Beauty and The Beast (Criminal Minds fanfic)

Ten years earlier: The silence in the crisp, clean, white office with its plush carpet and expensive furniture, was almost deafening. From behind the expensive mahogany desk sat the woman who held in her hands the fate and future of the man sitting in front of her.This was the moment she had been waiting for! This was her chance to banish David Rossi forever and punish him for his arrogance, and leave him no way to weasel out. But she knew if the dark haired devil—with that come hither look in his eyes that had made many a fair maiden swoon—had his way, he would try to find a way around his punishment. There wasn"t a bond strong enough to hold him. He had thwarted her and her rules for too long. Oh, the trail of broken hearts extended far beyond what the eye could see. It was time to rein in the infamous Italian Stallion and teach him a lesson or two in the only way she knew how: the hard way. "You know why you"re here," she stated coolly, watching her adversary"s body language closely. He was bored, tired, yearning to be outside. He should be more careful about what he wished for; it was all about to come true. "You think I have a lesson to be learned. Or something like that." He templed his fingers and c****d an eyebrow. For goodness sake, he was trying to charm her! Well, she would show him that there was at least one woman in the universe who was immune to his charming good looks. But did he have to wear that cologne? Standing up from her chair, she walked around the desk and stood in front of him, her hands on her hips. "You"re here because you"re a selfish, manipulative bastard. You"ve broken every heart you"ve come near. In fact, you wouldn"t know love if it bit you in the ass!" she spat as she paced the room. "I know what love is. I"ve been there…three times, thank you. That"s why I no longer care for it." He wasn"t sure how love factored in to the situation he was in, but it really didn"t matter to him. He had more important things to worry about than his love life. "You don"t care for it because you have never had it."He tried to look offended by the remark. "I love myself; doesn"t that count for something?" Wasn"t that a Golden Rule of some type? "Self-love doesn"t count." "That"s your opinion." He stared at his expensive loafers. He was going to have to remember to get the soles treated next week. "Personally, I don"t care." A sarcastic chuckle was her response."You will. When you have spent your life without it, you will realize, too late, that you can miss what you never had." His eyes darkened as fear and anger gripped his heart at her unspoken threat. "What are you saying?" "As of today, this moment, I curse you to a life-time of loneliness. You will never know love or the feeling of being loved by another person. You will live out the remainder of your existence a lonely and broken lothario--just as you deserve--in that cabin in the woods. You will never be able to leave it. It will be your final resting place." "What?! Are you insane?" he bellowed out of fear and anger at the prospect of being sentenced to solitary confinement by--of all people--her! "Insane is not having done this years earlier and prevented all those broken-hearted women." "I never lied to them," he contradicted. And he hadn"t. They knew what they were getting into when they hooked up with him. No promises. No lies. No vows to be broken.She shook her head, mocking him. "No, you just manipulated them until all the fun was gone, and then you moved on." She watched for his reaction. But his face remained expressionless. "You always liked being an Italian Stallion, but from now on I"ll just refer to you as the Lone Wolf. And I emphasize "lone"." He swallowed hard. "You have to be kidding me. You"re gelding me! No way!" How had she gotten this power over him? "It"s for the better good." She examined her manicure. Was that a chip? She was going to have to make an appointment to get them filled. "Trust me, someday you"ll thank me." That was doubtful, but she had a job to do. "This is ridiculous; there has to be a loop hole to this curse thing," his tone was of pure panic as he cling to any life-line he could find. "Let me check." She shook her head pitifully and pretended to ponder an alternative, although she blatantly examined her manicure again. "Nope. Not a single one. Sorry." His brain started working, turning quickly to find something--anything. "Hey, I read once that there is a loophole thingy. Cinderella had the shoe; Sleeping Beauty had the kiss…. Come on, you have to cut me a little slack." He turned his dark bedroom eyes toward her pleadingly. She snorted. "Only you would want a loop hole to a lifetime curse." He threw her a crooked smile that could charm Attila the Hun out of his dynasty. "We...ell…?" "I"m thinking about it."Her brain spun furiously. Of course he would have an ace up his sleeve to trump her. Well, two could play that game. "Could you maybe put a rush on it?" "Oh, hold your horses. You have nothing but time, and I have to think of a loop-hole that I know even you can"t get thru." "Gee, thanks," he replied sardonically. "Curb the attitude, or I will make this last an eternity instead of a lifetime, you arrogant jerk!" Tapping her finger on her chin, she thought about his request. "I don"t normally do this…" "What, put curses on men for a lifetime because they don"t live up to your expectations?" he replied scornfully. She held up two fingers. "That"s two. Want to try for a third? I promise it won"t be a "charm"." He bit his tongue and waited for her to complete her thoughts. Her pacing went on for what seemed like forever. Stopping, she pursed her lips. "Okay. I"ve made my decision." "About time," he muttered under his breath. Checking his watch he wondered if he could still make it to the golf course in time to tee off. Then dinner at a popular five-star restaurant, tab to be picked up by the loser. "I heard that!" Twitching her lip, she leveled a disdainful glare at him. "Here is your loophole - the one thing I know even you can"t get over, thru, or around." "Well, don"t drag out the suspense all freaking day; cut to the chase." He shifted his eyes downward to feign meekness. "Please?" "If you fall in love—really truly, madly, hopelessly in love…" "That should be easy." Her eyes narrowed as though she could read his thoughts. "Hmmm…let me tweak that. Scratch my last remark. To break the curse you must fall truly, madly, hopelessly in love; and in return, the woman must do the same for you." He winked at her, smug in his ability to charm the fairer s*x so they were like putty in his hands. "No problem." He got up from the chair. He was accustomed to women falling at his feet. All he would have to do was walk outside to break the curse. Easy as pie. "I"ll see you Thursday." He walked to the door, turned the knob. He was halfway over the threshold when she spoke again. "And you must do one benevolent and altruistic act on her behalf. And she has to do one for you." She watched him stop in mid-stride. "Only then will the curse be broken." She waited for a response--maybe a witty, or cunning, or a snide little comment, perhaps. But he was silent. "Will I still be seeing you on Thursday?" she called out in a saccharin laced tone. Squaring his shoulders, he walked to the door, yanked it open, and slammed it soundly behind him.