Bright, Shining Light

Chapter 10

"Oh! You're here!" Was the first thing Penelope squealed as she leapt up from her chair and rushed across the room to pull Spencer into a hug. "I'm so happy you're back! How's your head?" She asked, releasing him.
"I'm fine Garcia." He said warmly. "Clean bill of health."
"You have no idea how happy that makes me. And you!" She turned on Nora. "My god look at you, you're just adorable! Reid you didn't tell me she was so bite-sized!" She was much gentler with her hug to Nora, remembering that she was still recovering from a gunshot wound.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"You know on Halloween when people hand out the miniature version of normal-sized candy bars? Bite sized... miniature..."
"Is her height relevant?" Spencer's brows furrowed, but Nora laughed.
"I mean, no. Sorry... hi, Nora. I'm a technical analyst for the BAU, my name is Penelope Garcia. I'm really excited to have you here hanging out with me today!"
"It's nice to meet you Ms. Garcia. Um, my mother and grandmother were both really short. Shorter than me, actually. I brought cookies, as a thank you for letting me hang here for the day. I made them last night. Spence told me you were vegetarian so, I made sure that these fit the bill."
"Wow, I think I'm in love already. Please call me Penelope. Reid?"
"Yes Garcia?" His eyebrows were raised and his lips held an amused smile.
"I think we're good here. You have work to do." She waved at Spencer, playfully dismissing him.
"Alright, well... I guess I'll be on my way." He turned to Nora. "If you need anything at all have Garcia call my cell, okay? It's just in-office stuff today, we shouldn't be leaving the building."
"Okay. I will." She nodded up at him.
"I'll check in on you in a little bit." He continued, shifting awkwardly on his feet.
"I'd like that." She said honestly.
"You'll be safe as long as you stay in the building, okay?"
"I know, Spence. I trust you." Her eyes held nothing but trust as she looked up at him reassuringly.
"Okay." He said after a moment. "Okay. Uh, see you later."
  He leaned forward and sort of patted her arm before heading out the door. Nora turned to Penelope, who had a strange grin on her face.
"He's been really concerned about my safety." She explained.
"I can understand that."
"Sorry he made you be my babysitter for the day."
"I am not upset about it in the slightest, sweet girl. I'd do anything for Reid... and I wasn't kidding when I said I adore you already."
"Thanks, Penelope. Hey, would you like a cookie? My moms old chocolate chip recipe is to die for." She smiled, holding out the Tupperware to her.
"Yes, I do!"

***

  The day wore on slowly. Reid had been dividing his attention between his own work and answering messages from Garcia about the phone he was having her set up for Nora. After a couple of hours, JJ approached him.
"How's it going, Spence?" She asked with a smile.
"Uh good... it's going good. How about you?" He sounded distracted.
"I'm good." She answered. "How are things going with Nora at home? Is she coping okay?"
"She doesn't really like crowded places. I took her to the mall to get her some more clothes and each sudden sound or movement made her jumpy."
"That's to be expected though." She offered.
"Yeah. She seems to take it all in stride. She's mostly just happy to be out of imprisonment. I just, I don't know..."
"What is it?" JJ urged him to continue.
"We will have a new case any moment. Nora has no identification whatsoever so it's going to take at least a month for her to legally possess a firearm, and even then she has absolutely zero experience in handling it other than yesterday at the range. I am concerned about being able to leave town and do my job well while she's alone and basically completely unprotected."
  Just then JJ had an idea.
"Spence, are you a dog person?" She asked.
"I'm not following you."
"A dog person, you know... do you like dogs? As pets?"
"I mean, I've never had one so I couldn't really tell you. I suppose I understand the idea of owning a dog, for security and companionship reasons."
"I think I might have an answer to your problem, and a guy that could help who owes me a huge favor."