Chapter 15

It was the beginning of December. The team was on a case again, on the opposite side of the continent. A serial rapist assaulting and murdering older women in retirement homes in Northern California was demanding their full attention.

There was still unresolved tension between Rossi and the others, but the better JJ seemed to get along with him, the more they loosened up. It was clear that they couldn't go on like this forever, the tension was wearing on all of them.

Reid was the first one to make a step toward Rossi. They were sent to inspect one of the crime scenes by Hotch, and were sitting in the car heading there, driving in silence at first, much like all the time in the past few weeks.

Rossi had tried to use those opportunities before to talk to them, but whoever he was driving with, they had just shut him up, so he was more than just a little bit surprised when Reid suddenly began to speak.

"Are you going to end up like Gideon?" He asked hoarsely.

"Excuse me?"

"Running away when it gets too much," Reid explained.

Rossi eyed him from the side. He knew Spencer suffered the most when Gideon had suddenly left the team, and he remembered his first weeks back, when Reid tried everything to get his attention, obviously searching for someone else to relate to after his mentor was gone. It took Rossi quite a while to warm up to the genius, but after some time, he had stepped up and taken Gideon's place. Rossi realized that even though Reid had grown up quite a bit over the years, he still feared nothing more than to be abandoned by someone he trusted. The way he, Rossi, had treated JJ had only added to this fear.

"I won't," Rossi simply stated.

"I'm sorry," Reid said then.

"What for?"

"For treating you so badly."

"It's okay, Reid. I deserved it. I was an ass, and now I have to live with the consequences, but it's nothing you have to apologize for." Rossi assured him, seeing him nod from the corner of his eye.

"Why did you do it? What made you hurt JJ so much?"

Rossi shrugged. "I don't know anymore. I'm an old bastard and I've finally realized it, but I don't have a proper explanation. At least not one that won't sound ridiculous, even in my own ears. All I know is that I'm going to have to make it right, and I will, but it would be great if you guys let JJ and me work things out by ourselves."

Reid knew he was right.

They fell silent for a moment and then Rossi said: "You know, I'm really thankful that you're all there for her. It's good to know that she has friends who stand behind her one hundred percent."

"What do you mean? You don't want to be there for her?" Reid was confused.

"No, that's not what I was implying. The thing is, I want to give her everything, but I'm not sure if she'll ever be ready to take it. It's just good to know that whatever happens, she won't be alone."

Reid nodded.

"I'm sure she'll let you in again. It's hard to miss the looks she gives you, when she thinks no one's watching. Even I see it, and everyone believes I'm blind to these things."

Rossi gave him an amused smirk, and wanted to add something, but they arrived at their crime scene and therefore had to focus on another subject.

*********

The case didn't take long to figure out, thanks to Rossi. Barely twenty-nine hours later, they had a suspect in custody, and the team decided to stay another night at the hotel and then fly back home the next morning.

Prentiss and Morgan noticed the change in behavior between Reid and Rossi, and cornered Spencer on the way up to their hotel rooms, but he brushed them off, saying that he didn't need to justify who he was with.

"All right then, see you for dinner in thirty minutes," Prentiss said, shrugging, before she went off to her own room, mumbling something about Reid being naive, leaving Morgan standing alone in the foyer.

As he decided not to freshen up before dinner, he made his way over to the hotel bar. There, alone at the bar he found Rossi sitting over a glass of Scotch. At first he wanted to go back out at once, but something made him stop.

The way Rossi sat there on his own reminded him of the day they had found him sitting at this bar in Indianapolis a few months after he had joined the team. He remembered that Rossi had come a long way since then. Rossi had been quite a challenge in the beginning, the concept of a team obviously pretty foreign to him. But they had shown him, had taught him what it meant to stick together, and what they could achieve if they worked as a unit. Morgan realized that a big part of his anger toward Rossi was because he seemed to spurn their team with his egotistical behavior, with his relapse into previous manner. To him it looked like as if the team had never meant anything to Rossi, even though deep down he knew that this was not true.

"Maybe we have to teach him again," Morgan thought to himself, walking over to where Rossi was sitting, sliding onto the stool next to him.

Dave had already sensed him stepping through the door, but he was surprised that Derek actually came over to him. He wanted to tell him to go away, but somehow, it felt good to have him by his side, even if he didn't know what was waiting for him.

Morgan ordered a beer, and they sat there in silence for quite some time, until the younger man began.

"You realize that I still want nothing more than to beat the crap out of you, Rossi, don't you?"

Rossi nodded.

"I know, and I deserve it, so feel free to do it anytime you want."

"Nah, don't be pathetic. You know, as much as I hate to say it, we need you, so it wouldn't make sense to kill you. You did a great job today. The team can't afford to lose you." Morgan eyed him silently from the side, and then added: "And judging from what you look like, you can't lose the team either."

There was another moment of silence.

"I never meant to hurt anyone. Especially not JJ." Rossi muttered then.

"Yeah, well you have a very unique way of showing us," Morgan retorted sarcastically.

"I know. And I'm really sorry about everything. But things got out of control before I even realized what was going to happen," Rossi confessed. "And it was too late, before I could regain the control."

"If that's supposed to be an explanation, I have to tell you, it's a pretty poor one." Morgan snorted.

"I know, but the thing is, I don't have a proper one. I only have my intent to make it up to each and every one of you. Especially JJ, of course."

"It won't be easy."

"No, it won't." Rossi said, downing the rest of his Scotch, and throwing a twenty dollar bill onto the counter, before getting up. Morgan grabbed his sleeve. "Listen, we, uhm, we're having dinner together at this little Italian restaurant around the corner. Wanna join us?"