Interlude (Takes place the day after Reckoner)

Don't be afraid of your fears. They are there to tell you something is worth it - C JoyBell C.

Rossi watched the clock on his wall. Every minute was dragging like it was an hour. Hotch had agreed to let him leave when Pip arrived, cases permitting, and the clock had stopped, he was sure of it. He'd even got up on a chair to check the batteries to reassure himself the damn thing was still running. With no idea when the jury would finish deliberations, despite JP's assurances to Pip of an imminent guilty verdict, all Rossi could do was wait.

Garcia had sidled into his office early that morning to tell him quietly that she would be keeping an eye on proceedings as much as she could, and that she'd let him know of any updates. Despite Rossi's initial concerns that Garcia wouldn't be able to keep the relationship he had with Pip to herself, Pip had obviously had no qualms about telling her. Rossi found himself incredibly grateful that there was someone else in the building, other than Hotch, who knew why he was acting like a bear with a thorn in its ass. With Garcia's promise of an advance warning of Pip's impending arrival, Rossi had settled himself down with a pile of case files to work.

Limited progress had been made; he just couldn't keep his concentration on the papers in front of him for more than a few minutes at a time. He almost wished for a case to distract him, except that would mean leaving Quantico and Pip behind. Maybe he ought to check the batteries in the clock one more time, just to make sure…

His first indication that something was wrong was the sound of running feet. Morgan's concerned shout was the next. As they got closer, cadence of the footfalls identified Garcia running along the walkway towards his office in a pair of her impossibly high heels. Rossi wrenched open the door just in time to stop her bursting in, closely followed by the rest of the team. Morgan, Reid and Prentiss all started asking questions at once, at the same time as Garcia started babbling too fast for Rossi to understand.

Somehow in the cacophony of voices, Rossi picked up two words: "shooting" and "courthouse" and an icy hand clutched at his heart. He hauled Garcia roughly into his office, ignoring her squeal of surprise and slammed the door in Morgan's face.

"Well?" he barked at her.

"I picked up a report of shots fired at the courthouse. Um…"

"Out with it, Garcia!"

"There are fatalities. I don't know who!" wailed Garcia.

Rossi flung open his door and barged through the gathered throng of agents. "Move!" he growled, making pointed use of both elbows and shoulders to shove his way unceremoniously past them.

His cell rang as he was half way down the ramp. By the time he'd fumbled it from his pocket, he was already at the elevator.

"Rossi," he answered tersely, impatiently jabbing the elevator call button again. Couldn't the damn thing move any faster?

"Agent Rossi, it's JP. We need you at the courthouse" said JP hurriedly. "There's been a shooting. Pip…"

"No, no, no! Not again! TELL ME SHE HASN'T BEEN SHOT!" bellowed Rossi down the phone, hand tightening round the small device until it creaked. His outburst temporarily silenced the crowd of people that had followed him.

"She hasn't been shot."

Anything else JP might have said was lost as Rossi dropped the phone and bent over to grab his knees as sheer relief took his breath away. For a second there, he'd been so sure JP was calling him to say Pip was dead. His legs shook so he let the wall behind him support some of his weight while he tried to pull himself together. The voices around him faded as the world wavered.

"Oh, thank you God," he muttered, his voice barely a whisper as he desperately pulled air into his lungs. "Thank you." He crossed himself for good measure.

Rossi was aware of Hotch picking up his cell and speaking into it before hanging up, then saying something to the team that made them drift away back to their desks. Although not without some concerned looks in his direction.

"Dave?" Hotch's sympathetic voice broke through the disorientation, bringing Rossi back to himself.

He straightened up and took his cell when Hotch held it out to him. The action was punctuated by a cheery ping from the terminally slow elevator as the doors slid open. Rossi stepped in, then looked at Hotch in confusion when he joined him.

Hotch returned the curious glance with one of his own, one that Rossi knew took his rapid breathing and pale face. A minuscule smile flickered around the edges of his friend's mouth.

"I'll drive," said Hotch in a tone that brooked no argument.

Rossi had a feeling Penelope was helping them as they raced towards the courthouse. Hotch was on the traffic light run of his life, every single light turned green as they approached, and Rossi didn't think it was luck. She was responsible for the blare of horns from crossing streets and the lack of congestion on their route. She had to be.

