The Life We Once Knew

Penelope woke up at 6a.m the next morning, to the sound of her alarm. Half-asleep, she knocked it off the table. She walked lazily to her closet, and put on the outfit she had picked out the night before. Hot pink fuzzy-feeling yoga pants, a lime green tank top, and lime green flip flops with a huge fake sunflower on them. She didn’t want to dress up on this day. She wasn’t going to work. No, on this day Penelope was meeting her sister at the airport. The sister she hadn’t seen in 12 years. Now the nervousness Penelope had been dreading was setting in. What would Jessica think of her? Would she hate her? Penelope wanted this to work out, for everyone’s sake. She went into the bathroom to fix herself up a bit. She pulled her hair up, and put on a bit of make-up. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment. Small purple bags under her eyes were evidence of the little sleep she had gotten the night before. She sighed loudly, then walked out. After grabbing her purse, Penelope headed to her car. She drove to the airport in silence. She was distracted enough, music wasn’t going to help that. Penelope arrived at the airport, right when her cell phone started ringing. It was Derek. She answered it right when she parked.
“Hey.”

“Hey baby girl, just wanted to check up on you.”

“Thanks. I’m okay, I guess. Just a bit nervous. Sitting in the parking lot of the airport.”

Suddenly, Penelope broke down. “Derek, I don’t know if I can do this. I’m so scared. What am I supposed to do with a 17-year old kid?”

Derek answered not a second after she asked the question. “You’re supposed to love her. That’s what she needs. Love. And sweetie, you can give her that. She’s going to be a bit timid at first, I’m sure. All you can do is show her that you’re not a threat.”

Penelope wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “You’re right. I’m sorry, just had a little mental breakdown there.”

“Don’t apologize. Everyone has one at times.”

Penelope smiled to herself. She really needed to let that off her chest. Now that she let it go, she felt so much better.

“Hey hot stuff, I’ve gotta go. I’m sure she is waiting for me inside.”

Derek chuckled. “That’s the Penelope Garcia I know. Now you go get her. Talk to you soon baby girl.”

“Okay, bye.”

Penelope closed her phone, and with a much-needed boost of confidence, stepped out of her car. She walked into the airport quickly. She was running a little bit off schedule, and she didn’t want to leave Jessica there alone too long. Penelope tried to push her way through people who were trying to make their flights and couldn’t give a damn about knocking others over. Not an easy feat, by any means. Once she had successfully escaped the growing mob of people, she walked over to the exit, where those who had just left the plane were waiting for family or friends to pick them up. By this time, there was only one person left. An average height curvy girl was standing at the exit, with just a couple of bags. She had red (obviously dyed) straight, medium-length hair, hanging in low pigtails down her chest. She had on a tight blue long-sleeve top, which accentuated her curves, tight jeans that flared at the bottom, and black flip flops. She was playing with her thumbs, and biting her bottom lip nervously. Penelope couldn’t see how this girl was trouble. To her, she just seemed like any other teenage girl, trying to find her place in the world. Penelope walked over slowly.

“Hi…are you Jessica?”

The girl turned and looked at her nervously. Penelope noticed that she had piercing green eyes, like their moms.

“Y-yeah. Are you Penelope?”

Penelope smiled a friendly smile and nodded. “I am.”

Jessica nodded. She was nervous. She had some memories of her sister, but they were foggy at best. She knew her mom still talked to her sometimes, and her mom would tell her all these facts about her, but other than that, she knew nothing. She seemed a bit out there, wearing very vibrant colors and having purple streaks through her hair. But she also seemed friendly.

“Here,” Penelope smiled at her, “let me take one of your bags.”

Jessica smiled and nodded. Penelope grabbed one of the bags, and was shocked by how light it was. “You didn’t bring a lot, did you?”

Jessica shook her head. “No. A lot of my stuff was unnecessary to bring. All I needed was clothes.” Jessica was afraid to tell Penelope the truth. The truth was, she didn’t have much to begin with. The only income the family had was her mothers part-time job, and that barely provided food. They could have gotten help from the government, but her mom was in denial of how poor they really were. Jessica never complained. She did other things to forget about her life.

“So, how was your flight?”

Jessica shrugged. “It was okay, I guess. A little awkward , because it was just me and one of those FBI guys.”

Penelope nodded. “Yeah, been there, done that.”

Jessica smiled. So far, everything seemed to be going good. They had reached the car, and were now sitting the bags in the backseat.

Jessica got into the front seat quickly. Once in, she started to play with her thumbs, a bad habit she had from her childhood. She watched as Penelope got in and started the car.

“So, we’re going to go back to our house so you can put your stuff away, then we’re going to go to the local High School to get everything set up for you there. Okay?”

“Okay.” Jessica smiled to herself. Penelope said ’our’ house . Already, she was making Jessica feel more like family. They drove in silence the rest of the way, and Jessica tried to count the trees as they passed them. It was her way of avoiding conversation, and it seemed to be working. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to Penelope, she just didn’t know what to say to her.

“Oh. My. God.”

Jessica turned to see Penelope’s wide smile. She looked forward, to see six people standing in a yard, with one guy holding a sign that said “Welcome Jessica”. Penelope stopped the car in the driveway and ran out to a very muscular guy, and gave him a huge bear hug. Must be her boyfriend, Jessica thought to herself. She walked over to Penelope slowly, still playing with her thumbs. Penelope held her hand out to Jessica, and Jessica took it cautiously.

