A/N: Contains spoilers for Exit Wounds. This story begins just after Garcia gets angry with Morgan for trying to make her do a cognitive interview about the murder she has just witnessed. She storms off upstairs, and Derek asks JJ to look after her.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Criminal Minds. I'm just playing a little :)

JJ walked slowly up the inn's short wooden staircase. She was trying to give her friend a few moments to collect herself. Reaching Penelope's door, she hesitated only a moment before knocking softly.

"Garcia? It's just me."

Just as JJ was about to knock again, the door opened and Penelope stood in the doorway. Her expression was a combination of anger and despair.

"Are you okay?"

Penelope answered with a grunt and a look of blistering reproach. She slumped against the open door.

"God, sorry, stupid question. Of course you're not okay." JJ reached over and rested her hand on Penelope's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Pen."

"Feel sorry for that poor man, Jayje." Garcia's voice was low and bitter. "Not me." She straightened up and looked at JJ. There were tears in her eyes, and her expression was beginning to falter.

"I need to be alone for a while JJ." She stopped JJ's involuntary protest with a raised hand. "I'm okay. I want to take a shower and I want to call Kevin and then I want some sleep."

JJ understood then. "No problem hon." She drew her friend into a quick hug, and was pleased and reassured when it was returned. "I'll be downstairs for a while if you need anything."

Penelope nodded wordlessly. When JJ left and the door was closed, her shoulders sagged again and now the first tears rolled down her cheeks. Raising her hand to wipe them from her face, Penelope was horrified to discover that there was still blood on it, despite Derek's efforts downstairs. She had stormed off upstairs, refusing to submit to a cognitive interview, before he had finished cleaning her hand.

Immediately, she spun around and headed to the bathroom, almost tripping over the boots she had kicked off when she first came upstairs. The tears poured unchecked as she frantically stripped off her clothes, bundling them tightly, till finally she was down to her underwear, and the other offending garments were tossed unceremoniously into a corner of the bathroom.

Removing the final pieces of clothing and tossing them onto the pile, Penelope stepped into the shower, turning the water on as hot as she could bear it. Still the silent tears flowed down her cheeks, mingling with the cleansing water as it sluiced away the outward signs of her pain.

Twenty minutes later, she was clean and marginally calmer. She had been leaning her forehead against the bathroom tile, letting the hot water beat on the back of her neck. Finally, she straightened, turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around her, she padded out of the bathroom, studiously ignoring the bundle of stained and dirty clothing in the corner.

Drying off, she dressed in soft cotton pajamas and then methodically dried her hair. The slow, deliberate motions she made helped to calm her a little more. She decided that she would get into bed and then call Kevin. His sweet nature was just what she needed to settle her further, enough so that maybe she could get a little sleep.

Settling under the covers, she picked up the boxy, black satellite phone and dialed the familiar number.

"Hello." The response was drawn out into long syllables. It was afternoon in Quantico, and Kevin was still at work. He sounded distracted.

"Kevin, hey." Penelope spoke softly, none of her usual cheeriness present.

"Penny!" Kevin's voice mirrored his surprise. "I thought you pulled an all-nighter. Shouldn't you be asleep sweetie?"

"I just needed to talk to you." Her voice got softer with each word, till she was almost whispering. "I … I saw a murder tonight."

"What?" Kevin's question was practically shouted in her ear, loud over the now disgustingly clear satellite signal. "Oh my god, Penny. Are you okay?"

"Kinda."

"What happened?"

"The satellite connection went down. That's why we got cut off when we were talking earlier, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. You didn't call me back." There was almost a hint of accusation there, but Penelope let herself believe she didn't hear it.

"Well, I went outside to try to fix the connection."

Penelope began to explain to Kevin what she had seen and how she had reacted. By the time she was done trying to describe how she felt seeing that man's life leave his eyes, how she had called for help and waited the long moments until the others reached her, she was sobbing softly again and wishing desperately she was safely at home, with Kevin. That was why his next words shocked her so deeply.

"You know what I just don't understand? Why were you even somewhere you could have seen something like that? You're not a profiler. You know you're not supposed to be doing stuff like that." Kevin was beginning to sound angry.

"Kev ..."

"No Penny, I mean it." He snapped. "What else is your precious team making you do now?"

"They're not making me do anything." Penelope tried to explain, her voice hurt and teary. "Derek asked me afterward why I didn't leave and call someone, but I just had to …"

She didn't get a chance to finish her statement.

"Morgan asked you, huh? What was he trying to do? Oh, I know. I bet he was just comforting you!"

"Kevin, please. Morgan and Hotch were the first to get to me. Derek was only trying to help." The plaintive note of Penelope's voice should have told him how close she was to falling apart, but he couldn't hear it. Blind jealousy kept him talking.

"I'm sure he was more than willing to help you." Kevin spat out. "And what about tonight? Will he want to comfort you again? I'm sure he won't want to do that from the floor. What about you? Will you want him to sleep on the floor tonight?"

"Goddamn it Kevin!" Penelope shouted into the phone. "What the hell is wrong with you? You know what? Never mind. So much for hoping you would help me cope with this. I can't do this anymore."

Not giving him a chance to say another nasty, bitter word, Penelope hung up the phone, throwing it onto the bed beside her. She gave in to the tears again.