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Six weeks flew by, fourteen cases along with it.
Mara had finally fell into a comfortable routine. Her and Mallory agreed on a "girls night" every Sunday. Most of the time Mara was home but if she was out on a case, they each had a glass of wine.
Mara stopped whatever bonding she had with Reid. She cared about him, of course. The same way she cared about Morgan or Garcia. The team had became a family to her and she was happy to be there.
JJ has started become more involved with the team and Mara was starting to think JJ was going to be a new member soon. She knew JJ was happy with her position helping Garcia and finding the cases but as time went on, JJ learned from the cases she followed them on, even started contributing when she could.
On cases, she's watched Reid get hit on multiple times. More times than she could count. It amazed her how it always went right over his head, he never took any interest in any of the women that threw themselves at him. Her profiling skills had begun to get the best of her when she was around him.
Noticing the bags under his eyes getting darker. Adding more sugar to his coffee, more cups a day. His hair would shine with built up grease because he hadn't showered. He would wear the same clothes the next day, wrinkles in them. Something was going on and Mara tried to convince herself that it wasn't her place to offer the boy comfort.
Mara has seen Shawn a few times since their fight. She wanted him without all the strings attached. At work, they acted like they didn't even know each other.
They had just got back from a case and everyone was headed home, deciding that the paperwork could wait until the morning. Mara waited for Garcia to walk her out, Reid also lingering to make sure the girls got to their cars safely.
"I met a guy." Penelope said quickly, a big smile on her face.
"What?" Mara smiled, turning to her friend. "Where?"
"The coffee shop," she grinned. "I fixed his computer."
"Is he cute?" Mara questioned. "Did you get his number?"
"He's beautiful," she smiled. "And yes, he asked me to dinner."
"When?"
"Tonight." She said, her face started to fall.
Mara nudged her with her elbow and smiled. "You don't seem excited?"
"I am, I am. I just- I don't know," she sighed. "Things like hot guys asking me out don't happen. Not to me."
"You should go for it." Mara encouraged.
"You think so?"
"You never know," Mara smiled. "He could be your soulmate."
"You're right." Penelope smiled as they got off the elevator, Reid following them.
"Text me all the details when you get home," Mara smiled and hugged the girl tightly. "Have fun!"
Later that night when Penelope didn't call, she figured maybe she'd gone home with him. She texted her to call her when she could but didn't get a reply.
It wasn't until around three in the morning that Hotch called Mara. She woke up and answered, wondering why the hell she was being called in this early in the morning. He gave her an address and hung up. She quickly recognized it as Penelope's.
She threw on some clothes and headed over there as fast as possible. When she pulled up, there was crime scene tape and ambulances and police cars. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.
She ducked under the tape, lazily showing the officers her badge. She walked up to Hotch, her eyes focusing on the pool of blood on the ground.
"They think it was a robbery."
Mara's eyes never left the pool of blood, her eyes burning. She told Penelope to go on the date. Penelope knew something wasn't right but Mara told her to go anyways. This was her fault.
"They're kicking us off the case," Hotch said. "We can't officially work on it."
"Mara," Rossi said, setting a hand on her shoulder. "I need you here."
Mara blinked hard before looked up at him. "Why aren't we at the hospital? What if she wakes up and none of us are there? What if she wakes up alone?"
Rossi put his other hand on her shoulder and met her eyes. "We're going there now. She's not going to wake up alone."
Hotch, Rossi, and Mara were the first ones at the hospital. Mara was pacing the hallway, biting hard on her nails. This was her fault. This was her fault.
All the others came a few minutes later, JJ's eyes meeting Mara's. Mara wanted to collapse into sobs right then but she didn't. She kept it together. JJ embraced her, asking if they had heard anything yet.
Mara shook her head as Emily hugged her next. Reid usually wouldn't embrace another person but right now he needed to comfort Mara because even as hard as she tried to hide it, she was fighting back tears. Mara stumbled backwards in surprise as Reid's arms wrapped around her shoulders and his head settled on top of hers.
Emily's mouth dropped in shock, motioning for JJ to look too. Mara let out a breath at the feeling of Reid's arms around her. She hugged the others because she knew they needed it but he hugged her because he knew she needed it. Slowly, Mara slid her arms around his torso and pressed her cheek against his chest.
Mara pulled away when she felt like she was about to start crying. She gently smiled up at Reid. "It'll be okay."
She suddenly turned on her heel and headed towards the waiting room. She walked over to the coffee makers and poured herself some. With how shaky her hands were, she missed and poured some on her hand.
She snatched her back with a hiss, stepping away from the table and holding her burnt hand. "Dammit, fuck, fuck."
The tears finally came, from the pain of the burning hand, of course, as she collapsed into a chair and sobbed heavily, watching the spilt coffee drip onto the floor. She buried her face into her hands, her hair spilling over her shoulders.
Suddenly, a hand settled on her back and she sat up straight. She turned to meet JJ's blue eyes, quickly wiping the tears away.
"I spilt the coffee," she said. "Burned myself, hurt like a bitch."
"It's okay to be upset that your friend is hurt."
Mara looked up at her and sighed, tears starting to fall again. "It's my fault."
JJ furrowed her eyebrows. "How could this be your fault?"
"She told me about the guy, told me she didn't feel right going on a date with him," Mara said, her voice shaking. "I told her to go."
"There's no way you could have know, Mara," JJ replied. "You were being a good friend and encouraging Penelope. This isn't your fault."
"If I wouldn't have told her to go, she probably wouldn't have."
