Don't Own.

Please R&R

Enjoy!

…

Emily, her arm in a sling, walked with a limp towards Penelope's bed. She pulled up the chair that Derek had just vacated and sat down.

She tentatively took Penelope's hand in hers and gently ran her fingers over the back of her friend's hand.

Emily felt tears form behind her eyes and tried to blink them away, she was normally so strong but she just couldn't handle this.

As she watched Penelope's chest slowly rise and fall she thought about the crash and shivered.

...

"Uh," Emily gasped coming to, pain ripping through her body.

She took a moment to calm her breathing and tried to focus on what was around her.

She remembered the headlights of the speeding car coming towards them. The impact had been a brutal force, Emily was sure she must have whip lash.

She remembered the SUV rolling but it must have come to land upright at some point because she wasn't hanging upside down at the moment.

It seemed darker though and when Emily looked up to where she should have been able to see Morgan and Reid, all she saw was crushed metal.

Emily tried to move her arm but cried out; her shoulder must have popped out because her arm was hanging uselessly by her side.

That's when she heard a muffled moan.

She turned her head to the left and was horrified at what she saw.

When they had spun out of control, Penelope's side must have been impacted because her body was trapped under the metal of her car door.

Emily could just make out her face and cringed when she saw that her face seemed to be covered with blood. Emily looked up to see where the blood was coming from and her eyes met a horrific sight. It looked like a part of Penelope's skull was missing. She must have hit her head, and yet she was still conscious, or at least beginning to wake up.

She whimpered and Emily saw her eyes go wide with panic before she began to struggle as she tried to move but the metal holding her body wouldn't allow it which only seemed to make her panic further.

Emily found her voice "Pen, shh, it's going to be okay. Don't panic!"

Penelope's movements stopped, she tried to move her head to look at Emily but winced in pain.

"Em?" her voice gurgled and Emily's heart ached for her. She didn't know what shape Morgan and Reid were in but she couldn't even imagine them being in worse shape than Penelope.

"I'm right here," Emily reassured her.

"Ah," Penelope said, her one free hand flexing in pain "I'm scared..." she whispered.

"Don't be scared," Emily said as she reached her unhurt arm across to unbuckle her seat belt "I'm sure they're working as quickly as they can to get us out."

Emily managed to get her seat belt off, she bit her lip as she felt the pain in her shoulder intensify but she made herself move. Her leg seemed a little slow and she looked down to realize that there was a shard of glass sticking out of it. She shook her head knowing right away that she shouldn't touch it.

She slid across the seat and took Penelope's hand.

Penelope closed her eyes and squeezed Emily's hand "It's bad isn't it?"

Emily knew that it was, now that she was closer she could actually see brain matter where Penelope's skull was missing.

"No Pen," she lied because she didn't want her friend to freak out anymore "no, you're going to be just fine."

Penelope snorted "Sure," she said "That's why I can't feel most of my body, and blood is streaming down my face, oh and my head feels like someone hit me with a shovel."

Emily could feel Penelope's hand trying to pull out of hers to reach up and check her head.

She held her hand tighter "Okay PG," she said "it's not the best but we're going to get out of here and you're going to be just fine...I promise."

Penelope let out a small sob and Emily squeezed her hand tighter."

"Emily? Penelope?"

Emily's heart lightened some as she heard Reid's voice.

"Reid! Reid are you okay?" Emily called hopefully.

"My feet are trapped under the dash but the good news is I can still wiggle my toes," Reid called back "I think my left hand is shattered though, but other than that I think I'm okay."

"What about Morgan?" Emily asked.

"He's out cold but still breathing." Reid said "What about you guys?"

Emily shook her head "My shoulder is dislocated and I've got a glass shard in my leg, but I'm okay."

There was a relieved sigh "And Penelope?" he asked.

"She's…" Emily began, not sure what to say.

"Emily is too afraid to admit that I'm dying in front of me," Penelope's said weakly.

Her announcement was met with silence.

Then Reid's voice cracked as he said "I can see the first responders, and both Hotch and Rossi are out there too, they'll get us out soon."

Penelope let out a sob and Emily searched her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Penelope said as her tears mixed with the blood on her face "It's just, he proposed…"

Emily's eyes widened.

"Last weekend, both he and Jack got down on their knees and asked me to marry them and now…" Penelope's voice was getting weaker as she spoke and her eyes were drifting closed.

"Penelope, hey!" Emily called "Stay with us, keep your eyes open."

