KATHARINE WATCHED THROUGH THE WINDOW AS THE JET TOOK OFF INTO THE SKY. She leaned back into the seat, playing with the ends of her hair and reveling in the fact that her second case employed with the BAU had been a success. In both cases, the unsubs had been apprehended and she was easily able to put the nightmares behind her.

But the memories would continue to plague the minds of the families of the victims. And for that, she felt a sort of guilt that only people that got to walk away could feel. Survivor's guilt, her therapist had told her. That paired with her PTSD and constant anxiety could really wreck her life if she let it.

She couldn't understand how one person could just one day decide to take the life of another person. In her line of work, she had only killed when absolutely necessary and no matter how much she tried to play the badass, she still broke down at the end of the day.

She pulled out her journal and opened up to the next empty page, putting her pen down on the paper but leaving nothing there but a deep indentation. She tried to think of something to write about this past case but now that she was on the plane, everything was mushing together instead of flowing out in a linear structure.

It was like her brain had turned into a cloud of nothing, dissipating into the void like it was nothing. She figured that it was the onset sleep deprivation that had been attempting to claim her from the moment she stepped foot onto the plane.

She tapped the tip of the pen against the blank sheet a few times before giving up, laying her pen down between the pages, and closing the book. She wrapped the elastic band back around its pages and set it aside, letting out a sigh of discontent.

Derek seemed to notice her glum state because he took off his headset and rested his music player on the table. He nudged her foot slightly under the table between them.

"What's going on, Kit Kat?"

Katharine shrugged. There was nothing really wrong, she just... she sighed again.

"A friend of mine," she started, playing with the little fabric bookmark that protruded slightly from the end of her journal. "He was a bad person, but I trusted him and..."

"He betrayed you," Derek guessed.

The plane was quiet besides the two of them. Emily, who had sat down next to Derek, was asleep and so was Spencer, who had filled the seat next to Katharine.

Katharine nodded. She messed with her hair a bit before taking her hairband and tying it back.

"I shot him," she said softly. "He manipulated me and I shot him and when I used my ability on him... All I could see was just fear in his eyes."

"You can't blame yourself for that," Derek said, shaking his head. "You said it yourself, he was a bad person."

"Officer Liddy probably died feeling so scared and so betrayed and..." she trailed off, looking out of the plane's window once more. They were high above the clouds now, she could barely see the ground as they flew by. "I still feel really guilty... about using my abilities on you and I feel like I barely did my job on this case and--"

"Katharine Mae," Derek cut her off, "I don't care that you used your ability on me. Was I scared? I'm not going to lie to you, of course, I was, but that wasn't because of you. I was scared because my best friend, my little brother, and my baby cousin were in a potentially life-threatening situation. And your job, Baby Girl? Your job was to help catch the unsub to the best of your ability and you did just that. No one blames you for being out of the field."

Katharine was silent for a bit, playing with her fingers and biting down on her lip. Her shoulder still throbbed but the pain had subsided, leaving behind some light bruising but that was expected. Her headaches had completely gone by that time they had boarded the place and with some help of a certain Dr. Reid, she was also extremely hydrated.

"Thanks, Derek," she said, resting her hands on top of her journal. "I missed you while I was away, you know?"

He chuckled, picking his headphones back up.

"Oh, I know," he settled the headphones back over his ears but didn't hit play on the player. He crossed his arms and tucked his hands into his side, getting comfortable in his seat. "Now get some sleep if you can. There are still about forty minutes or so until we get back into Virginia. More than enough time for a nap."

Katharine smiled and closed her eyes, leaning back into her seat and drifting off into the soft abyss known as sleep.

IT WAS ONLY UPON THEIR ARRIVAL BACK AT THE BAU DID KATHARINE REALIZE SHE DID NOT HAVE HER CAR PARKED IN THE LOT WAITING FOR HER.

Somehow, it had slipped her mind that she had in fact been on vacation with Nina before the case had started. And seeing as she technically still wasn't allowed to drive due to doctor's orders, it had been Nina who had driven her car which meant that her vehicle was still currently parked in Nina's apartment's parking lot.

Katharine called up the woman three times before realizing that she was either dead asleep or in New York making a house call for their favorite Playboy philanthropist.

Queens, she thought bitterly. Of course, it had to be Queens.

