A/N: This is an AU story where Penelope and Luke meet about 3 years before he joins the BAU. This is going to be mainly fluff, with slight angsty undertones in some parts but nothing as bad as Almost Always and Color. No worries there. Let me know what you think if you have the time, I'd appreciate it. Happy reading.

You would bump into someone as you rush down the aisle of the pet store nearest to your home, frantically remembering as you dragged yourself back to your apartment after a week in the office that Sergio was running low on food. You would cause everything to tumble out of not only his hands but yours as well, and you would start sputtering out apologies the second you realize what a mess you have made in that moment. The container of cat treats hitting the floor and splitting open before your very eyes and the sound of the hard bite-sized pieces scattering over the floor reverberating around the pair of you. The treats are interspersed with chew toys, tennis balls, and a green collar and now a bag of dog food being pawed at by one of the most beautiful creatures you've ever had the pleasure of laying your extremely tired eyes upon. Instinctively you crouch down, balancing precariously on your heels, to begin scratching the dog behind the ears, cooing all the while at how beautiful the animal is. It is in the moment that you hear a high-pitched giggle erupt above you that you realize that he's not entirely alone. When you finally gather enough courage to look at him your mouth runs dry, your heart starts beating faster, your breath hitches in your throat as you finally take in the sight before you gasping quietly before you glance over to his counterpart...your eyes locking with a pair of green eyes. You gasp louder this time while taking in the small angelic face, the honey brown bangs laying across her forehead, with her hair in lopsided ponytails.

"I'm Lex," say says, clapping her hands together and even though you're utterly exhausted you smile at her from your position on the floor, continually gathering the man's items into your arms in preparation to hand them back to him. You realize that it won't all fit in your small arm span when he crouches down to take some of the bulkier items from you, smiling gently as he introduces himself. "My name is Luke, and I am so sorry about this, I wasn't watching where I was going," he says, gently helping you into a standing position, his hand staying wrapped around your for a few moments longer than you were used to.

"I...my name is Penelope," you manage to stutter out while looking around you wildly, "I'm so sorry I was in a rush, I've been at work for a week straight..."you trail off tugging your fingers out of his hands to pull on the edge of your cardigan, righting it around your body before you lean down to pick up the dog pawing at your legs. "Who is this cutie," you ask, bringing her up to your face and kissing her, rubbing your face into her soft fur. "Oh, I'm sorry..." you mutter handing the dog back to Luke, your cheeks blushing a deeper shade of red.

"Her name is Roxy," the man says while gently taking the dog back into his arms, turning to place her in the back of the cart. "Lex and I just picked her up from the shelter." You smile at him, turning back to the small girl seated in the front of the carriage, you reach into your purse pulling out a figurine that was supposed to make its way onto your desk in the morning and hand it to the little girl.

"It's very nice to meet you, Lex," you say to the small girl before turning to the man, "It's nice to meet you too Luke. I should go," you say, turning away from the pair of them, reaching out to the end cap to wrap your hands around another container of treats before continuing down the corridor. As you walk you steady your heartbeat and control your breathing, making sure to walk slowly lest you fall on your face and add another notch to the already humiliating belt you were currently wearing. You glance behind you to see the two of them whispering where you left them and you hurry your steps in order to get out of the aisle faster.

"Penelope," he calls out and you stop just as you were turning the corner of the aisle, you spin around to face him, "we were just about to get some ice cream...do you want to join us?" When you look at him he's scratching the back of his neck, kicking at the cat treats still littered on the floor at his feet. Lex is peering around his body, smiling widely at you with a look of excitement written across her face, and so you do the only thing that comes naturally to you in that moment. You smile and nod, walking back to the duo.

"I just have to get home to feed Sergio," you say, holding up the small bag of cat food that you had picked up off the shelf. "But then I can meet you somewhere." Lex smiles up at you, grinning with two missing front teeth.

"Daddy always has ice cream at home, ever since he joined the Fumitive Team, it helps Abuela 'deal with me.'" she says, turning to fix the man with a stare. He chuckles while reaching out to gently tug on her ponytail, shaking his head he turns to you as he shoves his hands in his pockets, a faint hint of a blush creeping into his cheeks as he continues looking at the floor.

"Fugitive Task Force." he explains with a shrug of his shoulders, "I've just transferred to Virginia." You begin to dig deeper into your purse, your hands gripping around the folded credentials, you pull them out and open them quickly.