"Remind me to have a word with Garcia," muttered Hotch, confirming Rossi's thoughts as they flew across yet another intersection where the only green light was exactly where they wanted to go.

"Right after I present her with the biggest bunch of flowers money can buy," replied Rossi shortly.

Unsurprisingly, the courthouse was already a media frenzy and even with their badges, it took several minutes of shoving for Rossi and Hotch to push their way to the cordon. JP met them at the police tape.

"This way," he said shortly. "I can't keep the mother under control much longer."

Even knowing that Pip was unharmed didn't ease Rossi's anxiety at that statement. Hotch had informed of him the basics of what JP had told him on the phone, but that clearly hadn't been everything. "Unharmed but in shock" covered a multitude of possibilities.

There was a collection of police officers in full dress standing to one side of the main doors, shielding something at the base of an ornamental pillar from general view. It was to this encirclement that JP led them. Rossi recognised the tall figure of Agent Holden moments before Holden caught sight of Hotch and blushed faintly.

"Sir," he muttered, and motioned for the two officers either side of him to step aside to let Hotch and Rossi through with JP.

Pip sat with her back to the pillar, covered in blood. Cradled in her arms was a young girl. JP stopped Rossi's automatic step forward.

"Wait a sec." JP grimaced briefly. "You need to know what happened first. Short version: Damon got found guilty and his mom opened fire on Pip as soon as we got outside," he said. "She missed by a mile and caused a mass panic. Pip grabbed up this little girl who'd lost hold of her mom's hand in the stampede. She was just trying to protect her, but Audrey's next shot went through the girl instead of Pip. Once she realised what she'd done, Audrey shot herself before anyone could stop her." JP cocked his thumb in the direction of a blanket-covered shape a few yards away being manoeuvred into a body bag.

JP clenched his jaw and breathed out through his nose to try and control his emotions. "But we can't get Pip to let go of the…the body. She was only five." His voice wavered and cracked, and he cleared his throat several times before continuing. "Pip won't say anything, and she won't let go. The girl's parents are frantic, and I didn't know who else to call. Agent Rossi, can you talk to her?"

As if there was anybody there who could stop him. Pip would blame herself for this needless death, of that, Rossi had no doubt. Probably both of them. He nodded to JP and slowly moved closer to where his best friend sat.

"Pip?" he asked gently, once he was near enough for his voice not to carry too much to the officers that surrounded them. Pip made no response and he took a few steps nearer, aware that Hotch was following but hanging back.

"Pip, can you hear me? It's Dave."

Pip nodded absently, stroking the blood-matted hair of the girl in her arms. Rossi moved closer, cautiously.

He crouched down next to her, suppressing his nausea at the smell of blood. The bullet had gone through the back of the girl's head. Presumably Pip had turned to try and protect her with her body, much as she'd done for him. Whether it was Mrs McGill's poor aim, or sheer back luck, this time it hadn't worked. Pip was coated in a horrifying mixture of blood and brain matter; her upper body and clothing were soaked with it. The little girl would need a closed casket funeral, because no amount of mortician's art would be able put her face back together again. Most of it was splattered across Pip.

"Pip? Would you give her to me? Please? I'll take care of her, I promise." Rossi kept his voice low and reassuring, trying to pull on every single piece of experience he had with traumatised witnesses and every ounce of love he had for her. Pip made no indication she'd heard him.

Rossi tried again. "Pip? Pip, do you trust me?" he said, hoping that would get a reaction.

She looked at him then. It was a dazed, vacant sort of look, but it was a start. Pip looked down at the girl, then back up to Rossi before slowly nodding.

"Then give her to me. I'll look after her."

Pip looked at the girl once more, tucking a wayward lock of bloodied blonde hair behind the girl's ear before holding her out to him. Rossi took the sad weight in his arms and turned his head to silently ask Hotch for help. With assistance from one of the police officers, Hotch took the body and whisked it away as quickly and discreetly as possible.

Leaving Rossi with Pip, alone in a circle of blue.

