It wasn't him, Erin. It was you. You had this gorgeous smile on your face whenever you looked at him, and I just knew that you loved him. So, have you told him yet?"

"No," she whispered before swallowing thickly. "I don't know how to tell him. Especially not when everything is going to be so chaotic with Alpha so soon. You're heading over to London with Agent Morgan to work with Emily and Interpol, we're getting a familiar face in the BAU while you're gone, and his focus needs to be there. Too many lives depend on his focus."

She hated being so open to Penelope, but they had gotten to know each other a little over the last few months, and Erin knew that she could trust her, even if only a little. And so, a part of her heart cracked wide when Penelope removed her hand from her wrist, feeling bereft at the warmth being gone. Lifting her head, she glanced over to see what expression was on Penelope's face, only to see that she was silently weeping. "That's so not what you need to be focusing on right now, Erin. You need your love by your side as you navigate this diagnosis, and if you aren't willing to tell him in the next two days, then I might just have to take matters into my own hands." Erin went to protest, only for the younger woman to press a finger against her lips as she shook her head. "I know, I'm not respecting your boundaries here, but you're right, I am going to London, and I won't be here to support you."

"We're not even friends."

"Yet. That is definitely going to change, because I will be calling to check up on you while over there. Because you will so need more support than your lover." Penelope let out a long breath, as if she was trying to psych herself up for something, and then she was leaning over and hugging Erin tightly. "No one goes through cancer alone. Not on my watch. Even if it might not be the most serious type, it's still scary."

"It is." It was difficult to admit that, and Erin shuddered a little as she finally surrendered to the hug that Penelope was giving her, burying her nose in the woman's blonde hair as she tried to keep from crying. "Since we're not friends yet, would you mind being there when I tell him? It might be easier to do if there's an impartial party present."

Penelope pulled away and gave her a gentle smile before nodding. "I can so do that. And I know that he's currently holed up in his office, so let's just rip that band aid off before you have a chance to think about things."

Erin didn't have a chance to protest, as the woman was quickly getting to her feet and pulling Erin up as well. She drew in a breath to start to say something when Penelope whipped out a soft handkerchief and blotted gently beneath her eyes. "You don't like no, do you?"

"Not when I know the best thing for my friends. When you get closer to me, you can ask Jayje about how often I've asked her forgiveness rather than permission."

She let out a watery chuckle as they made their way out of her office and over to the bullpen. Erin felt like everyone was watching her, but she knew that was just her mind trying to convince her that this was a bad idea. Before she knew it, Penelope had whisked her into David's office, and pushed her inside before closing the door behind them.

Her lover looked up from his desk and gave her a surprised look before he glanced over to Penelope, cocking his head to one side as he gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk. Erin nodded smally as she went to the farthest chair and delicately took a seat, a ghost of a smile darting across her lips before she sucked her lower lip between her teeth and worried it as she tried to find the right words to say. From the corner of her eye, she saw Penelope take a seat next to her, and she gave a small shake of her head when the woman reached for her hand, knowing that if she was to touch her in that moment, Erin would lose control of her emotions.

"To what do I owe this honor?" he asked, tender concern in his voice, and that was when she threw an anxious look at Penelope, who just gave her an encouraging look. "Erin?"

"I, I'm going to need surgery soon."

"It's that lump I felt, isn't it?" She blinked a few times, before looking up into his face. "I'm sorry that Kitten is going to know more about us than you'd probably like, but this is important. I know your body, bella, and even though it was a small lump, I still found it. I've been waiting for you to say something."

"Oh," she breathed out as she turned her head to look at her new found friend. "I'm still not good at talking. Thank you for accompanying me, Penelope, but I have the need for some privacy now?"

"Of course, Erin. Though I look forward to our next talk." Penelope leaned over and rubbed her shoulder softly before getting up and leaving the room. The moment the door was closed, David rose to his feet and came over to Erin, wrapping her up in his strong arms, and she sank into his body. The familiar scent of his aftershave filled her nostrils as she breathed in deeply, trying to stave off another bout of tears, and she felt her control snap as his hand closed around her head.

It was so easy to break into sobs as she closed her own arms around his waist and clung to the familiar rock that he had quickly become for her. "When is your surgery?"

"The Friday before Alex rejoins the team. I'm going to be out for three days…"

"Is that long enough?"

