The few times in his life that it had been necessary, Dave had figuratively licked his wounds in private. This was the first time ever that he’d been not only forced to do so in a relatively public venue, that of a JAG holding cell, but that he also had to do it literally. Aaron had gotten in some serious slices across his midriff and along his back. If he’d been even a fraction slower in getting out of the way of either blow, Dave knew that he’d be dead. As it was, if the EMTs hadn’t arrived so quickly, he probably would have bled to death.

It was a sobering thought.

Even now, with his stomach and back throbbing angrily in time to his pulse, Dave was trying to figure out how it had gotten so damn out of hand. The whole afternoon was a haze and that scared the daylights out of him. He’d never been in a killing rage in his life, but he knew the symptoms. It was always tricky with more than one Alpha in a pack and everyone knew that the instinctive urges could so easily overcome rational thought.

I just didn’t think I was that far gone, Dave thought, bewildered, staring at his hands. I respect Aaron’s authority. Hell, I like the guy. Why would I just snap like that?

He’d been feeling restless the last couple of months, but had attributed it to too many long hours spent indoors and out of his own territory, what with all the travel the team had been doing. He’d had no inkling that he’d been anywhere near a killing rage. Sure, he thought Aaron’s style of ‘leadership’ was a little more laid-back than it should be; too egalitarian for a pack’s instinctive structure. There was too much that could go wrong without a clear line of authority from the top on down. But even so, he hadn’t actively been thinking about challenging Aaron.

Dave knew he wasn’t being entirely unreasonable with his philosophy on how things should go, most packs ran that way. The BAU pack, though, it didn’t sit right with Dave that Aaron essentially just kept an eye on everyone instead of actively leading them. Not to mention the lax security. He’d tried to show that to Spencer over the last couple of weeks, to demonstrate just how vulnerable he was.

None of that explained how he’d wound up in a fight to the death with Aaron. If Derek hadn’t thought fast enough, hadn’t turned the hose on them, Dave knew one of them would be dead and suspected that it would’ve been himself.

“Rossi.”

Dave looked up at the flat statement of his name to find Admiral Chegwidden standing outside the cell. They’d never met, but there wasn’t a Shifter in the DC area who didn’t know the man on sight. He was tall and broad, imposing in his Navy uniform, even the everyday one, and practically crackled authority like an electrical storm. Pale blue eyes met his and there was no hint of clemency in them.

A chill ran through him as he realized just how much trouble he was in. Aaron would be fine; he’d been defending himself and his pack. As the aggressor, Dave was in the wrong. Standing, he replied cautiously, “Admiral Chgwidden.”

“What happened?” the Admiral questioned bluntly.

Still confused about that himself, Dave decided to throw himself on the other man’s mercy and hope for the best. He admitted, “I don’t know, Admiral. Everything’s…fuzzy.”

That got him a frown and the man questioned, “Fuzzy, how?”

Dave made a vague gesture with his hand and then answered, “Just fuzzy. I know that I challenged Hotch’s dominance, and in public, but…I don’t know why, Admiral. It was a true, killing rage, but with no motivation.”

“Are you devolving?”

The phrase was polite, and the tone neutral, but the question also sent a chill down his spine. Dave swallowed against a suddenly dry throat and replied honestly, “I don’t know.”

There was a long pause and then Chegwidden questioned, “Why did you attack Dr. Reid?”

Dave’s eyes widened in shock and he demanded, “What? I didn’t!”

Chegwidden considered him silently and then said, “You attacked Dr. Reid in the file room and would have raped him, had Agent Hotchner not stopped you. Hotchner went feral protecting him.”

Dave’s mind reeled from the statement and he dropped back onto the cot in shock. There was no equivocation in the other man; he wasn’t trying to get a rise out of him.

“You don’t remember.”

Shaking his head, Dave ran a shaky hand through his hair and said, “No wonder Aaron didn’t hold back. Jesus. After losing Gideon, there’s no way he’d countenance any kind of threat to his remaining mate. What the fuck is going on?”

Chegwidden stared at him a moment longer before saying, “That’s what I intend to find out. I think for now, it’s best if you stay here the night. I’m going to have a medic take a blood sample, if you’ll agree?”

It wasn’t really a question, but Dave nodded anyhow as he guessed, “You think I was drugged.”

