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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: BAD OMENS ( aka 04x06: the instincts )
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DALLIS WAS KIDDING HERSELF, but what else was new? There was no possible way for her to forget the touch of another's lips on hers when that other person had taken her heart hostage. Rossi's kiss lingered in her conscious mind during her waking hours then followed her into her dreams. It taunted her with a future she wanted to sink her teeth into, yet the fruit of possibility hung just out of reach.
Was it wrong to change her mind? She had asked him to pretend it never happened (sure, not in so many words, though it was more or less implied) and yet there she was reliving it over and over, imagining what it would be like to kiss him whenever she wanted. Maybe Dallis was just a glutton for punishment but she refused to hurt Rossi in the process. She had to get her shit together.
Another two weeks came and went following her birthday in Sacramento. JJ had finished Agent Todd's training; however, their temporary Communications Liaison was yet to join the team on a case. JJ's pregnancy was creeping past the eight month mark but she clung to these last few weeks with them like they were invaluable jewels. She'd be back after a few months but there was something permanent about starting a family that would rival the importance of your work. It wouldn't really be the same anymore.
"Reid," said Rossi, and just the sound of his voice had Dallis' breath hitching. "Reid."
Reid had fallen asleep not long after getting comfortable on the jet. They were on their way to Las Vegas for a child abduction case and Dallis was surprised that Reid's thoughts had stopped racing long enough for him to drift off. Vegas was his hometown. It was meant to be his element. When Rossi's arm snaked over Dallis' crossed thighs to nudge him awake, his eyes snapped open with a little too much ferocity. The blood had drained from his face, leaving him pale and disorientated.
"You alright?" Dallis asked but she failed to hear his answer when Rossi's hand withdrew and settled on her knee. "Sorry, what did you say?"
Rossi's mouth curled into a smirk. The heel of Dallis' boot tapped an uneven rhythm against the base of the couch, bouncing her knee beneath his hand. Rossi's fingers soothed the anxious tic with a gentle squeeze before he released her and sat back into the cushions.
"I was dreaming," Reid repeated, squinting against the sunlight that poured through the windows.
"No kidding," Emily laughed but her grin was quick to drop when Reid continued, "We found a six-year-old boy who had been abused and stabbed. Your baby was at the crime scene, JJ. I was trying to get him out of there."
"Well, that took a turn," Dallis commented.
"Sorry..."
"It's okay?" JJ frowned, ghosting a protective hand over her stomach.