And to make matters worse, Derek had already left the BAU for the night and was most likely well on his way to hitting up some bars with Emily and Garcia which left her with the options of either calling a cab or staying the night at the BAU.

Normally, she would have called a cab in a heartbeat and gotten it over with but her current state of sleep deprivation and lack of weaponry had her second-guessing her ability to take care of herself if someone decided to attack. She also didn't want more people to know where she lived if she could help it. Nina, Natasha, Derek, Spencer, Hotch... that list was already getting too long. Not to mention the fact that Tony Stark also knew exactly where she lived, which was a nightmare within itself.

So staying the night at the BAU it was.

It wasn't like she hadn't stayed the night at the office before. Back when she was with SHIELD, she fell asleep at her desk while working on a case almost every other night. Was it unhealthy? Sure, maybe. But was it the worst place she had ever slept? Absolutely not.

Nothing would ever be worse when she had to sleep out on an open road with an injured teammate and a junkie that kept spouting nonsense about grass and the way it grew.

Katharine shook the thoughts of that night from her head. That night, like many others, was in the past. It would be best to keep it that way.

She rifled through some paperwork that had been left on her desk, figuring that she might as well get some work done while she was there. After all, the next day was a paperwork day which meant if she got everything done she could leave early and she was banking on that.

"What are you still doing here?"

Katharine must have been way more absorbed in her work than she thought because she jumped in her seat slightly, hitting her knee against the underside of her desk.

She cursed before pushing away from her workspace and turning her chair around to face the person that had startled her. She came around to face everyone's favorite human-slash-genius, Dr. Reid.

"I am finishing up this report," Katharine stated matter-of-factly, pointing behind her at her desk. "What are you still doing here?"

Spencer made his way over to her desk and perched on the edge of it, looking down at her already finished report. She turned in her seat so that she was facing him now, elbows on the back of her seat to prop her head up.

"I was wondering how you were getting home," Spencer said. He closed the report and pushed it off to the side. "Seeing as your car isn't here and I just saw you attempt to call Nina about five times before giving up before coming back into the building."

Katharine scoffed, rolling herself back under her desk. She straightened out the report that he had just pushed aside and started to clear her desk.

"What are you, a stalker?" she asked, opening a drawer to her right and dropping a box of paperclips back into place.

"No," he said, handing her a stray paperclip that she had missed. She thanked him and added the piece of bent metal back into its box. "I'm just a person wondering how his friend was going to get home for the night."

A friend, Katharine thought. Well, at least they were friends.

"Well," Katharine said. "This person's friend might be interested in knowing that his friend was not planning on going home for the night."

Spencer shook his head and stood from her desk. He walked around and pulled her away from her desk, the wheels on the chair allowing him to do so quite easily.

"Noooo," he said, laughing slightly. "This person's friend is going to accept their friend's offer to drive them home."

Katharine laughed, trying to put her feet down to stop him from wheeling her out any further. Surprisingly, Spencer was stronger than he looked. He had managed to get her a good distance away from her desk and had spun her around to face him. He put a hand on the back of her seat, leaning in close.

"I can't ask you to do that, Spence," she protested. She giggled as Spencer took her hand in his own and dragged her up from her seat.

"You're not asking," he said, spinning her around and pulling her into his chest. "I'm offering."

"But my car--"

"If you give me your keys, I can drive your car to get you tomorrow morning," Spencer said, swaying them back and forth slightly. "And then you can drive me home tomorrow night, provided the doctor gives you the all-clear."

Katharine bit down on her lip. She tilted her head slightly so that she could look at him, the distance between them being less than three inches. If she wanted, she could lean up and...

Over his shoulder, she saw a security camera with its red light still blinking. Damn public spaces with their need to constantly have surveillance on at all times. Reluctantly, she pulled herself out of his arms.

"Well, if you're offering..." she smiled, holding the man at arm's length. "Then who am I to decline?"

Katharine let go of him and spun on her heel, dragging her chair back over to her desk. She pushed the seat back in and closed her drawer, locking up for the night.

She bent over and grabbed her bag from where it sat on the floor before looking over her shoulder. Spencer had yet to move from his spot, a goofy-looking smile still plastered to his face.

"You coming, Doctor?" she teased, a smirk settled onto her lips.

She saw Spencer's grin widen, if even possible, before he caught up to her, slinging an arm around her shoulders as they made their way to the elevator.