"What happened, David? Did you run out of serial killers?" She asked, dripping with sarcasm. "Do you have writer's block? Do you need a project to work on?"
"I'm trying to help you-" He said, without heat.
"What if I don't want your help?" She stood up from her seat at the bar. The coffee and oatmeal, long forgotten. "You didn't even ask me-"
"Too damn bad!" He snapped, fists clenched at his sides, his heart thundering. The rush of blood in his ears, she had no idea what she'd done. "You damn near destroyed the BAU!" He said, moving further into the kitchen. The more physical distance between them, the better. He wanted to throttle her, no doubt about that.
"I spent my lifetime building it, not for me. Not because I wanted the fame or the money. I never asked for any of that. We started the BAU for the victims." He narrowed his eyes at her as he spoke. "They deserved to be found and have the criminals brought to justice. The more we understand the criminals, the better we can catch them, making the world safer for everyone. I fought for that. I fought, begged, borrowed and stole to get us everything we needed to build the unit and you in one day dropped a bomb on my life's work. I shouldn't be surprised," he said, shaking his head, "you've been trying to shut us down since they stuck you behind a desk."
"That's not true-"
"My ass," he scoffed. "You broke up my team-"
"The Brass wanted Jareau somewhere else-"
"And you could have stopped them-"
She laughed wryly, her head tilted back slightly. "There are places in the Bureau even, The Wicked Witch of the FBI, can't go."
"Cut the crap, Erin. We both know there's not a palm you wouldn't grease for your own gain."
She fixed him a quizzical look, "and you're…." She checked her manicure.. "Somehow different? Last I checked you stuck Dr. Reid in a poker game and spent fifty thousand dollars on the buy in-"
"That was my own money-"
"You just proved my point," she said, with finality. Erin:1 Rossi:4 There was a horrible, uncomfortable silence, stretched between them like a rubber band, one false move and someone loses an eye.
"For what's it's worth, which by now, isn't much; I never set out to sabotage you."
"And I'm not trying to fix you," Dave said. "You're not a project that I can tinker with when I'm bored…" he cleared his throat, embarrassed. Hurling shit was her game, not his. Currently, they were covered in it. Like Chimpanzees in the zoo."I'm gonna…." he turned towards the staircase. "I'll go get dressed and pick up Mudgie."
She nodded, "fine."
He was out of there ten minutes later, Erin was convinced that if he could have scaled the house, he would have gone out the upstairs window to avoid her. That wasn't how she wanted things to be. They'd come to a tentative truce, before he went upstairs but who knew how long that would last. She glanced at the clock on the wall, the constant ticking echoed through the house. She and Dave had already been at war and it wasn't even 9am. No way he was going to pick up the dog, the Boarder probably didn't open till 10.
Flashback
"Dammit!" Erin swore, the high pitched wail of her toddler, bounced off the wall. Who decided that a puppy was a good idea, with two kids under five? An idiot, that's who. "Come here, Charlie." Erin picked up her son and sat him on the sofa. Red scratches marred the skin on his belly where his shirt had ridden up.
"It keeps scratching me, Momma!" Gracie accused pointing to the rambunctious puppy
"Come on, Mudgie." Erin took the dog by the collar, "Get in your crate." She said, opening the cage. With the puppy contained, she went back to her son, who was still on the couch, screaming bloody murder for no reason.
"Doggie!" Charlie cried, pointing to the cage.
Erin picked him up,rocking him against her shoulder. His white shirt, covered in black dog hair. Tears streamed down his chubby cheeks. "shh…It's okay. I put the dog away."
Erin soothed, inspecting his hands and arms for damage, then sat down with the baby in her lap and checked on his legs and feet. Charlie never cried this much.
"Doggie hurt Charlie!" Charlie pointed to the crate, alligator tears rolling down his face.
"I know, I'm sorry." The dog had to go. Sooner rather than later.
With the baby calm, Mudgie decided it was a good time to make his presence known. He yelped and howled from the crate, scratching the door.
Erin could've killed Mark. It wasn't the dog's fault he was a menace, if Mark worked with him the way he'd promised to, then there wouldn't be a problem. She wanted to get him into obedience classes, but it wouldn't be in the budget until Charlie was out of diapers. The puppy deserved a better home.
The next morning, she put Mudgie in his crate and bagged up his supplies. The sitter gave her a questioning look, but chose to mind her own business. Erin strapped the cage to the passenger seat of her car and headed to work. She left the cage in her office, tucked under her desk and went to find Dave. He wouldn't be hard to track down.
"Hey," she said as he stepped into the real world and out of the BSU bunker.
"Hey." He bit out. Somehow, they managed to stay civil.
"How do you feel about dogs?" She asked as they stepped into the elevator.
"Eh," he shrugged, stabbing the button for the fifth floor. "I like 'em okay. Why, Erin?" She wouldn't come to him unless absolutely necessary.
"Want a puppy?"
"Hell no." He said, adamantly. She'd trapped him in the elevator because she needed something. "Why? What's wrong with it?"
"He's too hyper. Knocked my kid over."
Dave inclined his head, suddenly interested. "The little one?"
"Yes. He needs a different home. The dog," she corrected quickly. "He's a purebred black Lab but the breeder won't take him back."
Dave blew out a breath, thinking over his options. Carolyn had just left him, his first book was selling like hotcakes, he had a big house all to himself…. Everything was coming up roses for Rossi. Maybe a puppy wasn't a bad idea. No. He shook his head, not Erin's dog. THAT'S where he drew the line. "Well...that's a problem, isn't it? Try the shelter."
"My husband paid a ridiculous amount of money on this dog-" Erin said, she was practically begging.
"Did he now?" The wheels in Dave's mind started to turn. "But you want to give him to me?"
"Of course, there's a nominal rehoming fee…" Erin added, thinking fast.
The corner of his mouth twitched, "of course." He said, as the elevator doors slid open.
He handed her $500 cash at lunch and went home with the dog.
"Go inside, Boy." Dave said, holding the front door open.
"Hi Mudgie!" Erin cooed, reaching her hand towards him. His warm wet nose brushed against her hand.
"He never grew out of the licking," Dave said, watching Erin scratch Mudgie behind the ears, "but he's too old to knock you over anymore."
"You did good with him," She acknowledged, "he's beautiful."