Welcome to the first story I've written in over a year! This was for a challenge over at Chit Chat on Author's Corner and I hope they like it. It certainly turned out differently than I thought it would. I'm quite pleased with it too. I hope you all enjoy it.
JJ walked down the hall, the soft click of her steps echoing through them. She suddenly felt nervous, but she couldn't explain to herself why. But she was honored that she was there, and that he'd called her to help him with this. She steeled herself, took a deep breath, and walked into the room.
There was an old man in the bed, and a young woman sitting next to him in a chair. She was reading to him from a book that JJ recognized as one of his favorites. She looked up when JJ knocked and asked, "Yes, can I help you?"
"I'm here to see Jason Gideon."
"Come in JJ," said the old man. The woman closed the book and put it on the night stand, leaving the room. JJ took her now vacant chair and smiled. "Hey Gideon."
"Hey JJ," he replied. Gideon was much thinner now than when she'd last seen him. Most of his hair was gone, and his face was slightly sunken in but his eyes were as warm as ever. She hadn't seen him in years, a s a matter of fact, no one from the old team had. He smiled at her, and it was the same small, pleased smile she'd seen hundreds of times way back when.
"How are you doing?"
"Feel better than I should. The doctors said that it's spreading pretty fast. Supposedly I could go at any time now." He told her and JJ winced.
"Was there anyone else you wanted me to call? I know Spence—"JJ started but Gideon shook his head.
"No. I don't want him to remember me like this." He was adamant, and JJ didn't press him about it. Gideon changed the subject.
"How is everyone? I managed to keep up with the team's news for a while but it's been nearly ten years now since I last heard anything."
"Well, I brought you a picture," JJ said. She took it out of her purse and showed Gideon. In the picture were Hotch, Rossi, Prentiss, Morgan, Garcia, JJ and Reid. Everyone looked a bit older, especially Hotch and Rossi. Spencer was probably the most changed, his hair was very long and back in a pony tail, and had a bit of a goatee going on. Hotch's hair was gray and he had a paunch, Rossi's hair was white and he had a belly too. Prentiss was dressing more and more like a librarian, her own hair up and back. Morgan was virtually unchanged with the exception of hints of gray at his temples. Garcia was relatively unchanged while JJ had cut her hair quite short. Everyone in the picture was smiling and Garcia and Morgan were in the midst of laughing.
"They all look very happy," Gideon said. He held the picture out to JJ but she shook her head. "No, you keep it. We've each got a copy. It's from last year's annual get together."
"Annual get together? So I take it you're not all on the same team anymore."
"Well, no." JJ smiled, thinking this was something she could do for Gideon. Tell him what everyone was doing. "Well… Morgan is the Unit Chief for a new profiling unit in Chicago. He's been there for about three years now. He married almost six years ago, this lovely woman named Ashley Madden. They have a little boy and another child on the way. He brought the whole family last year. She's a lovely woman, he's very lucky."
"That's good to hear, I'd wondered if he was ever going to settle down."
"Rossi said once after my marriage it was only a matter of time before all of us settled down in one way or another." Gideon laughed at that.
"And how is Will?"
"He's good. He's been promoted to lieutenant in the DC police department. We've got the twins now along with Henry; they've just had their 8th birthday. Henry's doing well in school, he's going to a science magnet school. And he pretty much dotes on Penny and Emma. They seem to be budding artists."
"Penny and Emma?" Gideon asked with amusement in his voice.
"I named them after Garcia and Prentiss. Sort of."
He chuckled. "And how are they?"
JJ sighed. "Well Emily left the FBI several years ago. She returned to Interpol to run their London field office. She's still there too, doing a damned good job. She says she's found love, or at least she did the last time I spoke with her."
"She has? With whom?"
"A police inspector with New Scotland Yard, a woman."
Gideon's eyebrow rose. He was only slightly surprised. "Are they happy?"