“Everyone, this is my sister Jessica. Jessica, this is my team at the BAU. On the right here, is Emily.”

Emily was a tall woman whose dark hair contrasted with her pale skin. She reached her hand out, and Jessica shook it. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“This,” Penelope said, pointing to the blonde woman beside Emily, “is J.J.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.”

Penelope turned to the tall, muscular man in front of her . “This is Derek.”

“Hello. So you are my baby girl’s sister?”

Jessica nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well it’s great to meet you.”

Penelope pointed to the man beside Derek. “This is the man in charge. We call him Hotch.”

Hotch smiled. “Hello.”

Jessica smiled and nodded to him, then turned to be greeted by the man beside him.
“We call this wonderful man Rossi.”

Rossi laughed. “Wonderful, eh? Not the adjective I would’ve used, Penelope.” He turned to Jessica. “Hi.”

Penelope laughed. “You are wonderful, Rossi. Now, last but certainly not least, is Spencer. I call him Wonder Boy, because he is a genius!”

Spencer smiled and held out his hand. “Hi.”

Jessica shook his hand. “Hi.”

She stepped back awkwardly, and stared at her feet. Penelope could tell she was uncomfortable, and quickly broke the silence.

“I can’t believe you guys came. Thanks!”

Jessica cleared her throat and looked up. “Yeah, thanks.”

Derek smiled. “You are both really welcome. And wait, wait, we all have a surprise!”

Penelope smiled, and motioned for Jessica to stand beside her. Jessica walked over cautiously.

Derek and Spencer went around to the back of the house. Derek came back carrying a chocolate cake, with purple icing. It said Welcome Home Jessica on it. Moments later, Spencer came back with a small gift. He handed it to Jessica, and smiled.

“We all pitched in and got you a gift. A welcome gift, you could call it.”

Jessica smiled up at him, tears forming in her eyes. She had never felt so welcomed anywhere, or so loved. It made her happy, yet in the same respect, uncomfortable. She had never felt this way before. She didn’t know how to quite react to the situation.

“Thank you.” She looked at everyone. “All of you.”

Rossi smiled at her. “Well open it!”

She opened the small box quickly. Inside, was a beautiful blue journal, with purple and silver stars and moons all over it. She opened it up to the first page. Inside, were the names of everyone she had just met, along with their numbers. Spencer could tell she was puzzled by it.

“It’s all of our cell phone numbers. Whenever you need someone, whether it’s important or you just need someone to talk to, you can call any of us, anytime.”

She looked over to the others, who were nodding.

Jessica was barely able to choke out the words “thank you”, before bursting into tears. She ran inside the house embarrassed, and not knowing where she was going, sat down in the kitchen. She heard footsteps, then a voice. It was her sister.

“Jessica? Jessica where are you? Are you okay?”

Jessica tried to find her voice, and once she did, she answered. “I’m in the kitchen.”

Penelope walked over slowly. “What’s wrong? Do you miss Seattle?”

Jessica shook her head. “Not at all. It’s just th-that no one has ever treated me like that.”

Penelope looked at her, confused. “Like what?”

Jessica looked down at the table. “Like, being friendly. Especially for just meeting me. It’s strange.”

Penelope put her hand on her shoulder. “They are the nicest people I know, and the least judgmental. Thank about it this way: Washington DC could be like a new start for you. A chance to start life over, a chance to be who you really are.”

Jessica stood up and walked to the window, staring out. “Penelope, I don’t KNOW who I am, or who I want to be. I’ve tried fitting in. Doing almost anything to get someone’s approval,” she turned to look at Penelope, “I longed for someone to be proud of me. I guess a part of me still does.”

Penelope stood up and hugged her. “You forget that I used to live with them too. Being ignored, just wanting, longing for them to be happy with you. Dad was too drunk to be much of anything, and mom was too busy to deal with anyone, let alone herself. I had to get away.”

Penelope moved back, and cupped Jessica’s head in her hands. “The only regret I have in my life is leaving you there with them. Leaving you to grow up like I did. I was young when I left, and I wasn’t sure what to do with you. Just know that I never forgot about you.”

Jessica nodded, and Penelope stepped back. They were both wiping away the tears that continued to fall down their cheeks. I looked at each other, and laughed awkwardly.

Penelope sniffled and smiled at Jessica. “Ready to go back out there?”

Jessica nodded. “I think so.”

Penelope held out her hand and Jessica took it slowly. They were almost to the door when Jessica stopped.

“Penelope, I just have one more question.”

Penelope turned to her and smiled. “Ask me anything.”

Jessica looked down. “How long did it take you to move on, to become the person you are now?”

Penelope rubbed Jessica’s arm, trying to comfort her the best she could.

“I’m not sure. I believe that you move on because you have to, but that the experiences you go through in life stay in your mind forever. The key is not to let them get to you. Not to let them haunt you. They can destroy you, or you can learn from them. I think I decided to learn from them when I started working in the BAU. Those people outside helped me move on. They have been there for me, no matter what. They are my family, and so are you. They will help you whenever you need it, and I will help you. I owe you that, and so much more.”