Penelope eyes fluttered open for a second and she stared at Emily "You have to tell him…" her voice gurgled again and her eyes rolled back in her head "…I love him."

It was so quiet that Emily had barely heard it.

Then Penelope's body went limp and her hand slipped from Emily's.

"No!" Emily shouted "No Pen, wake up…wake up please!"

But there was no response.

…

Emily jolted when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up to see Rossi staring at her.

She had been crying and quickly wiped at her tear stained face.

"Penelope's strong," Rossi said "if anyone can make it through this she can."

…

Penelope could hear loud music blaring as she stepped into a dingy hallway. She didn't see anyone around but slowly followed the sound of the music.

It led her to an open apartment door.

Penelope peered inside the door and saw a young woman sitting on the couch.

The air was musty in the apartment and the floor was littered with garbage and clothes.

A pizza box and a few bottles of beer sat on a coffee table next to an open laptop.

Penelope stepped inside, her foot landing on and empty chip bag that made a rustling sound.

The girl looked up.

Her eyes seemed foggy and her dark hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days but she smiled when she saw Penelope.

It was a menacing smile and Penelope felt a chill run down her spine.

"Hey PG," the girl said "I wondered when you were going to finally make your way back here."

"Charge," Penelope said staring at her old friend "Where is here exactly anyway?"

Charge or rather Charlie Charson raised a brow "You don't remember this place?"

Penelope sighed, that's not what she meant, she was tired of being stuck in this place wherever it was, and she wanted to be back with her friends and family.

"Is it heaven? Am I dead?" Penelope asked.

Charge shrugged "You tell me. Am I dead?"

Penelope nodded "You overdosed a year after I was recruited to work for the FBI."

"Huh," Charge said "I don't really remember much after you left."

Charge stood up, her clothes were almost falling off her and she had dark circles under her eyes. She looked around "You think this is heaven?" she asked Penelope "Some heaven it is then…" She picked up a dirty shirt that was wrinkled on the floor "A junkie and her techy friend's apartment, and this is our salvation?!" she threw her head back and yelled, dropping the shirt to the floor.

She twirled around and started laughing manically.

Penelope took a step back.

Charge stopped suddenly and stared directly at her.

She narrowed her eyes "But this wouldn't be your heaven, no. You got out of this place. You abandoned me."

"I didn't," Penelope said "I had no choice and I reached out to you afterwards, you didn't want my help."

Charge turned, she wasn't listening instead she moved to the table and dug through her bag that was sitting there. "I always knew you'd leave me PG; don't forget where you got your nickname from. Even when you were at your best you wouldn't sink to mine."

Charge turned back and held out her arm, she rolled up her sleeve and bared her arm to Penelope. The needle marks on her skin were clearly visible.

"Our innocent PG, maybe she'd have a few beers and even smoke a joint once in a while but you never gave into the needle. Tell me; why did you stay with me then, you couldn't have really liked me…I was your opposite PG."

Charge looked her up and down, she was fiddling with something behind her back "Don't worry you don't have to answer that. I already know the answer. You were trying to escape, your parents were gone and you wanted to escape the guilt. Deep down you wanted to be like me, and let yourself go but in the end you never could."

"It's okay PG, I've forgiven you for using me, but now why don't you give it a try?"

She pulled a large needle from behind her back and ran her finger over the length of it "What's stopping you now? What could you possibly loose?"

Penelope stared at the needle as its glass glinted in the light.

She shook her head.

Charge shook her head "You're always gonna be the same old PG." Then she stabbed the needle into her own arm.

"You don't know what you're missing. It's almost indescribable. Your body feels alive like it never has before. Heat pools in your veins, your heart starts to pump and soon you're in a euphoric world. Nothing can touch you. No one can hurt you."

Penelope's heart began to beat loudly inside her chest but it wasn't euphoric. Pain was erupting from every pore. Charge was no longer with her, and she was no longer in their old apartment. She was lying prone in a bed in a dark room and there was a ringing in her ears. She could feel a presence around her but could see no one there.

The beating of her heart got faster and faster until she was sure it would explode.

Her body was jolted with a painful shock and then, nothing.

…

Wrote the ending of this while I was in the Dentist's office as the effects of the general anesthesia they gave me wore off. Some People act like they're high afterwards, apparently I write stories about being high. I honestly don't know where the last half of this came from but just decided to go with it. You'll have to tell me if it's any good or not.