Okay, on a challenge from ilovetvalot and tonnie, I decided to see if I could live up to their demands and write a Rossi/JJ pairing. In a way, this is a continuation of my earlier story "Daddy's Favourite Fool". I hope it lives up to my readers expectations. Please forgive me if it falls short of my earlier stories.

This story is dedicated to Tracia, Tonnie, and Crystal. I did it, now may I go back to writing Dave & Emily?

I don't own Criminal Minds.

Song Prompt: My Angel Baby by Toby Beau

Please leave me a PM or review and tell me how I did. Thank you.

My Angel Baby

David Rossi sat in his most comfortable chair and tried to concentrate on his manuscript but he couldn't. For the past hour he had stared at the numerous words on the white copy paper and none of it made sense. How could it when she was leaving? Frustrated, he tossed the bound script to the coffee table and stood up.

Impatiently he paced the length of the living room like a caged animal. He should have told her that she couldn't go; that her responsibility was to the BAU, but how could he when he had sealed her fate? For the price of one agent, he had sold out the other, but what was he supposed to do, let them both go?

He was at the mercy of Erin Strauss and her vindictiveness and the deal he brokered was about as fair as that woman was going to allow. She didn't care who won, as long as he and Hotch lost. Now JJ was out of a job.

He had tried to talk to her at work, but she pushed past him and told him to go to hell. He had always known that below the surface lie a temper just waiting to be unleashed, he never thought it would be on him. As she stormed out of Hotch's office, he had looked helplessly at the Unit Chief who could only look back with something that resembled understanding.

Prentiss had gone home sick when she had heard the news -her mind was unable to comprehend the situation she and her co-workers had been thrust in to so unexpectedly. He had tried to talk to her, but she turned around and walked away. She knew he wouldn't chase her down to explain, and she was right. He figured when the time was right, she would come to him. Though he had no idea what he could say to make things better.

Pouring a shot of scotch, Dave savored the smooth amber liquid and once again cursed Erin Strauss to hell.

Lifting the glass to his lips, he was startled to hear a knock on the door. Setting the drink down, he went to answer it. A quick peep thru the hole in the door revealed the last person he expected to see…ever. Swinging the door open, he tried not to appear flustered although she had managed to catch him off guard.

"JJ. What an unexpected surprise," he greeted. "Won't you come in?" He motioned with his hand for her to step inside.

Cool and detached, she walked into the room and waited for Dave to close the door.

The air fraught with electricity, the two former colleagues stood looking at one another for the longest time. Unable to handle her hot blue eyes burning into his brown ones, Dave broke the moment and looked away.

"What brings you by?" he asked weakly. He was ready for fireworks although he would have much more preferred them at work than here. At work he could don the role of David Rossi the suave, arrogant, fussy, anal-retentive, neat-freak and thrown back at her anything she lobbed his way.

But here, in his home, he was just regular Dave Rossi, writer, crime author, everyday Joe just happy and content with his art work and dog. He bothered no one and no one bothered him…which was just the way he liked it. Until she showed up.

Eyes blazing blue fire, JJ scanned Dave from head to toe trying to figure how where to strike first. Her anger was boiling hot and totally justifiable: he had sold her out to Erin Strauss. How dare he make a decision without consulting her first?

She wanted to weep, scream, and hit something or someone- preferably him! -do whatever it took to ease the heartbreak she was feeling. She had been happy at the BAU- those people were her family- and David Rossi had taken that away from her. And she hated him!

"What brings me by?" JJ replied coldly. "For an intelligent interrogator and best selling author, that has to be the most asinine question you've ever asked. Why don't you ask me: So, JJ, how did Will take the news that you've been fired? Go ahead, ask!"

Dave shrugged his shoulders. "How did Will -?"

"He took it great! He was happy! That son of a bitch called the movers a half hour after I told him about you getting me fired from the FBI."

"JJ, I didn't…"

"You didn't? No, you're right; you sacrificed me at the altar of Erin Strauss you arrogant self-centered bastard!"

Dave winced at her words. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard before, but it hurt more coming from someone he loved and cared for. "JJ…"

"Will got his job back in New Orleans. Did you know that? Of course you did; the great David Rossi knows everything…except how to pick up a phone and call his co-worker to tell her that she's been fired."

