Erin was still awake when David crept into their bedroom upon the return from his horrid case in California. She had heard through the grapevine about the lengths that Agent Jareau had gone to in order to be able to talk to the unsub via the emergency broadcast system. That was exactly the sort of thing that had brought her to the attention of the State Department in the first place, which was what had kept her up far too late. "You don't have to be quiet, darling. I am still wide awake."

He turned to look at her, a concerned look on his face. "What has you still up?" he asked as he began to unbutton his shirt, making his way slowly over to her side.

She smiled before leaning up and accepting the kiss he offered before gently pushing him away. "Change first, and then we can talk about it, since I am going to need your brain to help me with this one, I think." He nodded before stealing another kiss, which made Erin's smile soften as he went over to the closet and hung up his suit coat before dropping the shirt in the hamper, along with his jeans. As she watched, he tugged his undershirt off, twirling it around his head a few times before dropping it into the hamper as he hooked his thumbs into the elastic of his boxers, shaking his rump in a clear effort to make her giggle. It worked quite well, and as she allowed a bit of mirth to fill her heart, David shimmied his way out of his boxers, making certain to give her a bit of a show before he pulled on his pyjamas. "Thank you, darling."

"You are welcome, stellina. We both needed a little bit of levity tonight, it seems." She nodded as he joined her on the bed, and once he was comfortable, Erin snuggled up close to him, resting her head on his chest and waiting to talk until she had heard the steady thump of his heart. He seemed content to wait, stroking her hair as a gentle quiet filled the room.

"I had a meeting while you were in California."

"What sort of meeting?" he asked as he moved his hand lower, rubbing her back in steady circle as she took a few deep breaths. "Erin?"

"I have to figure out a way to tell Agent Jareau that she has to leave the BAU."

His hand stilled on her back before tugging in a strand of her hair. "Care to run that by my again, Erin? Perhaps with a few more words of explanation?"

She nodded as she spread her hand out on his chest, tapping her thumb against his breastbone as she tried to gather her words without getting too emotional. "Ron called me into a meeting with Director Rosenthal this morning. It was a three hour meeting, David, and I wanted nothing more than to head to the closest bar and get shitfaced drunk afterwards. Which, I know, it's a problem, but I didn't choose that option. Instead, I went out to lunch and chose the most unhealthy meal I could stand to eat. And capped it off with a huge sundae with extra fudge. It spoiled my appetite for supper, but it was worth it. I have nowhere to escape this, David. I've been told that if I fail to convince her to take the position, that my job might be in danger."

"What?"

"I know, David. I was blindsided by that. But I also know that there is no way on God's green earth that I can talk her into accepting a position with the State Department. She is so happy with the BAU. And when I go to talk to her, it will just create more animosity between the team and myself. It's only been seven months since Haley was murdered, and I know that besides Aaron and Penelope, the team views me as an irritant at best, or a negative person at worst. I still hear the terms Ice Queen and bitch bandied about behind my back when I have to go into the bullpen to meet with you or Aaron or Penelope. And I won't lie and say that it doesn't hurt, because you would ferret out the truth anyway. But this? This might just push me over the edge into being the Devil incarnate. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"When do you need to meet with her?"

Erin took a deep breath as she snuggled in closer to her fiancé. "Director Rosenthal wanted me to do it as soon as you had returned from this case, but Ron stepped in and said that I would need more time to prepare and put together a proper presentation for Agent Jareau. So I have six weeks."

He chuckled, and Erin wondered what he found humorous about her current dilemma. Before he spoke once more, David pressed his lips against the crown of her head as he adjusted how he was holding her. "I'm sorry, but if I know anything about you, you are going to wait until the last possible moment to talk to Jen, and that will just make things worse, for all of us. Aren't you?"

Erin blushed as she pulled away from his a little, smacking his chest lightly as she glared at him. "I was viewing it as biding my time and hoping that because she wouldn't have much time to argue with me, she'd just agree." David laughed as he shook his head. "I know, she's stubborn, just like I am. I think that's a requirement of all BAU agents, honestly. But…I want the buffer zone?"

"I get that, Erin. It's going to be hard to talk to her about this. And the State Department is a wonderful opportunity for her and her family. I'm assuming that the position would mean she'd be home at the same time every night?"

"Yes. And I would love her to have that for Henry. There is so much that I regret at the moment about being unable to be there all the time for Elise and Catherine. It was the same for when my older children were young. They change so quickly, and she deserves to have more time with Henry right now." Letting out a little sigh, she dropped her head back onto his chest, welcoming the kisses that he dropped onto her head. "But there's nothing that I can possibly say that will convince her that this is in her best interest, or that my hands are thoroughly tied behind my back."

"And that is why we're going to work through this together, and come up with something that might help smooth things over for her. I think that if you led with the fact that this is a fantastic opportunity for her to accept. She will make fabulous connections and we'll be here talking about how we knew her when she was just a lowly media liaison for the BAU."

"From your lips to God's ear, darling. Now, since I have that out of my system, would you mind holding me until I all asleep? I just wish that I could turn my brain off and back on in the morning."

"It doesn't quite work that way, stellina," he murmured as he gently pressed her over onto her back. Just as he was leaning down to kiss her, Catherine began to cry over the monitor, and he let out a soft sigh before getting out of the bed. "I'll bring her back in here with me?"

"Yes, she's probably hungry and I think that we can safely sleep with her between us tonight, even though I know that I'm going to be dragging in the morning."

"You could always take a personal day, Erin." She shook her head as he frowned a little, leaving the room to get their daughter. Erin was glad that she had spoken with him about this issue, she just didn't know how they would possibly find a way to make this work so that everyone would end up happy.