Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement.
Summary: This is a collection of one-shot scenes in the BAU's elevator. This short one is about Hotch and Rossi and uses a Criminal Minds Weekly Prompt for July: Your character has an embarrassing accident at home that results in a trip to the ER. What gets revealed? This story takes place sometime shortly before the season seven finale.
Elevator Talk Series
#2 – Up all Night?
Hotch groaned when as the elevator doors were just about to close, Rossi appeared and walked in just in time. These rides never bid well for him. His friend was just too nosy.
But instead of the usual smirking, frustrating man he was used to, he was getting silence. He looked over at Rossi and tried to figure out what was different.
"Not get enough sleep last night?" he asked.
"Nope," was all Rossi said.
Hotch smiled a little. It was his turn to interrogate.
"Really? Working out, playing or both?"
Rossi finally turned to look at Hotch. "Neither. Although that had been the plans." The mischievous smile and glint in his eyes appeared momentarily.
Hotch furrowed his brows. "To keep to my promise not to profile you, even though you don't keep to that same promise, just tell me what kept you awake all night."
Rossi lifted an arm and Hotch saw what he hadn't noticed before. His left hand, arm and wrist were wrapped in an ace bandage.
"I'm happy to see that you'll still be able to get all your paper work done seeing as your right handed."
Rossi groaned. He wasn't sure about that with how tired he was.
"I'm assuming you went to the E.R. and that's what kept you up late."
"What's with the interrogation?" Rossi asked in annoyance.
"As Morgan likes to say, "Paybacks are a bitch."
Rossi chuckled good naturedly despite his condition.
"Are you going to tell me how this happened?" Hotch asked as they stepped off of the elevator on their floor.
"I fell," he muttered in embarrassment.
"Either something distracted you or you're getting old," Hotch said with a straight face, although he was struggling to keep it that way.
Rossi glared at him.
Hotch ignored him. "Since you admitted that your original plans involved working out and playing, being distracted by a woman must have been what happened. Was it missing the bed when attempting to fall on it? Maybe you ran into furniture trying to get to the bedroom? Did you fall down some stairs?"
"That's enough," Rossi growled when he noticed all the eyes that were on them.
Hotch finally broke out the smile he'd been holding in. "I have a lot to make up for. We're not done talking about this. Lunch?"
Rossi didn't answer. Instead he left Hotch standing at the door to his office as he continued on to his own. God help me. Maybe we'll get a case.
Rossi got his wish. An urgent case came directly to Hotch's attention from Strauss and the team was immediately called to the conference room. Unfortunately for him, things were about to get worse.
~oOo~
Hotch heard a knock on his door and looked up. He cringed inwardly when he saw that it was Strauss. But then he noticed the sling and cast on her arm and wrist and his eyebrows went up automatically before he realized it.
"What?" asked Strauss with her piercing eyes and poker face.
"Nothing really," Hotch quickly said. He nodded towards her cast. "That must be recent."
"Just yesterday," he face softened a little. "I can't decide if I want to take the pain pills and be drowsy or just suffer with the pain."
He nodded his understanding without revealing any of his unanswered questions. "Do you have a case for us?" he quickly diverted their attention before he said anything stupid.
"Yes, it's an urgent one that came directly to me this morning."
She sat down and went over the details that they had so far. When they were done, Hotch asked, "Will you be joining us this time?"
"The director would like for me to join you for the briefing the team, but he understands my reluctance for field work at this time," she said glancing at her arm. "I'd like to stay in frequent contact for updates."
"Of course."
~oOo~
Hotch quickly called the team into the conference room and then intercepted Rossi at his office door. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
He sighed. However, he didn't know the extent of Hotch's words until Strauss entered the conference room. His eyes momentarily went wide and he quickly glanced at Hotch. Yup, he figured it out. His cheeks felt slightly flushed. When was the last time that happened? From watching Strauss, he guessed that she was unaware that they had been discovered. He wasn't sure if he wanted her in the field which would possibly cause the others to realize what their duo injuries meant or having her stay at Quantico giving Hotch more time to give him hell.
He took a deep breath and sighed. Why didn't he ever learn to be careful what he wished for? The next few days were going to be more painful than he expected.
I'm having fun turning the tables on Rossi. Soon, I'll have to go back to Rossi teasing Hotch though.