She pulled away so that she could look into his eyes, and shook her head. "If I don't get right back into my work, I'm afraid of what will happen. We were so happy at Jennifer's wedding, that I felt like nothing could rock the boat of my sobriety. And then everything changed."

He nodded before leaning in and pressing a tender kiss to the middle of her forehead. "But we'll get through these changes together. There's nothing in this world that will tear us apart."

"That sounds a lot more serious than what we've been talking about at night."

"I didn't want you to feel like I was trying to rush you into something so quickly. I know that when you come out of rehab that you're supposed to wait a year to get into a serious relationship, so that any rough patches that might happen won't rock your sobriety too badly. I wanted to take things on your timetable, and was willing to wait for you to decide that this was more than just us sleeping together."

"I love you," she breathed out as she reached up and slid her hand across his face to cup his cheek and let out a long sigh as she stroked her thumb against his skin. "I don't know what sort of love this is, but I love you."

He let out a low chuckle before leaning his head forward and pressing his lips against hers in a whisper of a kiss. "Do you want to head out and regroup? These are a lot of changes happening in a short amount of time."

"It's just a little tumor…" she started to protest as he helped them to their feet, and David shook his head a little. "What?"

"You're trying to minimize how you feel, and that was one of the things that led to your drinking problem. Or do you not remember when you told me that?"

Erin rolled her eyes before shaking her head and swiping her fingers beneath her eyes to remove the lingering tears. "I knew that I shouldn't have spilled all my secrets to you, Rossi."

"Ah, I have the feeling that there are so many secrets that you haven't told me buried in your heart, and I am going to have the distinct pleasure of ferreting them out of you as we grow closer together over the years. Though I think that the first secret I want to uncover is your relationship with our newest agent…"

~~CM~~

Erin winced as she reached out to grab her phone. David had texted a little while ago, to let her know that the team had landed and were on their way back to the bullpen. She knew that she wanted to meet them, to try and talk to Alex once more, and so she ignored the residual pain from her incision site as she slipped the phone into her pocket and made her way into the bullpen.

Agent Anderson was still there, burning the midnight oil, and she gave him a little smile as she made her way over to Alex's desk and took a look at how she had started to make the cubicle her own. There was a picture of Alex and James sitting next to her monitor, but other than that, no personal touches graced the desktop. Before Erin could stop herself, she was pulling open the top drawer to see what was in there, and a small gasp tore from her lips when she saw that there was a picture of them, from their time at university. Quick tears flooded her eyes as she hurriedly shut the drawer and stood up. Agent Anderson gave her a sympathetic look, and Erin blinked back her tears as she felt her phone vibrate against her hip.

Pulling it out, she saw another message from David, letting her know that they were on the elevator and headed up. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed down her blouse and made her way over to the doors, eager to greet the team upon their return. In a few moments, she heard their familiar voices coming closer and closer to her, and Erin plastered on a smile as she anticipated their entrance.

"Aw, now, see. I told you we should have just left for home rather than come up to the bullpen. Are you sending us out on another case so soon, ma'am?"

She shook her head as she chuckled a little. "No, you all deserve at least one night at home, in your own bed. I just wanted to say that I'm proud of the job that you did on this case. I know that it was difficult, but you did well."

David gave her a small wink before turning and looking at the others. "Well, Erin doesn't have to tell me twice! Have a good night everyone!" Without giving her a backwards glance, he strode from the bullpen while the others dispersed as well, until it was just her and Alex. The other woman stared at her warily, and Erin drew in another steadying breath as she thought of what to say.

"I, I hope that everything went well for you in Texas," she began hesitantly, wishing that Alex would yield, even just a little. From the dark look on her face, Erin knew that wasn't to be, and she braced herself for the woman's reaction.

"As well as can be when the unsub commits suicide in front of you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to get started on this report before I head home." Alex moved forward, checking her with her shoulder as she brushed past. Erin hissed in pain as her eyes filled with tears, and she struggled to keep control over her reactions as she made her way out of the bullpen, vaguely hearing Agent Morgan start to speak to Alex as she turned towards her office.

Somehow, she managed to slip into her private sanctum unseen, and the moment Erin had taken a seat on the sofa, she gave in to the pain, allowing herself to shed her tears as she unbuttoned the top of her blouse and pulled the fabric aside so that she could check on the incision site. To her horror, there were some increasing spots of blood on the white bandage, and she let out a long breath as she carefully removed her arm from the sleeve and then went over to her desk to grab her purse and pull out a fresh bandage.

