Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.
"Sometimes", Rossi thought, "he is an idiot. He is simply an idiot."
Walking back to his office after coincidentally overhearing the conversation between Morgan and Garcia, he couldn't help but shake his head.
Last time I checked, Kevin was a great guy.
Ugh. The cannelloni ai carciofi he'd had last night started rumbling in his stomach.
How could Morgan care so little? Garcia was a wonderful woman, graceful, unique, kind, intelligent….
A soft knock on the door and Reid entered his office. "When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart is like to break."
He paused for a moment, studied Rossi's face. Puzzlement was obviously not what he had expected.
"It's a quote by William Hale White. My publisher says it's a bit too emotional to cite in an article on the Pollock octahedral numbers conjecture. What do you think? Should I insist?"
Rossi's expression changed, slowly, from confusion to astonished realization. Maybe Derek was not the only idiot here.
"Absolutely", he told Reid. "Do insist. Non cedere!" With sudden vigor Rossi got up from behind his desk and walked, much to Reid's surprise, past him to the door.
"Where are you going?" Now it was Reid's turn to be puzzled.
"Offering a sympathetic ear… and dinner, definitely dinner…wine, of course… it's not too warm yet for the fireplace…" Softly mumbling to himself, Rossi exited his office and pulled the door shut behind him.
Not quite sure what he had just witnessed, Reid took out his cell phone and called his publisher. "I'm not going to change that quote", he informed him firmly. "It is appropriate and a vital contribution to the further development of things. I'm not going to back down on this."