Jacey Montgomery is the fraternal twin of Joy Struthers, who both grew up without knowing their real father, David Rossi. Jacey and Joy decided it was time to meet their dad. It didn't take long for the girls to get close with their dad, but Jacey didn't expect to fall for one of her father's team members.
~•~•~•~
"FATE" (SEASON 10, EPISODE 9)
~•~•~•~
Joy slowly followed the dark car in front of her. Jacey shifted in her seat uncomfortably as her hand stretched over her huge maternity belly. Joy glanced at her sister before her eyes shifted back on the road.
"You okay?" Joy asked, her focus still on the driver in front of her. Jacey nodded with a tight smile.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." Jacey then glanced up at the rear view mirror of the car in front of them. She made eye contact with the driver.
"He knows we're following him." Joy gave her sister a puzzled look.
"What are you talking about?" Joy said, "he doesn't have a clue."
"The man works for the FBI, he knows."
Joy raised an eyebrow. "How can you be so sure?"
Jacey sighed, pulling out his file, reading it over again before she spoke. "I made eye contact with him at least seven times already."
"And you didn't say anything?!" Joy's eyes went wide, realizing their cover has been blown.
"You're lucky he hasn't arrested us for stalking him."
"You're a cop, Jacey. You can say that you're investigating him."
Jacey nodded before chuckling. "Yeah, but you forget that I'm on a two year sabbatical leave. Plus, I'm pregnant. I don't think I would have the time nor patience to investigate an agent."
Joy noticed the fellow agent parking his car in front of a coffee shop so she parked right behind him.
Jacey rolled her eyes, "you couldn't be less obvious?"
"Shut up." Joy said, putting the car in park. Joy pulled out her cellphone and dialed her husband's number. "Hey, I got your message. Is he feeling better?"
Jacey didn't want to eavesdrop on her sister's conversation with her husband, so she focused on the man inside of the coffee shop. He bought three cups of coffee. Jacey figured he was either getting them for his team or he's about to confront her and Joy.
Just as she suspected, the older agent made his way to their car. "Joy, he's coming."
Joy looked to her left to see Agent Rossi outside her car door. "Let me call you back." After hanging up, Joy rolled down the window. "Hey."
David had a sly smirk on his face, it was obvious to Jacey that he was annoyed with them having the pursuit of stalking him. "Thought you two ladies needed this."
The two girls stayed silent.
"Yesterday, when I saw you two girls following me. I thought it had to be a coincidence. But by today...mm, probably not." He handed them their cups of coffee. Jacey set her cup in the cup holder in front of her, she didn't want to be attempted to drink it since she's pregnant. Rossi then took note of her baby bump, a part of him felt like an ass for giving her coffee.
Joy looked from her sister to her father. "It's a long story."
Jacey gave him a tight smile. "Very long story."
"Well, I'm a writer. I hate the short ones." There was a small pause. "So, what are you two, P.I's.?"
"Yeah, you can call us that, sure." Jacey said from her spot. Joy giving the man an awkward smile.
"Who do you two work for?" David asked calmly with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"We can't say. Our client is very secretive." Joy lied smoothly.
"Well, you can't be with the IRS. My accountant would have a called." David said, trying to get the girls to spill who their client was.
"Look—" Joy began to say.
"Can't be with the State Department. A spy would know better than to leave her target's dossier in her lap." David said, his focus on the file that sat in Jacey's lap. Jacey then realized her slip up as she quickly moved the file to the car floor.
"Yeah, right." Jacey said awkwardly, giving her twin sister a knowing look.
"And I know you don't work for my cigar guy because he makes all of his deliveries straight to my door."
"Uh huh." Joy and Jacey agreed in unison.
"So, why don't you two girls tell whoever it is that if they want to discuss something, they should get out of their sandbox and call me themselves."
The sister nodded. "Got it." Joy said, with disappointment smeared on her face.
"Now, most people would ask for the coffee back." David told them. "But, being a gentleman, c'est la vie."
David turned to leave but finished the conversation by saying, "Oh and uh, get yourself an earpiece. Those things will give you brain cancer." He said referring to her cell phone before walking off.
The girls sighed.
"Well, that went amazing..." Jacey said before glancing at her sister. "Do you want to go back to my place?"
"He deserves to know, Jacey."
"No, he doesn't." Joy looked over at her sister.
"He has a grandson and a grandchild on the way." Joy responded back. "I want my son to have a grandfather. And I know you want your baby to have a grandfather." Jacey broke the eye contact with her sister as she placed a hand on her belly. "Please, I want to get know him."
