Disclaimed!
This chapter wasn't meant to be as long as it is, but sometimes once I start writing it's hard to stop.
Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think.
...
Rossi tapped on the office door in trepidation. Things between himself and his supposed best friend had altered significantly since JJ's paternity results had verified that he, David Rossi was Jennifer Jareau's biological father, the same Jennifer Jareau that so clearly had feelings for Aaron Hotchner.
Everyone down in the bullpen had commented on the two agent's chemistry and closeness at some point but the two people concerned seemed completely oblivious.
Then Rossi had to go and put his foot in his mouth and confront the Unit Chief about his intentions towards his newfound daughter and in turn, potentially ruined two friendships.
Stepping into the supervisor's office, Rossi straightened his stance, insistent that he had to mend at least one of those fractured friendships today. "Hey, you got a few minutes?"
"Sure, what's up?" Hotch ushered the older agent into the room and towards the seat with a quick wave of his hand even though his attention was solely on the file in front of him.
Rossi steeled himself with a fortifying breath as he sat in one of the opposite chairs. "I want to clear the air."
"What?" Hotch snapped his head up from the paperwork with a confused 'V' forming on his forehead.
"You have to admit that things have been strange between us ever since we had our little talk." Rossi began slowly.
There was a deathly silent pause as Hotch contemplated how to reply. By the look in his old friend's eyes, the seasoned profiler knew that he couldn't blag his way out of the impending conversation.
Sighing, Hotch folded his hands together and shrugged his shoulders. "Truthfully, you scared the hell out of me, Dave. The last thing I want to do is hurt JJ."
"I know and I'm sorry. You were right, I was out of line. I only wanted you to have a clear head before you made any decisions concerning JJ, that's all." Rossi retorted apologetically.
Hotch shook his head in disagreement. "No, you weren't out of line. You were looking out for your daughter."
The elder agent rubbed his face tiredly. "You're my best friend. I was looking out for you too. I don't want to see you get hurt either. JJ's emotions have been on a rollercoaster. I didn't want you acting impulsively when she wasn't ready."
"You weren't wrong though. There're feelings there that probably shouldn't be and I should stay away from JJ because of them." He stated in resolve.
"Aaron." Rossi tsked uncertainly secretly wanting the younger man to have a different conclusion in reaction to his meddling.
"She has way too much to deal with. I can't add to that stress." Hotch reasoned before sighing in defeat. "I'm just not sure how to approach her."
Rossi's lips thinned dubiously. "I see."
Hotch inhaled, relaxing his tense shoulder as he rested back in his tall backed office chair. "How are you handling everything?"
"Excuse me?" Rossi frowned off-guardedly.
The senior supervising agent tilted his head questioningly. "Everyone has been so focused on their own emotions or JJ's that I'm guessing no-one has asked you how you're holding up?"
"I'm good I guess. Nearly loosing Henry scared the shit out of me but he's going to be fine. JJ and I are in a good place and contrary to belief, Erin is a nice woman, who has been looking after me." Rossi smirked at his younger friend's eye roll.
Tapping his fingers against the arm of his chair, Hotch looked around the room hesitantly. "Has Henry had his appointment with the hearing specialist?"
"They need to run some more tests but they think he'll need a hearing aid." The grandfather explained.
"Poor kid."
Rossi nodded in agreement as he replied. "It could've been a hell of a lot worse."
"How is JJ holding up?" Hotch asked coyly.
Smirking at the lack of his friend's subtlety, Rossi raised an eye of disbelief. "You two haven't talked lately, huh?"
The Unit Chief smiled solemnly. "I'm still trying my best to keep my distance."
Sensing his colleague's change in demeanour, Rossi raised an eye in suspicion. "Has something happened between you two?"
Hotch shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he met Rossi's eyes guiltily. "Erm..."
"So listen up." Garcia burst open the door and stormed into the room, with a panicked look on her face.
Rossi turned in his seat to look up at the TA, who was leaning against the top of his chair. "Garcia, we're in the middle of a conversation, in here."
"Oh hush you, I'm sorry for breaking up the reunion of the BAU senior leadership bromance but I have something important to talk to you two about which is time sensitive." She quipped in retort.
