Chapter 17

The team arrived back in Quantico the following afternoon. For the first time in weeks they entered the bullpen together, with Rossi between them instead of five steps behind.

The flight home had been quiet, everyone was occupied with his own thoughts, and they didn't talk much, but the tension was gone. It would still take a while for everything to go back to normal, but at least now they were standing on common ground again.

"I'm going to see if there's some coffee left, before I hole up behind my paperwork," Morgan called out, going over to the break corner of the bullpen.

"That's not such a bad idea," Rossi agreed, following him. He was in a much better mood than he had been in a long time, finally being able to breathe again, as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest.

It didn't last long, though.

Walking around the corner, he stopped tracks as he was greeted with a sight that made his heart stop for a moment. Leaning on the kitchen counter was JJ, his Jennifer, with "pretty face" Agent Anderson right next to her, both smiling brightly at each other as Anderson had his hand on JJ's belly! On his baby!

The wave of jealousy that rushed through his body almost knocked him off his feet.

"Oh, hey, you're back!" JJ welcomed them as she saw them enter.

Rossi's heart began to pound loudly in his chest. Seriously, she can't be... He couldn't finish that thought. As a matter of fact, he wasn't able to think straight anymore. What was happening here? He had thought he and Jennifer were on the way to recovery, they were making progress in narrowing the gap between them! Irrationality began to take over, and he burst out loudly: "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Excuse me?" JJ froze where she was standing, the smile gone from her face within a millisecond.

Morgan threw confused looks around, not immediately comprehending what was going on. Before he could ask, Rossi yelled again, this time at Anderson: "Get the hell away from Jennifer and my child!"

Anderson's face could be best described with intimidated, as Rossi took few steps towards him. JJ recovered from her temporary frozen state and stepped between them. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, Rossi?" she shouted angrily.

"What the fuck's going on between you and this...this-?" Rossi glared furiously at her, not able to finish his question.

"Yo, Chief, back off!" Morgan interfered, but fell on deaf ears with Rossi.

"Why is he touching my baby?" Rossi became more and more agitated, as JJ's eyes nearly popped out of her head at his question.

"Stop yelling at me, Rossi! Who do you think you are, huh? You have no right to react like that!" she screamed back at him.

"The hell I have! This is my baby, and I have every right in the world-"

"Okay, stop it now! Both of you!" Morgan intervened, pulling Dave back on his arm.

Meanwhile, Hotch, Prentiss and Reid had come over as well, attracted by the noise. JJ and Rossi however had no intention of stopping their fight.

"How dare you, Rossi?" JJ spat out. "You are not in any position to ask me those kind of questions, especially not in that tone!"

"Dave, what are you doing?" Hotch asked.

Rossi turned around and snapped at him, Reid, and Prentiss. "Get the hell out of here! This is none of your business!"

"It is, when you're upsetting JJ again!" Hotch retorted.

Focusing on JJ again, Rossi shot out: "The baby's not even here, and you're already hooking up with someone else?"

JJ couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had let herself believe that maybe finally things were on the mend between her and Rossi, and then he came here and screwed them again. Shooting him dangerous glares, she was about to shout back, when Hotch tried to reach for Rossi's arm, but was slapped away by him.

"Dave, if you value your life, I'd strongly suggest you shut up now!" he warned, preparing himself for physically removing his friend from the breakroom if he was not willing to come with him. Seeing the tears begin to form in JJ's eyes, he made a second attempt at grabbing Rossi. "Let's get out of here, Dave. You better go back to your office until you're calmed down, and when you did so, I want to see you and JJ in my office in fifteen minutes!" He and Morgan dragged Rossi out, and Emily went over to JJ and embraced her in a tight hug.

"You really know how to mess things up, don't you, Rossi?" she yelled after him.

And then Rossi froze in his tracks as he heard the most determined voice he knew and that he'd never imagined to hear at the BAU.

"What have you done now, son?"

Spinning around, he saw that his ears hadn't been deceiving him. His mother was stepping out of the elevator and walking over to where he, Hotch, and Morgan were standing, carrying a plate with a cake in her hands.

"I thought you could use a surprise when Davey told me on the phone that you were coming back from a case this afternoon, but I have a feeling that I am interrupting something serious here." Gracia Rossi looked around, and her eyes fell on a crying JJ. Furrowing her brows, she repeated her question, this time with even more force behind it.

"What have you done, David Rossi?"

And right in this moment, Rossi realized that he was doomed.