"After my parents died, I...kind of went off the rails for a while. I dropped out of Cal Tech. I lived underground, basically. But I kept teaching myself code. It was like the one thing that kept me together. Of course, my skills got me put on a list. Of people who could potentially do very bad things," Penelope explained.

"So they offered you a job?" Spencer asked, "Like Frank Abagnale. The Bureau figured if you can't beat 'em, hire 'em."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Garcia, what's on the encrypted file?" Morgan asked.

"I'm required to keep a record of everything the team does. And after my system got hacked and Elle got shot, I just didn't want anyone else to be able to get at you."

"I'll talk to the doctor, see if he'll clear you to leave," Spencer said and left the room.

Gwen went with Derek and Penelope, but not before doing her usual 'goodnight' with Spencer. Of course Penelope teased her all the way back to the apartment.

There was a police officer stationed out front. "Hi. I'm Mike Fleming. I'm on till midnight. Officer Cranbeck will be here after that, okay?"

"Thank you," Penelope told him.

"You're welcome."

Morgan led her to the entrance of the courtyard. "Come on, let's get you inside."

Penelope stopped to look at the bloodstain on the steps.

"Come on. It washes off. I promise," he reassured her.

They entered Penelope's apartment and Morgan looked around and laughed. "I, umm...I would expect nothing less."

Penelope laughed. "You should be flattered. Not many people are invited in off the grid."

Morgan spotted a film player on an end table. "Super-8?"

"Yeah." Penelope walked over to it and turned it on. A film of a younger Penelope started playing. "I always imagined myself fighting crime. My parents were hippies. I think it horrified them."

"Now why does that not surprise me?" Gwen teased.

"How old were you when you lost them?" Morgan asked.

"18. Drunk driver." Penelope turned off the projector.

Morgan picked up a piece of paper and examined it.

"I volunteer once a week to counsel family members of murder victims."

"Baby, you don't get enough of this stuff at work?"

"I look at those crime scene photos all day long. I can't know that those families are out there trying to cope and not do something to help."

Gwen rubbed Penelope's back and said, "You're a good woman, Penelope Garcia. Far too precious for this world."

"Thanks."

"You do know it was stupid to encrypt that file?" Morgan asked her.

"Yes, I know. Old habits, I guess."

"You need some rest. You both do."

"You're right." Penelope hugged Morgan. "Go. Be free, my love."

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm fine. I got my goon squad parked out front and a badass witch on my side."

Gwen giggled at the comment.

"Goon squad or no goon squad, that couch right there is gonna be my best friend until we find this guy. Now leave it alone."

"Okay."

Penelope looped her arm around Gwen's and started to head to her bedroom. "But if you're thinking of trying to take advantage of me, let me call my doctor so he can revive me afterward."

They both laughed.

"What about me?" Gwen asked.

"You're hot, Sabrina. But I know a certain doctor would beat my ass if I tried anything with you."

Gwen blushed furiously as Penelope pulled her into the bedroom.

They woke up to gunshots.

"Garcia!" Morgan yelled, running into the bedroom.

"What's going on?" Penelope asked.

"Stay right there. Stay there!" Morgan looked out the window and then walked over to the two women. "Come here. Come with me." He dragged them both into the corner. "Get in the corner. Get in the corner. Gwen, your gun."

Gwen pulled out her gun.

"Were you sleeping with that?" Penelope asked.

"Downside of having an FBI agent for a father."

"If somebody walks through that door, you shoot okay? Shoot first, then ask questions," Morgan told her.

"I got it Derek!"

Morgan walked out the door and fired a shot.

"Morgan!" Penelope yelled.

"Stay there!"

They heard Morgan running down the stairs.

"It's okay, Penelope. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." "But what if something happens to you?"

"Don't worry about me."

There was movement in the doorway and Gwen cocked her gun.

"Rossi. Rossi. Woah. Woah. Don't shoot. Don't shoot."

Gwen lowered her gun. "Call me Rossi again and I will you shoot you."