"Behavioral Analysis Unit," you reply, tucking the credentials back into your purse. "Let me feed Sergio and then I'll come by," you say, waving to Lex as you walk towards the registers.

"Don't you need my address?" he calls out, watching you walk away.

"Trust me, I'll be there," you say, placing your items on the belt as you turn to look at him, giving a smile to both father and daughter. You see Lex shaking her head, reaching around to pet Roxy with a sad smile, and a muted whisper of She's not coming, daddy.

An hour later you stand on the front porch of a small one-story yellow house with a navy blue door, a mat at her feet announcing that she has arrived at The Alvez's and you only ended up here because of the small sentence that Lex uttered when you walked away, and the extensive background check you ran the moment you were back home. You reach out to press the doorbell and smile widely when you hear barking in the distance and the excited squeal of a small child. You have changed out of your work clothes, instead settling into a pair of jeans, an off the shoulder band t-shirt that is two sizes too big, and a pair of well-worn converses. When he answers the door he looks shocked to see you but pleased all the same.

"Penelope Garcia, the Technical Analyst for the Behavioral Analysis Unit, recruited to the FBI by Aaron Hotchner, and the best hacker, which is why you didn't need my address," he says, crossing his arms over his chest, and leaning against the frame to the door. When you look past him you see the stacks of boxes littering the entryway, each one labeled with a different room, some of them torn open with contents littering the surrounding area.

"Luke Alvez, Supervisory Special Agent with the Fugitive Task Force, former Army Ranger and single father to one Lexington Rose Alvez. The darling Lex is six, favorite Disney Princess is Belle, favorite color is purple, and favorite ice cream is strawberry." You say, lifting up a carton of strawberry ice cream and handing it to the small girl. When she runs off down the hall you turn back to her father, smiling softly at him. "We, my team mainly I just press buttons, chase down serial killers on a daily basis, I had to do a check on you, I'm sorry if I offended you by invading your privacy." You say, reaching up to tighten your ponytail, splitting the hair in half and giving it a gentle tug as you continue to look at the gorgeous man standing before you. His warm brown eyes searching your face with a soft smile.

"I called around about you too," he says, pushing himself off of the door and ushering you inside. "I understand the need to protect yourself and I'm sure you can understand the need to protect my daughter." You nod, as you turn to him, letting him lead you further into the house.

"So do you usually pick up women at the pet store?" you ask him as you both enter the kitchen to find the small girl digging into the carton of strawberry ice cream with a plastic fork. You watch as Luke reaches out to pull the fork from her fingers and laughing he replaces it with a spoon before turning back to you.

"You would be the first," he says, a sad smile playing across his face as he walks over to the freezer and pulling out two other cartons of ice cream, holding them up for you to choose. "Bowls aren't unpacked yet," he says, sliding the carton you chose over to you with a spoon on top apologizing with a small smile. You shrug, peeling the lid off of the container and dipping your spoon into the chocolate ice cream.

"I prefer it this way, the bowl messes with the flavor," you say glancing over at the small girl who is happily humming around her spoon.

"The last woman I picked up anywhere left a baby on my doorstep eleven months later with a note." He says, spooning the mint chocolate chip ice cream into his mouth, and you watch with bated breath as his lips grip the spoon, causing a small shiver to ripple through your body. "The only thing she gave her was a name and a blanket," he continues and you look up at him.

"I'm sorry," you say as you slowly reach out to cover his hand with your own for a few moments before pulling it back to your side. He shrugs and places another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and once again you find yourself captivated by how his lips move around the utensil, your eyes never leaving his mouth. "You need help unpacking?" He laughs, his eyes flickering past your face to the mountain of boxes Roxy was trying to climb up and nods.

"Yeah, I guess I should tackle that at some point." he says, digging his spoon into Lex's carton of ice cream causing the girl to let out a pitiful "daddy, don't" when Luke managed to scoop up a piece of a strawberry and pop it into his mouth with a large grin. Lex turns to you with wide eyes glistening with tears that you're sure could spill over at any moment and so you reach out with your spoon to his carton of ice cream, taking a large bite causing the small girl to laugh wildly, her still crooked pigtails tossed behind her shoulders. Tears long forgotten as Luke glared playfully at the two of you when you both went back in for more of his ice cream. You find yourself thinking that this is an odd predicament you found yourself in, but it doesn't feel wrong at all.