And here comes a big thank you to my loyal beta - the girl knows who she is.

Have fun with the next chapter and as always, let me know what you think. Every comment is greatly appreciated!

Chapter 7

Rossi took his time to observe Rachel Strauss through the window of the interrogation room. She sat at the table in the middle of the naked room, waiting for something, anything to happen. He could tell she was impatient, even nervous. The way she brushed a strand of her blond hair back behind her ear reminded him of Erin.

Not because Erin was sometimes using the same gesture, no, it was more the way the nervous twisting of her muscles showed how hard she tried to hide her emotions, though they threatened to overwhelm her. She fought to be stronger than her inner demons, but for the trained eye it was obvious that she wasn't successful.

On the surface, Rachel wore the same cold shield made of pride to protect herself as her mother did, but Rossi saw the invisible wall around her was crumbling, slowly disappearing like fog that was forced to surrender to the sun.

Erin had told him, her oldest daughter was one tough cookie and he didn't doubt it for one second. He also knew now why Prentiss had been so cryptic about Rachel beforehand. Her condition was a little different from what he had expected, but her guest lecturing in overseas suddenly made perfect sense. Her swollen belly told him everything he needed to know, and her weakness would be his strength.

Dave heard steps behind him and knew it was Hotch. The younger agent stopped next to his old mentor and said, "The number of the cell phone from which Strauss was called before the bomb exploded belongs to some disposable cell phone. The call came from Washington DC, apparently close to the practice Strauss was using every now and then."

"I see."

"So, what's your strategy with her?"

Rossi shrugged, "I thought I could try the truth…"

"That's a new one. Is there a reason why you haven't told the others the whole story about Strauss and the kidnapping?" Hotch asked, his gaze focused on Rachel and his hands buried in his pocket.

Rossi had known, Hotch would ask him that, but he had told the team enough to work the case. There was no need to tell them every single detail of the abduction, unless it would become inevitable.

"She told me her story in private, Aaron. There's no need for the others to know what exactly happened back then."

"Are you afraid to humanize her or is it that you can't stand the others thinking even worse about her?"

"What kind of question is that?" Rossi asked, pugnacious.

"You still haven't told me, why of all people she asked you for help. Asking Gideon makes sense… he has the connection to the CIA she needed to get her hands on information she wouldn't get without raising questions, but why you?"

"I'm not sleeping with her, if it's that what you want to know," Dave informed him coldly. "She wanted my help, she got it and now she's in a coma and I'm here, trying to find out if her pregnant daughter has tried to kill her. End of story.

The argument was interrupted by Rossi's cell.

"Yes, Garcia?" Dave listened for a while and then he smiled. "Thanks. Remind me to take you to dinner soon."

"What did she find out?"

"Wait and see, Aaron. This is going to be fun. I'm going inside now."


Blue Ridge Mountains

When Erin returned from her walk, Dave had read the file about two times and had stopped reading it for the third time, because his disgust threatened to overwhelm him.

The file lay on the table, abandoned and meant to be forgotten. Dave was no saint, no amateur. He knew evil and he had seen it all – and yet the contents of the file made him so sick, he could vomit.

The sun was already setting and slowly turning the woods into a shadeless ocean. His back was turned to the door. He heard her firm steps, as she entered the cabin. Not quite ready to face her again, he waited until she made the first step.

"David?" she asked curiously. "Cat ate your tongue?"

He remained silent until she finally approached him. Her perfume reached his nose, luring him to turn his head to get a look at her face.

"Just one question," he said lowly. "Why are you alive?"

"Is that really important?" she returned the question.

"The 'why' is always important. It's the key to everything."

"Victimology?" she asked, a little amused and shrugged, when he didn't return her smile. "I was lucky." She chuckled, when she saw the wrinkles that appeared on his forehead. "Don't look at me like this. I don't want your pity."

"I don't pity you."

"I don't want your compassion either."

"Is that the reason you want to seduce me? Because pity or compassion is an offense in your eyes? Because you think my help would never be selfless?" She left the question unanswered, remained silent as her blue eyes pierced his.

"And what's the reason you're here?" she asked back, a little aggressive. "It was hardly my request for help that brought you here."

