Penelope glanced down at her watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. Her doctor was really running behind toady, and she was already twenty minutes past her appointment. Looking back up, through the frosted glass that separated the waiting room from the office and exam rooms, she saw a familiar silhouette standing in front of the office worker. Penelope pricked up her ears, straining to hear if she was right.

"Dr. Zarbeck said she would leave you the name of the oncologist she wanted me to see."

It was her voice and Penelope felt her brain kick into overdrive. Why would she be needing a cancer doctor? Was it serious? And why did she care? After all, the woman hated her team. But cancer was nothing to wish on anyone.

"Penelope?" her nurse said and she stood up, following her into the back. She looked over towards where Erin stood as they walked. The other woman turned and looked at Penelope, her eyes red-rimmed. Penelope quickly looked away and followed her nurse into the exam room. "Please change into this gown, Dr. Zarbeck will be right in."

Penelope nodded and undressed quickly, putting on the thin gown. She climbed up on the table and spread the paper blanket over her legs. "Hey Dr. Z, how's it going?" she asked as the woman bustled into the room.

"Busy. I'm sorry I'm so late getting to you today. I was with another patient."

"Was it Erin Strauss?" Penelope asked as she put her heels up in the stirrups. Her doctor looked at her sharply. "She's my boss at the FBI. Is she okay?"

Dr. Zarbeck sighed. "I can't tell you that, Penelope. You know that."

"I don't want to know specifics, it's just, she looked so devastated."

"She needs a friend right now, that's all I can say." Dr. Zarbeck concluded the exam in silence and Penelope got dressed once she'd left. She drove back to the office, Erin still on her mind.

"Hey Mama."

"Hi Derek," she said absently, smiling slightly at him.

"What's wrong? Did something happen at your appointment?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine. It's just I'm running behind since my appointment was late. Anything happen while I was gone?"

"No, though I think Rossi is going to brief a case now that you're back."

"All right, just let me grab my pad, and I'll be ready to go." She went up to her office and picked up the pad from her desk. Morgan knocked and she followed him in to the conference room. As Rossi spoke, she tried to take notes, but found herself remembering those haunted blue eyes.

"Wheels up in thirty. Garcia, we'll call you for that information once we're under way," Hotch said as they all stood up. She nodded and went back to her office. AS she started the search for Alpha team, she decided to do something very foolish.

"Okay, God, do not let me get caught. This is for a good cause, I promise," she said under her breath as she hacked into Dr. Zarbeck's medical records. She opened up Chief Strauss's file and looked at her most recent results. "Oh, Erin," she whispered, putting her hand over her heart as she struggled not to cry.

Her phone rang and she touched her Bluetooth to answer it. "Hey, Baby Girl, what have you found out for us about this case?" Morgan asked.

"Oh, yeah, your case. One second, Sugar," she responded as she rolled over to her main computer, looking at the results.

"Are you sure you're okay, Penelope? It's not like you to be so spacy. Did Dr. Zarbeck give bad news to you?"

"No, I'm fine. It's just a case another of the teams is working on. It's not going to end well at all." She scrolled through the data and told him the relevant details. "If you need anything else, just call." She hung up and pulled off her glasses, rubbing her eyes free of tears. Someone knocked on her door and she looked up. "Come in."

The door opened, and she heard a somewhat familiar voice. "Chief Strauss would like to see you in her office," Margaret, her assistant, said. "I would make it the sooner the better, if I were you. She is in rare form today."

"Of course, Margaret." She took off the Bluetooth and set it on the desk, following her out. The walk down the hall seemed to take forever as Penelope wondered what Erin could possibly want. Hesitantly, she knocked on her door and waited.

"Enter!" Penelope could hear the impatience in her voice and opened the door, plastering on what she hoped was a charming smile. "Ah, Ms. Garcia, please come in." Penelope nodded, closing the door behind her.

"Margaret said you wanted to see me, Ma'am?"

"Yes, about earlier today."

Penelope swallowed and took a seat across the desk from Erin. Knowing what she knew, she wanted to envelop the other woman in a hug, but knew that would be the worst of her misdeeds that day. "What about earlier?" she asked, still smiling.

"I would appreciate if you kept my momentary lack of control to yourself. I know you have a penchant for trying to fix to things, but I do not need to be fixed. I just need to be left alone. Do I make myself clear, Ms. Garcia?"

Her smile faltered a little and she took a deep breath. "As crystal, Ma'am. May I return to my work now?"

"Yes." Penelope watched her look out the window of her office as she stood. Hastily, she uncrossed her fingers and smoothed her skirt. Erin may think she wants to be left alone, she thought as she walked back to her office, but she'll need someone to support her through this ordeal.

As she sat down in front of her computers, she began to plan the first step in her befriending of Erin Strauss. While her other searches ran, she looked up a local florist and ordered a lovely orchid arrangement to be delivered to Erin the next day, though she marked nothing in the box for a message. It would be best not to raise her ire too much, after all.

As the day went on, she found herself focusing often on Erin and her predicament. Dr. Zarbeck had marked the diagnosis as being stage IIc ovarian cancer. That sounded serious to Penelope and she used the rest of her day to look up information on the cancer. She did not like the looks of the survival rate on this stage of the disease, not one bit.

At the end of her day, she shut the system down and went out to Ester. Erin was standing next to her own car, and Penelope caught her eye and waved, smiling gently. Erin looked quickly away and got in her car, driving off.

