Nothing to Everything

3: Aftermath and Girls Night

I stayed at the pub last night since I couldn't bear to leave them after not seeing them in almost a decade. I made sure to message the team and let them know that Antonio would drive me to the airstrip in the morning. We stayed up all night drinking and catching up. Now that it was morning and I am running off of three hours of sleep with a hangover, I am grateful the flight is not that long. I will just hide in the corner of the jet and sleep.

Antonio practically carried me to the car since the sun was too bright even with sunglasses on. He laughed the whole time at my pain.

"You really should've remembered that you had to fly back with your team in the morning."

I glared at him, "I remembered, I just wanted to try and forget the fact that it was my first case and I already had to tell them a piece of my past."

"And how'd that work for you?" Antonio said with a laugh.

"I believe my spiral is going to be even harder from my attempt to drown out the demons in my head."

The rest of the car ride was silent. Looking at the SUVs already on the airstrip I gathered I was the last person to arrive. Antonio got out of his car and grabbed my go bag for me from the back. He handed it to me then pulled me into a big hug. I could sense the team watching from the jet.

"Take care of yourself, Iz. Don't lose yourself in this job." He released me from the hug and walked me to the steps. I got on the jet and sat in the corner by myself. I started tearing up so I tried to hide my face by pulling my hood over my head. I could feel them trying to watch me subtly. I got my crying under control and lifted my hood a little to try and act normal. I tried to sleep but every time I closed my eyes I saw all of the team's horrified faces when they learned I knew Antonio and the gang.

When it seemed that I was about to lose it I felt someone sit next to me. I looked and saw Emily next to me with a reassuring smile on her face. She leaned into my ear and whispered, "I know what it feels like to be the newbie with a dark past. You're going to be ok." That was the only thing she said all flight, but she stayed next to me. For some reason just knowing she was next to me was calming.

The jet landed and we all filed towards the SUVs that were waiting for us. We drove back to Quantico and all headed upstairs to the sixth floor. We had to continue working since it was midday. Penelope was waiting for us when the elevator opened.

"Oh I am so happy to see all your faces again, especially the newcomer!" She looked at me with such enthusiasm and I tried to reciprocate it, but I was too tired and drained. "Izzy come to my lair and tell me all about it!" She practically dragged me to her office and the rest of the team watched with a smile. I guess this was typical for Penelope, which didn't exactly surprise me. Emily yelled after us, "Go easy on her Pen! We don't want to run her off!" She gave me a warm smile and laughed watching Penelope wave her comment off by literally waving her hand in Emily's direction.

Penelope's lair was dark lit, but decorated with every color you could imagine. Her desk had an army of trinkets and decorations in all colors. The main theme seemed to be unicorns and rainbows. Penelope motioned for me to sit on the couch that was to the left of the door as she sat in her desk chair. Penelope started talking in between sipping her tea.

"So Derek told me you saved his ass because you knew the gang. Please tell me all about that so I may hold it over his head for the rest of his life." Penelope looked like an eager child waiting for my reply. I started to tell Penelope the story and realized that she was really easy to talk to, and was just a happy person to be around. There was no darkness that surrounded her despite working in the BAU and seeing most of the same things the profilers do. We heard the door open and Emily, JJ and Tara walked in. At this point I was laying fully across the couch as if I was in a therapy session and we were talking about animals. They smiled looking at how comfortable I was and how big Penelope's smile was. I sat up and made room for them on the couch. Emily sat next to me, JJ sat next to Emily and Tara was last on the couch.