Penelope ran into Morgan's arms crying as they heard sirens in the distance. "Why is this happening to me?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

The ambulance arrived and the BAU team followed shortly after.

Spencer rushed to Gwen's side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Spencer. Really."

"I should have never left you alone."

"Okay, first off, I can take care of myself and second, I wasn't alone. Morgan was here."

"Thank god he was." Spencer sat down once he was convinced that Gwen was unharmed.

"What's going on?" JJ asked, walking up to Penelope.

"I don't know. This guy's gettin' seriously bold and I can guarantee it's not over."

"You okay?"

"I don't know what he wants from me," Penelope said.

"Could you know something about him?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know."

"Maybe you have something he wants?"

"I don't know who he is. I'm so scared."

"I know," JJ told her.

Rossi, Hotch, and Emily came into the apartment.

Rossi looked at his daughter, who nodded. She wasn't hurt, so there was no need to fuss over her.

"Hey, did you get a look at him?" Emily asked Morgan.

"Nothing solid."

"Garcia, we need to get you back to the hospital," Hotch told her.

"No," Penelope said.

"You know what? You should still be there. We need her someplace safe," JJ agreed.

"I feel safe with all of you."

"We can take you to the BAU."

Penelope nodded, staring off into space.

"Garcia?" JJ asked.

"You okay?" Spencer asked her.

"When we were at dinner... They wanted to seat us by a window, but he insisted on sitting at the worst table in the place. And he sat with his back to the corner."

A couple of detectives walked in, talking quietly.

Hotch turned to them. "Detective, can you clear the room for just a minute?"

"I got a dead cop downstairs. I consider this part of the crime scene."

"I know. Just a couple of minutes."

"Do what you gotta do."

"Thank you."

The detectives left the apartment.

"Tell us about the car," Spencer told Penelope.

"Why?"

"Just go with him," Morgan said.

"You said it was white, 4-door, American. What else?" Spencer asked.

"That's it. It was just a car."

"No, come on, think. Anything. Go back," Morgan told her.

"The seat belt was buckled behind his back."

A look dawned on everyone's face.

"Why does that matter?" Penelope asked.

"It wasn't a rental. It was for surveillance," Morgan explained.

"Agents don't wear seat belts. They need to get out in a hurry."

"All right, let's cut the crap," Rossi said, storming over to Penelope.

Gwen knew what was about to happen.

He sat down across from Penelope. "You need to be straight with us. Right now."

Penelope looked over at JJ for help

. "Look at me, not them."

"I'm not hiding anything," Penelope told him.

"You got shot. Most people get shot for a reason."

Penelope looked at Morgan.

"Eyes here!" Rossi yelled.

"Ease up, Rossi," Morgan said.

"Derek, he knows what he's doing," Gwen reassured him.

"You got a roomful of people here willing to believe that an FBI agent is trying to kill you. We need to know everything you do on company time that we don't know about. Come on. Spit it out!"

"It's nothing bad! It's just...I counsel victim's families and they know where I work, so sometimes they ask me to look into cases for them."

"What does that mean?"

"It just means that the cases, the unsolved ones, I tag them, so whoever's investigating them knows that the FBI considers them a priority."

"You're not authorized to do that," Hotch told her.

"I know. I was just trying to help."

"But whoever's working those cases thinks you're watching them," Emily explained.

"I just wanted to put pressure on them so that they don't slide."

"How many cases are we talking about?" Hotch asked.

"I don't know. 7, 8 maybe. I need to get into my system."

"You can't. You're suspended."

"Wait a minute, Garcia. On your date, you said this guy was pressing you to find out if you were working murder cases," Morgan said.

Penelope nodded.

"Hotch, we gotta look at those files."

Hotch sighed and looked at Rossi.

"I told you, I'm sick of this jagoff being in front of us."

"Dave's right. We'll go back to the BAU. Morgan, Reid, Prentiss, Gwen, you stay here and make sure no forgets to log out of the system. Garcia should not have access," Hotch told them.

"Understood," Morgan said.

Gwen shared a smirk with her father.