JJ continued to pace the room. Dave stood still and watched her. Words weren't going to help his cause, and anything he said would only add fuel to the fire. She needed a reason to vent and a lamb to slaughter to justify her anger and he was willing to be whatever she needed.

"You could call Prentiss, but you couldn't call me? After all we went thru together, I wasn't worth a quarter?" she yelled.

"It wasn't like that," Dave broke in.

She shook her head defiantly. "Oh really?"

Dave felt his temper simmering. He didn't mind being the lamb lead to slaughter, but he refused to be called a liar. "Yes really! You weren't there; you didn't hear what she told me. She had plans to let both you and Emily go…even before she gave me the ultimatum."

"Bullshit!"

Dave walked over to the coffee table and pulled an envelope out of the manila folder. Stepping over to her, he thrust it at her. "Here, read it for yourself. I had Garcia hack into Strauss's personal account and retrieve the email she received."

Slowly JJ pulled out the letter and unfolded it. Her eyes darted over the words, unable to comprehend their meaning.

"The Director of the FBI requested budget cuts for the next fiscal year. Most people would cut back on buying new equipment, or conserving gas, or forcing vacations, but not Erin Strauss. She took that opportunity to cut personnel."

"I don't get it," JJ's tone softened. "What is it she has against the BAU?"

"She hates Hotch with a passion and she loathes the hell out of me and if she can find a way to destroy us, she will. She knows that our life force is our women, so that is where she decided to cut us. I offered Reid and Morgan, but she commented that she wanted to make me bleed. And she did."

Dave didn't try to hide the weariness he felt. "I tried like hell to keep your job. I offered to pay your salary. She said no. I offered pay cuts, and she said no. I had to choose who to keep and who to stay like I was some kind of goddamn King Solomon."

"Why did you choose me?"

"Because I knew you could get another job. I also know how much you love Henry and how it breaks your heart whenever you have to leave him. Emily speaks Arabic fluently, and now that we have the missing Air Force members roaming around the States, the chatter is picking up. I had to make a decision and now I have to pay for it."

"But why me?"

Dave had no choice but to confess. "Will came by last week and asked to talk with me. He had just received a call from New Orleans with a job offer he couldn't refuse. But he didn't know how to tell you. He knew how much you love working at the FBI and he would never ask you to sacrifice your job for him." Dave sighed heavily. "I told him that I didn't know what to do and that I was the very last person he needed to come to for relationship advice."

"That's for sure," JJ quipped.

"I told him to talk to you. When Strauss demanded that it come down to you or Prentiss, all I could see was you raising Henry in a loving home with your husband. I was thinking about Henry's welfare."

"What about mine?"

"I thought you might like to be a stay at home mom."

"You chauvinist asshole!" Her temper just simmering flared again. "You really want me to believe that?"

"Believe what ever the hell you want!" Dave shouted back. "I'm working for the FBI for free for an entire year! Prentiss took more than half a pay cut, which I will be secretly funding, and you lost your job all because I wasn't able to stand up to a woman who has more balls than J Edgar Hoover could only wish for!" Stepping forward, Dave got in her face.

"You may have lost your job, but I lost more than that; I lost my reputation, I lost my honour, my integrity, and I lost the respect of two women I love so much that I would lay my life down for them in a second! So don't stand here bitching and complaining about how I destroyed your life when you still get to go home to a family at night."

JJ's hand flew out and caught Dave's cheek. "Fuck you!"

Dave caught her hand before it could strike again. "No, fuck you! You get to go on to greener pastures while I have to stay behind and clean up the pieces. Morgan won't come near me; Reid is uncomfortable in my presence. Emily told me to go get fucked, and Hotch looks at me as though I'm on life support and the plug is about to be pulled. You can start over. I lost everything."

Dave threw her arm down and turned around to face the fireplace. "You think it's not going to hurt coming into work every morning and not seeing you sitting there chatting with the team? Or to watch how you calmly present even the most graphic cases on the projector as though it's just a way of life?" Dave felt his composure slipping. "You think that I'm not going to miss seeing a woman I have come to love?"

JJ stared at him. She had come over to give him a piece of her mind, and now it seemed as though she had had it handed to her on a silver platter. And she felt so ashamed.

