Dave felt like he was moving through gelatin the next morning, and it only got worse when he arrived at the BAU. He was earlier than normal, since he hoped that he could catch Erin before they started their work day. The first thing he did, even before stopping in his office and dropping off his fresh go bag, was head to Erin's office. Her assistant was already there, and she gave him a small shake of her head when he looked at her door. "I don't know where she is, Agent Rossi. But I know that she is here, since her mail has already been sorted."

"Thanks, Roxanna, I'll head to my office then. If you do see her, before we head in for our briefing, please tell her to come to my office?"

"Will do." She gave him a wide smile and he tried to return it before turning and making his way into the bullpen. Anderson was the first person he saw, and the younger man gave him a knowing look before glancing up at Penelope's office once more.

"They've been holed up there for thirty minutes now, sir. And they looked about the same as you do now."

"Thanks," he replied tightly as he took a deep breath. Squaring his shoulders, he began to climb the stairs in time to see the door open and Erin appear. Their eyes met, and he stopped with one foot hovering above the step, staring at his partner. She did look so tired, and he knew that he was partly to blame for the dark circles beneath her eyes. A part of him wanted to reach out to her, but he held still, feeling like every eye in the bullpen was on them in that moment, and so he hesitated, trying to read her emotions. The moment died quickly, and her face twitched, as if Erin was trying to keep from crying as she took a deep breath and brushed past him.

Looking further up the stairs, he saw that Penelope really was watching them, and she wore a pained look as her gaze flickered between him and Erin. "You two are so stupidly stubborn," she said lowly as he reached her side, and he nodded a little as he paused. "You lost the moment, didn't you?"

"I hesitated, and it vanished."

Sighing delicately, she reached out and patted his shoulder in commiseration. "You have to do better at seizing the opportunity."

Nodding, he went to move past her, only to run into Aaron. "I think we need to talk a little further," his best friend said, clapping his hand over Dave's shoulder, as if he thought he would disagree. Instead, he gave him a wan smile before gesturing towards his office.

"I need to put my bag away, and I think this will be done more comfortably in my office, anyway."

"Lead the way."

His stomach gurgled loudly as he unlocked his door, letting Aaron in first. Glancing over the bullpen, he saw that Reid and Blake were just entering, and she looked up at him, giving him a searching look. Dave unconsciously shrugged before following Aaron inside and putting his go bag next to the sofa before taking a seat there. "There are probably some things that will come out soon that will greatly affect us as a couple, our family, and the team. This goes beyond my being a perfect match for Helena. I mean, you do know what that implies, yes?"

"I do. I imagine that it is quite a shock to find out that you're not only a father, but a grandfather as well."

Dave nodded. "And it's not just Harriet. Bruce and Karen are my children as well."

A soft gasp came from the doorway, and both men looked to see Blake standing there, her face clearly expressing her shock. "Is that what you were trying to tell me?" she asked lowly as she hovered in the doorway.

"Yeah, I guess that cat is out of the bag now."

He hadn't meant to sound so pithy, but that was how the words came out, and Blake frowned at him a little. "No wonder she was so hurt last night. Fuck," she said lowly before turning on her heel and leaving them, closing the door after herself.

"I just had to go from the frying pan to the fire. So that's three women in my life who are upset with me right now, and I have no idea how our children will react to the news. I have no idea what she'll tell them."

Burying his face in his hands, he tried to keep a tenuous hold on his emotions, knowing that it wouldn't take very much to start him crying once more as he realized just how much he had screwed everything up by running when Alan had told him the news. Aaron had been right, that was Alan's goal in the end – to see them apart and hurting, because he had allowed bitterness and jealousy to eat at his heart until it burst out of him like a volcano. "You have friends, Dave. We're not going to abandon you at a time like this, even if I want to shake some sense into you. Is it really that serious with Helena?"

"I'm assuming yes. If she needs a transplant, she's clinging to life. And she's so young, and so small, and I can't see another baby close to me fight for life. I saw it happen with James, and it nearly destroyed me then. Now? I don't know if my heart can take another loss like that."

He realized that he was crying, and he reached forward to grab a tissue from the box on the coffee table, dabbing at his eyes as he waited for his best friend to say something. "I think that we need to ground our team for a while. There are things that we can do here, like teach classes and conduct interviews, and this will allow you to have time to heal from the surgery. Especially since it sounds like Penelope has already blocked out your calendar to take care of this situation. And this will also allow me to be able to help somewhat with everything that will go into major surgery."

"Thank you," he said gruffly, tears making his throat thick.

"It's what friends are for. Now, I think that you should probably go have a talk with Penelope and figure out what, exactly, she's planned for you, and then I would head to the hospital and check in on Helena and Erin. Your family should and will come first from here on out, and I know that I will do everything in my power to help you with whatever curveball life throws at you."

Dave took a few deep breaths before he responded. "That means the world to me, Aaron. I appreciate the fact that you didn't go off on me, since I deserve it."

"Maybe so, but you also need someone to treat you gently, and that was more important today than yelling at you. Besides, I have the feeling that you've yelled at yourself enough over the last twelve hours to have me pile on more anger."

Getting to his feet, Dave nodded and then made his way over to the door. "I don't know how much work I'll get done today, but I'll try to stay focused." Aaron nodded and he went over to the door, his thoughts full of Erin and Helena and his family.