The Incident

Disclaimer and A/N: You know who owns the show and the characters and it is certainly not poor me. This one has been sitting around for a while, it came about as I had another one finished but I wanted to look over it again before I posted it and then before I could get around to it, my hard drive went down. Well it has been a couple years and the person who I had working on it, a few months ago, for some important documents, never got it back to me but said not able to recover but would keep working on it. Anywho, it said, today was the day to look this one over again and post it, so here it is.

A/N 2: Don't forget, there are adoptable ideas at the forum: Strossi forum access. Take and use any ideal you want. No need to ask.

The Incident

A six month pregnant Associate Director Strauss is arguing with Senior Agent David Rossi and they are so up in each other's faces that, every times she goes to make a point she bumps him with her belly.

Strauss is livid that Rossi told off the Sheriff at the local police dept. where there last case was. She has actually called the whole team on the carpet in the conference room and she is giving them all what for but since Rossi is the main one arguing, she is really giving him the business.

She goes over with each agent, starting with Morgan, what they did wrong except for Dave, as she tells him the laundry list of his infractions is so long, she will see him in her office after the meeting to discuss them in private, before the argument starts…

"Agent Morgan, did you actually threaten to break every bone in his body into so many pieces he would be like Humpty Dumpty and they would never be able to put him back together again"?

"And Agent Hotchner, you are supposed to set the example for your merry bunch of misfits but did you do that? No. According to Sheriff... you not only failed to stop your team and reprimand them, but you added your own threats! Let me see if I remember correctly… you said that "you would shove your foot so far up his posterior that he would think Florsheim was his name".

Now Agent Reid, I am really surprised, although I don't know why, since you have been on the team with these Hooligans for so many years, to find out you participated in these shenanigans. The sheriff says you didn't threaten him physically but, that you told him you would advise Agent Morgan to make sure he didn't just smash a few so small the fragments couldn't be put back together but that you would also advise him to make sure a few were jutting out of the skin and that he rolled him on the floor before pouring your cup of hot coffee in the wounds and then you would go find something in the evidence room that was about to be destroyed, that you could use to help insure infection set in quicker and then described in great detail how gangrene and limb morbidity worked.

And last but not least is the usually sweet and innocent Agent Jureau, the Mother of the group. You are the former Media Liaison, Jennifer. You are usually the one who diffuses the situation even while still getting your way without most of the local boys knowing it. So can you imagine my surprise when I was told that after Dr. Reid finished, you told the Sheriff that after the guys were finished with him, you would castrate him, with a pen knife, one 16th of an inch at a time!

Hotch is trying to get Dave to settle down. Strauss and Rossi kind of end in a stalemate with each giving each other a look that could kill.

She turns her back on Rossi and starts lecturing them all about how the behavior they displayed is intolerable and she should suspend the lot for a week without pay.

Morgan says "With all due respect Ma'am, that is a bunch of bull and you know it. He didn't like what Rossi said and since he thought, because he was younger than Dave, he could get away with attacking him physically. He threatened Dave! What were we supposed to do stand there and let him take a swing at Dave?"

"Of course not Agent Morgan, don't be ridiculous. I am just saying you could have handled it more professionally"!

"Yeah and we would have been picking Rossi up off the floor, Hotch chimed in".

Reid Jumped in "And not because, Rossi couldn't have kicked his big beer belly behind either"…

"I bet he didn't tell you what he did either did he?" JJ who was now livid again from just thinking about it, cut Reid off. "No, I would be my next two paychecks, the coward didn't tell you he was about to Sucker punch Rossi.

"Your salary would be safe on that point Agent Jureau. Yet, there had to be a better way to handle it" Strauss retorted, throwing her hands, angrily up into the air.

'You are right Ma'am, said Morgan, I should have just decked him, like I started to, but I have been trying to take notes from Hotch and keep a cooler head in situations like this, instead of acting physically".

"And I commend you for that, Morgan, but violence or threats of violence can't be tolerated towards the local LEO's. In case Alpha team has forgotten, we need to keep good will with the local guys as we have to be invited in before we can take a case. Do you really want a killer to go uncaught because there is so much bad blood between the BAU and a local police department that they refuse to invite us in?"

