"Sir?" I knocked lightly on Hotch's open office door. "You wanted to see me when I got in?"
There was no doubt what this meeting was going to be about since it was the first time anyone had to be in the office since Hotch and I had our disagreement in Portland. I'm sure he wasn't thrilled about me telling him off in front of the rest of the team and I most certainly wasn't happy about not being able to show emotion during a case.
Hotch was actually on the phone when I came in and quickly told whoever was on the line that he'd give them a call back. "Go ahead and take a seat Sam," he said nodding towards an empty chair in front of his desk.
"Look, Hotch," I began taking my seat.
Hotch raised his hand to interrupt my train of thought, "Sam, please, let me begin."
Aaron furrowed his brow and got up from behind his desk taking a seat just in front of me on the corner of his desk. "This is the job," Hotch began taking a seat on the corner of his desk, his arms crossed protectively across his chest, "I need to know that you won't get too emotionally attached to cases like that."
Part of me just wanted to reach out and slap Aaron but my better judgment decided against it, instead my verbal filter must have been out of service today. "Like I told you back in that cemetery Hotch, I need to be able to look myself in the mirror and maybe soon I can shut my emotions off but that's not who I am now and judging the circumstances I acted quite reasonably."
Aaron reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and just shook his head at me. "I'm not asking you to shut off all your emotions," he responded in a flat tone.
"What exactly are you asking me, Hotch?"
Hotch let out a heavy sigh which was followed by several seconds of silence. I was deathly afraid that I had just pushed my new boss too far, but I was not about to give up what I believed in and I sure as hell wasn't going to give up on who I was; who my father raised me to be.
"Next time you're like that I suggest you get out of view from the local authorities and god forbid the press is present," he finally spoke up cutting through the tension in the room.
"Deal," I agreed and let my shoulders relax.
I got up and was about to head out the door when Hotch made one more comment, "Sam, one more thing if you don't mind?"
Turning around I was met by Hotch, who had silently gotten up off of his desk and was right behind me. I actually almost hit him when I had turned around. "Yes, sir?"
Hotch's mouth had a dangerous smirk lingering in a corner. "Next time you want to question me in front of everyone…don't do it or there will be some sort of disciplinary action taken. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir." I assured him, my knees feeling like they were about to give out from underneath me. "It will never happen again."
"Well," Hotch cleared his throat and nodded towards the door, "Then I believe that's all we need to talk about right now."
Without another word I left Hotch's office and my way back down to the bullpen, where somehow most of the team was acting as if they were busy working. The dead give away was Reid who was sitting in front of his computer staring at the screen which had gone into sleep mode.
"What happened?" Reid asked over his computer. "Are you in trouble?"
"Yeah," Morgan agreed getting up and coming over to start poking me. "You're not hurt or bleeding are you?"
Quickly slapping Morgan's arm away from me I gave everyone a reassuring smile. "Believe me, I'm fine. Hotch and I came to a clear understanding of each other."
"I don't know what you've done to, Hotch." Emily shook her head as Morgan retreated back to his desk. "But whatever it is will you please keep it up; it's keeping him off of our asses."
"Yeah," I laughed at them, "I'll definitely keep up whatever I'm doing. Maybe me being in the doghouse is what saves everyone else."
My eyes wandered up towards Hotch's office windows and realized that he was looking down on us in the bullpen from behind his blinds; I couldn't help but think I saw a faint smile flash across his face as everyone bragged about how they rarely ever get in trouble around the office.
/0/0/
The rest of the week went on without much excitement, unless you consider consulting the DC police on the profile of a man who took enjoyment from peeping into public official's homes a busy week for the BAU. For me however, it was all about keeping my head down after the minor incident with Hotch.
"Grab your stuff," Dave said quickly, tapping the top of my desk as he walked passed. "We're going for a drive."
Before Rossi was able to reach the glass doors I was up out of my seat, grabbing my purse. There were several questionable glances from Reid and Prentiss to which I just responded with a shrug, I was just as confused as they were.
"Rossi," I began as soon as the elevator doors closed on Dave and me, "What's going on?"
"You and I need to catch up," Dave responded, glancing over at me from out the corner of his eye. "That and after the week you've had it would be a good time to do just that."
I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Same old Rossi, I should have known."
"What?" He asked as the doors opened to the first floor. "What is that supposed to mean, kiddo?"
"Everyone already knows I already got an earful from Hotch," I said with a smile crossing the threshold of the building. "Now they're going to think that I did something to offend the legendary David Rossi. This isn't going to help my reputation, you do know that right?"
Pulling out a pair of sunglasses Dave gave me a wide grin. "You make it sound like you have something to prove Sammy."
"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take that, Dave."
"It's always a compliment when it comes to you."
Dave led me to his SUV and slipped behind the wheel, neither one of us sure what to say but I could feel that there was something that Dave needed to talk about and was just looking for a way to bring it up. I just sat there next to him in silence watching the academy campus pass by out the window.
"So," Dave began once we were officially off the campus, "How long has it been?"Rossi was clearly referring to the last time we met up to eat, or in most cases get a drink.
"Almost three years ago, you were in Chicago doing a consult during your annual leave-"
Rossi's face lit up at the memory. "Now I remember," he interrupted. "You were making fun of me because I should have been enjoying my leave instead of working through it. That wasn't long before you did your couple months of undercover work, wasn't it?"
I slammed my eyes shut when he mentioned my time working undercover for the organized crime unit; it was by no means a happy memory for me. "Yeah, it was."
"I'm sorry I haven't been there. I'm really not looking after you like I promised your father, am I?" Rossi looked at me frowning. "Sammy, I know that it's getting close to that time of year but know that you don't have to go it alone anymore."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. "Dave, I don't want you holding my hand after every case," I began, "I just want to know people have my back, that's all. As for what time of year it is, I'm used to dealing with the anniversary of my father's murder alone. I'm just thankful no one else's family has to be tortured by whoever did it."
Something flashed across Dave's face so quickly I didn't have enough time to read what it was, I wanted to believe that it was just the shadows of passing trees playing tricks on my mind but I felt that whatever it was would soon reveal itself.
"So you're treating for lunch I assume," I asked just to keep things rolling and break the tension that filled the car.
"You know me too well," Dave answered turning the SUV into the parking lot to what happened to be an Italian restaurant.
So Hotch and Sam have come to an understanding, right? Yeah, we'll go with that.
What about Rossi? Is something going on with him?
I am going to warn you that this story is going to pick up because there is a whole lot that still needs to happen to this team. Most of it is going to revolve around Hotch, Sam and Rossi. I want to hear all of your theories! No...really! I want to hear them! :D