Of course she wanted to believe the worst about Rossi; his reputation was legendary: a hard-charging, devil may care, old fashioned done by the book, lothario who made his own rules and regulations. But now as she stood in his living room and watching his shoulders quiver, it dawned on her that perhaps the image he projected was the one he wanted people to see. Deep down inside he was a man full of love and loyalty to his friends and would sacrifice anything necessary to keep them safe and happy.

"Dave?" JJ called out softly. "Dave, look at me. Please." As he turned around and met her eyes, his grief was apparent. The handsome confident man who had greeted her at the door was now a sad man burdened by his guilt. And she was responsible.

Stepping closer, she touched his cheek softly. The print of her palm glared angry and she tried to soothe it away. "I'm sorry," she confessed.

Dave's eyes met hers. "No, don't be sorry. Hate me," he replied.

"I don't hate you."

"Yes you do. I want to hear you say it. Tell me you hate me."

JJ swallowed hard. "I hate you David Rossi."

"Can you ever forgive me?" His eyes searched hers.

She shook her head. "No," she whispered.

"Good. Because it's going to make it so much easier to do this." Without warning he covered her lips with his. Shocked, JJ stood still as his mouth moved slowly and sensually over hers, gently nipping and taking without asking.

Dave had dreamt of this moment for the longest time but never thought it would come true since she belonged to another man. He had filled his fantasies of her in his arms and calling his name, but when morning came and he went into work, the ring on her left finger reminded him that she was off limits.

But all of that changed when she came to his door demanding answers. He had wanted her to storm out and swear never to see him again. He could have handled a hate filled "go to hell" but when she called his name, all the fight went out of him. Now the only thing he wanted was to make her his…even if it was just for the night.

Holding her face between his hands, Dave coaxed his tongue against her lips until she parted them to give him access. And he took it. Gentleness be damned, he wanted her as he had never wanted another woman in his entire life. Wrapping his hands in her silky blonde hair, he plundered her mouth until she begged for mercy.

JJ was surprised, shocked, and everything in between. She had wondered, like every other woman who worked at the FBI, what it must be like to kiss the legendary David Rossi, but to actually be here doing it was something her brain couldn't grasp.

More than once she had fantasized what it would feel like to have those full kissable lips pressed against hers, their tongues mating in a secret dance in the caverns of their mouths, while their bodies tried to get closer. Then the image of a dead body would come up on the screen and all fantasies would fly out the window.

But it was real. She was being kissed by him, and kissing him back in return. He tasted like scotch and tears, humiliation and sadness, and it was delicious. Pulling him closer, she opened her mouth wider as she tried to consume him. Her mouth was overdosing on his taste and her body craved release, and she was literally going out of her mind with desire.

Picking her up in his arms, Dave didn't have to ask what she wanted because he could feel it. God, he wanted her so badly.

Carrying her up the stairs to his bedroom, he motioned for Mudgie to get off the bed before he gently placed JJ on the bedspread. Softly he stroked her cheek as his mouth continued to make love to hers and expert hands carefully and methodically removed her clothing.

Stepping back, Dave let his eyes feast upon the glorious gift laid out for him. So soft, so sweet, so willing…her body called for his as he quickly tried to shed his clothing and joined her on the bed.

Covering her body with his, he let her feel his desire pressed against her belly…she had to know what she was doing to him as her hands gently stroked his back. Growling softly, he trailed his mouth down her neck to the valley between her breasts.

Resting on his elbows Dave sucked in his breath as he gazed upon her firm breasts that fit perfectly in his hand. Dipping his mouth low, he took a rosy peak in his mouth and felt her arch against him. Hungrily he suckled on her as though it would be the last time he would ever get the chance with her or any woman. Nipping lightly, he tasted, licked, and tried to bring more of her in to his mouth.

JJ couldn't think, she couldn't breathe, and her body was on fire as Dave's mouth consumed her body. As he suckled her gently a small fire started in her belly and slowly spread through out her body. Arching against him, her fingers wove in his thick, fine hair to hold him in place. His mouth was exquisite and knew exactly what to do to make her cry for more.

Trailing his mouth down across her belly to the v center between her thighs, he gently parted her legs as his lips brushed against her moist amber curls. As his tongue slid lightly over the pink bud of her clit, he felt her arch immediately against his mouth to demand more. And willingly he gave it to her.