"No one here in this room wants that Erin and you know it" Rossi yelled! We put our lives on the line every day to bring in the scumbags that we do, while that no good excuse for a human being sits around and has the Audacity to sit back and say he didn't think that investigating the disappearances and murders of five people were important enough to call us in - because of their skin color. You hate prejudice as much as I do. I don't even know why you are giving us all this grief in the first place, when you know we are right and that the Racist Son of a..."

"Agent Rossi, don't you dare finish that, if you know what is good for you and your team", Strauss interrupted him. "Regardless of my personal feelings, it is my job to make sure you represent the Bureau properly. Alpha team's behavior, earlier today, certainly did not reflect the standards of the FBI".

"I thought Integrity was one of the standards our name stands for" Morgan quipped.

"Don't push it Agent Morgan", Strauss growled. "I still can bring a week's unpaid suspension back into the equation. Now, I have talked to the Director and due to the mitigating factors in this instance, I have convinced him to let Alpha team off with a mere slap on the wrist. It is a good thing your solve record is so impressive AND the requests for assistance are so heavy at the moment or I might not have been able to get you off with so light a punishment. In that vein you, each and every single one of you" she looked around the room and made eye contact with each agent as she said this, "will report next Saturday to a mandatory 8 hour training: four hours 'Sensitivity' training and four hours 'Improving Relations and Trust With Local LEO's, the Media and the Public' training, here at Quantico".

A couple people had opened their mouths to groan and start complaining but she cut them off by saying that anyone who didn't show up, or who tried to leave early, here she gave Rossi a withering look, would not only be suspended for a week without pay but would be transferred to another department in another city per the Director's instructions. Everyone informed her that they were cool with the training or that they would be there. Once she had received their reassurance of attendance, she then changed to a calmer tone of voice.

"While I listened to all the complaints, the Sheriff lodged against you, I did also read over your statements and I also know how to read between the lines when someone is talking to me. I didn't become Section Chief and then Associate Deputy Director, ladies and gentlemen, because of my looks. Believe it or not, I actually have a brain AND am extremely good at my job. You might want to remember that next time before you decide to put your careers on the line and instead do the smart thing and let me handle the problem. You might also be interested to know, when I informed the Sheriff, that I would discuss the error of your ways with this team and that your unprofessional behavior would be dealt with. He seemed very self-satisfied, well that was until I explained a few things to him like: If he ever threatened one of my agents again, I would have him arrested for making threats against a Federal officer. I then gave him a complete run down of the charges I was going to have brought against him. He wasn't too happy to find out I had already informed the Attorney General of his state, the US Attorney General's office and their Office of Civil Rights division just to start. Next I informed him that just before I made the call to him, I had received a call that they had already sent a couple of investigators to his office and that they were waiting outside his office to question him. Oh and I let it be known, that somehow, the story of his questioning and impending arrest, might have leaked out to the press, as those types of things were want to do. Lastly, before I hung up, I informed him, that I would make sure he was treated fairly and that no one used his skin color as an excuse not to investigate his crimes".

Everyone at the table was stunned to some degree except for Rossi who was looking at her, shaking his graying head and smiling proudly. "Close your mouths children, you going to let flies in" Strauss said as she started to leave the room. She opened the blinds of the conference room but before she reached for the door knob she turned back to the room and said "Meeting adjourned, Agent Rossi, I will deal with your first thing in the morning. Since it is now 7:00 pm, you may all consider yourself off for the evening. Go home and sleep away the stress of this last case. I understand how tough it was. I plan to do the same as soon as my husband remembers his manners and opens the door for me, unless he is still in Agent Rossi mode and plans to take his frustration out on me?" She said arching one eyebrow, which promised it would be wise for him to come up with the right answer.

"I am ready when you are dear, Rossi said as he heaved his tired body out of the chair he had taken when he had calmed down enough to sit down, and went over to open the door for Erin Rossi as she had hung up her 'Strauss' hat for the evening. They had their philosophical differences at work but they had learned during the first two years of their marriage that in order for their union to survive and be blissful, they had to leave their work titles and any problems/anger behind when they were off the clock.

Reid, who had definitely been hanging around Morgan and Garcia too long, commented to Rossi that he was so 'whipped'.

Everyone in the room, including Erin, roared with laughter.

"Really Bella? You too?" Dave said looking at his wife, with a put out look.

"You know I love you David, but that is not something you expect to hear Spenser say. Besides, you know it is true Rossi. But don't worry, I feel am the same way about you" she stated as she reached over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.