Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.
Lou Holtz

"As your doctor, you need to stop putting me off, Erin. I mean it, call me back."

Erin huffed and set the phone on the cradle, this was not what she needed right now. What she needed was a nap, an hour for lunch wasn't long enough.

Stifling a yawn, she pushed her bangs off her forehead in a self encouraging gesture; and set to work. If she put a dent in the paperwork she could take the rest home and leave early. Go home, take a nap and be awake in time to watch Paul's baseball practice.

Flipping through the folders, she picked up the phone and summoned Agent Hotchner.

Aaron Hotchner knocked twice on Erin Strauss' office door. On her approval, he entered the room.

You wanted to see me, Chief Strauss ?" Hotch asked. A seasoned profiler, he could feel apprehension and what ever was bothering Erin Strauss was probably going to be taken out on him.

"Yes." She said sternly, "your report was incomplete."

"My report was done correctly and by FBI standards. With all due respect, Ma'am."

"I'm missing your disciplinary report on Agent Morgan." She fixed him with a look, "you did file one, didn't you?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I took the liberty of emailing you a copy along with the paper report."
Scanning her inbox she said in outrage, "Why is he asking for Hazard Pay?"

"I'm sorry?" Hotch asked in confusion.

She clicked the email open, "let me rephrase, why is Agent Morgan demanding Hazard Pay?"

"I wasn't aware that he was."

"According to his claim, he was quote, 'forced to wade through 'toxic waste while apprehending a suspect' end quote."

Hotch set his jaw, Derek could have warned him. "These situations do happen, Ma'am."

"Do you agree that he deserves to be compensated?"

"Yes Ma'am, even the suspect required medical evaluation."

"The man Agent Morgan was chasing?" Erin asked, her pen scrawling notes in the notepad at her side.

"Yes Ma'am," He said, nodding slightly.

She pulled out a tape recorder and flipped it on. Stating the date, she turned it towards him. "Please state your name and rank."

Hotch leaned forward in his clear baritone he said, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit."

"Tell me what happened."

"We were in pursuit of a suspect, we had his trailer surrounded when Todd Jacobs jumped two fences joining to the neighboring yards." Hotch paused to think, "Agent Morgan went after him. The ground was wet after some heavy flooding in the area and Mr. Jacobs slid into the drainage ditch, about 30 feet from where we stood."

"Did anyone else attempt to detain the suspect?"

"No, Ma'am we had the area surrounded. Agent Morgan cuffed Jacobs and climbed out of the ditch."

She pulled up another email, she read it in horror. The last thing her department needed was a lawsuit. "Jacobs is claiming that Agent Morgan punch him in the throat while he was detained. Why can't you find fault in that?"

Hotch bristled, The suspect was brandishing a knife-a knife he had used to carve up one of the victims. Agent Morgan did everything in his power to restrain and detain without using lethal force. He didn't lay hands on Jacobs expect to detain him. The bruises Jacobs sustained from a bar brawl he initiated two days ago. I saw them when we questioned him the day before his arrest."

"You're sure about this?" Some of the earlier tension rolled away.
"Yes Ma'am."

"What did Agent Morgan look like when he stepped out of the ditch?"

Hotch's nose wrinkled in disgust, "he smelled. He was up to his waist in...who knows what. We called for HAZMAT and they hosed him off."

"Thank you. You're dismissed."

Hotch took a deep breath and braced himself before he reached over and clicked off the tape recorder.

Her back straightened, shocked by his sudden forwardness. He asked, "What is this really about?"

She fixed him with a practiced blank look, "I don't know what you mean."

"I'm asking what this is really about. When a member of my team asks to be compensated, you make the choice to grant or deny. You don't call me demanding an explanation. I'm wondering what might really be bothering you."

"I'm sorry, that I can't hand over a blank check every time an agent requests additional pay, Aaron." She said sharply." I have to answer for it with the budget committee."

"It's more than that... Erin." He paused, "the Director called me."

Her heart sank to her feet, "If there was a problem, I would have been notified."

He says he isn't getting reports on time-you're in over your head,

"I'm your superior-"

Hotch gestured to the piles of paperwork, "Yes Ma'am, which is why I don't understand why he called me."

She waved him off, the more he pried the less time she had to finish her work. "There is nothing going on that is relevant to my job and Agent Hotchner."

"Yes, Ma'am?"
"You were dismissed, ten minutes ago."

Hotch bit his tongue and counted to five. "Yes, Ma'am."

"And for the record, Agent Hotchner, you will be written up for insubordination. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am."
The door slammed in his wake.

"Damn," she whispered to the empty room, "it's really hit the fan now."

She gathered her purse and stacked the remaining files in her briefcase. Snapping it closed, she pulled her chair away from the desk and moved to stand. When her cell phone chipped to life. She glanced at the screen and tossed the offending phone in her purse. She did not need this. She would call Mary, on her own time. For now, she had a baseball practice to get to.

She bent to pick up her briefcase when Dave strode inside.

"Heading out?"
"Eventually," she huffed, dropping back in the chair, "why, what do you need?"

He stepped behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, "why do I have to need anything?" He asked, while his hands worked on the knots in her neck. "I can't just visit?"

"Nobody, 'just visits' around here."
His hands continued their journey along her neck, eliciting small moans of pleasure from her lips.
"Bad day?" He asked, grazing his knuckles down between her shoulder blades.

She swallowed, "my reports were late." She admitted. The massage had lowered her defenses to a dangerous level.

"How many?" He asked, dropping the words into her ear.
"A few."

He leaned in closer, feeling her pulse beat against his fingertips. Vanilla perfume drifting through his nostrils and he was grateful for the locked door.

"I heard."
"You heard!" She growled, yanking away from his touch and shattering the fragile moment.

He shrugged, "calm down, one batch of late reports is not the end of the world."

"Who told you?" She asked, fire lighting her eyes.

"By the ninth hole Director Robinson was ready to tell me anything I wanted to know."

"You're keeping tabs on me?" She asked, equal parts angry and shocked.

"Should I be? Your doctor called in the middle of the afternoon."

"I told you-"

"I know. You're gal pals with your obstetrician."

"So what's the problem?"

"We both know this isn't going to work if we have to lie to each other."