Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and it's characters are not mine, simply borrowing them for entertainment purposes.
AN: So, this was written for Ilovetvalot as a pick me up during her recovery. Here's to a speedy recovery and I hope you enjoy this story.
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~Me and my big mouth, ~ Rossi thought as he continued to slog through the post case paperwork from the case the team had just returned from. Paperwork that Hotch should have been doing but Rossi had volunteered to do so that the unit chief could go home to Jack.
They had been out of town on the case for over two weeks and he knew that his friend and son needed this time together. Rossi didn't begrudge them that. However, right about now, the older profiler wouldn't have minded having Reid's speed at completing paperwork to help him along.
Finishing and completing one form, Rossi added it to his completed pile. The pile of forms and folders was growing too slowly for his liking as what he really wanted to do was follow the rest of his team's lead and head home to begin the four-day weekend they had been granted.
Rossi let his gaze drift to the pile of things still needing to be completed. There was only a few things left, and as tempting as it was to pick it all up and head home with it, the only work he liked to do at home was his writing.
Sighing heavily, Rossi got to his feet. Grabbing his long ago emptied coffee mug, the legendary profiler headed out of his office. As he expected the lights were low and the bullpen was empty. The offices lining the catwalk around the bullpen were all dark, save for his own. Fully expecting to have to brew a new pot of coffee, he headed for the kitchenette area. Reaching the area, he found the coffee pot on and mostly full.
Rossi placed his cup on the counter and picked up the pot. Sniffing it, he noted that it smelled fresh, no hint of a burned smell from it sitting too long. Pouring some into his mug, he cautiously took a small sip of it, wincing at the bitter taste as he preferred his coffee with a little cream and sugar. Still, the coffee was definitely fresh so he set about making him a mug.
A few minutes later, a mug of coffee fixed to his taste, Rossi turned to leave the kitchenette area. Instead of heading for his own office though, he set about finding whoever was still at the office with him as the pot of coffee definitely did not brew itself.
Once again he surveyed the offices that could be seen from the bullpen. The only one that had a light on in it was his own. That ruled out, he headed for Garcia's office. The technical analyst helped out other teams as well as their own so it was possible that she was doing work for one of them even though the rest of the team was on stand-down for the next few days. After knocking on the door and turning the handle and finding it locked, Rossi determined that the tech kitten was not the one still in the BAU with him.
Out of ideas about who the coffee maker could be, Rossi continued to search the sixth floor without any real destination in mind. Reaching Morgan's office, he saw lights peeking through the closed blinds. The sight surprised him as he distinctly remembered hearing Morgan trying to cajole the youngest member of their team to go out for a drink with him tonight. From what he had seen, Reid hadn't seemed all that willing to go, but Rossi would have figured that Morgan would go out on the town by himself in that case instead of hanging around the office.
Curiosity piqued, Rossi reached up and rapped his knuckles on the door.
"Come in," came the familiar sound of JJ's voice.
Now completely confused, Rossi reached for the door handle and pushed the door open. JJ was seated behind the desk, papers spread across its dark surface. Off to the side, Henry sat on the floor happily playing with Legos. The young boy looked up at Rossi's entrance.
"Hi, Unca Dave," Henry greeted, waving to him with a hand that clutched one of the small plastic bricks.
"Hi, Henry," Rossi replied, getting over his initial surprise. He let his gaze drift back to JJ.
"Morgan knows I'm here. He's the one that actually suggested it as he was leaving."
"I wasn't accusing you of trespassing anywhere," Rossi replied, knowing that JJ wasn't the type to go snooping around co-worker's offices - not even to profile them. "I was just looking for the coffee fairy," he quipped, holding up his still steaming mug, "and it seems that I've found her. Though I still don't understand why you're here as we've been giving tomorrow and Monday off."
"I know. I just thought it would be a good time to catch up on paperwork."
"What about the big outing you and Will had planned with . . ."
Rossi let his words trail off as he nodded in Henry's direction. JJ had spent most of the plane trip home talking about taking Henry to Chucky Cheese's and then going home and watching a movie as a family.
"Will is stuck at work, a stake out that he couldn't get out of. Working beats sitting around the house worrying."
