Chapter Text
She sat at her desk, tracing the knot on the wood with her finger. She had pretty much finished the day’s paperwork, minus… maybe some stuff. Whatever. Didn’t matter. She just wanted the day to be over to go home to her empty apartment for the weekend.
A hopeless romantic with absolutely no game. She wanted a boyfriend but was too shy to talk to anyone. No one fit her standards anyways. Then again, she didn’t talk to many people so she wouldn’t know if someone fit her standards. Her friends were her family and the BAU team.
The quick clacking of Penelope’s heels slowed behind her and she turned to look. “Hey! Come with us on a girls’ evening!” Penelope chirped and pulled her out of her chair before she could answer. JJ and Emily smiled.
She shrugged. “Sure. Why not?” She responded with a little amused smile.
“Yay!” Penelope grabbed all the girls and dragged them away, clocking out of their shifts early.
She stirred her straw in the water she had ordered and listened to the end of Emily’s story about a former boyfriend, with Penelope making one last comment about it.
JJ patted her shoulder. “You have any past lovers with interesting stories you can tell us about?”
She stayed quiet, thinking for a moment. Then she shook her head. “Nope. Have never dated at all.”
All of them looked surprised. They didn’t expect her to have never dated, she was beautiful and capable. Penelope went from shocked to having a scheming smile on her face.
“And I don’t need to.” She quickly added, holding up her hands. “I have a very specific type in mind. I want to live comfortably once I retire from the BAU someday, so he needs to be rich. And smart, with a good job so he will stay rich. CEO, doctor, therapist, whatever.”
Penelope’s smile only got wider. She ignored that.
Emily rested her elbow on the table, smirking. “Your expectations are too high. You should get a boyfriend just to get it over with and have those experiences before your perfect man appears.”
“Is that what you are doing, Emily?” She retorted with a grin.
Emily shrugged. “Perfect man or woman.”
“Ahh… interesting.” She nodded slowly and hummed.
“You’re changing the subject…” JJ said in a slight sing-song voice, stirring the ice around in her drink. “I think I know a guy that fits what you want. Hopefully you can figure it out because I won’t tell you… You’re a profiler, I’m sure you can.”
“Not fair.” She pouted.
“Anything else you want to share about your type…?” JJ tilted her head to the side.
She rubbed her face with her hands. “Emotionally stable. I can’t have someone freaking out because of danger. I don’t freak out in hostage situations. He can’t either, even though he won’t deal with it himself.”
Penelope, JJ, and Emily all shared a look. They knew someone similar… but it seemed she didn’t see it.
“Well, that’s enough for now! Bye, gotta go feed my… fish!” She stood, leaving her water and hurrying out.
“Definitely doesn’t have a fish.” They said at almost the same time.
On Monday at work, she sat down and took the first file from the stack. At the same time, Spencer came over and grabbed it too.
“Uhhh…” She blinked a couple times at him. “Hey Spence.”
Spencer let go and grabbed the strap of his bag. “Hello. I- um, noticed you didn’t finish some of the work Friday and you didn’t take it home to finish. So I did it for you. And I was thinking I could help you today too.” He gave her a tight-lipped smile.
She opened her mouth. Then closed it again when no words came out. She cleared her throat. “That’s nice of you. Thanks, Spence. I’ll do it myself for now and ask if I do need help later. If we don’t get a case.”
He nodded. “Okay. It’s nice to see you.” Spencer turned and walked over to his desk.
“You too!” She smiled and looked back down at her desk to start.