"You can take that olive branch and give it to some sad dove that actually gives a damn about amends. That will never be me!"

Alex's strident tones suddenly broke through his haze, and Dave turned his head to look at the woman. She looked on the verge of completely tearing into Erin, and he expected his lover to shrink into him, since that was what she would normally have done. Instead, Erin took a deep breath and squared her shoulders a little before levelling a cool look at Alex.

"I can hear your discussion through my closed office door," Hotch said as he sidled up to them. Dave looked over at his best friend, seeing the look of disappointment on his face. Dave shrugged a little as his partner turned and fixed her gaze on Hotch. "Erin, Alex, is everything all right between the two of you? Do you need me to mediate a discussion here? Jessica has Jack, and since we're back late, she already plans on keeping him for the evening. So, really, I have all the time in the world to listen to both sides and come up with a working solution."

"I don't think that's necessary, Hotch, really. Erin and I are never…"

Erin cut Alex off with a wave of her hand. "I have a little more faith in things, Alex, I really do. And if Aaron truly feels like he might be able to make some headway between the two of us, I would gladly welcome that." A sad smile was on her lips as she inclined her head to one side. "Though I am sorry that we attracted this attention."

"You didn't attract anything, Chief Strauss. It was Blake and I who were the ones out of line here. You were just trying to get us to calm down and see to reason. Though I do agree with you, ma'am, and think that we four should all sit down and hammer out a compromise, of sorts, before we go home for the evening." Penelope looked between the group of them, as if she was daring them to disagree with her. Blake opened her mouth in protest, but then shut it just as quickly. A sly glance at Hotch's face told him the reason for her acquiescence, and Hotch gestured with his head towards the conference room.

As they went, he could see Reid and Morgan looking up at them, as if they wanted to sneak up and listen in like children at the door. Shaking his head a little, he slipped inside the room, closing the door behind him before taking a seat next to Erin. Penelope and Hotch were standing near the screen, while Blake had camped out in the chair farthest away from Erin. "All right, I rather think this has gone on long enough, and has officially started to compromise the integrity of my team. What, if anything, will create a détente between you two?"

There was a long pause, and Erin reached out her hand to brush against his leg, as if she was looking for comfort from him. He wanted to take hold of it, to squeeze it and assure Erin that everything was all right. But he couldn't find it in himself to make that small gesture, and she drew her hand back as she shrank from him, curling up in the chair as far from him as she could get without moving. "Aaron…"

He gave Erin a kind smile before shaking his head. "I wasn't talking about you, Erin. I know that you are trying your hardest to make amends and bury the hard feelings between you and Alex. I was referring to whatever is happening between Penelope and Alex. I'm taking it that you've chosen a side in things, Penelope?"

The younger woman flushed a little as she nodded emphatically. "I have, and it shouldn't surprise you why I chose the side I did. Everyone can change, everyone, and to just rebuff that person when they're trying to be open and honest with you is about the worst thing anyone could do. I'm not asking for Blake to be all sweetness and light to Er-Chief Strauss, but I'd rather think that she can at least be civil and listen to what she has to say. You know that she's made amends with all of us, Hotch, and how much that took for her to do that." She turned to look at Erin. "I know, it's rude to talk about you while you're in the room. I'm sorry."

"You're fine, Penelope," Erin said softly, and Dave watched her take a deep breath before she focused her attention on Blake. "Alexandra, you know where my heart is right now. I know that I cannot erase the past between us, nor would I ask you to forget it. All I would like is the chance to move forward into the present with a clean slate."

There was a long moment of silence before Alex looked down into her lap, as if she couldn't bear to look at Erin any longer. Eventually, she spoke once more, though she still refused to look at any of them. "And I really don't think that there is anything that can move me enough to accept that olive branch, Erin. There is too much bad blood between us for me to ever just draw a veil over it."

Dave listened to Erin's breath hitch in her throat as she nodded. "All right, I won't force you to discuss this any longer. Just know that my office door is always open to you, and that you have my full support to be on Aaron's team."

Before anyone else could say a word, Erin had gotten to her feet, tugging on his suit coat as she started for the door. Dave shrugged a little as he looked at Hotch, and he watched his best friend gesture towards the door with his head. Nodding petulantly, he got to his feet and ambled after Erin, not really certain that he wanted to hear a rehash of the conversation he had just been included in.

She paused by his office door, obviously waiting for him to join her. "David, I have something to tell you. I know that the others can hash out a solution without our interference, so this will be the perfect time to let you know this. I think, I think that it will be easier to tell you this before we go home. Are you going to let us in?"

He nodded mutely as he unlocked his office door, flipping the lights on as Erin made her way over to the sofa and sank down onto it. "I think that the others have gone home now, actually, if you want to do this there," he said, as he hovered around the doorway, giving her a pained look. Erin shook her head a little before wrapping her hands around her knee and looking down at the carpet. "Erin?"

"I don't want to spoil home. I want to keep happy memories attached there." She took a few deep breaths before addressing him once more. "Please, shut the door and then join me here." He nodded and did as told, the quiet sound of it seeming as loud as a slam in his ears.