Prosperity is not a just scale; adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.

-Plutarch

"You and your section chief have a contentious relationship." The interrogator dragged out each word as if speaking slower made his words more important. Hotch kept his expression neutral. Waiting for the next question.

"Answer the question, Agent Hotchner. For the record."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware there was a question asked of me. Can you please repeat the question."

The interrogator cleared his throat. "Wouldn't you agree, Agent Hotchner, that you and Section Chief Strauss have a contentious relationship? She made it her focus to ensure that she throws up major roadblocks in all of her dealings with you."

"I don't agree."

"I'm surprised," Hotch watched the interrogator's brow raise, in a microexpression. "After everything she's done to try and break up your team.

"I am not sure I know what you are referring to when you say that Chief Strauss has tried to break up my team. Since Alpha team is her most efficient team, in both solve rate and time, it seems to me that trying to cause problems within my team would be counterproductive to what is in her best interest. Chief Strauss wouldn't have risen as far as she has in the FBI, if she made a habit out of sinking her own ship."

She suspended you for two weeks after Agent Gideon resigned."

"A suspension from five years ago, doesn't hold much weight with me. As Section Chief, it was her job to review the actions of both Agent Gideon and myself. In that review she determined that it was her belief that proper policy was not followed to the letter of the law. While I may not have agreed that in the case, the letter of the law trumped the spirit of the law, it was still within her power to make that call and she made it. Besides it allowed me to reflect on what my team should have done better and refocus my efforts on making my team even better than it was previously. I believe the increase in our production speaks for the positives that came out of that decision" Hotch said.

"At the time of that suspension, your marriage was on the rocks-"

"I don't see how my marriage pertains to this case."

"When your wife was-" the interrogator cleared his throat. "Agent Hotchner when your wife was-"

"Murdered." Hotch supplied. He looked around the room at the committee members, each one he deduced, was more sheltered than the next. None of them had ever been in the field.

"Erin Strauss handed you your walking papers. She used your tragedy for her own gain."

Hotch kept his back straight, concentrating on the low hum of the air conditioner. He could smell the cloying scent of aftershave lingering in the air. Obviously, the DOJ was pulling out all of their tricks to bully the team into talking. Nobody else would run the air conditioner in the middle of October.

"Chief Strauss offered me retirement so that I could focus on raising my son."

"Exactly, she and David Rossi cut some corners to try to accomplish her goal of removing you from your position. How was it honorable for them to try and take advantage of you during your time of bereavement for her own personal agenda?"

"Chief Strauss and Agent Rossi's actions are not questionable in this situation. You have the wrong interpretation of the events. For the record, I would like it notated that my wife was murdered as a direct result of my job. My wife was murdered while under Government protection and I was seconds away from my four year old son, suffering the same fate. What they did was show a little compassion for all that my family and I sacrificed. I can assure you, even though my wife and I were divorced, no amount of money would ever make up for what my son and I suffered because of my dedication to the FBI. You tell me gentlemen," Hotch directed his stern gaze around the room. Meeting each man in the eye. "How much money would be enough for you to make it worth having to tell your four year old that he will never see his mommy again? How much money is worth seeing the tears he cries every night; How much would you feel would make it easy for you to hear him wake up screaming from nightmares because he is afraid of the bad man who took mommy away, coming back for him again? How much money would you accept, to ease your conscious knowing, it was just a fluke, that a game you played with your son, so you could get a little work done at home, was the only thing that saved his life, by giving you enough time to arrive home, before the man that had just murdered his mother, discovered his hiding spot? What Chief Strauss and Agent Rossi did was consult with the director of the FBI, and ask his guidance on what they could do to support me and my son, in our time of bereavement. It was his idea to offer me some time off with pay to get my affairs in order, but he warned them that my priorities had probably changed and I probably wouldn't want to come back to the BAU. If you had investigated the package, you would see that while Chief Strauss did indeed sign off on it, so did the director."

"Thank you for clearing that up, Agent Hotchner." he said, but the look on his face showed he was anything but pleased. His colleague sitting next to him posed the next set of questions.

"Before that, she demoted you. You needed the support of The Bureau more than ever and she demoted you, by putting Agent Morgan in your place. Did you feel betrayed by The Bureau? You devoted your life to The Agency."

"Putting Agent Morgan in my place was my idea. I wanted George Foyet to think I was losing control and Agent Morgan was the best choice. I made that decision. Chief Strauss had the option to overrule my choice, but she wisely chose to give Agent Morgan a chance, so she could assess his skills and was able to see him excel in his service to the team, while gaining valuable skills that can serve the agency in the future."

Hotch scanned the room, each member of the Ethics Committee had a pen in his hand, taking notes.

34 hours and counting. Tick tock.

"You've attended Budget meetings with Section Chief Strauss, do you feel like your department is being adequately funded?"

"My team has a jet, we couldn't ask for more."

"That wasn't always the case, was it? You had some major problems with the dynamics of your team last year."