Penelope shook her head and got in, driving to her apartment. It would take time to break down the walls she had put up, buy Penelope was not about to give up. While she nuked a tray of lasagna, she dialed Morgan.

"Hey, Mama, what's up?" he asked as she sat on the couch.

"Not much. How's the case going?"

"Better than planned. We'll probably be home the day after tomorrow."

"That's good. Say, what would you think about laying off Strauss for a few months?"

"What? Have you been taking something, Baby Girl? You know she hates us."

"Yes, but maybe we should make the effort to be nice. It could make all the difference. And the team looks to you, Derek. Even Hotch respects how you can read people. Honey, it would mean a lot to me if we did this." She heard Derek sigh and pressed forward. "I'm not saying to be her best friend, just be a tad bit nicer."

"I'm not going to make you any promises, but I suppose, if it means this much to you, I can try. May I at least ask why we're doing this?"

"No. You'll just have to trust me on this for right now. Okay?"

"Only for you, Baby Girl. Have a good night."

"You too, Sugar." She hung up and ate, and then changed into pajamas before logging onto her blog. After she'd updated it, she made her way over to her bed and crawled in. She turned on her side and stared into the darkness of her apartment. She was going to make this work.

She looked at her watch the next morning, and saw it was just about time for the flowers to be delivered. She waited a few more minutes, and then picked up her phone and dialed Margaret's number. "Section Chief Strauss's office, may I help you?"

"Hey Margaret, did she get the orchids yet?"

"Oh my god, that was you? She thought Philip sent them."

"Well, don't tell her it was me. I just wanted to make her week a little brighter. Did it work?" she asked, biting her lip as she waited for Margaret to respond.

"Yes. She loved them."

"Wonderful. Thanks, Margaret."

"No, thank you, Penelope." She hung up, and Penelope leaned back in her chair, a smile on her lips. Step one had gone well. Penelope spent the rest of the day humming happily as she found information for her teams.

She was still humming when she walked out to her car. Seeing Erin standing next to Esther, a slight frown on her lips, stopped the song on her lips. "Can I help you, Chief Strauss?"

"I called Philip to thank him for the orchids. Funny thing is, he never sent me any flowers today. Would you care to shed some light on the subject?"

"I wouldn't know anything about the flowers, Ma'am. Perhaps Margaret wanted to cheer you up a little. Doesn't anyone do anything nice for you?" she asked as she reclined on Esther, looking at Erin.

Erin blushed faintly, but didn't take her eyes off Penelope. "Not without there being strings attached. One day you'll learn that, Ms. Garcia."

"I hope I never learn that, Ma'am. People are better than you imagine them to be. All nice things do not carry hidden agendas. And maybe, just maybe, someone cares about you enough to want your day to be better than the one before." Penelope was surprised to find herself crying, and she swiped at the tears, looking away from Erin.

"And why would someone be as foolish as all that?"

Penelope looked up into Erin's eyes. "Because friendship is foolish, Erin. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get home."

She went to open her car door when she felt Erin's hand on her arm. "I'm dying."

"Erin Strauss, you are not dying! That's it, screw going home right now. Get in this car and we are going out for a cup of coffee. And do not think I will take no for an answer."

Erin sighed, but did as ordered. Penelope drove to the closest coffee shop and they went in. While Erin ordered, Penelope found them a table. "I hope you don't mind Earl Grey tea. It was that or chai, and I abhor chai."

"This will be fine. Now, what make you think you're dying? It's not like the cancer is stage III or worse." Her eyes widened as Erin's narrowed and she took a quick sip of too hot tea, scalding her tongue.

"Penelope." She knew that tone of voice. Morgan used it when she'd pushed things just a tad too far.

"What?" she asked innocently, smiling at Erin.

"I don't think I want to know what you did to know what you know. Why would you even care about what I'm going through?"

"Honestly?" Erin nodded. "You looked so devastated yesterday, that I felt my heart break a little for you. And yes, I do have a penchant for fixing things, but it's people I care about the most." She reached out and gently touched Erin's hand. "You're too strong a woman to give up so easily. Have you even spoken to the oncologist Dr. Zarbeck recommended yet?"

"No. My first appointment with him is Monday. I haven't told Philip or the children yet. I don't know what to tell them."

"Then don't say anything until you get word from the oncologist. Or, at least the children should be told once you know everything." Penelope took another sip of tea. "Are you going to have Philip go with you Monday?"

"No, I'll go alone. I wouldn't want to worry him yet." Erin sipped at her tea, a sad smile on her face.

"Let me go with you, please."

Erin looked at her and then back down at the mug. "I'm strong enough to go alone."

"It's not a question of strength. You are going to get literally life changing news on Monday, and you should have someone there with you. Also, if it were me, well, I'm not someone really close to you. That might make it a little easier."

"Nothing about this is going to be easy, Penelope."

They both sighed at the same time, and Penelope giggled slightly. "So, is there a yes somewhere in my future?"

Erin nodded once, sharply, and Penelope smiled at her. "The appointment is at eleven, and we'll need to leave the office at quarter after ten. And do not…"

"…tell anyone. I know. It will be our little secret." They finished their tea in silence, and then Penelope drove Erin back to the parking garage. She went right up to Erin's car, idling while she got out.

"Penelope?"

"Yes, Erin?"

"Thank you for the orchids. They're beautiful." A fleeting joyful smile crossed her lips and Penelope grinned back. It was a start, and a good one at that.