The broken clock is a comfort
It helps me sleep tonight
Maybe it can start tomorrow
From stealing all my time
And I am here still waiting
Though I still have my doubts
I am damaged at best
Like you've already figured out
I'm falling apart
I'm barley breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain
There is healing
In your name
I find meaning. (Broken by Lifehouse)

David sat in his office staring at a picture of Erin and him that had been taken by Garcia at JJ's wedding. He remembered he had danced with her all night long except for the few seconds he had danced with Emily. He studied the picture and could see a genuine smile on the blonde woman's face that proved the month in rehab had been exactly what she needed. The smile showed she was back in control of her life and enjoying every minute of it.

In the darkness of his office, a month after the woman he loved, and still did, had died, all the memories of the things he had lived with her, galloped back into his mind. He had known Erin Strauss for 33 years, more than half his life.

1980 (33 years ago)

"Dave, I want you to meet one of the few women who work at the FBI." Johnson, Rossi's partner at the moment, said. "This is Erin. Erin Strauss."
"Hi. Nice to meet you, Agent Rossi."

David saw a beautiful young woman dressed in black pants, a white button down shirt and a black and white blazer. Her blonde hair fell right on her shoulders and made her eyes shine brighter. He could see the woman worked out. She was skinny but her arms looked perfectly strong and she had a nice well-formed ass.

"The pleasure is all mine." Rossi said as he leaned down to kiss her hand and saw her blushing. "It's Friday night and we don't work tomorrow, how about I buy you a drink?"
"I'd love that."
"Later, Johnson!"

Liked that, both young agents made their way down to the bar. Erin couldn't keep her eyes off of David. She felt attracted to his Italian charms and the way he acted around everyone. Even if they had just met, she knew he was the kind of man who acted tough but was all soft inside. Everyone in the office knew he liked to go around and had a different woman every weekend, but she didn't care, she wanted to get to know him.

"Surprises me that you had no date tonight, Agent Rossi."
"Please call me Dave. Agent Rossi makes me feel old when we are actually the same age."
"Okay, Dave." She took a sip of her drink and waited for him to reply to her previous comment.
"She decided not to come half an hour before I picked her up, no time to find a replacement."
"Oh, so I'm the replacement now?"
"No Erin, you have too much of a personality to be replaced. I knew who you were before Johnson introduced us."
"You need a strong personality when there are only three women working at the FBI."
"Point taken."

David had heard a lot about Erin Strauss but he had never actually met her. She didn't look like the bitch they all made her sound like. In fact, he believed she was still a young insecure agent who wanted to succeed but didn't know how. She was too beautiful to be such a bitch and he wanted to get to know her. To learn everything about her and then get his own opinion of her.

"Married Erin?" He said just to hear her answer since he had already noticed she wasn't wearing a ring.
"No." She took another sip of her drink and made a mental note that she should stop before she got too drunk like it always happened. "Are you?"
"Recently divorced. Actually, I've been divorced for a month or so."
"Really?" Erin looked surprise. "I've heard about you having different women but never heard about your wife."
"I kept it pretty private, especially when I started cheating on her."
"Such a gentleman."
He laughed. "I actually am a gentleman, but, between you and me, I'm afraid of commitment."
"That doesn't surprise me. Doesn't surprise me at all."
"Why?"
"You don't seem like the kind of man who would commit to only one woman. Plus, all the stories going around about you and your lady friends don't help your reputation."
"I don't think it helps but at least people don't look at me like the blonde bitch."
Erin let out a genuine laugh. "Oh darling, I know how they call me and it's because you are all men afraid that I will one day become chief and be your boss."
"A boss with nice ass."
"What can I say? I work out." She winked at him and took another sip of her drink.

She liked David Rossi. He didn't make her sound like a bitch like the rest of the men at the FBI and he actually took the time to talk to her. No one from the office would have offered to buy her a drink and spend their Friday night with her. Of course she knew he was just a player and would try to find the time to get her into his bed, but for now she was enjoying his company. She knew he was flirting but what surprised her most was that she was flirting back. Never before had she dreamed about flirting with one of her fellow agents, it felt so weird yet so natural. Like she was meant to be at that bar that night having drinks with David Rossi and flirting once in a while. She felt good for the first time in a long time.

Since she had entered the FBI she had been the blonde bitch. The other two women, Tracey and Tanya, slept with every single man at the office so they all joked about them and didn't take them seriously. Erin knew she didn't want that for herself and she promised herself she would never sleep with one of her co-workers. She'd rather be the blonde bitch than the blonde slut. But as she looked at Rossi across the table, she knew she would make an exception for him. She wouldn't like to be one of Agent Rossi's many girls but she knew inside herself that if she slept with him everything would be different.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Erin?"
"No, I don't."
"Then you will most definitely say yes to dancing with me."
"I don't dance, Dave."
"Oh come on! You are dancing tonight." He looked at her. "It's a slow motion song, it's easy."
"Lead the way, Agent Rossi."

David led her to the dance floor and once there pulled her into him. He placed both his hands on the small of her back as she wrapped hers around his neck. Rossi was the one leading their bodies to the rhythm of the music. She just allowed him to hold her and followed the steps his body took, their bodies acted as one as they listened to the music and danced smoothly. He could smell the vanilla sent coming off her hair and smiled to himself thinking how her entire body probably smelled and tasted of vanilla as well.

"For not dancing, you are doing pretty damn good."
"I'm just following your lead."
"Well you do that greatly."
Erin laughed lowly before resting her head against his shoulder. "This is nice."
"It is. Who would have thought spending time with the blonde bitch would feel so good?"
"That's because I'm full of surprises and I'm much more than the blonde bitch."
"I know you are." He kissed her cheek. "You are much better than that."

Strauss smiled at him and before she could say anything else he kissed her softly. There were no feelings included in the kiss, because they had just met, but there was some sort of caring for one and other in it. David knew there was more to Erin Strauss than the blonde bitch from the office and Erin knew there was more to David Rossi than the man who changed women every single weekend. They were more than what others thought and they were willing to show that to each other, that they could be much better than what was said about them.