“I’m reserving judgment,” Chegwidden corrected. “I’ll put a rush on it, but it could be a couple of days before the results come back. Don’t return to the BAU under any circumstances. Do not approach any of your former teammates, especially not Agent Hotchner or Dr. Reid. Go home and stay there until I say otherwise. Am I understood?”

Dave nodded, still numb from what he’d almost done to Spencer.

Chegwidden left him alone then, to his silent guards and screaming conscience.

The medic showed up about twenty minutes later and performed her duties as silently as the MPs did theirs. He stretched out after she was done and closed his eyes, but his mind raced with the scant information that Chegwidden had given him. Dave did manage to get some sleep that night, but not a lot.

By the time the MPs unlocked the door at some prearranged time the next morning to give him clothes to change into, he felt like hell. His stomach and back hurt like a sonuvabitch, but he refused to ask for painkillers because this was pain that he deserved. His natural healing abilities had already kicked in and he’d be mostly healed within a couple of days. Until then, this would be his own, personal form of penance.

The cab ride home was very painful, thanks to the pressure on his wounded back and the jostling over every pothole. Dave breathed through the pain and tried to ignore it as best he could. When he finally got home and paid the cabbie, the walk to the front door was excruciating. He kept his back straight by will alone and didn’t even bother going upstairs to his bedroom, instead walking to the guest room at the back of the first floor.

He immediately stripped and carefully stretched out onto his sigh, sinking onto the mattress with a groan of pain and relief. The trip had taken a lot out of him and he slept like the dead for several hours, waking partially on his stomach and confused about where he was. The events of the last day returned all too quickly and he sighed in bewildered anger.

Of course, now it was late afternoon and unlikely that he’d sleep that night so he got up and carefully made his way to the kitchen. His entire body was one massive, throbbing ache on top of the actual mauling, no doubt from having the fire hose turned on him. The whole situation was insane and he wanted nothing more than to turn back time to make it never have happened.

Since that wasn’t possible, Dave slowly walked to the laundry room where he dug out some sweats and pulled them on. He returned to the kitchen and heated up a can of soup, knowing that he needed to eat something, even if the thought of food turned his stomach. The stress of rapid healing needed to be supplemented with food and liquids and soup qualified as both in his book.

A knock at his door startled him about a half-hour later. He looked out the window to make sure it wasn’t Morgan or Hotch with a weapon to finish the job, just in case. Not that he would blame either of them for it, but he had no intention of dying to make up for what he’d done.

It was Strauss, though, which made him frown in surprise. Answering the door, he greeted, “Erin? What brings you here?”

She walked by him, apparently taking that as an invitation to come in. He sighed to himself and closed the door, following her deeper into the living room where she paced, clearly agitated.

“Someone is pulling strings,” she snapped, “and in my own department! How did Hotchner contact the military and why? Why would they take you into custody, Dave? They had no authority to do that in a civilian matter, let alone a Federal one.”

He couldn’t explain any of it to her, so Dave just said, “It was a misunderstanding.”

Strauss stopped short and demanded incredulously, “A misunderstanding? Dave, you’d just finished being treated for serious injuries when they took you away!”

Dave nodded and firmly repeated, “A misunderstanding. They had a warrant for a David Rossi when I was brought to JAG and bogus information that had pointed them at me. The MPs were just doing their job, Erin.”

She gave him a deeply suspicious look, which he met steadily, willing her to believe him. After a few seconds, Strauss looked away and said, “I know Hotchner’s behind this, we just have to prove it.”

A little alarmed by her almost manic expression, Dave asked, “Where is he now?”

“I was ordered to release him,” she snapped. “By Assistant Director Skinner, of all people!”

The news surprised Dave, considering how hands-off the man was in regards to packs within the FBI. While technically only an AD, Skinner had amassed a lot of power over the last fifteen years. Most of that came from surviving some kind of dark coup that ‘regular’ agents weren’t supposed to know about. The BAU wasn’t a normal unit, though, and were semi-privy to some of the events that had gone down.

That Skinner had personally intervened told Dave just how very screwed up everything was. It felt a lot like the world was spinning off its axis and he took a slow, deep breath, both to regulate the pain running through him and stave off an overreaction. Strauss’ unusually emotional response was affecting him and he couldn’t let it, not if he wanted to find out what was going on.