He knelt down next to her, heedless of the cold that immediately started to seep in through his knees. "I'm here, Pip," he said, taking one of her gore-streaked hands gently in his. "Do you want me take you home?"

After a hesitation long enough to make him really worried, she nodded slowly again. Rossi stood and pulled Pip to her feet, bringing her closer to him as he did so. Pip resisted the motion, trying to push him away.

"Your suit…" she started weakly.

"I've got plenty. You're more important," insisted Rossi, finally able to get her close enough to hold her in his arms. It was like hugging a plank of wood, Pip stiff and unyielding against him.

Holden sidled closer with a blanket, which Rossi awkwardly wrapped around her. Pip was silent the whole way back to the SUV and remained silent as Rossi directed Hotch to her home from the backseat, his arm still protectively around her and her hand clutched firmly in his. He was her shield, she'd told him so, although not in so many words. Rossi had decided long ago to take his responsibilities in that area seriously and never loosened his hold.

Hotch made no comment about Rossi's familiarity with her neighbourhood but raised an eyebrow when he fished his key from a pocket as they reached her door.

"You have a copy of her keys?" Hotch paused, brows furrowing. "What's with the fob? That animal looks insane."

"Long story," muttered Rossi with a smile, despite their circumstances. He unlocked the main door and led the way up to the third floor, ushering Pip in front of him and letting Hotch bring up the rear.

Rossi halted the odd-looking trio on the landing in front of Pip's door.

"Could you…?" He asked Hotch, nodding to the still shocked and unresisting form of his friend. "This new lock sticks like a bitch when it's been cold, and I'll need both hands. And then I have to disable the alarm once I've fought with the door."

Hotch nodded and swapped places with him. With the stubborn lock and the alarm dealt with, and the door closed behind them, Pip seemed to rouse a little from her stupor. Exactly what Rossi had hoped by bringing her home. Instead of withdrawn blankness, he could see the horror starting to rise in her eyes. He needed to get the girl's blood off her; she'd not be able to deal with things until she was clean again.

"Come on, let's get all that mess cleaned off," he said to her, replacing Hotch's arm for his own and pushing Pip in the direction of the bathroom. "Aaron, can you make some coffee?" he asked over his shoulder. "Mugs are in the cupboard above the machine. You might want to stick a dollop of scotch in hers. Bottle's by the TV."

"You know your way around," noted Hotch as he headed for the kitchen.

Rossi halted just inside the bathroom doorway and turned to meet Hotch's eye across the hall. "Some of the happiest hours of my life have been spent here," he said honestly, before closing the door behind him. Let Hotch think of that what he would. Rossi wasn't interested in trying to justify himself right now.

He studied his suffering friend for a moment in the harsh fluorescent light common to bathrooms. Still vacant and shocked, Pip had made no attempt to wipe off any of the fluids that had covered her upper body. She'd hadn't spoken except in concern for his suit, back at the courthouse.

Perhaps he should have let JP and Hotch convince him that Pip needed to see a doctor. She could compartmentalise with the best of them, he knew that, but blocking everything out the way she had wasn't healthy.

Rossi considered the idea, as he had at the courthouse, before dismissing it. Again. He knew her better than they did. She needed to be somewhere she considered safe, somewhere he could stay with her. That meant here.

First things first, he had to get her out of her blood-soaked clothes. Pip didn't resist him as he methodically stripped her to her underwear. She didn't resist, but she didn't help him much either, so it took longer than he thought it would. Rossi piled her ruined clothes by the bin, there'd be no point trying to wash out that much blood. Rossi ran the shower until it was warm and pushed her gently toward the spray.

There was blood on his suit, so he stripped his blazer off and tossed it in the direction of the bin. There'd be no rescuing it, and he wasn't in the mood to try. His pants followed, along with his socks. He'd planned to keep his shirt on, but there was blood on that too and it went the way of the rest of his clothes. Dressed only in his boxers, Rossi joined Pip under the water and started to wash the blood off. There was nothing sexual about his actions, despite their near-nakedness. Once he'd scrubbed the blood out from under her nails, he moved up to her arms, then shoulders and face. The water which had run deep pink to start with, paled as he worked.