"And what else brought me here in your opinion?"

She gave him a lazy smile. "As if we all didn't] know what makes David Rossi tick."

"I see…" Now he started to understand and even enjoy the game. "So this show in my office was just a test to see what it needs to lure me here?"

"It wasn't a test. I knew it would work," Erin informed him. "I know you better than you think."

"Then you should have known that it doesn't need sex to convince me to help." His face was all serious now. "I would never abuse my knowledge about you to get you - or any other woman - into bed. So what exactly do you want from me?"

For a moment he watched how she fought the wish to battle this out, but then her common sense got the upper hand and she said, "I need your opinion on this – as an expert. I know William is the reason this happened to me and Ruben, and I need to prove it. You're one of the best… damn[,] you invented this thing about getting into the mind of criminals."

"I didn't invent it… I just made it our discipline."

"Whatever," she dismissed his objection with a wave of her hand. "I'm biased… biased about William. I thought I can do this on my own, but I can't. I need you to get into his head. Find out why he didn't care to at least save his only son."


When Rossi closed the door, Rachel Strauss's eyes narrowed in anger.

"Finally," she spat, when David sank into the chair on the opposite side of the table.

"My name is SSA Rossi and I'm with the FBI. I hope you didn't have to wait too long," he returned coldly. "But we're busy to find out who tried to blow up your mother and who first paid and later killed the woman who planted that bomb in her car. The unit is a little off, since their boss is in a coma."

Playing the bad cop seemed the most appropriate thing to welcome Dr. Rachel Strauss. He doubted she would accept him as the leader of his show, if he played the nice guy. Her mother wouldn't either. But how far had this apple fallen from the tree?

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked, a little sharper this time.

"Last night someone tried to kill your mother with a car bomb," Dave explained icily. "And we're asking you if you happen to know anything about it."

"My mother had a car accident," Rachel said, empathizing the word accident. "My father called me and asked me to come home."

"Ah, your father called you…" Dave grinned mysteriously.

"Yes." Snippy.

"Busy man, your father. Runs many companies… you work for him, don't you?"

"Not anymore."

"Obviously. Pregnant women shouldn't run a lab and develop pyrotechnic material. Does he know you're pregnant?"

"Of course."

"And your mother?"

"What do you want from me?" Rachel asked, exasperated.

"I want you to answer my questions… because I doubt you told your mother about your pregnancy."

"My mother and I avoid talking unless it's necessary."

"So a pregnancy is no reason to talk to her, but a car accident of hers makes you fly around the world." Rossi sighed. "You're not the only one with a Mommy issue, you know. I know girls like you who desperately want to prove themselves to their mothers and fail, because no matter what they do, it'll never be good enough. But in 99 percent of all cases, the daughters mess it up and not their mothers."

"That's my business."

"Yes, maybe… but this is a federal investigation and that's why it's my business now. The issue between you and your mother. The relationship with your father and your relationship with this man. They're all my business! Take a look at this!"

He reached in the inside of his pocket and produced a photo. "Do you know this man?"

Her lips twisted. "That's Jeffrey Palmer. An ex colleague of mine."

"Right. A chemist who used to work with you. Do you know him well?"

"No."

Dave smiled. All real interviews start with the first lie. Game on, Rachel.


Hotch watched Rossi and Rachel with growing concern. He knew it was only a matter of time, before William Strauss learned that his daughter had been taken by the FBI and appeared on the doorstep of the BAU in person. The plan was to interview him as well, but Hotch knew it would take some doing to get William Strauss into the interrogation room. He hoped with Rachel as bait, they would get their chance to learn more about the mysterious kidnapping 5 years ago. There was something that bothered him about the story, he just couldn't put his finger to it. Not yet.

His cell rang.

"Yes, Garcia!"

"Tell me, I'm irreplaceable." The red head on the other end of the line demanded cheekily.

"You certainly are. What did you find?"

"It's not the what. It's the who… Our dear friend Jeffrey Palmer is not in Baghdad…. His passport maybe is, but the guy himself is still here in Washington. Guess the desert in the middle east wasn't his cup of tea."

"Thanks, Garcia."

~~tbc~~