“Erin, why don’t you have a seat? Do you want something to drink?” Dave offered.

Strauss looked at him as if he was out of his mind for a few seconds and then seemed to realize how she was coming across. That her behavior was out of character. She took a breath of her own and then forced a smile, turning from hot to cold in the space of an instant.

Dave had the vague thought that she was either an exceptionally good actress or a sociopath.

Nodding, she sat and accepted, “That sounds good, thank you, Dave.”

Dave walked over to the scotch bottle he kept on a small table by the wall and poured them both a healthy portion. Dave handed her one and took his own to the recliner, carefully sitting and slowly relaxing into it, wincing when his back touched the cushion.

Looking concerned, Strauss asked, “How are you feeling? I don’t know where he hid the knife he got you with, but my people ripped apart that office and came up with nothing. I’m sorry, Dave.”

He waved it off and said, “I’ll be fine, thank you, Erin. I’m more concerned with how the rest of the team is doing.”

Strauss took a sip of the scotch and then said, “Agent Morgan is temporarily in charge, until you get back. Garcia didn’t even show up today, nor did Dr. Reid, though Agent Morgan didn’t see fit to tell me why not. Hotchner is, of course, on suspension.”

Dave knew that he had to tread lightly here. Strauss’ vendetta against Aaron was no secret. It was part of why he’d been brought in after Gideon’s defection in the first place. Strauss wanted someone on the team that she thought she could trust, if not outright control. Choosing his words carefully, Dave told her, “If he’s on suspension, then I should be too. I started the fight, Erin.”

She frowned at him. “Excuse me?”

“I started it,” Dave confirmed. “And I got in a few serious blows, myself.”

“He had a knife. You were cut open! That doesn’t even compare.”

“It does if he thought that he was threatened. Granted, it’s all a bit hazy for me right now, whether we escalated from words or there was some other catalyst,” Dave almost closed his eyes in shame as the image of Spencer struggling against him struck without warning. Letting out a sharp breath, he continued, “but the end result is the same. If he’s on suspension, then I should be, too.”

She grimaced, but said, “You always were too fair for your own good. All right. I’ll take him off suspension, but there will be a full investigation as to what exactly happened and punishment will be accorded depending on the severity of the findings. Such as how many stitches you needed.”

The pointed words provoked the ghost of a smile and Dave replied, “Not so many as all that. I’ll be fine in a few days. It will be in my statement, I promise.”

She stood at that and promised in turn, “I’ll get him for this, Dave. He’s unfit to lead anyone, let alone the pride of the FBI. His violent escalation against you proves that.”

Dave bit back the protest he wanted to make, knowing that it would fall on deaf ears. He started to stand as well, but she waved him to stay seated.

“No, don’t get up. You get some rest, all right? I’ll call you tomorrow and check on you.”

“Thank you, Erin,” he replied.

Once the door closed behind her, Dave let out a long, shaky breath. There was definitely something off about Strauss’ behavior, but he couldn’t place what. She’d smelled angry and agitated, which she’d obviously been, but it was more than that, he knew it in his gut. The question, of course, was what?

His phone rang and he hesitated, wary, on seeing Morgan’s name on the ID. Deciding he might as well get it over with, Dave answered, “Hello, Morgan.”

There was a short silence before Derek asked, “What the fuck were you thinking, Rossi?”

“I wasn’t,” Dave answered honestly.

“No shit.”

Dave grimaced, but knew from the other man’s point of view, that he was in the wrong. Sighing, he said, “Derek, I don’t know what happened. I barely remember the entire afternoon. Just flashes really.”

Spencer’s frightened face hit him again and Dave grit his teeth.

“What, you mean like you were drugged?” Derek asked, suspicion plain in his voice.

Dave shifted forward to relieve the pressure on his back as he answered, “Admiral Chegwidden took a blood sample to see if it’s a possibility.”

Still sounding angry, Derek questioned, “What about the stalking?”

Wincing, Dave thought about what to say and then admitted freely, apologetically, “No, that I did. I was…well, I was trying to show Spencer how vulnerable he was. That Hotch didn’t deserve to be Alpha because he couldn’t protect him the way that I could. I was…out of line with him a few times, I’ll admit to that, too. I was even over the harassment line a couple of times and he can bring me up on charges for that, if he wants, I won’t fight it. But I swear to God, Derek, I would never have pushed it further. I would never have tried to rape Spencer in my right mind. On my life, Derek.”