Just as she was about to remove the old piece of gauze, the door to her office closed with a soft snick, and she whirled around to see that Penelope had joined her, the concern on her face quickly turning to embarrassment as she struggled to look anywhere but at her chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise…"

"That's why people normally knock, Penelope," she murmured as she went back to the sofa and sat, awkwardly ripping open the packaging of the bandage before trying to contort her body so that she could replace it.

"May I?"

Erin looked up into Penelope's face, seeing nothing but concern there, and she sighed roughly as she nodded, handing over the bandage and covered herself modestly as she awaited the feel of Penelope's hands. "Make it quick before I die of embarrassment."

"Did Blake cause the bleeding?" the woman asked quietly as she peeled off the old gauze and set it aside. Erin paused before she answered, not wanting to hurt Alex's image with Penelope. As she remained quiet, she felt the sofa shift as Penelope rose to her feet. "I'm coming right back, I just want to get something to wipe away this blood."

"All right." Erin used the brief amount of time to take a deep breath and try to center herself. It seemed to be a losing battle, since Penelope looked up to give her a tender smile as she plucked a few tissues out of the box on her desk. "I suppose that you want an answer to your question?"

Penelope nodded as she took a seat next to her once more, carefully daubing at the incision site before placing the new bandage. "I really would."

"She didn't mean to…"

"But she still hurt you. Erin…"

She cleared her throat as she shook her head. "I have to get used to her rebuffing me, Penelope. The things I did to her, well, I should be glad that the worst thing that she did was brush me off. She had no idea that I've recently had surgery. At least my doctor was able to get the entire rotten thing, and could tell me that it hadn't spread?"

Erin slipped back into her bra before shrugging into her shirt and hurriedly buttoning it before folding in on herself as she waited for Penelope to reply. "She's still here, and we're going to make this right, right now. I won't allow her bitterness and scorn to infect you like a plague. Yeah, you may have gotten a clean bill of health for the moment, but this thing between the two of you could feed something that is lurking in the shadows, waiting to rear its ugly head and make you sick again!" Before she could protest, Penelope was taking hold of her hand and pulling her to her feet, leading her out of the office once more.

Erin knew that she could very easily pull away from Penelope, that she could say no, but the tiny flicker of hope that still burned in her heart for reconciliation with Alex wouldn't allow her to do so. Still, she trembled a little as they stepped into the bullpen once more that evening, and she took a deep breath as she straightened her shoulders and tried to put on a brave face as they approached Alex's desk.

Penelope looked at her expectantly, and Erin opened her mouth to try and say something, only for her throat to close up as she watched Alex's hands pause on the keyboard before starting to type once more. "Garcia, I don't think that you want to get in the middle of this situation, especially if you want us to have a good working relationship. If you decide to actively try to push something on to me that I do not want, that might make this a rough situation. Do I…"

"Uh, no. You don't get to make ultimatums here, Alex. Not about something this important. We need harmony in the team, especially after everything tha'st happened in the last six months. Now, us three are going to head up to my office, and talk about a few things before we all head home for the evening. Okay?"

Erin felt her eyes widen at the steel that ran through the sweet sound of Penelope's voice, and she darted her eyes over to look at Alex, seeing that she was just as startled. In was only a momentary expression, as she was soon tightening her face in a mulish expression. Penelope just smiled back at Alex before resting her hand on her upper arm, gesturing towards her office with her head. "I'm not…"

"You are, and we are not going to create a scene in the bullpen. Erin doesn't like it when she has to do damage control, and after everything she's been through in the last few weeks, I really don't want to stress her out more by having to squash any rumors about people who can't play nice. Capiche?"

Alex glanced at her then, and Erin shrugged before looking away, unable to hold her eye as she awaited the woman's answer. It came after a few agonizingly long breaths, and then she was pushing away from her desk and getting to her feet. "Heaven forbid Erin have to do more work because of me. God knows that she already had to do enough of that when she cut my rope."

The harshness in Alex's voice caused Erin to shiver a little, and she trailed after the other women on their way to Penelope's office. A heavy feeling of dread began to fill her bones as she approached the staircase, but then Agent Anderson reached out and touched her elbow, causing her to look at him, and he gave her a wide smile. "Penelope is a force of nature, but you're still our boss."

"Maybe I need the force of nature to force this reconciliation. I am far too content to allow Alex to lead things, since I wanted things to be organic."

