"Can we talk?"

Penelope turned in her chair to see Aaron standing in her office doorway, a troubled expression on his face. They hadn't really spoken since Erin had returned from rehab, and she was still feeling tender and hurt about the way things had devolved between them so quickly. "I suppose. This isn't the most comfortable place to talk, though."

He gave her a small shrug as he closed the door and came over to her desk, taking a seat next to her and gazing at her face. The expression he wore tugged at her heart strings, and she reached out for his hand, holding it tightly as she brought it to her chest. "I didn't know if you'd want to talk to me yet. I, I think that I messed up on Monday, and I haven't found a good way to apologise. And then I was called into the Director's office."

Penelope blanched a little as her hand tightened around Aaron's. "I hope that our argument hasn't caused trouble for you," she breathed out, relaxing a little when he shook his head. "Then why would he want to talk to you?"

Aaron looked away from her, licking his lips a few times, as if he was nervous about telling her the nature of his talk with Director Shepperd. "I have been headhunted like JJ was for the State Department. Only, this isn't a permanent assignment, just a brief secondment."

"What?"

He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand a few times. "Because of my negotiating skills, and my training as a prosecutor, I have been selected to lead a task force in Afghanistan. We'll be doing hostage negotiation with the Taliban, and it looks like I'll be over there for around six months. I knew that I couldn't leave without letting you know about this, because I didn't want you to worry."

"When do you leave?" she whispered, not caring that he was gripping her hand quite painfully.

"On Monday. And before you ask, you can't come with me to see me off. You don't have the clearance, I already asked. No one in my family does, so I won't even be able to say goodbye to Jack before I fly out. I know that I have no right to ask this, since we haven't resolved things between us, but would you please spend the weekend with us? Jessica will be there the whole time, too, so it's not like anything would happen between us. You two would share the guest room."

Penelope felt quick tears prickle her eyes as she nodded. "Of course I'll be there! I'll need to run home after I get out to make a bag for the weekend, but then I'll be by. Do you want me to pick up food for us all? Since I'll be out and all?"

Aaron seemed to deflate a little, and she watched him blink rapidly, as if he was holding back tears. The love that she still held for him stirred in that moment, and she stood, closing the small space between them in moments until she was hugging him tightly, feeling the way his shoulders shuddered with each deep breath he took. "I, I'll let Jess know that you're planning on bringing food over. Pizza or burgers would probably be best. I know that Jess has big meal plans for Sunday. I…thank you, Penny."

"You're welcome, Aaron." She held him tightly to her chest, struggling to keep from crying. It took a few moments, but then he was embracing her back, his hands spreading out on her back as he pressed his cheek firmly to her skin. "You're going into an active warzone. Are you going to be able to keep in contact with us? Or would that blow your cover? If it's classified enough to where we can't see you off, that probably rules out calling or emails."

"Yes, contact will be extremely limited, though I'll try as much as possible. I'll have to explain to Jack that he has to wait for me to reach out, since you can't reach me."

"Oh," she breathed out, resting her cheek on top of his head. "That will be a hard change. And before you ask, yes. I am totally fine with seeing Jack regularly, so that he doesn't get quite so lonely."

"That's why I love you," he murmured and she allowed herself to set a sad smile on her lips, knowing that this might be the catalyst for them finding each other again, but hating that that was so. "I need to finish some paperwork and talk to Dave about taking over my duties while I'm gone. Is Strauss coming back to work anytime soon?"

She stiffened a little, even though there was no animosity in his voice. "In two weeks, she said. The Director felt like that was the best time for her to return."

"All right, I'll let Dave know that he has to add her work to my workload for the next two weeks, too. I'll see you tonight, Penny."

"Tonight." They pulled away from each other, and Penelope gazed up into his face, her lip quivering when she saw silvery tracks of tears on his face. She reached up and brushed them away before kissing him softly. "I do love you."

"I love you, too," he said quietly before kissing her once more and then leaving her office.

Once he was gone, Penelope sank back down into her chair and let out a shaky breath. She knew that Derek would expect her to help him on their lunch break, so she tried to get control over her emotions, since she didn't want to be seen as a weepy woman over something that was so far out of her control. Shaking her head a little, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her personal phone, hurriedly calling Erin, knowing that she would be able to help pull her off the ledge she found herself on.

"Penelope? Is everything okay?"

It was weird how relaxed she became at the sound of Erin's voice, but she pushed that thought to the back of her brain as she let out a long breath. "No?"

"Darling, you sound so sad. Did Aaron do something to hurt you?"

She let out another distraught breath as she shook her head. "He didn't hurt me, but he did make me upset. And, like, I don't even know if I can tell you this, but…he's going to be gone on a long term assignment in Afghanistan come Monday. I'm spending the weekend with him, Jack, and Jessica, since that seemed like the best thing to do when he came to me just now. I just…I don't know."

She heard Erin murmur a soft sound of sympathy before she spoke. "You're torn because you're still upset with how he reacted to seeing us on Monday, but you also are concerned that he might not come home from this assignment, which leaves your feelings in limbo."

"Yeah. And while I would love nothing more than to come over to your place and just talk, I have too many things that I need to get done before the end of the day, if I'm going to spend the next two days with them. At least if I'm on the phone with you, I can still get some things done. Ugh, can I come over Monday, after my group ends? It wouldn't be until about nine, but I have the feeling I'll need to decompress with a friend who knows the life we lead."

"I'll still be up, so I will look forward to that, Penelope. I take it that you'd like to continue talking for bit?"

"Yeah. I like hearing your voice in my ear. Is that all right?"

"I have an hour or two for you, yes. What would you like to talk about?"

Penelope hummed as she turned back to her monitors and began to read through her emails. "Tell me more about what you were like as a kid. Somehow, I have the feeling that you were a prim and proper miss."

Erin let out a loud laugh, and Penelope furrowed her brow at that reaction. "Oh, I was a right proper hoyden. My parents had their hands full until I grew out of that phase. I wasn't anything like I am today until I was in high school, and then I started to become the woman I am now."

"Oh, so there are stories to tell about your wild days. What was the naughtiest thing you did?"

"Well, we lived in the country, so there weren't many neighbours around to play with, so I had to create my own games, since Mama was insistent that I spend at least a few hours outside a day, and not cooped up inside with books. And one day, I was bored of being outside, so I thought that it would be a good idea to traipse down to the field where the local farmer kept his cows and open the gate. As would be expected, the cows escaped the field and wreaked havoc on the afternoon commute home. Mama was furious with me, when she found out I did that, but I had a few days of glee at my little prank. I didn't have to apologise to the farmer, since he had made a few rather…angry remarks about what he'd like to do to the person who let his cows loose, and she didn't want to put me through that, but I did face a horrid punishment."

"Let me guess? You couldn't read for a month?" she teased, listening to Erin giggle on the other end of the line.

"Something like that, yes. I was allowed to read, but Mama got to choose the book for the rest of the year. And I had to spend more time outside, playing or just not being underfoot. I hated every moment of those seven months, but I learned not to mess with other people's property again." Penelope let out a soft giggle as she nodded, listening to Erin begin another story as she went about her work, finding the solace that she needed in Erin's voice.