"So, we...follow him to his work area? You do realize that I eventually want to work in that building..." Joy gave her sister the puppy dog eyes, knowing that she couldn't resist. Jacey rolled her eyes. "Fine. But we have to make a plan before barging in."
Joy gave Jacey a bright smile. "Deal!"
~•~
David stepped out of the car, dialling one of his teammates, Penelope Garcia's number.
"Yeah." The voice on the other end said.
"Penelope, I need you to get some intel." David told the women.
Interested, Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Like Nancy Drew style or Jason Bourne? Or I can do a "Ray" show. I could do like 27% Nancy, 53% Jason, or—"
"Well, whatever you think is appropriate, I'm being followed."
"What, like a stalker?" Penelope asked, she was surprised but also she also started to get a wee bit protective of her fellow teammate.
"No, P.I. Two of them actually, in the same car. I just got to find out who they're working for." David told her. "Maybe someone I put away or...they could be crazy fans."
Excited, Penelope started typing. "OMG, you have groupies. You're officially a rockstar."
"Yeah, right, I'll send you their license plate." Dave said, unimpressed.
"And I will start spelunking. Goodbye." Garcia said before ending the call.
"P.I.? Two of them? Maybe you got a secret admirer." Kate, the newest member, said. A wide grin present on her face.
"They had a file on me this thick!" Dave told her, short a big distance between his thumb and forefinger.
"You'd be surprised how much you can print out from Google. I'm sure it's nothing."
"Yeah, well, I hope you're right. This is why I don't get remarried. I struck out three times." The two agents started to walk towards the crime scene. "I'm better at just doing my job, writing my books, and living alone."
~•~
The two girls were in a restaurant, eating at a buffet for lunch.
"Sorry, I made you stop here. Since being pregnant, it's my favorite place to eat." Jacey told her sister before stuffing a spoon full of chicken fried rice in her mouth.
"As long as you're feeding my niece or nephew, I'm okay." Joy said with a smile. Just then, her phone started to buzz. Jacey noticed Joy's concerned face.
"Is he feeling any better?"
Joy shook her head, "Shawn says he's getting worse. Maybe I should book a plane ticket for tomorrow. I need to get home asap."
"I agree. Kai needs his mommy." Jacey said with a smile. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"Will you be able to fly?"
Jacey looked offended for a moment. "I might look like I'm about to give birth but I'm not due for another two and a half months."
Joy started to chuckle. "I'm just making sure."
"Should we pay our dear old dad a visit before leaving though?"
Joy nodded, "we should. He needs to know."
Jacey didn't say much more. Her attention was set on the desert table.
~•~
Dave walked out of the elevator with Kate at the FBI building in Quantico, Virginia.
"Hey, Rossi." Garcia said over the phone.
"Hey, Garcia, we just got back. You got something?"
"Not about the case but I did find something mysterious. I ran the license of the car of the two ladies that's following you. It turns out it's a rental. And the girl that rented the car is far from a P.I.
She's actually a TV crime reporter in San Francisco. Her name is Joy Struthers. Can't find anything on the other girl though."
"Wait. Crime reporter?"
"Yeah, and she writes her own blogs. And last she self-published a novel about the zodiac killer."
Dave was officially annoyed. "Stop. I've heard enough."
"I think she's a fan girl." Garcia continued.
"Is that another name for crazy person?" Dave started, he then looked at Kate. "It's a psycho fan who thinks I'm Comic-Con."
"Rossi, I think she just wants a blurb for her next book." Garcia said, defending the fan girl. "Which she needs, because the last one only sold 385 copies. 387. I bought two 'cause I felt bad. You can't diss a girl for trying."
"Oh, yes, I can." Dave said dismissively. "Thank you, Penelope." Dave hung up the phone with a sigh.
Kate's face was covered with amusement. "So, you got a sycophant who wants a mentor? Two of them actually, I'm assuming the other girl is just like her."
"Do you believe this?"
Kate nodded. "Look on the bright side. It's not one of your exes looking for more money."
"No, it's a couple of weirdos looking for tutelage. I tried that once." Dave said before continuing. "The woman left her manuscript all over my house."
"Wait. She broke in?"
"6 times."
"Well, where is she now?"
"She's doing five to ten." Dave told her as he walked towards the B.A.U. head office.
"Ohh. Classy." Kate said with a smile.
~•~
Jacey opened the door to her apartment in D.C. Joy followed, closing the door behind her.
"So, what's the plan tomorrow?" Jacey asked before jugging down some apple juice she had in her refrigerator.