"Yes she and Joan are very happy." JJ was actually relieved. She knew Gideon was open minded, but when Prentiss had come out as bisexual a lot of people were surprised and not all of them had been kind about it. Even a few agents whom they thought of as friends.
"And Garcia?" Gideon had that little smile on his face again. While Spencer Reid had been his obvious favorite, he still held a special place in his heart for Garcia.
"She's a full agent at the Bureau now actually. She's surpassed just about every tech in the FBI in regards to computers and hacking. After most of the old team left, she didn't like dealing with the more gruesome aspects of her old job so when they offered to let her head a task force dealing with computer crimes she took it. On top of that she still runs her support group for survivors and victims of violent crime. And dating an actor she met in her theater group a while back."
"Theater group?"
"Yes, something she does sometimes for fun. She's a fairly good actress, though she doesn't take it as seriously as her boyfriend. He comes down to DC most weekends from New York City. Since most of the week he films a show up there."
"Have I seen it?"
"Well the show is called Cross Hacked, he plays the lead police hacker on it. He met Garcia when he was researching his role."
"Austin Bradley?"
"That's him."
Gideon laughed. "I have seen him! My aide loves that show. I was told it was loosely based on David Rossi's last book."
JJ smiled too. "It was. He met Rossi as well."
"How is Dave?"
"He's all right. His doctors are practically begging him to give up his cigars but he won't since he says, 'There are very few pleasures an old man has afforded' to quote him. He retired again a few years after Prentiss left, and he's written three more books. He does guest lecture from time to time but mostly he likes to use his time to either go hunting with his dog or travel. Right now he's on a tour of Italy but he'll be back for the yearly gathering of the old team."
"You keep saying old team," Gideon observed. "What do you mean by that JJ?"
"Well, we were a family. But after a while, everyone began to move on. It really started with Prentiss, since she was the first to go. Then Morgan, then Rossi, I transferred to another unit in the Bureau, Garcia… Hotch is still there though but he's Section Chief now. He took Strauss' position after she retired."
"So how is Hotch?"
"Good. He doesn't like a lot of the bureaucracy that comes with the position but he's probably the best Section Chief they've ever had in the BAU. Jack's doing very well too; he's made the honor roll every semester in high school and plays soccer for the school's team. He's gotten early acception to Harvard; he wants to be just like his father. Hotch is so proud of him."
Gideon smiled at that, then asked after the one person he'd wanted to ask about since JJ arrived. "And… Spencer?"
JJ understood of course. Reid was everyone's pet, the baby of the family and though they teased him, sometimes relentlessly, everyone worried about and adored Reid in one way or another. "He's doing better. After you left he was hurting for a while, but he healed. But a few years ago, he was on a case and an UNSUB shot him in the leg. He'd been shot in the same leg before, but this time his knee cap was completely shattered. Even after implanting a replacement he was taken out of the field. He hated being stuck on desk duty, so when an opportunity came up to teach mathematics at Georgetown, he took it. He's happier there, and he loves teaching."
Another smile appeared on Gideon's face. "Has he…" He gestured, unsure how to put it into words until he decided to cut to the chase. "Has he found someone as well?"
JJ bit her lip. If Emily and Joan had been a surprise this would probably be a shock. "Yes. Spence and Hotch actually. They've been living with each other since Spence quit the Bureau. We don't know how long they've been seeing each other but they've been a couple openly since then."
Gideon was quiet, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking from his face. JJ waited as Gideon contemplated what she'd just told him. "I had hoped Aaron would get over his issues and ask Spencer out. I'm glad he did."
"You knew?" JJ asked, her jaw dropping.
"I suspected. But at the time he was married to Haley and Spencer wasn't sure about his sexuality. He didn't date much and Hotch didn't want to take advantage."
"So you're not mad or anything?"
"No. I'm glad they found each other. Even if it did take longer than I would have liked." Gideon groaned suddenly, hand going to his stomach. JJ looked concerned and asked him, "Do you want me to get someone for you?"
"No," Gideon replied. "But I want to get this over with. I'm getting tired."
