OVER THE PAST FEW weeks, Atlas had gotten used to the hostility that came from Morgan and the weariness from the other members of the team. The only person who had accepted him was the team's 'therapist' Carter, though they only had met once.

  Honestly, he understood why. If someone he cared for was gone one minute and 'replaced' the next, he too, would be pissed off. Emily was family to them, a sister. Now she was just gone and they were still in mourning but he had a job to do and he wasn't going to let them keep him from doing it.

As he stepped into the empty elevator, he pulled out his phone to call Sarah who should be just getting home from school. The last time he talked to her, which was a few hours before, she had still been annoyed with him.

Why couldn't she understand what he was doing was for her safety?

"Hello?" Sarah's voice came from the other side of the call.

Well, she was a teen, an attitude was expected.

"Hey, baby. Just calling in before work to tell you I might be late to call you tonight for our goodnight," a disappointed sigh was all that was heard, and a lump formed in his throat before continuing, "I know, I'm sorry but after tonight, I'll get a couple of days off so we can go to the planetarium like we wanted to."

"Really?" Sarah's voice noticeably perked up and the lump went away. All he really wanted was for her to be happy and safe.

"Of course, I meant we've been here for a few months, it's about time we went." When they had first moved to the Washington DC area, Atlas had promised her that he would take her to all the planetariums due to her interest in space and wanting to be an astronaut.

  He had always told her to do what she wanted and not what was expected of her. His little girl was not gonna be stopped by the expectations set on her by the world. She decided very early on what she wanted and since then she's been taking extra classes, studying extra hard, and looking into colleges that had the correct curriculum.

  "Oh my god! I have to get everything ready and find what I'm going to wear—," her rambling had reminded him of her mother, Maria.

  God, what he would do to have her see their daughter just once?

  "Sarah cal—Sarah calm down, sweetheart!" Atlas turned his head down when the elevator stopped and a couple of people walked in.

  He lowered his voice to not disturb the others and said, "We still have a few days to get things together, there is no rush."

  "I know, I know! I can't help it if I'm excited!" Sarah's laughter came out from the small speaker. He loves that laugh.

  "Okay sweetheart, I'll see you tomorrow and then we can do some planning, I've got to go," Atlas looked to the floor number and saw that he was almost at his office floor, "but what do I always say?"

  Sarah sighed as if she was embarrassed to say it out loud but said it anyway, "The world may need saving but I'll always be put above the world," he could practically feel the head shake that came from her, "I love you too Dad."

  "Bye, baby." He did what he hated most in the world to do, he hung up.

  From his desk, he could see that Aaron—Hotch, wasn't in his office yet but the rest of the small team were in their assigned areas.

  He looked down to his empty mug and sighed, there is nothing really much to do without a case. And with nothing much to do, he stood up, stretched, and walked towards the little coffee area.

  As he was refilling his mug with the coffee he liked, he saw blonde hair moving closer and closer from the corner of his eye.

  Unlike everyone on the team, Penelope Garcia treated him with less hostility besides Hotch and he kind of loved her for that. She knew it wasn't his fault that he was hired, actually, not completely his fault he had the best credentials out of everyone Strauss recommended.

  "Act cool," Penelope whispered to him as she faced the cupboards, fixing herself another cup of cocoa, "respond to me with your cup against your lips as you talk."

  "Hello?" Atlas mumbled against his mug with interest as he faced the open office area. His eyes flickered around the area, trying to spot any of his other coworkers. They were busy with paperwork.

  "I'm sorry for my behavior, Emily was a sister to me and to have a stranger come in right after, well, I was kind of upset." Penelope added marshmallows to her hot cocoa, "I've actually looked you up, and you're not a bad person. You were just put in a bad situation."

  "Is that legal?" His heart raced as the thought of her finding out about Sarah crossed his mind.

  "Why? Are you hiding something?" She shot out as she caught his eyes before looking back at her cup.

  "No, just worried about the legality for you!"

  "Don't worry about me," Penelope said as she took a sip of her drink, "Anyway, do you like Doctor Who?"

  With the most serious he has been since working at the BAU, he nodded, "Yes."

  "Great, then we'll get along great."

  After almost being caught talking by Derek Morgan, Penelope's boo, they had taken their conversation to her office. They had really connected, Atlas had felt like he had known her for most of his life.

  She had told him about her past life as a vigilante hacker and how she was recruited to the FBI, he told her about losing his first love and how Aaron was basically an older brother to him. That Aaron was the one to basically introduce their line of work to him and Aaron had become a mentor to him.

  Towards the end of his story, both of their eyes were damp from the tears they almost spilt.

  "Okay, enough of sad stuff!" Penelope waved her hands as if to swipe away the somber atmosphere, "So, a few of us 'behind the scenes workers' are going out for drinks tomorrow night, do you want to come?"

  On any other day, Atlas would have said yes but the thought of disappointing Sarah, and breaking a promise to her made him say no.

  "Oh! I see," Penelope replied with a knowing and teasing smile, "going out with a special someone?"

  "Ah, you could say that," just not in the way you're thinking.

  "Okay, okay," She raised her hands in surrender, and continued, "keep your secrets. But remember, working with profilers, secrets are bound to be found out."

  "I know," Atlas looked at his watch, seeing that the time of his meeting with Aaron approaching, and sighed, "It was great getting to know you Pen. Let's do it again."

  As he walked out of her office, Spencer Reid lifted his head from his book as he sat against the wall from Penelope's office and looked at him.

  Atlas nodded goodbye to him and walked away.

[a/n] After a year of avoiding this
book, I decided to update
with a new chapter. Honestly,
when I first created this
character and plot I had
no idea where I wanted
to go with it but now
I have someone an idea

I promised myself this year
that I would at least finish
a book and I don't know
if this is gonna be the
book but I want to continue
updating.

Also, Penelope and Atlas
are going to have the best
friendship ever, aside from
when emily comes back,
and Atlas basically
becomes her brother
from another mother

Also, this is mostly filler
until the start of season seven