There was a long silence and Dave waited, praying that the other man believed him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Morgan finally said, “Okay. I believe you.”

Dave let out a sigh of relief, not bothering to hold it back. “So what now?”

“Gideon’s back and looking for your blood, so you need to stay home until we figure this thing out,” Derek said bluntly.

Shock of a different kind ran through him at the news. Even without all this insanity, he and Jason Gideon had never been friends. More like barely-cordial rivals thanks to Aaron, both of them interested in him but holding off for different reasons. It was entirely probable that Derek hadn’t been exaggerating, that Gideon really was out for his blood.

Derek continued, “I’m going to call the Admiral and see if there’s any news on the blood test. I’ll also fill the others in on what you told me. For now…just stay away, Rossi.”

It hurt almost worse than his injuries to be told that, to be excluded from the pack. Maybe permanently. All those years without a pack and he’d been fine, he’d been good even, and now that he’d finally found one, he’d fucked it up. Still, he bit back his pain and agreed, “I’ll wait for you to call.”

“Good. Okay…see ya, Rossi.”

Somehow, it felt like more than a simple goodbye.

* * * *

Derek took a few minutes to breathe through the roiling emotions struggling to make it through his control. He had to keep things on an even keel if the pack were to make it through intact and, while the call with Rossi had cleared some things up, he couldn’t say that it had been at all comforting or reassuring. They were fractured right now, the pack structure shattered from the fight for dominance and its resulting injuries plus Gideon’s return.

On the one hand, if drugs had been involved then Rossi was blameless for the violence of his actions. His attack on Spencer and the very public setting were also off the table, if he’d been dosed. If. The jury was still out on that, although Derek couldn’t see any other reason for such a major lapse in character and judgment.

On the other hand, after months spent working together, he could say with a pretty high degree of certainty that Rossi would have moved on Hotch anyhow. It would’ve been done in private and without any threat to Spencer, but it would have happened at some point. It really wasn’t in the man’s nature not to take control of a situation, especially if people he cared about were involved. Derek couldn’t deny that Rossi cared about all of them, including Hotch.

Sighing, Derek scrubbed his nails over his scalp and thought about what to do next. The office was almost back to normal, thanks to JJ having the admin services people wrapped around her dainty little finger. One more day and there would be no official reason for the rest of the team not to return to work, but he knew they weren’t anywhere near ready to do so.

A tentative knock at the door caught his attention and he saw JJ standing outside Hotch’s office, which Derek had temporarily commandeered. It was really the only place left intact in the immediate vicinity. He forced a smile and waved her in, so she pushed the door open and stepped inside. “What can I do for you, JJ?”

“I was just wondering if that was Hotch on the phone.”

Derek shook his head. “It was Rossi.”

She stiffened and then questioned, “What did he have to say for himself?”

The tone was calm, but the fire in her blue eyes that reminded Derek a lot of a mama wolf ready to attack. Not that he was surprised; Spencer was pretty much the pet of every woman in the pack, even Prentiss. He told her, “He might’ve been drugged. Chegwidden’s looking into it now.”

JJ frowned, mulling over his words for a long moment before asking, “When will we know?”

Morgan shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but I’d think in the next twenty-four hours. No way does Chegwidden want us to be in limbo for long.”

She nodded slowly and then said, “If he was drugged…I don’t know, Derek. Most drugs loosen inhibitions that are already there, they don’t make you go crazy like that. Unless it was ecstasy or PCP and it didn’t feel like that. He was too focused.”

“You think you won’t be able to take him back? Even if he was drugged?”

JJ sighed and answered honestly, “I don’t know.”

Derek offered her a brief, humorless smile. “Join the club.”

A sharp rap at the door startled him and he looked over to find Gideon outside. A sense of relief flashed through Derek even though it was disloyal to Hotch. Gideon had been his first alpha and would probably always hold that position in Derek’s heart. While he’d never been thrilled with Gideon’s disappearing act, he’d understood it and a lot better than Spencer had. Hell. They all understood better than Spencer did. Sometimes you just had to try and outrun the darkness.

Standing, he smiled for real for what seemed like the first time in days and then motioned the other man in.

