𝙰𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙾𝚍𝚍𝚜 | 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚍

Mozart

It was hard not to feel a little bit of outrage. Penelope stood in the nearly empty bullpen of the BAU staring at what used to be JJ's office. She squinted her eyes to get as much sight as she could through the office blinds. They weren't entirely closed but Penelope struggled to make out the clear female figure that moved around the office.

"You have to go in there," Penelope told herself in a quick-paced mutter. "Hotch said you had to meet her. It doesn't matter what happened with JJ - it's not this woman's fault. Just go in...and meet her..."

Penelope's feet still didn't move. Hotch was clear that this new agent was going to be sticking around for a while. Penelope's task was to meet with the new Agent, introduce herself and explain what their relationship would be.

"Just go!" she hissed. Her fingers gripped the file she held. If she kept at it, the papers would soon crumple.

Finally, she started moving. Slow, gradual steps, she guided herself to the office as if she'd never been there. As if it wasn't the office where she had countless personal conversations with sweet JJ, as if it wasn't even there...

Penelope froze under the doorway. There she was. A brand new stranger. Kinda small, she thought. She was a brunette, shoulder-length dark brown curls that did seem perfectly voluminized if she was being honest. I always am, she inwardly huffed.

The stranger moved along the shelves against the walls and just as she was about to place a hand on one of the shelves — JJ's shelves — Penelope exclaimed a very high-pitched "Hello!"

The poor stranger had no choice but to spin around in complete startle. Her dark brown eyes were wide to the brim. "H-hello..."

Penelope took her moment to scrutinize the new agent from head to toe. She wasn't that small now that she was facing forwards. She had straight bangs over her forehead, though they were slightly askewed from her quick turn. She was dressed rather nicely in a fitted gray pantsuit and a white buttoned-down blouse. Penelope grudged over her admittedly cute freckled face. Freckles!

"Uh, sorry, I'm...sorry," Aitana shook her head now that she realized how stupid she'd just been. First impressions were already going bad. "I'm Agent Aitana Serrano." She came over to shake hands with Penelope.

"Penelope Garcia," the ginger introduced herself on instinct as her mind started working. "You sound familiar. Why do you sound familiar?" She tilted her head to really look at Aitana. "You look familiar too."

As of late, Aitana wasn't used to being so up close to someone. Actually, ever since witness protection she just wasn't really used to people at all. She spent a lot of her time looking over her shoulder, making sure she wasn't getting too close to anyone. And this woman, this brightly colorful woman, was looking at her like she was a piece of art. Strangely, though, it wasn't all that uncomfortable. There was something kind and soft about this woman that radiated trust.

Aitana nodded. "I'm the woman from two weeks ago that Miles Holloway went after?"

It then smacked Penelope right in the face who this woman was. Her eyes widened and her mouth went into a deep 'o' shape. "Oh!"

"I was also in Witness Protection—"

"From San Diego!" Penelope finished for her. "Oh my God! You're Aitana!" The Agent nodded her head but Penelope wasn't going to let her get a word in for a few more seconds. "I mean, of course I've seen your face but, you know, it doesn't compare to brief moments on a computer screen! Oh God—" Penelope had just reviewed her words and was horrified "—I am not some creep! I'm the technical analyst! I look at a ton of pictures for work!"