Rossi nodded even though he couldn't really identify with how she felt. He'd never been left sitting around while his spouse was doing a dangerous job. More than once he had wondered if that lack of empathy had contributed to his three failed marriages.
"Well, there is always the rest of the weekend for the three of you to enjoy," Rossi commented, lifting the mug to take a sip of the coffee.
"As long as one of us don't get called to work, or someone else decides they want to monopolize our time," JJ said, the stress obvious in her voice. "And as much as I love Henry, what I wouldn't give for a night alone with Will. I don't think we've had any alone time since the night we got married but I'm sure you don't want to hear about my troubles."
"It's not a problem," Rossi commented. "Vent away. It sure beats going back to that paperwork I volunteered for," he added, crossing to the desk and settling in one of the chairs opposite JJ.
Standing on the doorstep of JJ's home the next afternoon, Rossi reached out and pushed the button to ring the doorbell. He could hear the chime echo through the house as he glanced back to the street. Both Will and JJ's vehicles were there, which is what he was hoping for. Hearing the door open, Rossi returned his attention to the house to see his pretty, blonde teammate standing behind the screen door.
"Rossi! What brings you here?" JJ asked, clearly surprised to see her teammate on her doorstep.
"Social call," Rossi replied, as he took a step back to allow JJ to open the screen door.
"Come in," JJ invited.
Rossi did as bided, stepping into the small, inviting family home. A stuffed bear on the floor not far from the door told anyone stepping into the house that a child lived there. Otherwise, JJ's home was spotless.
"Is Will home?" Rossi asked.
"Yeah. He got home from work about an hour ago. We're both supposed to have the weekend off, but we'll see how that actually goes."
"Honey, who's at the door?" Will asked, as he came down the steps. The Washington D.C. detective was still towel drying his hair from the shower he had just taken.
"Rossi stopped by," JJ said, leaving it at that when she realized that she still didn't know why her co-worker had come by her house.
Will finished his descent and putting the towel in his left hand, extended his right hand to Rossi. "So, what brings you by?" the New Orleans native asked after greetings were exchanged.
"I actually come bearing gifts," Rossi declared, reaching into the suit jacket he was wearing and pulling out a sheet of paper. He handed it to JJ.
"What's this?" the blonde asked, unfolded the paper as she spoke. Her husband stood close by, looking over her shoulder.
"A hotel reservation?" Will questioned, looking at the piece of paper. "What for?" he added, his gaze changing from the paper to Rossi.
"If I recall, you two never got even a night away for your honeymoon and from what JJ tells me, your work schedules have been hectic since then. I think the two of you more than deserve a night away and I'm providing it for you."
JJ blushed, knowing that her laying out all her concerns about her personal life to the older FBI agent the night before had led to this.
"It's very generous of you but we . . ."
Rossi waved Will's protest off. "Consider it a late wedding present, seeing as I never actually bought you anything for your wedding," he told them, having forgotten that small detail in the rest of his planning.
"Rossi, you planned and held the wedding at your house," JJ told him. She glanced at Will as she continued. "We considered that a very generous wedding present."
"Well, then consider this a continuation. The two of you need at least one night away as a honeymoon."
"You're not going to let this go are you?" JJ asked.
Smiling, the stately gentleman shook his head no.
"But who's going to watch Henry?" Will asked. "Last minute babysitters on a Friday night are not easy to find."
Rossi spread his hands out to the side. "Rossi's daycare at your service."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. Helping Hotch coach Jack's soccer team has allowed me to develop an affinity for kids. We'll be fine."
JJ looked at Will. One look into his wife's eyes and he knew that he couldn't say no, so the detective nodded his consent.
"I'll go pack," JJ exclaimed excitedly. She threw her arms around Rossi in a compulsive hug, before hurrying upstairs.
"Henry, come out. I give up!" David Rossi called out, throwing his hands up in defeat. He had been searching for the kid for the last hour. He knew hide and seek was a bad idea but Henry had been so insistent.
Rossi listened intently for any sounds of the young boy. The mansion was just as silent as ever. Looking around the living room, the only movement was from Mudgie who looked up at him from his favorite spot by the fireplace.