JJ was also smiling as Gideon entered the office and she went to hug him, holding on tight for a minute before letting go.

Derek shook his hand and then pulled him into a shorter hug, slapping him on the back and then stepping back to say, “It is damn good to see you again, Gideon.”

Gideon half-smiled in return and replied, “It’s good to be back. How are you, JJ?”

JJ sighed, but continued to smile as she answered, “I’m good. You? Are you staying?”

“Better, thank you,” he replied. “And yes, I am, but not with the team. I have a teaching position at Quantico now. That’s…enough for me at the moment.”

Derek saw surprise and disappointment flash across JJ’s face, but she only nodded in understanding and told them, “I need to get back to work, so I will let you two catch up. I’m glad you’re back, Jason.”

Jason smiled that quick little half-smile he’d always had, though he didn’t respond.

Derek motioned them Gideon to the sofa as the door closed behind JJ and they each took a seat. Once he was comfortable, he said, “Rossi might have been drugged. Chegwidden’s running his blood now.”

Gideon looked away from him for a long moment and then nodded. “That makes more sense than David Rossi attacking Spencer at all and going after Hotch in a challenge for position in public.”

“I told him to stay home until we know for sure,” Derek continued, “but I think he was, Gideon. He’s not stupid. He knows that attacking Spencer would only alienate the rest of us. Even if he defeated Hotch, there’s no way we would stand for him to be Alpha if Spencer were hurt in any way. Not a chance. I’d challenge him myself, if he beat Hotch, and I’d win.”

Gideon nodded again and agreed, “And if you somehow lost, Prentiss would challenge him.”

Derek snorted. “And there’s no way in hell she’d lose. Sometimes I think she’s going to challenge Hotch to be top dog. The woman’s scary ambitious.”

Gideon huffed in amusement, but didn’t disagree. He commented, “She’d be in good company.”

Derek thought about the female alphas he’d known, Brenda Lee Johnson and Teresa Lisbon foremost among them, and nodded. There was a certain type of female shifter who wound up as Alpha; they all had sharp tongues and wicked insight into how to get physically stronger men, and women, to submit to them. Not that they couldn’t hold their own if it came down to a fight, they were just far more likely to use it as a last resort. Of course, they were also a lot more likely to verbally shred anyone they thought was encroaching on their authority.

Bringing his wandering thoughts back to the situation at hand, Derek asked, “So if you’re really not coming back to the team, what about to the pack? We all miss you.”

Gideon’s mouth twisted bitterly before he said, “Spencer doesn’t. And even without all of what went on, Rossi sure as hell doesn’t want me in the pack. Two alphas, like myself and Hotch or Hotch and Rossi, a pack can handle if there’s an understanding in place, but three? And three with our history? That’s stretching it too thin, Morgan.”

“We’d take you back before we take Rossi,” Derek replied flatly.

For a moment, Gideon looked both tempted and gratified, but then that expressionless mask descended again and he simply said, “Thank you.”

There was a brief silence and then his cell rang. Derek pulled it out and found a blocked number on the ID. He frowned, but answered, “Special Agent Derek Morgan.”

“Please hold for Admiral Chegwidden, Agent Morgan,” a young man’s voice requested politely.

“Sure, of course.”

The pause was only about ten seconds and then Chegwidden told him bluntly, “Rossi was drugged. It’s a new drug, a combination of rohypnol and an original chemical compound the lab had never seen. There’s no way to tell for sure until they finish their testing, but it’s probable that the effects are what turned him violent.”

Derek grimaced, not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed by the results. At least if Rossi hadn’t been drugged, things would have been a hell of a lot more clear-cut. He replied evenly, “Thank you, Sir, for the speedy results.”

“I’ve already informed Hotchner, but I’ll tell you what I told him. Get your people straightened out, or I’ll do it for you.”

Derek winced this time, but had no time to respond as the Admiral hung up. The man sounded pissed, as if his own pack had been attacked. Then again, he was in charge of the Council which ultimately decided the fate of Shifters in the States. That was a serious burden and anything that threatened pack structure, threatened their society as a whole. A quick glance at Gideon showed that the other man had heard the Admiral’s news and his ultimatum.

Gideon sighed heavily and said, “I do not envy Hotch.”

Neither did Derek.