a/n: In this story:

Episode: Haley is dead• Jack is still with Hotch •Henry is born, JJ and Will are still together (engaged, not yet married)•JJ still works at the BAU (for now?) • Emily is alive, no mention of Ian Doyle whatsoever.

I think that about covers it. Enjoy!

Oh…why you look so sad?

the tears are in your eyes

come on and come to me now

"Erin, dammit, don't you see? This is a bad decision!" I yelled.

"Agent Rossi do not use that tone with me in my office!" The devil herself yelled back at me. Erin Strauss, the section chief of the BAU, with her blonde hair, wicked eyes, and her brain whirling with ideas to get rid of our team, stood in front of me explaining her plan to me. Just me. Not our unit chief, "Hotch" as we called him, but me. David Rossi. SSA David Rossi. But nonetheless, me.

"Oh Jesus Christ, Strauss," I said throwing my hands up in the air.

"You need to look at this from my point of view!" She said.

"If it was entirely up to you this whole team would be broken apart!" I yelled back. Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Do not breathe another word of this to anyone," She hissed in a low voice, and then in a louder one said, "Come in!" JJ, the slender, beautiful, blonde media liaison, in a black pencil skirt, white short sleeve blouse, and her blonde hair, wavy, framing her porcelain face.

"Sir, we have a case," JJ said, waving a yellowish file in the air.

"I'll be right there, JJ. Start without me, tell Hotch I'll be there in a few minutes," I told her.

"Of course," She said and walked away. JJ, ever so professional, even in the worst times. I smiled as she walked away.

"What are you smirking about?" Erin spit out.

"JJ. JJ is a perfect example of what this team is. She's professional, kind, a helpful team member, and she does one hell of a job, every single day," I explained. Strauss was obviously not following, so I continued, "She is a necessity to our team. They are all necessities. WIth out one of them, our team doesn't function correctly. Breaking us up would be a mistake. Not talking to the Unit Chief about this is a mistake. And now," I said turning towards the door, "I have a case. Goodbye," I said, waving.

Being a little joke-y and sarcastic with her was never a good idea, but I did it anyway. I was in my mid fifties, but once in a rare while, I had to act like I was younger. It..lightens the mood sometimes. And with the dark job that my team and I have, humor and lightening the mood is the most important thing to know.

I walked out of her office, being careful to shut the door without slamming it, and made my way to the conference room. As I walked down the cat walk, I saw Penelope Garcia, our funky, bright technical analysts. Her strange, but happy words, paired with her unique sense of style and self, made her one of the greatest people ever, always there to make you smile or laugh.

"Hey, what was that all about?" She asked me as we walked together towards the conference room. Today's outfit was a white and purple flowered skirt, lavender pumps, a white blouse, a lighter lavender sweater, and her bright orange hair straightened and up in two pigtails. Her makeup and jewelry were different shades of purple as well, to match her outfit.

"Ah, Strauss being Strauss," I said shrugging.

"Well," She said stopping me, "Is it anything I can take care of?" She asked, meaning some sort of hacking.

"Uh," I began, thinking of something to say, because I couldn't tell her, but I couldn't lie.

"It was all…yell-y, and loud," Garcia said.

"Don't worry about, Garcia. It'll be fine," I assured her.

"Alright well if there's anything I can do," She began.

"I'll let you know," I said smiling.

"They're still in there," Garcia said, pointing to the team in the conference room.

"Thanks Garcia," I told her, and headed towards the conference room, while she made her way to her office. I entered the room and took a chair next to Derek Morgan. Derek was a strong, fit, African American, SSA, ladies man, in his early forties. He was fun, but very serious and dedicated when it came to his work, although he did have a good sense of humor. He often sexually harassed Penelope Garcia, but she never hesitates to return it. They'd been great friends since Penelope started working.

"Hey," Derek said.

"Hi, sorry i'm late," I said apologizing to the group.

"That's alright. Wheels up in 30 and we'll brief you on the jet," our unit chief, Aaron Hotchner, said. Aaron, or Hotch as we all called him, was a serious man. He had a son who was 6 named Jack. He wasn't always that serious, however. In 2009, his wife, Haley, was killed at the hands of a notorious serial killer, 'the Reaper', who's goal was to destroy Hotch. Hotch killed the Reaper, and saved his young son, but did not make it in time to save his wife. This haunts him, and though he is a good father, a dedicated team member and strong leader, he does not smile as much as he used to.

Hotch stayed in his seat. JJ gathered her files and exited the room, followed by Derek Morgan. Our youngest team member, Spencer Reid, who was about 30, now, followed. He was a genius. He had an eidetic memory, an IQ of 180, he could read 20,000 words per minute, and he was an amazing profiler. He's awkward around girls, sometimes, and has a habit of babbling statistics, but the team loves him. Following him, was Emily Prentiss.

Emily joined the team in 2007. She was a beautiful brunette, pale, with raven colored hair that framed her face. We had become very close over her years with the team. She had shared secrets with me that she hadn't told anyone else. She had shared one of her biggest secrets with me, that she had gotten pregnant at 15, and then got an abortion. The argument this morning with Strauss was about her.

"Dave," Hotch said to me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Is there something going on with Strauss that I need to know about?" He asked.

"Yes." I wasn't going to lie to him.

"Are you going to tell me?" He asked.

"No," I said shrugging. I couldn't tell him. Strauss would.

"When she's ready, Strauss will tell you. I don't know why the hell she wanted to talk to me, but she did. Now c'mon, you have a team waiting for you," I said, and walked out the door. Hotch didn't question me. He followed. We walked out to the bull pen where the other agents were collecting their things.

"Hey Emily," Reid said.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Isn't tomorrow your birthday?" He asked.

"You're the genius. You tell me," She said grinning.

"Oh it is? Is it?" Derek said grinning. He turned to Reid, "Pretty boy, how old is our princess turning tomorrow?"

"Let's see that would be-" Reid was cut off.

"HEY!" Emily said loudly, "That's for me to know. And not for you. Ever," Emily said. She smiled and waved goodbye to the boys and walked out with JJ.

"42," Reid whispered.

"I heard that!" Emily called not turning around, "And I'm going to kill you!" She called as Reid cringed and Derek laughed.

"Kids, play nicely," JJ, the mother figure around her, warned.

"Mommy to the rescue, once again," Derek said teasing Reid.

"Mommy?" Reid said confused. I smiled as I watched them tease each other like a group of kids, like a family. Emily's birthday was tomorrow. Strauss better not screw up that day by firing her or splitting up the team.

"What are you thinking about?" Hotch asked me.

"Nothing much," I said, and with that I headed out the door, followed by Hotch, but without another word.