"I brought you a fresh cup of tea," David said as he took a seat next to Erin on the sofa. They were spending a lazy Saturday together, and she was grateful for him being willing to get up and make tea so that she could remain hunched over her laptop. What he didn't know was that she was delving into John Curtis, trying to see if he had made any recent reappearances. There was nothing that she could find, and she felt a little frustrated at that fact. Everyone these days left some sort of digital footprint, and the fact that there was nothing there made her wonder if he had passed at some point. Which was why she was currently searching through death certificates, and still coming up empty.
"Thanks," she murmured offhandedly, taking hold of the handle and sipping from the mug. "You know, you can turn on the television or radio or something. I have to be boring you to death."
"Actually, no. I like watching you work. Your face scrunches up in the cutest way when you're frustrated. But what's making you upset? Do you need Penelope to help you with anything?"
She quickly shook her head as she set her tea on the table next to her, letting her fingers hover over the keyboard. "I wish that she could spare some time to help me, but she's so busy working on your normal case load, along with her work on what the Replicator is currently up to. I mean, I'm not supposed to know that she's doing that, but…"
"Kitten will not let things go, once she's sunk her claws into a situation, she doesn't let go. I remember when I first started back with the BAU, how she dug and dug into why I was heading out on my own, and managed to help me see that we need a team to get things accomplished. I was still accustomed to going it alone, and it still took a while for me to get that through my thick skull."
"Are you trying to imply something?" she asked a bit testily, knowing that she was perhaps giving herself away with that tone.
"Just reminding you that it's very lonesome when you're out there on your own." He leaned over and kissed the side of her head before turning in the television and flipping through the channels until he came to a showing of Key Largo. Erin smiled as she scooted a little closer to him, letting her head come to rest against his shoulder as she continued to chip away at her searches.
"I don't think that Penelope can help me with this, because I'm not even certain what it is that I'm looking for?"
"Run it by me, then. Maybe I can help you narrow it down a little bit."
She sighed heavily as she nodded. "You were already gone by the time the Amerithrax case happened, but I'm certain that you know what happened. After all, you were so close to Jason for so many years." He nodded. "Well, Alex wasn't the only one who I screwed over. John Curtis also bore the brunt of the Director's wrath. And it really did not help the situation any that I was promoted the next day, either. Alex might have forgiven me if I hadn't accepted that position. But like I told her, I don't know what my life would be like if we had made different decisions back then."
"Did you…?"
"Sleep with her? Yes. She told James, I never told Alan. He wouldn't have understood, and I knew I couldn't support three young children on just one income. I may have always been a coward."
He slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his chest. "You're not a coward. And from what I remember about your ex-husband, he would have tried to keep you from your children, if you had told him."
"Maybe, but I still feel a little guilty. Though not too much, since I found out during the divorce that he had been having an affair since I was pregnant with Tabitha." David chuckled a little before knocking his shoulder against her. "Now, where I'm having issues with my search is that there is no digital footprint for John. It's like he never existed after 1994. There's no tax return information, there's no death certificate, nothing. I haven't gone searching into DMV records, to see if he's kept current on insurance, but technically, I'm not allowed to access that information."
"Have Kitten do that, then. She can run that request during the next case we're on, and it won't look quite as questionable as you prying into something that you shouldn't access." She nodded before leaning forward and setting the laptop on the coffee table so that she could more easily curl up on his chest. "So, what was it like with Alex?"
Erin laughed as she shook her head. "There is no way that I'll be telling you that, bucko. I may love you with all my heart, but I don't kiss and tell like that. Alan? I have no problem talking about, but what Alex and I shared? No, sorry."
"I sort of figured that would be the answer, but I still had to try." She nodded as she wrapped her arm around his waist, her hand slipping beneath the soft fabric of his shirt to splay out on his skin. "You're still creeped out by the Replicator."
"That would be the understatement of the century. If Penelope is right, and he is targeting Alex and me, that means we're both in such danger. So when you're all out in the field, I find my heart in my throat the entire time. Because you and Alex are so vulnerable out there. In a new environment, where your focus is on something other than your own safety." She pursed her lips a little to keep from crying. "How can I protect you both when you're out there? You carry my heart in your heart, David, and if he were to come after you because of me? I don't know what I would do."
"You would carry on, because you're strong and have three children to look after. Even if Alan got custody of them, due to his relationship with the court. You wouldn't do anything foolish because of them. And you know that I would be watching over you from Heaven, if I lost."
"Do not ever let me hear you talk that way again, David James Rossi!" she said through clenched teeth as she sat up and then straddled his hips. She grabbed hold of his shirt in her hands and pulled him close enough that she could feel his breath wash against her face. "I love you too much to think about losing you." Before he could say another word, she closed the small gap between them to capture his lips in a rough, needy, kiss.
At some point during the embrace, she had started to cry, as she tasted the salt of tears on her lips as he turned her onto her back, deepening the kiss as his hands started to push her blouse up her torso. "And I love you too much to think about losing you. God, Erin, what have we gotten mixed up in?"
"If only I knew," she whispered before helping him pull off her blouse and then kissing him once more, desperately wanting to feel him close to her, knowing that there was a good chance that one of them might not make it through the end of this ordeal alive.