"I can't believe that I forgot to set the alarm last night, Erin. I am so sorry!"
She shrugged a little as they stepped out of the elevator, and Dave found himself itching to take hold of her hand and squeeze it firmly when he noticed her stiffen as she was about to exit into the hallway. "It happens, now I just have to work a little harder to play catchup." Giving Dave a small smile, she stepped away from them, heading towards her office.
"Go with her, you know that you want to," Penelope said as she looked at him. "Even though the optics might not look the best, I know that you care for her deeply, and she needs someone to support her through this new phase of things. I would, but I have to go and switch around my office, resetting it back to my standards. Kevin always manages to make a complete cockup of things when I take an extended break." Penelope patted his shoulder before gently pushing him in Erin's direction.
Nodding absently, he picked up his pace until he had caught up with her, giving her a small smile when she glanced up at him. "I guess that I'm going your way first, Erin," he said lowly as they went into the outer office. Helen looked up from her computer and gave them a happy grin before getting to her feet and coming over to their side.
"Ma'am, I am so glad to see you back here! I've been trying to keep Agent Rossi in line during your absence, and while he's done a good job at trying to keep up with your workload, it just hasn't been the same without you." She went over to the other door and opened it for Erin, leading them inside. "Do you want me to make coffee or head to your usual café?"
"I think that it would be easier if you just brewed a pot here, because there is so much that I'll need to catch up on. David, do you have the latest cases that you finished looking over?"
He nodded as he held up his briefcase. "Everything is in here, Erin," he replied as they went over to the table, taking a seat while Helen started the coffee brewing. As the delicious scent filled the room, he let out a deep sigh and pulled out the files that Erin would need to look over before she filed them with the appropriate people. They worked in tandem to get her caught up on where she should be, and he could feel Helen watching the way they worked, a knowing little smirk on her lips.
About forty minutes into their conference, his phone buzzed on the table, and he glanced at it with a frown, seeing Penelope's name on the screen. "I'm sorry, I need to look at this," he murmured as he picked up the device and opened up his text messages.
SOS! SOS! Hotch is on the warpath because you are MIA. Well, I mean, I know that you're with Erin, but he didn't need to know that. So, I gave him a cover story that you were running late this morning, and while he seemed to buy it, it also pissed him off more. If you're almost finished with your business with Erin, I would get into the bullpen, before he decides to go hunting you down. Give Erin my love!
"What is it, David?" Erin asked, sounding concerned, which told him that his face was not hiding his emotions.
"It's nothing that you did, Hotch just seems to have a bee in his bonnet this morning. Probably because I haven't gone into the bullpen yet today, so he assumes that I'm just off doing nothing. I should probably go and see if I can calm him down. Do you want me to stop by your office before we head home tonight?"
"No, I'll be at the car around half past five. I assume that I'll have quite a bit to bring home and work on, so if we could order in, I'd be a lot more comfortable with that."
He nodded as he rose to his feet, giving Helen and Erin a small smile. "I would be fine with that, and I'll let Penelope know that's the plan for the evening." Erin gave him a tiny smile before turning back to her work, Helen taking notes when asked. Drawing in a short breath, he turned on his heel and made his way from the office, making certain to grab his briefcase as he went.
The bullpen was abuzz with activity, and he breathed in the busyness, finding that it energized him to know that he was about to return to this life, rather than sitting behind and doing all the paperwork. His month filling in for Erin had really opened his eyes into what she did, and he knew that he hadn't even truly scratched the surface of her job. Derek looked up as he passed by his desk, giving him a look that told him he, too, had felt the wrath of Hotch that morning. "Tread carefully, old man. I think that Hotch is ready to bite the head off everyone here."
"That's what Penelope texted me. I just had to run over some last minute things with Erin before she took the reins up once more. It's hard to catch up on a month of missed work, and for her to understand some of the decisions that I made along the way, even if we were grounded due to Penelope's care of her."
Hotch's office door opened suddenly, catching both their attentions, and Dave tightened his hand around the handle of his briefcase as he warily watched the man stalk out of the room and fix his hard gaze on them. "Dave, I need to see you in my office," he bit out, and Dave nodded as he went towards the stairs, fully intending to meet with Hotch alone, only to hear Derek following after him. "He doesn't need an audience, Morgan."
"And yet, I still think I'm going to be joining you in this meeting, Hotch. Garcia would have my head if I let her Italian Stallion be flogged without a witness."
Dave tried valiantly to hold in his chuckle, noting the tight look that passed across his best friend's face as he nodded sharply before stalking back into his office. "You don't have to do this, Derek."
"Yes, I do, man. You all have been through hell these last few weeks, and you've always had our backs. It's time that at least one of us steps up to support you now. I don't know what is wrong with Hotch, besides his contempt for Strauss, but he needs to know that we're not happy with his treatment of her, and you." Derek reached out and slapped his shoulder in solidarity.
"Thanks. I know that Erin truly loved the flowers you sent her, she's needed that spot of beauty in her life."
Derek nodded as they turned into Hotch's office. The man was already seated behind his desk, writing furiously on a pad of paper in front of him. "Sit down. You were late today."
"Yes, I was. We slept in, since we all forgot to set our alarms, and then I needed to discuss with Erin how we were going to do the handoff. There's a lot more to this than I imagined, and I know that you understand that, since you did her job recently as well. She needs to be brought back into the fold, and it made sense to do some of that work this morning, rather than just throwing her into the deep end when we go out in the field come Monday."
"He has a point, Hotch. Especially after what happened to her family. It would be better if we were at least somewhat kind."
"You're taking Erin's side in all this?" Hotch bit out, and Derek nodded. "Why?"
"I still feel guilty about the way we frog marched her to that rehab facility, actually. There were a number of others that we could have chosen, ones that might have allowed her to spend time with her children, now that we know what ended up happening to them. And I know that it bothers you, to see us defend our boss after tearing her down so often. I get the feeling that she's truly changed, and I would like to get to know the person that Strauss is becoming. Or should we just judge her wholesale on who she was, rather than who she could be?"
Aaron's shoulders slumped a little as he looked between the two of them. "Does everyone on the team feel the way that you do?"
"I can only speak for Emily and myself, but we both feel that way. And I think it's clear that Penelope is tender towards Strauss. So that does make four of us that are rooting for her to succeed." Hotch shook his head a little before fixing his gaze on Dave. It was a colder look, and he struggled not to return it, knowing that his bad mood would pass, and that he would want to make amends at some point. "So, are you going to back off a little, man? For all our sakes?"
"As long as she stays out of my way and doesn't meddle with our team, I see no reason to interact with her at all, which I suppose would mean that I would back off. But don't push your luck, Dave. There's only so much leeway that I'm willing to give the pair of you."
He nodded sharply before getting out of his chair and leaving the office, Derek close at his heels. "That went better than I thought it would," he said as they went into Dave's office. He lifted an eyebrow as he took his seat, letting out a huff of frustration. "You don't think so?"
"No, I think that Aaron is biding his time, and if Erin makes one little step out of line, he's going to go in for the kill. Which makes my job even more difficult because…"
"You're falling in love with her." Dave stared at Derek, trying to find the words to tell him that he was mistaken, but they wouldn't come to his lips. "Man, I do not envy you right now, because that is a difficult place to be in. I know that you don't need me to tell you this, but tread carefully, old man. You don't want to end up hurting her now, not when she's still so fragile." Dave gave him a small nod, knowing that he and Penelope were right, but also knowing that there was not an easy way to extricate his heart from hers now, not when they were so close.