"Henry," Rossi called again, resuming the seemingly futile search for the boy. The only thing he could think of was how embarrassing it would be for a legendary profiler to have to call in a report for a missing four-year-old.
And here he thought things were going smoothly. Henry had been excited about spending the night at Uncle Dave's. The two had spent a little time in the backyard before heading to the kitchen so Dave could prepare dinner. The mac and cheese and hotdogs were simple fare compared to what he normally cooked, but it was something he knew Henry would eat. Following dinner Henry had wanted to play hide and seek. Thinking of the many places someone could hide in the house, Rossi had vetoed the idea at first. In the end though, Henry's puppy dog eyes had won out.
"I should have gone with my first instinct," Rossi muttered as he once again looked in the compartment beneath the window seat.
Ten minutes later Rossi was ready to call in reinforcements. JJ was obviously off the list. Prentiss had already moved onto her new job. Garcia would probably freak out on him. Reid would spend as much time quoting him statistics about missing kids as he would looking for Henry. Rossi knew he had no patience to deal with the genius in this situation. It being Friday night, Morgan was probably out on the town. Which left Hotch.
~He's probably the best one to call in this situation anyway, ~ Rossi silently admitted as he took out his cell phone and speed dialed Hotch's number.
As soon as the unit chief answered, Rossi started babbling about the situation.
"Okay Dave, just calm down," Hotch finally interjected when the older profiler stopped to take a breath. "You said you looked everywhere downstairs, have you searched upstairs yet?"
"No. I told you, Aaron, upstairs was out of boundaries. Even I know enough not to give a four-year-old free reign of my house."
"But apparently you don't know kids well enough to know that out of bounds is exactly where they will go. It's the perfect spot they know you won't look."
"Really?"
"Really, Dave," Hotch assured him, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. "Go upstairs and search for him. Look under beds and closets. They're some of Jack's favorite spots to hide. When you're done, call me back. I'll bet you my paycheck that you'll have found him. If not, I'll come help you look."
"Okay," Dave said, feeling a little bit calmer though still not calm enough to make any quip about the bet his friend had just made with him.
Ending the call, Rossi tucked the phone into his pocket and hurried toward the main staircase. Taking the steps two at a time, the profiler reached the top of the steps slightly winded but started his search of the upstairs immediately.
The search upstairs was short lived though, as Rossi discovered the little boy in the second room he went into. As Hotch had predicted, Henry had crawled under the bed to hide. Apparently the little tyke had grown tired while laying under the bed waiting for Dave to find him that he had fallen asleep. Rossi gently roused the sleeping boy.
"Took you long enough," Henry replied sleepily as he crawled out from under the bed.
"Upstairs was off limits," Rossi reminded him, resisting the urge to gather the boy into his arms. Not only was he afraid he might squeeze the tyke too hard under the circumstances, he also didn't want to give Henry the impression that he had been worried about not being able to find him.
"But Jack says that's the best place to hide. You win every time."
"Yeah, well perhaps listening to Jack isn't the best idea. You should always follow the rules, Henry. They're there for a reason."
"Uncle Morgan says rules are guidelines and there are always reasons to break them."
"He told you that?" Rossi asked, making a mental note to tell JJ to limit the time Morgan spent alone with Henry.
"No. I heard him say it while talking with mommy and daddy."
Rossi sighed. "Breaking rules can get you into a lot of trouble, Henry. You really should follow any rules that adults set for you."
"Is that how Daddy got hurt?" Henry asked.
"No, your Daddy got hurt protecting innocent people," Rossi told him. "How about you get ready for bed and I read you one of the story books your mother sent with you?" Rossi suggested, wanting to end the conversation that just seemed to be getting more complicated.
Following Henry to the guest bedroom across the hall from the mansion's master suite, Rossi stifled a yawn. He would call Aaron and tell him his paycheck was safe, as was Henry. Then he would read the kid a story, tuck the kid in for the night and retire himself.
~JJ and Will better be enjoying themselves, ~ Rossi thought, reaching a hand up to massage a kink out of his neck.