Just as he was ready to start peering at her varied range of shampoos to work out which one she was using at the moment, Pip finally broke down. Rossi had to move fast to catch her as her knees buckled.

"I'm here, I've got you," he reassured her over and over again, while Pip clutched him like a drowning sailor and sobbed into his chest. He held her tightly against his body, trying to ground her with his presence and his voice.

Her tears eventually ran their course, and the Pip that emerged from the other side was less mentally absent than before.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Rossi gave her one final squeeze before carefully releasing her to study her expression. Better, but still shocked, and with a haunted look that told of nightmares to come. He'd be staying the night.

"Will you be ok if I leave you to do the rest?" he asked. He wouldn't leave if she didn't want him to, but there was still blood on her chest and bra and dealing with that would be a step further than he felt comfortable with. Despite their current state of undress. He knew where he stood, and that didn't involve anything in her underwear.

"Yeah," said Pip quietly. "Coffee?" she asked as he stepped out of the shower. "With alcohol."

"Hotch has it under control," replied Rossi as he towelled himself off. Even through the frosted glass, he didn't miss the twitch of her shoulders at his words. He understood. She wouldn't relax properly until Hotch had gone, which left it up to him to convince their superior to leave. "I'll deal with him, I promise." Her grateful nod of acknowledgement was enough to get him moving.

Rossi expected Hotch to glare at him angrily when he emerged from the bathroom dressed only in a towel, and clearly still damp from sharing a shower with Pip. But anger was curiously absent in the casual glance Hotch gave him before turning his attention back to Pip's many bookshelves. Hiding his surprise, Rossi ducked into her bedroom to strip off his sodden boxers and grab the academy t-shirt and grey joggers he slept in while at hers.

"You've got clothes here," noted Hotch over his cup of coffee once Rossi had settled himself in his usual spot on the sofa. He couldn't figure out if he'd prefer anger over the disappointment all too evident on Hotch's face.

"On loan," Rossi replied, playing for time. "They're not mine."

"Hmm." Hotch hummed noncommittally and took a drought of his coffee. "I saw how you were with each other. And I see how comfortable you are here. Comfortable enough to share a shower and have clothes to wear, apparently." His voice was calm, but his displeasure was clear. There was calculated pause as Hotch drank a little more coffee.

"Don't think I didn't spot the cigar butt in the ashtray, too." Hotch raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't strike me as the cigar type." He paused. "You have a key and obviously know the alarm code and that the door sticks in the cold." He took another measured mouthful from his mug, but the calmness didn't fool Rossi for a minute.

"So, tell me Dave: how long have you been lying to me? Unless you lied to me from the beginning and this has been going on all along?" Hotch made no effort to hide his disappointment now, and Rossi mourned the loss of respect that went with it.

"We're not." He'd planned to broach that subject with her this evening, although that idea was obviously out of the window. "Nothing's changed since you told me to enjoy my friendship with her while it lasted." Rossi caught Hotch's eye and held his gaze. "I never lied to you, Aaron," he said sincerely. "We're not sleeping together." Not in the sense that Hotch meant, at least, but explaining that would be far too awkward in the circumstances.

Hotch's brow furrowed in confusion. "But you're in love with her."

"Yes." There was no point denying it, and Rossi found some small pleasure in finally being able to say it aloud, even if it wasn't to Pip. "Head over heels. In a way I thought impossible, a storybook fantasy," he added. He chuckled at Hotch's startled expression. "Why is that so shocking?"

"Dave, no disrespect, but I find it hard to believe you haven't…" Hotch stopped. "I mean…always before…you're not known for your patience or restraint when it comes to women. I assumed…." He stopped again. "What changed?"

Rossi would have been lying if he said he didn't briefly enjoy seeing Aaron Hotchner, who considered everything he said as carefully as the lawyer he was trained to be, flounder for his words. He grinned. In for a dime, in for a dollar.

"I just hadn't found the right one," he replied. "And now I have, I'm happy to wait. If it never happens, I'll still be happy, just being her friend." That put the stunned expression firmly back on Hotch's face and Rossi wondered if he'd over-sold his hand a little. He sounded like a fucking Valentine's card.