"We have something you should see," Agent Thomas said. Sliding a tablet across the table. "Do you know what's happening in this scene?" Thomas asked

Stan took the tablet in his hand and played the video. A grainy video played on the screen. "I can't make this out," Stan said briskly and passed the tablet to Erin.

"Do you know what's going on here?" Thomas asked.

Erin pressed play on the video. She saw a zoomed-in image of herself walking up the stairs and into Rossi's office.

"I don't." Erin kept her tone neutral, "what's your theory?" She folded her hands in front of her on the cool metal table.

"I think you were there to see him."

"What's your point, Agent?" Erin asked, sending a glare towards Agent Thomas. "He's my subordinate. I don't recall the specific reason I went to his office that day but I can assure you that it was a strictly professional matter,concerning his paperwork."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I pick up all of my agent's reports."

"So there was something missing in his reports?"

"No," Erin responded, deliberately calm. She would never incriminate Dave. Not on her life. "I was collecting his reports."

"You just told me, you didn't remember that event."

"I don't. However, the only reason I would go to his office is to pick up paperwork."

"And why do you pick up your agent's paperwork? Is it because you don't trust them to turn it in?"

"That's not true, however it is my job to check in on my agent's after a case."

"Agent Hotchner," the senior interrogator snapped.

"Yes, Sir?"

"You've been on Light Duty for several weeks now, haven't you?"

"I've seen 3 audiologists and none of them will clear me to fly." Hotch rubbed his ear to emphasize his point.

"And how did you sustain this injury?"

"An explosion. Several years ago, I was working a case in New York City."

"The original injury, correct?"

"That's right."

"And the current injury?" The interrogator leaned forward, trying to read Hotch's microexpressions.

Hotch kept his tone deliberately neutral. "A car crash."

"With Erin Strauss." The interrogator knew the answer, but Hotch wasn't about to give it up.

"With an irresponsible driver," he deadpanned. It wasn't a lie or an omission of truth. He wouldn't lose any sleep by making the Ethics Committee's job difficult.

Erin waited for the next question. The silence stretched on, Agent Thomas stayed silent, tapping away on the tablet. Erin watched the agent turn bright red in frustration.

Erin glanced over at Stan, he saw it too. The DOJ had nothing.

33 hours and counting.

"My client needs a reprieve," Stan said, "Can we pick this up in 10 minutes?"

Wordlessly, Agent Thomas stood up and unlocked Erin's handcuffs. Then turned on her heel and left the room.

"Thanks for that," Erin said dryly. She took a sip of her water and stood up. Her feet and ankles were starting to swell, she needed to get moving.

"Who else was with you when you were in the car accident that damaged your hearing?"

"I drove my Section Chief home that night."

"Why?"

"She wasn't feeling well and I wanted her to get home safely."

"DId she confide in you that night?"

"We barely spoke."

"And what did you talk about?"

"She asked me about my son, and then I made a wrong turn."

"And that's when the accident happened?"

"That's correct."

"How did the insurance company rule the accident?"

"We were hit by a drunk driver."

"Tell us again why you drove her home?"

Dave laid on the couch in his office, with his hands folded across his body. He shoved one of the decorative pillows under his head. Erin would kill him if he ruined it, but he couldn't sleep anyway. He figured that a couple of hours under his head wouldn't flatten the pillow. He wanted to be on the top of his game when it was time to be interrogated. The later it got, the more his thoughts raced. So far, Hotch was doing a good job of running out the clock. His skills as a prosecutor served them well, but for now Dave needed to prepare for his own meeting with the Ethics Committee, but he couldn't stop thinking about Erin. He squeezed his eyes shut to recenter himself, she needed him to keep it together. The only way he knew to do that, was to sleep. He got up from the sofa and flipped out the light.

28 hours and counting. Tick Tock.

5 hours passed, Stan kept a watchful eye on the clock and his client. It was late and it seemed like the interrogation was at a stand-still. Nobody had come back to cuff her since the break, 5 hours ago. She alternated between pacing the floor and sitting in the her head would drop onto the table and she would jerk herself awake.

"Are you doing okay?" He asked.

Erin nodded, barely suppressing a yawn. "I'm fine," but her actions betrayed her words. Her head dropped on the table in sheer exhaustion. The cold metal pressed against her cheek. The whole room was freezing, she pulled her coat around her just enough to chase away the goosebumps.

"Yeah whatever," Stan brushed her off and stood up. "Do you want to take a break? The clock will freeze, but you'll be able to get some sleep."

Erin shot up from the table, "hell no. I'm not sleeping in a jail cell."

He pulled a handful of peppermints out of his pocket and dropped them on the table in front of her. "Try not to fall asleep."

He knocked on the door to the interrogation room and it swung open. "I'll be right back."

"How long do you plan on making my client sweat?" Stan asked, addressing the agent in charge. He didn't give the agent time to respond, "No one is talking to my client until I get back. If you do, I'm filing a report with the Attorney general. She's gone over 15 hours without decent food or sleep. You're not taking advantage of that. Are we clear, Agent?"

