Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement.

Summary: This is a collection of one-shots for season 7.

Author's Notes: This is a tag for 7x02, "Proof." This is a conversation between Rossi and Reid after the cooking lesson regarding Reid's broken relationship with JJ. It alludes to a desired Rossi/JJ relationship in the future. Rating: K+

This is my first time writing for Criminal Minds, so I'm a bit nervous. If you watch Bones, I've written several stories for that show.

"Reid, can you hang back a few minutes so we can talk?" asked Rossi once his teammates started filing out the door shortly after their Italian cooking lesson.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Reid said uncertainly. If he had known this would happen, he would have thought more about whether he wanted to join the team that night.

They walked back to the kitchen to sit on the barstools. He poured a cup of coffee for each of them before broaching the subject of JJ. He decided to approach it without singling her out. "Are things better with JJ and Prentiss?" asked Rossi.

Reid sighed. He knew he'd exploded at JJ in front of the team and regretted it. He wondered how the team would ever see him as mature with the way he acted."I talked with Prentiss on the plane. I can see her point of view. But JJ, I confided in her for weeks. It's harder to forget the feeling of betrayal. She pretended to grieve with us. How are you so quickly willing to forgive that?"

"I'm not criticizing your reaction. It was bound to be harder for you."

"Why would you think that?" He felt a bit insulted.

"I had a hunch about what was going on. You were completely in the dark and blindsided," admitted Rossi.

"You knew? We're not supposed to be profiling each other," he glared at the senior agent. "I trusted her because that's what we do. We're family."

"Profiling is ingrained in me."

He snorted softly. "What does that say about me?"

"Reid, don't beat yourself up. You're a good profiler. You wouldn't be on the team if you weren't. You knew that there was something going on with Emily. The majority of your profiling skills are with the research and background of the psychopaths we hunt down. You get into the minds of the sorry excuse for people from the knowledge you've gained about how they think. Your geographical profiling is exceptional. We'd be without a vital piece of the puzzle without you. So, don't sell yourself short."

Reid studied the man in front of him. He felt somewhat better. Morgan was good at encouraging him, but Rossi was using the angle that Gideon often used. And it felt good.

Rossi could tell he wasn't convinced. It wasn't like he'd had this kind of discussion with the man before. "Besides, people tend to overlook the obvious the closer they are to the person."

He shook his head. "We're all a part of the family."

"JJ calls you Spence. You're Henry's godfather. She makes you feel like a brother."

Reid winced at his words and Rossi narrowed his eyes wondering what he was thinking. "You're feelings are more than brotherly?" He attempted to mask his surprise.

"Don't be absurd. JJ is with Will. She had Henry with him."

"I don't think that's going to last much longer. He's not happy that she's returned to the BAU. He doesn't like the hours and she's putting herself in more danger being in the field as a profiler."

"And how do you know this?" "How close were JJ and Rossi?" he thought to himself.

"She cares about you, Reid. Don't you think this was hard for her to keep from you? Can you imagine how she must have felt every time she had to see and talk to you? She needed a friend to talk to as much as you did even though she couldn't give you all the information."

That gave him something to think about. He'd been so caught up in his feelings of betrayal; he regretfully admitted to himself, he hadn't thought about her feelings of guilt. He needed to talk with her soon. He hoped he hadn't damaged things beyond repair.

"Do you think she'll forgive me for my behavior towards her in front of the team?" He looked anxious.

"Yes, I do," said Rossi confidently.

Reid sighed with relief.

"So, you'll talk to her? Everything is good with you?"

"Yes, I'll recover. I need to talk to her soon though." He hesitated briefly. "So you really think JJ and Will are done?"

"Damn," thought Rossi. "All I intended to do was make things better for Jen. Did I just give myself some competition? "