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Broken – Chapter 3

They drove in silence, the only sound disturbing the uneasy atmosphere was the movement of the windshield wipers that fought the cold rain. As he had expected it, she had been reluctant to leave her house, but in the end Hotch had reasoned with her, and she had agreed to spend one night in a safe place that the FBI used for important witnesses.

She had washed the blood off her face and had changed into another sweater, but every time he turned his head to steal a glance at her, the imagine of her all covered with blood appeared on his mind.

He wondered why the killing of Adam Strauss affected him the way it did. Yes, he had slept with his wife the night before, but he had told himself repeatedly that it hadn't changed his feelings about her. After all she was still the same Erin Strauss - cunning, bitchy and unpredictable in her ways when she wanted something. Nothing had changed, hadn't it?

"How did your children take it?" he asked to distract himself from his morbid thoughts.

"They're in shock." Her voice left no doubt that actually meant, "Stupid question, Jerk."

"When will they come back?"

"As soon as possible... Benjamin's in San Francisco, Laura in London and Kathy in New York..." she explained. "They won't arrive before tomorrow afternoon."

"We'll make sure they'll get protection as well."

"I know how this works, David. You don't have to small talk me," Erin said, impatiently.

"Why did you lie to Hotchner?" The question was overdue.

She rubbed her forehead and shook her head, "Because I had no idea how to explain him, that you had been in my house about 5 minutes before someone shot my husband. Besides, I didn't hear you interrupting him either."

"You know this will create problems."

"Actually,I do."

Silence fell again, then her flat hand hit the window. "Damn it! I wish I had shot him! Why didn't I just kill him?"

"Because you were scared and unprepared. It's human," he reminded her. He understood her completely. Failing to protect someone you love was something no one could ever forgive oneself.

"I was trained to react in situations like this! Why couldn't I remember any of it?" She bit her hand, trying to repress a sob.

"You did remember it, but sometimes it's just not enough... It wasn't your fault. And even if you shot him," Rossi said tenderly. "It wouldn't bring Adam back." For a second he thought of taking her hand, but then he couldn't. Considering their latest history he felt it would be wrong to comfort her over the death of her husband.

"And I thought you believe in vengeance," she drew a deep breath.

"Ah... you've read my books. Who would have thought that? I do believe in vengeance, but not for my sake. It's about the victims and their families... for the people they had to leave behind."

She turned her head, "That's a first," she mused. "The David Rossi I know only cares for himself and his needs."

He eyed her with freshly growing animosity, glad she made it so easy for him to remind himself of why he used to dislike her.

"The David Rossi you think you know," he corrected her. "Here we are. It's not the Ritz, but it's safe." The car stopped slowly in front of a dark apartment building.

"Agent Prentiss will stay with you tonight. I'm going to call her," he explained as he pulled out his cell phone.

"I don't need a babysitter," Erin insisted. "I can stay on my own." The idea of staying with Prentiss in a small apartment made her visibly uneasy, but he didn't have time for this. She could still be in danger even though she refused to admit it. Tired of her reluctance to accept help, he gave her a cold look. "Maybe you don't need a babysitter, but someone who remembers how to use a gun."

"Bastard," she hissed lowly.

While waiting for Prentiss to answer her cell, he leaned over and opened the glove compartment to get his gun. He reached inside and stiffed. It wasn't there.

"Don't tell me you lost it."

He ignored her and tried to remember where he had seen it the last time. He vaguely remembered that he had taken from Erin's desk shortly before he had left her office. But where could he have placed it later, before he had entered the bar? He was sure he had locked it in the glove compartment.

"It must be here," he said. "I know I locked it in here... Prentiss? Yes, we're here..."

"Why are you doing this, Rossi?" Erin asked, after he had closed the door to the small, sticky apartment behind them. "What do you want from me?"

"I have no idea what you talking about," he answered, though he knew only too well what she meant.

"I didn't ask you to drive me..."

"Someone had to. But if it helps, I can say I lost a bet and had to volunteer for the most unpleasant task available!"

She narrowed her eyes. He stood there in the middle of the room, the hands on his hips, threatening to fight back, no matter what. If she hadn't been so tired and exhausted she would throw him out without hesitation, but instead she backed off and looked around.

"We should really invest more in those places."

"Once this is over you can make this your next mission...I guess now that you're through with our team, so you have enough time to get on somebody else's nerves."

"Your team is fine and safe in case you haven't noticed it. I risked my neck when I allowed Hotchner to come back, after he had killed Foyet and unless he – or another member of your team loses it again, you can do your work unobstructed."

"You risked your neck?" he asked doubtfully.

"You know what disgusts me the most about you, Rossi?" she asked, dangerously glaring at him.

"Enlighten me," he offered generously.

"That you think you're the one who knows it all... your ego is so big that we could fill a dozen departments with it, but fact is that you've no idea how hard it is to keep all these people working together. You don't know what it means to lead them, to ensure they don't snap, because they can't stand the blood and the insanity anymore. You think I'm spending my days having nothing better to do than making your life a living hell... fact is I try to make sure, you don't lose yourself... I make sure, you have the money, the equipment, and the space to chase those UnSubs, and I won't apologize if I question how you and your team use those resources!"

"Are you finished," he barked with glittering eyes.

"Actually, yes."

They glared at one another as the tension between them reached an unbearable level. As always it was a tempting idea to strangle her, but her words had reached the part of his brain that knew she was right about her position. He wouldn't do the job if they offered him a fortune as payment, but she was the right person for the position, because she wasn't scared to piss people off.

Not for the first time he noticed several similarities between them, he would never admit. They weren't team players, they were both independent alpha dogs, unable to give in and always fighting for the upper hand. Maybe that was the reason the sex had been so consuming and life altering... something he still could imagine to happen again sooner or later...

"And now if you don't mind we could think about a decent way to explain Agent Hotchner and the rest of your team how your footprints ended on my carpet – if possible without all those ugly little details about your visit in my office last night," her sharp voice interrupted his thoughts.

"We can hardly tell him I came to borrow a cup with sugar from you..."

Hotch sat in his car, ready to go home to get at least three or four hours of sleep before the team would gather for a first meeting just as his cell rang. He cursed lowly, but when he saw who called him, his weariness was gone. It was amazing the forensic lab got back at him so quickly.

"Hotchner."

"I think we have a problem here," the voice at the other end of the line said.

"What problem?"

"We could identity the gun that killed Strauss."

"And?" he asked, sensing he could forget about his night sleep.

"Sir, you won't like it."

"Why me?" Penelope Gracia stared in disbelief at her screen, wishing she could escape in the famous black hole, just to stay there. When Hotch had ordered her to the office, she had expected the usual horror to fill her screen, but instead she gotten a far worse nightmare. How was she supposed to look at Rossi or Strauss again, without remembering what she just had to watch?

Her fingers trembled as they hastened over the keyboard, unable to look away from the screen. She had to reach Hotch before it was too late.

"Hotchner?" he barked into the speaker.

"Sir, we have a problem here," Garcia said and swallowed hard.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm checking the CD you gave me?"

"What's on it?"

"Just come here and watch it yourself..." she just couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. Actually, she was lost of words.

"Garcia, I have no time for this. I'm on my way to Rossi and Strauss..." Hotch said impatiently.

"Okay, in this case you should ask them what they did last night in her office and why somebody taped them doing it..."

"What?"

"You heard me, Sir. This CD contains a x-rated clip that shows Section Chief Erin Strauss and Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi doing the horizontal mambo with the added warning that a copy of it will be send to each and every email account of the bureau."

~tbc~