sixwordstories | (no subject)

You have my word that I'll look the other way.

I got forty-seven phonecalls. Forty-seven. My voicemail was full when I turned my phone back on.

I do sort of feel bad for insulting that one reporter's mother, though. Sort of.

He's already going to be censured for his behaviour. Strauss saw it before I did - it's coming from higher than me. He'll probably be getting an official letter of reprimand on his record. [And Hotch was fine with that. It wasn't a lie, like Jordan had told, but it was extremely unprofessional and Hotch was even planning on having a talk with Rossi about silently condoning it.]

-- oh wow, okay. Now I do feel bad. I guess it was pretty disruptive to the case, though. Just don't -- be too hard on him, I guess?

For harassing a fellow agent? Unfortunately, this much is out of my hands. You know as well as I do how much Erin loves bureaucracy. [And a letter of reprimand was bureaucracy at its finest.]

... does screwing with his mp3 player count as harassment? I should just stop now, before we both get into more trouble.

Strauss has a strong affinity for paperwork, it's true. I need to finish -- our forms. I sort of put them on hold when you were away, because I wasn't sure -- but I'll finish them tonight. They're at home.

Don't worry - I'm pretty sure nobody will be reporting your trick with the mp3 player, especially since they probably couldn't figure out how you did it. [He smiled slightly, though, at the mention of their paperwork. Their forms. He reached over to squeeze Spencer's arm.] And I'd really appreciate you finishing those. I'd like to come up with another good date for us to go on.

No, I'm definitely finishing that tonight. Think of it as a peace offering. [He slips his hand into Hotch's, squeezing it gently.

Though he and JJ still weren't getting along great, he'd more or less stopped being angry at Hotch. Hotch had, after all, been the one to actually acknowledge why Reid was upset and apologize for it, instead of telling him he shouldn't be upset]

You don't need to offer me an olive branch. Mostly, I want to see you smiling again - and... that seems to be happening. Bit by bit. [It made him glad. He'd worried, for a while, that he'd never see anything but bitter neutrality in Spencer's eyes.]

Jennifer and I still aren't -- [He bites his lip with a sigh.] It's going to take some time. I feel like she and Prentiss haven't really -- apologized? I mean, they've explained themselves to the n'th degree, but they haven't really understood why I'm hurt, or how they're a part of it.

But I'm starting to let things go and move on. Or trying, anyway.

I'd offer to talk to them, but I think it's something they need to figure out on their own. [As much as he'd hated it when Haley said that to him, in this case, he'd say it of his own accord.] Even if I think you might need to... help them along with it.

I just feel like they're not doing anything to understand me. Though I probably could do a better job at trying to be understood.

That's... I really hate to generalise, but that's something I learned from being married to Haley. Once a woman has decided that she knows what the problem is, it's hard to change her mind, even if she really is wrong.

Is this like the shoes thing? Some great mystery of women I'll never fully understand?

I think so. ...But then, I also think that the women don't really understand it.

I'll -- try and talk to them. It's probably best we put this behind us.

At least tell them why you're upset. Even if they... still don't get it.