Joy placed her bag on her sister's couch and sighed. "I don't know."
"You okay. Want some ice cream?"
"No, you enjoy your ice cream. I'm on a diet."
Jacey rolled her eyes. "I'm so tired of being the fat twin."
Joy laughed. "Oh shut up. You've never been the fat twin."
"Actually, we us being fraternal we share different genetics—"
"I know this already. You wrote a whole book about it." Joy said before playing with her nails.
"Okay, so, what's going on in that head of yours?"
"What if this was a huge mistake? I mean, maybe you're right, maybe we shouldn't tell him."
"I'm always right, remember?" Jacey said, making Joy snort. "But this time, you're right. He needs to know that he has two daughters, a grandson and a grandchild on the way."
Joy nodded with a smile. "Yeah. Hey, I'm going to go into the guess room so I can call Shawn and check on Kai."
"Yeah, I'm going to head to bed."
"Alright." Joy said as she closed the door to her temporary room.
Jacey laid in bed, attempting to get comfortable. This pregnancy has been bumpy and very independent. Jacey signed up to be a single mother the day she announced she wanted to try artificial insemination. But she does feel that it would be nice to have the help from the closest relative the baby will have, her father. She didn't know what the next few days will bring for her, but she's hoping for positive vibes.
~•~
"Okay, so we're here." Joy said, trying to be positive. Jacey was suffering from her current mood swing so right now she wasn't so nice.
"Yeah, we're here. Why do I have a feeling that we're going to be sent to jail?"
Joy looked unbothered by Jacey's recent comment. "I got us press passes."
"Hooray. We pretend to be annoying people."
"Hey, I'm a press in real life."
It was Jacey's turn to look unbothered. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I offend you?"
"Someone needs a nap." Joy mumbled before grabbing her bag.
Jacey closed her arms above her baby bump and scoffed. "I heard you."
Joy smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I offend you?"
"There's a lot to hate about you, little sister."
Joy rolled her eyes. "You're only three minutes older."
"And I'll never let you forget that."
The girls walked into the building, showing the secretary their press badges.
"So, apparently, the lady said floor 16. Right?" Joy asked her sister just as she pressed the button with the number 16 on it.
"I wasn't listening. Baby is kicking a storm right now." Jacey said, breathing in and out slowly.
"You still hate elevators?" Joy teased, noticing how nervous Jacey looked.
"Shut up."
On the way to the floor of there destination, more people filled the elevator. Then, they arrived to floor 16. Joy and Jacey followed the actual press.
They didn't know Rossi noticed them get off the lift. "You've got to be kidding." Rossi said out loud, mostly to himself, drawing the attention of his team.
"What?" Aaron asked, looking at him with a brow raised.
"Nothing. I'll be right back." Rossi said hurriedly, walking over to the "press" group.
Jacey and Joy continued to walk behind the press, low key trying to figure out where David Rossi was located.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Dave said with irritation hinted in his voice. The girls stopped in their tracks, turning around to face him.
"We can explain." Jacey said.
"You both come to my job?" Dave said, not wanting to hear an explanation.
"We need to talk to you." Joy said calmly, trying to keep David from yelling.
"You girls are crazy. You're not a P.I. You're reporters, trying to be novelists. How the hell did you even get in here?"
"We have press passes." The girls said in unison, showing their proof.
"Press passes."
"We had to see you." Jacey said, honestly. But she realized that the sentence did make them look like crazy fans.
"Look, if I catch you girls at my work again, you'll be writing an opus behind bars." Rossi said harshly. "Security!"
Joy and Jacey shared a look. "No, please don't do this." Joy begged.
"Escort them out of here." Rossi told to men, pointing at the girls.
"Please." Jacey tried begging. Her feet was killing her, so her patience were getting thin.
"Out."
Jacey looked at Joy, begging to say it. Joy nodded. "We're your daughters." The girls said in unison, unexpectedly. Rossi slowly turned to look at them.
David then guided the women to an area where they can speak privately. "Explain."
"Our mom is Hayden Montgomery." Joy told him, with a small smile on her face. Jacey admired the hopefulness her sister had.
"Jacey and I are fraternal twins." Joy mentioned, motioning between Jacey and her.
"You married our mom in '84 in Paris." Jacey reminded him, crossing her arms.
"I know who Hayden is." Dave said, defending his memory.
"She was a diplomat, you were on temporary duty with the FBI." Jacey continued.
"Hayden would have told me if she was pregnant." David told the two girls, sounding as if he knew for sure.
