Work Text:
“Let’s get to work” Penelope declares, walking into the room, her very presence both a delight and surprise to her former-turned-current coworkers.
“Yes!” Luke cheers. He’s smiling so wide his cheeks ache, but he couldn’t care less. This is the best way for his day to have gone; to have his favorite chica back on the team. The team has definitely suffered from the absence of her expertise, but the harder part has been the loss of her. Seeing her everyday used to brighten his day, verbally sparring with her often the highlight of his day. He’s felt that loss sharply the last three years. But now, she’s back. He’s going to get to see her, work with her, everyday again. He might even get to hear her snarky quips directed at him again, if he’s lucky.
It’s like riding a bike, Penelope re-joining the team. There’s next to no adjustment period. It’s like she never left. Her presence brings with it the breath of fresh air they’ve all been desperately missing in her absence. Even Rossi’s air of depression has lightened ever so slightly. But no one has been affected more than Luke. He lights up at every interaction he has with her, even when volleying insults at each other.
“Now if you’ll all excuse me, I have to go de-grossify my lair. I don’t know what kind of analysts you’ve been hiring, but they all could’ve done with more deodorant and less body spray. Unless you’ve just been letting Newbie crash in there?”
JJ, Tara, and Emily all smother smiles at the remark. Luke rolls his eyes goodnaturedly and holds up his hands as if to say ‘you caught me’. He lets her have that one, since it’s her first day back, but he won’t hold back in future.
It happens one day when Luke stops by Penelope’s lair to drop off some hard drives they found at the victim’s house. He hands over the drives and she asks about the scene, hoping to get a clue into what she might find on the drives to mentally prepare if it’s going to be gruesome. Luke sits on the yoga ball while he talks. It doesn’t take long for the conversation to drift.
“Hey, did you see how they repainted the kitchen down the hall? They finally covered the stain from like 10 years ago when Reid tried to reheat pasta and somehow it ended up all over the place.” Penelope laughs, picturing Reid’s pouty face when they found him in the kitchen, covered in sauce looking like a sad kitten.
Luke chuckles at the image. “Yeah, I think they did that a few months ago. We came back from a case and the whole office smelled like fresh paint. I know JJ and Emily were a bit upset to have that physical reminder of Reid painted over, even though they said they were fine.”
Penelope’s eyes soften, “They really miss him. So do I. I can’t believe I’ve been back for two weeks and didn’t notice until now!”
“Well you were getting re-settled in. Plus, you came back in the middle of a serial killer investigation; you’ve been preoccupied,” Luke assures her. He gets a glint in his eye before adding, “I wouldn’t worry about it, Newbie.”
Penelope’s face drops, any trace of a smile wiped from her face. “What did you just call me?!”
Luke tries to keep a straight face, but there’s a smile playing at the edges of his mouth. “I’m just saying, you’re the most recent person to join the team. I think that makes you the Ne-“
“DON’T say it again, Luke Alvez, if you know what’s good for you.” If looks could kill, Luke would be a pile of ash on his chair. Luke holds his hands up in surrender, a smile taking over his face, clearly finding amusement in teasing his favorite team member. He moves one of his hands and mimes locking his lips and throwing away the key.
“And keep it that way, Newbie.” She narrows her eyes at him one more time, placing extra emphasis on the word. Satisfied that she successfully conveyed her message, she turns back to her screens, effectively dismissing him, the room filing with the sounds of typing.
But as she hears the door close behind the smiling agent, her hands slow on her keyboard and she allows a small smile to grow. It’s good to be back.