Hotch saw the serious glint in the usually care free woman and levelled upright. "What is it Penelope?"
Garcia chewed on her lip exposing her guilty conscience. "Has... JJ spoken to either of you two about hospital bills?"
"Garcia what's going on?" Hotch prompted as the elaborate woman sat in the seat next to Rossi.
"I did something." She admitted quietly.
Hotch raised his eye brows worriedly. "Go on."
"Well, at first I just saw... something but now I've done... something." The technical analyst stammered remorsefully.
The team leader sighed unsure he wanted to know the answer to his question. "What have you done?"
"I opened Pandora's box." Garcia bent forwards clutching her head dramatically.
Rossi rubbed the TA's back reassuringly. "Kitten, tell us what's happened."
She straightened in decision that she needed to share her knowledge. "When I went to pick JJ and Henry up from the hospital a few weeks ago, I saw the hospital bills. They wanted a lot of money."
"I assumed her health insurance covered everything. JJ hasn't said anything about needing money." Rossi's eyes widened in concern.
"She won't say anything. But when Henry had his first stay in hospital and JJ was also admitted, I know that the insurance company were ass-hats. Remember when I stayed with JJ at her old place to help her recover?" The two men nodded in recollection of that difficult time. "Well I heard JJ talking to Will on the phone this one time, and they were discussing money troubles."
Hotch raised his eyebrow in interest. "What kind of money troubles?"
Garcia bit her lip again anxiously. "They kind of money troubles which meant JJ didn't contest the divorce and asked a college friend to be her lawyer. The type of money troubles which meant JJ downsized her home and got the full amount of money from the sales rather than splitting it with Will. She traded in a perfectly good family car for a crappy sedan. The same money troubles may be the reason that she hasn't been on a night out with the girls, or gone shopping with me or hell, never gone out to eat or spent anything more than a pizza for takeout in the last nine months."
"Surely it's not that bad?" Rossi gasped, feeling the sudden alarm of the situation.
Garcia cocked her head to the left in response. "When was the last time JJ had more than one drink when we've gone to bar after a case?"
"JJ knows she only has to come to me." He stated fatherly.
Garcia sighed knowingly. "But she won't. She already feels like a failure when it comes to Henry, she'll want to handle this by herself."
"What has she said to you?" Hotch interjected sternly.
The younger woman raised her hands as she spoke emotively. "Nothing, that's the problem... I think one of you two should try and get her to open up about this."
"Are you sure about this? You have tangible proof?" Hotch pressed.
Garcia sat back in the leather chair, pursed her lips and began twirling a piece of her hair with her fingers, feigning innocence. "I might have hacked her bank accounts."
"Garcia!" Hotch chastised loudly.
Dropping her hand from her hair, she rested her hands flat on her lap and met her boss' eye confidently. "Listen, I know it was wrong and as much as I should feel guilty about it, I couldn't care less. JJ needs financial assistance before her home gets foreclosed by the bank, which will be by the end of next month if nothing is done."
"I'm going to go and talk to her." Rossi stood, his expression full of apprehension.
Garcia rested a hand on the profiler's arm to stop him moving. "Be gentle okay, she doesn't need to feel pushed. JJ just needs someone to talk too. When she's ready to talk, she's ready for help."
"Thank you for coming to us Garcia." Rossi heard Hotch say as he stormed out of the office.
Rossi hovered outside his daughter's small suburban home. Looking at the small home from the path, he realised that he never noticed the significant downsize from the home she used to share with her former husband until Garcia had to point it out.
Inside the house, JJ had just managed to get Henry to sleep for an afternoon nap after both Jareau's had a restless night sleep.
She was sitting on the living room floor, surrounded by the abundance of bills that she'd accumulated in the last year attempting to find a solution to the money woes when Rossi plucked up the courage to knock on the door.
JJ closed the living room door, to hide the messiness she had created, then checked who the visitor was and opened the door. "Hi, erm, Dad, what are you doing here?"
"Thought I'd leave work early and pop in to see my grandson." Rossi stepped through the doorway, kissing JJ's cheek affectionately before shrugging off his coat and scarf to hang on the coats peg.
"He's taking a nap." Hesitating at the door to the living room, where her documents were littering the floor, JJ pointed along the corridor. "Why don't we go into the kitchen? Are you hungry, I was just about to have some cake and coffee?"