Sweet and forbidden as the sacred apple, Dave thought he had died and gone to heaven as his mouth closed over her clit and sucked on it. Almost immediately JJ felt her body tense and arch against him as he increased the tempo of his tongue to bring her closer to the edge. Crying out his name, she begged for mercy, but he had none.

Dave was a man with a mission; he wanted to possess this woman lying beneath him crying his name, begging for release, yet wanting more of him. Moving down, he dipped his tongue into her hot, sweet centre and nearly exploded as her delicious honey filled his mouth. Dear God, he prayed, save me. But there was to be no salvation as her hips started rocking in rhythm against his mouth. He could feel her body craving the release it was unable to get on its own.

Licking his thumb, he pressed it gently against her clit as the same time his tongue entered her. Bucking wildly as an orgasm coursed thru her body, Dave let her have her ride as he continued to drive her crazy. Crying out his name, JJ fell limp against the mattress and tried to catch her breath. Fantastic. Amazing. And so unreal. Her mind was numb while her body continued to melt under his touch.

Slowly Dave moved his body upward until his mouth hovered over hers. Gently his body probed hers as he took her face between his hands.

"JJ, look at me," he asked. "Take me inside." He felt her spread her legs to give him what he wanted. Eye to eye, Dave watched her as his body slowly filled hers. Her sigh nearly killed him as he pushed all the way in and stayed still.

Oh my god, I'm in, Dave thought.

Oh my god, he's in, JJ thought.

Entwining his fingers with hers, Dave slowly pulled out and pushed back in. So gentle, so slow, and so firmly he filled her body as he tried to set a rhythm for the both of them. But each time he entered her, her tight walls grasped him and held him in a velvet caress. It was enough to kill him.

Wrapping her legs around Dave's waist, JJ pulled him deeper into her body. She needed him more than she had ever needed another man…even Will. She had been lonely for so long, and so incomplete, and now Dave was giving her all that was missing from her life and then some. Lifting her hips, she pressed her hands against him to bury him deeper inside. She had to have all of him. Now.

Pressing her lips against his, she kissed him deeply, wantonly, and teased his tongue with hers as she begged for him to pick up the pace.

"Dave," she whispered in his ear. "Make me yours. Please."

His body nearly exploded from her request. Pushing himself up on his elbows, he slid his body out of hers. Watching her, he slid back inside. Faster and faster he repeated his movements until he felt his body start to shake as it screamed for released.

Panting from desire and want, Dave felt his orgasm start to overwhelm his body starting at his toes and moving up to control his mind on one thing: to complete the journey and make her his. Thrusting faster, he felt the sweat roll down his face as he waited for her to catch up. Feeling her walls grasp him, Dave didn't have long to wait.

Looking in her eyes, he saw what he was missing…the thing he would never be able to have again, but he had it now. He had her.

"JJ," Dave groaned her name as his body throbbed with release.

"I know," she replied as his mouth covered hers. One last thrust, he felt himself empty into her deep core as they both tumbled over the edge.

JJ slowly and gently removed the arm from around her waist and slipped out of the warm bed. Looking at the sleeping man, she resisted the urge to reach out and stroke his cheek.

Quickly, she donned her clothing as she checked her watch. It was a little past midnight, but she had a good excuse already formed so she wasn't afraid of Will becoming suspicious. Thank god she worked six years with profilers, so she might be able to mask the truth….as long as Will didn't push the issue.

Slipping her shoes on, JJ took a long moment to watch Dave sleep. How was it she had never noticed how handsome he really was? Was it because she was caught up in the façade of David Rossi that she didn't see the lonely desperate man just below the surface? Now that she had seen the real man behind the legend, JJ knew she had to leave.

Dave had sacrificed his reputation for her, and in return, she had given him a piece of her soul. There was no way they could ever work side by side again without making it personal. Perhaps, as Emily had comforted earlier, this whole Strauss incident was for the best.

Reaching out, her fingers gently stroked Dave's rough cheek as she tried to imprint each line and wrinkle to her memory.

She hated him for what he did to her career. She despised the path he put her feet on. She would never be able to forgive him.

She would love him for always.

With tears in her eyes, JJ walked to the bedroom door and opened it. Rubbing Mudgie's head, she let him in and then closed the door behind her.

Forever.