And an extra for the scads of folks who asked me, "Please write how Rossi and Prentiss got together. I love those two!"... Just know, I aim to please (And I love those two, too!). Love, Kricket

Chapter 7- Prologue- Four Years before the epilogue...

It was the end of one of the longest, but most rewarding, cases the BAU team had ever been on. Seven days, twenty-three hours later, the team was finally on their way home. Everyone was on a high, but they also were wiped out from the length of the case.

"We done good," Rossi said, sitting next to Spencer Reid. Dave had a newspaper in his hand. After being in the midst of a case, he lost track of current events, so he always read a paper when he was done with a case to reconnect.

Reid looked up from his book and smiled. "I concur."

"I'm just glad it's over," Emily said, walking down the aisle. She had just exited the bathroom.

"You can say that again," Morgan replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

She smiled snarkily, and repeated, "I'm just glad it's over."

"Smart ass," Derek retorted, but gently and with a smirk of his own.

"Considering the magnitude and complexity of the case, and the sheer number of victims, the fact that we narrowed down and-"

Rossi tossed his paper at Reid, interrupting the younger man's play-by-play. "Like I said, we done good."

"That we did," Hotch added with a grin. A moment later, his cell phone beeped. He glanced at the incoming text and frowned. "That's Haley. I better get this."

As he stood and walked to a more private part of the jet, Prentiss said, "We should get together tonight, all of us. Have a celebration drink."

Reid shook his head sadly. "I have a convention in DC I need to go to this weekend. I'm leaving early tomorrow."

"Star Trek?" Morgan asked with a shit eating grin.

"Actually, no. It's a magic convention. I'm learning new hocus pocus to shock and awe you all," he answered, wiggling his fingers in mid air, as if he were conjuring a spell.

"How 'bout you, JJ?" Rossi asked.

"It's been seven days since I've seen my son," she said. She didn't elaborate any more. She didn't need to.

"Morgan?" Prentiss asked.

He shook his head. "No, I can't. I got plans with a honey I simply can't break."

"Bring her with," Rossi said diplomatically.

Derek arched a brow at him, adding a smirk. "Naked plans, Rossi."

Prentiss made a sour face. "Have fun."

Derek grinned back at her, and leaned into his seat.

"I'll try Garcia," Emily said, shooting off a quick text.

A quick response came back: I got the flu.

"What?" Derek said, reading over Prentiss's shoulder. He sat up and frowned. "She's sick? She didn't say she was sick..." He immediately pulled out his phone and hit a button. "Yeah, Baby Girl. What's this I hear you're sick and you didn't let your sweetness know? I'm gon-"

His voice trailed away as she stood and walked away, the overwrought concern he showed was almost comical.

Prentiss shook her head with a chuckle just under her breath. "God, those two."

"I know," Dave answered, and he knew he had the same look Emily had on her face. It wasn't the first time he thought the same about something that Emily did. They really were two peas in a pod.

He grinned at the beautiful brunette. "Nauseating, isn't it?"

"Utterly." She was grinning, too.

For an immeasurable amount of time, Rossi looked at Prentiss and really studied her, the strong, yet feminine, line of her jaw, the smooth characteristic of her skin, milky and white. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She was looking at him, too...and looked completely bowled over by what she saw and felt.

Again, Dave knew he looked the exact same way.

Reid looked up from his book, with a confused look on his face. "Why are you two smiling so much?"

Dave ignored him, and leaned forward, a bit closer to the object of his thoughts. "Emily, would you like to have dinner with me? I know this excellent Italian place-"

"Yes," she blurted quickly, obviously surprising him and herself.

"Good," he said, nodding. Then he smiled, and for the first time in a very long time, it was a genuine smile, full of warmth and promise, and completely lacking snark. "Good. I'll follow you to your place from the BAU."

Emily gave a coy smile and sat back in her chair. "How about I just ride with you instead?"

"Oh, snap," JJ interjected with a grin, finally reminding both Rossi and Prentiss they had an audience.

Reid simply looked confused and stunned.

Dave could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, and caught a glimpse of himself in the jet's mirrored windows. Dear God, was that a blush under his swarthy Italian skin?

Emily just grinned at him and winked, the little minx.

Reaching for his paper again, he snapped it open, then looked at Prentiss around the paper with a grin. "Sounds like a plan."