A/N: I make no money at all from this. I promise to return them back to the universe from where they came. I know I'm out of my mind, with two stories going, only to start a third. I have a good reason karenmiller1972, fed my muse and know she won't leave me alone.

"Just how many cell phone do you have?" He asks her while she minces the shallots.

"Four. Two are mine and two are for work."

"They keep you jumping. I've seen you come in early and leave after midnight."

"You work long hours too."

He knows that all members of the unit work long hours. Some stay to work so they can have a free weekend others stay to avoid going home to an empty house.

"You lied to me." He says as he watches her stir the rice.

"How?"

"You said that you couldn't cook." Rossi tells her.

"Making Risotto isn't cooking it's stirring." She tells him after sipping from her tumbler of Scotch. "I like risotto, sometimes I make it with asparagus and lemon."

"What else can you make?"

"Brownies from a box." she answers with a bright smile.

Hearing that he smiles too, every woman he knows, knows how to make brownies from a box mix.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes I am. Thank you for giving me sanctuary."

"It's not sanctuary Kitten to help a friend, you looked like you use a good drink and a friend to talk to."

"Do you know that I'm pushing forty I never thought I would be living my life like this when I was younger."

He just waits letting her talk giving her the all the time she needs to continue her thoughts.

"I live in a pillbox of an apartment filled with clutter that I don't like, dress in clothes that I'm not particular fond of, and I drive a car that doesn't have a working heater. Because it is what people expect of me."

"You use your clothes as a shield, you don't have to you know. Be yourself you'll be happier in the long run. As for your apartment give it a make-over, of find something bigger."

'Dirty pool no profiling team members?" She tells him with a smile. "And my car?"

"Your car, my Kitten, needs to put out of its misery. It has been dying a slow death for years."

"You're right of course, I just can't seem to find that place where living is no longer a chore, I had it once a very long time ago."

"When, when did you have it?" He asks as he sets the table.

"It doesn't matter. And before you start I'm not depressed I have a good life friends, my job and the theatre."

"What about love?"

"I have that too, not romantic love, but love all the same."

"Kitten, what happened with you and Lynch?"

"To be completely honest it was my decision not to marry him."

"Can you tell me why?"

"When I figured out what he was planning on doing I thought long and hard, the thing is I couldn't see my self waking up with him next to be in ten years and still be happy. I guess I just didn't love him enough to want to stick it out with him."

"So what will you do now?"

"Do? Live like always one day at a time."

"You need a vacation, go see your step brothers, reconnect with old friends."

"My step brothers haven't spoken to me since the funeral. They made it perfectly clear that I was no longer welcome in their lives."

"Why Kitten?"

" I thought you knew. They blame me for their father and my mother's death." taking a sip from her drink she can see that he wants more information. "They were out looking for me when they got killed by that drunk driver, I was out way past curfew. So you see there really is nothing for me in California, nothing at all."

"Go to Chicago with Morgan, I know he would love to have you go with him."

"As much as I love Derek, I would never intrude on his family time. He needs that time to relax and refresh, recharge. No thanks I'm a lot of things but being a tag-a-long is not one of them."

"I always thought that you and him would settle down together."

"Derek and me? Now that is funny. No he is my friend, he is over protective of me and loves and cares for me like an older brother should. He is the one I call when I get dumped by a date and need a ride home. Then we eat bad food and I talk him out of going to find my date and beating the crap out of him."

"You can call me you know. I'll even teach you how to make brownies from scratch once I get you back to your apartment."

"I'd like that Dave." She says softly. "Ill have to stock up on cocoa powder and nuts."

He looks into her eyes and can see calmness and love in them. But what kind of love he wonders and can it grow into more. "The risotto is good do you make it often?"

"No you see I hate to stir."

He can't help but smile as she hums along with Tony Bennett when a new song starts.