He observed her nervous glance towards the living room but ignored it as he followed the younger profiler down the hallway. "Sure. So have you had a good day?"
"I just did the usual, stay-at-home mom stuff. How was work?" JJ asked with interest.
Rossi sat on the stool next to the kitchen bench, watching as she moved around the small kitchen. "Boring, we're on paperwork catch up right now but I'm going to Leavenworth next week for a prison consult with Lt Cramer."
JJ frowned in recollection. "They guy who killed those men who reminded him of his training instructor?"
"The one and only."
"Are you going by yourself?" She asked.
"It'll depend on whether the team gets a case. I'm just crossing my fingers that if I do have to have someone accompany me, that it's not Reid. No offence to the kid, but he just bought an audio collection of the philosophy of Chess and its attributes to the business market." Rossi groaned, remembering the youngest team member's enthusiasm.
"Sounds riveting." JJ giggled.
Rossi smiled upon hearing her soft laughter. "Oh it is something I am not looking forward to listening too, on the 18 hour drive."
"Want tea or coffee?" She offered both in her hands.
"Coffee please." Rossi eyed the petite agent closely. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." JJ answered disbelievingly.
"Really?"
She covered her mouth with her hand to hide a yawn. "We nearly managed a full nights' sleep a part from a 3am wake up call."
"He had another nightmare?" Rossi asked troubled about his grandson's fear of his stay in hospital.
JJ nodded sadly. "They're getting worse. He's also just noticed that Will isn't here."
"Have you heard anything from that piece of... Henry's father?" Rossi queried spitefully.
JJ gave him a pointed glare as she sat next to her father, bringing with her their mugs of hot beverages and cake. "Captain Walls gave me a letter but it's a pretty basic apology. Will wasn't supposed to be the undercover cop on that case, he's team leader after all, but there was no one else able to do the job."
"And how do you feel about that?" He prompted.
JJ sniffled quietly. "I understand, I guess. It's not as if I'm not itching to get back to work."
"JJ..." He hesitated as he noticed her eyes brimming with tears.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so tired." JJ ran a hand across her head in exhaustion.
Rossi reached his arm across her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "Oh honey."
JJ smiled weakly, feeling her eyes brimming with tears. "I'm fine. I will be fine. The lack of sleep is just catching up with me."
"It's going to get better. Have a little faith, everything will be back to normal in no time." Rossi ensured comfortingly.
"I've never been very religious." The atheist-raised Pennsylvanian muttered.
"You don't have to be religious to have faith." He countered with a reassuring smile.
JJ yawned once more. "I'm just so tired."
"I'm here now, why don't you lie down for a little while." Rossi stated as an instruction rather than an offer.
JJ shook her head in protest. "I can't, I have things to do."
"Nonsense. Go to bed. I'm here for Henry. I'll make dinner and we can talk more one you're rested, okay?" He watched her debate her options silently in her head before drooping her shoulders in defeat.
"Okay. If you're sure?" JJ kissed his cheek and smiled warmly. "Thank you."
The pair finished their warm beverages and cakes before they wandered up the stairs, they peaked into Henry's bedroom where the little boy was fast asleep.
"Go get some sleep." Rossi held JJ's shoulders and directed her to the master bedroom before stepping back into his grandson's room to tuck the little boy back under the skewed covers.
Hovering on the landing, the worried father listened for noises indicating that JJ was still roaming around her bedroom, hearing only the background noises from outside and downstairs in the kitchen where the fridge was humming, he was content to let them both rest.
Quietly tiptoeing downstairs, Rossi decided straighten up the house a little before starting on a nice Italian stew for his family's dinner, when he would question his stubbornly independent daughter about the other things on his mind which her best friend had brought to his attention.
The sight of the messy living room faltered the agent's movement suddenly.
It took only one glance at the dozens of financial statements littered across the floor before Rossi reached for his cell phone and found the number of his trusted accountant. "Graham, it's David Rossi, I need you to transfer some money for me."
...
For people who have been wondering when JJ's going to find out about Rossi's involvement in her friendship with Hotch and also for anyone who wants some JJ/Hotch interaction, the next chapter is for you.
Thanks for reading!