He didn't have time to wonder for long, Hotch starting up a casual conversation about an old case as the bathroom door opened and Pip slipped out. Rossi gave his boss a small salute with his coffee in thanks for changing the subject before she overheard them. Hotch's expression turned calculating as Pip's bedroom door closed behind her.

"All the time you're friends, the fraternisation policies don't apply," he said, placing subtle emphasis on the word "friends". "I can't interfere in something I have no knowledge of." Hotch put down his empty coffee cup, raised an eyebrow and gave Rossi a significant look. "Do I make myself clear?"

Rossi nodded. Now it was his turn to look a little startled. They'd known each other long enough that Hotch's meaning was perfectly clear.

Hotch would look the other way if Pip ever changed her mind and let him take that final step. Provided it didn't impact the team, Hotch would plead ignorance if they got themselves caught. Not that the policies would have stopped them if it came to that; but having his friend's lopsided blessing made Rossi far more comfortable with Hotch's knowledge of how deep the bond that already existed was.

"Thank you," he said as Hotch stood to leave.

Hotch nodded. "I think I understand you two a little better now." He gave Rossi a small smile and glanced towards Pip's closed bedroom door. "Harker's waiting for me to leave, isn't she? I've known you both for longer than you've known each other, and yet you're so much closer to her, Dave. It's you she needs." Hotch held out his hand. "I'm sorry I accused you of lying to me."

Rossi stood, and they shook, before exchanging an awkward one-armed man-hug, the closest Hotch ever got to offering physical reassurance. Rossi appreciated the gesture; he hadn't lost his friend's respect after all, and it prompted him to explain a little more.

"I was so lonely, Aaron. All the womanising…" Rossi sighed. "This job…it's hard to stop the darkness corrupting a relationship, so I didn't bother having them; although I'll admit I enjoyed the reputation a little. But through so many years and so many one-night stands, I was still lonely. She's cured me of that, even if it never goes any further."

Hotch nodded in understanding. "I'll drop your go-bag off on my way home this evening," he said, "that should give you enough changes of clothes to stay with her a couple of days if necessary. I'll sign your backdated leave request when you come back." He glanced towards the still closed door once more. "Try and get her to eat something. I'm sure that's last thing on her mind, but it'll help."

Rossi locked the door behind Hotch as he left, and then threw the chain across for good measure. Time to see how Pip was doing; now they were alone.

He knocked gently on Pip's bedroom door. "Pip? You ok in there?" There was a brief shuffling noise then the door opened a fraction. "It's just you and me now." The door opened wider to reveal Pip already dressed in her pyjamas. "Coffee's getting cold," he said enticingly. "Be a shame to waste the amount of scotch Hotch threw in it for you."

That earned him a weak smile and Pip followed him back to the living room. She spluttered through her first mouthful, a good indication of the coffee to scotch ratio, but drank the rest in a series of large gulps.

"Same again?" she asked, holding out the empty cup.

Rossi left her nesting on the sofa while he reloaded both their cups.

Pip muttered a thank you for the coffee but didn't say anything else as Rossi settled himself next to her. Pip was huddled up in her usual corner but had folded herself into a smaller space than normal. Clutching her coffee like a lifeline, she stared into its dark depths as if all the answers were in there somewhere.

"Do you want to…" Rossi stopped as Pip immediately shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it yet. "Alright, that's fine," he said gently. "What can I do?"

Pip nudged his shoulder with hers and gave him a brief pleading look before returning her gaze to the contents of her cup. Understanding dawned. Rossi switched his coffee to his left hand and wrapped his other arm around her. Pip turned a little, so she could rest her head in the crook of his shoulder and sighed gratefully.

By the time her coffee was gone for the second time, Pip had completely relaxed against him. She was still silent, but it was a different kind of silence now. She picked up the remote and turned on the DVD player.

"Pot luck," she muttered. "No idea what's in there."

It was a spaghetti Western, not that Pip saw any of it. She burrowed her face into his shoulder and dozed off against him, her breathing slow and even.

Rossi recognised escapism when he saw it, but kept still and quiet, letting Pip deal with the day's events in her own way. He was happy just to hold her, her warmth against him evidence that she was unharmed, physically at least. Lulled by the familiar scent of her apartment, the comfort of her sofa and the steady cadence of her respiration, Rossi drifted off too.