Jacey raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "You sure about that?"
"Okay, our dad–our stepdad–told us about you when he was dying of cancer." Joy mentioned.
"Yeah, and it forced our mom to finally come clean." Jacey said just as she placed a hand on her back and one on her baby bump.
"How can I believe you girls?" David said, feeling frustrated. "First you tell me you're a P.I. Now, this."
"We were scared. Look, you can even call our mom. She's still in Paris." Joy said sassily. Jacey had to hide her smirk.
"Hey, Rossi. We got to go." Kate came in and announced, interrupting their conversation.
"We'll straighten this out later." Rossi said, looking at both girls. "Leave your infos at the front desk."
The girls watched him leave.
"Well, that sucked." Jacey said, looking over at Joy. "Let's just go back to my place and pack. We need to leave by tonight. Kai isn't getting any better."
Joy sighed and shook her head.
"Yeah, you're right. You were about this whole thing."
~•~
The night came quickly. Jacey and Joy got into the car, making their way to the airport.
"I'm sorry." Jacey said, referring to their meeting with their dad. Joy shook her head.
"Don't be."
It didn't take long for the girls to get to the airport.
Jacey and Joy quickly got their bags, and headed in. Joy handed the airline lady their tickets.
The lady looked at them with a smile. "You two are all set."
"Thanks." Joy said with a sad smile.
"At least you'll be with Kai soon." Jacey said, trying to make her sister feel better.
The sister were now in line, waiting to board the plane when suddenly a voice called out their names.
"Joy? Jacey?" The twins turned around to see Rossi, their father, calling out to them.
"What are you doing here?" Jacey asked, not in a bitter way but out of curiosity.
"You girls flew all the way out to meet me. I figured you had some questions. I know I do." Rossi said, not breaking eye contact with either of them. "And if your first question is, will you please leave us alone, I respect that."
"Why didn't you stay with her?" Joy asked, not beating around the bushes.
"Your mom and I had a complicated relationship. It was a whirlwind summer in Paris, and when it was over, the reality was I was moving up in the FBI and she was a diplomat."
"That's not good enough." Jacey said, Joy nodding in agreement.
"Look, I wanted to take over the world, and she was already doing it. She was meeting with dignitaries, traveling to different countries. And I couldn't handle it. And instead of manning up, I pushed her away."
Joy and Jacey shared a look, they were listening to him.
"I told her I wasn't sure I wanted to be married. But honestly, I just wanted to catch up."
"You were the love of her life." Jacey mumbled, loud enough for him to hear.
"I didn't believe that." David told the two young ladies in front of him. "I know what I said earlier to you girls, that if your mom was pregnant she would have told me. But the truth is, she wouldn't have said a word. I was in no position to raise a family, and she knew it. I was running away."
"Had you known, would you have stayed?" Joy asked, breaking eye contact for a moment.
Tearing up, David looked at the two girls. "I can't speak for the David Rossi of 30 years ago. I'd like to think I would have. But–but I'm standing her, right now. Look, can't you two just stay for a little while longer? I'll pay for the change of ticket."
Jacey glanced at her sister with sad eyes.
"Oh no, actually I've got to go. Um, you have a grandkid who's running a fever." Joy said walking away a bit, Jacey following behind her.
"Grandkid?" David asked. For a second, he glanced at the baby bump that Jacey had.
"Yeah. A two year old boy, Kai."
Rossi couldn't help but let the tears flow. Jacey suddenly became emotional and started crying.
"You girls are killing me." Rossi said.
Joy nodded with a slight grin. "You'd love my husband, he's Italian."
Rossi looked over at Jacey. "I don't have a husband. Sorry to disappoint." Rossi smiled at her.
"Look, if you girls don't mind having company over this weekend...I'd love to meet them and get to know you both."
"Ladies, we're about to close the door." The airline lady said. Jacey and Joy quickly made a decision.
"Yeah." They said in unison, with a smile.
"We'd like that." Jacey said with a grin. "Dad."
David pulled the two girls into a hug, where they each held on tight to one another. It didn't take long for David to get a plane ticket, where they boarded the plane to get to Kai.
"Just letting you know dad..." Jacey told Rossi as she sat beside him, trying to get comfortable.
"Yes?"
"I actually live in D.C. I'm just coming along to make sure Kai is alright." David grabbed her face and kissed her cheek.
"Excellent."
Joy laughed. "Told you he'd like that. Wait until he finds out what you do for living."
The girls then shared a laugh. Rossi looked in between them and smiled, he had two beautiful daughters and he was thankful they found him.