Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds and I'm not making any money off of this story.

Summary: Penelope witnesses something she shouldn't have and now her life is in danger. The only way to protect her is to put her into Witness Protection. However the rest of the B.A.U. team thinks she's dead. How will they cope?

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Enjoy!

...

Penelope Garcia's life had been turned upside down in the short time span of one weekend.

It had started Friday night. Penelope had just gotten off work and she had to go to the local corner store to pick up a carton of milk.

She had walked in and noticed that the slightly deaf, older Chinese man who ran the store wasn't behind the counter. She figured that he must just be in the back and went to grab the stuff she needed while she waited for him to return.

However after she had gotten her milk and grabbed a bag of chips she found herself waiting at the counter for at least ten minutes.

Growing impatient Penelope called out "Hello" her voice rang out through the empty store. No one answered her. At this rate she could have taken her items and left and no one would have been the wiser. Yet that's not how her parents had raised her and she prided herself on always trying to do the right thing.

If she could have she would have just left the milk but she literally had none at home and the next closest convenience store was five blocks away. She didn't want to have to make that hike at this time of night.

As she was pondering what to do she heard a shuffling noise from the back of the store. She thought it must be the store owner and he probably just hadn't heard her come in.

Penelope walked over to the door to the backroom. It was slightly ajar and she could see a light shining through the crack. She carefully pushed the door open a bit more; she didn't want to startle the store owner. She was just going to call out and let him know she was there but what she saw on the other side of the door made her heart race.

The store owner was strapped to a chair, blood dripping down his face from a deep gash above his eyebrow. His nose looked broken and the rest of his face looked swollen and bruised. There were two bulky men standing behind him and one skinner man standing in front of him.

"I'm giving you one last chance" the skinnier guy whispered threateningly as he took out a gun and pointed it at the store owner's head "Tell me where they are."

The store owner looked up at the man, a tear slid down his face as he said "I would never tell you."

"Wrong answer" the skinnier guy said pulling the trigger and shooting the man in the head.

Penelope had to hold in her scream; if she hadn't worked in the FBI for six years she'd probably be a dead women at the moment, however being at the B.A.U. had taught her how to control her emotions.

She backed away from the door and quickly but quietly made her way out of the store; totally forgetting about the carton of milk and chips sitting on the counter.

When she was a good distance away she pulled out her cell phone and called the police.

They told her to wait where she was until they got there; they needed to get her witness statement.

The police got there rather fast and stormed the convenience store.

Penelope watched from a distance as she waited for one of the police officers to come and take her statement, she knew the procedure. As she waited she saw the cops bring out a man in cuffs and lead him into one of the cop cars.

Finally after what seemed like hours but was probably only twenty minutes, a police officer came up to her and started questioning her about what she had seen.

She told him everything from the moment she had stepped into the store to when she had come running back out. He listened to her and nodded as he scribbled notes on a pad of paper.

When she had told him all that she had seen, he told her that they had caught one of the men but the other two had gotten away. He said they would need her to testify against the man they had captured and pick him out of a line up in the upcoming weeks. Penelope agreed and then the officer had been nice enough to give her a ride home. Once he dropped her off he said he would be in touch.

Penelope let herself into her apartment and sighed; she had been pretty shaken up about the whole thing and was now just glad to be home.

She shook her head and made her way to her bedroom. She was tired and she wanted to get some sleep. She would deal with her milk problem the next day.

...

Penelope had been up for a few hours.

She had called Derek, they had plans to go out that day and she just wanted to make sure they were still on. Derek had told her that he would meet her at their favourite coffee shop in an hour. So now she was just making herself breakfast before she got ready to go out.

That's when the doorbell rang. 'Strange' she thought to herself, no one really bothered her at home, unless her old, grandmotherly neighbour needed to borrow a cup of sugar for some baking she was doing.

Penelope went to answer it but at the same time the timer for her toaster oven went off and Penelope decided to get her toast out first because her old appliance had a way of burning her food if she didn't get it out quick enough.

As she turned and began walking back to the kitchen she heard a loud bang and then she was thrown forwards into the counter. She felt a burst of immense pain and seconds later she blacked out.

...

When she woke up she was lying in a hospital bed and the police officer she had talked to the night before, Sergeant Baker, was sitting beside her bed.

He gave her a sad smile when he noticed she was awake, "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Penelope's brow furrowed. She felt like crap, her whole body was aching and she was confused. "Like I was hit by a train" she answered, wincing in pain when she tried to move.

"It will probably take a few days before you heal completely but really it's a miracle you survived at all" Sergeant Baker stated.

"What?" Penelope asked, she had no idea what he was talking about.

The officer sighed "Miss Garcia, I hate to have to tell you this but there was an attempt on your life."

Penelope was even more confused.

"The people who killed that man last night have found out you were witness to it and that your word can put their buddy away for a long time. They aren't too happy about that."

Penelope's stomach dropped as what he told her sank in "You mean...someone is trying to kill me?"

"Yes," Sergeant Baker replied, his tone serious "and my superiors believe that the best option is to put you into the Witness Protection Programme until we catch these men."

Penelope blanched, she couldn't believe what he had just said, she didn't want to believe it. "But I...I can't" she stuttered.

"Yes you can, it's your best option and plans are already in the making to have you relocated" he continued.

"What?" Penelope asked "What plans? What do you mean?"

"As far as anyone is concerned other than you, me and a few other special agents, there is no Penelope Garcia anymore. You died in the explosion early this morning." Sergeant Baker explained.

Penelope felt faint. She wanted to cry, she couldn't believe what was happening. She wanted to go back in time and fix everything but she couldn't; she was stuck.

...

Currently she was in a plane flying to Chicago to start her new life.

Her heart was breaking the whole time and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt so helpless.

Virginia was her home; her entire life was centered there. The B.A.U. team was her family but they would now think she was dead.

Officer Baker and his superiors wouldn't allow her to tell them that she was actually alive and kicking. They said no one could know.

She had argued at first but then Officer Baker had said that it could put not only her but them in danger too.

That had shut her up. She couldn't put them in danger; they already had such dangerous jobs.

When Officer Baker had put her on the plane he had told her not to worry, that they would find who tried to kill her and she would be back in no time.

Penelope hoped so but she had her doubts.

She wondered now, as she sat staring out the window, if she would ever see her home or family again.