"Agent Rossi?"

Dave looked up from desk to see Kevin standing nervously in his doorway, and he beckoned the man into his office. There was an air of hesitancy as he closed the door and made his way over to the desk, taking a seat and giving Dave a sheepish smile as an awkward silence seemed to crash down around them. Finally, he could take the quiet no longer, and he pushed the file he was working on away from him to focus fully on Kevin. "Did you need something? Or did you just want to see my gorgeous face?"

Kevin let out a nervous laugh as he shook his head. "No, I was just…I want to be selfish?"

"In what way?"

Kevin released a deep breath as he looked down at his hands in his lap. "Seeing Penelope here the other day made me realise just how much I miss spending time with her. I know that she's taking care of Chief Strauss right now, and I am trying so hard to understand that, but we've also worked really hard on our relationship and making certain that it would work, after the rough patch that we went through. And I really miss her right now, which makes me feel about an inch tall, given what Chief Strauss is going through."

"It's okay to miss the one you love. So, what is it that you would like me to do about that?" he asked kindly, giving the man a warm smile.

"I was hoping that you could tell her that it would be all right to go out with me for one night? I know that she doesn't want to be away for too long, but a movie or supper or something shouldn't take too much time. I could pick her up and bring her back before Erin fell asleep."

Dave nodded as he looked at the calendar in front of him. "I suppose that we might be able to make something work tonight, Kevin. Let me make two calls, and we'll see what happens form there?" He nodded and Dave gave him a small wink before picking up his mobile and first calling Erin, hoping that she would pick up quickly.

"David! Why are you calling so early in the morning?"

"I was hoping that I could ask something of you," he said as he leaned back in his chair, glancing up at the ceiling as he thought of how to broach the request in front of him. "Kevin wonders if he might be able to steal Penelope away from our side for one evening. He misses spending time with his girlfriend, but didn't want to seem selfish by trying to intrude on our time together."

"I was wondering when that might get to him. You and Penelope have sacrificed so much of your personal lives to mollycoddle me through my issues, so I will do anything to return her to some small bit of normalcy. Do you want to talk to her? She's in the kitchen, finishing up lunch preparation."

"I thought I'd call…"

"Nonsense! We're on the phone already, and it will only take me two seconds to get into the kitchen." He knew that he wouldn't be able to get her to agree, and so he listened as she got up from the sofa and traipse into the kitchen. Soon enough, he could hear Penelope singing lowly before Erin handed the phone over. "David wants to talk to you."

"Hey, my Italian Stallion! What can I do for you?"

"You can go out with your boyfriend on a date tonight. I think that Erin and I can handle things pretty well on our own, at least for a few hours, and you need to have fun with Kevin. He looks positively morose, Kitten."

"He could have supper with us! It wouldn't be that hard to make an extra serving, you know."

"No, it wouldn't, but you need a night on the town. Really, Erin and I can handle things on our own for one night, and it would be nice for you to have a little break from us. We've been getting a little tense, Penny, and I want to keep us all happy and healthy. Please, for both our sake, go out with Kevin tonight, let your hair down, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

He heard her let out a breathy giggle, which told him that he had gotten through to her. "You drive such a hard bargain, Dave. I suppose that I can take a night away from the best friends that I've had the pleasure of taking care of in a while, if it will make both you and Erin happy."

"Thank you, truly. Self care is very important right now, especially if we want to stay healthy for Erin. I probably won't see you tonight, so I will tell you this now. I love you and the care you show for Erin, and we'll see each other in the morning."

"Aw, thanks, Dave, I love you, too. See you tomorrow!"

They hung up, and he gave Kevin a warm smile as he set the phone down on his desk. "Well, I suppose that I gave good news for you. You're going out on a date tonight. And I mean this, do not bring her home tonight. Take her back to her apartment or your place, because she needs to unwind physically, as well as mentally."

"All right, I will file that away in the things I never thought I'd hear a supervisor say to me folder. But I will take that advice. What will you and Strauss do without Penelope tonight?"

He paused, not having considered that. "I suppose that we'll have supper before curling up on the sofa and watching an old movie. Erin likes the classics, so if Casablanca is on, I know what we'll see."

"That sounds good, actually. Though Penelope and I would be watching classic Doctor Who. Oh, that gives me a wonderful idea! Thank you, Agent Rossi!" He reached across the desk and shook his hand heartily, a wide grin on his lips as he turned and hurried from the office. "Oh, excuse me, Agent Hotchner," he heard Kevin say as he closed the door, and Dave frowned a little when the door did not reopen. They still hadn't really talked since the outburst in the bullpen the other morning, and he wished that he knew exactly how to make things better between them.

Letting out a long breath, Dave pulled forward the file he had been working on and began to look it over, finding the small mistakes that Derek had made and correcting them before setting the file aside and picking up the next one, reading through what Emily had written. There were fewer mistakes in it, and he added the corrections to the file before setting it aside and working through Reid's and then JJ's. Hotch's report was perfunctory, and he welcomed that from him. With that out of the way, he began to work through the Red Cell team's latest case.

It was a slog of paperwork, and Dave was glad when it was time for lunch. Grabbing his phone, he shoved it into his pocket before heading out to the elevators. Glancing up at Hotch's office, he saw that the man was already gone, and it was only then that he remembered the team was all out teaching that day. Shaking his head a little, he pressed the button to call for the elevator and waited for it to arrive. His phone buzzed against his leg, and he pulled it out of his pocket to see who was trying to get ahold of him.

"Erin!" he said as he answered, stepping into the elevator. "I didn't expect to hear from you again."

"Yes, well, I was thinking about tonight, sine it will be just us. Is there something in particular that you'd like me to make for supper? Kevin's already called, and he's picking up Penny shortly after five, so that they can spend the most time together as possible, and, well, since it's just the two of us, we can go full on carnivore."

He chuckled a little as he nodded. "You have a point there. I suppose that a good steak sounds nice tonight. With asparagus and scalloped potatoes. And something chocolatey for dessert?"

"You are a slave driver, David James Rossi! Though I suppose that I could make that happen, for you. How do you like your steak?"

"Medium rare. And I'll try to be home by half past, though I make no promises, sine I don't know how the rest of the day will go. I was thinking, though…"

"Yes?"

"We could pull out Casablanca to watch? I was joking with Kevin about how you would probably want to watch it, if it were on television, but I know that you have a copy of it."

"I will look forward to that immensely, David. Until tonight?"

"Yes," he replied quickly, the smile on his lips spreading throughout his entire body as he thought about the night ahead.