Erin was very nervous walking down the echoing hallway towards the Director's office. Her hands were held tightly against her sides as she quietly cursed having to attend this meeting at all. David Rossi would probably be late. She had made the appointment first thing Monday morning before she could change her mind. It wasn't something she wanted to do, but she knew too well the consequences of letting something like this go on without bringing it to the attention of the Director himself who would then be in a position to make changes if he felt it necessary. It had gone on long enough and it didn't seem it was likely to stop anytime soon and Rossi had started it after all and she had no intention of taking the brunt of this by herself. Coming up to the office door she paused, took a deep breath, straightened her jacket and opened the door to the outer office of the Director's Admin Assistant.

"Hello Amy." Erin smiled - hiding her strangled nerves.

"Hello Erin." Amy Slayer replied. "You're just in time. He's waiting for you."

"Thank you." Erin said as she turned to head through the second door into the inner sanctum.

"Um. I see here that SSA Rossi is also expected at this meeting?" Amy confirmed.

"Yes." Erin gave a slight dejected sigh. "I take it he isn't already in there?" she asked with a pained expression.

"No." Amy replied shaking her head slowly with the tip of her pen in between her teeth. Erin pulled out her iPhone.

'WHERE are you?! This is SO typical of you!' she texted. Erin couldn't wait any longer so she entered the office hoping he would show up soon. "Good Morning Sir." She said approaching his desk.

"Good morning Erin." the Director greeted her easily as he closed the folder he was reading. "How are you this morning?" He motioned for her to take one of the seats.

"I'm fine Sir, how are you?" She asked smoothing her skirt as she took the seat.

"Good. So what brings you here this morning? You don't normally make an appointment to see me." He flipped open his daily planner and looked at what Amy had written down for him. "Oh." he said warily as he cocked an eyebrow at Erin. "It says here we should have SSA Rossi in here as well." The Director removed his glasses and stroked the area between his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"Sir, I ...". He lifted his hand to pause her.

"Am I going to regret this Erin? I know there's a mutual disliked between the two of you, but I had hoped you would have been able to work things out professionally. It isn't like you to bring problems to me."

"I.. I know, Sir.." she started. 'Jesus Christ! Where IS he?!' she thought angrily. Just then SSA David Rossi breezed into the room.

"Hello Brad. How are you?" he asked taking the seat next to Erin. He nodded 'Good morning' to Erin and was greeted with a look of annoyance. David checked his watch and looked at her as if to say 'What? It's only a few minutes.'

"Hello David." Brad Cannon replied ignoring the familiarity David used. "i was just asking Chief Strauss here if this was going to ruin my day?" David looked at Erin as though asking her 'What the Hell did you tell him?' Erin responded with her own look as if to say 'Nothing yet.'

"Ah... I don't see how that could be Sir, after all sometimes things just happen. They get out of control and before you know it they've taken on a mind of their own. So to speak." David assured him as he adjusted in his seat.

"Look. Whatever the Hell this is about, I expect the two of you to work it out." he said sternly. "Now. What brings us all here together in my office?" he asked leaning forward and putting his glasses back on.

"Well, Sir, I ... We... " she stammered. David decided to let her go first and he'd just sit back and watch her squirm as she tried to explain what happened. "Um... What happened was... You see..." She stopped. This was Not going well. She needed to remain calm, professional. The Director was somewhat alarmed and he slowly looked back and forth from his Chief to the SSA and back to his Chief. Erin took a deep breath.

"You see, I know there are certain rules we all must abide by. I am a stickler for rules as you know." she shifted in her chair and looked at David to see if he was going to jump in anytime.

"What IS it, Erin?" her boss asked. Her shoulders slumped a little.

"We are partners." she blurted out. There was a pause and the the Director said,

"Yes. Partners. Good. We all need to be working in partnership with each other. So...? Is that a problem?" he asked opening his hands.

"No." Erin shook her head. "We are together." she said moving her finger back and forth between her and David.

"Right. Together. I know, I put you two together on this team." he clarified looking somewhat amused. Erin looked at David in exasperation as he let out a chuckle.

"Sir,... What I.." emphasizing the 'I'. "...am trying to say is that SSA Rossi and I are..."

"Sleeping together." David said bluntly.

Erin bit her lip.

The Director stared at him.

crickets

"Ha!" The Director laughed slapping his hand on the desk. "You certainly know how to pull a joke Rossi!" when he looked over at his Chief, she did not seem amused. "Ahem." he cleared his throat. "But comments like that are not tolerated in this office." he looked directly at David. "Those are the types of things that keep getting you in hot water." he chastised him.

Another pause.

"He's right Sir." Erin spoke again still biting her lip.

more crickets

The phone on the desk rang causing both Erin and her boss to jump. Director Brad Cannon blinked and reached for the phone almost with relief. "What?" he asked a bit gruffly. There was silence as Erin held her breath waiting. "Fine. That's fine, go ahead then." he said more calmly. "Uh huh. Uh huh." he said while nodding and looking at the wall above the heads of the two people seated on front of him. "Ok then." he replaced the receiver gently and very slowly turned his attention back to first David and then Erin. "So... back to things that don't make sense..." he said slowly.

"Sir, as you know any fraternization between colleagues must be fully disclosed to their supervisors." Erin began.

"Wait just a moment here." Brad Cannon interjected. "What are saying?" He asked. "Are you trying to tell me that the infamous fighting duo of Strauss and Rossi are... are..." he stammered not quite sure how to say it.

"Yes." David chimed in grinning. "With bells on!"

"David!" Erin said shocked.

Everyone sat in awkward silence while the Director absorbed the news.

"Dare I ask how long?" he asked soberly.

"A few months now." David replied.

"We wanted to wait and see how things were going before we brought it up." Erin spoke nervously.

More silence.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Brad Cannon asked removing his glasses again.

"We don't think so, Sir." Erin said quickly. "It hasn't been so far and we're confident we can manage to keep work and ... and our... our private lives separate." she swallowed. "And we aren't going to tell anyone. We want to keep quiet about it."

"I'll bet you do!" he said a bit more loudly than he intended. He sighed and David chuckled again. "Is this funny to you?"

"No Sir." he grinned. "I'm just as baffled as you are." Erin rolled her eyes and have her head a shake.

"Alright then. You've told me." he said shaking his head in disbelief. "Let me know if... if there are ... any further... changes." He almost said 'developments' but wasn't sure he wanted to go there. "Now get to work." He dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "And stay out of trouble!" He warned them both but focused his gaze on SSA Rossi.

"Yes Sir," they both chimed and left the office quickly. As they were entering the hallway from Amy's office they heard him exclaim,

"Jesus Christ on a Cracker! What next?! "