Penelope blew out a long breath of air from her lungs as she looked at the screen in front of her. The Director had asked that she take on a little extra work, and she had the hunch that it was from Erin's office, but she couldn't ask, since the Director had sworn her to secrecy. She didn't like the feeling of keeping secrets from anyone, since she hadn't been able to tell that information to Aaron, either, so she was burning her candle at both ends, and trying to fit two shifts of work into one shift of her day. So when a firm knock came on her door towards the end of her workday, she looked up with a start, wondering if she had missed something for someone.
"Enter my lair!" she called out, waiting for the door to open. When it did, she saw her partner and gave him a joyous smile before getting to her feet and giving him a tight hug. "Aaron!"
"Didn't you get my text that we were home?"
She shook her head a little as she gestured towards her computer. "I've been buried in work and haven't had a chance to look up since you closed the case and started for home. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he replied before giving her a soft kiss and then leading her over to her sofa. They took a seat together and she cuddled in close to him, resting her head on his chest as she waited for him to explain more about why he had knocked instead of just coming right inside. "So, I know that we don't really talk about your friendship with Erin, since I have issues with her that make it hard for me to accept that she's this nice person who you can be friends with. However, I need to ask you something, and I am assuming that you know what the answer might be."
"So you want to use me?" She hoped that her voice didn't sound as sharp as she imagined it to, though given the sheepish expression on his face, it might have come out cutting. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that, but I don't care for when people just treat me like I'm some font of knowledge that dispenses whatever you need at the slightest hint of desire. And I know, I'm not using metaphors correctly at the moment, but it's one thing to tell you everything you need for work, and another to give you information about one of my friends."
He reached out and picked up her hand, threading their fingers together as he took a deep breath. "I think that whatever is going on does affect work, which is why I'm going to ask you this question. I know, I don't like telling tales about my friends out of turn, just as I prefer to keep our relationship close to the vest. However, this might correlate to what happens here at the BAU. Just before I came here, I was asked to stop in and see Erin before I went home. We discussed how the team is doing following the loss of Emily, and I asked her why she was so concerned about our team all of a sudden. If she was truly an Ice Queen, I would have been frozen to the spot with the venomous expression she gave me."
"Well, it is a hurtful question, Aaron. It has to be difficult to be in her position, where she had to remain aloof from us, and yet still wants to be human and help us through our grief. Seriously, I wish that you could set aside your prejudice and see her for the person she truly is. Now, what is your question that you want me to have some magical answer for?"
She hated the fact that they were spoiling for yet another fight, but that was always how their conversations seemed to devolve when Erin was being discussed. Aaron winced a little at the bite in her tone, and she squeezed his hand a little, trying to let him know that she wasn't as mad as she could be about things, but still upset. Giving her a small nod, he took a deep breath before speaking once more. "I am going to be busier than expected in the next few weeks, since Erin has asked that I take on a few of her duties. When I pressed for answers, she just told me that she needed some time off to deal with things, and that she wouldn't tell me more, since she doesn't talk to people, either, as it opens her up for scrutiny that she doesn't want. But that's not entirely true. She does talk to one person here, and that is you. So, I have to ask, do you know anything about what she's going through? And how long do you think that I'll have to do double duty?"
That was the first Penelope had even heard about Erin needing time away to deal with things, since she had thought that things were going well with her. Frowning a little, she allowed Aaron to tighten his hold on her hand as she shook her head. "I wish that I could give you the answers that you want, but this is the first that I'm hearing Erin's going to be absent from the office for a period of time. Though knowing what I do about her, I would imagine that she won't be out very long. Her work is the most important thing to her right now."
"More than her family?"
She frowned deeper, knowing that they were coming perilously close to crossing the line between appropriate and inappropriate knowledge being shared. "Things are complicated right now, and that is the most that I am willing and able to share with you."
It was clear from the look on his face that he was not happy with that answer, but she was not about to be pushed into telling Aaron more about her friend's private life. She felt her features slide into a mulish look as she continued to stare at him, willing him to back down from this. There was a similarly stubborn look on his face, though, which told her that was not likely. "I wish that you would reconsider, Penny."
"No. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work left to finish before I can even think of heading home. If it's not too late, I'll bunk down at your place, otherwise, I'll be heading back to my apartment. Love you?"
There was a long pause before Aaron replied in kind, and that stabbed at her heart as she waited for him to say anything in return. "I love you, too, Penelope." She nodded as he turned and left her office, feeling another little piece of her heart shatter as he left. She had known that her friendship with Erin would have consequences, but this seemed to be quickly heading towards something far worse than she had ever thought possible.
Blinking back her tears, she knew that she had to reach out to someone, and the first person she thought of was Emily. Before the rest of her brain caught up with her heart, she had pulled out her phone and dialed her friend's number. As she listened to the ringing of the phone, everything finally caught up to her, and she broke down into a full sob as she listened to Emily's voice repeat the same message that it had for the last few weeks since her death.
Hurriedly, she tried to stifle her cries, not wanting to attract any attention, even though she knew that her door was closed and not much could be heard through the thick wood that separated her from the bullpen. Setting aside the phone, she took measured breaths in an effort to control her thoughts and feelings, knowing that she truly needed to get this work finished before she could even begin to think of going home. There was still the small issue of what was up with Erin, though, and she desperately wanted to figure out why she had told Aaron and not her that there was something going on her life that would require her being absent. It was not like her to confide in him, even a tiny bit, not when she had Penelope to talk to and play intermediary.
"And I don't have time to call her tonight. Hopefully, she's around tomorrow," she muttered as she turned back to her work and tried to find her focus once more. There was so much that needed to be done and so little time for it. This was definitely one of those times that she wished she could clone herself, that she could get twice the amount of work done in half the time. That was still a pipe dream of epic proportions, however, and she shook her head to clear out that thought as she began to collate data for the Director, knowing that the faster she did so, the faster she could be done with this extra work and start getting things back to normal.