He didn't sleep deeply, so he was awake the moment Pip laid a hand on his chest. With some alarm, Rossi realised he recognised the look in her eyes. He'd seen it the night Battle was shot, and the night he'd arrived home from New York.

"You know what else you can do?" whispered Pip. "You can make me forget, just for a little while."

Her hand slid downwards, and Rossi felt his stomach muscles quiver and bunch at her touch. He captured her roving hand in one of his before she got too much lower.

"Pip, I won't take advantage of you like that," he said softly. "I can't, it's not right."

"Because you're seeing someone." She sounded oddly sure of that. Pip looked away and tried to retrieve her hand from his grip.

Rossi resisted, keeping hold of her. "No, there's no one else," he said honestly. He wondered where she'd got the idea that he was dating someone.

Pip looked up at him. "No one else?" she asked, obviously puzzled, and Rossi rued his cryptic comment. Somehow, he'd ended up in the middle of the very conversation he was trying to avoid, in spite of the day she'd had.

"Not since the day I met you."

She didn't look any less confused and Rossi had to suppress a smile, Pip was completely oblivious to his meaning. Either of them.

"You know so much about me, you'd know if I was seeing someone," he reasoned logically. The other reason was one he was going to keep to himself for the time being.

Pip grunted her agreement of his explanation. "Why not then?" she asked morosely.

Rossi brought the hand he'd imprisoned to his lips for a gentle kiss, no more than a feathery brush across her knuckles.

"Because I know you," he said gently. "And I know your reaction to trauma is to leap into bed with a willing body, and I couldn't bear to take advantage of that for my own selfish desires again. We agreed on that a long time ago." That much at least, was true.

Rossi released her hand and stood up, physically retreating before she said or did something that shattered his self-control. "I'll make us something to eat," he said. "It'll help," he added when Pip grimaced.

He could feel the weight of her gaze on him as he made his way to her kitchen but managed to resist turning to see the look on her face. He was afraid to know what he might find. Afraid that if the misplaced lust he'd seen burning so brightly was still there, he'd give in and do what she wanted. Even if it meant he hated himself for it afterwards.

Considering Pip said she didn't cook much, her cupboards were fairly well stocked. He rather thought she'd been understating herself. Again. Rossi considered his culinary options as muted sounds from her living room told him Pip was raiding her DVD collection for a better distraction than the Wild West. Nothing with tomatoes, that was obvious. Pip didn't need to see anything red splashed across her plate right now. Or grey, which meant mushrooms were out too.

The first strains of music from Middle Earth drifted through to him and Rossi smiled. Fantasy films were another familiar coping strategy of hers, one that meant she was at least focussed on something other than getting in his pants. He'd have preferred it if she'd chosen something less violent, but at least hobbits didn't use guns.

The intrepid adventurers were approaching Bree by the time Rossi emerged from the kitchen with a plateful of Spanish omelette and roasted vegetables for each of them. Cooking had been cathartic and had given him time to consciously ponder how to coax Pip into talking about what had happened at the courthouse.

Despite her previous reservations about eating, Pip demolished her food, making enthusiastic noises of approval as she did so.

"That was amazing," she said once her plate was clear. "You can cook for me more often."

Rossi tried not to read too much into that statement. "Always nice to know my skills are appreciated," he said, trying to say something relatively bland that couldn't be taken in any other context.

Pip smirked knowingly at him and his food turned to lead in his stomach, as Rossi realised he'd managed to achieve exactly the opposite.

"Pip, I…"

"Stop it, Dave," said Pip dismissively. "Don't worry; I'm not going to embarrass us both by throwing myself at you for a second time this evening." Her cheeks heated with her own embarrassment. "Using my best friend for meaningless sex after something horrible happens isn't fair and you were right to stop me. Let's just watch the movie, huh?"

Disputing anything she'd said would only lead to the very discussion he wanted to avoid, so Rossi let it lie.

Talking about what happened waited until they finally retreated to bed, and Rossi held her as Pip wept for the girl whose name she didn't even know.