More Than Just My Boss

An Older Friendship and A Newer One

JJ stands up and grabs a remote off of the table just as a familiar looking large blonde-haired woman stepping in. "Good morning my lovelies. I have the case files," she begins before looking up at me. "Hi, I'm Pen-" she begins.

"Penne?" I ask jumping up.

Both of our faces erupt in ginormous smiles, "I haven't seen you since you moved back to Paris after your first year. What happened? Aside from you losing quite a few pound of fat and acne."

My face falls a little, "My aunt kicked me out because her new boyfriend didn't like me so I moved back here about, oh, five years ago. But I have my own apartment and-"

I hear Aaron clear his throat in agitation, "We have a case so if you guys could catch up later, that would be wonderful."

JJ quickly goes over the case before Aaron speaks up, "Wheels up in twenty. Oh, and Garcia? I want you come with us this time." Garcia smiles before briskly walking out of the room.

The case isn't hard and we only are gone for two days. On the flight back home from Hawaii, I have plenty of time to catch up with Penne and get to know my new teammates.

"Penne! What have you been up to since I left for Paris? Whatever happened with Charles?" I ask Garcia.

Garcia perks up at the name, "Charles left for Puerto Rico to spend time with his grandma before she passed away. That was seven years ago though. I've been hacking into thing that I shouldn't have been."

I laugh at her predictability, "When haven't you been doing that? Did you ever get Misha Collin's number?"

"Sister? You know I did. I wasn't hard at all. He actually posted it on Twitter for a minute. What ever did you do in Paris?"

I smile thinking back to all the good times, "A lot has happened in ten years. When I was fifteen I moved in with my aunt in Paris, as you know. I found the best job I could at such a young age and saved as much money as I could. I mean, I had plenty from when I left though. My aunt loved to spoil me and I lived with her for five years as I completed college. Her boyfriend told my aunt that a twenty year old should be out on her own making a living and not living with someone else for free. So I came back here and started working for the FBI."

Garcia looked like she was going to rip her face in half with how big her smile was, "I'm so glad you could come back. I've missed you so much."

"And I you," I returned. "Remember all the fun we had in college?"

"Yes. Which prank was your favorite?" Garcia asks with a chuckle.

I return the grin, "The one where we coated the tips of Mrs. Hanns' chalk with sealant."

"Oh my God! I forgot about that. She was confused for a solid twenty minutes." Garcia giggles with me.

"She had to get Mr. Gerardo to figure it out. Did they ever date after I left?"

"Yeah up until I graduated as far as I know," she replied. I spend the rest of the flight catching up with Garcia and getting to know Morgan and Reid.

When we land, we all drive back to headquarters and filled out a couple pages of paperwork. I am one of the last people to leave seeing as it is my first day at the job. I look up and see that Aaron is still in his office. I look around and see that everyone else has already left and I head up to his office.

I knock on the door waiting for his soft "Come in."

"Hey Aaron. I know you said to be professional when we're on the clock but no one else is here and it's the end of the day..." I start.

Aaron looks up and stares straight into my eyes and I feel like he's looking into my soul. "This is fine. I just mean while we were working. What do you need?"

"Oh! Yeah." I stutter. "About tomorrow."

Aaron tilts his head in confusion making it hard for me to focus, "What about it?"

*Aaron's POV*

"We'll come in and see if there is a case we've been asked to help with. And then we'll go from there," I reply slightly confused. I mean, I thought she was smarter than that.

Isabelle blushes, "No. I meant us."

I feel my heart skip a beat before I remember Haley. I feel guilty that I am starting to feel something for another girl. Haley was murdered eight years ago but it still hurts. I guess my lack of response sent the wrong because Isabelle's blush deepens before she rushes on, "I just meant-." She pauses trying to control her blush, I think. "Running!" she squeaks.

I can't help but think about how adorable it is when she gets embarrassed. "Tomorrow morning at Gander Mountain. I'll meet you there but what time do you want to meet?"

"Four a.m. to give us plenty of time to run, get home, and then get to work," she says decidedly before turning on her heels and walking out the door.

I watch her walk away and can't help but think about what an amazing woman she is.