Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement.

Summary: This is a collection of one-shots for season 7 that are written as tags to individual episodes. They aren't in any specific order and they don't relate to each other. Any of them could potentially lead to a mulit-chapter fic in the future.

Author's Notes: This is a tag for 7x06 Epilogue (Rossi/Hotch – friendship/comfort).

You Always have Jack and Me

Rossi refused to take an extended leave after the funeral. He'd had to have words with Section Chief Strauss, but he could always handle her. It was easier to get Hotch's approval to return. Hotch knew he needed to stay busy. Unlike Hotch that had Jack to keep him busy, Rossi had no one during the long days.

The team kept a careful eye on Rossi wondering if the legendary profiler was ready to be back. When a case came up one day in December, Rossi couldn't be reached by cell phone or home phone. Hotch wanted the plane up in an hour. Everyone became worried once again, but Hotch told them Rossi would be fine. "Plan for an hour, but know it may be a little longer. Morgan? Can you get things ready to go for me?"

"Yeah, of course." He acknowledged with concern as the team watched their unit chief leave.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Hotch found Rossi in the cemetery sitting in front of the stone that now marked Carolyn's grave. He walked silently and hesitantly until he stood only a few feet away. Without looking up, Rossi began to talk to him.

"When Haley died, I understood your love. It may have changed, but you still loved her. And you'll always mourn her. Carolyn will always be my first love." Hotch knew that. They'd talked about it after his divorce. It was then that he warned him about not jumping into new relationships too quickly… to learn from his mistakes of two additional failed marriages.

"We remained friends even though we only saw each other every few years. We promised to be there for each other whenever we needed it. And then…" His voice faltered.

Hotch walked up to sit down next to him while he waited for Rossi to continue talking if he wanted to. He wouldn't force him. This wasn't about what he wanted to know. It was about what his friend needed to share at that moment.

"And then before our last case, she asked me to do something for her. And I couldn't do it, Aaron."

"What did she want you to do?" Rossi hadn't given any details to the team.

"As you knew, she was diagnosed with ALS a little over a year ago. She was getting worse and closer to the end." That much he knew because Emily had cautiously shared that much. But the rest was a mystery. "She wanted me to help her end her life. I couldn't do it, Aaron." He laid his forehead on his knees that were propped up by sitting on the ground. Hotch comforted him by resting a hand on one of his shoulders.

"I'm sure she understood," said Hotch softly.

"Yeah, she said that. I wanted her to fight it. I wanted to take care of her. But she didn't want that. She wanted to leave on her own terms… to be remembered how she was."

"What happened?" he whispered as he was afraid to ask.

"I went to her hotel room as planned. She spared me from making a decision. She had taken an overdose of pills before I got there. I only had time to hold her and say good-bye."

His eyes were haunted as they stared at nothing in particular.

"James was your son."

"Yes. For years I was unable to talk about him. And eventually, the time never presented itself."

"You can tell me anything and it doesn't have to be now."

"I know. You're a good friend, Aaron." He finally turned to him and gave him a sad smile. "You're a good father. I watch you with Jack when we're coaching."

"Sometimes, I wonder if I'm giving him enough."

"I know you do. That's why I'm telling you that you're a good father." There was a hint of the familiar Rossi charmed smile and Hotch gave a bit of a smile in return. "Carolyn and I only had a few precious hours with James. Don't waste the time you've been given whether they are hours, days or years. We don't know how long we have our loved ones."

A few silent moments went by with each of the men in their own thoughts.

"You're ready to be back." Hotch stated.

"I am. The team has doubts, don't they?"

"I don't think it's any different from when I came back after Haley died. Give them time."

"Why don't you have any doubts?"

Hotch gave a rare chuckle. "You're already giving me advice."

He laughed back. It felt good to his soul. Dragging himself up to stand and swiping dirt and grass off of himself, he answered. "Let's get our sorry asses out of here. My guess is that we have a case."

Already up and walking next to Rossi, he looked at his watch. "Can you be ready to leave in 30 minutes?"

He scoffed. "I'm always ready."

As they parted ways to get in their own vehicles, Hotch hesitated. "Dave…" Rossi turned to listen. "It's my turn to give out the words of wisdom," informed Hotch.

"Is that so?" he drawled.

"You're not alone. You always have Jack and me."

Rossi gave a slight nod and smile and swiftly hopped into his SVU. He didn't trust his emotions to do or say anything else right then.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Author's Notes: If there's interest, I may turn this into a multi-chapter story. Would you want it to stay a friendship or have it become mild-slash? Sorry, I'm not comfortable with M. Slash in general is out of my comfort writing zone right now.