JJ nodded and removed something from her purse. "I wish you would let me call Spencer."
"Because I don't want him to see me like this. I'd rather he remember who I was."
"I understand… It's ready." Gideon nodded and JJ hit record.
Three months later, everyone was gathering at Hotch and Reid's home for the wake. Gideon had passed away from stomach cancer. Most of Gideon's colleagues and friends had come, and the funeral had been blessedly brief. Reid had been silent, and while Hotch and Jack had done their best to comfort him, he hadn't said a word since he heard the news.
Morgan had arrived from Chicago the previous day, though his wife had to remain behind since she was "too pregnant to travel". Prentiss had caught the first flight out of London, and Joan had accompanied her, getting to DC around the same time as Morgan. Rossi had cut his tour of Italy short by a week to be sure he was there, though he didn't arrive until the day of the funeral and apologized profusely for the delay. JJ, Will and their children were there, along with Stephen Gideon.
When he arrived, Hotch had looked surprised, but Stephen said simply, "We reconciled." Hotch didn't press him on the subject. He instead shook Stephen's hand and welcomed him into the house. JJ went to Hotch afterwards and said, "When Garcia gets here, we need to gather the team some place private. Gideon left something for all of us."
"Of course," Hotch said. And when Garcia came in the door, dressed in more subdued colors but still very much herself, Hotch gathered everyone in one of the sitting rooms and shut the door. Morgan, Garcia and Prentiss shared the couch while Rossi and Hotch took the love seat. Reid sat in an arm chair away from everyone, lost in thought. JJ was starting to worry about him but she decided to jump right in with Gideon's request.
"Gideon called me a few months ago, after the prognosis had become terminal."
"What?" Prentiss and Rossi said in unison.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Morgan asked.
"What did he want?" Garcia asked. Hotch and Reid were both silent, but Reid had now raised his head to look at JJ.
"He called me because he had a last request, and he didn't want anyone else to see him so sick," JJ explained. She took out a digital recorder, telling them, "He had me record this. It's a message for us." Everyone fell silent, and JJ hit play.
Gideon's voice filled the room, though it was rough from illness. "Hello everyone. This is Jason Gideon, and to use an old cliché, if you're listening to this then I've died. I don't know how long I have, but I want you all to know that I'm not afraid, and even though you miss me now, I want you to only remember the good times.
"Now for the reason that you're hearing this. I know I left suddenly, so suddenly that it was like cutting off a limb. But I thought about each of you every day, and I missed you all. But I was also proud of you. I heard about all you accomplished after my departure, and I don't think I could be more proud. The resilience, intelligence, and tenacious nature of this team amazed me. The UNSUBs you've captured, and the lives you've saved are a credit to the FBI and to yourselves personally. And I couldn't let go and accept my fate without knowing what became of you all.
"JJ has been kind enough to tell me, and even gave me a picture. You all look good, even you Dave." That made Rossi laugh but he didn't interrupt. "It sounds to me as though everyone is happy, healthy and has a good and complete life. I hope more than anything it stays that way. I love you all, for the longest time you were my family and I'll never forget that. And I hope you're all still a family. I'm going to wrap this up now, I need a nap. I'm proud of all of you, especially you Reid. Be good to each other." And the recording ended.
Garcia and Prentiss were both crying, and JJ was tearing up a little herself. Morgan was holding Garcia, and Rossi nodded. Hotch was quiet, until Reid got up and went to him. Reid hugged Hotch and began to cry in earnest, and Hotch held him. He did his best to comfort him, and quietly he thanked Gideon for his last gift to them; acceptance and understanding.
Later that evening when nearly everyone else had gone home, the old team was sitting around and having drinks, sharing memories of Gideon. Some of them were funny, others were sad or admiring. Reid was even laughing, which was a step in the right direction. Reid had lost the man he looked at as a father, but he saw now the entire team had lost him physically. It didn't mean Gideon was lost forever. And thanks to JJ, they had a permanent reminder of him.
THE END