"We're clear. Nobody will formally question your client until you come back, but we reserve the right to talk to her."

Erin paced the length of the interrogation room, if nothing else it helped her stay awake.

Her mind fixated on Dave, God she hoped he was at home asleep and not sitting in his office waiting to be summoned by the Ethics Committee. She glanced at her watch, somehow, she knew he wasn't at home. She kept up her pace, walking with purpose along the length of the table. All of her anger and frustration leaked out of her with every footstep. She hated being in limbo, she hated Andy, He waved a promotion under her nose like a carrot on a stick, before yanking it back. All because he didn't agree with her relationship with David. No, that wasn't right. Andy was as straight-up as they come. If he had a problem with her relationship, she would have known about it long before she landed in an interrogation room. At this moment, she hated The Bureau. She gave them so much of her life, she missed family-functions. Her marriage to Mark crumbled around her, she developed a drinking problem that would have never happened if she had a normal job. She lost everything, only to have her career brought down in flames for a budget oversight. It wasn't fair and it didn't make any sense. She played politics, she fought fair, scratch that, she fought as fair as she knew how. She did everything Andy asked her to. Even when she didn't agree with it. Now, the Bureau betrayed her in a way that no person ever had or ever would. Her heart pounded against her breastbone as she walked, giving her a second burst of energy.

She only stopped moving when she felt a sharp jab in her abdomen, letting her know she needed to slow down. Absently, she rubbed the spot where her child had kicked her and sat back down.

Stan came in a moment later, with a pizza in hand. "I didn't know what you ate, but I pulled some strings and found a pizza."

"I think you brought David Rossi back to the BAU to finish what you started." Erin glanced up at the agent in charge, cataloging his name in her memory. Agent Lambert stalked around the table, fully engaged in his own monologue. Erin glanced back at Stan for reassurance.

"What do you propose I wanted to finish, with Agent Rossi?"

"You brought him out of retirement to finish what you started in The Academy."

"It's true," Agent Lambert continued. "You had a crush on him during your time at The Academy. It wasn't a secret that he took you out once or twice…" He said all of this in a nonchalant way, that would have set a weaker person up to fail, but he wasn't wrong. David had been a very compelling man, his presence in The Academy wasn't easily ignored. He taught the first Profiling classes at The Academy and Erin never missed one, but that was ancient history…

She cocked her head to the side, studying Agent Lambert's face. She shot him a cold stare and said,"The Bureau doesn't typically pay attention to the rumor mill. Gossip implies a lack of integrity, which we both know; goes against Bureau standards. From what I know of Agent Rossi, he doesn't feed the rumor mill. If I were you, Agent Lambert I would check my sources."

"Come on, Erin." Agent Lambert sat down in the chair near her. "You're safe here. There's no shame in having a crush or going out on a date. From what I hear, he's a good person- there's no shame in bringing him out of retirement. You missed him, that's natural."

Erin bristled at the way Agent Lambert used her first name so casually. "You may address me as Section Chief Strauss." She said and fixed him with a hell-freezing glare. If I wanted to sleep with Agent Rossi, I didn't have to bring him back to The Bureau to do so." She said, with icicles on her tongue, she continued to lambast Agent Lambert. "If I were in charge of this interrogation, my agents would have all the facts before walking into the box. I'd been here over 12 hours, before anyone questioned me. You, Agent Lambert are horribly misinformed. She regarded him, the way she would a small child. Under different circumstances, she might have reached out and patted his hand. The poor bastard had no idea what he was doing. "I had nothing to do with bringing Agent Rossi back to The Bureau. Director Fickler brought him back."

"But you gave your opinion."

"I voted to leave Agent Rossi in retirement. I would sooner trap myself in my closet with an angry, wet cat. Than bring Agent Rossi out of retirement but I was overruled by the director."

"And how did that make you feel?"

Erin arched an eyebrow, "What is this? A therapy session?"

"I don't think you were listened to, you were overlooked. Climbing the corporate ladder is hard in your field, especially for a woman."

Erin studied Agent Lambert, 20 years ago he might have been considered handsome but the crags around his eyes reminded her of a topographical map of Canada. Obviously, he missed the memo on his lost youth. She stayed silent for a long moment

"Is there a point to all of this? I thought this was an interrogation, a fact-finding mission. The only thing I've found is, you weren't well briefed on the situation." She knew was coming next, his hand twitched towards hers. He was trying to build artificial familiarity between them. She pulled her hand away from him, dismissing him. " Agent Rossi and I weren't friends during my time in The Academy. I didn't want him to come back to The Bureau because I didn't think he would work well with the team."

"Tell me about the outcome of Director Fickler's decision. Agent Rossi's reputation as a hot-head precedes him."

"Obviously, Agent Rossi proved me wrong."

"You would say he's mellowed?"

"I would say that he works well with his team. He's proven himself as an asset to The Bureau."

18 hours and counting.