Chapter 1
David Rossi had always thought of himself as an average man; well, if he was being honest, an above average man. He loved his profession, which is why he came back after 10 years away. He loved nice clothes, expensive watches, classic furniture, and thanks to his Italian American background, he loved good wine and fine food. He also loved women, had done for 40 years. He knew that for a definite fact. He had been married three times, but they had failed because of work, not romance. His conquests were legendary, and the Bureau had been obligated to create fraternization rules because of his many exploits. He knew how to show a woman a great time, and was a true romantic. He knew all of this to be the absolute truth, and now, at a comfortable 53 years old, he looked forward to many more happy years of the same. Which is why when, for the very first time in his entire life, his heart actually stopped, he was stunned at the cause.
His heart actually stopped, he could feel it happen in his chest. He had heard that expression many times in his life, but had never thought it was a true physiological fact, just a romantic line in a poem or song. But now he knew it can happen, did happen, and for the first time in his life, he was at absolute loss as to what to do.
He had met with Strauss, meetings he always enjoyed because he knew her secrets, and so enjoyed treating her with just the right amount of disdain, and had arranged to return to the BAU. He was already friends with Aaron Hotchner, Hotch, and knew that any team he was in charge of would be top notch. Before his first day back, he had read over edited employee files of the team; he had insisted on this with Strauss, as he liked to be as prepared as possible. Because he had never actually met any of the members of the team, he visualized them to himself as he read their information and accomplishments. He looked forward to meeting them: Derek Morgan, the physical go-getter; Emily Prentiss, the newest member and the questioner; Jennifer Jareau, who seemed to be some sort of press liason; Penelope Garcia, the tech analyst (probably some meek, mild, boring woman Rossi thought); and Dr. Spencer Reid, the genius. Rossi had already heard about him somewhat, as everyone in the Bureau had, he was a genius and had been the youngest member to join the FBI and the BAU. When Rossi was reviewing his file, he was a little taken back to discover Dr. Reid had graduated high school at 12, and had 3 doctorates by 20. Probably came from money, Rossi thought, or else he would have used his genius to be another Trump. Rossi was sure Dr. Reid would be a stuck up snob who liked to lord his intelligence over the rest of the group. Well, thought Rossi, I will soon put a stop to any of that, because in this job, experience counts almost more than intelligence, and I have the most of that.
The day he started back, he took a little extra time getting ready. He wanted to make sure these "youngsters" he was going to be meeting knew he was still in the game. He wasn't nervous, just anxious to start on a case, and prove to them, and himself, he still had it. Strauss took him to Hotch's office and he was extremely glad to see his old friend again. And when Jennifer Jareau, JJ, had come in, he was even happier to have decided to come back, because she was a 'babe' in anyone's book. Hotch took him down to the bullpen to meet the others, and as they walked through he glanced over and saw a tall, thin man with a Frankenstein mask hanging off the back of his head and a bag of candy in his hand.
And for the first time in David Rossi's life, his heart stopped.