"Well, whatever happens, just try to let it be what you want. I don't think that you've allowed that to be the rule in a very long time." Again, there was a soft, kind, look on his face, and she nodded as she pursed her lips and straightened her back as she lifted her chin and began to climb the stairs. Penelope was waiting for her in the doorway of her office, an encouraging smile on her lips, and Erin nodded lightly before brushing past her and taking a look around the room. Alex had already claimed Penelope's chair for her own, and Erin gave her a small nod before heading over to the little sofa that was there, elegantly taking a seat and appraising Alex as Penelope joined them.

"I don't know what you think you can say, Garcia, that will facilitate this wondrous reconciliation that you envision betwixt Erin and myself. I am an immovable object."

"Then you can just listen." Alex gave a stiff, jerky, nod as Penelope took a seat next to Erin on the sofa. There was a proper amount of space between them, and she glanced over to see that Penelope was displaying a very open, neutral, posture. Erin tried to copy that, but felt like she was too tense for it to be very effective. "I suppose that the most important thing I have to say is that no matter how you might feel about Erin, you have to be extremely careful and not roughly touch her, especially her left side, for a week or so. However you managed to jostle her body, it was enough to reopen her surgical incision and cause her to bleed."

Erin heard Alex gasp a little and she glanced up to see that her former friend was trying to look anywhere but at her. "When did you have surgery?" she finally asked, and Erin took a deep breath.

"The day before the team went down to Texas. My surgeon feels like she got it all." Alex blanched a little before her posture completely changed, opening to Erin as she leaned forward. "I don't mind if we don't talk, ever again. I just want you to know that, as far as I'm concerned, we have a clean slate, and I am not going to stand in your way as you rise through the ranks, like you rightfully should. After all this time, all this acrimony, I just want a little peace with the time that I have left."

"I thought you said she got it all?" Alex quickly interjected, and Erin shrugged. "Erin?"

"I just feel like I've seen my mortality, and I want to move forward with no enmity and lingering regrets. Alex…"

She closed her eyes trying to will away the tears that were quickly pooling in her eyes. While she tried to recenter herself, she felt the weight on the sofa shift and Erin frowned a little as she heard the office door open and close. Taking a deep breath, she ran a knuckle beneath her eyes before opening them and turning to look at Penelope. Only, the woman was no longer there, and Alex was in her place. "I sent her away so that we could talk. I think she thinks I'm going to kill you, because she planted herself firmly next to the door."

"Penelope does tend to be a bit over the top, but I've found that she truly does mean well. I, I didn't ask for her to facilitate this, I wanted her to leave it alone so that things could happen organically. She had other ideas in mind." Erin let out a long sigh as she wiped her hands on her thighs, trying to think about what she'd say to Alex, now that they had this time together. "I truly am sorry, and I want you to succeed. You deserve to succeed, to thrive, and I don't want to be a millstone around your neck. Please, may we have a truce?"

There was a long pause, and Erin steeled herself for rejection once more, knowing that it was completely within Alex's prerogative to do so. Again, she closed her eyes and tried to brace for rejection, only to feel the hesitant clasp of Alex's hand around hers. Slowly opening her eyes, she found that her former friend was silently crying, the tears tracking down her face as she stared at Erin. "I should hate you until infinity." Erin nodded. "But you've always been in my heart. Which is probably why this anger is so great. I can't hate you. I use the anger to push you away so that I won't get hurt once more. But if I had lost you to fucking cancer, I, I…"

She nodded once more as she tightened her grip on Alex's hand. "That was why I tried to reach out again this evening, when you first came home. May, may we start over?"

Alex shook her head, and Erin frowned, trying to pull her hand away, only for the woman to tug her closer. "I can't do blank slates, Erin. My memories won't allow that. But we can try to pick up the threads of our friendship from the ashes of what happened and move forward from there. Are you certain that you don't need anything more than a surgery? Or have any questions that I could get James to answer for you?"

"I have follow up in a few days with my oncologist, and I will keep that avenue in mind if I need it. I don't want to burden you."

"It wouldn't be a burden. It would be a pleasure." Those words caused Erin to burst into tears, and she buried her chin in her chest as she sobbed, allowing Alex to pull her all the way into her space before encircling Erin with her arms and holding her close as they cried together. She didn't know where their relationship would go from there, but she knew that it wouldn't have happened if Penelope had never looked at her email, and she would be eternally grateful for that small invasion of privacy, as it had led to this bittersweet moment of reconciliation with her friend.